This summer marks my tenth year since I started belly dance. The most common question I get (besides "How do you balance that sword on your head?") is, "Why did you decide to learn belly dance?" It's a valid question, but I also know this question comes with an a certain amount of curiosity about how a Chinese girl picked up a Middle Eastern folkloric dance as a passion.
The story: in 2000, I graduated from my second Master's degree program at nearly the same time a very important relationship with a troubled man was put on hold. My own personal suffering translated into physical illness. I ate and slept so poorly, my doctor recommended that I find something more gentle to do than running and aerobics for exercise (I had lost approximately 25 pounds in two months).
Picking up a Discover U catalog for Seattle-area classes, I flipped through it, looking for "something" that seemed interesting. I didn't know I was looking for belly dance, though I had been exposed to Lebanese belly dancing while on a tour of Israel a few years earlier. One of the Discover U class offerings was belly dance with Yasmine, who I would later find out was not only a dancer but a musician as well. With a few group classes, Yasmine encouraged me to consider belly dance as "your dance"; that is, she felt that I took naturally to it. I must admit, being a musician has its advantages: zill playing was a bit easier for me than the average beginner.
Imei, celebrating 10 years of belly dance, and different styles of dance
People ask me where I get my ideas for choreography. Certainly, all of us learn from someone, and we borrow their moves as it suits us. Later, we learn to listen to the music, playing with variations of how those shapes and emotions might look when in motion and facial expressions. Finally, we create, film, observe, perform, and elicit feedback, constantly working to refine the feelings and messages we wish to send to the audience with each piece.
Sabura once wrote an email with a piece of advice I have taken to heart over the years. She reminded me that it didn't matter so much what movement I did in a choreography, as long as it perfectly expressed the emotion of the music in which it occurred. If I can get an audience feeling what I feel -- longing, joy, tension, release, breath, misery, anger, confidence, comedy -- I have accomplished no small feat.
In essence, we dancers give our viewers the unique opportunity to feel what is is to embody the music itself, yet without having to move from one's chair, nor ooze a single drop of sweat. If you find yourself holding your breath, smiling, laughing, or emitting a flirty confidence from every pore in your body, you have just understood perfectly what it is to be a belly dancer: orchestrating emotions in a waterfall of pleasure
Showing posts with label how to. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how to. Show all posts
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Costumes: How to Buy Them Without Breaking the Bank
Every week, I get requests on my FB page or messages to my Youtube channel asking questions such as, "How many costumes do you have?" and "These look expensive. How do you afford them?"
I have watched many belly dancers go through countless costumes over the years. Some are great purchases; others, not so much. How do you purchase good costumes without taking out a small business loan? Here are my ten tips to purchasing quality costumes and starting a belly dance costume brokerage.
You can find this exact post on my hiring website, DreamYogaAndDance.com.
How to Purchase and Maintain Quality Costumes (without breaking the bank)
I now own 14 costumes, which I cycle through on a regular basis. I started out with two costumes in 2002. One was a poor purchase, and is useless (beading fell apart, backing of belt also ripped). The other got a lot of mileage, and has since been resold at the top of the market. Here's how you can own quality costumes and get your money back.
1. Find a costume maker you love. Some suggestions:
Dahlal.com
Bellacostumes.com
2. Participate in a swap board or consignment group
Bhuz.com
The Belly dance costume recycle project (Facebook)
Belly dance Costume SWAP (Facebook)
3. Know what colors you want, what style looks good and moves well with you, and don't buy anything less than that (or you might regret the spendy purchase). Additonal tip: if you dance with a troupe, you might want to think about colors, shapes, and designs where others can purchase similar costumes to match.
4. Keep your costumes in excellent condition, doing repairs and replacing bead loss immediately. This will help when you are ready to re-sell your costumes to purchase your next costume. Store them in separate boxes after airing them out after a performance. Do not smoke or eat in your costumes, and do not wear your costumes longer than you need to (i.e. change into street clothes after a performance).
5. Dance at least ten times for pay in each costume, and keep track of how much money you made. Some costumes are "money" costumes, attracting more tips and better pay. You might wish to keep this costume longer, even if it isn't your personal favorite. Sell the costume after the 10th time you've used it in your same town.
NOTE: Here's the kicker: if you aren't being paid for performances, you should pace your costume purchases and quality to the pace of your ability to pay for them. If you simply buy costumes because you really want them, make sure you have the income to cover these purchases. Otherwise, consider doing a "costume brokerage" systems, buying and reselling approximately two costumes a year, and purchase costumes that you believe will have a high resell value.
6. Purchase costumes in bright colors with interesting details. These will not only gain you great attention while you dance, they'll be popular when you're ready to sell it.
7. If you know a professional dancer who is close in size to you, offer to purchase costumes from her for below-new prices, or get on her email list when she places them on sale. My favorite: Sandra of raks-sharki.com
8. Don't buy costumes if they are:
a. full of small problems you wish you could fix, but know you won't
b. ill-fitting, too large or too small, or requiring massive amounts of alterations (adding more cost)
c. in drab colors that don't suit your complexion
d. trendy, unless you can truly pull it off AND you believe you can resell it later
8. Don't make emotional decisions about costume purchases. Get a trusted friend's opinion if you are unsure about a purchase. When it comes time to sell, don't hesitate if you find a buyer.
9. If you do a lot of performance where you are the solo entertainment for the event, consider buying costumes that are easy for you to dress yourself. If they have unreachable clasps, requires a lot of pinning, or have details that need a second pair of hands, save those costume purchases for when you are doing stage shows (people in the dressing room can help you).
10. Consider buying conservative fitting skirts with slits that can be shortened or closed, and those with beading sewn directly to the skirt (instead of a separate belt). Costumes showing too much of the thigh are pretty for pictures, but not always practical (and sometimes unappreciated) in some settings.
Have costume purchase tips you'd like to add? Please send them offline to info@hipsforhire.com
I have watched many belly dancers go through countless costumes over the years. Some are great purchases; others, not so much. How do you purchase good costumes without taking out a small business loan? Here are my ten tips to purchasing quality costumes and starting a belly dance costume brokerage.
You can find this exact post on my hiring website, DreamYogaAndDance.com.
How to Purchase and Maintain Quality Costumes (without breaking the bank)
I now own 14 costumes, which I cycle through on a regular basis. I started out with two costumes in 2002. One was a poor purchase, and is useless (beading fell apart, backing of belt also ripped). The other got a lot of mileage, and has since been resold at the top of the market. Here's how you can own quality costumes and get your money back.
1. Find a costume maker you love. Some suggestions:
Dahlal.com
Bellacostumes.com
2. Participate in a swap board or consignment group
Bhuz.com
The Belly dance costume recycle project (Facebook)
Belly dance Costume SWAP (Facebook)
3. Know what colors you want, what style looks good and moves well with you, and don't buy anything less than that (or you might regret the spendy purchase). Additonal tip: if you dance with a troupe, you might want to think about colors, shapes, and designs where others can purchase similar costumes to match.
4. Keep your costumes in excellent condition, doing repairs and replacing bead loss immediately. This will help when you are ready to re-sell your costumes to purchase your next costume. Store them in separate boxes after airing them out after a performance. Do not smoke or eat in your costumes, and do not wear your costumes longer than you need to (i.e. change into street clothes after a performance).
5. Dance at least ten times for pay in each costume, and keep track of how much money you made. Some costumes are "money" costumes, attracting more tips and better pay. You might wish to keep this costume longer, even if it isn't your personal favorite. Sell the costume after the 10th time you've used it in your same town.
NOTE: Here's the kicker: if you aren't being paid for performances, you should pace your costume purchases and quality to the pace of your ability to pay for them. If you simply buy costumes because you really want them, make sure you have the income to cover these purchases. Otherwise, consider doing a "costume brokerage" systems, buying and reselling approximately two costumes a year, and purchase costumes that you believe will have a high resell value.
6. Purchase costumes in bright colors with interesting details. These will not only gain you great attention while you dance, they'll be popular when you're ready to sell it.
7. If you know a professional dancer who is close in size to you, offer to purchase costumes from her for below-new prices, or get on her email list when she places them on sale. My favorite: Sandra of raks-sharki.com
8. Don't buy costumes if they are:
a. full of small problems you wish you could fix, but know you won't
b. ill-fitting, too large or too small, or requiring massive amounts of alterations (adding more cost)
c. in drab colors that don't suit your complexion
d. trendy, unless you can truly pull it off AND you believe you can resell it later
8. Don't make emotional decisions about costume purchases. Get a trusted friend's opinion if you are unsure about a purchase. When it comes time to sell, don't hesitate if you find a buyer.
9. If you do a lot of performance where you are the solo entertainment for the event, consider buying costumes that are easy for you to dress yourself. If they have unreachable clasps, requires a lot of pinning, or have details that need a second pair of hands, save those costume purchases for when you are doing stage shows (people in the dressing room can help you).
10. Consider buying conservative fitting skirts with slits that can be shortened or closed, and those with beading sewn directly to the skirt (instead of a separate belt). Costumes showing too much of the thigh are pretty for pictures, but not always practical (and sometimes unappreciated) in some settings.
Have costume purchase tips you'd like to add? Please send them offline to info@hipsforhire.com
Monday, July 5, 2010
How to Lose Weight: Fast and Easy?
Did I get your attention? I purposely titled this post, "How to Lose Weight: Fast and Easy?" because I know if you're looking for this kind of information, you could very well go to the wrong place. Truly, I feel for you: you're just trying to get honest information, and a ton of people who aren't even in the health care industry are trying to tell you how to lose weight. Admittedly, my friend Chris Pirillo wrote his own weight loss tips list, and it was he who suggested that I use my licenses as an RN and psychotherapist who has coached others towards weight loss to write my own eBook to help people.
Truth: there is no SAFE way to lose weight fast nor easily. You can, however, lose weight at a steady pace and keep it off. Here's how.
If you live in America, you need to know that you live in a weight-obsessed culture, with a food industry that creates a hostile environment for your plans to maintain a healthy diet, a fit body, and a weight meant for your height, age, and genetics.
Here's the opening excerpt from my upcoming eBook, "Video Nurse: 50 Weight Loss Tips for Busy People". It will be available to order by Paypal for just $5, and comes with an attractive cover and title page, perfect for giving as a gift. Download it as a PDF, or make a printed copy to keep by your desk.
Here's the excerpt:
According to present statistics available at the time of this writing, obesity rates in the U.S. may be finally leveling off, but the rates are still high. No state passed the Healthy People 2010 Guidelines for 15% or less obese people http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/index.html. Our food supplies continue to cater to a market that is willing to buy cheap food to keep our mouths entertained, while the number of preventable diseases and deaths related to complications of obesity continue to soar along with our health care bills.
Whenever instituting a change that doesn't provide an immediate measurable outcome, consider giving yourself a non-food reward for good behavior to help encourage the repetition of that behavior. I suggest that reward to be something other than food because I feel that food shouldn't be used as punishment or reward. An example of a non-food reward: put a dime in a jar for each time you complete a particular tip on the list below. At the end of fifty days, you'd have five dollars if you did just one tip (or put in a dollar per day as your list grows); you'd have $250 if you did all fifty tips for fifty days at a dime a piece (although some tips will only be done once or twice). At the end of fifty days, use that money for something healthy for yourself to enjoy.
I hold licenses as a Registered Nurse and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the State of Washington. "Video Nurse" health tips are just that: health tips. They are not designed to be used for diagnosis or treatment of specific diseases or disorders. Any misuse or misinterpretation of these health tips are at the risk of the reader, and Video Nurse and Bernice Imei Hsu, RN, MAC, LMHC is not responsible for any untoward consequences of these actions. You are advised to seek professional advice in the treatment of any illness, disease, or disorder.
Here area few tips from the eBook:
17. Unless you are diabetic or an athlete, it's not likely that more than 60% of your calories need to come from carbohydrates. If your diet consists of mostly cereal, spaghetti, and breads because of convenience, you might be encouraging a carbohydrate addiction as well as packing on the pounds over time. Consider weaning yourself off of excess carbs by reducing the portion size while replacing the excess with a serving of vegetables cooked in a tablespoon of good oil. Non-wheat eaters may find that returning to their genetic history may be easier on digestion. Example: I metabolize rice better than pasta, as long as I combine my carbs with protein.
18. Busy people need to have healthy foods ready to grab and eat in order to change the habit of eating less nutritious convenience foods. Consider spending one afternoon on a weekend preparing fresh foods cooked and measured into meal-sized bags, and keep a basket of fresh fruits in snack sizes (e.g small oranges, apples, bananas) nearby. Lunches can be pre-packed. Dinners can be waiting in large-sized zip lock bags, reheated by microwave or by placing on a baking sheet and reheated.
19. Juice fruit rather than buy it in a carton. It's easier to see how much you're actually consuming when you grab one orange and juice it yourself.
20. Eat slowly. It takes time for the stomach to feel full enough to signal the brain to stop seeking food. Converse during a meal, or put your fork down between bites. Consume a glass of water before the meal and during the meal to slow the process of eating down.
21. Stop eating when you feel 80% full. As one friend put it, it's a realization that you could eat a few bites more, but those bites would only be for entertainment. Do you really need "a party in your mouth" (as Dr. Phil has said)?
The eBook contains fifty tips I have discussed with clients over the years who were either recommended by their doctor to reduce their weight, or had personal health goals of which weight loss was a reasonable part of their treatment. Every client who did what I asked them to do lost weight. Whether they put the weight back on depends on whether they understood the lifestyle change involved in weight management, or their vision was temporary in nature.
The only real way to lose weight and keep it off is to eat less calories than you burn on a daily basis, and to use both smart nutrition and exercise/movement to create an environment where the body can thrive. There are no short cuts. There is no magic bullet. Even diet pills that encourage faster weight loss have side effects that may be intolerable, such as fatty, loose stools if you have too much fat in your diet. Diet shakes and protein shakes can help you lose weight, but they do not do the work for you to shape up those muscles, such as swimming, jogging, and resistance training.
You may have reached the time where you "get real" with your health goals, and you are ready to do the work to achieve your best life physically, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally. I hope you'll check out my work at Seattle Direct Counseling, or my eBook of weight loss tips (coming soon), to help you on your way.
Truth: there is no SAFE way to lose weight fast nor easily. You can, however, lose weight at a steady pace and keep it off. Here's how.
If you live in America, you need to know that you live in a weight-obsessed culture, with a food industry that creates a hostile environment for your plans to maintain a healthy diet, a fit body, and a weight meant for your height, age, and genetics.
Here's the opening excerpt from my upcoming eBook, "Video Nurse: 50 Weight Loss Tips for Busy People". It will be available to order by Paypal for just $5, and comes with an attractive cover and title page, perfect for giving as a gift. Download it as a PDF, or make a printed copy to keep by your desk.
Here's the excerpt:
According to present statistics available at the time of this writing, obesity rates in the U.S. may be finally leveling off, but the rates are still high. No state passed the Healthy People 2010 Guidelines for 15% or less obese people http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/index.html. Our food supplies continue to cater to a market that is willing to buy cheap food to keep our mouths entertained, while the number of preventable diseases and deaths related to complications of obesity continue to soar along with our health care bills.
Whenever instituting a change that doesn't provide an immediate measurable outcome, consider giving yourself a non-food reward for good behavior to help encourage the repetition of that behavior. I suggest that reward to be something other than food because I feel that food shouldn't be used as punishment or reward. An example of a non-food reward: put a dime in a jar for each time you complete a particular tip on the list below. At the end of fifty days, you'd have five dollars if you did just one tip (or put in a dollar per day as your list grows); you'd have $250 if you did all fifty tips for fifty days at a dime a piece (although some tips will only be done once or twice). At the end of fifty days, use that money for something healthy for yourself to enjoy.
I hold licenses as a Registered Nurse and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the State of Washington. "Video Nurse" health tips are just that: health tips. They are not designed to be used for diagnosis or treatment of specific diseases or disorders. Any misuse or misinterpretation of these health tips are at the risk of the reader, and Video Nurse and Bernice Imei Hsu, RN, MAC, LMHC is not responsible for any untoward consequences of these actions. You are advised to seek professional advice in the treatment of any illness, disease, or disorder.
Here area few tips from the eBook:
17. Unless you are diabetic or an athlete, it's not likely that more than 60% of your calories need to come from carbohydrates. If your diet consists of mostly cereal, spaghetti, and breads because of convenience, you might be encouraging a carbohydrate addiction as well as packing on the pounds over time. Consider weaning yourself off of excess carbs by reducing the portion size while replacing the excess with a serving of vegetables cooked in a tablespoon of good oil. Non-wheat eaters may find that returning to their genetic history may be easier on digestion. Example: I metabolize rice better than pasta, as long as I combine my carbs with protein.
18. Busy people need to have healthy foods ready to grab and eat in order to change the habit of eating less nutritious convenience foods. Consider spending one afternoon on a weekend preparing fresh foods cooked and measured into meal-sized bags, and keep a basket of fresh fruits in snack sizes (e.g small oranges, apples, bananas) nearby. Lunches can be pre-packed. Dinners can be waiting in large-sized zip lock bags, reheated by microwave or by placing on a baking sheet and reheated.
19. Juice fruit rather than buy it in a carton. It's easier to see how much you're actually consuming when you grab one orange and juice it yourself.
20. Eat slowly. It takes time for the stomach to feel full enough to signal the brain to stop seeking food. Converse during a meal, or put your fork down between bites. Consume a glass of water before the meal and during the meal to slow the process of eating down.
21. Stop eating when you feel 80% full. As one friend put it, it's a realization that you could eat a few bites more, but those bites would only be for entertainment. Do you really need "a party in your mouth" (as Dr. Phil has said)?
The eBook contains fifty tips I have discussed with clients over the years who were either recommended by their doctor to reduce their weight, or had personal health goals of which weight loss was a reasonable part of their treatment. Every client who did what I asked them to do lost weight. Whether they put the weight back on depends on whether they understood the lifestyle change involved in weight management, or their vision was temporary in nature.
The only real way to lose weight and keep it off is to eat less calories than you burn on a daily basis, and to use both smart nutrition and exercise/movement to create an environment where the body can thrive. There are no short cuts. There is no magic bullet. Even diet pills that encourage faster weight loss have side effects that may be intolerable, such as fatty, loose stools if you have too much fat in your diet. Diet shakes and protein shakes can help you lose weight, but they do not do the work for you to shape up those muscles, such as swimming, jogging, and resistance training.
You may have reached the time where you "get real" with your health goals, and you are ready to do the work to achieve your best life physically, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally. I hope you'll check out my work at Seattle Direct Counseling, or my eBook of weight loss tips (coming soon), to help you on your way.
Friday, June 18, 2010
n00b Kid On The Block
I like being the n00b kid on the block.
In an earlier blogpost on my Ning site, I explained how being a beginner at something has its adventures, advantages, and downfalls. So far in my 261 days as "the n00b of Social Media", there haven't been many pitfalls. I've had a rather thrilling ride through Social Media 101 Blogworld 2009, LeWeb 2009, 140TC 2010, SXSWi 2010, ReThink Hawaii 2010, and I'm currently volunteering with Gnomedex 2010 for August 19-21. I just finished my first eBook, started a third Twitter account @VideoNurse, and launched a regular Ustream.tv show "Video Nurse" airing Mondays at 5 pm PST talking about health care and its intersection with technology. I've assisted with content on another eBook, and I'm about to launch a fully-interactive website for my psychology and wellness website, SeattleDirectCounseling.com (coming on WordPress soon!).
By far, this doesn't make me:
1. Successful
2. Rich (!)
3. An expert
I'd like to convert my forays in Social Media to become:
1. Richer
2. A Savvy and smart business woman
3. A better networker
4. Helpful to others with a much larger reach than one person at a time.
Nothing felt more "n00bier" than receiving several emails from different fields, requesting easy tips on turning their current websites into monetized blogs. I felt n00bish because my first reaction is "Who am I to give advice on this? What do I really know? What have I really done?" I'm still in the "hard work, all for fun, where's the money" stage. Though each email was a sincere ask for help, I felt n00bish because I'm frankly still a n00b, and I enjoy being a n00b.
Sound Effects for Your Thoughts
With just 104 days of my n00b year left, I'm asking all those hard questions. What can I really show for that year? What were the losses? What were the gains? If I could do anything differently, what would it be? And what am I deeply satisfied with?
One thing that has become apparent: just about everything I've done has shown up on an unfinished list from Chris Pirillo on the topic of making money from blogging. That isn't the only thing I'm trying to do, but at its essence, a blog doesn't survive for long if it doesn't yield a measureable return on your investment (ROI). One of the tips eluded to is a tried-and-true motto:
Easy money usually means hard work.
Five seconds ago, I tried to think of one word that would describe my immersion into Social Media. The only word that flashed was this one:
mentor
To clarify, the word is MENTOR, not "mental", although there have been times that I have felt the latter quite deeply.
A few related words also suit the effect: coach, teacher, model. You see, I have a pile of books in my house, and all of them are full of information, insight, suggestions, exercises, and reviews. However, I'm not very motivated to learn from these books and swim through the minutiae to find out what HTML code I need to insert in my website in order to make a button bigger or smaller. I'm just not that kind of Neek (hybrid nerd and geek). I'm not inclined to read 50 reviews to find out if the camera I'm using is the best one for my purposes. But I am sold on the process of sitting with someone who shows me in front of my face what I'm doing right and what I can improve, even if that is done in a group setting. I'm all into the learning process, but I'm suggesting that your learning process cannot be limited to a CD and book study program (just $49.95 plus shipping and handling). It can't be encapsulated in a friend's well-meaning but greatly attenuated "hot list" of things you need to do.
As my motivational coaching practice takes flight (I already have clients!), I believe I'm going to see more of this trend happen in Social Media. The emails with requests for short cuts and tips will keep coming in. However my answer will remain the same: "There are no short cuts, and there is no free lunch. Get a mentor or a coach." I am passionate about this answer, because this is what has been done for me.
I am indebted to two men, Joe Kennedy and Chris Pirillo, for the n00b journey I've been on. Joe Kennedy is responsible for inviting me to Social Media 101 September 25, 2009 and being the incredible networker that he is. Chris Pirillo is responsible for asking me out to coffee after I shyly told him I had just launched my first Twitter handle. He showed me what happened when he retweeted my Tweet: "What would Scooby Doo do with a Macbook and an iPhone?" As people responded to that Tweet, my eyes were opened. Everything else is history.
Please follow me on Twitter @hipsforhire @VideoNurse and Facebook ImeiYogaDance, and check out video on YouTube YourLilChinaGirl
In an earlier blogpost on my Ning site, I explained how being a beginner at something has its adventures, advantages, and downfalls. So far in my 261 days as "the n00b of Social Media", there haven't been many pitfalls. I've had a rather thrilling ride through Social Media 101 Blogworld 2009, LeWeb 2009, 140TC 2010, SXSWi 2010, ReThink Hawaii 2010, and I'm currently volunteering with Gnomedex 2010 for August 19-21. I just finished my first eBook, started a third Twitter account @VideoNurse, and launched a regular Ustream.tv show "Video Nurse" airing Mondays at 5 pm PST talking about health care and its intersection with technology. I've assisted with content on another eBook, and I'm about to launch a fully-interactive website for my psychology and wellness website, SeattleDirectCounseling.com (coming on WordPress soon!).
By far, this doesn't make me:
1. Successful
2. Rich (!)
3. An expert
I'd like to convert my forays in Social Media to become:
1. Richer
2. A Savvy and smart business woman
3. A better networker
4. Helpful to others with a much larger reach than one person at a time.
Nothing felt more "n00bier" than receiving several emails from different fields, requesting easy tips on turning their current websites into monetized blogs. I felt n00bish because my first reaction is "Who am I to give advice on this? What do I really know? What have I really done?" I'm still in the "hard work, all for fun, where's the money" stage. Though each email was a sincere ask for help, I felt n00bish because I'm frankly still a n00b, and I enjoy being a n00b.
Sound Effects for Your Thoughts
With just 104 days of my n00b year left, I'm asking all those hard questions. What can I really show for that year? What were the losses? What were the gains? If I could do anything differently, what would it be? And what am I deeply satisfied with?
One thing that has become apparent: just about everything I've done has shown up on an unfinished list from Chris Pirillo on the topic of making money from blogging. That isn't the only thing I'm trying to do, but at its essence, a blog doesn't survive for long if it doesn't yield a measureable return on your investment (ROI). One of the tips eluded to is a tried-and-true motto:
Easy money usually means hard work.
Five seconds ago, I tried to think of one word that would describe my immersion into Social Media. The only word that flashed was this one:
mentor
To clarify, the word is MENTOR, not "mental", although there have been times that I have felt the latter quite deeply.
A few related words also suit the effect: coach, teacher, model. You see, I have a pile of books in my house, and all of them are full of information, insight, suggestions, exercises, and reviews. However, I'm not very motivated to learn from these books and swim through the minutiae to find out what HTML code I need to insert in my website in order to make a button bigger or smaller. I'm just not that kind of Neek (hybrid nerd and geek). I'm not inclined to read 50 reviews to find out if the camera I'm using is the best one for my purposes. But I am sold on the process of sitting with someone who shows me in front of my face what I'm doing right and what I can improve, even if that is done in a group setting. I'm all into the learning process, but I'm suggesting that your learning process cannot be limited to a CD and book study program (just $49.95 plus shipping and handling). It can't be encapsulated in a friend's well-meaning but greatly attenuated "hot list" of things you need to do.
As my motivational coaching practice takes flight (I already have clients!), I believe I'm going to see more of this trend happen in Social Media. The emails with requests for short cuts and tips will keep coming in. However my answer will remain the same: "There are no short cuts, and there is no free lunch. Get a mentor or a coach." I am passionate about this answer, because this is what has been done for me.
I am indebted to two men, Joe Kennedy and Chris Pirillo, for the n00b journey I've been on. Joe Kennedy is responsible for inviting me to Social Media 101 September 25, 2009 and being the incredible networker that he is. Chris Pirillo is responsible for asking me out to coffee after I shyly told him I had just launched my first Twitter handle. He showed me what happened when he retweeted my Tweet: "What would Scooby Doo do with a Macbook and an iPhone?" As people responded to that Tweet, my eyes were opened. Everything else is history.
Please follow me on Twitter @hipsforhire @VideoNurse and Facebook ImeiYogaDance, and check out video on YouTube YourLilChinaGirl
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