Talking Twitter with Suzie Kummins-Poirier

We’re honored to welcome Suzie Kummins-Poirier, AKA @AceConcierge, to SocialNorth. Suzie’s a virtual assistant, personal assistant, productivity lover, time management queen and my friend. We’ve been lucky enough to meet twice (even though we live thousands of miles apart) and it’s my honor to share her story…

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Twitter success, adventures and deep connections that made it all happen

I’ve been on Twitter since 2006 and, while I admit that I hadn’t a clue what it was, how I would benefit or how I would give back to my community, I realized it was a necessity for my business growth. It was so foreign and I wondered what would I tweet and who cared about my dog?

I’ve since developed a far greater understanding of the benefits of social media, personally and professionally. Social media has changed the way I market myself and my business but the basic premise still relies on relationship building via trust, transparency and authenticity.

When I first launched my business, I offered personal errand and concierge services: “Virtual Assistants, Passion, Preference and Persistence” but 2006 was the benchmark, the transition point to becoming 100% virtual and I have never looked back. After jumping onto Twitter with both feet, Facebook was next. I started at the request of my daughter who was entering college at the time. She wanted to be able to keep in touch and share her new life with me as she moved 12 hours from home to earn her degree. This opened up a whole new world to me; creating friendships, sharing commonalities and community with so many new people.

As trivial as it sounds, the world is so vast yet social media creates deeper connections, opportunities and much smaller communities to foster relationships, meet new business partners, gain clients, share rich content and meet new friends. It’s about being real, showing a little bit of yourself and creating your online brand.

My life and business have been greatly affected because of social media. My network spans the globe in my virtual universe. I speak with many of them every day, yet we have never met – which wouldn’t happen without social media.

Life changes and my social media friends

I’m fortunate to have a close network that I never would have if it wasn’t for social media. I moved to Wilmington NC because of my Twitter following.  My college daughter wanted home closer than 12 hours away and I wasn’t sure how to find a location that met my criteria. I tweeted that I wanted to be no more than 4 hours from Richmond VA and I had to be near the coast. My Twitter followers said Wilmington NC and here I am.

During the relocation process, I connected with other people in NC and Wilmington via Twitter to learn more about the area and become better acquainted with locals. As luck would have it, one of my new friends lived in my complex and on moving day I received call to have a glass of wine on her deck. Moving boxes were left unopened as I went to meet and greet someone I met via Twitter. Julia Rosien was another wonderful kind soul that reached out to me as well with a warm welcome gift of pillows and blankets from her company. Dawn Faverty Lancaster of Carved Solutions sent me personalized soaps. I can’t even tell you the number of online friends who championed me while I made this huge life change.

My heart was warmed. I was empowered and my life was all anew. This is how powerful social media has been for me.

I have shared much of my personal life with my network and the love and unending support got me through some incredibly difficult times – my car was stolen 2 weeks after moving here, the day I put my dog down, my daughter’s college graduation and even during the transition to NC from NH. Twitter and Facebook became my support network of friends and life coaches.

The virtual world travels with me wherever I go. No other form of media can give me this. It’s not like I could take out an ad in a newspaper for all things social media has given me freely.

Speaking from the entrepreneurial side, I can share with you that 100% of my business relationships, team of virtual assistants, web designer, clients and exponential growth all stem from social media. I use a variety of channels to successfully connect with my clients and prospects, hoping to share a little of my knowledge and expertise as it relates to social media, branding, time management and productivity. As a vested business partner, I thrive on the successes that my clients share with me because they have chosen to use the services of Ace Concierge. We meet, conduct business and collaborate in this online world.

Suzie’s top 5 tips

Social media isn’t something to fear, but something to embrace. Come from a place of authenticity with true heart and spirit to shape your community. Your social media channels are a conversation to engage, learn and share.

1. Listen
2. Be authentic and engage with your network
3. Create a sense of community
4. Monitor your social media channels
5. “Pay it forward”

Invest deeply, be a giver, show kindness and you will live richly. Just remember, your digital footprint lives on forever so don’t post anything you don’t want as headlines or something you don’t want your mom to see.

Do you have a social media story to share? We’d love to hear it – on our blog or on social media, of course. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn and let’s continue the conversation.

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• Deb Lowther
• Barbara Viteri
• Pam Ross
• Trey Whitehead
• Robert Petril
• Sarah Robinson
• Greg Lehman
• Mara Shapiro

About Suzie Kummins-Poirier

AceConcierge a.k.a. Suzie is an expert in bringing clients back to center to focus on their ‘core genius’ by taking on non-income generating tasks necessary for supporting the core genius and propelling the business to the next level.

With 30 years of experience as a key support for her clients, her top priority has always been to facilitate the most effective strategies for time management and delegation creating the realization that even though her clients CAN do it all, it doesn’t mean they should.

Suzie began her career in the corporate environment but quickly realized there was a growing need for business people not yet ready for a full time assistant yet desperate for a flexible solution to their overwhelm. Working virtually with technical tools that supported her client schedules and travel, she built a continually up-to-date tool-set that eliminates typical everyday obstacles for the entrepreneurs who contract her.  This growing tool-set is about aiding the client in growing their business and removing the straps that bind them to everyday tasks and tugging them away from emphasis on their core genius.

By keeping up with industry changes in marketing, social connecting, and management, Suzie is one of the most experienced Virtual Assistants in the industry.  You can learn more about Suzie by following her on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and her blog, which is packed full of productivity tips.