VISUALIZE it ... photos and images draw attention to Social Media

“There are no bad pictures; that's just how your face looks sometimes.” 

― Abraham Lincoln

I don't know about you but I am irritated by those posts that try to entice you by buy FOLLOWERS on Twitter or LIKES on Facebook.  Why not? Because you can attract your own followers and likes and it is easy.  How? Use beautiful images, funny cartoons, inspiring quotes, awe-inspiring photography with similar results.

There are popular social media platforms that at first glance you think it is the land of the "selfie" and in many accounts it is.  Then again, like anything online today, YOU have the power to x-out, close or block any unseemly or unappetizing visuals.

If you have something to say on social media, it will gain a significantly larger viewership than if it is simply text on its own.  Take for example, some of my favorites lately:

Nothing says hi-5, thank you, right on, cheers, better than bump it!

People like flowers.  Magnify a quote, give thanks or show appreciation.

Cute kids are a favorite to use to express meaning or create inspiration.

 Worldly advice, quotes, age or maturity

Beautiful world:  For poetry or song sunsets and oceans romanticize.

Setting suns, sailboats, water set wing to your thoughts and wishes.

Glorious skies in abundant colors for wisdom, dreams and faith

Celebrate events with fireworks that sparkle your words with color

Isolation is not always a sad thing with words.

Clashing emotions with self discovery can bring peace

Moonlight shadows create inspiring emotions

Whimsical and refreshing with the cherry on top

God and faith inspires many who find peace with words

Mother Nature is always hard at work to bring us beauty

Childhood and innocence are virtues that we like to revisit

Cats are popular characters for our imagination

Discover new places and adventure to far away lands.

People's faces teach us about tragedy, triumph and acceptance

Understanding bridges acceptance to unknown worlds and people.

Black and white or color:  we enjoy sifting through beautiful images.

If you enjoyed this visual story and want to find more images of your own, there are some great sites you can wander around in, like, follow or share the treasures you discover:

PINTEREST http://www.pinterest.com/
Pinterest is a company that provides an Internet service that they describe as a visual discovery tool. People use Pinterest to collect ideas for projects and interests. Users create and share collections (called “boards”) of visual bookmarks (called “Pins”) that they use to do things like plan trips, develop projects, organize events or save articles and recipes. There is also a like feature to save certain pins that may not fit with a board. The site was founded by Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra and Evan Sharp. It is managed by Cold Brew Labs and funded by a small group of entrepreneurs and investors.^[3]



INSTAGRAM:  http://instagram.com/
Instagram is an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, apply digital filters to them, and share them on a variety of social networking services, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr.^[7] A distinctive feature is that it confines photos to a square shape, similar to Kodak Instamatic and Polaroid images, in contrast to the 4:3 aspect ratio typically used by mobile device cameras. Users are also able to record and share short videos lasting for up to 15 seconds.^[8]

Instagram was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and launched in October 2010. The service rapidly gained popularity, with over 100 million active users as of April 2012.^[9][10]

GOOGLE PLUS: https://plus.google.com/

Google+ (pronounced and sometimes written as Google Plus) is a social networking and identity service^[3][4] that is owned and operated by Google Inc. Google has described Google+ as a "social layer" that enhances many of its online properties, and that it is not simply a social networking website, but also an authorship tool that associates web-content directly with its owner/author.^[5] It is the second-largest social networking site in the world after Facebook. 540 million monthly active users are part of the Identity service site, by interacting socially with Google+'s enhanced properties, likeGmail, +1 button, and YouTube comments.^[6] In October 2013, Google counted 540 million active users who used at least one Google+ service, of which 300 million users are active in "the stream".^[1][7][8]





TUMBLR:  https://www.tumblr.com/

Tumblr (stylized in its logo as tumblr.) is a microblogging platform and social networking website founded by David Karp and owned by Yahoo! Inc. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog. Users can follow other users' blogs, as well as make their blogs private.^[4][5] Much of the website's features are accessed from the "dashboard" interface, where the option to post content and posts of followed blogs appear.

As of July 1, 2014, Tumblr hosts over 192.9 million blogs.^[2] The company's headquarters is in New York City.

FLICKR:  https://www.flickr.com/

Flickr (pronounced "flicker") is an image hosting and video hosting website, and web services suite that was created byLudicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, and effectively an online community, the service is widely used by photo researchers and bybloggers to host images that they embed in blogs and social media.




I hope you like this imagery shared ... now it is your time to reach out and click and discover what amazing, interesting and informative images await you.

Enjoy your summer!

NOTE:  Source used for descriptions en.wikipedia.org/

Wikipedia (ⁱ/ˌwɪkɨˈpiːdiə/ or ⁱ/ˌwɪkiˈpiːdiə/ wik-i-pee-dee-ə) is a collaboratively edited, multilingual, free-access, free content Internet encyclopedia that is supported and hosted by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Volunteersworldwide collaboratively write in more than 200 languages. The English Wikipedia contains over 4.5 million articles. Almost anyone who can access the site can edit almost any of its articles, which collectively make up^[4] the Internet'slargest and most popular general reference work.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} Wikipedia is the sixth most popular website.^[3] As of 2014, it has 18 billion page views and nearly 500 million unique visitors each month.^[10]

Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger launched Wikipedia on January 15, 2001. Sanger^[11] coined its name,^[12] aportmanteau of wiki (the name of a type of collaborative website, from the Hawaiian word for "quick")^[13] andencyclopedia. 

REFERENCE:  Selfie

A selfie is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a hand-held digital camera or camera phone. Selfies are often shared on social networking services such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tumblr. They are often casual, and are typically taken either with a camera held at arm's length or in a mirror.

Selfie of amacaque who had picked up a camera.

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” 

― Ansel Adams

INFORMATION overload or PRIVACY invasion? A new era of advertising.

“I have a theory about the human mind. A brain is a lot like a computer. It will only take so many facts, and then it will go on overload and blow up.”

~Erma Bombeck

We're all bombarded by information overload with "BUY ME" screaming at us everywhere.  It doesn't matter if you're on a solo drive to work or on transit, relaxing at home -- we ARE surrounded by advertisements:  the radio, billboards, bus ads, vehicle wraps. We log on to our computers at home to check our email or check our social media to see what family or friends are up to and even that is surrounded with banner ads.  

Certainly, information is getting more personalized.  Some folks even go so far as to say that too much trust is innocently being handed over to the big engines who monitor our clicks to tailor what we see.  Oh, boy.  Sure sounds like "Big Brother" has arrived doesn't it?  Of course.  There it is: the popular TV show where you can watch people hang out all day and night, get into fights, delve into relationships, intimate or lead others. That's entertainment!

There are plenty of people that are opposed to signing up to social media platforms, holding out and not caving in to what seemingly everyone is doing.  There are definitely good reason for many.  Except, if you think you are avoiding anything, you're being snowed.  Those individuals may see it as a waste of time, perceive narcissism, or simply state that they don't want to broadcast what they're thinking, watching, reading.   Privacy right? 

I'll admit, sometimes when I'm driving I may happen to notice a billboard or transit ad on the back of the bus I'm behind.  Usually the image first catches my eye and if I'm stopped at a stop light,  I might even notice the caption or tag line ... and then .... yes, there it is - the ULTIMATE:  the website.  OK, I ask myself, where is the address?  What about a phone number?  I'm expected to remember the website so then I can go look it up?  Geezwhiz.

Oh, wait a minute, where is that pen/paper or my soft phone to capture a photo of the moving ad to write the website down while I'm DRIVING! That seems pretty dumb, almost hilarious to me.  At least laughing out loud would be safer than juggling steering wheel, feet on the pedal, while keeping your eyes on the road.  Oh right, they want to take your eyes off the road so that you will pay attention to the ad, and memorize the website.  We're not burnt out from work, our eyes are not tired.  We want to jump up and say -- I wanna look that up by golly! 

Forget kissing your spouse, asking your kids how their day went, or walking the dog.  First thing you will do is fire up the computer, log on to the computer to go to the website before you turn on the television or pick up the paper .... all which are tempting you with alternative offers to distract you so you forget about it until you are cleaning up the car you find the rumpled piece of paper or looking for what to delete off your phone to free up space.  By then, you probably won't even remember why you had it to begin with or your budget is already blown. Come to think of it, somebody else is spending  pretty big budgets to tell us to go to a website?

What about when the television is flipped on to relax.  Yeah right!  Who can watch anything these days without being irritated by so many television ads?  Flip on over to Netflix, AMC or HBO special programs and notice if there aren't any product placements with brand logos?  Not too often.

Have I made my point:  Someone is making a lot of dough justifying unsafe habits or invading your privacy so that you will only go to their WEBSITE. 

“There are many things of which a wise man might wish to be ignorant” 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Recognition REWARDS

"There are two things people want more than sex and money... recognition and praise."

~Mary Kay Ash

Recognition is the most powerful tool in a leader's toolbox.  Genuine, authentic praise creates a positive culture and encourages your team to strive harder.  Nothing communicates louder for a job well done!  What do you do to reward a success in your organization?

• A plaque with employees' name displayed prominently;
• Throw a party -- bring in pizza, refreshments
• Give out tickets to the company's sports seats
• Issue praise company wide, including executives
• Give time off -- let them leave at noon on a long weekend 
• Offer to take individuals out for lunch 

I agree with praise and recognition.  In fact, offered suggestions that may be valuable.  However, limited financial resources or tenuous approval chains can prevent the lunches and company parties.  I don't think they are necessary.   In my opinion, our society needs to communicate that there are ways to give that are not always financial.   Donating is important and a great reward for commendable behavior.  

The next time you consider rewarding someone or a team, consider donating to charity.  Time is money and tends to have a much greater long term value.  It benefits the charity, the community while bolstering the company's reputation.  

Who the manager or leader chooses to participates is recognition in itself and communicates that this person or team represents what the company stands for and those strengths are being shared with the community. 

Charity work lifts the spirits of many and can impact generations.  

What about mentoring and leading by reinforcing positive qualities?  For example, instead of just donating tickets to an event for "Kids Up Front" ( http://kidsupfront.com /) offer to have one of your top employees escort the child to the event.  

Instead of donating books to the local school or library, have your team spend a morning with preschoolers and read to them. It would encourage the love of reading and instill the habit by those whom children may look up to.

The next time you consider rewarding someone or a team, consider donating your best resources to charity -- people. It generates pride and satisfaction from the participants.  It also instills a model of giving that is not always monetary.  

"Don't worry if you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition."

~Abraham Lincoln

Eagle's Nest or Crow's View? Who is better to sell for?

There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.

~Nelson Mandella

A recent article in Linked In got me thinking ... which is better from a sales point of view -- to sell for a big corporation or a small organization?  There are definitely good points for either.

Smaller Company (Crow's View)

• Usually bigger job title
• Greater agility in customizing solutions for customers
• Less bureaucracy to weed through to get an answer
• You can pick up the phone and call an executive for permission to clarify rules, boundaries, pricing
• The President, or an Operations Executive, will roll up their sleeves and sit in and pow wow to brainstorm on ways to win a customer
• You will be given more responsibility, in a shorter period of time because you have less people to prove anything too
• On the flip side, if you mess up, it will be exposed more readily with less barriers
• You will have to prove to the customer that you can handle their work or requirements
• Looking from the outside in, you may more easily identify gaps in service that you can fill
• You can offer to be the back up provider to the Bigger Corporation, which can be a toe in the door
• Customer relationships have a wider breadth - they get to know the delivery/dispatch personnel to the service tech, to the accounting people
• If your customers run into financial challenges, you can often navigate a win win arrangement that will earn loyalty
• More difficult for a smaller company to have the advertising, PR machine that the Big Corporation has
• Small companies tend to be entrepreneurial, therefore, many customers know the owner/principle personally
• Loyalty between employer and employee tend to be pronounced and rewarded with trust
• Smaller graphic locations or spread out to only a few branches

Big Corporation (Eagle's Nest)

• You will typically have brand recognition, which opens doors easily, even if just gaining appointments
• You will have a smaller title and a narrower realm of responsibility
• More people get involved, which can often cause confusion with the customer
• Too many silos or processes can greatly hamper being able to serve the customers
• Difficult to communicate, many channels you have to go through to get a single answer,
• The Big Corporation could be its own worst enemy --  you feel like you're constantly jumping through hoops to get have simple things done (i.e. credit to customer owed)
• Change is imminent .... customers are sometimes uncomfortable when they have to keep explaining themselves through various channels
• Streamlined processes are sometimes the barriers created to do business with customers
• Executives rarely visit with customers, and even then, they must be substantial in order to see
• Many managers are figureheads, numbers watchers, metric creators, and results drivers
• Strictly a professional relationship that rarely goes beyond to personal, family, history, because managers constant change prevents
• You have to prove yourself through multiple layers, multiple channels, multiple colleagues and their managers, in multiple locations to get one thing done
• The rules are the rules, the processes are the processes

The main difference highlighted definitely show the benefits and obstacles of both Big and Small.  Yes, in a smaller organization, there is less bureaucracy to weed through to get an answer, which often impacts customer responsiveness.  However, it you've worked for a substantial corporation, you are accustomed to the luxury of process ... less fly by the seat of your pants knee jerk reactions.  Alternatively, big companies have so many silos and obstacles in front of employees that negatively affect customers.

One of the biggest misconceptions I had was when a Small Company was acquired by a Big Corporation....  I was under the misguided impression that there would be big influx of money.  That was hardly real.  Stiff cost controls are common in both scenarios. 

The ability to serve is what is key.  There are definitely pros and cons to either.   Utopia would be finding a nice balance between the two.