Here are a few tips to help you ease back into your social media, just in case you haven’t visited your fan page in a while. These are quick things you can do to build interest:

• Post a new update or photo
• Completely fill out all the basic parts of your Page, including profile picture and cover photo
• Place a link to your webpage in the “about” section

The ATD Social Media Solutions company is not the first small business I’ve had the pleasure of owning throughout the years, but it is the first whose foundation is based solely on something I absolutely am passionate about. I offer the The 3 Most Important Things to Know About Discovering Your Passion which I believe have been instrumental in determining the best way to move forward with passion.

Expect the unexpected- discovering your passion can happen when you least expect it. It has no specific shape or form and it certainly doesn’t come knocking at your door. You’ll want to make sure you’re open to trying new things or open to picking up old projects or hobbies and teasing things out a bit more. I was almost certain I would find my passion in the arts or in something more closely relating to fundraising. After a successful career in non-profit and a highly successful legal career prior to that, I half expected to find my passion somewhere in between. It wasn’t until I finally realized that I’d been an entrepreneur my whole life that the revelation about my passion came through and where I least expected it. Maybe you’ll stumble upon it in a field totally unrelated to what you’re doing now or by meeting someone new along the way. Whichever it is just keep your mind open and know that a sense of what you love doing can appear in the oddest and least expected places.

Timing is everything- So I learned quickly that I’m most passionate about doing work that is highly results driven and where the rewards are measurable almost immediately. Although this wasn’t a a great surprise I knew somewhere in the back of mind that delving into something I truly enjoyed would be a matter of timing for me. Not even the thought of creating my own rules about the direction I was heading was enough for me to stop mid-track of my second career and launch out on my own. It was definitely a matter of timing. Have you ever heard that there’s no such thing as luck; or that luck is simply a point where preparation and opportunity meet? Well, this statement may help define the time in which you determine to follow your passion. For me it was a matter of gaining enough confidence through doing something I enjoy (painting/preparation) and combining it with something I’m good at (previous consulting experiences and an opportunity to branch out on my own). I was at the apex of my career and I was able to sensibly make the move. You’ll find the decision easier to make if you base it on whether or not it’s the right time to pursue your life’s passion.

Don’t Give Up- sometimes we can be too quick to give up something we enjoy doing just because we don’t get a chance to do it as often as we’d like. When I first learned to paint 2001 I did so non-stop for three years. I’d learned to paint on a small scale and later moved on to a larger medium which led to doing commissioned work. I mean, I loved painting murals and seriously believed I could do it  forever. The reality was however, that I needed to work and eventually had to lay down the brushes and do what I knew how to do best and that is to generate a steady income. I remember thinking I would get back to painting really soon enough but it took me until 2010 when my girlfriend and fellow artist introduced me to painting for retail store clientele that I was able to pick it up again. Here too, it was a matter of timing. So look for opportunities to do what you love even if you’re not able to delve into it fully. It helps build confidence and crucial experience you may need in the future.

So here’s my blog, my very first. I’ll get right to it. It’s on passion. We’ve all heard how exceptionally freeing it is to follow your passion, yet rarely are we able take the time to seek out our own happiness in it’s truest sense; through our passion, doing the thing we know we were born to do. The proverbial “Do what you love and the money will follow” taunted me for years and when I finally tapped into what I believed was shear bliss, I learned quickly there was more. I have so many thoughts to share on this topic that are running through my mind right now, and I don’t want to ramble, so I may write this in two parts.

A few years ago, a dear friend and colleague who is also an amazing artist re-introduced me to painting. This quickly became my new hobby again and soon thereafter it was producing an income. I had painted in the past and knew I really missed it so the fact that it became successful so quickly was an absolute bonus! I produced art work for high-end retail stores and the demand grew greater with each booking. I had launched a Facebook fan page and used it to connect with account executives that I believed could benefit from using my art to boost their product sales. My girlfriend had told me there was a high demand and she had not steered me wrong. I remember thinking how wonderful it was to finally get back to doing something I loved and wondered if I was finally tapping into my passion. Was this it? We’ve all heard the old adage, “Do what you love and the money will follow.” So of course I wondered. It was after all very rewarding and downright therapeutic to be able to once again lose myself in the silence of the brushstrokes and the creative process altogether. Painting and creating is still, to this date a genuine affinity but the combination of this unique opportunity and the ensuing marketing strategy I applied is what became the trajectory to starting up ATD Social Media Marketing and alas my true passion!

The ways in which social media and more specifically Facebook allowed me to target a specific or niche market almost immediately yielded a measurable ROI. I remember initially agonizing over how much there was to learn about FB and how much more it offered and finally just buckled down to learn it (along with Twitter, Google+, You Tube and so on). I spent a great amount of time learning the nuances that would allow me to share my work with only a targeted few and soon discovered that although I would always love painting my passion was in learning and ultimately helping others optimize their business marketing strategies through the use of social media. I had been consulting for a while now and introducing social media into the mix was the final piece to the puzzle.

The reality is that most businesses and organizations don’t have either the time or the resources to bring in additional staff to sit in a corner and tweet or post to FB and that’s why we’re here. ATD Social Media Solutions understands that it’s crucial for businesses to remain relevant and current at a time where social media conventions change daily and whether it’s time or money that is lacking in an organization’s structure, one the most effective ways to keep abreast of these needs is to outsource.

ATD Social Media Solutions is about helping businesses stay relevant, current and connected to their customer/client base. We consult with small and large business owners about their social media needs and demands and customize a strategy that works for them. Whether it’s training and coaching their own staff on the use of social media or full service online presence management, ATD Social Media Solutions is here to help you be brilliant online.

Coming soon… The 3 Most Important Things to Know About Discovering Your Passion