All posts in Adventures

On not giving a fuck for 5 years.

by tealou on July 21, 2011 in Big Picture Stuff, Death, iPadofLove with 1 Comment

Because of the craziness of the last week, I have only just gotten around to this post. 5 years ago this week, I nearly died. Like, seriously, pale-faced-ICU-Consultant-preparing-my-husband-for-the-worst kind of “almost died”.

I changed from that point. I started to see the rest of my life as a second chance, and to live as if I was on borrowed time.

A couple of months ago I was sent this blog entry. It hit me in the guts, because it really is something that EVERYONE should read, and try to live their life by.

Oh, how many times I have been that I would be a “star” or “more successful” if I would toe the line, not swear, not make waves. In Perth, there is a corporate culture and an expectation that you don’t make waves. You must suck the proverbial dick of those in authority… especially if you are a woman. But this is fool’s gold. I don’t want to be a “star”, or have more money than I need. My definition of “success” is different to other peoples, and I am actually living successfully… as I define it.

I am truthful. I am happy to take on idiots. I take risks. I constantly suppress that voice that tells me to conform for conformity’s sake. Because I am not afraid. Everything has a way of working itself out. When I posted the “iPadofLove” competition, it was not out of narcissism, or for money, or fame… it was purely for my own sense of adventure and curiosity. People find me challenging and frustrating because of this. One person in particular feels the need to ‘counsel’ me on how to behave and become a fame whore like him. Because he assumes I want what he so desperately desires (fame). I don’t.

  • I only do jobs I want to do.
  • I only care what those who are close to me think of me.
  • I am a good mother to my children.
  • I work hard.
  • I believe in a great love and I am looking for it. I am also happy if it doesn’t happen, because I am a fulfilled person in my own right.
  • I take time to appreciate the smallest of things, and the biggest of concepts that are lost on people that are afraid.

Don’t be afraid. Stop giving a fuck. Because when you’re dead, that’s it. There is nothing left except your legacy. And no-one ever wants to have a eulogy that reads “paid all their bills on time, worked the same job for 50 years and acquired an investment property.”. At least, I don’t.

I want a legacy that makes people laugh when they think of the shit I have pulled and stuff I have said. I want people to see that everything I have ever done has been in the spirit of adventure, honesty to the point of being brutal, and not letting “life” get me down.

When you anonymously troll a blog, or have internet wars, or waste your time with petty fallouts with people… that is a wasted life. And that is why I feel sorry for people who engage in that. Similarly, people who use other people as a means of getting ahead themselves… or people that are cruel to animals or children. How utterly pointless.

Do some good. But the good that matters. Not merely by living a compliant life, filled with rules, and fear, and worry about others might think, but by being brave. Try not giving a fuck. You may find it liberating.

You may be surprised.

Every day, I am thankful to have survived. All of us should be thankful to be born (and alive) in the first place.

iPad winner to be drawn on July 30.

by tealou on July 19, 2011 in iPadofLove, Relationships, Social Media with 3 Comments

There was the second part, which was the random iPad draw. That will be done on August 15.

The first one, proving slightly more difficult. Who’d have thought that the non-bogans would be scared off by a stunt like this? You know that scene in Cars, where every rusty, falling apart car was approaching Lightning? Yeah… I know it sounds snobby, but… if you wear reflective clothing and don’t have a proper career, I won’t be even considering you, let alone dating you. Sorry. If you can’t punctuate or spell, not interested. And no, I am not going to give them “a chance”. I left a man who was perfectly fine, in search of “the one”. Why the hell would I settle for some illiterate, classless dude from Girrawheen? Yeesh.

This whole experience has been like a dating site without the ability to block or ignore. Every idiot in town has misinterpreted the whole exercise as “I will settle for anyone” vs “here’s an incentive to introduce me to someone in my league”.

This stunt was not intended to be a billboard for every desperate bogan to think I am looking to marry anyone, just so I can be married. Yeesh. I am happy to never have another relationship again. But I want the right person for me… and… as it turns out… those who watch morning commercial TV are probably not my target audience…

If you’ve been too intimidated by the circus, it’s died down now and things are back to normal. Back to the usual working too much and the occasional date in the hope that I meet the right person. But geez, bogans, GO AWAY. You are too stupid for me. Thank you.

5 easy steps to go “viral”…

by tealou on July 17, 2011 in iPadofLove, Social Media, The Internet with No comments

… and generate hundreds of thousands of dollars of free advertising.

1. Right gimmick.
2. Right audience.
3. Right network.
4. Right timing.
5. Run with it.

Also, in case you missed it:

Téa Smith appearing on 92.9 Breakfast radio Perth by Téa Smith

If I’d known, I’d have got my hair did!

by tealou on July 14, 2011 in iPadofLove, Social Media, The Internet with 1 Comment

These simple principles for getting attention on social media…? They work. Even I had underestimated how well, it seems.

On Monday morning, a combination of jadedness, procrastination, insomnia and poor impulse control collided in something that… I knew would work. The right “gimmick”, and a use of both social media and traditional networks… it was bound to get some traffic.

I invested ZERO dollars. 30 minutes to write up the blog post. A mutual follower on Twitter suggested the article to my friend Louise Burke at The West Australian (I am known to them, having appeared before as the so-called “Twitterati”, so… we ran with it). But, only one paper was approached by me, and that was them. No press release.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, I went to bed, tired, happy at having achieved some local buzz for the “#iPadofLove” concept. I had applied some very simple strategies that I advise my clients to do, and was happy that I have driven 500 visitors to this website.

Done and dusted. Or so I thought…

I woke up 6 hours later, to triple the traffic, and a bunch of enquiries from local media, wanting to talk to me about the concept, including an email from a Sunrise producer saying they wanted me on.

I had my children, so… didn’t really get to digest it. Stumbled out, said “who wants breakfast?”, changed a pooey nappy (an extra special one for mothers who might let their own hype get away from them… that other parents will know, and I call “lake poo”)… and then… the phone rang. And rang. And rang.

I did Perth ABC radio. I stammered, and stumbled my way through, as it hit me what was happening and I could not stop laughing. Then 6PR. Little easier. Then, the Big Couch on 94.5 wanted to speak to me. Then… Seven News got in touch. Then… breakfast radio… and some afternoon radio booked as well. What a crazy whirlwind.

Then I found out that CultMac had posted an article. Then, MacLife in Germany… (and for any Apple geek, it’s very much a “squee!” moment :D) then… I lost track. I had some last-minute photos done by my friend @annarosephoto (see thumbnails!) I have to keep looking at the top right of my screen to know what day it is… and I am now on a blackout between calls, sitting down to deal with my actual client work… you know… the stuff that pays :)

Insanity. There have been several occasions where I have messaged friends “WHAT THE HELL DID I DO?” – and then they laugh at me and mock me and support me in that way only your closest people can. And because I have chosen to not watch or listen to myself, or read comments on the articles (because if I did the temptation would be to pull the pin… it’s a normal reaction!), but I am trying to express my thanks to those that have been… so nice :)

The result? Well… so far I think the spectacle has superseded the intent, and it can only be assessed from the outside later on. But, I have been approached a fair bit. Insanity! I don’t have any real sense of what is going on beyond the site traffic… because as an introvert/keyboard hero… well… you know… and, the traffic is holding steady. 27% bounce rate, and about 60% of people who click on the blog link are also clicking on my portfolio (which is incomplete and completely unready for this sort of exposure!)… it’s just… fun.

Men? Yes. :)

I fully expect it to end soon. I know how things like this work and it won’t be long till I fade back into obscurity. But, it’s fun. And I have been writing a book about social media and, well… looks like I need to add a chapter. LOL (anyone want to pay me to finish it? ;)). But, I will enjoy picking this experiment apart afterwards.

To those who are sick of hearing about me on the news, I apologise. I made a decision to not actively seek media, but accept all that asked… it is important that you are prepared to follow through with a promotion and I need to walk the talk. So yeah, I’ve kind of been all over the place today. LOL.

Thanks again, I am going to do a video at some point but I am so wrecked I am slurring and stuttering even more than my first radio interview! Thank you to all the media people, who really get what I am doing here, and I owe all my supporters a drink when it all dies down. Thank you :)

…and thus starts my point.

by tealou on July 12, 2011 in iPadofLove, LOLs, Relationships, Social Media, The Internet with 4 Comments

Last night, I was working late on a client’s social media campaign. Yes, I am single, but have never gotten all that serious about dating… and most of my experiences with dating sites has been… well… kind of shit. It started as a tongue-in-cheek comment about giving away an iPad to try and hustle up dates… and… *voila*. An idea.

Why not apply the same simple guerilla marketing principles to myself as a “product”, and see if I can prove that you can bypass traditional means of marketing/communication with a small time investment and a good idea. And thus far, it is proving right. Because all I invested, so far, is an hour on a blog post. Yes, it will cost me 2 iPads in the future (if this succeeds)… but… I see it as a small price to pay to a) make my point and b) maybe even meet someone.

Traditional means were failing. I don’t go out to clubs and pubs. Networking events are, by and large, filled with the same dull faces. I was attracting the wrong “customers”… I was investing my valuable time with strategies that weren’t converting. In business, you would look for creative alternatives. So why not do it for me too? I also needed to rebuild my blog audience, so it seemed to be a win-win experiment.

At the time of writing, I have had 500 Pageviews on that single post since posting it at lunchtime. I have had it retweeted by key influencers not only in Perth, but over East as well, and have had a massive spike in traffic.

And I don’t even have as many followers as I did 4 months ago… I deleted my 2000-follower account and started again from scratch. And yet… here we are.

One idea. One hour. One blog post. And I already have media attention, because I know who to approach.

Get people talking about it. The rest takes care of itself. Put simply:

  1. It’s not about how many followers you have.
  2. Creativity rules. Take risks.
  3. Have a thick skin.
  4. Don’t conform.
  5. HAVE FUN WITH IT.

I have under 400 followers on Twitter these days. I used to have a more popular account, but I decided to start again a few months ago. But, I know who to approach. I know who’s retweets will generate traffic. I know how to get media interest. These things are just good old-fashioned networking and marketing skills.

It also doesn’t really matter if you are ‘popular’ or not. In fact, being hated will often work wonders for a marketing campaign… because people are still talking about it. Yeah, I have my fair share of critics, and have (deliberately) made some enemies along the way… but there will always be those who are threatened by these strategies, because they are trying to profit from bad advice. They don’t take risks, they just do the safe stuff. And… good for them, I guess… and all I will say is… aw bless.

But in reality, all it takes is one person, one hour, and the right idea and it will work. Don’t listen to those that are selling you tickets to the middle of the road… because middle of the road means ordinary. And ordinary, in an era where we are saturated with messaging, white noise.

Will this work? Who knows. I would like to think it will! But the point is not so much that I need a man (I really don’t lol), but more the point that it is the fun ideas that make my job worth doing. I hope to keep you up to date with the progress and results… stats don’t lie. And if I get that “conversion”, well, looks like I have to go buy 2 iPads, doesn’t it. :)

 

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