Ann Hawkins

A fairly typical introvert I like to hide in plain sight.

I appear to be sociable but I’m not.

I prefer thinking to talking and would rather ask questions than answer them.

I mostly ask questions on this show and also on The Business Hub and in the activities of The Inspired Group which I founded in 2005.

Bevis Neil Moynan ‏@BMoynan

“@AnnHawkins oozes a combination of warmth, empathy class and knowledge presenting #TheBusinessHub”

Most of my public questions are about what makes people successful in business. My private ones are about what makes us tick. 

I’m old enough to be impatient, irascible, opinionated and outspoken but I’m still curious, still learning, still exploring new ideas.

 

My social networking story

I call it social networking because that’s what I do. I network and ask questions and cause a ruckus and connect people. I swear and I laugh and I speak my mind and have fun. 

I was introduced to blogging by the inimitable @LloydDavis in 2005 and so had already built up a head of steam and 1,000 + readers by the time I started using Twitter in January 2009. About that time I transferred from Blogger to WordPress with the Inspired blog.

Twitter opened up a whole new world of people to connect with and I love the fact that a photographer in New York whose work I admire and tweet about, will recommend my mentoring work and send out links to my blog because he likes what I do. We’d probably never have met without Twitter and will probably never meet in the flesh but we’re friends and comfortable enough to insult each other, much to the amusement of our followers.

This is just one story of many great experiences I’ve had on Twitter and I’m still stunned that over 3,000 people seem to like what I do there and many have become friends and clients. I can honestly say that my use of Twitter has been responsible for a huge increase in my business and is now providing my son with a part-time income as he trains to be a scuba diver in Mexico! 

When LinkedIn loosed its stays (and opened its wallet) and allowed the hoi polloi to join I found another way to connect with people and created The A-Z of Business Success radio series just by asking questions and inviting people to share their ideas. This also brought a huge surge of interest in my business and although its over two years old I still get new subscribers every day.

I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook and have both a page and group for The Inspired Group which may be a mistake - I’m still figuring it out.  I’m starting to enjoy Google Plus, especially the hangouts.

When we decided to launch this show, I was able to find a sponsor from a number of contacts on Twitter and a call for suggestions for our strap line got over 80 answers in a couple of days. That discussion is on-going but means that as I write this, before the first show is aired, the buzz and anticipation about the show is growing every day.

I’m not an expert in Social Media but I know what works for me and I’m really keen for other small businesses to reap the benefits and avoid the pitfalls that this new way of doing business offers.

Why no social media accounts for The Social Media Show?

Because shows don’t tweet, people do. Because I don’t like Facebook pages. Because a LinkedIn Group on Social Media will get spammed to death. Because I haven’t got into Pinterest (someone stole my spot). Because you don’t need yet another account to follow. This may change as we grow ……….

We’ve got a G+ Community because I like Google’s approach to social business  and author ranking.

We’ve got a hashtag (I have to be careful how I say that) #TSMShow and we won’t be hard to find!

So how about you? Who are you and why are you reading about me?

Talk to me on Twitter @AnnHawkins, on LinkedIn and Google Plus. Join The Inspired Group on LinkedIn and Facebook, join the Social Media Show community on Google Plus - whatever suits you.

Don’t make noise for the sake of it tho. Make it count.