I can fight like Batman

Ever watched the Bourne Ultimatum and thought…I can fight like Jason Bourne. Probably better.

This isn’t just some idol boast. This comes from raw fact. That raw fact being that I used to have a pair of shorts at Primary school with a belt on them and that belt was DEFINITELY the equivalent of Batman’s belt with the grappling hook. I have now got to a point in my life where I know that that was reality. And despite being 28 years of age, I am pretty confident that I used to be Batman. Or at least have his powers.

My evidence comes from the following. I have a mole on my leg that is still there now and I can clearly remember wearing my shorts to school, looking at my mole, glancing at my belt, then back at the mole again and then suddenly going into a ball and next thing i know I’m on the roof of the school reeling in my batman grappling hook from the belt of my shorts. The mole is real, ergo  ‘I was Batman as a child’.

Now I’m only mentioning this now because I’m watching the Bourne Ultimatum and Jason Bourne fighting is bringing back memories of my heady days where I used to press a button on the belt of my shorts and BANG. Im on that roof again. And I think it is important to reminisce from time to time. Im tempted to call this Reminisce Mondays. But I think I can come up with something better than that. So for now, it is what it is. Me, shorts, belt, mole, grappling hook.

Inspiration comes from strange places

Ok picture the scene…you’re doing push ups in your room, naked so your dinkle touches the ground. Now don’t picture that scene. You can’t stop picturing that scene can you. I’m sorry. I apologise. (in reality i’m not sorry as I did that on purpose to play with your minds…either way. your thinking about dinkles and pushups, whether you want to or don’t want to anymore.)

Now that I’ve set the scene, let me share some inspiration with you.

Today at work, my good colleague Simon shared some music with us. I have called him Simon as a Pseudonym. His real name is Simon R.

As a treat he shared a mix of songs with us…and it really was a treat. The sort of thing that makes you feel so enthusiastic that you want to pump your fists in celebration…In celebration of Rocky VI, Scarface, Karate Kid…for these were some of the absolute GEMS that meandered their way into my ear holes.

Now back to dinkles and pushups. Once that is in your mind as an image, it is hard to shift. Just like one of the songs in this eclectic mix of musical genius….that song is eye of the tiger by Survivor. Or more importantly, the speech that preceded it. Guilty pleasure or just pleasure? You decide. This speech is inspirational…Delivered by one of life’s more great prophets. That’s right…That man  is Sylvester Stallone, or to give him his real name Rocky Balboa.

Rocky. You’ve touched me with your gloved hand.

“Let me tell you something you already know.

“The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows – it’s a very mean and nasty place and i dont care how tough you are, it’ll beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.

“You, me or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.

“Now if you know what you’re worth, now go out and get what you’re worth.

“But you gotta be willing to take the hits and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him or her or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you.

You’re better than that!”

And that my friends. Is how winning is done.

 

Social Media Seminar – #socialmediaportsmouth

So, my first blog post – and this is being written after I was made super excited by all of the possibilities of Social Media for business.

I’m so serious about this topic I don’t think I will even make a joke out of it. After all, there is a satellite on the way that’s going to hit someone on the shoulder, probably the right shoulder because of the way the water spins down the plug hole in the Northern Hemisphere.

Anyway, back to this. Google Plus, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube – they all have huge power for business…but also for personal use. Get a video set up on YouTube and you could soon have a couple of followers. Maybe one if you’re not so lucky to have two, but a follower at least!! You can be your own little version of the Pied Piper. But it’s more than two, it’s three, four, five….hundreds, thousands….MILLIONS!

Posting a video or blog-post, tweeting a tweet or creating a group or forum could soon spiral into an uncontrollable beast of social media based circles, hangouts, groups and followers. But it’s what comes out of this that matters.

A prime example is that of Clark Retirement Homes in the grand old US of A. Part of their marketing strategy was a video tour of their retirement homes…cue boring dull, soft focus, cheesy music and equally cheesy american narrator, and you’ve got….that’s right….a complete DUD….resulting in ZERO interest in the retirement homes! So then they rethought – producing a glorious video of oldies singing along to the tune of Feeling Good by Michael Buble as the camera panned around and took the viewer on a tour of the homes facilities and bells and whistles fun and games.

Visit it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ7-n930zJo and if by the end of the video you don’t want to move in yourself I’ll give you your money back!! OK I won’t as you didn’t pay me anything to read this blog…but the thought was there!

The video has had 1.157 million views to date….Clark Homes have been inundated with requests for people to move in, and the power of the YouTube video as a tool to link to your website, your product or whatever you want it to link to has again been realised!

Social media has that power, the power to build a following, an interest to huge that dealing with the increased demand for your product is going to be the only worry….and let’s face it, that’s a pretty nice worry to have!!

You can tweet one second and with a well placed hash-tag people who are interested in that subject, from all over the world could start reading your tweets, your blogs that link from your tweets, visiting your blogs more regularly, contributing, asking questions AND ULTIMATELY, buying products and services from you from your website!!

The speed with which it takes off is mind-boggling….the possibilities are endless….the blog is just the beginning (or one way of beginning) and this sentence is just the end…of my first blog post.