It used to be that what connected us was who we were connected with. The beauty of Facebook is that I’m now friends with the people I was friends with in kindergarten – after a 20-year hiatus. To me, that’s pretty cool. I can see how they grew up and how their kids are like them. Amazing.

But there are others I’m connected to and we’ve never met. But I have more in common with them than those who’ve grown up with me, who’ve seen me go from tomboy to six-inch heel wearing diva.

What connects us is our passions. Hence, the popularity of social tools such as Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr. Now we can connect, deeply, about the things that move us; things that bore our in-person friends to death. FB still has a chance because of fan pages. Companies such as Dingo use it well because it’s essentially a place to check in and geek out about your dog. What s/he was wearing on Saturday and videos of your dog’s best tricks are what keep that community hopping. Too much of that on your regular profile page, shared with your regular friends and it’s awkward, weird and overkill. (One can only live with so much cuteness before it gets old.) But there are some communities where the words “old” and “overkill” don’t exist. It’s a world filled with passionate people about certain subjects.

The platform that helps communities to fully and completely express their passions wins.

Hey there! I created this for the Women’s Success Summit on November 11, 2011 at the Gulfstream Resort’s Sport of Kings Hall. What a great group and a fun time. Enjoy the audio or just skip through and check out the slides. Love you! – Lisa

Here’s a presentation I created in November 2010 for the Empowered Woman Success Summit, held at the Miami Science Museum. I presented to a packed house of more than 200 existing and aspiring woman business owners on how to win and keep a dedicated audience who fervently believe in their brand.

Image courtesy of CMMooney via flickr

Sometimes you just have to go deaf. Take the tree frog for instance. I got one of those chain emails the other day and for some reason I actually read it because it was so intriguing. Tree frogs were having a race to the top of a tree. Two-by-two they raced and none of them ever reached the top. Until the final two. One frog just kept going and going until he reached the top.

Why did that one frog win while all the others failed? It was deaf. During the races the frogs at the base of the trees were shouting insults and telling the racers they couldn’t make it. The deaf frog didn’t hear the negative so it just kept on climbing.

I imagine all the frogs had the ability to get to the top but only one heard his own voice, a positive voice, telling him he could make it. Takeaway:

1 – Getting feedback is nice, but sometimes you have to become deaf to the “feedback” of others and trust yourself.

2 – What are you saying to yourself while you’re shutting everyone else out. Is it positive?  Encouraging? Strong? If not, change what you’re saying to yourself. One of the best ways to do that is to change what you read, watch and listen to. Go on a “negativity fast” until every mention of “can’t” “won’t” “never” are eliminated from your sources of influence.

3 – Take a step back. If you need to pause for a moment, do so. But get back on track. Continue to do the things you love. I’ve learned many of the negative words clothed in “feedback” are actually designed to stop your progress. Be sure to get back up after you’ve tended to your wounds.

Bonus: Who is giving you the feedback?  Consider the source and ignore comments from the ones who are threatened by you, are catty or who just don’t have the same vision you do for progress and moving forward.

One more: If others don’t understand you, that may be a good thing. Think of all the other misunderstood ones: Einstein, FDR, Marie Curie . . . Albert Schweitzer. The list is a mile long. Follow your passion and live what you believe.

Image courtesy of Matthew Allard via flickr

Hey there – I figured since it’s Monday I’d send you on your way with a resource I absolutely LOVE to use. It’s called pixlr and it’s a very powerful image editing tool. I sometimes use it when I want to clean up graphics and have a little more creative control than picnik gives me when editing my pictures.

For instance, I used pixlr to create the masthead for this blog. My graphic designer Kashif helped with the original image but when I wanted to tweak it a bit I used pixlr and now I’m ecstatic about the final results. Check it out and remember who you heard this from! Your girl, Lisa!

P.S. – Add your favorite image editing tool here. I’d like to create a list that I can share with everyone in my circle. I’ll give you full credit.

BTW – I found pixlr just by searching for hours and hours on Google trying to find the right tool for what I wanted. It’s web-based so I can edit images no matter where I am. Right now I’m on my mom’s computer and I just edited the background image for my about.me page. Can’t beat that with a stick, right?

Image courtesy of MCS@flickr via flickr.com

What if Paul Revere had Twitter?

The message would still be the same – but would it have the same urgency? There was drama in him riding through Lexington and Concorde.

In a world full of messages, hoaxes and scams, would anyone have believed Paul Revere if he tweeted his message? What if he sent a text? The medium and the message are both important.

Choose based on urgency and the intimacy of the message. But please ma’am, please sir do not bore me.

Image courtesy of Kyle Simourd via flickr.com

I had this thought while surfing Facebook this a.m.: Can you disaster-proof a business in the same way engineers try to protect buildings from natural disasters through thoughtful design? Answer: Yes.

Just like we anticipate hurricanes and, to some extent, earthquakes we can also prepare for the worst that could happen to our businesses. Not that we want it that way, but that we can design a business that, to the best of our abilities, is failure-proof and destined for success. Here’s a video that illustrates what I mean:

Image courtesy of orkbit via flickr.com

We do not now, nor have we ever, exported anything of worth other than our ideas. What can save the U.S. economy? What has always saved us, what made us . . . our ideas.

The concept of freedom of speech, religion and equality for all – American

Inventions

The Locomotive – American

The Telephone – American

The Car – American

The Television – American

The Personal Computer – American

Google – American

Now all of the creators of these ideas became insanely wealthy. When will we understand, as a nation, we export now and always will export one powerful thing that has fueled our growth since our inception? Ideas.

Please ma’am. Please sir. Mr. and Mrs. Business Owner: Embrace the power of the ideas in your head. Give birth to them here and export them overseas. For it is the idea that raised us and it is the idea that will sustain us as well.

Yours, Lisa

This is marketing at its best. Abercrombie and Fitch, the teen retailer with borderline pedophile ads, actually offered to pay Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino NOT to wear their clothing.

Reverse Endorsement

Let’s call this the opposite of what brands have done for sports stars such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning. Yes, A&F is associating itself with a name – by turning it’s back on that name The Situation. I love this for so many reasons. Here are two, praising both sides:

Pro A&F: Develop your tribe by showing who you don’t allow/want in the group.

Pro Sitch: Whatever you are be it to the tenth power. Cultivate “haters” to solidify your brand.

Finally, check out the video I recorded which breaks this down even more.