Guest Blogger of the Week - Chriss Knight

“Office Dilemma”

My name is Chriss, and I am a television reporter turned Social Media nut! Before I tell you about my “Office Dilemma”, let’s rewind first, and learn how I started my new Social Media Management and Public Relations Agency, NOLA SOCI@LITE!

            It all began in 2010, when my husband and I moved to New Orleans. I joined the "Good Morning New Orleans" morning show team on WGNO, the local ABC affiliate. It was somewhere between covering the excitement surrounding the Saints Super Bowl victory and the fun events leading up to Mardi Gras, that I fell in love with New Orleans and discovered a respect for Social Media.

            I constantly updated my Facebook and Twitter pages, engaging in fun conversations with fans, and even used questions from Facebook during live interviews. In two years, I grew my Facebook page from 200 to 5,000 friends, and my Twitter page tripled in the amount of followers! I wanted to do the same for local businesses, so I helped out my husband, and began tweeting for Pinkberry New Orleans, the company he manages....and NOLA SOCI@LITE was born!

           I quickly discovered other businesses were also in need of my services, so I decided to leave television and focus my efforts on doing what I love: Helping local businesses grow through Social Media and planning events! I am now handling the grand opening of the new Pinkberry Mandeville store (coming in April!), and I am the Publicist for Old.New.Blue, a wedding accessories boutique in Uptown New Orleans.

            I always tell my clients, “Social Media is a marathon, not a sprint.” You aren’t going to go from 0 to 2,000 followers overnight, unless you are a super star celebrity like Taylor Swift (who has more than 8 million followers, by the way!). It takes time to build a strong base of followers who want to engage and communicate with your business. After all, building a relationship with people in general requires a long term investment, and the same applies to Social Media.

            But my new business has brought me to a surprising new dilemma…my home office. I work from home, which is a wonderful perk, but unfortunately, my office right now is anything but wonderful. While my job does require me to be out in the community, meeting with clients, attending functions and other events, I do spend several hours a day, sitting by the computer. In fact, as I write this blog entry, I am surrounded by papers scattered around my desk with no organization around. There’s an old ugly bookcase lining the wall in front of me, and a bureau that was once in my bedroom is now just taking up space in my office. I need a major home office makeover, and to be honest, it’s a bit overwhelming. It’s an issue I didn’t consider before starting my business, but now it’s one I must face!

           I even spent one Saturday searching for a desk, and after going to five stores, I couldn’t find anything that I liked. I was clueless. I can quit my job, start up a new business, but I can’t furnish my office? Feeling frustrated and defeated, when I got home that day, I did what any Social Media person would do…I turned to the internet, and started reading blogs. I got great ideas from Chet’s blog in fact! I started feeling better about my unorganized office, and I could see the light at the end of the design tunnel! That’s when it hit me, what I tell my clients about Social Media is what I need to tell myself about my home office: Designing is a marathon, not a sprint.  And while I don’t have it now, eventually, I will piece together an office that I love and one that makes a great working environment and an impressive meeting space for my clients.

            In the meantime, I am going to continue to clip pictures from magazines, follow blogs like this one, and rally the help from friends and family to create my new workspace! By the time it’s finished, I may have to move to a bigger office, but you won’t see me complaining about that!

(You can contact me by emailing: chriss_knight04@yahoo.com, visiting my site: www.nolasocialite.com, or following me on Twitter: @ChrissKnight)