For couple of years, social media or social networking sites been widely used among Indonesian youth. The number of young people under 30 is more than 50% of the population. Some of them are on Facebook. More than 30 million to be exact. We’re also one of the most twitting nations. With that impressive number and perfect combination for harnessing creativity, we do really have a big hope for the future of our nation.

Where do we start? Combining blogging and social media activities is one of the ways. We all love updating status because it’s easy and it’s short. As short as 140 characters sometimes. But what’s happened when we need to speak more about our insights and ideas? We go to blog. Blog will always be the home point of our online presence and social media open the doors for blog content to find its way to relevant audiences like never before. That way, blogging and social media always come hand in hand. I was so excited with my new share button in the top of my post, now it has counter, Google+ and Tumblr share too That’s make me easier to broadcast my blog content to all over my networks.

I want to highlight some of my activities related to blogging and social media in these couple of weeks.

ASEAN Blogger community gathering. Before going further, I’d like to say Happy Belated Birthday ASEAN Thank you for no VISA policy around most South-East Asia countries :p ASEAN Blogger community aim to create understanding between ASEAN bloggers all over the region and also promote friendship among ASEAN countries. I’m totally supporting this initiative (kudos to initiators Mbak @ajengkol , Mas @imanbr , Mas Amril , and friends), because I felt the positive experience with fellow ASEAN bloggers I’ve met at ASEAN Blogger Conference in Kuala Lumpur several months ago.

Bincang Edukasi. It’s started as a concern for education in Indonesia and how we think technology (internet and social media) can help education issues in our country. That’s why we created a bimonthly meetup especially for grass root movements in education. The first event was in Jakarta and the second was at @atamerica Jakarta. We invited some of people who have been using the power of social media to spread the light. Read the review about Bincang Edukasi event here

Pink Mosques. After hosting Girls in Tech Indonesia event, Lisa came up to me with an idea of traveling to 30 mosques in Jakarta during Ramadan (inspired by 30mosques in USA). The idea grow and we invited Emie on our team. We decided that this won’t be only on Ramadan project and the mosques also can be from all over the world. So excited to visit the mosques and get a closer look to a place that we sometimes take for granted (just because there are a lot of mosques surround us). Check out interesting stories we found on each mosques.

Last but not least, ON | OFF 2011. I’m selected as ChairWoman of ON | OFF 2011. For you who’s not familiar with the name of the event, ON | OFF 2011 actually the equivalent of Pesta Blogger, only for wider audience and expect a bigger impact. This year theme is “Ideas Meet Opportunities“. It’s going to be a 2 days event, the first day will be all about collaboration. There will be seminars, breakout sessions and matchmaking session where you can meet with a lot of people who can help you execute your ideas. They could be an investor, a publisher, people from government, people from organizations, fellow blogger that can be your potential partner to do business or social movements, etc. Second day will be all the fun, the Pesta Blogger, with community festivals, entertainment, winner announcement of competitions, and more.

ON | OFF 2011 will also go to 10 cities this year with the support of US Embassy with the name of ON | OFF CHAT 2011. The first city will be Solo and the first topic is about education. Let’s learn from our friends Agus Sampurno @gurukreatif   and Ainun Chomsun @pasarsapi   on how they use the internet to change mindset, give new knowledge and opportunities for fellow onliner. The event is supported by @akbersolo >> click here for more info about the event also follow @onoffID  on twitter

I am happy to be part of such a powerful event, it’s a big responsibility that I’m willing to take because I believe in how individual power can make a difference to our society.  Thanks to excellent team at ON | OFF 2011 and support from sponsors, we’re going to start our journey and we’re appreciating your support for a better Indonesia!

When you believe in what you’re doing and use your imagination and initiative, you can make a difference.
-Samuel Dash

I’m an introvert. I love speaking thru my writing. I also love life. I love people and their life. I followed more than 2700 people on Twitter. I love reality show. I love doing life experiment. I love biographies. I love life stories. It’s all my passion. With blog, I can read other people stories. I can also write mine. Which double the fun. So, that’s basically what make me start blogging.

But then, what keeps me blogging? It’s the purpose. I want to inspire other people to take positive action after reading my blog. I want to empower more people doing what they love. I want the lesson in life that I get, can be learnt by other people, without they’re having to learn the hard way.

It’s very nice to hear other people’s life is changing because of you. That you make a difference. Once post at a time.

So, it’s been (almost) 8 years and counting. My blogging journey has taking me to places I’ve never imagine before. Brought me amazing  experiences and make me met interesting people along the way. I’m forever grateful.

And now, to celebrate my devotion to blog, I’m very glad to announce my latest book: Want a Better Life? Go For It! Published by Andromeda publishing. The book consist of selection of my blog post in Salsabeela.com about business, personal life, love, and everything in between. I also write some new articles that I’m sure will be worth reading ^-^ You can get the book from the nearest book store. We’ll try to make it available on Kutukutubuku.com asap :p

Now, it’s your turn.

What makes you start & keep blogging?

Tahun ini juga saya menjadi paid blogger untuk menulis di 3 blog dan telah membuat lebih dari 10 blog baru untuk berbagai kepentingan. Baik untuk kepentingan perusahaan saya maupun untuk clients. Blogging is part of my life now and I’m thankful that I could find the first blog I saw in the middle of the night at small internet cafe in Margonda Raya. Because that’s how it’s all started.

Jadi, bagaimana pengalaman kamu dengan blog?

By the way, I’m going to Pesta Blogger 2008! Kamu juga kan? Daftar di sini!

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photo credit: @N00/465852851/" title="Wonderlane" target="_blank">Wonderlane

Jadi basically semua fungsi yang dulu ada tetep ada di blog baru ini. Nggak ada yang berubah kecuali design dan layout yang menurut gue lebih bagus. Yang perlu dibahas sekarang adalah, bagaimana struggle-nya untuk meninggalkan zona nyaman.

Sebelum menggunakan Salsabeela.com, saya menggunakan blog gratisan di Tabulas. Meskipun mudah membuatnya, tapi saya merasa nggak berkembang. Itu karena fiturnya yang menurut saya kurang dan nggak selengkap WordPress. Setelah bertahun-tahun dan akhirnya resign dari kantor sehingga mempunyai waktu lebih banyak, gue pun segera hijrah ke WordPress. Ternyata hasilnya sangat mengesankan. Pengunjung suka dengan tampilan yang rapi dan enak di pandang, tulisan pun menjadi terbaca, dan komentar yang masuk juga semakin banyak. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

Dari point itu pun gue langsung merasa nyaman dengan template yang kemarin. Untuk menggantinya lagi, saya harus keluar dari zona nyaman, harus rela utak atik ini itu lagi, merapikan dan membuat penyesuaian. Pokoknya harus mau repot lagi. Setelah membuat to-do list, akhirnya termotivasi untuk mengganti template dan semua selesai dalam waktu 1 jam. Ternyata nggak serepot itu, kok!

Mungkin pikiran-pikiran negatif kita banyak mengambil alih ruang kosong di kepala. Namun jangan biarkan ia tinggal berlama-lama di otak kita. Usir dengan positive thinking dan action! TukuSolution juga baru saja redesign. Positive energy plus strategi jitu dari template baru ini telah mendatangkan clients buat TukuSolution. Berani mencoba?

Hari ini baru saja ngambil my first MoneyGram, yaiiiyy!! MoneyGram ini adalah kiriman dari sebuah perusahaan di Amrik yang meng-hire gue untuk ngeblog secara professional (Pro Blogger). Artinya? Ya gue di-assign untuk nulis di beberapa blog dengan topik berbeda yang mereka buat, dan gue dapat duit flat per bulan sesuai jumlah blog yang gue tulis (blog bukan post ya). Asyik kan??

Sekarang sebenernya kerjaan ngeblog tuh buanyak banget! Kita bisa lihat daftar kerjaannya di Problogger Job Board. Mas Budi Putra bahkan bisa dibilang pelopor Pro Blogger di Indonesia. Beliau resign dari kerjaannya di Majalah Tempo untuk ngeblog.

Nowadays, orang semakin sadar untuk menggunakan blog untuk berbagai kepentingan, dan salah satu yang paling penting di Amrik sekarang ini adalah menggunakannya untuk Public Relation (And that’s why gue di hire hehe). In my case, gue dapet kerjaan ini dari rekomendasi Goldy. Setelah dikenalin, gue kasih lihat contoh tulisan-tulisan blog gue dalam bahasa Inggris. Dia sempet tanya juga, “How you handle topics that are not your expertise?” Ya, jawabannya gampang…, “Research!”

Sekarang blog yang gue handle topiknya tentang financial dan berita artis gitu. Seru banget, berasa Rebecca Bloomwood (Shopaholic), yang jadi wartawan financial yang nulis hal-hal yang dilanggarnya sendiri hahaha.

Oh ya, selama ini gue biasa terima uang untuk bisnis-bisnis gue yang lain di Western Union, ini pengalaman pertama di MoneyGram. Kalau mau ambil uang via MoneyGram, langsung ke Lippo Bank aja sebelum jam 2. Trus tanya Satpamnya counter MoneyGram yang mana. Trus kasih KTP, Reference # (minta dari pengirim) dan nama lengkap pengirim. Nama penerima juga harus sesuai dengan KTP. Tak lama uang pun mengucur. Ada materai Rp 6.000 yang perlu kita bayar juga.

Good luck!