To Be, Or Not To Be A Bee? That Is The Question.

It’s barely seven months since I decided to have a peek at a site strangely named beBEE, just to see what the buzz was all about. I’m glad I did for really; in many ways it has changed the way I now perceive and interact on social media.

When one thinks about it, it’s not often something ‘good’ comes along and captures one’s interest to the extent that when I turn on the dreaded computer in the morning,  beBEE is now the first site I log on to.

Initially I began to read a few writers whose musings captured my attention, Gert Scholtz  Don 🐝 Kerr, Don 🐝 Kerr Pamela 🐝 Williams Lisa 🐝 Gallagher Jim Murray Pamela 🐝 Williams Ken Boddie and Dean Owen  to name just a few. Suddenly, here were articles covering every possible genre across wide variety of topics and I found that the writing was not only informative and entertaining but,  ‘human.’

It took a few days until I eventually pressed the “join’ button and within a day I received a welcome note from one of the founders (Javier 🐝 beBee) no less!  It was a eureka moment as I felt that I had ‘stumbled upon a site that had ‘member service’ deeply imbedded into their core beliefs. Here were people, from all walks of life writing, I guess for their own pleasure, but at the same time giving joy and knowledge, free of charge to thousands upon thousands of readers.

It didn’t take long before I became a hopeless addict!

Once upon a time I used to post various articles on the now monolithic Linked in via their pulse site, which was OK for a while, until suddenly reader engagement appeared to be dropping like the Dow on “Black Monday.” Eventually, I reached the point when I muttered, “Can’t be bothered.” as really, my self esteem was plunging faster than my ‘viewer engagements’ On a day in April 2016 I took the plunge and posted a piece on beBEE just to see what reaction I would receive from an article originally published on LI

Just before retiring  to bed that evening I was curious and naturally I took a peek to see how the post was going, even though it had only been up for about seven hours.

“No, surely not” I cried, “ How could this be?” 1,300 views in seven hours!! I scrolled down and there, to my delight were scores of comments on the piece and not a negative sentiment in sight! I went to sleep that night on a cloud of euphoria.

That sense of euphoria was exacerbated the following morning when, I awoke and, like the proverbial Pavlovian dog, wanted to see what had transpired while I was asleep. Perhaps I had been dreaming, or the drugs had finally worn off!

Nope, there it was, more engagement, to the tune of 3.5 thousand views! I couldn’t believe that so many people would have been interested in my quirky post about moving into a new house in Bali. Not only that, the piece had been shared in multiple hives and to other sites!

Since that time beBEE has taught me how to be disciplined about posting something each and every week and to read and engage with as many of other bee's posts as possible (It’s not hard as there’s so much good stuff lurking on this site!)

 After seven months I seem to have acquired a batch of new friends (not the FB type of friends) but people one engages with. Now it feels ok to fling a sarcastic comment or two at the likes of Don Kerr, Dean Owen Ken Boddie & Jim Murray, like old mates sharing a beer in a Pub. One  knows that, what will be fired back will be equally sarcastic and often times hysterical.

I have now two bees that I am in regular contact with, guiding them through the rigors of starting a debut novel, even though we have never met face to face. (A bit like the blind leading the blind really!)

Then, a couple of months ago I was invited to become an ambassador which was, and is a humbling experience but one I have embraced with a fair degree of relish. My wife now feels like I am like a deranged prophet wandering  the desert searching for like minded committed disciples!

So, what has beBee done for me, apart from the reader engagement and what I have learnt from other talented bees giving freely of their knowledge and experience?

To date; two things; I have been commissioned by no less than four airlines in the last three months to scribble for their in-flight magazines after having seen what I posted on this site and was no doubt  shared by bees on other platforms. My books, all of them, have seen an uptick in sales, which  I  believe is related to the ‘personal branding’ on beBEE (which is gratifying as I haven’t eaten in months!)

So, to anyone who hasn’t experienced the buzz of beBEE I encourage you to do so, for if you don’t try it, you’ll never know!!!

Paul v Walters is a best selling author of several novels and when not cocooned in sloth and procrastination in his house in Bali scribbles for several international travel and vox pop journals. His latest offering Scimitar was released in late 2016.