Networth, self-worth, share-worth

Have you ever noticed (with the exception of a very few  only share their OWN stuff, post, share, photo, info and rarely acknowledge others unless it is within in their own post, share?  

I'm discovering who those people are now and debating the worthiness of keeping them in my sphere of  people because selfishness, self-promotion and ego are not  I enjoy being associated with. 

 I wonder if those same people even will read this and a light bulb go off in their heads, so wrapped up in their own messages/images that they cannot see the trees due to the forest they are crowded in.  I guess social media has made me skeptical in a few instances.  Thankfully, there are so many endless possibilities that one can't help continue to be optimistic on one's quest for knowledge at their fingertips.

The perfect example that seems to be working is Donald Trump.  It appears that this approach is considered not arrogant but earned, met with optimism rather than skepticism.  Why would these people help others when they are so wrapped up in their own agenda of helping themselves?

Even if I don't unfollow because I may get a minimal like on my comment or share, I will continue to monitor this trend I've uncovered.  You, yourself, may have wondered yourself.  As a newborn social media enthusiast, not quite at the doorstep of deemed an influencer, you probably follow far more others than they follow you.  Don't worry, I "get" that you perhaps consider their posts, tweets, and the LIKE on the many platforms worthy of sharing with your own tribe on your own journey of self-discovery which often results in influence.  Almost by accident.  Ironically.

I am debating to shelve these people and put them back in the fold like so many others like us.  Taking the chance that their information will float into our sphere.  Certainly, the intuitiveness of Google, Facebook are starting to float them before us more frequently as we demonstrate a keenness in that particular topic or information trend.

I will tell you a BIG known secret:  these people are being told that they have merit.  Absolutely by volumes of followers, amount of shares and even invitations to write or use their talents for brands still behind trying to cope with this fantastic forum of freedom of expression.

Image courtesy of:  slidehunter.com

Upward Sloping Curve Template for PowerPoint

With social media still in its infancy, the cycle or the curve is still on the upswing.  History has proven that the most successful are at the early stage of the upswing and others written about and studied to learn from as they plummet on the inevitable downswing.  Staying relevant will determine the speed of which you decline.  It may take you much longer to get to the top of the curve, but the odds are the longer it takes you to climb the mountain, the more likely it will be that you will float behind those nose diving downward.

I would say those unaware will get caught offguard like the forefathers of vision who end up on the cutting room floor of education, documentaries and so on.  Books, accolades and history will bare witness to the ones who stayed hungry and humble without losing sight of their beginnings as a lingering taste to remind them.

Donald Trump, for President? Does net-worth, self-worth spell vote worthy?

You don't have to follow those people that boosts their positions, egos and fame.  You will see them enough as they cloud the web waves of domination.  Like Trump, they are always there as a continuous reminder that they are.  

I've decided to remain humble and hungry.  I want to climb strongly, steadily and float when the curve declines to be on the ready for the next force to be reckoned with.  I thank you for allowing me to be your captain as you read my blog, to be your guide.

SIDEBAR:  Do you ever happen to notice that whatever press con-ference or media opportunity Donald Trump is pounding his importance on, his wife doesn't walk beside him like she is his partner, but behind him.  It may communicate that he considers few men or women are worthy to walk beside him.  That is a fairly predictable personality pinpoint that foreshadows what his true character may be.

social media is ALL about YOU!

Social media IS all about YOU!

A question was posed on Jeannette  Facebook (yes people interact and ask questions of their most trusted advisors privately without all the hoopla on Twitter) on which network have respondents'  found to be the best to launch their social media presence?   Initially, I was going to reply with Twitter but then realized that my LINKED IN profile says the most about who I am with links to my Blog,  philosophy OptioneerJM  interests (Pinterest), philosophy (Blog) and (Blog) out of  all the networks.  However, I stopped myself to expand to state that I would credit Twitter  for launching my#socialmedia personality to the stratosphere (compared to the others) ... honorable mention: without "working it) G+ #Google where I gained 5000#Followers compared to working it on #Twitter .  

I have also uncovered an interesting tidbit.  InstraGRAM has it's own stars, as Guy Kowasaki launched giHUGE on Google Plus.   Goolge is appearing to be a sleeper platform.  Surprisingly so since about three years ago I predicted that anything connected with Google was going to rapidly expand, really, I attest to its overall power over anything on the internet.

Bill Gates must really be shuddering and Steve Jobs, rolling in the clouds (the white ones), with Mr.  Pakard, and Mr. Hewitt smiling fondly on a company that used their core values as a foundling to a superstar of anything technology -- internet, networks, cloud, search, blogs, SEO, content, mobility, games, Playstore.  Non would disagree that Google allowed its team to study its competitors in the space they wanted to dominate:  YOUR ATTENTION.

Thus the title of this blog:  social media IS all about YOU!

Father, brother, uncle, grandfather, coach, teacher, banker, employer, boss, clergy, mentor

Where else can you be you?  

Seriously, you have to behave at church, pay attention in school, exert in extra-curricular activities, mind your manners with parents, siblings, relatives, friends sometimes, employer, boss, clergyman, partner, spouse, mentor, grandparents, and the clerk at the grocery store!  Ah-hem (deep breath).... I'm exhausted and I didn't finish ... study, pay attention to your education or else your boss or your banker won't pay much attention to you while your friends, coach, family, mentor find other things to do because you lost their attention!

Finished stretching ... then there is your coach riding you on your sport, job, career, book, audio, video endurance.  Can you stay relevant to your close circle of friends for the long run between relationships, getting married, having kids, setting up house, shopping, financial future, expertise, interests, or other activities?  


Who can you show your photos to?

Be truthful and brutally honest, nobody wants to sit through your narrative on your vacation, travels, business trip, conference, school, wedding, birth, kids activity, sport, scores, sayings do they?  How about you try sharing some photos with your blathering, shouting out, retweeting, shares, posts, profile, bio?  Why would they settle in while you pass them photos of your graduation, party, BBQ, reunion, gathering, holiday, trips, flowers,  food, fantasies when they tend to be serious about fitness, facts, favorites, family, focus.


Do people tune out when you philosophize?

Where did you get your certification, degree or Ph.D in recommending anything as important?  Do you get to write and be featured in a magazine, newspaper, radio broadcast, television commercial, event, musical talents?  Well, most of the people I know any way.  Don't feel bad.  You are part of the norm.  Which makes me wonder where do all the exceptional, inspirational, motivational, celebrity, famous, super stars hang out all together?  You thinking like me, not very many chill together.



Where can you test your theories?

So you know a thing or two is saved for self-proclaimed experts.  Most of us know about a lot of different things which circle around interests:  reading, writing, the environment, oceanography, meteorology, photography, and the king of it all:  technology.  Don't forget about art, beauty, fashion, fitness, food.  Think about it:  you wake up in the morning, and what you do makes you a participant of any number of those items.   You maybe even stretching your brain to understand about all of them.  Under technology you are using a computer, a laptop, a tablet, a cell phone, a telephone, a mobile phone, a smart phone with your fingertips so that must mean you are technology whiz too!

Fighting the pack is photography.  Some are photographers, others videographers.  But before we bow and face defeat ... we stand up to say we know just about anything about photography because we all have identification, passports, passes, reports, files, government with hands on experience ourselves so we can be a photographer of fame then.

We cook, eat, shop for groceries, nourish, exercise, shop, dress, apply makeup, learn all in the same day which makes us knowledgeable about just about everything.


Where can you learn?

Certainly, I get it.  We all went to kindergarten, elementary, junior high, middle school, high school, college, university, conference, the internet, books, libraries to assemble our knowledge.  Never all at the same time.


How do you share your love?

Personally, I like flowers, chocolates, getting it on, hugs and kisses.  Do you know that about me?  What makes you so special that you know that you have a spot in my heart? If you're lucky you will get a smile, a note, a card, a joke, an email, a bouquet of flowers, basket of fruit, my time, my attention, my loyalty, my effort, my response, and share likely except the chocolate perhaps.

#BlueAngels, #Airplanes, #SeaFair, #Planes #Seattle

Where DO you go?

Social media is   elementary my dear people.  You can do all those things, be all those people, be true to who you are, reject what is offensive, ignore what is irrelevant, find out what is going on, who has it going on, where you can go:  travel, holiday, parks, oceans, seas, islands, countries, cities, experience, challenge, react to, rise up to, reach out to, reep rewards from?  Social media my dear friends.  

#Minions #minion #banana #character #joke #quote

Who do you CONNECT with?

Besides the obvious that fall into your physical circle of influence, you can expand your influence, your circle, your friendships, your crushes, your adventures, mind, knowledge, specialty.  You use social media to do that.  Who ever said "the world was our oyster" was brilliant and a futurist who sensed that the world would end up be by what we do with those skills, experience, wisdom so that others may benefit, like, discover, recover, inspire, motivate, learn.  You sound a poem?  Very likely you have wrote one or read one, where can you do both?  Social media:  you can talk, read, act, smile, frown, inform, share, post, put forward.


Unconvinced still?

That's okay.  There are still quite a number of you out there.  You get your news from the radio, television, computer, school, company information.  But what if you could assemble that all at the same time and share it with others who may connect, share similar interests, goals, achievements, dreams on the same level as you? 


 Social media is where it's at.

Time to get with it if you want to be cool, connected, informed, known.  period.  PERIOD. End of story.  

Minions Mayhem

"I should be given an award for keeping my mouth shut when there is so much that needs to be said."

                                                                                ~Minions Quote

 

You can hardly go anywhere these days or do anything without some reference to Minions.  It might have something to do with a movie that has taken off in popularity and the stars are graphic creations.  That’s fair.   Credit where credit is due.  These creatures, however, have invaded advertisements and pretty much anywhere even adults hang out.  I admit to not having seeing the movie.  Gone are the days when I could hide my guilty pleasure of going to see a movie that looks like fun by taking my youngsters and a car load of their friends on an outing to see a movie. 

I remember and invite to a grand opening for a mega theatre in Calgary.  Part of the celebration were free treats, ice cream, junk food, goodie bags and coupons for car washes even, proving that professionals do like to kick back and have a little fun, escaping back to childhood giddiness, and not just a golf course.  The cherry on the top was a free screening of Antz in 1998.  The brainchild of Pixel studios that followed the success of the first Toy Story in 1995.   

 

When I started to write this, I wasn't quite sure if it was Walt Disney who started it all by recognizing that kids are taken to movies by their adult parents and the idea born to insert adult humor  to make it an enjoyable adventure for everyone of all ages and not only as a chaperoned outing.  In my mind, as I reflect, Toy Story was the brainchild that most of us recognize as an animated escapade that adults embraced.  Some of the scenes took us back to our childhood, we could relate to many of the characters as ourselves or situations from childhood while several lines zipped over the kids’ heads to land firmly on belly laughs from the adults who relished the humor.  Interestingly, PIXAR's profile proclaims:

Animators and writers at Pixar have often cited that the movies they make are for adults, just as much as they are for kids. As such, a certain amount of adult humor slips into their projects that kids won't get.

It has been going on for years.  The success of a movie in our commercial world is identified by how many residual their are:  toys, advertisements, copyrights linked to a movie specifically surrounding a character.  Think Terminator.  Figurines, dodads,  figurines, trucks and gadgets high on the must have lists to be given as birthday gifts or Christmas presents.  Meanwhile the money didn't just roll in for the studios, the creators, producers .... smart actors recognized the financial gain from inking in the royalties for the actors who were central to the characters.  A ca-ching caught on when the movie and/or characters became a hit, music to their ears of  cash registers ringing a money tune.

Check out the McDonald’s commercial where Minions took over the fast food giant’s restaurant to the gafaw of the patrons who discovered the order board was swapped out for bananas.  They seem like harmless, fun-loving creatures so why not?  

I decided put on my curiosity cap and set out on a Minions crusade to find out more about them.  Not surprisingly, they are everywhere on social media:  even Pinterest boards dedicated to Minions.  Fascinating. 

I started out with my handy dandy source I use to launch research -- Wikipedia -- to figure out what all the mayhem was about.  Amazingly, instead of my search uncovering a WIKIpedia explanation, behold my animated adventurers, there is actually a page dedicated to the cute mischief makers:  Dispicable Me Minions Wiki page. It is a jackpot of anything one would ever want to know about Minions.  It answered my own question:  Who are minions? 

The Minions are small, yellow, cylindrical, creatures who have one or two eyes.  They are impulsive creatures with little self-control, but with a wide-eyed wonder and odd innocence that endears them to viewers and makes them relatable. They can be pesky when they are doing weird interactions with other people, animals, or objects. Minions have standard English names.

WOWzers!  I went looking for a McDonald’s Minions commercial on YouTube and was bombarded with tons of commercials dedicated to these mischievious marvels.  You know it is big when McDonald's Happy Meals include such a toy.  Not surprising, (even though it initially was to me) many brands have jumped on the miniwagon with ads of their own like this one for smartphones:

I like to think I have a sixth sense about what is the latest craze as it relates to business, sales and social media.  Talk about being asleep at the wheel.  They are certainly everywhere.  The lesson to this?  If you want to be hip, with it, in touch with the world, include a Minion image, quote, song or video and you will be sure to have a retweet #RT or share or four.  It will certainly communicate that you have a fun side, it is not always serious business.  Completely broadcasting to your followers and potentially attracting more fun loving adults, you are hip, you’re with it, and you have a sense of humour!

Take my word for it:  put on your fun cap and get in on the mayhem -- an image with a Minion quote is definitely going to endear you to many or promise others a fun ride!  You don't have to look far to find websites dedicated to Minion quotes.  Start now!  Show a personable side while you poke fun at yourself.  I can promise you connection and engagement.

After a lot of background research on the origin of adult humor injected into animation.  I discovered the miracle Animator Ralph Bakshi.




Bakshi interpretation of Lord of the Rings

In my opinion, history should honor Animator Ralph Bakshi as the the brainchild of incorporating adult humor into animated features.  In  the late-1960s, animator Ralph Bakshi felt that he could not continue to produce the same kind of animation as he had in the past. Bakshi was quoted in a 1971 article for the Los Angeles Times as saying that the idea of "grown men sitting in cubicles drawing butterflies floating over a field of flowers, while American planes are dropping bombs in Vietnam and kids are marching in the streets, is ludicrous."^[7] With producer Steve Krantz, Bakshi founded his own studio, Bakshi Productions,^[8] establishing the studio as an alternative to mainstream animation by producing animation his own way and accelerating the advancement of female and minority animators. He also paid his employees a higher salary than any other studio at that time.^[9]Ralph Bakshi successfully established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions in the 1970s.

RALPH BAKSHI BIO





FACEBOOK PAGE: Ralph Bakshi relaxing with Maggie and Bailey

Ralph Bakshi is an American director of ani-mated and live-action films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to main-stream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, five of which he wrote. He has been involved in

numerous television
projects as director,

writer, producer and animator.







"We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing" 

~ George Bernard Shaw

 

 

Now spin it by combining it with a fun image to Tweet, share, post, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google+ Facebook -- to discover some new connections who share the same humor.

 

 Note:  they most likely perform better when using Minion-ese speak, songs or sayings.  Just test the theory I am sharing and see if you have some luck and notice an increase in #RT or even better if you hashtag #Minions to see if it may start trending on Twitter so all their devotees are assembled together to sing their praises.