Lately, I’ve been working with a company to promote my book, Tender Offers. They are guiding my efforts in building up my presence on YouTube. This is a good thing since I know nothing about YouTube. Sure, like the rest of the world I pop onto that site once in a while to watch a funny video, or to see something interesting, but I’ve never used YouTube to promote my books. I am ashamed to admit that I really don’t know how to upload a video or anything else. It truly is times like these that I regret not have a 10 year old at my disposal. Of course, the younger set knows all about this new computer stuff and probably understands how to upload a video more than they know how to balance a checkbook. YouTube is their playground.
My video has been uploaded now and I’m trying to have as many people look at it as is possible. Sound familiar? Again, I am a novice in this area. After months of not liking my video at all, my voice, my appearance or my mannerisms, I think I like it now. As a vote of confidence, my husband’s only comment was that the music sounded “spooky”. That’s okay. After all it is nearly Halloween and the season for spooky everything. I get to ride my broom again and engage in some Halloween fun.
Remember now, when I started down this path of being an author, I had absolutely no idea of this thing called social media. I was not on Facebook, and I never twittered. I had no idea what a blog was. Here I am, almost a year later, and I am still learning. Now I feel ready to tackle YouTube, with help, of course.
This is a big step for me. I am constantly fighting with myself trying to balance my need for privacy verses my need to promote my books. The two desires are constantly in conflict. I’ve built a successful law practice with a low profile existence. Naturally, I thought in my delusionary thinking that I could have a successful marketing campaign for my books with an equally low profile. That has to be one of the mistakes I’ve made. I totally misjudged social media and the force it has in connecting with people. I really haven’t addressed the impact of YouTube in our daily lives. So here I am, learning new tricks, meeting new people and reconnecting with old friends. Every day is exciting and a brand new adventure filled with challenges for this septuagenarian.
I haven’t retired from the practice of law yet, but more and more I am recognizing that, yes Crystal, there is a life out there beyond being a lawyer. It is invigorating, stimulating and exciting. I am constantly learning new tricks. So for everyone who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks – I say “Nonsense.” This is one old dog who is not intimidated by learning new things.
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