STOP and smell the roses

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• "We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we are not alone."  
•  ~Orson Welles
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• February is a month that is surrounded by love.  Centered on Valentines Day, it symbolizes giving, kindness, sharing and peace.  By examining what it means to me, I am able to clarify my goals and acknowledge that I am steady on the path of being surrounded by positive, talented, like-minded people, friends, colleague, and contacts.

We live in a world that is constantly on the go.  We have to keep pace to avoid being left behind or out of the loop.  How we accomplish that, likely determines our attitude and definition of happiness.   Even though I am not an analyst or psychologist, however, I often take stock of my own environment, influences and whether they compliment my goals or detract from them.  I believe that as adults we often focus and examine how we are doing by what matters internally:

• attitude 

• health

• security

• knowledge

• talent

• relationships

• environment

"Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand."

~Mother Teresa

As children, we rely on external matters to gauge our happiness and determine our well being:

• emotions (feelings, expression, innocence)

• love (parents, siblings, friends, teachers) 

• surrounding (safe, secure, nurturing, role models, idols)

• responsibility (chores, roles, carefree) 

• activity (school, outings, extra curricular)

• discovery (learn, adventure, mistakes)

• My purpose of late is focused on creativity and knowledge.  I continuously endeavor to fuel my spunky side and keep motivated, positive and filled with gratitude for all that I am lucky to have in so much abundance (family, children, friends).  I  strive to be identified by excellence, being helpful, knowledgeable and one who curates valuable content for others to enjoy.  I continue to develop my creativity -- to write and visual eye of  beautiful photography and art.

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  "You had me at hello."  ~Dorothy 
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Do you take time to just stop and appreciate what you have or take a look around you?   Or do you take stock and be bitter over the past or what shortcomings life may have?  Are you one of those score keepers? 

During the month of love, otherwise known as February, it is important that you love yourself above all else.  Not in a narcissistic self absorbed way (lord knows, there are plenty of those types out there), but in a kind way.  Remember your blessings and seek out all the good that you need to feel complete and happy.  There are enough things out there that can throw us curve balls.  If we are heart smart, they can't impact our health, our well being,  or our ability to love and be loved.

Whatever you do, I hope you have the time of your life!

"The best thing to hold
onto in life is each other."

~Audrey Hepburn

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Orange you glad I picked orange?

I have implemented and included the color and fruit orange into my theme and as a key identifier or logo to be associated with @optioneerJM.  My blog is a bit behind my business cards that adopted the image several months ago. 

 I love the idea of the orange because it is so appealing to me and likely many others.  It depicts freshness, health, colorfulness, while being memorable.  I also associate the color orange with a positive vibe.

In my brief research, I discovered that in psychology, Orange is the color of social communication and optimism .... amazingly spot on to who I want to be associated with.  

Reading on, I learned that the color orange radiates warmth and happiness.  It relates to "gut reaction' or "gut instinct".  Orange also offers emotional strength in difficult times.  It helps us to bounce back from disappointment, despair and assists in the recovery from grief.  The color orange radiates warmth and happiness, combining the physical energy and stimulation of red with the cheerfulness of yellow.  

So, why do I put so much emphasis on the color orange?  It is because I read a long time back that the colors you select in your logo are important clues to longevity and success.  Imagine that? 

According to Wikipedia:  

Color psychology is the study of color as a determinant of human behavior. Examples include quantification of individual color preferences^[1] and investigating the relationship between shirt color and match outcome in English football.^[2] However, the interface between color and environmental stimuli is a highly complex interface and one which is open to the influence of a large number of factors. In addition, there are a number of key reasons why the principle of caveat emptor should prevail in regard to color psychology, especially in regard to information about colour psychology found in mainstream media and popular culture.^[3]

The color psychology of orange is optimistic and uplifting, rejuvenating our spirit. In fact orange is so optimistic and uplifting that we should all find ways to use it in our everyday life, even if it is just an orange colored pen that we use.

Orange brings spontaneity and a positive outlook on life and is a great color to use during tough economic times, keeping us motivated and helping us to look on the bright side of life.

Here are a few more benefits of orange:

• It promotes enthusiasm for life
• Relates to adventure and risk-taking
• Inspires confidence, competition and independence
• Those inspired by orange are always on the go!
• Those who love orange are extroverted and uninhibited
• Orange lovers tend to show off
• Orange stimulates two-way conversations
• Orange gets people thinking and talking!

Well, I certainly hope my blog is uplifting, optimistic and spirited.  It is going to be an adventure to see whether it brings all the fun it promises.  Thank YOU for joining me on the ride!

WTF is SEO?

Be a yardstick of quality.  Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.

 ~Steve Jobs

A guest comment on my Linked In post, bluntly asked:  "WTF is SEO?" What a great question!  You see it everywhere on pretty much any social media site and fairly often as an attribute by a company or individual professing to be an expert.  "WTF" is right!  Although that is best avoided in polite language (most people can probably guess what it stands for) .... or it could possibly mean:  "W-ith T-rue F-ondness". 

FYI (For your information): SEO = Search Engine Optimization 

My apology for getting caught in my own trap by using the SEO acronym.  What it really means is persons or organizations who can bump up your results in search engine query results.  Often they are ones who specialize  in web analytic.  

According to Wikipedia:  Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine's "natural" or un-paid ("organic") search results. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search, academic search,[1] news search and industry-specific vertical search engines.

As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, what people search for, the actual search terms or keywords typed into search engines and which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience. Optimizing a website may involve editing its content, HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines. Promoting a site to increase the number of backlinks, or inbound links, is another SEO tactic.

SEO is often linked with advertising, marketing, events, blogs, promotions, email campaigns, social media -- whatever it takes to drive traffic to an organizations website.  

The top in the craft of SEO is when there are key words commonly linked with that organization or web site, is set to attract the web crawlers or virtual robots who scroll through millions of content to determine who/what/where you appear in  ranking results.  i.e. Page 1 or page 10 (not including paid banner ads).  

  

Design is a funny word.  Some people think design means how it looks.  But of course, if you dig deeper, it's really how it works.

 ~Steve Jobs

  

 Most consumers today will not buy anything without first doing research:  reviews, media, etc.  How they do it, is typically by random searches by product, name or questions that lands them on a website to navigate around to find what they came looking for.  In fact, according to Hubspot:"55% of visitors spend fewer than 15 seconds on your website." 

Savvy web masters, have laid the trap to snag those searches on behalf of their organization or clients website.  This potentially leads to more inquiries, calls to actions, limited time deals, generated by the website.

There are other ways to get around the crowd and get in front -- quick fixes for those who don't have the time to wait for organic results.  Organic results, are from slow, steady, concentrated, consistent messaging out in the social media world.  Quick fixes, are paid banner ads through Google ad words or Facebook campaigns, keyword manipulations, buying followings, likes and the works.

Before you seriously consider hiring an SEO, marketing or content guru, ask yourself, what makes them so special?  I know I'm pretty darn tired of reading a bio or boast by someone wanting to take your money to "help you" increase your results, then go to Twitter and they only have a few hundred followers or even better, look them up on KRED or KLOUT to see how they rate among peers and it is dismal, not even noteworthy.

I would suggest you leave those "selling ice to eskimos" SEO, web analytical and Social Media self-proclaimed TOP of everything to their fooled customers who believe they are spending money to gain some hidden holy grail.   The truly gifted and ones you should be hiring are actively participating in it, not just talking and blowing steam at everyone.  They have results on KLOUT and KRED and have their own following.

Do your homework before you part with any money.

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.  ~George S. Patton