As you all may have read, I recently wrote a post that: A. Talked about why I’m out here writing this blog, and B. Gave me a shot to win a free ticket to the Social Media Success Summit which was offered by the very kind Chris Garrett.

Well folks, I did not win the aforementioned ticket. Sigh. I did get a shout out on Chris’s post when he announced the winner- which has got me feeling pretty good. It’s nice to feel like my story resonated. The good news is that the gracious winner, Charles of Wordful, has offered the additional free ticket to someone who can answer these questions for him. Yay! Here you go Charles:

1. What’s your single greatest challenge with blogging?

Writing is one of those activities for me where, as Chris Garrett said in a recent post, “Time seems to distort, my brain turns to sweet mush, and the words just arrive on screen.” Writing this blog is a great joy where I’ve finally found the marriage between my love for writing, and my long-time passion that there needs to be a bigger spotlight for the wild world of wellness; And that if we’re ever going to reach a tipping point where people line up at their local wellness center like they do at Starbucks, then practitioners are going to need some tools to thrive in their practices (and avoid experiencing what my first three years in practice were like). I’ve got the love, I’ve got the passion, and I’ve got the why.

What I don’t have is a very good social media strategy for how to get this blog to reach its tipping point. I’ve spent the last few years learning a lot about marketing. However, almost a year ago I decided to intentionally boycott all the classes and strategies. I started to feel the potential to become one of those people who is endlessly taking classes while postponing the doing of the thing. I decided that instead, I’d do the thing and strategize later. I knew this wouldn’t get my blog on the home page of Digg, but I wanted to take a step back. The result is that I’ve gotten boatloads of clarity about what marketing means to me, namely that all marketing actions can be heart-based, transparent, and rooted in integrity. However, I’m just emerging from my ‘no more classes’ hibernation, and I’m ready to take my own advice: No matter how wonderful you are at what you do, if you can’t connect it to the people who need what you have to offer, there’s no point. It’s time to be more conscious about connecting the thing to the people.

2. How will the Social Media Success Summit help you with that challenge?

That said, the Social Media Success Summit would be a wonderful way for me to emerge from hibernation by diving deeply into the Summit, and coming out with the best possible plan to take the blog from being a blip, to being of service. I know there are a boatload of things I need to do to get this blog on the radar, and hopping into the Summit would allow me focused time and education on how best to get it happening. I’ve greatly admired many of the teachers who will be presenting at the summit, and I would be honored and delighted to learn from them.

3. How do you envision your success online?

I decided a while back that I have no interest in being a guru. My intent with this blog, my book, whatever it is I do isn’t to build a platform so that I can demand exorbitant fees for speaking gigs. I don’t have all the answers and I never will, but what I do have is a natural love for connecting people to resources. Nothing makes me happier than seeing people thrive. My marker of success will be when I start hearing from large numbers of people that my work here helped them to grow thriving wellness practices with less of the pain we helper types normally go through with this process. I’d been over-the-moon-happy if this blog could grow/help a readership large enough that wellness schools need to sit up and take notice and- gasp!- give us the tools we need to succeed in our practices as a part of our educations. Until schools give us a bonafide education in more than just our modalities of choice (hello! We’re small business owners too!) there won’t be any Starbucks-esque lines outside local wellness centers.

So here’s the deal my fair readers- I was just about to sign myself up for a blog critique from the lovely Chris G, when he posted a contest to win the aforementioned critique, and a bunch of other fabulousness connected with the Social Media Success Summit. So this entry is to let you and Chris Garrett know why I want to nab the prize and bring back all the juicy info to you.

*Side note: It’s an amazing teacher line up and the delightful part is that you don’t have to travel- yahoo! Go forth and check it out- it’s a great opportunity to learn a boatload about social media. Without further ado- here’s my why me:

Before I found Rolfing, I was a sunk ship; A total wreck. Some of you know the whole story already, and for the sake of keeping the recap short, I can say simply that pre-Rolfing I was dealing with 22 years of chronic pain (I’d had a birth injury, not so fun), a jaw that was locked shut, doctors telling me I’d have to accept that I would be eating soft food for the rest of my life, and just general 92-year-old in a 22-year-old’s body unpleasantness.

Then I had the great good fortune to have my conventional medical doctor tell me that I had to get into meditation classes and someone’s bodywork office stat.

What!?! I’d had no idea that there were these other options. Because my wonky-ness had started with a birth injury, I’d had a lifetime of doctors generally scratching their heads at my chronic pain and other symptoms. But now there was this whole world of other options for getting well. Needless to say, after one session of Rolfing I knew my life had dramatically changed. I’ve been (mostly- I’m still human) pain-free and happily eating solid food for 12 years now.

But the thing that’s stuck with me most from my experience is this: why oh why didn’t I f@#*ing know that there was this whole world of other options sooner. Since my Rolfing hallelujah experience, I’ve been equally delighted with the discovery of many other genius modalities- homeopathy, Shiatsu, acupuncture, yoga, Gyrotonic- I could go on since I’m a wellness junkie… But each time I go back to that same initial reaction: more people need to know this exists.

The trouble is, there’s an art to letting the world know that something exists, and we wellness providers are trained only to be technicians. Then we’re pushed out into the world where we’re asked to be small business owners and tribe leaders. And yet, our schools give us little to no (or worse, incorrect) information on how to spread the word and sustain ourselves. 50% of acupuncturists are no longer in practice at the 5 year mark. The average career span of a massage therapist is 18 months. Are we flakes? Dim bulbs? No. We’re missing the foundational element that allows us to share our skills.

These days, I find myself in the incredibly happy position to be acting as a translator between the marketing world and the wellness world. I’ve fallen deeply in love with both for the same reason: you can change people’s lives.

While the word marketing often gives people an icky vibe in the wellness world (we need a new word!)- when its powers are used for good and not evil you can spread the ideas that matter; The ones that can change the world. We’re at an incredibly exciting time in history where suddenly it’s no longer the mega-corporations who have the only access to marketing platforms. It’s not a ‘who has the most dollars wins’ game anymore. Technology is rapidly evolving and gives every individual equal opportunity to create their own platform and spread their own ideas. The Social Media Success Summit is exactly the place where we can all learn how to use the tools that are at our fingertips, just waiting to be put to use for the higher good. I get goose bumps every time I think of what this means for the world- we’re on the cusp of some serious big-ness here.

This blog is my way to do my part to make sure that more people know these options in healing exist. For people to hear about them- wellness providers need to have thriving practices. Winning the grand prize for the Social Media Success Summit would fuel my passion and expand my toolkit so that I can help more of my wellness peeps get out there and connect to the people who need them. And for all of you blog readers out there who are working to grow your practice- get thee to the Summit- and enter this same contest to win for yourself!