I knew when I took the first steps towards running my own business that, whilst I had all the skills needed to provide first class secretarial and office support, there would be many new skills that I would have to learn along the way.

That was more than three years ago, in the days when Facebook meant nothing to me other than my adult children used it for keeping in touch with friends, having a Twitter account was something that celebrities had and then dramatically closed when the going got tough, and LinkedIn was for the upper echelons of the business world.

I was, of course, urged to have a Facebook Business Page (possibly on its way to being defunct now!), advised to open a Twitter account so I could 'tweet' and, of course, I was expected to connect with the world on LinkedIn. My gut reaction was to say no, no ,no - in a similar fashion to Amy Winehouse. But, I soon realised that if I wanted people to start to get to know me, and what BOSS Business Office Support Services could provide, they would first have to see me, whether that meant physically at business networking meetings or out there in the social media world.

So, I started off with a Twitter account - very enjoyable, simple and fun to use. This was followed, after a few months, with a Facebook Business Page - not as enjoyable to use (for me anyway), not as simple and not as much fun, but at least I was learning and participating in social media which I really had never planned or thought I would do. I certainly wouldn't have believed that I could become so excited when one of my tweets or Facebook posts gets 'liked' or retweeted! And, as I discovered, this did mean that slowly but surely people began to notice the work that I do and the business that I run.

The final step in this trilogy of social media platforms, was to embark on 'connecting' with people on LinkedIn. I took this leap of faith about a month ago now and have been pleasantly surprised by its ease of use. I still have a long way to go with understanding how it works and what benefits it can bring, but it's another step along the way of learning 21st Century skills and keeping up!