When it comes to social media and getting your message across, you can sometimes ride on the wave of success created by others.
The last one I would have loved to see from (more…)
In 15 days I will celebrate my 5 year anniversary on YouTube. You know – it’s nothing I really have thought of celebrating – but there are a few reasons why.
I joked about that I would start a YouTube channel or video series called Lady in Red. Lead the way and show others that they could do the same thing. Break through stage fright. So here it is. I say as my Norwegian room mate in San Diego – actually – the man who got married in the wedding we sang at: “Come with me and I’ll take you places”.
Please join me in the celebration by doing 3 things… 😉
This is the YouTube Debut Song, Ulf Lundell’s “Kärleken förde oss samman” (Love brought us together) featuring Helene Vik (now 3rd team – not yet announced – member at Herringbone) and Ylva Elias (Biotech Sales Professional and Singer, San Diego).
Enjoy,
Johanna
Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo in The Artist
It’s been a long time since I have expressed my self out loud. In this forum. But there’s been a lot of acting. Watching the movie The Artist, gave me the segway back to the blogosphere…
Below are some interesting facts about the movie – and by now we know that The Artist won 5 Oscars: Best Picture, Directing, Actor In a Leading Role, Costume Design, and Music (Original Score).
Compared to the movie Hugo, that also was awarded five Oscars, The artist was ten times less expensive. According to IMDB the estimated budgets were: $15,000,000 (The Artist) compared to $170,000,000 (Hugo) per vikisecrets.
Notes to self:
– Silence is golden
– Less is more
– A picture says more than 1000 words
All along watching the movie I couldn’t resist relating to The Artist in my world. Without spoken words, she can capture a whole timeline in her portraits. She can convey a story that is both moving deeply, and make you laugh loudly. She incorporates objects and details that are unexpected and humoristic. Her art is original, optimistic and well received.
She recently visited San Francisco for some meetings and introductions, planting seeds for her first US exhibition.
As expressed in a letter back to Sweden by one of the private event participants:
“Great to connect after all these years now when the mystery with the secret Royal painter from Sweden has been unraveled by Johanna Nilsson, the social media queen of San Francisco. Catrine swept in like a whirlwind in the Bay area and people are stepping on oneanothers toes to grab her before somebody else does… WAO, a painter, actress, comedian, entertainer, wife and mother of twins – she should have her own TV show now when Oprah is gone…. Greetings to the entire family from Karl L”
If Jean Dujardin can entertain in words like Catrine Näsmark, is still a secret to me. But I am sure he, or any other Oscar winners would appreciate their own portrait done by her. Just like I am sure Marc Zuckerberg would appreciate the portrait Catrine Näsmark has done of him in her last exhibition “United Statements of America”, and how she captured his Facebook Timeline in a quite brilliant way. It’s in the details. Can’t wait for her art to actually take stage in San Francisco.
With regards to social media queen or not… I do know that I love what social media offers when it comes to communicating something of importance and meaning, to an audience that needs to hear it and love to share it. Building relationships in a transparent and authentic way across all kinds of borders. Allowing for private and corporate ideas, and dreams to be realized through the traction and support they gain and make them thrive.
With that said: may I introduce you to The Artist. Catrine Näsmark – click here.
And, to quote Jean Dujardin:
“With pleasure”,
Johanna
Final note to self: if something seems old and stale – add a dance and you bring back life to it!
1. Director Michel Hazanavicius, 44, fantasized about making a silent film for many years, both for the image-driven nature of the format and because many of his favorite filmmakers emerged in that era.
2. Hazanavicius studied many silent films to find the right technique in order to make the story comprehensible without the use of too many title cards.
3. The dog actor in the film, Uggy, won the Palm Dog Award for best canine at the Cannes Film Festival in France. The honor can be awarded to live or animated dogs or a group of dogs in films presented at the festival. (The name of the award is a pun on the Palme d’Or, the festival’s highest honor). ‘Up”s Dug is a previous winner.
4. The stars of the film, Berenice Bejo and Jean Dujardin, had to learn to act in an 80-year-old style that has not really been used since the 1920s, and they both had to learn to tap-dance at a professional level for the film.
5. The Weinstein Company’s publicity strategy of plugging ‘The Artist’ into every film festival and letting word-of-mouth seems to be working. The film has won audience awards in at least three film festivals around the world so far.
December 8. Would have been my fathers 75th birthday. As I visit my sister in-law’s Facebook page I find this rare photo of Elvis Presley and his father. Mm… will pick an Elvis song for my dad today.
So there are beautiful ones to choose. Bridge over troubled water, Love me tender… but the first one we played at the funeral, and the second one… I think he does feel the love and appreciation from me, my mom, my brother and his family. I think he is ready to move on. To move on with us. So the song I chose was this one:
A little less conversation, a little more action please. Time to rock ‘n roll! Get things moving.
Let’s get groovy! And hey – if you would create your own video with One True Media – what would you do?
Have fun,
Johanna
Or, I should rather say “Web Cam Art Shared (with Permission)”.
I got an email sent to me with the text “…happened to be browsing this just at sunset the other day – I think web-cam art may become a new
genre 🙂 pretty remarkable.. 🙂 – http://sv.berkeley.edu/view/index.html
About The ProjectOVERVIEW: The goal of this project is to help children understand the weather by correlating the view from the Lawrence Hall of Science with weather data and satellite imagery. This project is part of the Lawrence Hall of Science Weather Exhibit and the FOSS Weather CD-ROM.
Enjoy the sunset – I am not sure about the weather where you are right now, but the rain is making big time music on the fire stair outside of my window.
Johanna
OK – as an excited participant from the Blog World & New Media Expo, I download the GoldRun iPhone app, after scanning the QR code on the covered New Fort Escape model, to be launched in a couple of weeks.
Let’s see… how does this work? OK challenges, and points. I take a photo of this animated dog, on my bed per the instructions – and share on twitter or Facebook. That takes a while. Voila – that gives me one point. And a message shared…
JohannaCNilssonJohanna C. NilssonFound Puppy World’s Chihuahua Puppy! Cutest in the universe! img.ly/af36
There are more challenges with upcoming deadlines to follow. I get one point for each shared photo. Fine. So what does the competition look like? HA!
3 days in to the game, the leading participant has 911 points. Thank you – I think I have other things to do than taking photos of cute animated dogs and uploading – no matter how much I like Ford (it was my first car after all). They must have another target audience than me. It will be interesting to see what the results will be from this campaign.
Talking about car campaigns – tomorrow, Friday November 11, is the last day to vote on the Toyota Sweden Facebook page, which child charity shall get the most colorful hybrid car donated – by children, for children.
Go to Toyota Sweden Facebook page and vote! It takes two minutes. The video that they created of the children paining the car is sweet and you can only see it there… or you can see photos and listen to the music by (Swedish;) SOL Stat & Orchestra Live right below… It will make you smile.
Spread a little love, just say hello,
Johanna
Sometimes you just gotta stop and absorb the moment. It is easy to run run run – there is so much to do 24/7 to somehow make everything happen. Especially if you are working on something exciting, nearly approaching…
Last Sunday I finally got a moment with my client, dear friend and outstanding paintor, Catrine Näsmark – on the run. Quick download of all the updates and decision of which pieces of art to display on the website home page, and shouldn’t there be another color of the logo – which is really Catrine’s art signature. The invitation was to go out the day after. The new website had to be up. Right then and there I just had to stop. Co-creation on the run, with a smile. This is a golden moment. There Catrine is, running on the treadmill in Stockholm, skyping me with her iPhone – and here am I sitting in my yoga clothes ready to walk out the door to the next yoga class in San Francisco.
How on earth did we get things done before without all this technology? And how wonderful it is that we can share what we love through it. In Sweden we say “Shared happiness, double happiness”. Well – used with that intention in mind – what is the happiness factor you can create sharing your joy through social media? I like that idea…
And with permission: this is how it looked like.
#Freedom of creation with impact. That was the mantra for this year. How would that look for you?
Enjoy,
Johanna
Oh yes – the logo color chosen was red – you would really like to see it, on a painting in your own collection – or maybe your own portrait ;). And the impact? Change the world with colors.
As I was walking home from the cafe, thinking of the project I had been working on, my train of thoughts relating to lead generation and lead conversion online were suddenly interrupted by painted flowers on the path way.
Unexpectedly they appeared and once they caught my attention, I wanted to know where they lead. Such a great example of a physical hyperlink offline. They spoke to me: “Click here”. “Step here”. “Come, you’re invited”. The flowers led to the entrance with the “Welcome” doormat of the Irish bakery down the block where I live(d).
I am not too sure if the owner actually was aware of how brilliant it was. How would he know, unless people told him, or if he asked? That is the beauty of online hyperlinks and marketing: if you use a proper system you will be able to know exactly which link your customer clicked on before he or she entered your store, from where they came, what time, also in best case what nationality, age and gender, did you buy something, what did you buy and did you share it with or recommend it to others? That can give you knowledge to really drive your business.
Those flowers on the sidewalk by the Irish bakery have made me walk in there more than once. And I’m sure I was not the only one. Last Thursday, I went there twice. And walked away empty handed both times. Two deliveries and sold out within the hour! The flowers were washed away – I guess Saint Patrick’s Day was the contributing factor that day… and I am sure: had the flowers not been there, many clients had not noticed the place to the same extent.
When preparing for my temporary move to Sweden the same day, I came across an old Irish poem called Take Time in one of my books. I think it is well worth sharing:
Take time to WORK … It is the price of success.
Take time to THINK … It is the source of power.
Take time to LAUGH … It is the music of the soul.
Take time to READ … It is the foundation of wisdom.
Take time to DO CHARITY … It is the key to heaven.
Take time to PRAY … It is the greatest power on earth.
Take time to PLAY … It is the secret of perpetual youth.
Take time to be FRIENDLY … It is the road to happiness.
Take time to DREAM … It is like hitching your wagon to a star.
Take time to LOVE and BE LOVED … It is a God-given privilege.
You are invited.
Be loved,
Johanna
DON'T GIVE UP!
Coming back from NYC this time I had one new thing to unpack: a package of magnets with the look of iPhone apps. Hm. As I put them up on my fridge, I was thinking – I guess it’s official: I am an apple nurd! Or fan, to choose a more flattering word.
My fridge has a number of photos of family and friends, and a few motivating cards and statements etc. The one card that draw my attention, that got surrounded by iPhone apps, had the message “DON’T GIVE UP!”. They had one thing in common. This very card I got when visiting a friend in London, the summer before starting my business studies at Stockholm School of Economics. I was spending a whole day in the city – shopping – and came home with one thing: this card. Summer of 1995. Since then I have moved more times than number of years that have passed, and it is still with me…
So now it sits on my fridge, surrounded by a reminder of my original business idea of Herringbone. The software – and app – that will support and inspire stories of change and positive impact. Maybe, if the idea still holds, I will get there one day. But there are many roads to Rome.
The main software I use today to get voices heard for positive change is another one. Objective Marketer, the social media marketing campaign manager. The core reason why I am doing what I do is still the same. It’s not about marketing. It’s creating a positive impact by using social media to reach out with your story or offering, making yourself accessible and provide others with something valuable for them to gain from, because they choose to listen. And at the same time reach those who express that they want what you have to offer, because social media can help you find them. Real time. Globally. Or locally. And create a social media community landscape of likeminded where demand and supply meet. I think that is a beautiful way to serve the world.
Now – what is your story? What is your dream to create? And is something holding you back?
A friend of mine shared the video in this link from Harvard Business Publishing on this topic: What is holding yourself back? with special focus on leaders and entrepreneurs. Maybe that will give a kick in the right direction.
Enjoy,
Johanna
Grateful and inspired.
The thanksgiving class by Rusty Wells and assisting team at Urban Flow Yoga was out of this world. Grateful.
The presentation software Prezi that will kick powerpoint and keynote out of this world. Inspired.
Now – the first thing I have done for a few years. The last one for 2 hours. Inspired by Tom Shadyac and Jan Troell, I decided to film it.
With a handheld camera. [iPhone]. Combining the two. Sort of. Here it is:
And yes – music by Rusty Wells: “Govinda Adi Purusam”, album Bhaktify my Love.
And – if you are as lucky as I was when having tested the film, a short documentary about Urban Flow Yoga by Rusty came up. In case not – I have included it below.
Enjoy,
Johanna
And did you notice? The winter season is here! Snowflakes falling on the site. Don’t you love seasons?
Bonus!! This is the official Urban Flow Thanksgiving Video
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