Lifestyle
Oil Change for Single Mom's – Cedar Brook Church
I just had to share with you an event we held today at the Immel Plaza in Abbotsford, B.C., our little church held an oil change for single mother’s in our community. The program was simple really, we had single Mother’s book in advance to get the oil changed in their car. As an added bonus we had a crew also clean the inside of the car, vacuumed, ArmorAll for polishing up the leather & dash and such, along with cleaning all the windows too. Here are a couple picture’s I snapped this morning.
Making a contribution in your community goes along way, whether it be an oil change or just a card, you can make a huge impact on someone’s life with a small random act of kindness. This applies to online as well, you are what makes the difference in people’s lives, be it positive or negative, we all make an impact on some level. What is your impact…positive or negative?
You don’t have to go to church to hold these events, build community, build trust by loving your neighbor. Many Blessings.
The Fruit Of The Social Media
You’ve heard of the fruit of the spirit, well guess what, they translate very well here in Marketing and Social Media environments. Personally, this is exactly how you should live and practice offline and online. I guarantee you, if you use the fruit of the Social Media your experience here will be something to be hold. The results will be a more open, loving, transparent person that will always give back to everyone who comes in contact with you. Sound familiar? What do you think everyone is saying when they say be open and transparent? Today’s marketing world and Social Media Networks don’t and won’t tolerate anything less, we were taught this over 2,000 years ago, too bad we are just starting to practice the following:
The Fruit Of The Social Media
1.) Love
2.) Joy
3.) Peace
4.) Patience
5.) Kindness
6.) Goodness
7.) Faithfulness
8.) Gentleness
9.) Self-Control
How could you go wrong practicing the fruit of the Social Media? Try it, no….do it, you’ll be transformed and renewed!
Social Media & Blogs Are Broken
The Internet is the new game changer in every possible way for business and individuals, it’s also a problem, because like the town you live in it brings out those looking to take advantage. Imagine a world with no law enforcement and I show you a day where everyone will try to take advantage, not to benefit others but to benefit themselves. It really isn’t much different than today, many don’t value human life the way we used too and we don’t help each other in the way that we should. We are self serving most of the time, we do things because there is something in it for us. Call me a cynic, but, human nature has proven time & time again we are predictable. We prove day in and day out there is good and evil, dumb & smart and there always has to be a winner and a loser.
The flattening of companies and now the world puts an old power in our hands, you & me! Most of us aren’t equipped to handle this new old power, we will continue to take advantage of others with even more ease. Can we be trusted with this power? Probably not, all you have to do is look at the history of mankind, how we consume everything in our path including people. We are doing the same thing with the Internet, with Social Media and Blogs, consuming and taking advantage.
The picture isn’t all black but it’s dark, I struggle as I’m sure you do with how the rules are being broken, how they are being changed. This new old power we have at our disposal is a double edged sword, it will work for us and against us.
One of the most disappointing and tiresome problems on the Internet today with Blogs and Social Media, is with the very thing we cherish the most, the content. There is a re-occurring problem that takes the joy out being a Blogger is, Social Media & Blogs are broken.
Social Media is forcing transparency, honesty and do the right thing mentality, this is good right? This by itself is extremely powerful and we will all feel the benefit, but there is a dark side too, some will manipulate and try to take advantage of this very power. Let’s take Blogs for a spin here, there are some incredibly talented people out there writing amazing content and truly have something of value to share with all of us. They write for hours a day, sculpting and carving a message that is meant just for you. You have been hunting for this content, but sometimes, you find it in the most unusual places. Then there are Blogs that don’t write one letter of original content, they claim to be a the best resource on the Internet and all they do is pilfer news sources that auto post to a these Blogs. In essence, gaming the business of Blogging.
The gaming of Social Media has the same issues, Twitter is a great network for connecting with like-minded individuals. You also will find the same links and content posted by millions over and over again, each one thinking they reported it first creating a wall of noise beyond anything you seen or heard before. Every Social Media Network has the same problem and I have to hear of a good solution to solving it. I realize I can’t do much about these problems by myself but I can speak against them and encourage you to do the right thing for you and your business. I to post links to information with the intent that it actually matters to you, not to be the first one to break the story and then watch 250 million others do the same, it defeats the purpose of having a Blog or using Social Media Networks the way they were intended.
I have found that the most common thing being delivered on the Internet is how to make money and get rich by using (buying) someones system, claiming to have done it, only to find out they don’t have a clue how to run a business. They are just doing what someone sold them to do, there are no short cuts my friends so be prepared to pay some kind of price no matter what you do. Don’t get me wrong, we all want to earn a living, but if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
A tip for you. There is a gap between knowing how to do the work of a business and knowing how to run a business. You may not be equipped to be both business owner (Entrepreneur) and the worker (technician), most aren’t.
My point is this, If you are serious about Blogging or being part of media, stop trying to be like mainstream media, report from your part of the world not everyone else’s world. Write about what’s happening to you and your interests. We already get bombarded by the same content over and over through normal news services. Gaming something rarely is a long lasting venture of success, you rarely get or sustain credibility by doing it. If you must use someone else’s work, ask them to help you, ask them to be a guest Blogger or get permission to use their material, have integrity and be known for it. Your original content, your voice, will eventually be heard because no one can write or deliver it the way you can. Whatever it is you are passionate about, do that, be that with all you can muster up to be it and let the quality and sound of your voice be the difference. Don’t set up systems that fail to present your personality and desire to help others. Only you can do that by participating first hand with your blood, sweat and tears. Let us know who you are and see the passion of your heart by being transparent, honest and real. We are waiting for you.
Your Passion Is In Front Of You – You're Just Not Paying Attention
There are 30,600,000 (million) references on Google for ” How To Find Your Passion”. Hard to believe there are that many experts on the topic, are you one of them…I’m not. I was thinking about this while taking a shower this morning, I know…I won’t go there. Gary Vaynerchuck said in his address at the BIG Omaha Conference, that he hated the question of, ” How do I find my passion?” the most because he didn’t have a simple answer. Maybe what I’m about to share will help you Gary, it appears to have helped me figure out my passion I’m just getting out of the starting gate. If you think this article is on track please send it to Gary Vaynerchuck and let him know I have found the motherload. 🙂
I had to stop and think for a moment, if we are creatures of habit and we tend to gravitate to things we love like events, books, movies and people, why is it so hard to figure out? I’ll take me for example to help you look at your own desire to find your passion. If you were to look in my home you would get an idea of who I am and what my family likes to do. Since we are talking about me I’ll leave the rest of my family out of it. Let’s start in my office, lets look around a bit, hmmm….lots of tech books, Business Plan Books, IT Strategic Planning, tons of sports (stats) books, Home Business, training books from my Radio & Television days and boxes of all the software I have purchased over the years.
Let’s go down to my rec room, there you will find a set of drums, two guitars…yep I’m a musician (drummer, singer) and so are my two boy’s including there Mom. In our Family room we have very little, it’s the hall of shame, all our wedding pictures and random family pics line the walls, also, the TV, WII, PS2 and the like are in there plus a small book shelf of Christian reading material.
Now you’re probably getting the picture of what I (we) are about, if I was to just use that inventory as a snap shot of what I gravitate to when I’m downtown shopping I would suggest to you I have a passion for Family, Music, Christianity, Technology and Business. As you can see there are a few things I could consider my passion, but the one that gets me more than anything is Technology & Business, it’s the first thing I look for when I’m at a magazine rack or just thinking about business & marketing, how should I position my business (passion). If you were to spend any amount of time with me you would learn that I love people, I love to help others be better than they are. If you could just see how you could be, what you were designed and meant to be, know your role in this EPIC you were born in to, your passion would become obvious.
It’s a simple process I think, but if you look closely at where you spend your time & money, what you like shows up early. Take inventory of what you tend to buy most often, what you spend your time on when relaxing because it interests you, you will most likely find that is the very thing passionate about! Try it on for size and see if you could write about it, talk about it for hours on end on video or just tell it’s story…desire can not be planted in you, you have to find it within yourself and that is the thing Gary says you can monetize. Your passion is in front of you, your just not paying attention.
Please pass this along if you feel it’s of value and leave your comments. Send it to Gary Vaynerchuck to, (I don’t know his e-mail address) I would love help him with his dilemma of answering this question. I’m either on to something here or I’m just plain wrong, you decide.
Many Blessings, Owen
If I Could Do Anything, What Would It Be?
I was asked that question this morning, I hated it because I had stop and take inventory once again. I’m going to share some thoughts with you, I only hope it makes sense and reaches the deepest part of you. I think a great many of us do work or do things we never thought we would have to do to pay the bills. There are times when it feels like the dream left and it isn’t coming back, discouragement is the biggest dream killer I know and it always comes from those who claim to love you.
So, back to the question, If you could do anything, what would it be? If you look back over the years (depending how old you are) try to recall what energized you and brought the most fulfillment and was most meaningful to you. A time and place where you felt this was what you could do for the rest of your life. I know, I know, many times we think we’ve found it and poof it’s gone for whatever reason.
Technology, no…society has changed, business has changed and some of us are struggling to change just so we can make the ends meet, to have some sense peace of what we are doing, then every once and while someone asks the dreaded question. The question that urks me most, If money were taken care of would you do it? DUH! Of course you would!
I have always felt people could be better than they are, get back on track and be in a better place…. why? Because we lost our dream, we lost the thing that made us want to learn new things, seek new challenges, build and create. We bought into the industrial age of JOB, we have been cooked like the frog in water and now we are discouraged, wondering how we got to where we are and thinking, this isn’t what I wanted.
Now that I got that of my chest, what to do? Firstly, write…get everything out, it might take a day or two and maybe even a week but write and figure out what it is, what’s the magnet pulling you, your deep down desire….your dream. I did this and I have recovered my dream….go figure something so simple could work! Now, you need be prepared, this dream will not be easy and you will have trials & tribulations once you have found your vision. You will need people around you that will help you so don’t kid yourself into thinking you can do it by yourself. I encourage you to find likeminded people, people that have a dream and desire to be more than they are, people who want to give something back to thier communities. Without people, there are no successes. God created us as relational beings, that means we need one another to acheive, to grow, to build, to create and to succeed together. Each one of us has a passion or two that makes us get out of bed in the morning, find it and live the life you were meant to live.
So What’s my Dream, what’s the If I could Do Anything, What Would It Be?
Stay tuned and be sure to follow me on Twitter, if you are a small company with less than 10 staff and you are not shy doing Radio & Television (Video), drop me a note.
Many Blessings on you.