Barry just posted a video for LWL Tools #5…

And if you’ve missed the others, you can catch up here (some pretty useful stuff!):

LWL Tools #1

LWL Tools #2

LWL Tools #3

LWL Tools #4

Keep Unwrapping Your Success!

Wow… looks like I started quite the lively conversation over on the LWL Worldwide blog with my post entitled “Are You A ‘Responsibility’ Addict?”

Join in the fun and let me know what you think about the topic!

Keep Unwrapping The Mysteries of Life!

We just released our post for LWL Tools #7…

And don’t forget to check out LWL Tools #6 too!  It will help you buy and sell virtual real estate (Barry created one of his famous screencast videos to walk you through it!)

Keep Unwrapping Your Success!

Merry Christmas! Season’s Greetings! Happy Hanukah! Joyous Kwanzaa! Happy Festivus!

Did I miss any?

Barry and I posted our special Christmas wishes to you on the LWL Worldwide blog last night…

Go here to get your e-card and video message!

(Baby Konan makes a video appearance, too!)

Keep Unwrapping The Happiness in Life!

There was a song in an old Disney movie that we learned in Grade 3:

Everything is Twitter-pated in the spring,
Skunks smell sweet, rabbits sing.
Daffodils go daffy when the bluebells ring,
Cuz everyone’s in love!

I’m not sure if that’s how Twitter got its name, but I know it IS easy to get infatuated with the thing… I joined up within seconds had a ton of people following me.  I watched it go from 20 to 24 to 42 to… well, you can find out how many it is now by checking out my profile.

Yes, that’s right… I finally signed up for Twitter.  It’s an experiment to see what its usefulness really is…

So far I can see that the back link to this blog is great for SEO considerations, and in turn the back link from this blog to my Twitter page will help get traffic there.

And it’s pretty cool that I connected with several people that I haven’t talked to in awhile, and did so within the first few minutes of creating my profile… before my picture was even uploaded.

And it’s fun to read the little messages that people put up, and to answer them back.  Then again, I can see how that could become a huge time waster (like I need something to waste my time when it’s at a premium right now… my computer time is handled in chunks in between feeding, changing and playing with Konan, when he’s sleeping and I should be too!)

Of course, if those messages are used for business purposes, it could get valuable back links AND drive real human traffic to whatever website you want to “Twitter” about.

And if they’re for personal reasons, it’s a lot better than chat because you can communicate with just one or two messages to several people in only a few minutes, rather than getting caught up in an hour-long conversation with one.

Still, I’ll wait before I recommend it to Barry, because he doesn’t see the point, and I need to be able to give a definitive endorsement first.

But do connect with me in the meantime at Twitter.com/HeatherVale

Keep Unwrapping Your Online Success!

Back in the early 90s, I was a model. I had a sweet-looking portfolio of shots that made me look sexier and more beautiful than anything I saw in the mirror, and I loved working with the camera.

Eventually I got bored of still shots though, and focused my energy on TV.  I thought at first I wanted to be an actor (my first pro gig had actually been in the mid 80s, when I was still an art student, in a film starring then-unknown John Goodman).

But I realized pretty quickly that what I really wanted to do was be myself on camera, and set my sights on becoming a TV show host (which turned out to really be my forte, and I loved it).

However, the still camera is always fun, and about six months ago when I did my most recent promo shots, I rediscovered the joy of posing.

Now the organizers of the Social Media Divas Pinup Calendar Contest have asked me to take part… and hey, why not?  I love the classy old-style pinup photo, and I always went for the classic look when I was modeling.

Of course, I can’t enter those old pictures in the contest, but I thought I’d have a bit of fun with it all.

After all, social networking is fun, internet marketing is fun, and pinup modeling is fun… and since this is a pinup contest for social network marketers, how much more fun could we have?

Watch my YouTube video that I just created using a really cool new online tool (come back tomorrow for more details on how you can use it)…

Then vote for me by leaving a comment here!

Keep Unwrapping Your Online Success!

Barry made us a sweet video of the best moments of our life in 2008.

Wow, it sure brings up some amazing memories… and I end up with tears every time I watch it!  Not just for the memories (good and bittersweet, like seeing our wedding, which is one of the happiest days of my life so far, and Mercury, my special cat who is no longer with us)… but also for the fact that I have a man who would make such a beautiful keepsake for us:

As for the tool he used — that you can also use yourself to create something that cool (yes, really, and just using pictures from your hard drive) — it’s called Animoto.

Now, we’ve mentioned a similar tool in the past called OneTrueMedia.  Both have free and paid options, and we opted for paid with both because of the premium features.

But while OneTrueMedia lets you add video clips and do more editing (like fading the music in and out around the audio on your own video), only Animoto does these highly professional-looking fades, pans, wipes, zooms, and cool edits so that you can look like an MTV producer even if you know nothing about editing… and all with just your digital photographs.

In fact, Animoto was started by former producers from MTV and ABC.

For more on the technical aspects of using this tool, check out Barry’s comprehensive review on the LWL Worldwide blog (it’s our LWL Tool #8).

As for why you’d want to make this kind of video for yourself (the metaphysical, rather than the physical, side of the story)…

>>> CONTINUE READING Sweeet! Our Life MTV-ized!…

Barry was introduced to this beautiful short film, and I cried when I saw it. It’s beautifully written, and has a powerful, heart-warming message.

We also posted it on the LWL Worldwide blog, but I needed to include it here too because it’s a great way to end 2008:

I’ve seen my share of short films, having covered many film festivals in my reporter days.  I interviewed tons (like, hundreds) of short film actors, directors, producers, writers, and fans.  And none of their films held a candle to this one!

It won Best Short Film in the Sedona International Film Festival, but I’ll bet it could win more than that… if the film festival judges would allow some feel-good positive messaging rather than the doom-and-gloom artsiness that usually dominates the festivals.

Funny thing, on Canadian passport photos you’re not allowed to smile, so my picture is serious… but if this makes a few people lighten up, have some fun, get inspired, and validate another person’s existence, then it’s done its job!

Keep Unwrapping The Mysteries of Life!