You Are Not A Tree

Follow Your Inner GPS

“Follow your inner GPS, not some busted old map given to you by others.”

Rose Etheridge

 

You Are Not A Tree

In a few days we will be ringing in a New Year. Another year of life, success, learning and challenges.

I am not one for traditional New Years resolutions, in reality, there is not much I do that is traditional. But one exercise I like to do when the year comes to a close is focusing on what I want to keep, what I want to discard and what I want to add.

This allows me to get real clear on how I want to enter the new year. It really is amazing what happens when we get still for a moment, gain clarity and listen to our inner GPS.  Maybe you have a practice similar to this? If so, I would love to hear what works for you.

My 2013 List

What I want to keep.
My passion.
My Utopian view of the world.
My deep desire to help others.
My work ethic.
My daily gratitude practice.
My belief that people are good.
My love of family & friends and making them a priority.

What I want to discard.
My fears. (I have a lot of them)
My anxiety. (Created from the above)
My sadness. (Losing my Dad has been devastating)

What I want to add.
More focus. (It’s been a pretty cloudy year)
More activity, both socially and physically. (I’ve been pretty lazy to be honest, and my clothes are a sore reminder and my friends are over it.)

We are not trees. We have the ability to focus on and do anything we want to. We have the freedom to follow our inner GPS. What is yours telling you?

(shared with LOVE from your passionista Nina)

#26Acts

#26Acts of Kindness

“If you do good, you’ll feel good.”

Ann Curry

 

#26Acts

As I sit here and write this, I am still numb thinking about the tragic events of December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary. Like many of you, it’s been difficult to find the words, to go about our everyday lives, knowing that there is so much suffering happening. It sure does put things in perspective.

This post is in honor of the beautiful, precious and innocent children and teachers we lost and for the survivors and the families, whose lives are forever changed.

How Will You Use Your Voice?
When events such as this take place, we all have different ways of coping. Some lash out and get hateful and mean, as many of us have seen on the social web.

But the social web can also be very empowering, used for good and a beautiful example of this is Ann Currys #26Acts movement. An idea, a hashtag, and taking action. Those three simple yet powerful things have launched a movement for good around the world. Simply awesome.

It’s moments like these that make me proud to be part of the human race and stands as a great reminder that there are so many good people in this world who are standing up for love and using their voice to make a difference.

I Believe In Love
You see, I believe in love. I believe that love is more powerful than hate. And I believe that the more love we put out into the universe, the more love there will be. And in our heartbreak and pain, we have a choice. We can get mad and hateful, or we can get empowered and do something good, like Ann Curry did.

I believe that if we all made a choice every morning when we woke up that we would be more loving, more kind, more compassionate, and more careful with our words and actions, our world would be in a better place. It begins with each of us.

Are You In?
I am participating in #26Acts. As of today, I am at #6. And each day I will find more ways to help make another life better. I am making a difference. I am doing something. And it feels good. Will you join me?

To learn more about the #26Acts movement, click here and become part of something greater than yourself.

(shared with LOVE from your passionista Nina)

Happy Holidays!

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

 Marcel Proust

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOyKom5BQ8M&feature=youtu.be

Thank you for all your love and support this year and for being the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.  We appreciate you <3

Wishing you a Happy Holiday and an awesome New Year!

Your Passionistas-
Gordon, Nina, Zen, Faith and Cody

Rave Reviews Infographic from Milo

Raving Fans

“More contact means more sharing of information, gossiping, exchanging, engaging – in short more word of mouth.”

 

Gary Vaynerchuk

There is no denying the facts. In today’s world, it is so important for local businesses to be engaged on review platforms such as YELP, Google Places, Citysearch and the like. People are talking about you, people are looking for you, your job is to know what they are saying and to be discoverable on the web.

Check out this super cool infographic that shows the facts about how potential new clients use review sites. Powerful stuff, and even more powerful for your business if you pay attention and use these platforms to help generate word of mouth and attract new clients.

Rave Reviews Infographic from Milo(infographic discovered on Google courtesy of Milo)

To learn more about how to claim your YELP page, click here to view our webinar.

If you are looking to engage more deeply in the social + digital web in 2013, we offer one-on-one mentoring to help you craft a plan and learn how to use these platforms to help you achieve your dreams. Click here for more information. We look forward to hearing from you.

(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)

Facebook

Scheduled Posts- A Facebook How-To

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”

Albert Einstein

 

We were working with a client the other day and were talking about planning and had a big AHA! We realized that many people with Facebook Business Pages do not know about the super handy feature called Scheduled Posts.

We firmly, 1000% believe that the social web is about real time engagement, two-way communication and building relationships, which means being very active on your pages. However, we see this as a great tool for when you want to take a vacation, have an exact plan of your posts for the week, or know that you will be out all night on New Years Eve and want to sleep in.

What it is NOT is a way to remove yourself from making authentic daily connections with your community such as posting shout outs to clients and team members, posting awesome pics from the day in the salon, commenting on posts from others on your page, responding to inbox messages, etc.

Here is how it woks. It’s super easy.

Step One
Create your post just like you always do.

Facebook
Step Two
Click on the little clock on the left hand side of the Status Box.

Facebook
Step Three
Select the Year, Month, Day and Time you want the Post to go LIVE.

Facebook
Step Four
Click on Schedule. When you do, this little box will pop up to show you your Post is scheduled and where to find it if you want to edit or delete it.

Facebook

Facebook
Step Five
If you want to Edit or Delete the Post, you can go to Edit Page in the Admin Panel and click on Use Activity Log. You will see all of your scheduled posts and can edit them by clicking on the little arrow drop down thing on the right.

Facebook
Facebook
Congratulations!  You have successfully scheduled your post. You are awesome. It’s time to celebrate!

(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)