This sounds great, however, one thing we know about life: Everything is impermanent, even life itself.  We might care a lot about our new car, but thirty years from now, it will most probably have been recycled into something else. We may be happy about our possessions, or personal relationships, but some time from now, that thing, or that person, will not be there anymore. So, how can we be happy at all if all our happiness depends on something that is not permanent? How can we make happiness permanent in an impermanent universe?

We can understand, and incorporate deeply into our souls that happiness as we know it is merely a state of mind that relies on what we perceive as our identity. The things, persons, achievements that we feel that define us as a person. So, what can we do if this unstable foundation falls apart? (And it most certainly will.)

You can worry, be concerned, depressed, and stressed. Maybe you will think over and over again through the fact that you don't have any more that job, car, or relationship on which your whole identity relied. How would that make you feel? Angry? Sad? Hurt? You might feel like you just want that back, and attach to that. But in the end, you won't feel happy any more.  What should we do about that?

Feeling sad about a break up, job loss, or car wreck are all normal and natural emotion and the grief should be dealt with.  New cars, new jobs, and new relationships are great, but don't allow yourself to find your identity in those feelings.  We should detach ourselves from those ties. In the long term our happiness should be independent from external circumstances.   In those really tough moments, or those moments of pure joy, bear in mind that they are simply impermanent occurrences in the broader scope of your life.  Detach from momentary feelings and choose to feel happy in every moment.

Our specific duties were to assist in the "light" branding of the project, help them define the story they would eventually share with their members and attenders as well as provide the design work for the inserts given to members and attenders at the Fostering Together Launch at North Point Community Church.

Take a look at our final narrative for the Fostering Together Project between North Point Community Church and Faith Bridge Foster Care.

Below you will see images from the inserts we designed.  (Clicking on the images will provide full resolution.)

Here is the front of the insert:

And the reverse:

Check out the Fostering Together campaign.

es: What would surprise people about you?

JO: Normally I am a wallflower.  But, probably more like the electrical socket on the wall…quiet, in the background, but powerful!  However, when I am around my friends I am the storyteller.  I don't mind being the center of attention in those situations.

es: What is your most awkward memorable moment?

JO: One year in school, I had to give a speech in front of my class. My teacher told me to relax and be myself, basically be comfortable. Apparently I took this literally. My teacher told me after the speech that I gave the entire speech with my arm draped over my head! I didn't even realize that I was doing that and has become a very memorable awkward moment for me.

es: If your house burned down and you could only take three possessions with you what would you take?

JO: Sparkles my husband's blue sparkly guitar that was the inspiration for his groom's cake at our wedding, my photography hard-drive, and our wedding album.  I'm not really attached to my stuff, but these things would be pretty special to me.

es: Last Question, If you had to stay one age the rest of your life, what would you choose?

JO: 23.

es: Why?

JO: I was in the best shape of my life, right out of college and had very limited restrictions on where I could go and what I could do.  (Not that I don't like my life now…but you asked!)

1. Go to this social media blog post, read the associated article and leave a comment.

2. Tweet this phrase – "Wow, @eyespeak is giving away $100 in Ad Words – http://bit.ly/cmlOFI #freeadwords"

3. Wait until tomorrow morning to read the announcement to see if you win!

Good luck to everyone!

Note: The $100 in AdWords are for people not currently using AdWords.

Free Adwords Winner

Congratulations to: Barb Ezzel of The River OC on winning $100 in free AdWords!!

Brett is originally from Alabama where as a child he observed his grandfather in the kitchen at a prestigious country club.  He has a degree from the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena and spent time honing his craft in Europe before finally settling in the Atlanta area to form Cuzine Chefs.

We interviewed Brett about his experience working with eyespeak on his website redesign and he also let us in on his outside the kitchen hobby.

es: How did you discover eyespeak and what helped you choose eyespeak to redesign your site?

Brett: eyespeak found out about cuzine chefs from a client and hired us for a catering event at their offices.  At the time I was really looking to make a change to our website that would be a better representation of our brand.  During the event I picked up on the quality of the event and saw some of their work hanging on the walls and knew when it was time to get the site redone I would be calling eyespeak.

es: What was the process like?

Brett: We had an initial meeting where we both asked lots of questions.  eyespeak wanted to know what I felt was missing, what I was looking for in a redesign and they provided some suggestions based on their experience.  After the initial meeting they put a draft together very quickly and gave me a time-line of about a month to complete the project.  I have worked with several other web design companies and never had service as good as I got from eyespeak.  I was amazed.  The project was completed in the time frame they indicated, I never got a runaround about hidden fees or add-ons of any kind.

es: How do you feel about the finished product?

Brett: The final product is fantastic!  Everything I wanted and needed was addressed in this redesign.  Things I didn't even know I needed were addressed an added by eyespeak.  I make it a point to know my clients to give them the best service possible, it is clear eyespeak does the same.  (click on image to see the new site in action)

es: Would you recommend eyespeak to other business owners?

Brett: Yes, 100%.  eyespeak is honest, reliable, and awesome.  They have a great group of team members and are a company you can feel good doing business with.

es: We asked Brett if he had any outside the kitchen hobbies and he sent us this:

Thanks to Chef Brett for taking the time for an interview.  We have personally had an experience with Cuzine Chefs prior to our website redesign and can give our stamp of approval to Chef Brett and his team for an unforgettable experience.  If you have an event you would be doing yourself a disservice by not giving Cuzine Chefs a call.

The focus of the article is growing a small to medium sized business through social media.  Here are a few quotes from Austin that appear in the article to whet your appetite.  (Not to mention that the title of the article was pulled from one of his quotes!  WIN!)

"The point of social media is not to sell; the point is to communicate, to have a conversation." – Austin Lee

"It's like a party.  Nobody wants to talk to the guy who only talks about himself." – Austin Lee 

[In reference to security risks] "The problem is in identifying what's a risk and what isn't…" – Austin Lee

Congrats to Austin, Anna, Michael, and Jordan for their hard work in Social Media that gave eyespeak the opportunity to be featured!

There is also something to be said for leading the charge.  You can lead the charge if you are first to market, however, you can also lead the charge if you are a later entrant to the market place.  Leading the charge is not about being first, but being the best, the most innovative, and the quickest to respond to emerging threats and opportunities.

If I had to choose between being first or leading the charge, I would always choose to lead the charge.  For your brand to rise to the top you cannot be content, you cannot be reactive, and you cannot rest.  You should always be looking for how to improve your product, your delivery, your sales channel, your whole business.

Look at what is working and what is not working.  Begin to throw out those things that aren't working and try something new.  If your sales are sagging and you have always done most sales in the office on the phone then get in the car and go out to your clients everyday.  Sometimes a new approach can bring inspiration and of course new business!

How are you leading the charge in your industry?

What does this mean for you?  Well…it means a better experience when you visit our site.  It also means we need to celebrate.  And we have decided that you, yes you our current eyespeak blog readers, eyespeak Facebook fans, and eyespeak Twitter followers are going to help us celebrate by taking over our blog.  We feel like we create some good content, but we think you might have some ideas to really help us kick our new website off in style.

How can you run our blog?

Submit your content suggestions here on the Run our Blog post or submit an idea to us on Twitter or Facebook.  If you are really ambitious and would like to author a post on the new website here are the guidelines:

• Send you submission to our Social Media War Room with the Subject: I want to Run Your Blog
• Keep submissions between 250 and 500 words
• Your submission must be an original work not published anywhere else on the web or in print
• We will notify you if we select your work for publication
• Please write your best (grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.) we just don't have time to edit all submissions.

That's it…this is how you can Run our Blog.

That is not the majority of my client base.  My small business clients are great and wonderful companies that don't have big budgets and most have very small and unsophisticated traditional marketing campaigns.  In several cases we serve as the entire marketing department for our client.

In my opinion it is pretty easy to create some social media buzz for a large company like Coca-Cola, Home Depot, Domino's Pizza, and other huge brands in the social media space.  The reason is really simple: They have a recognizable brand, built-in platform, and known products.

If I was the social media director at Coca-Cola I could run a campaign to give away free cases of Coke to the first 100 people that send in a video of hitting themselves in the face with a whipped cream pie.  (Or something equally as crazy/silly/funny.) And word would get around on the popular blogs and through Twitter and Facebook very quickly.  They would get a lot of buzz and a ton of videos.  (What else do high school and college kids have to do during the Summer?)

I can't do that with my clients.  Odds are that to generate responses the value of the giveaway would have to be much more substantial than a $3.50 case of soft drinks to get the same reaction and the total number of participants would be small.  (But still really funny.)

The problem is that the advertising companies that come up with those stunts are winning awards for those campaigns, when in my opinion it is the previously established platform and traditional marketing presence that was the real driver of success behind the campaign.  (Or in some cases these major brands start their social media campaign with a media buy in a traditional outlet like TV or Newspaper)

I will say it is easier to get buy in for risky stuff from my small clients.  Once you have a huge brand the lawyers get involved and make it really hard to do the fun stuff before the opportunity to capitalize has passed.

So, where's the love for the successful small-business campaigns?  What do you think?  Easier to generate accolades from a big established brand campaign or about the same?

1. Crowd Sourcing Questions – In a room of 4,000 people getting your question answered is tough, but not if your question was Tweeted or Facebooked!  If you have a good question this would be a killer way to get it asked and answered.
2. Alert Attendees of Cool Stuff – You could use Twitter and Facebook to do last minute giveaways, meet and greet passes, etc.  This could help your event gain traction even during a lunch break.
3. Sponsored Giveaways – Everyone likes free stuff…what if one of your sponsors could get a hold of your follower/fan list for a giveaway during the event.  Check out our friends at Giiv to see if they can help you with this!
4. Best Seat  - Use Social Media to upgrade someone from the back to the front…in a nice big comfy chair of course.  (Added bonus…make sure they have a cooler full of drinks and snacks!)
5. Lost and Found – Sometimes people lose things at conferences…so create a conference specific lost and found twitter account and send tweets about things that are found.  (Or have the audience use a lost and found hashtag if they find stuff!)
6. Late Groups  - Invariably some groups coming to your event will be late.  Car trouble, traffic jams, etc.  Using social media listen to them talk about being late and select one of the groups to get "white glove" treatment when they arrive.  Save them enough seats, valet their van, and make sure all of their registration materials are ready to go when they arrive.
7. Roving Twit-Pics - Send out some people into the crowd and take pics for the official conference twitter feed.  Include their Twitter user name in the pic to add some value for the attendee.
8. T-O-D - Have your social media staff (you do have someone working conference social media right?) select a "T-O-D" (Tweet of the Day) and give that tweeter a prize.  It could be insightful, funny, serious, scary…anything…just give them something!  (On stage would be even better!)
9. Backstage Antics - If you have ever been backstage at a conference…some pretty funny things are happening.  We have all seen the backstage interviews…but tweeting some candid pics would be AWESOME!
10. Video Time – Now that everyone at your conference will have an iPhone 4 (I mean really…who doesn't have one yet?) Get them to send in their videos to your uber-talented video team (You have one of those too right?) and have the crowd sourced video for a montage near the end of the event.

Okay…there are 10 things you can do for your conference/event…hurry and do it before someone else does!  Can you think of anymore?