Kyle Hepp

January 30, 2009

Really, I would love to tell you that the Travel Channel contacted me because I have the coolest Chile blog under the sun. But, that’s just not true. In reality, it was a mix of social media and luck that allowed me to have such a cool day filming with them.

See, back in the day when I didn’t have a job and had much more spare time on my hands, I spent hours on Flickr, commenting on people’s streams, making contacts, reading information in groups. The possibilities were endless.

I’m also on Twitter, which is sort of a mini blog. You update your status regularly, telling people what you’re doing at that exact moment, using 140 characters or less.

As it just so happens, Shira Lazar, the girl who contacted me from the Travel Channel is also on Twitter. She tweeted when she found out about her trip to Chile, asking if anyone knew of any bloggers/personalities in Chile that she could touch base with. One of my old Flickr contacts, who I hadn’t spoken with in ages, tweeted back to her with a link to my blog, and the rest is history. The coolest thing about that is, I had no idea that my old Flickr friend even read my blog!

I’ve also had people contact me about my photography services through facebook, and my first wedding actually came via this blog! So basically, my point is that while social media may seem like it’s a bit silly, truly using your social media contacts can help you profesionally.

So, if you want to hang outline here I am on:

Flickr
Twitter
Needish
Facebook
Vimeo (just joined yesterday)

Ps. In yesterday’s vlog, Lori guessed right…I didn’t even notice Mila, our nana, walking by!