Social Media Entrepreneur’s Interviews No6 – Christine Miller

Name: Christine Miller        Twitter name: @ChristineMiller

What is your main Change challenge at present? 

Our main challenge at present is transitioning – engaging a wider audience for our magazine ReSource by raising awareness of our profile and value proposition as an essential source of information and guidance for intelligent living. Variously described as ‘a masterpiece’ (Tony Buzan) ‘highly important work’ (Edward de Bono) and ‘envelope-pushing’ (Tom Evans), we’ve also been describes as a ‘well kept secret’, which is perhaps charming – but not conducive to fulfilling the huge potential of our offering.

What is your strategy for dealing with it?

We are doing this by changing the way we present our content from mainly offline to fully online. This transition meets the needs of the market better – by bringing our five year archive of rich information to new markets, it serves different types & generations of readers; it enables us to deliver relevant knowledge more quickly, and gives us the ability to provide the community input and interactivity our supporters, fans and readers want. We have researched reader wishes and requirements and so we have a revamped multi-media website in progress, offering online content with differing levels of access for members and readers.

Are you using social media as part of that strategy, if so, how?

Yes, social media is very important to our strategy; we use a number of social networking sites such as Ecademy, LinkedIn and Facebook, plus blogging, Twitter and Friendfeed to increase our presence, build relationships and showcase content. I am building targeted groups and providing relevant content for them to demonstrate value and contribution, and we will be using YouTube and our own TV channel to deliver video content.

What is your top Change tip?

Recognise that change is constant and inevitable. We change with every thought and every breath – it’s a paradox in that we appear to stay the same, but in fact we are in an ongoing state of change. There’s a difference between natural change, such as the seasons; planned change, such as the scenario described above; and unexpected change, such as a life-threatening illness or sudden loss. Whilst all change requires adjustment, it’s when change is unexpected and/or we feel we’re not in control of it that real discomfort arises, so it’s important to learn some tools for staying in control of our own responses. Remember to breathe – pause, reflect, listen, then act. Stay flexible and alert and recognise change as an opportunity to grow – often the change that appears most disconcerting and uncomfortable contains the greatest benefits. It’s a question of taking a perspective that allows you to look for that benefit, staying open to possibility and adjusting your actions to respond appropriately.

What role does emotion / intuition play when you dealing with Change?

In my experience, emotion and intuition are two different things. When I’m dealing with sudden, unexpected and apparently undesirable change, and if there is resistance, I tend to adopt a reflective approach and examine the emotions I’m experiencing around it, and ask myself if the feelings produced are based on reality and truth, or on fear of the unknown.

Intuition, or gut feelings, plays a large part for me in decisions around dealing with change. I trust my intuition, and have much experience of that first inner prompt being the right one; when I’ve ignored it, I’ve lived to regret it!

Do you ever find Change brings unexpected gifts?

Yes, absolutely. Blessings in disguise; I’ve even written a poem and blogged about that topic. In my experience, the gifts or blessings are sometimes hidden to begin with, and reveal themselves as events and time unfold. Once I’ve processed the immediate response around a change, I endeavour to operate from the present (recognise the ‘present’ of the present) and say to myself about the unexpected: ‘it is what it is, how can we make the best of it?’

What thing best symbolises Change for you and why?

This poem* (see extract below) was written at a time of great change both for me and some close friends, and it expresses how I respond to change. I also like the ‘change’ idea of metal being tempered in a forge – subjected to great heat, moulding and pressure in order to emerge as a purified, refined and much stronger element with greater longevity and higher purpose.

Previous Interviews:

• Andy Preston
• Sarah Arrow
• Ces Loftus
• Penny Power
• Nikki Pilkington

* Blessings for Everyone

Whatever happens
In our lives
We can learn from it,
Accept and assimilate the experience
As a Blessing.
Often,
When I was a little girl
My mother would advise me
After some disappointment,
Some less than perfect event,
That it was
Probably
A blessing
In disguise.
It has taken me a long time
To fully appreciate
The wisdom inherent
In those words.
Now, I can see
Clearly
How So many things
That have and
Have not
Happened
Are really, truly
Blessings.
What I have gained
From my less glorious times
Has been immeasurable
Wealth,
In Emotional
Mental and
Spiritual
Realms.

© Christine Miller 2006

Tags: christine miller, entrepreneur, social media, Twitter

This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 12:47 and is filed under Blogging, Business Change, Twitter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.