Yesterday I concluded the 3-Day Webinar Series on the topic of how to create a solid and sustainable online presence. It was a great experience to the participants, as they received hands-on material to build a strong foundation for their online presence, and to me as the webinar host, as it gave me the opportunity to revisit some content and information that for one reason or another get overlooked by our daily tasks.
While preparing the material for the webinar I remembered a story that happened to me, a while ago in a visit to Zurich, Switzerland.
Which I'm happy to share with you because, if you didn't attend the webinar you might not be aware of the importance of building an online presence, especially now, in this "new normal" we are "forced" to live in.
The story goes like this...
Many, many years ago, I decided to open a YouTube account to talk to the Brazilian people around the world.Although it seems obvious that when you are online you are reaching globally, I believe that when we are recording our videos and posting them, we are in the mindset of "hoping that at least one person" will watch it.
Fact is, even if the online world tells us that we are connected, there are many, many times that we feel that we are talking to the wall...
However, I can tell you, that from my experience, there is always someone listening...
And this is what happened to me.
Years ago, while living in Switzerland, I interviewed a Brazilian friend of mine for my Brazilian YouTube Channel (by the way, if you speak Portuguese and want to check it, it is called Tertulia com Tulia ). I had no bigger intention, just wanted to share experiences.
She, Gisela Rocha, a choreographer with international presence, who had left Brazil several years before our talk, was sharing with me all the challenges she faced being a foreigner, single mother, in the conservative Switzerland.
We had a great time together, and our interview was quite long (you can check it here if you speak Portuguese), but, above all, we had a good time, and that was what I was looking for at that moment in time.
Let's fast forward 8 years, to the time that I had already left Switzerland and moved to Germany.
I kept many good clients and students in Zurich (still do) and during one of my visits to Zurich I met a Brazilian woman, Yara Borges, who happened to be from my home city in Brazil (Stop here! We were in primary school together!!!....I don't believe in coincidences... but this is for another story) and, she told me she knew my YouTube channel.
Then, listen to this, she told me, "Tulia, that video that you recorded with Gisela, I sent to my nephew who was moving to Dublin, Ireland, because I thought that the experiences you were sharing there could help him to get by on his own. And it did! He told me, that he felt supported with your stories, and he understood that he was not alone..."
Jaw dropping, right?
So, this proves the power of having an online presence.
Since then, even when I feel I'm talking to the walls, I remind myself that beyond the walls there is at least one person listening. Don't forget that.
What about you? What is your experience online? Do you have an established online presence?
I would love to hear.
A good Friday to you. Talk soon. And stay safe.
T.