Since my last #MakingFriendsMonday blog post issued on May 1, I have sent 138 tweets, earned: a 2.4% engagement rate, 45 mentions, 50 retweets, 169 favorites, 28 replies, and 24 link clicks. I have netted 128 followers, have followed a fair amount of those, and connected with many on LinkedIn. A fairly productive 10 days.

I attended a seminar discussing social media marketing at law firms, where I live tweeted during the presentations. I was also able to network in person and make connections. This was a great experiment in making connections online and off. As I watched and listened to the seminar, I tweeted away.

@techymarketer You’ve been quoted in my #Storify “05/05/2015 Social Media Marketing Summit for Law Firms” http://t.co/zSNc2wXTC6 #BDI1

— BDIONLINE (@BDIonline) May 5, 2015

Capturing key moments, for my part it was a way to take notes, keeping a record of the presenters commentary. It also got me noticed by other attendees and presenters. During the intermission and at the conference conclusion, I spoke with a number of attendees, who noted my Twitter activity. It was a great conversation starter and showed that I not only say I get it, but can put it into practice and on demand. I met some who were very active in social media, while others were less so. Some who had a lot of experience in pulling B2Bs into the 21st century, and others who were novices just starting out. While I met people I noted how vital my very active digital brand was—I was able to make new connections with people on Twitter and LinkedIn. The experience was worthwhile in all possible ways.

My key takeaway from this experience: as much as I advocate for other entities, I need to advocate for myself, techymarketer. As much as I talk about companies having a digital footprint and brand, it is unacceptable for mine to be lacking. I initially heard the phrase “walking the talk” about 10 years ago while sitting in a grad school lecture. It is now, as I go through this process of building Nievalyn Keel’s techymarketer brand, that the phrase truly resonates with me. It is hard to understand and advise on social media marketing, if you do not eat, breathe, and live it. You have to “walk the talk,” go through the pitfalls and figure out how to climb out of them.

Moral of the story: if you aren’t active on social media, you need to be. It’s not too late to get started. While it may seem like there is no point to start, the platforms seem saturated, one’s absence is noticeable. If you are not seen, you may miss out on opportunities. Get on social media, test things out. Play around with different types of campaigns and see what sticks.