29 September 2011 / by Radmila Gurkova

Gary Vaynerchuk (Wine Library). You are going to kill it!

If there is something you hate doing, please stop doing it now!
Make your hobby a business. Ingredients: Patience and Passion.httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhqZ0RU95d4VIDEO Written break down

First and for most, I really want to thank everyone being here.
I mean, this is outrageously humbling. Every single person who is reading this, since your here, there's no doubt in my mind that you’re going to kill it.


Patience and Passion - And that's what I want to talk about today, PP. I really want to talk about this. Patience and Passion. Lets starts with passion, there's way too many people in this room right now that are doing stuff they hate. Please stop doing that. There is no reason in 2009 to do crap you hate. None. Promise me you won't, because you can lose just as much money being happy as hell.

Listen To Your Community - Let’s talk about community. Listen to your users. Absolutely. But giving a crap about your users is way better. People listen but they don't do anything. Doing something. Answering those emails. Giving a crap. Caring about your user base. That's what you need to do. You need to care about everything and it starts with yourself. Look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, “What do I want to do every day for the rest of my life?” Do that. I promise that you can monetize that.

Hustling and Building Business - There's a billion seventy year old douche bags that are in control right now. It’s coming, stop crying, and just keep hustling. Hustle is the most important word. Ever. And that's what you need to do. You need to work so hard. Guys, we're building business here, this isn't about parties. We're building businesses. You need to hustle. You have to have; you have to have a business model. Getting a crap load of users and flipping it is not a business model. Make some cash along the way.

What's Your Legacy? - I always say that legacy is greater than currency. Has everybody completely grasped that your great, great, great, grand children are going to watch and see everything you've even done? I think about that every single day. I want my grand kids to be proud of me. My mom did such a good job raising me. Do you know what I hustle about? I hustle about meeting every single person on earth.

Believe In What You Do - You know what I really hope? Is just for people to be happy. Honestly. We are sitting where the gatekeepers are no longer in control. If you’re pumping out good stuff people will follow. But if you for a second. A half a second. Don't believe in what you’re doing. Whether it’s your personal brand or the product you represent. You need to get out now. Please.

The Game Is Changing - We only get to play this game one time. One life. And I just hope that people really understand. I'm excited because, for example Monday, I gave a key note in Vegas to all the franchisee owners of Domino's Pizza. Yeah. I told them two things. One, you guys are screwed. And two, bring back the Noid. Everything I believe in, they can't do. My fundamental hope is that people understand that this is business. Really I do. Way too many people running around town, not understanding what we're doing. Two, understand that the game is changing.

Own Your Content and Your Brand - My content is mine. The way everything is changing is unbelievable. I mean, everybody is going to be consuming content, everywhere. And in different platforms. And the people that controlled it. Newspaper, Television, and Radio are no longer in control. And that is a huge factor that people have not totally wrapped their head around. You need to build brand equity. It’s about brand equity. In yourself, because you never know what could happen. Lehman Brothers....

Networking and Being Transparent - I love people that is a huge advantage for me. Get out there and network. People are the people. People are the people that are going to help you. The only way to succeed now is to be completely transparent. Completely. Everything is exposed. Everything you do. So your legacy is your ultimate life. It’s all you've got. And you can build do so much on that. When you have brand equity, anything can happen.

Using Social Media Tools - What's very imperative to me right now is using the tools. Way too many people are trying to figure out what tools should I use... Should I use Twitter? Pound? Should I use Jaiku? You know. Which tools should I use? All of them. Your user base and the people that care about you. You need to connect with them anyway you can, everywhere you can, as often as you can. That is essential. That interaction is essential.

What We Do Is Real - Look at Reality TV that's about as real as. Pssh. That stuff is not real. But we still like it because it’s somewhat real. This other stuff is very real. The place where we play is very real. And its massive, massive opportunity. I hope people wrap there head around that, because we are going through a gold rush of branding. In the old days to become a brand you needed allot of mainstream media attention. But now, if you get talked about enough in all these social media webs, blogs, you can get there. You can build your brand. Your companies brand. But it all starts with that first moment when you look in the mirror, first moment, what do I want to do?

Time To Do Damage - I don't want to hear about this nine to five bull crap. I don't want to hear about this two job thing. Right, nine to five, I don't have time. If you want this, if you’re miserable, or if you don't like it or you want to do something else and you have a passion somewhere else. Work nine to five. Spend a couple hours with your family. Seven to two in the morning is plenty of time to do damage. But that's it. It’s not going to happen any other way. You’re not going to make stickers and give out swag and everyone is going to give a crap about your site.

19

October 2011
Current News - Republican Presidential Debate
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl-Ppk6oN0s "The near-weekly ritual of Republican presidential debates took a raucous turn Tuesday night as the unsettled field of candidates ganged up on one another in a series of attacks more intense and personal than any in their previous appearances together." "The first to feel the assault wa...

17

October 2011
Current News - Spain's Duchess of Alba ties the knot for the third time at 85!
by Radmila Gurkova
The Duchess of Alba, one of Spain's richest and most flamboyant women, has got married again at the age of 85 to a civil servant 24 years her junior.  However it hasn't been easy for her, as she is reportedly giving away her personal fortune in order to do so. httpv://youtu.be/k31NvQJfqao...

14

October 2011
Friday Meeting 14.10.2011
by Radmila Gurkova
How can we teach vocab activities?  What is the best way to teach vocabulary? Before speaking of vocabulary activities it is imperative that we distinguish between a Topic and a Vocab activity. A topic activity...

13

October 2011
Blackberry's message goes missing
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI For the makers of the device whose name became synonymous with messaging, it was a deeply embarrassing 36 hours. Untold numbers of Blackberry users, first in Europe then in much of the rest of the world, found that their email either slowed or ground to a halt and the BBM service became unavailabl...

12

October 2011
Oxbridge TEFL - Eddie Izzard on Language...
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hJQsvoY6VU Seeing as today is a holiday we thought it would be good to post a fun video of the comedian Eddie Izzard talking about language. Enjoy... ...

11

October 2011
David Cameron: we will never join the euro...
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8zRxbJQLy8 There have been tough words from the British prime minister at the annual Conservative Party conference, where David Cameron defended his government's economic policies. "The threat to the world economy and to Britain is as serious as in 2008 when world recession loomed. The euro zone is in cr...

10

October 2011
Steve Jobs 1955-2011
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izjtud9qbJ4&feature=youtube_gdata_player RIP Steve Jobs - his ideas and vision brightened millions of lives and the world of technology will be a poorer place without him. Here's to the crazy ones......

10

October 2011
Friday Meeting 07/10/2011
by Radmila Gurkova
A busy start to the month but here's little update for the week. Last week we spoke about the classes at the gym and the new S1 course. Feedback has been generally good in both areas but we there’s still plenty of room for improvement. ...

10

October 2011
Current News - Food Labeling
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f9m0JmCGeE Sell-by dates should be removed from food packaging to help cut waste and save shoppers money, ministers say.  The UK throws away about £12bn of edible food each year and critics say confusing packaging is partly to blame. Read the whole story and watch a video on the BBC News website: ...

10

October 2011
Current News - Are you Healthy!?
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJFrI5srZVI Denmark has introduced what is believed to be the world's first fat tax - a surcharge on foods that are high in saturated fat. Some scientists think saturated fat may be the wrong target. Click this link to read more: Denmar...