Imagine being a marriage counselor and you are going through a divorce yourself. That’s how I feel at the moment. I have been working as a web strategist or to put it in a most hated common term – “social media consultant” for couple years and I have violated the very first rule myself. I don’t have a home on the social web! As I mentioned above, I help others build a strong relationship but I have myself failed to keep my house intact. Don’t get me wrong though, this doesn’t mean I am a failure in what I do. One of the reason I stopped using my own site was because there was never a need. A need to use it as a client driving site. But is that all I should be worried about? Clients? Is that it? The answer is no, and that’s why I have violated the very first rule.
The first rule of social media is to have a community. A community that you can always come back to, a community that you can always give back to. I am an active user on many social platforms but they are not mine. I have a room there but I don’t have a home. This is my home which I abandoned for years. I am determined to make it a home where I can be a good host and give back to the community that at some point may make this a regular place to visit. I have violated the rule but I will pay the price.
Welcome to my home. Enjoy your stay and I promise you, you won’t be disappointed.
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Hi, My name is Ritu. I am a member of SMA (Social Media Anonymous) ;-) & help bloggers and businesses utilize the social web. 
Gman told us about you. All best and lets see what you tell us in the future.
I found my way here from Gerald Weber on Twitter.
I am all too familiar with the feeling of not having my house in order: for years I was out playing as a songwriter without any good recordings or an online presence for my music! I assumed having a blog with songs strewn all over it was enough, but that’s not how people like to experience music, and that doesn’t build a community.
I subscribed to your RSS feed, and I’m looking forward to what you have to say as you rebuild your own web presence.
We forgive you.
Good luck buddy.
Very true:
“The first rule of social media is to have a community.”
Now don’t leave us all, keep posting
Welcome Home! Should I take my shoes off?
Let me start out by thanking the_gman for the shout out. Thanks!
@David : You won’t be disappointed.
@Peter : Yup. I had the site running before then got swamped with client work and while building others I forgot all about myself. As I said in the post, I am active on quite a few platforms but that’s sort of like renting a room. I need a home. I am back and I will rock the house
@Amy : That’s very kind of you. Thanks! I have been smacked by a few so forgiveness sure does feel good.
@Insider85 : I am not going anywhere this time. I am here to stay. Feel free to take your shoes off and kick back. It will be a fun ride.
@TwistedSifter : Please do.
[...] is an internet communications guru who “Violated The First Rule Of Social Media” by counseling on internet communications while letting his own blog go stagnant. He wrote a [...]