When One Door Closes, Another Opens, Thanks to Social Media

Since 2005, I have toyed with the idea of starting my own public relations and marketing communications consultancy.

During that time, I worked for a large PR firm in Chicago and for certain projects, we used a woman who worked as an independent contractor. She contracted her PR services to various clients, and agencies, and was extremely successful.

I remember confiding in my husband (who was my boyfriend at the time) that I dreamed of doing the same thing–having the opportunity to work for various organizations, but maintain my own identity. I always imagined it would be a win-win and would afford me many more opportunities and always keep me challenged.

Fast forward to June 17, 2009 when I was informed I was being laid off due to a lack of work.

Thanks recession.

The position I was in and the company I was working for at this time was a place saw myself for the duration of my career. This is almost unbelievable if you look at my resume and see how many jobs I’ve had since college graduation.

I’m a passionate and hungry professional who continuously wants to grow – both skill-wise and financially. Therefore, I was always looking for the next best thing. However, at my former place of employment, I was challenged, felt like I had the opportunity for upward movement, felt a sense of ownership, and enjoyed the people I worked with. So, it was more than a blow when I had to redirect myself and figure out my next path to success.

When I first lost my job, my plan was to freelance while looking for another full-time opportunity.

In the past, I had applied for jobs I was intrigued by, interviewed and got it. All is different in a time of recession. There are pools and pools of applicants and organizations are afraid to commit – from a payroll standpoint and scared they may miss out on someone more talented. You can imagine what this job market initially did for my self-confidence. Not only have I likely applied for upwards of 70 openings, but I have had only about a handful of interviews. I was crushed, deflated, and at times, wanted to give up.

However, what I didn’t realize while I was focusing on securing full-time employment was that I was slowly building the business I had always dreamed of. One of my biggest strengths appears to be my interpersonal communication skills (who knew?).

Although I’d like to credit Miami University for its required Interpersonal Communications class, I have to give full credit to my dad, from whom I inherited these skills. Everyone loves my dad, and while I will not be so arrogant as to say everyone loves me, I do have pretty great relationships with my clients. Therefore, I was fortunate enough to have clients I had worked with in the past, and friends, seek me out to work on various projects, while the rest of my business development came solely from social networking.

I’m not a traditional networking kind of gal. Small talk is not my forte, and while I absolutely love to be social, traditional networking makes me uncomfortable. But, thanks to the relationships I developed within the many jobs I’ve had, my social network really rallied around me during my time of need. And, fortunately, in this day and age, we have all the various social media channels to rely on to broaden our network and keep us informed.

Thanks to social media, I met people who ended up benefiting from my services and therefore, I benefited as well. Thanks to social media, I’ve reconnected with friends who have directed me to various opportunities. And, thanks to social media, most recently, I discovered an opportunity that I feel will lead me in the direction to the professional place I always hoped to be.

People say to never burn bridges and always keep the doors of communication open. I’m a firm believer, and proud to say, what appears to so far be, a successful case study.

So, for those of you who think LinkedIn is a scam, Facebook is an unproductive excuse for play time, Twitter is confusing, Foursquare is for stalkers, and Blogging is too much of a commitment, don’t be so quick to judge … they could change your life.