The Pain of Knowing Your Passion

While knowing what you love and what you want to do is highly beneficial, it can also be very dangerous. Knowing what you want to do limits your options, and makes it harder for you to work in the field that you desire--because you only have a select number of opportunities. For example, if you are a photographer, and you know you will only be happy taking photos. Or if you love PR and can only envision yourself doing Thought Leadership campaigns. This limits your number of opportunity. Knowing what you want to do is powerful, but it makes the objective of "getting a job" somewhat more difficult.


There is also the especially difficult experience of knowing where you would love to do what you love to do. This just might not happen. Despite your creative efforts to get their attention, the dream company in mind may simply not pick you, and knowing this harsh reality, you might be inspired to start something up for yourself. When you have a sense of clarity regarding your dreams, it can be easy to put all your energy towards them and create your own business. Not that this is done easily, though sometimes a will does create a clear path.


I've seen this happen. Passion has opened so many locked doors for the people who exercise it properly. A good mentor is someone who shows you the way, and if you are already have your own style, you might not benefit from learning from someone else--you might just be the leader. You might really be a in a position to own things and set something new and inspiring off the ground.

I've seen a young man drop out of University only to create his own billion dollar startup. I've seen immigrants travel from India at the age of fourteen who have created 35+ million dollar companies. I've seen ambitious 25 year olds get their MBAs and fast-track their career and salary expectations. I've seen people make their business dreams come true, but they had this distinguishable passion. I've seen people who literally get off on their career success and base their entire livelihood off of what they do. Are they compensating for something else in their life that is missing? Maybe, but it's no surprise society defines people by what they do. This is why those who love what they do have a greater challenge of staying loyal to their identity. When you love something, of course it helps define you, though there are other alternatives to expressing your talent. You could get a job that pays the bills and pursue your passions on the side. You don't have to start your own business, but instead work for yourself. Just take note that it is this type of "I love what I do" passion, which often creates successful leaders.

I've seen people succeed and fail, but the one thing they had in common was a knowing passion of what they loved to do, and where they loved to do it or how they loved to do it. The people with the passion generally wind up back on their feet.


I've seen numerous friends go through the motions with their careers, and many are truly, finally doing what they love. A lot of them are successful at it because they want to do what they do, and they do it well, it is there niche. It makes them happy. Once you've found your niche you do have a lot of strength. In choosing to bite the bullet until that dream corporation comes along. Or deciding to start your own business or freelance it, you do create your own destiny. In refusing to settle for anything less, or do any other thing, you are giving yourself a sense of speciality. No matter what you do career-wise, you never gave up on the things that you love, and that contests for something valuable. With this, comes the patience from the greater good, but also the tenacity to never quit. Faith is lovely, but it's hard work you can rely on and depend on. If you keep giving out 110%, eventually someone is going to recognize you, right? Well, at least that is the hope. All you call really do is keep dreaming, and keep putting forth all of your effort into the things that make you the happiest. Continue to put yourself out there and see who responds. You never know who might require your service. You never know who might be reading. Don't lose hope too quickly.


If you are certain of your skill and work ethic, then it is only a matter of time before things piece together. Doing what you love just might be worth waiting for, but you have to have a little faith, and a whole lot of passion to get there.

Supply and Demand: How Companies like Hootsuite are Maximizing Marketing Stategy

Influencer Marketing has been defined as focusing on one's community in order to gain hits and exposure through people, blogs and brands that have influence. Real people influence our decisions more than advertisements too because people rely on expert opinions that they can trust. 

If you work somewhere, doesn't that in some regard make you an expert of that corporation? If you post photos on your social media about your job, and how awesome it is, aren't I meant to trust you? After all, you work there and you would know best. The growing epic fad of #HootsuiteLife is a testament to admirers, but more specifically Hootsuite's employees. This trend was so powerful, Hootsuite canned their old HR twitter @HootHR and reinstated @Hootsuitelife. The company has been branded by their popularity, but also the many grateful owls who work there. 

Additionally, Hootsuite has gotten you to go to market for them. Looking for a job? Looking through the #HootJobs? Well why not take part in a live Twitter conversation, which highlights the #HootJobs hashtag and discusses various aspects of the Hootsuite world like Marketing. In the hopes that you will get noticed, you retweet, tweet, favourite and hastag, but are there any results? It's interesting that whatever talent is discovered through these interactions, it doesn't change the fact that Hootsuite has found a very successful way to monopolize an Ad campaign and create a trending hastag. 

Unbounce does this too. In asking you to create a Landing Page to apply for a job, you must sign up and use their product. Both Hootsuite and Unbounce are making solid choices, by asking for something in return, they are allowing their exposure to dominate from people who genuinely want to promote it.

I would say this is successful Influencer Marketing at its prime. Utilizing a powerful target to promote you, one that is happy to do so, and automatically, very trustworthy.

You're Already an Influencer Marketer

You might be a small company trying to put yourself on the map or you might be trying to put yourself on the map. Maybe you are unaware of this, but you and the people around you play a big role in terms of creating social impact. You might not know it, but you likely already are an Influencer Marketer.

What is Influencer Marketing? It is a form of marketing that identifies and targets individuals who have influence over potential buyers. Brands have targeted popular bloggers and celebrities, but now there is a surge of “everyday” consumers (like yourself) who are making just as big of an impact.

Firstly consider social factors, perhaps you didn't perceive it this way, but all of your social media platforms are marketing tools. These are free places for you to share your products and content with people who credit you as worthy. Influencer marketing does work with numbers, targeting people with large followings to endorse products, but it also deals with expertise. Otherwise known as "mavens", people who know a lot about a topic. This is a person who is well-respected amongst their circle and who doesn't need a lot of followers to create a lot of influence. Impact is driven by credibility and expertise on a subject matter and the relationship between the influencer and his/her followers.

People want to hear from people they admire, people they respect and people they trust.  According to a marketing inspired study, word of mouth generates more than twice the sales of paid advertising. Certain companies and people have really good word of mouth and therefore render exceptional results.  For example, if Hootsuite put out a blog post on how to increase your Instagram following you might be more likely to trust in it simply because it was produced by Hootsuite, a company that has established themselves as gurus in the social media industry. Based on their influencing power, you might deem Hootsuite the best, and ignore all blog posts of a similar calibre. A company that a lot of people are talking about, in a positive way, has a lot of running power. The same goes for famous people. If Oprah Winfrey suggests a book, you might run out and read it because all her book club novels are so highly acclaimed, and everything that comes out of her mouth is not to be questioned. Influence can impact us through these vast pillars of social strength, or it can affect us on smaller scales.

I know people on Instagram with over 2000 followers who could literally post anything and still get a lot of positive attention. Even if it's pointless or silly. Why? Because they have dedicated followers who value them as credible. This loyalty is also displayed when you know a person who doesn't have a lot of followers, but still gets a lot of likes. They are effectively and consistency affecting at least 100 people (per post) who value what they have to say and admire.

Influencing is a great way to market within your community. Remember that 61% of people are referring to blog posts before making a purchase. As Scott Cook (CEO +Founder of Inuit) says, "a brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is--it is what consumers tell each other it is."People want to hear from real people, and they respect the opinions of certain influencers. For example, I follow a fashion blogger, who has great taste, if she suggests a place to shop at, I am going to listen because I value her influence, and hold her in high regards. See how it works?

 Don't underestimate the power of your own influence or the power of influence you have within your community. Reach out to people, see if they are willing to work with you, see how many people you can create a sharing relationship with. A true influencer marketer will pay tribute to the things around them that they think are great, so don't be afraid to represent someone else-- because hey, maybe they can do the same thing for you. Have a talented singing friend? Blogger? Designer? Jewellery Maker? Work together. Share some of their media with your social community. The people who find you influential will trust your opinions, likely keep your suggestions in mind, and hopefully share your content along. If you build relationships with these influencers, you can leverage them to build your own credibility.