How did you first figure out how to use Facebook?

Or how about Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, or any of the other commonly used social media platforms?

•  Started playing around with that social media site
• Someone showed/told you how – either for free or you paid them to help you
• Through a book
• Via the Internet – such as by reading blogs, articles and other informational pieces
• Through an in-person or online class

I have used all those ways, and others as well.

Here we are in the first half of August, and kids are already gearing up for going back to school. The stores are full of back to school specials, people are getting back from summer vacations, and even the posts on Facebook have a different feel to them.

All of these things inspired me to think about how people get to know more about the social media sites they choose to engage with. How do they “go back to school” to learn about social media?

One way to learn more about social media can be through using the services of my company.

How Boomers’ Social Media Tutor Got Started

What inspired me to form my Boomers’ Social Media Tutor business was an offhand comment from a former manager of mine who noted that I was doing a good job of promoting our company’s Facebook page, LinkedIn group and Twitter account.

He went on to suggest that I consider helping others, especially those in the Baby Boomer age group, to better understand social media. That was in March 2010. Three years later, in March 2013, I retired from my “day job.”

Doing so made it possible for me to devote myself full-time to my social media tutoring business.

Joyce Learns More About Social Media

Even though I was fairly conversant with Facebook and LinkedIn back in the spring of 2010, I knew I had a lot more to learn if I was going to help others with their social media.

So, I did the following:

•  Joined several groups on LinkedIn that focused on social media and got involved with those groups
• Connected on LinkedIn with people with a lot more experience and knowledge on social media than I had and developed relationships with those people
• Took over a dozen courses on social media from a variety of social media experts at Colorado Free University
• Created a website and a Facebook business page – both of which helped me meet even more people who are super savvy with social media
• Expanded my social media repertoire by finally (after having an account for 4 years) getting more engaged with Twitter, plus started with Pinterest
• Started blogging regularly about social media, with a special focus on business owners who are in the Baby Boomer generation –  as I blog, I am forced to learn more on the topic I write about

Next Steps for Boomers’ Social Media Tutor

Going back to the back to school title of this blog, I am expanding the services of my business. Along with continuing to provide one-on-one social media tutoring services, I  am starting to teach classes on social media.

For starters, I will be teaching the following classes at Colorado Free University as of this fall:

1. Facebook for Beginners
2. Marketing with Facebook: Facebook Business Pages
3.  Marketing with Facebook: Ads, Groups and Events
4. Digital Marketing with Pinterest

These CFU classes are each 3 hours in length and are offered for what I think is a very reasonable price.  CFU is located near Quebec St. and Alameda Ave. on Denver’s east side. Check out their courses at www.freeu.com

My other plans involved expanding my teaching and speaking on social media to service clubs, senior centers and other venues where there are people eager to learn more about social media.

Normally I don’t directly promote my business in this blog, but it occurred to me today that there are readers of my blog who might like to know the latest news of my business. So, now you know.

Back to You

How do you prefer to learn about social media? What suggestions do you have for me as I expand my services?

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel, Founder of Boomers’ Social Media Tutor, helps people relatively new to social media to become more effective and comfortable in their use of this medium. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com