Over the last 24 hours, I have been slightly losing my mind. The economy sucks, as we all know, knowing you’re in “good company” doesn’t help when you’ve been laid off from your job. Especially when, just two months ago, you thought you’d never have to look for a job again. (Which was huge, since my husband and I have suffered at least one layoff per year for the last five years.)

Instead of completely freaking out, which was a real possibility, I threw all of my personal belongings in a box, stopped crying so I could drive home, and hopped on Twitter.

Within five minutes of my first tweet about being laid off, I had DMs from half a dozen people. Within a few more hours, dozens of people had contacted me to extend their sympathies and to offer any help they could.  I’ve had a few feeler emails asking for my rates and areas of expertise. I’ve cobbled together a quick listing of services and introductory rates in editing, article writing, and blogging.  For now, everything is negotiable.  I’m sure the rates for my services will sort themselves out once I see how busy I’m going to be!

I would like to thank everyone who offered their help in setting up this Web site, particularly the anonymous person who generously donated a copy of Thesis for me. (Once I’m back on my feet, I’m totally getting myself the developer version so I can use it on my other sites.)

Thank you all for your kind, supportive words.

Thank you to those who have told me to “keep in touch” so we can work together on a project. (My Gmail is overflowing, so I hope I don’t lose your messages! I’ve got a support ticket in with my hosting company to set up my new email here, so stay tuned.)

Thank you to everyone who has joined my network on LinkedIn.

Thank you to the folks at SMX who are doing some face-to-face networking for me. (Wish I was there!)

Out of the dozens of people who have reached out to me, I can count on one hand the number of people I’ve actually met in person. The rest of you are all people I’ve met in the Twittersphere or elsewhere online. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have gotten to know you, and to have earned enough of your respect that you were so responsive when I needed support.

Social media rocks.