Diary of a Social Media Virgin - Part 3:  "The "Twittering Granny" is launched - God bless her & all who sail in her ... !"...

Oh the thrill of getting recognition and feedback – someone out there is reading me !

I’m so pleased to report that this blog is beginning to gain momentum.  It’s exciting, flattering and humbling at the same time!  For a “newbie” in the game I’ve received comments and suggestions (generally favourable, it’s good to say)  from some serious professionals.  Penny Power, Nic Oliver among others have said kind things and there have been responses from as far afield as New York, Zimbabwe and the Land of Oz.  (In fact, thanks to the power of Social Media and Ecademy in particular, Dr Joe is now promoting his message of natural good health to a whole new network Down Under and everywhere).

This week, inspired by my friend and accountant, the Twittering Tax man, James McBrearty, I have morphed into the “Twittering Granny”.  (Please follow me on Twitter @joywebber).  You may be surprised to know that seniors are one of the fastest-growing groups to take advantage of the “connected-ness” that the web affords all of us, no matter what age we might be.  There was an interesting article - click here - .  Mind you, Boston-area blogger Millie Garfield, aged 80, puts me in the shade and makes me feel positively a spring chicken!

Whether you are 18 or 80, what a privilege it is to be able to communicate a message or a concept to so many millions without leaving home!  In fact, here  I am sitting up in bed with the computer on my lap, comfortably propped up by pillows.  Now how’s that for a modern way of doing business?  I need to become a bit more efficient, though, at all this Twittering, Tweeting, RTing, Following Friday and the rest, because time evaporates at an alarming rate while I attempt to keep pace with all the features that are there on offer.  How many times have I composed something clever, pithy and (I think anyway) extremely apposite only to find – at the click of the wrong button – that it disappears down the tubes, never to return!  “Frustrating” doesn’t even begin to describe it!

However - and this is very exciting – here is a development that’s happened in the past couple of days thanks to posting my blog on ecademy.  I’ve been asked by Jon Hansen of  Procurement Insights in Canada to be a guest on his radio show, the PI Window on Business.  Now how good is that?  What an opportunity so soon after plunging into all of this? And how well does it illustrate the power of this Social Media “thing” that so many people are sceptical about?  The phrase “return on engagement” has just crossed my radar to question the effectiveness and ultimate financial benefit of promoting through this medium.  In my view, everything in business starts with a conversation (which is what we do isn’t it?) and there is no simple way of equating the value that the initial exchange might have on long-term business achievement.  Or if there is I don’t know of it.  So thank you Jon for the opportunity to appear on your show ……. I can’t wait!

We’re logging onto various forums now, getting the website revamped. And my goodness there’s a whole nest of techie words to scramble up the mind.  You mess the DNS-A with the FTP, not to mention corrupting the HTML, and the whole thing could crash into cyberspace and never be seen again!  But grateful thanks to the irrepressible and multi-talented Nick Tadd for taking this on for me along with Peter, my beloved son.   (Yes, I did manage to pin him down eventually!)

Continuing the theme of introducing an aspect of good health, good drinking water is critical for us all.  Our bodies are 70%-80% water and we should ALL be drinking 6-8 glasses minimum per day to cleanse the system.  Don’t want to lecture you, folks, but we must be aware that this is what will allow the cells to function at optimum level.  And you can try just drinking a glass an hour – it makes the prospect seem less daunting.  Tap water is OK to drink – in the UK anyway – but it doesn’t always taste very nice and that can put people off.  It does also contain chlorine which is not all that good for us, to put it mildly.  Bottled water is an option but that can contain hazards in the form of the chemicals leeched from the plastic containers it’s sold in.  And it’s pretty well dead water.  Consider filtering water for drinking, cooking, making your tea and coffee as well as washing fruit and vegetables before consumption.  And it doesn’t mean that you can’t have your beer, wine - whatever - as well as long as you get the water down you.  Here’s another video of Dr Joe on the subject:

And how about the logo? Please have a look at the latest development.  Thanks to all who contributed views – we really appreciate your input.  I think this is what we will end up with, though the jury might still be lingering …… not precisely there yet.  Ces and Jay are very patiently and professionally handling the variations – lovely ideas too!

I attended an event with Stephen Covey this week, and he spoke directly to my heart and soul.  What a wonderful man he is and how he held that room of over 1000 people totally in his hand.  Spellbound I was!   He speaks of doing what you love doing that serves a human need and the concept of Servant Leadership.  He talked of having an abundance mentality and of “Cultural ID theft” and how we have become immersed in a cultural DNA where we constantly compare with other people.  Of finding your own voice and then inspiring others to find theirs.  Now isn’t that what all the social media platforms permit us to do?  Absolutely they do!  But please rein me in if I become too evangelistic about it won’t you, because I am a dedicated advocate as you’ve possibly gathered by now.  Anyway, do look at Dr Covey’s website on “The 8^th Habit – from Effectiveness to Greatness” to gain further insights into what he has to say:

Click here -

I was so proud to spend a few minutes in conversation and to have my picture taken with him.

He’s got 51 grandchildren!   Wow!   My tally so far is two.  So ……. way to go!

All the talk of purpose and value-driven principles was in my mind as I read an article in the Daily Mail when I got home which caused me to boil with rage. It probably did so for thousands of others too and with justification.  It has reaffirmed for me why it is that I am still promoting the business I am in, following a couple of years of sluggish progress and battling scepticism - even ridicule.  The article by Ros Coward “If ever there were proof of the folly of Doctors playing God, it’s this man’s barbaric death” is on this link and my comment is published there at the bottom along with quite a few others.  This is why I’m hanging in there and will continue to do so while there’s someone to listen. So, please, grab yourself a cup or a glass of something and read through to the end.  You will hate it!

“Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Dylan Thomas

Click here -

Oh, my ears and whiskers, look at the time!  I’ve been here most of the morning writing this.  But you know what?  There’s not much else I would rather be doing on a grey Saturday ………… and it’s FUN!   Thank you for staying with me to the end.  I hope it was worth it.  And just casting a glance at myself in the mirror, oh dear!   Our Joan (Collins that is) says we should always make the best of ourselves, at whatever age.  Hmmmmmmmmm!   Well, better get started then – off to gym and swim to see what can be done and to see if some of that glamour might just rub off on me!   Until next week.

Joy  Webber – the  Twittering Granny