Yours truly has now signed on to be a member of The Magazine Association of the Southeast (MAGS) - the premier organization you should be a part of if you are involved in any aspect of the publishing industry, in my case, that being editorial. I believe they've around for 20 odd years and host the annual GAMMA conference! I am happy to be a member here for 2012 and cant wait to see the interesting opportunities it will bring my way.

Networking enthusiast that I am, further efforts to find resourceful networking groups that I can be a member of to connect and obtain leads for this business resulted in my becoming a member with the Atlanta Women's Independent Network (AIWN), a small and new group of women entrepreneurs from the most varied fields that have come together to help nurture and empower other women entrepreneurs. I attended their holiday party today and that pretty much sold it for me. Every single board member came over and introduced themselves once they knew I was a new member. They were all so friendly and approachable, ever ready to share information about the group and their experiences being members. They pulled together a fabulous holiday event, with food and a silent auction as well as wine tastings. They sure impressed me with their annual event calendar for 2012! I am upbeat about this group and look forward to the January meeting which will be a showcase for members to display their talents. You be sure I'll be there!

Global Glam, the online luxury lifestyle magazine I am Managing Editor at, is looking for writers. So if you are a freelance writer wanting some exposure or an established writer with time to spare, this is a great opportunity. The magazine is the brainchild of Atlanta fashion designer Christine Philip and is scheduled for a grand relaunch in Jan 2012. The magazine focuses on travel, shopping, beauty, fashion, charity, celebrities and much more. Contact [email protected] for more information. Thanks!

An interesting article I found online on the Atlanta Small Biz Blog that I can relate to -
The Power of Proofreading

If you've been reading my blog you probably have read the name Walter Akana here before. Walter and I met through common friends and our mutual fascination for technology and social media had us hitting it off right away. I met with Walter today so we could both sound off ideas on what we were doing and where we were going professionally. Walter happens to be a life coach, works on projects for some big companies and has an inspiring website that will keep you captured and enslaved in no time! If you need Walter for your next company training session, reach out and rest assured he will grab the opportunity to work with you. He is a real people person, one who is very approachable and friendly, and has a lot to share that could well be worth your time and effort.

Part of my core idea for this business was to be able to volunteer each year with a different group, providing my services pro bono. I ended up looking online and was very pleased when I chanced upon the website of the Atlanta Audubon Society, a birding and nature group. Sure enough, I reached out to help with their communications efforts and had a very good meeting today with one of the staff members. Looks like I will be doing some work for them as regards their communications outreach so I am looking forward to this interesting association.

In order to connect with other creative professionals in the metro Atlanta area, I decided to become a member of the Freelance Forum. It's a steal at less than $100 for annual membership. It's a closed group that meets on fixed days of the month at a fixed time and location so that makes it easy to have the events on your calendar through the year. They are a great group...I attended a handful of events before I decided to join the group and found each session to be as helpful as the next. Their session today was on using LinkedIn to further business presented by Dianne Crompton. She had her book available there for purchase, and of course, I jumped at the opportunity to grab such an amazingly useful resource. I had another surprise in store for me when I found out my dear friend Walter Akana was quoted in many chapters!!