Over a year ago, Liberty Mutual came out with a TV spot that demonstrated the meaning of “Paying it Forward.”  I just loved it!   I shared that video on one of my first blog posts, and it now lives on it’s own tab (above).

Just this week, I saw a new Liberty Mutual TV spot – same great theme – invoked the same great feeling.  I give kudos to this insurance company for beautiful and meaningful TV ads.  In an era where sex sells all, this is so refreshing!  Every time it comes on, I do stop what I’m doing, even if just for that 30 seconds, and it makes me think about little things I can do for other people.

Here’s the new TV ad:

When you’re out and about, just be cognizant of your surroundings.  You may have the opportunity to pay-it-forward in some small way.  You never know when something little will have such a huge impact.

Good Morning!  I want to share one of my favorite Social Media Sites:  The Daily Challenge.

I believe I first learned about it on Twitter.  Daily Challenge is a site where you can post an idea or thought for others to think about and ideally “take action” on.  They can include random acts of kindness, environmentally friendly ideas, thoughts on how to treat others better and whatever else you can think up that lends to better living.

I receive reminders via email with “Today’s Challenge”.  A great reminder for me.  I have 3 children, and my day can tend to start off pretty crazy, so I don’t always think in pay-it-forward mode, though I try.  As I’m getting settled into work each day and checking email, it’s one of the first messages I see, and it’s a great reminder for the day to carry out random acts of kindness.

Here are some of my favorites challenges:

1. Hold the door for someone behind you… even if you running late and they are a few steps behind… slow down & hold that door with a smile!  Take Action! (I’m proud of this one… it’s mine)
2. Make someone laugh today. Tell them your favorite joke or make a ridiculous face.  Take Action! (laughter is so healthy)
3. Say good morning to someone on your morning commute: the bus driver, another commuter or roll down your window to target another driver.   Take Action! (open your mouth!  It’s easy)
4. Pick up at least one piece of garbage/litter from the ground and put it in the trash/recycling.   Take Action! (How simple a concept… and how much garbage we see everywhere.)
5. Forgive someone today  Take Action! (even if it’s just the person who cut you off in traffic on your commute today…)
6. Give a stranger a compliment today.  Take Action! (tell the woman in front of you in line that you love her shoes, or tell him “nice ride!”)
7. Spend at least 1% of my day (14 minutes) on Personal Development; either watching video, listening to audio or reading a book. YEAH!  Take Action! (who doesn’t have 14 minutes to spend bettering themselves?)
8. Share one of your talents freely with someone today.  Take Action! (imagine what we could teach each other)
9. Think about what you are grateful for today, and if a person comes to mind…tell them.  Take Action! (GLEIAGFU… my personal note of thanks.)
10. Don’t be afraid to be yourself…even if other’s don’t except you.  Take Action! (besides… being yourself can be really fun!)

And the one I’m taking action on now… Tell someone else about The Daily Challenge.  (Take Action!)  What better way to pay-it-forward?  Get others thinking in the same mode.  If you agree please send a link to this post along to a friend, or point them directly to The Daily Challenge.

Imagine what the world would be like if everyone lived in “Pay it Forward” mode!  It’s beyond my comprehension, but I believe it to be possible.  This, I am passionate about!

In a short period of time I have inspired 80 people to take action, just little old me.  Imagine if each of us inspired 80, and those people inspired 80 more and so on…  WOW!

Please leave me a comment and tell me how YOU pay it forward!  Let’s keep this going!

I have to take a minute out of my day to say thank you ATT!  Your customer service is bar-none the best I’ve found in wireless providers.  I have been with just about every carrier out there, and those who shall rename unmentioned cannot compare to the service you provide.

Let me start by telling you that I have a teenage daughter who shares minutes on my plan…

This morning I phoned in to check the status of my current bill and learned that my upcoming bill balance was around $680 – much to my surprise!  When I inquired on my bill was informed that my daughter had gone over our monthly minutes by roughly 900 minutes!  I was complete taken back by this and was immediately wondering how the heck I was going to pay this bill.

Before I had a chance to react – the customer service rep on the other end of the line took a minute to review my previous usage and recommended I change my rate plan.  My first reaction was of course, to cancel my daughter’s phone (which I’m still considering), but the rep on the phone suggested I change my monthly rate plan to increase my minutes.

The cynic is me was thinking “yeah they just want more money” – but then something interesting happened – she told me they could set the rate plan retroactive, which would cover the 900 minutes of overages!  REALLY!

So after asking a few key questions about my monthly bill going forward and how this would affect my bill, we switched my plan – and the $680 bill I thought I had to pay was reduced by more than $400!

To add to that – my monthly bill is only going to increase by $10 a month!  That’s a total of $120 a year (3 years in my plan at this rate will still not even equal the amount they saved me on this current bill!)

ATT you are a force to be reckoned with – and your customer service is bar none the best I’ve seen in quite some time!  You have saved me money in the long run, and you have a wireless customer for life!  These days we can’t find this quality of customer care and I am thrilled!  You have made not only my day, but my month and possibly my year!

As for my daughter, and her consequences, we shall see.  She does not know that I have saved this money, and certainly does not know that the minutes plan has been changed.  Will she keep the phone or not, that is the question to be decided.  What would you do?  Leave me a comment and let me know.

Please Tweet a link to this post – I believe ATT deserves all the Kudos in the world for their excellent customer service!

Remember to pay it forward – I certainly will!

I recently wrote a blog post that got a lot of attention titled Pay it Forward. The post, inspired by a tv commercial, was very meaningful to me because I truly believe that the simplest of gestures can change someone’s life. The movie that came out years ago was truly an inspiration to so many, and movements were started around the globe.

My original post talks about the random smile to the apparently sad person, or waiting that few extra seconds to hold the door for someone a few steps behind. Those little gestures can make such a difference in a persons attitude or outlook. Now I’ll apply that same concept to Twitter.

I have become a Twunkie (my new word for Twitter Junkie)! What I love so much about Twitter is watching relationships evolve and seeing what other people are doing FOR each other. You see so many Tweeps – strangers really – helping each other out, with potentially nothing to gain.

Help can come in the form of a ReTweet, a #followfriday shout out, a recommendation, or just providing helpful and meaningful content. I don’t consider myself to be an expert in social media, merely a student just like everyone else, with so much to learn. I love it when someone asks a question in need of advice and I can contribute. That makes me feel great!

The vast majority, I would presume, are on Twitter for the purposes of self-promotion and marketing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that – but what I’m finding is that the more effective Twitter Marketeers are the ones who truly provide value to others and aide in fostering relationships between other Tweeps.

How can you Pay It Forward on Twitter? Take the time to click through links that people are posting. They are posting them for a reason – and I believe it to be my responsiblity to look at them (can’t read them all, but you get the point). When you do review them and they are meaningful – take the time to leave a comment to let them know you were there (and leave your Twitter ID) – and then ReTweet it! That is paying it forward Twitter style – help others promote themselves, and they will more than likely help to promote someone else (maybe even you)!

I was truly humbled by the number of Tweeps that ReTweeted that post! Thank you to all!

How else do you Pay It Forward on Twitter? Leave me a comment and let me know!

I will continue to #payitforward and I hope you will too!

Very Sincerely,
@SocialPMChick

In recent weeks I’ve gotten more serious about my relationships on Twitter – who I follow and why. For whatever reason (and I’m truly humbled), I’ve gained a few hundred new followers in the past few weeks, and that number continues to grow.

What’s daunting to me about that is that I take my followers very seriously because, they chose to follow me for a reason and I sincerely hope I can capture their interest and keep it – chances are they have something to share with me as well.

When I get notification of new followers I don’t automatically follow every one – even if it takes a little bit of time, I do check out each and every profile of my followers (now it’s taking longer than it used to… but I make the time to do it)

Here’s what I look for when I decide whether
to follow back or not: (I’m using @jasontryfon as my example)

Step 1 – Review Twitter Bio - If you can sell me in the short Bio I will follow – generally those who say they are passionate about anything I’ll follow. If the Bio is unique and funny, I’ll follow. If your Bio gives me enough sense of your business goals and they relate to me or my clients, I’ll follow.

If your Bio is generally a product pitch – I probably wont follow, unless you pass step 2…

Step 2 – Review Recent Tweets – Your Bio may be blank or just not grab me, but you haven’t lost me yet. I will check out recent tweets to see what you are sharing with the world. I look for personality, humor, sincerity, industry related info (social media, internet marketing), or information that my clients may find useful. I also look for ReTweets, and real conversations – not one sided tweets. (Being a Christian is a plus too.)

Seeing followers in conversation with mutual Twitter friends is always a plus too!

If your recent tweets consist only of “buy this”, “great deal on this”, “make a million dollars an hour working out of your home” and so on… chances are I will not be following you (sorry)

Still not satisfied after reviewing recent tweets? The game is not over yet – onto step 3…

Step 3 – Review your Site or Blog – I may have already followed you after steps 1 or 2, process doesn’t always hit this point, but I will take the time to check out your blog or website for interesting content.

** If you are new to Twitter, doesn’t mean I wont follow – we all start somewhere. If you have a Bio and a site link that’s relevant I will follow you and will enjoy watching your personality evolve! **

How I introduce myself? I will most definatley send you a DM referencing either one of your tweets, your Bio, or your website/blog. I want you to know that I took the time to learn something about you. I used @jaysontrfyon as my example here and chose an interesting tidbit to ReTweet.

@jasontryfon has it all going on. His Bio is full of information that is relevant to my industry, his profile background rocks, his tweets are genuine, AND what caught me was on this quote on his background “Jason has gamered his acclaim as a noted customer satisfaction evangelist…” YES! Now you are speaking my language! I let him know that too by Tweeting that little qoute

I am big on ReTweeting the good info of others and paying it foward whenever I can. (#payitforward).

So if you are following me and have not heard back from me yet – never fear – I need some time to do the real work!

Why do you follow and how do you introduce yourself? I’d love to hear!

Like this post? Please RT! See yah on Twitter my friends!

@SocialPMChick

This is probably one of the coolest YouTube videos I have ever seen. Wanted to share it and hope you’ll pass it on. It’s just over 7 minutes of awesomness and really demonstrates the power of YouTube combined with the power of passion and humanity. I’m suprised Oprah never caught on to this…