“Then it happened! I discovered this new social media platform. Not Facebook. Not Twitter. LinkedIn!” Ira Bass
I collected social media success stories while writing the book
“Success Using Social Media.”
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@IBMedia ibmedia.biz linkedin.com/in/ibmedia |
As the saying goes, “things happen for a reason.” One of those “things” happened to me on 4/19/07 and as it turned out, it did happen for a reason. I was fired. After just 8 months on the job and having been fully relocated, I was asked to leave. Immediately.
I thought to myself, “No problem. I’ll take a breather and just slide right into my next adventure.” But, there was a problem at the time. It was called the pre-Recession.
Over the next several months I started to consult until I could find my next position. The license plate on my car, IB MEDIA became my calling card and company name. With 30 years of advertising media experience I had the experience ad agencies wanted as they were letting their employees go. I could be a hired gun advertising professional.
Here’s the rub. I never wanted this. An entrepreneur? Networking? Cold calls? Always looking for work? I’m a pretty outgoing guy, but the thought of standing around with a drink in my hand or cold calling to peddle my skills did not excite me.
Then it happened! I discovered this new social media platform. Not Facebook. Not Twitter. LinkedIn! Back in 2008 there were ~30,000,000 registered users. A far cry from today’s (7/13) 225,000,000 members. However, I saw huge potential in it’s efficacy.
I was excited! I taught myself the ins and outs of LinkedIn and I began to connect with marketing professionals in my immediate vicinity, Charlotte, North Carolina. The coffee meetings started to flow. I began to meet new people and as I did I kept thinking that there are former colleagues and clients who I also needed to reconnect with. The people from my past who had no idea what I was doing now. And so I did.
Paul Mason was a former client of mine. I thoroughly enjoyed working with him. When our companies and the agency I was working for at the time parted ways, we lost touch. Fear not! I searched for Paul on LinkedIn and there he was. We reconnected. We spoke and emailed each other on occasion until one day he gave me some great news. He had just taken a position at Johnson Controls in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In one of the messages from Paul, he said, “Ira, the company is reviewing their media planning and buying needs. I’d like to introduce you to the decision makers.” My heart pounded with excitement. LinkedIn was working for me.
Long story, shortened, I earned the assignment! At the time, the acquisition of this large company’s media planning changed my life. Its impact on the success of my company continues to be felt daily.
This is my story of how social media has had an absolute vast impact on the success of IB Media LLC (www.IBMedia.biz). The way I see it, reconnecting and building relationships on social media helped me go from vapor to gaining multi-million dollar clients.
Ira Bass picture from her directly with permission to use