The Hartsock Agency

I was reading my friend and inspiring mentor Kathy Caprino’s post on how all of us can and should ask for help when we need it, and it inspired me to write this post.

Kathy says, “Blogging, social media, and the digital movement aren’t bad.  What is bad, however, is that thousands of people who need help aren’t reaching out to get it.  They’re staying stuck, despairing and hopeless because they’re trying to solve their problems themselves without getting help or an outside perspective. 

Einstein said that we can’t solve a problem on the same level of consciousness that created it.  I believe this with all my heart.  In isolation by ourselves, stuck inside our limited minds, we fail to see that shiny new possibilities, opportunities, and miracles are just one small step away.  That key step is reaching out to get help.”

Yesterday I was a presenter on social media at the Grassroots Conference in Austin. Each time I present to different conferences, I realize that the most important thing is to encourage everyone first to breath a sigh of social media relief.

I know you’re all feeling overwhelmed by social media. I know these terms at times seems confusing and I know for many this is also accompanied by a feeling of fear.

A feeling of  “too lateness” or  what someone said to me they called, “digital generation gap.”

I’m writing this post to assure you that no such “digital generation gap” exists, and there is a sure and true path toward using social media tools like Twitter, YouTube, DIGG, blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn for your own good and the greater good of your community.

If I can do it, you can do it. I’m considered at this point a dinosaur on the Web, I’ve been on the Web since 1995 and I was there when all the dot com fervor was at its highest and also at its lowest. I’m still here and I feel very blessed to have been a part of this history.

I also feel it is my singular mission to empower everyone as much as possible on utilizing the tools that are right for them. The key in social media is making sure the tools you are using are the best ones for you. Each person, company, community, non-profit is different in what works best for them on Web 2.0.

We’re all suffering from Post Traumatic Social Media Disorder, but I can promise you that it does get better. Now that you’ve been hit over the head with all this Web 2.0 opportunity, the very first thing you need to do is stop wishing it would just go away. It’s not going to go away.

And we shouldn’t want it to. It’s going to be ok and you’re going to be able to learn all this. When people ask me how I did it, I say, “What choice did I have?” I wanted to stay at home with my children when they were young, and I was blessed to be a technology journalist for a decade, writing about all these tools. I also completely believe in what transparent and open communication can achieve.

The great thing about the Web no matter what the number (2.0, 3.0, 80.0) is that you can have access to so much free and valuable information to help you utilize all these tools.

But you have to be willing to let go of fear, you have to let go of feeling too old, or too dumb, or too behind the times.

You are never too old to learn something new. You are never too old to be a genius at social media, life, the arts, social media,  music or even happiness. You do, however, have to start somewhere. Sometime. Soon. How bout now?

NOW.

1. Go to LinkedIn.com and claim your name and build your profile there.

2. Go to Twitter.com – and just claim your name. Think about what you might tweet.

3. Go to Google and build your own Google Profile.

Be emboldened, emblazoned, enlivened to create the online and offline career you want.

I did it. You can do it too. If you don’t want to do it for yourself, then please do it for all of us who can surely use your wisdom, your insight and your presence in this Web 2.o world!

Write me and tell me how it’s going!