A solitary reflection

George Karasov 

This blog was original written and posted on the optioneerJM blog. 

Excuse moi to readers who come to optioneerJM for business, leadership, sales or social media advice.  You have been bombarded with clips from Polyvore, independently posted.

I apologize.  It was another experiment or test.  No apologies for the test certainly.  I disclose that I am constantly trying out new avenues online to see what is what, what works, and how I may want to do things differently.

This is a "do differently".  

Polyvore allows users to create fashion statements, creative ensemble within a specific user base:  fashion enthusiasts, fashionistas and creative personalities.  I hadn't been there for a while before yesterday.  Because I haven't, I looked at the experience with fresh eyes, as if new.

Polyvore is a great environment for the fashion conscience, creative minds, fashionistas and the like.  My meanderingsabout blog is my reflection on creative expression ... outside the "box" of what I write here.  

Creativity is an integral part of who I am.  I recognized the following I had and that they were not interested in the fashionista and beauty side of who I am:  a woman in her 50s fighting aging by using a tasteful fashion, accessories, beauty regime.  That's where I created Meanderings about a year ago.  

Maybe the original idea was to have a blog where I could "rant".  Then realizing that people just don't like to read about rants, in general.  The only time I've seen them work is when a group amasses to express a similar disapproval.  More often, I've noticed, they are directed at airlines.  I would say telecommunication cellular providers would battle for first other days.  

Then I began writing as if I was giving advice to my daughters on life, living, love and dating.  They may not read it.  My three daughters and stepdaughter aged 22, 23 and 25.  A great representation of the Millennials.  

Not all experiments are successful.  Usually you can extrapolate what you have learned from the exercise and extrapolate "do differently" for down the road.

So Polyvore has the right idea:  they allow enthusiasts to share their creations on Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook.  Sadly, missing is instaGRAM.  Also, when you select posting for a Blog, the default is Tumblr, while allowing you to select "BLOG" for Google's Blogspot posts.  It defaults to the blog you have associated with your email address, which in this case is optioneerJM.  It doesn't allow me to distinguish it if you happen to have more than one blogspot.  

I will continue to fiddle around and experiment.  Thank you for your understanding.  I apologize if it seemed misleading to draw my loyal readers here, thinking I may be writing about sales and instead be bombarded with these posts that seem commercial.  You share the image you created on Polyvore, and then what Brands represent the products you have selected.

Polyvore has Polyvore Clippers, which I am liking, and just getting around to trying (for instance the image of Sally Field in character of Doris surrounded by scarves and cat eye glasses.  

There are a lot of tools or sites that start out with one idea and its users evolve and experiment, bringing a wider ensemble of tools and ways to share.  I'm never content to just create, post, share.  I like to test to see how it can be used in building social media audiences or "content" as the big thing these days is.  

Corporate brands and companies have gotten the message.  They are adding "Blog" to their websites.  However, the conundrum is how to keep the Blogs fresh, relevant, with regular posting.  A way to drive viewers to the website, where the website is suppose to take over and keep the audience there longer, to click, go deeper into the site.  Even better if an inquiry or lead generated or a sale.

I will keep exploring and doing experiments and reporting findings for others to benefit.  Even if that means an annoying array of blog posts that seem to have little to nothing to do with the central theme.

IF, this happened to make you curious.  I went to Polyvore to gather ideas for a Halloween costume -- obviously, I'm looking to be "Doris" from this great, whimsical, movie about an isolated woman in her 60s who steps out, after the passing of her mother whom Doris was caregiver to.  The idea of how she takes on what is normally Tween or Teenage experiences about dating and socializing.

  Doris is wonderfully portrayed by Oscar winner Sally Field, whom I hope gets an Oscar for this great role.  You can't help but be entertained with her crush experience, being coached by a 13 year old friend's granddaughter.  

Now, I will tidy up optioneerJM and move the creations over to meanderingsABOUT and delete the errant posts from here once they are where they belong.  (CHECK ~ done)

I will continue to experiment and try new things.  To report on findings that may help others with their social media experience, expand their social selling efforts, or share advice on business or leadership.  It has been a fun ride, and after 200,000+ page views, I look forward to continue to learn and share those experiences with you.

You can join me on Polyvore and join in the fun!  I've experimented with GROUPS, creating one for fashionista creatives who want to create ensembles that Doris would love:

This post has also been featured on "The Publisher" and "optioneerJM".

LINK to The Publisher

optioneerJM

I was a little taken aback by this blog I had written.  I can't say why it was sitting in drafts?  I am going to guess it was Halloween 2016.  

That was my first climb out of depression.  I am honestly telling everyone.  Twice, in the past 6 months, I threatened suicide -- not to my family or friends -- to respond to the threat of bullying, commonly accepted culture where I found myself spiraling downward into.

If "Alice in Wonderland" fell into a hole with magical ramifications and whimsical delights, then I fell into the waiting room with next step:  HELL!

If you stand out, stand up.

Where there's smoke, there's fire: influencer or fraudster?

Where there's smoke, there's fire: influencers or fraudsters?

AUG 9, 2014. - FEB 1, 2015.

Chrysler Museum of Art:

Celebrating 70 Years of Smokey the Bear

Rudy Wendelin and the Creation of an Icon [SOURCE]

    

The following question was asked of me to answer on Quora [ link ] with response shown here. 

What is your opinion on "social media influencers" who resort to fraud (i.e buying followers/likes/comments) instead of growing genuine engagement? Why do some choose this path over building a genuine following?

Jeannette Marshall, 

studied Marketing & Management at Business

Answered just now

GREAT question: Why do some “social media influencers” resort to shady practices (i.e. buy followers/likes/comments) instead of growing genuine engagement?

Let me answer both questions — hopefully, you will consider them adequate.

First and foremost, the same principles apply when you network using social networking.

Some earn the right to be referenced as an influencer because they fly in the same speed and altitude as many, perhaps spending more time cultivating their connections from a blip on the screen to an everlasting true connection (direct interaction between two members on the same platform is commonly deemed “influencers”.

Secondly, some say “ I am, therefore, am deemed so” (ref to an online influence). They could be transparently sharing the known measurement stick as others, i.e. Klout | Be Known For What You Love or Home.Kred.

Thirdly, those third party algorithm experts are tracking a combination of a potpourri of attributes, to rise up above the crowd and establish her or his self as a topic expert.

Usually, there are tools developed that provide that information about their social media users or engagers. These people use the substantiation of the 3rd parties to pull out the person of having an online “expertise”.

The aforementioned circulate around the name, engage with those with similar interests, by introduction to others who have taken the time to build their skill set in such a way they can provide some knowledge and circulate around many options.

Twitter and Klout show remarkable transparency that allow questions to be answered like:

• what is the chance someone becomes familiar with a champion of a topic or share content consistently on a particular topic that interests others? As you increase posting while others click your posts - leave to go read it, sometimes leading a comment on the linked page that has become a weighty topic; Like how Tump and his communications team run it similiar to business as usual, while he, himself, very specifically isolates a situation and then Tweets on what is wrong, with others usually, his tweets are expressive on his reponses to a headline or communicate his opinion.
• there is only you. you have a pseudonym name that you piggy pack of with your real name, linked to a specific hashtag that seems to go along with the message in 140 characters or less.
• The trend to follow or “like one can change abruptly, usually by a jump in audience numbers. am effective consistency in message, which it be a political standpoint, a philosophical perspective. The spike in followers can come right after.
• Some truly are gurus on the path or journey they are, passionate about, or welfare or concern that they take personal interest in: i.e. anti-bullying right across the board to local important happenings
• Others can be deemed Brand Ambassador. That is a lot greater attempt at being sincere and communicating or expressing their voice, maybe accompanied by a cool article they sourced (reference to the source is standard best practice.
• Online reputation management can be a larger scope by a big major entity that reigns over a specific space: i.e. comedy, art, photography, updates, tribe-filled groups who are supporting that person, brand or identity.
• What you click any where, any time, the likelihood being you are seeking justification on your stand on a topic, express yourself creatively that places you steadily in a certain lane (i.e.education may be the topic classification while the material you post may be dedicated to making education an important topic that others may want to speak to (or Tweet or Facebook post or Pinterest board.
• Kinship. Some groups of individuals are formed that focus on a specific topic, discussed accordingly by following and using the appropriate #Hashtag that it relates to. Lots of “How to’s” and information abounds while remaining consistent under the umbrella of opinion.

Slowly, steady, consistent content is THE BEST way to hail a tribe and start being considered an authority on certain topics. Simply buying followers is not doing anyone any good. You are far better off growing your following steadily and measured, tracked, shown, information or data starts to produce numbers that satisfy the anointment of being considered an expert.

I use a couple of tools, like KRED and KLOUT, that evens the playing field across the board while it emphasizing the topic or communication stream that is easily identified by your profile, your posts and your actions.

For authenticity and credibility, one cannot merely have a blanket statement on their profile that they cannot substantiate. Others participate in online #chats in Twitter that show the hashtag title and falls under “MOMENTS” on Twitter if it explodes with activity, clicks, brand new posts, using brand new features (i.e. GIFs instead of an image) to beat the same drum over and over again.

In summary, there is definitely fun to be had, discussions to become consumed with, information that is identified.

The best guideline: be as honest as safety allows by what you post online. Stay away from controversial topics, unless you get charged up to have a healthy debate on something you feel passionate about.

Finally, as you circulate and engage directly with followers, you discover what information folks gravitate towards hearing from you about. A reward for your diligence leaves you with a road map on what areas appeal to you, varied and situational reactions.

The easiest part is uncovering lots of tools, opinions, quotes, recommendations that you particularly show an interest in.

All this information is available at your fingertips. All the social media sites and business networking sites can help you with fact checking (avoid misleading or untrue interpretations), researching and becoming invested in reading those numbers that will tell you a story::… expunge information for you to tap into and help guide you or lead the way to an area or topic that people react favorably to.

Avoid experts. They say that are an expert at something. You just now need to become more familiar with those third party algorithm genius who prove the beacon to shine on you to be enlightened from. An expert, in my opinion, is when you have steadily grown your reputation and consistently circulate around specific topics or with those who appear to be knowledgeable about it.

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About the Author

Jeannette Marshall

BUZZveloper @optioneerJM blogHER+MOST VIEWED Business Development Writer: QUORA

Worked at E-jeannette

Studied Marketing & Management at Business

Lives in Calgary, AB

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It is possible to hang on to tradition while injecting innovation :: make THINGS great again.

I really don't read or perceive that there has been declared the official winner of the race for CLOUD computing:  one of three things that the technical sector has decided is the cool things we need:

IofT:  Internet of things or intelligence of things?

The best way I would be able to explain to a non-layperson what this acronym means is that you can control things designed to have enhanced technical capabilities.  I would use General Motors as a prime example.  In my view, opinion and limited observation.  I don't have to work there, all I have to do is pick up on the consistency of being on message flowing neighborly along that appeals to the largest percentage of people.  

Again, I've never worked for GM or read any prospectus or proposal on how they were going to prove that they were savable after a big government bail out.

I saw it before, just as a user of products, a major accounts rep, a vendor and a buyer perspective:  Xerox.   Anne Mulcahey (need to check spelling) put some building blocks in place on how they were going to rebuild a once great company from the basement of the downward steps to rock bottom to recovery and rethinking innovation and deciding to self-consciously or corporate self-examination:  what would they be known for?

So a lot of these almost washed up companies are having an injection of innovation or continued creation of a historical identity.  

Most would say that Xerox discovered xerography and became this really big company, until it delved out significant intelligence to Apple and Adobe.  Well yes, that is correct.

My guess would be how Xerox, through stringent quality control, strove to replace dust pollutant of toner dust, toxic for our water systems and ecosystems.  They made new toner that was sustainable, really smartly reusing natural resources that does not upset the universe's eco-structure from emitting toxins.

Safe to say, Xerox is a prime example of something highly identifiable can decoy from staying static and holding true to being innovative.

The best companies in the world, in my opinion are not bricks and motor, factory, industry, on the "try" at the end - see that?  Or maybe I'm psychic and see the pattern emerging.  How?

From watching the numbers.  Looking for patterns.  That information is out there and it is free.  When it goes to the cloud, someone is going to make heaps of money storing their customer's information. 

AI:  Artificial intelligence.  

I guess somewhere, somehow, someone decided that it was hip or cool to include "intelligence" to create an acronym that rings with distinction, like a battle cry to the trod on economic forces blow over.

Robots have been around for decades.  I haven't fact check, however, I'm going to say they started surfacing when more and more companies starting realizing, by looking at numbers with a strong focus on profit, they had to try to get rid of people, which is the highest expense .... yet few would survive without its people.

Has anyone written about a theme of companies who become so bloated with their own ego and self-importance, that complacency would never reside.  Quickly replaced with value, rate of return, key performance indicators.

Disruption.

Is when someone comes up with an idea that totally transforms the way we do or think of things.  Think of the smart phone as a disruption to mobility telecommunications.  

Taking something that we use every single day, is as familiar to us as our television or automobile:  the telephone.  As it evolved from a communications device into a hand held computer that uses wireless or the internet in order to transmit.  

A telegram is something we consider as old, war era communications of great importance has now been developed into something immediate.  Every day is special because we can communicate with others, convey our thoughts or feelings by the click of fingers or twiddle of thumbs.

What else is out there that hasn't been thought up yet or uncovered a need for?  The first things to look at are those every day indispensable items we use and then make them better, causing a ripple effect that requires traditional means to update their technology or capabilities or they will be stuck in the mud at the side of the super highway of happening things.

Want to know what it means to get the PINK slip?

Original content by:*

Jeannette Marshall

@optioneerJM

optioneerJM+

aboutME.com

If you're around my age [ 50 on a good day or 56 on a bad one ] and you have a daughter or niece or granddaughter around the millennial set (is this the Y? Generation? ] fact check [ ) --> i first called it the Y Generation on one of my first INbeTWEENers blog [ via #WordPress ] aka now as YUPPYdom > target audience & readers born 1960 or later, but before the Millennial (otherwise known separately as The Baby Boomers :: those born of the Elvis and 50s era and vibe, became adults of GENX which is sandwiched [aka squeezed] between the Baby Boomers, inBETWEENers (1960-1969) & what I like to  I call the war babies (those babies born after either World War I ] fact check [date when WWI ended?].

Phew, what a mouthful, eh?  Sometimes I get multiple thoughts that run like a freight train, full speed ahead.  It drives a lot of people crazy [the Hunkster Hubster in particular] ::.... sometimes I am telling him something and 2/3 of the way through, I go "um ah" multiple times until he barks at me:  "Um uh!  You didn't finish!  

Luckily for me, and the loyal few, I sometimes take the time to capture some cool moments.  Or, not so cool moments.

The PINK SLIP?

It is when you mess up with your Millennial daughter and she goes ape shit all over you.  If that isn't suffice, she goes into IGNORE mode, and often BLOCK mode.  Thus is the PINK SLIP.

It doesn't seem fair that father's rarely, if ever, get the PINK SLIP.  It seems a
blessing in disguise when the ticked off goes into overdrive.  It is a process.
It is quite inevitable, particularly if you're the "Mother".    Sometimes it can actually be funny, payback for when 2 PINK GIRLS change the Alpha Pink Girl's status under family that "she is adopted".  

That is the distinction between the battle hardy inBETWEENers:  we've been pushing water up hill all our lives [ saying credit to Wade Sparks, former boss and President of a SMB:  Small Medium Business; selling to very BIG companies and running a branch ].

What obstacles don't 1960 to 1965 in particular share with Millennials?  A-LOT!  Remember we were the original hipsters, aka Yuppies, adulting in the 80s [ exact same age as they are in my case - 27(Kyle) etc.  My girls are wise beyond their years and really have some great attributes that I envy if I could only have known back at the same age, how magnificent everything would be.  

YUPPIES:  Eternal optimists
What would this world really be like, if Yuppies weren't born [ other than cult culture of the 1980s skippy high bangs and big hoops and slouch socks with tights, ankle runners, big oversized sweaters, perms galore, fresh eyed trusters after being abolished and quietened by our very loud Baby Boomer siblings [ brother or sister ].   Being the object of teasing at the edge of tormenting their younger, devoted sibling who iconized their every move [ except thinking he is Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin with his electric guitar and amp turned up to the max, "WAHW.... wahwm .... WAHW" be still my pounding ears:  no wonder I don't like waking up and jumping out of beg:  clear bad memory of when having to do so ].

Yuppies had to prop each other up and really boost each other's morale.  We were either in college or at our first REAL job(s) in the 1980s.  Amidst recessions, world war threats between the US and Russia, joblessness skyrocketed with the increasing temperature of world affairs.  Just graduating from high school, we were surrounded about hostages, capture, and hijacks and we only had the radio or television where we were likely to get our news.  [ Others would say newspapers, but some of us gal Yuppies didn't like how the ink came off on our fingers so we weren't a fan of newspapers but we were the dawn of capitalism in the 1980s, with greed on most corporate executive's manifesto.  Today, layoffs, downsizing, let go, fired, laid off, work force reduction, reorganization, restructuring are more the norm.  

Loyalty has left the atmosphere.  Neither company nor employee get what they want out of the deal and their is a parting of ways.  The Pink Slip was probably coined in the 1980s ] FACT CHECK [.  Another tie in to the nifty headline I was particularly impressed with ( pat on back to Jeannette ).

Another characteristic of those arriving at adulthood, parenthood in that decade is that Yuppies really like recognition.  More sore than any other generation, simply because being sounded out by our louder siblings, who took credit for a clean car [ trick:  ask younger sibling to help wash car and he would drive them around town for "a while"; so you help them and they take you for a drive to main street and back [ in my life, never really that far:: walkable ]. 

So having a Millennial child is about setting and understanding boundaries.  A familiar song we sang as parents coming back full circle upon our ears.  From that really smart child who snaps it up and snaps it out, except louder.  Probably because we likely seethed but didn't shout in anger, or clenched our teeth akin to biting our tongue.  We were born of the parents who believed that how you dressed {stylish and polished} and how you behaved [ impeccable manners ] were a direct mirror into their inner soul.  

Ask a War Baby what it means to go without (ahem, attention Yuppies and Millennials, take note here)?  You better sit down and grab that cup of coffee anyhow because their answer is going to take a while.  What is amazing is when you actually recognize the sacrifice that War Babies had both as children, growing up and as adults, parents:  having to make do with very little.  Appreciating value over squandering money, which Yuppies and Millennials are apt to do.

Wanting to climb the ladder?  
There's a big leap between The Baby Boomers who are retiring to the tipping point beginning of the Millennial leaders, pioneers.  Yuppies and GEN-X likely skipped over.  Why not?  More educated, Millennials can bring fresh ideas, latest technological improvements [ which is a HOAX by GenXers letting others think that Yuppies aren't technologically inclined ].

Ask yourself, when was the birth of the computer?  Technically, it began a long long time ago, before Yuppies were even born.  What I mean is the birth of the personal computer?  Some of us went to school in 1979 to have hands on computer in our post secondary, either by instinct or natural survival mode.  If you want to have someone project manage something to perfection, you would be wise to consider a Yuppy:  they've been coming up with solutions and fixing problems by the time The Beatles broke up (a long long time ago).

Since I'm already in trouble and she doesn't read my blog * giggles *

So I apologized to my daughter.  Fingers crossed the PINK slip won't last long.  I will try to continue to be optimistic that she'll reconsider her reaction (ah-hem scale 1-10 ticked off:  9.5 degrees out of 10.)   

Maybe the next Millennial will read this, think about their mom mostly, or their dad if it happens, tone down the reaction and embrace the differences between you, with the added value of life experience that COULD spare them a lot of grief.  Knowing that rarely is advice heeded.  Swash-buckling their way to their future in their own brave style.

You have to remember, that your Yuppy mom or Yuppy dad, are prone to recognize how well you are doing.  Driving you crazy for posting about an accomplishment or re-sharing a picture, simply because you thought it was beautiful, unconsciously unaware that so many would agree.  They see the inner beauty paired with the outer strikingness as a formidable force, into the stratosphere when it is blended with intelligence and street smarts, common sense.  With a twist of humor, knowing that laughing at one's self is the biggest show of humility.

Even more if they are a Millennial 

Feeling very thankful on a Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend

Personal repurposed art by the author, Jeannette Marshall

by Jeannette Marshall

@optioneerJM

Sunday, October 8, 2017

I really cannot recall whether I've ever blogged on Thanksgiving before, then I realize I haven't!!  For that:  I truly am sorry!!

My blogs where I write straight from the heart or emptying knowledge in my head, seem to be the more popular.

I started to write this on Friday, and didn't get very far, obviously.  Now, just on the phone with my mother, I realized I have to try to capture those memories.

I remember with my father, up to three years, leading up to his death.  Whenever we got on the phone together, he would get wrapped up doing some wandering back into memory row.  I remember being fascinated by these versions of famous family lore.  Maybe it was sketchy for me to recall, because I was in my youth.

Now, I want to catch some of these words of wisdom that is being shared from the heart.  A mother's love flows in mysterious ways.  Sometimes it seems that the substance is repetitive, then one moment you realize, like catching a falling star, take that wisdom and try to capture.

My mom was telling me plays bridge, crib at her seniors' condos.  I couldn't capture everything she said.  She told me that she competes and how great the tournaments, which are $25, but includes a breakfast, nice luncheon, then you can win some money.  (Depends, if a slam $10 each you can win back).  Which is a good deal for the entertainment, the food, the competition with the potential wins.   

She was telling me how she doesn't have Alzeimer's to her girlfriends from the complex, because she remembered how you can put the TV on to music.  She said she goes to the Classic Country Music.  She could make the names with the music.  Remembering, she grew up with classic country music.  So she remembered being able to name songs with artists and dates.  So she was saying that joking about Alzeimers is a kindred joke among the ladies in the complex.

3 ways your brain goes:

1) old age (forgetfulness)

2) short term memory loss that happens to many of us, more as we get older

3) Alzeimers - once it is gone, it doesn't come back, unless you've talked about it

She said this Priest talked about that you may fall into one of those compartments:  1) 2) or 3) .. but you couldn't remember which compartment it was filed under.

I recalled Mom and Dad having conversations with Donna & Mac, from lots of memories, I remembered:  " Trying to fall asleep, but the committee upstairs decides to call a meeting. "

That is my thing.  I've been having a lot of meetings with the committee upstairs, which has inhibited my sleep.

Perhaps it is because I am being diagnosed with anxiety, developed from being bullied.  That is an example of one symptom.  Part of the debate, is whether anxiety is a mental disorder, it appears.

When my mom was born, she was left with only one piece of this left part of her brain, causing her with silent vowels, spelling words.  It doesn't stop her from doing other things.

The brain is quite the function.  When I was going to write something.  When she saw someone who was at a good writer I would.  That person so adored and flourished under that praise, which made me very embraced being blessed under praise.

But if there was an area that she saw needed improvement, she doesn't hesitate to give her opinion, which seemed harsh.  Before she wouldn't directly.  She has decided that today, she is going to give honest feedback, without sugar-coating it.  People are more educated.  They are more smart in one area, i.e. violin or singer, other's had certain niches the were excellent, but not good in a bunch of other things.  Her father's mom constantly bragged about my father's eldest brother.  It was "Bob, this and Bob that".  My mother similarly had this similar battle with her mother, because she constantly said:  "Bertha this and Bertha that".  My mom started to try to excel at cooking.   When we returned from Germany after five years, how she had to rebond and build a new relationship with her mother as her mother was aging.  Making her aware of mistakes, and saying she was sorry.

Sometimes parents do the best they can.  My mom sewed all of our clothes and we were dressed to the nines from her sewing.  She told me she had to wear sacks of flour as underwear.  She said in those days, you didn't waste anything.  In those days you used everything.  She said her mother would buy flour sacks because the material was finer and made better underwear.  She was reflecting how she learned not to be a waster as she's grown with age.  People didn't waste anything in those days.  She was ten years when the Second World War II was ending.  She said they had learned to go without because "that's the way it was" back then.  She said that is why it was so important that we would always be dressed in nice clothes.  She said she had everything pressed.  We had play clothes, we had school and we had Sunday church clothes.  We hung up our school every day.  The only pair of shoes we had were runners and a pair of Sunday shoes.  No wonder I'm shoe aholic now.