Hi steemit! Wow, this is cool...

It's really exciting to be here...

And to some extent I'm a little shocked.

I'm Phil, from the UK.

I've been involved with social media since 2002 when I was a member of Ecademy.com - the first ever B2B social networking site. Founded in 1998 - yes, before LinkedIn!

I've always been fascinated by how the internet can be used to bring communities together, and although this is still my first day on steemit, it's already very obvious what a great sense of community there is here - so congratulations on building this incredible platform.

Why shocked?

Because it's pretty unusual to find such a strong sense of community.

Having been a long-time student and fan of social media, I'm fascinated by how people often see it as a 'short cut' to success - however you want to define 'success'.

In some respects, I was the same when I first got involved with it. Yes, you could use social media to raise your profile. Yes, it would occasionally get you new sales and customers - and yes, it was awesome to meet new people.

But I did feel as though I was banging my head against a wall...

I had started my own business as a marketing consultant, and was making some headway - but not enough.

The promises of success that the so-called gurus promised, never really came to pass.

It was almost time to go back to the corporate world. Not something I relished...

But then one day I met a man who changed everything for me, and who set me on a different path.

Light-bulbs came on and ideas started flowing.

In time I started my own social networking site. A very niche site with tight focus on just one market, and all of a sudden things started to happen.

You see 'focus' was what I was missing. And I mean razor sharp focus.

Today I speak, train, consult and lecture on one thing - how to use LinkedIn to attract more leads and sales. And how to do it without paying for Premium!

LinkedIn isn't perfect - what site is?! But in times when people are considering other options than just Facebook, I'm enjoying helping people to get more from the site.

The steemit welcome notes said I could share my social profiles, so I hope that's OK with you?

Here I am on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/socialmediaspeaker/
Here I am on Twitter: https://twitter.com/philipcalvert

And here's my new private group on Facebook for anyone keen to make more from LinkedIn:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LinkedInSecrets/

Yes, it's ironic that it's a group about LinkedIn - on Facebook!

I'd love to know more about you, the ones who have kindly read all the way down to here - please tell me about yourself below.

Thanks in advance...

Phil