The movie industry is a billion dollar industry and narrowing down favorites in the myriad of possibilities is hard. We all know this from wandering up and down the movies aisles at the video store saying “I don’t know, what do you want to watch?” While this may be a subjective list of favorites, the mix of romance, drama, historical fiction and comedy provides a tantalizing array of choices to suit the mood.

Traveling through time, defying all the odds to be together or just missing the opportunity for love that is right in front of you are just a few of the ways that these movies will touch your heart.

1. Gone With The Wind 1939 – Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh

Having all the essential brilliant movie elements, with eight Oscars wins to back it up, Gone with the Wind is ultimately a love story. Yes, I know it is long and do not recommend watching it on regular television since the theme song will drive you crazy with all the commercial breaks. But rent it or stream it for a lovely evening that will take you back to the grandeur of Pre-Civil war and the drama of the Civil War. Scarlett O’Hara is the quintessential movie heroine and as in love as any woman could ever hope to be. Throw in Rhett Butler; a charming, roguish man oozing with Southern Charm and you have movie history.

2. An Affair to Remember 1957 – Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr

A classic American movie with four Oscar nominations, this movie is beautiful and touching. A little forbidden vacation romance turns to love and these two lovers decide to meet on top of the Empire State Building in six months to test their true feelings. One person will show up, one won’t; but who and why and will they ultimately be together? Watch it and find out.

3. The Graduate 1967 – Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft and Katherine Ross

A coming of age love story puts Benjamin, fresh out of college, in the midst of the complex and beautiful Robinson women. Dustin Hoffman is spectacular in the complicated love story with a twist.

4. The Way We Were 1973 – Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford

Hubbell and Katie make their way through an arduous and compelling romance with on again off again heartbreak. Robert Redford is at his movie star peak and Barbra Streisand is spellbinding. I would contend that this is some of their individual best work. The depth of the characters and chemistry between the actors is sublime.

Hubbell Gardner: “People are more important than their principles.”
Katie Morosky Gardner: “People ARE their principles.”

5. Somewhere in Time 1980 – Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour

Filmed at the breath-taking Grand Hotel in Mackinac Island, Michigan, this love story spans decades and introduces time travel. Christopher Reeve is a young writer who falls in love with a beautiful actress. If you think Christopher Reeve was only Superman, I urge you to see this classic movie that will help you to remember that love is truly a force to be reckoned with throughout time.

6. Message in a Bottle 1999 – Kevin Costner and Robin Wright Penn

The title grabs the viewer in immediately with the intrigue of the message in the bottle. Robin Wright Penn finds the bottle and tracks down the broken man who penned the thoughtful note that was tossed into the sea. Set amongst the North Carolina dunes and Windy City as contrast, these two flawed and emotionally vulnerable characters take you on a journey much like that of the bottle being tossed into the ocean: floating, bobbing and heading towards an unknown destination.

7. Love Story 1970 – Ryan O’Neill and Ali McGraw

Another tale of opposites attracting, the witty dialogue and red-hot chemistry between Oliver and Jenny in undeniably intoxicating. Family relationships are also explored in this emotional exploration of life, fate and two people who fall in love.

Oliver: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

8. The Princess Bride 1987 – Cary Elwes and Robin Wright Penn

A classic fairy tale with all the enticing elements to interest the whole family: pirates, a princess and an evil prince. The story is touchingly read by a grandfather to his grandson while he is home sick. The full cast of characters drives this movie including noteworthy performances by Mandy Patinkin and Billy Crystal. Will the beautiful princess be saved by the handsome, masked man? Watch and see!

Westley” “This is true love, do you think this happens everyday?”

9. Titanic 1997 – Leanardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet

More love on the high sea as Jack and Rose sail aboard the Titanic. This labor of love, with great attention to detail, captured the elegance of the Titanic as it set off in 1912. The sharp class differences between first and third class are evident but irrelevant to Jack and Kate as they fall in love. The theme song “My Heart Will Go On” performed by Celine Dion is as haunting as the footage of the wreck of the Titanic on the ocean floor.

10. Serendipity 2001 John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale

Is true true love the work of fate or human intervention? After meeting one night in New York City, Jonathan and Sara throw caution, and her phone number, to the wind with Sara believing if they are meant to be together that they will be. Years go by and they do not forget each other, continuing to look for the signs in the universe to find each other and true love.

11. PS I Love You 2007 – Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler

Movie tag line: Sometimes there’s only one thing left to say.
Holly Kennedy is married to the love of her life, a gorgeous free spirited Irishman named Gerry. Life has other plans for this young couple and I don’t want to spoil anything about this touching story of their love and life together. Please watch it.

12. When Harry Met Sally 1989 Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan

Saving the very best for last last, ten years transpire in this funny and realistic look at love with the major theme “can a man and women be friends, without sex getting in the way?” Interwoven through the tale of When Harry Met Sally are stories of how other couples met and fell in love. This classic, New York movie is set in so many iconic places such as the Metropolitan Museum and Carnegie Deli. Timeless with a fabulous soundtrack, this Rob Reiner classic will always be in my top movie list.

These are a few of my very favorite romantic movies, what are yours? Did I miss a classic or movie that you would like to share? Love to hear from you!

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This is the fourth in a series of four consecutive ponderings covering The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. I highly recommend reading this book as the concepts can help you process how you relate, adapt and grow in all your communication. Let’s face it — communication is EVERYTHING!

The Four Agreements are: 

Don’t take things personally

Always do your best

Be impeccable with your word

Don’t make assumptions

This piece will cover the fourth agreement which is: Don’t Make Assumptions!

How often do we make assumptions about why someone didn’t call or email us back, what they meant by something or what they were thinking? Too often! And I think that we do this mindlessly and to our own detriment as well as causing damage to the relationship with the person that we are breaking solid communication with by making the assumption.

“Speak openly and honestly”

“When you speak openly and honestly, you won’t have to make assumptions. The day you stop making assumptions, you will communicate cleanly and clearly, and achieve impeccability with your word.”

“Discern the truth”

“The problem with making assumptions is that we believe they are the truth. We make an assumption, we misunderstand, we take it personally, then we react by sending emotional poison with our word. This creates a whole big drama for nothing.”

“Ask for what you want”

“Find the courage to ask for what you want. Others have the right to tell you yes or no, but you always have the right to ask. Likewise, everybody has the right to ask you for what they want, and you have the right to say yes or no.”

Learning to say no when a Nosy Parker asks something that wasn’t their business was a great day for me! Just because someone asks, you DO NOT have to tell them things that you don’t want to share with them. Period. Come up with a statement that you are happy with like “I am sorry, I just don’t feel comfortable talking about that with you.” And then use it.

“Let your life be transformed”

“When you stop making assumptions, your word becomes impeccable, and your life is completely transformed. Magic just happens in your life. What you need comes to you easily because spirit moves freely through you.”

So now the real magic does happen — put together all four of the agreements and let yourself really fly!

Imagine a day where:

You are impeccable with your word…

You don’t take anything personally..

You don’t make any assumptions..

and you do your best!!

YOU can do this! Do you see in that YOU have the power to do all those things? Banish drama, negative thoughts and create a beautiful relationship with yourself first. Then share that inner peace with the world. Be a better child, parent, friend, spouse or co-worker beginning with YOU — how you react, speak and process the events of each day.

Find your own joy and grace of spirit. And SOAR! 

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 Quotes from The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.

Featured images courtesy of Vicki’s Nature via Creative Commons.

Content marketing is a term that is thrown around frequently these days. Is it another buzz word that you can ignore? Not if you want your company to be relevant in today’s rapidly changing online world.

C.C. Chapman and Ann Handley wrote a powerful book called Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, and Webinars (and more) that Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business which not only explains what content marketing is but HOW to create it. Both experienced, well respected professionals, Ann and C.C. covered the basics and dug deep into the mechanics of creating content.

Here is a generous preview of Content Rules on their website.

Check out this video recommendation from Ann & C.C. on why video is an important part of content creation:

Who should read this book? 

“Content Rules is suited for organizations of all sizes and stripes, whether you are a Fortune 500 corporation or a mom-and-pop on the corner, or anything in between: hospital, entrepreneur, nonprofit, sole practitioner or consultant, artist, government agency, church, school, political candidate, sports team, community group, or rock band or maybe a butcher, baker or candlestick maker.

Also, one more key thing: It’s not boring.” This is true!

Here is the Storify of the one hour live Twitter chat I had with Ann Handley & C.C. Chapman:

As a new monthly feature for 12 Most, I will be interviewing leaders within their fields and gaining some personal insights into them beyond what we see everyday in their posts, tweets and blogs. First up is Guy Kawasaki,  a supporter of 12 Most from the earliest days, the co-founder of Alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web. Previously, he was a chief evangelist at Apple.  He has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.  “He focuses on the tactical and practical to help people kick butt and change the world.”

Guy is the author of ten books including Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. His latest book is Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Action. He is currently writing a book on one of his passions: Google+. Interact with Guy on Google+ @ gplus.to/kawasaki.

Here is a link with great information on Guy (his official bio and Guy’s “real story” in his own words).

What 12 questions can you ask a man like Guy Kawasaki? He was kind enough to answer my questions with only one parameter: that I ask only 1 part questions and not 12 5 part questions. Fair enough! I tried to ask things that I thought you, the 12 Most reader could use to help you gain insight into your own social media and goals as well as to learn more about Guy.

1. How did you get started in social media?

Dave Winer and Laura Fitton dragged me into Twitter kicking and screaming at Gnomedex in September 2007. For the first week, I thought that Twitter was the dumbest thing I’d ever seen.

2. Did you change your strategies as you learned more about social media?

I’m not a big believer in strategy. Usually I just “do” and find someway to explain my practices after the fact in order to give people the impression that I know what I’m doing. Creating a strategy is over-rated.

3. We know that being successful in social media takes a lot of time. At what point did you feel social media was a viable enterprise for you?

October 2007.

4. What is your motivation behind your social media engagement?

“Experts” hate when I say this, but my motivation is to earn the privilege of promoting my websites and books to my audience. I call this the NPR Model. NPR provides such great content that it earns the right to run telethons. I try to provide such great content that I earn the right to promote Alltop, my books, and the companies that I advise every once in a while.

5. Did you have any memorable mentors?

I’ve had two mentors in my life: Marty Gruber and Al Eisenstat. Marty was the president of the jewelry company that I worked at from 1979 to 1983. He taught me how to sell. Al was the general counsel of Apple. He protected me during the Jobs-Sculley-Gassé-Campbel wars at Apple.

6. How do you choose who you mentor?

I never mentor anyone for three reasons: First, I don’t have a warm and fuzzy bedside demeanor—in other words, I don’t want to be anyone’s shrink. Second, I don’t have a lot of spare time. Third, I have four kids and a wife that are more important to me than anyone else in the world.

7.  On average, how many email requests, tweets, Google + and Facebook notifications do you receive per day?

100-200. I’m glad you didn’t ask how many I answer. :-) I concentrate on email and Google Plus.

8. What is your time management plan for managing multiple social media platforms? (Google Plus, Facebook, Twitter)

I handle all posts and responses on Google Plus by myself. Google Plus is a land grab right now, so I’m paying my dues.There is a team of twenty people working on Holykaw.com stories that become my tweets. Honestly, I neglect Facebook right now.

As for email, every incoming message is run against my contacts database. If the email address is in the database, it gets through to me. If not, a virtual assistant handles what she can and filters the rest to me.

This isn’t exactly a “time management system.” I just work for hours every day on this. It’s what I do…the secret to my success in life is that I’m willing to grind it out.

10. What do you say to people who say too many changes are happening too fast, and are stressed over how to manage it all?

“Here’s a quarter. Call your momma and tell her you need to move back in.”

11. What are the best ways to facilitate growth in your social media following?

Post good shiitake. This is also my SEO strategy.

12. If you could have one “do over”, what would it be?

I would have taken the job interview to be the first adult CEO of Yahoo when I was offered the chance by Michael Moritz. For that matter, I left Apple twice. If I had stayed either time, I would be rich and insufferable—or more insufferable—and all I would do is play hockey and be with my kids.

Thank you to Guy for answering these questions and for all the support for 12 Most.  Love this >> “Guy’s Golden Touch,” by the way, is, “Whatever is gold, Guy touches.”

What would YOU like to ask Guy Kawasaki? Let’s hear it in the comments! Maybe Guy will stop by & answer you.

Featured image courtesy of Guy Kawasaki. 

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Originally posted as a guest post for 12 Most.

This is the third in a series of four consecutive ponderings that will cover The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. I highly recommend reading this book as the concepts can help you process how you relate, adapt and grow with all your communication efforts.

 The Four Agreements are:

 Don’t take things personally

Always do your best

Be impeccable with your word

Don’t make assumptions

This piece will cover the third agreement which is:

Be Impeccable with Your Word!

“Create a beautiful dream”

“Your word can create the most beautiful dream, or your word can destroy everything around you. Impeccability of the word only creates beauty, love and heaven on earth.”

I love this photo because to me it is a visual reminder of spreading your positive thoughts gracefully and lovingly — like glitter. The opposite would be talking closely in someone’s face after eating lots of onions. The effect is the same when we share positive OR negative words. They make an impact on the receiver and are a reflection on you.

“Express your love”

“Impeccability of the word can be measured by your level of self-love. If you love yourself, you will express that love in your interactions with other. And that action will produce a like reaction.”

Start by loving yourself. Love others. Love to be loved. Simple.

“Let go of self-judgment and blame”

“Being impeccable, you take responsibility for your actions, but you do not judge or blame yourself for anything.”

I would add or blame others. Try to be blameless in thought and deed. Pointing fingers is a very poor habit that reflects on the person pointing the finger. Be responsible for honor in your own words and know that you are being fair and honest. Think you are spinning a tale of crap and people are believing you? Think again, people see through lies and untruths. And will most certainly remember the source.

“Realize the power of your word”

“Your word is the power you have to create.” Let your word be a gift to others and honor yourself with the message that you are sharing with the world.

What are your thoughts about the power of your words? How will you use them to be a gift today?

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Quotes from The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.

Featured image courtesy of Pinterest.

Something short, sweet and FABULOUS to start off your weekend:

“A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.” Coco Chanel

“You know that if a thing is worth doing it’s worth doing well. If a thing is worth doing then it’s worth doing fabulously, amazingly, with grace, style and panache.”  Isla Dewar

“When I look through your eyes, I see a disguise, and in that disguise, I see love, and in that love, you are fabulous.”  Sahara Sunday Spain

“I definitely want people to laugh because I don’t think there’s a better feeling – I think it’s just so fabulous to laugh. I don’t mind if people think, either. I think the brain is a very sexy organ.” Kate Clinton

“If I had been around when Rubens was painting, I would have been revered as a fabulous model. Kate Moss? Well, she would have been the paintbrush.” Dawn French

“For better or worse, I’ve always tried to march to my own drum and tell it like it is, while preserving some integrity and style. God, I’m fabulous!” Michael Musto

Featured images courtesy of Pinterest and macca via Creative Commons.

Gamification is being touted as the lastest trend in marketing: combining traditional marketing with creating a stronger bond of interaction with the end user. What is gamification you might ask? It is the employment of game mechanics to build customer loyalty, maintain a consumer base and to have mundane tasks completed by dangling a carrot for a badge for completing a survey or some similar act.

The use of gamification techniques to mold consumer behavior and actions may be the next brilliant act of marketing that you didn’t even realize you were participating in: sneaky tactics to keep you coming back for more. Not only you, but to share with your friends, followers and whomever else you might interact with digitally.

Let’s look at a few of the ways that you are engaging in Social Media or with businesses online in which you are unwittingly or whole-heartedly being gamed.

1. Frequent Flyer Programs

Simple: sign up for the frequent flyer program and get points. These points can be used for future travel or other rewards. Frequent flyers monitor their points and some take “mileage runs” which is an airline trip to solely for point to gain maximum frequent flyer miles or statuses. The airline is now guiding and monitoring your behavior, sending email with the information that they have gathered about you and possibly to selling your information to another company for additional profit.

And I know  many a road warrior that not only gets, but expects, their free upgrade based on the past activities proving that it has created a sense of entitlement. In the words of mine, “I want my damn upgrade.”

2. Points/Rewards Programs

Grocery stores frequently have rewards cards that you can register for in order to obtain discounts on certain sale items each week. While this benefits you as a consumer, it also give the store access to your purchasing habits, weekly budgets and all of your personal information on the application for the reward card program.

3. Badges

Foursquare is a badge cornucopia! You receive your first badge, Newbie, with your first check-in and most people are hooked at this point. Foursquare has also partnered with large companies like Starbucks to create badges such as the Barista Badge which you earn for checking in at five different Starbucks locations. How many Foursquare badges do you have and what is your favorite? I am willing to bet that you have an answer to that question.

4. Likes

Who doesn’t want to be liked? Facebook started this trend with their “like” button and now they are everywhere. An easy quick way to show your approval for a friend or company is tracked, monitored, graphed and charted. Your mindless click of the like button spurned a veritable fountain of marketing data about you: gender, age, country, language and activity. This can easily be used to create targeted ads on Facebook to reach your intended customer. Do you like that?

5. Competition

Once you join a new social game platform such as Foursquare, the first thing you do is find all your friends and then the ranking begins. The leaderboard keeps track of your points and this sets off the natural competitive nature that you have to move up the leaderboard and get to numero uno. One more check in could be just the thing to get you past Susie and earn you a mayorship. Oooo la la!

6. Points Programs

These are a benefit to the customer but again, the corporation is tracking your purchases with each point that you win. Many have deadlines and restrictions. But you could eventually get something free or at a discount: if they don’t expire first.

7. Merit

Achieving status among your peers is a very strong motivator and gamification technique used by Klout and Peer Index. Nothing subtle here as you are checking your score based on your interactions throughout the Social Media communities. Klout currently ranks you on your activity within Twitter, Facebook, Linked In and most recently added Foursquare to their line up. In one of Klout’s most recent updates they gave you the ability to compare yourself with a friend on their chart which ranks not only your Klout score but also their likes, true reach, amplification probability and network influence.  See the Klout page for more information on their analytics, email me if you figure them out. Merit or status is what can help achieve loyalty which is the ultimate goal.

8. Completing Tasks

Linked In has a perfect example of gamification for task completion: they want you to complete your profile and added a bar graph with a percentage for profile completeness. Underneath this are additional tasks that you can perform to complete your profile quickly and earn bonus +5 points for additional tasks such as add your summary and specialities. What do these +5 points mean? This is unclear but the underlying message is that you can not only get 100% but bonus points for task completion.

9. Achievements

Moving through a series of tasks, clicks and activities can get some results and some positive feedback. The rules and structure of the game are analyzed by the participants to achieve more and then let the games begin!

10. Appointment Dynamics

That tactic employs the participant to do certain things in a timely manner and they will be rewarded or punished based upon task completion.  Empire Avenue is a Social Media stock market game in which you can buy and sell companies and individuals who are priced as stock with values that fluctuate as does the real stock market. This clever game has an additional feature which includes the players social networking activity and blog.

11. Perks

Earn points, win prizes. Who doesn’t want that? Klout perks are quite a kudo and even though some of the prizes were “interesting” like Secret deoderant everyone wants Klout Perks. I envision many more platforms having a real prize attached with the online activity as sponsors jump on the marketing opportunities.

12. Social Currency

The day that Google + started all of Twitter was abuzz with people asking if you were in or had an invite. People I hadn’t tweeted in months contacted me to try to obtain a Google + invite. No one wants to be the only person that didn’t get an invitation to the p