Passion Squared 2019 gratefulAF challenge hd

The 2019 gratefulAF challenge

October 30, 2019Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW, MY TRUTH

There is always something to be grateful for.

Two years ago we kicked off our annual gratefulAF challenge and had NO idea the impact it would make. Like, WOW. Each day I saw you, our passionate community, light up the world. A big shout out of gratitude to all of you who participated in 2017 + 2018, you sparked so much fucking joy for those your serve and love.

We are doing the challenge again for 2019 because gratitude changes fucking everything.

This is my personal story and why gratitude is the center of all that we do at Passion Squared and how it can help you with perspective, awareness and even possibly help change the chemistry in your brain (here’s a study!)

In early 2007 I was in the darkest place I have ever been in my life. So much so, that I was planning my suicide. But here it is, 20 fucking 19… I am alive, living my purpose and empowering others to live their’s too. How did this happen? It all began with gratitude.

Of course, there is so much more to the story which I share in my book Follow Your Heart, but it was learning about the power of daily gratitude that made me realize that I had more to do on this planet, and that no matter how dark my head became, there was always something to be grateful for.

From there, I was able to keep perspective, and perspective allows me to get through just about any hardship, sadness or loss. It was this quote that changed it all for me, which is tattooed on my left arm to be sure I never forget that gratitude saved my fucking life.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. Melody Beattie

We created a simple challenge for you and one I hope you invite your community + teams to join in too. It’s called the gratefulAF challenge.

Each day in the month of November we invite you to practice a little piece of gratitude and kindness.

Passion Squared 2019 grateful AF challenge social art square final

 

Here’s how it works:
Launch date: November 1, 2019 (but you can begin anywhere, anytime!)
1. Capture your gratitude
2. Post to your Instagram page or Stories (only if you feel inspired to do so)
3. Use #passionsquared
4. Tag @passionsquared /@ mention passionsquared if posting in Stories

Click here for the Instagram portrait size graphic
Click here for the Instagram Stories graphic
Click here for the Instagram gratitude list template
Click here for the Facebook/Instagram/Blog post square size graphic

To use our gratitude gif’s for your Insta Stories or anywhere, search the term PASSION SQUARED under GIFS in Insta Stories or on giphy.com
Passion Squared_GiphySticker_1_GRATEFUL_BK_GLITTER

My intention is that after 30 days you will feel how much gratitude can change your perspective, your energy, your brain, your biz and your LIFE and you see the value of a daily gratitude practice.

How will you incorporate this challenge into your business and life? We would love to hear your gratitude ideas!

With love + a fuck ton of gratitude-
Nina @passionsquared


BTS of this blog + challenge
Total Time: 4 hours

Building the challenge
Developing the idea and daily themes 1 hour
Designing graphics on Canva.com 1 hour
Editing 30 min.

Building the blog
Writing 30 min.
Editing/SEO stuff 30 min.
Proof reading 15 min.
Designing graphics on Canva.com 15 min.

creating awesome websites blog 2019 hd

Creating Awesome Websites In 2019

April 16, 2019Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

       “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo da Vinci

NOTE: This blog was originally written in 2013! OMG. So much has changed, and SO little has changed. I decided today was a good day to update it. Here we go!

Having a website today is like having an address and phone number was in the 80’s. As a small business, we seem to know we need one but we don’t necessarily know why. And as I always say, thanks to Simon Sinek, start with why. When we understand the why, the what and how come more naturally.

So why do we need websites today? First off, they are our home base, our calling card, our address and phone number, our identity. They express our image, brand, voice, purpose, promise and most importantly, allow visitors to engage and take an action with our business. Remember the great Instagram and Facebook blackout of 2019? If you learned anything from that day, I hope it’s understanding that the only online platforms you actually own is your website and email marketing.

BEFORE building or re-building your website, get clear on what outcome you are seeking, user experience you want to create, your budget and the content you will want for your site.

User Experience + Outcome
What action do you want visitors to take? Look at your menu, book an online reservation, read your about section, call you, see your salon, meet your team?

Budget
What is your budget? Today, there are many awesome templates. I love Squarespace and WordPress, and both are affordable. In addition to the template though, be mindful of any custom programming or design you may need. Remember, this is your image and brand and is many times the first impression potential new clients will have of you. Make it awesome, but you do not need a website that breaks the bank.

Content
Where is your content coming from? Do you have a copywriter, do you have hi-resolution professional images? Do you need them? Many manufacturers provide these types of resources if you need. But remember you are your own brand, and need to communicate that via your digital + social pages. Most importantly, less is always more, so think more images, less copy. Always.

9 Super Important Things To Consider

1. Mobile + Responsive
Over 50% (now 70%!) of social + digital sites are visited by mobile and tablets. Just think about how you personally engage online. So that means in order to have the best user experience, you must have a mobile responsive site, which means it “responds” to smartphones, tablets and laptops/desktops. It’s just knows how its being accessed, like magic! If your website/booking experience sucks, you are losing opportunities in both search, user experience and potential new clients.

2. About
People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it, as the awesome Simon Sinek says. Take the time to craft a meaningful story that expresses your purpose and promise and make it easy to find on your website. This includes pictures of the people behind the screen. Humans want to connect with humans.

3. Reservations/Appointments 
It’s 2013 (it’s 2019!), and the connected customer wants to book a reservation whenever they want, not just when you are responding to texts. And seriously, you need to set boundaries for your own mental health, and that means not being on your phone 24/7 answering text messages.
Love it or hate it, if you want to stay relevant and grow, it’s time to make it happen. No excuses. To determine the right platform for you, begin with a list of GOTTA have’s, get clear on your needs, and ask for referrals from people you trust. Then begin your research on each platform. Many have similar features, but not all have what you will want. So get clear on that first.

4. Contact/Subscribe
Seems logical, but many times it’s hard to find a businesses hours, address, phone, etc. Be sure it’s easy to find. Also be sure to add a plug-in from your inbox (email) marketing platform so you can build a database of clients who want to subscribe to your newsletter and more deeply engage with you. Remember, your website and email list are all you really “own” in the social and digital world.

5. Social Links
Today’s connected customer wants to engage on their terms. Be sure your social pages are visible and the links are working.  Content sharing plug-ins are awesome if you have images and videos on your site that are share worthy.

6. Menu
Having a simple and clear menu is super important for any service business and one of the most popular pages on many service biz sites. Remember, people are visiting your website to learn more and possibly take an action with you, make it clear and simple. In regards to adding pricing to your menu, there is no right or wrong answer on that. Much of it has to do with your preference, brand, and business model. Trust your gut on this one.

7. Language + Key Words
Be mindful of the language and key words you use when writing copy for your website. This includes how you title the images on your website, page titles and descriptions. Why? Search engines job is to deliver relevant results, and if you write like you speak, and your words are relevant to what your business is about, you are more likely to be discovered in search results. Remember, this is a human to human experience.

8. Measure + Monitor
Be sure to add FREE Google Analytics to your site so you can measure and monitor traffic, popular content, traffic coming from social pages like Facebook or Yelp, etc. You can learn a lot about what is working and what can work better and where to focus your energy. You may be spending hours a day on Instagram to find out your referral traffic is coming from Yelp. For instance, in the last year, our traffic from Instagram Stories has surpassed traffic from our link in bio. This is good info to have when we make decisions about where to place our efforts.

9. Maintenance
It’s always good to update your website at least quarterly, if not monthly, to keep fresh images, changes in services, new team members, check links, etc. Search engines also love fresh content so if you have a blog/podcast/vlog on your site, even better, as long as you actually are consistent with blogging, podcasting or any fresh, relevant content.

Remember to keep it simple. Clean. Clear. As the awesome Brene Brown says, clear is kind, unclear is unkind. This goes for leadership, culture, communication and even how you design y0ur website.

Are you ready to learn more about creating more awesome with your social + digital marketing? Join S School, our online school for creative entrepreneurs, where we have classes on websites, email marketing, brand storytelling, social media and more. Click here to learn more and join us!

Love + Gratitude-
Nina xo

Passion Squared #gratefulAF challenge 2018 hd

The #gratefulAF November 2018 challenge

November 1, 2018Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

There is always something to be grateful for.

Last year, we kicked off our annual #gratefulAF challenge and I had NO idea the impact it would make. Like, WOW. Each day I saw you, our passionate community, light up the world. A big shout out of gratitude to all of you who participated! And last month, we tried getting a jump on our gratitude by doing an October challenge, and while some of you participated, we did receive feedback that you wanted to keep it going for November, so YAY!

This is my story and why gratitude is the center of all that we do at Passion Squared…
In early 2007 I was in the darkest place I have ever been in my life. So much so, that I was planning my suicide. But here it is, 20 fucking 18… I am alive, living my purpose and empowering others to live their’s too. How did this happen? It all began with gratitude.

Of course, there is so much more to the story which I share in my book Follow Your Heart, but it was learning about the power of daily gratitude that made me realize that I had more to do on this planet, and that no matter how dark my head became, there was always something to be grateful for.

From there, I was able to keep perspective, and perspective allows me to get through just about any hardship, sadness or loss. It was this quote that changed it all for me, which is tattooed on my left arm to be sure I never forget that gratitude saved my fucking life.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. Melody Beattie

We created a NEW challenge for you and one we hope you invite your community + teams to join in too. Each day in the month of November we invite you to practice a little piece of gratitude. This months challenge focuses more on YOU. It is a more reflective challenge, to help you find gratitude for the simple things. Each day suggests a theme, an idea, a focus, and all we ask is that you find a little gratitude each day around that theme, idea or focus. And of course, we threw some gratitude list making days in, cause, you know, we believe in it so much!

 

Passion Squared gratefulAF challenge Nov 18 art

Here’s how it works…

1. Capture a picture that expresses your gratitude
2. Post to your Instagram page or Stories (only if you feel inspired to do so)
3. Use #passionsquared #gratefulAF
4. Tag @passionsquared /@ mention passionsquared if posting in Stories

Click here for the Instagram graphic
Click here for the Instagram Stories graphic

We also have Instagram Story GIF’s to help you share your gratitude!
Search the term Grateful or Passion Squared to find our grateful GIF.

Heart Love Sticker by Passion Squared for iOS & Android | GIPHY

My intention is that after 30 days you will feel how much gratitude can change your perspective, your energy, your brain, your biz and your LIFE and you see the value of a daily gratitude practice.

With love + a fuck ton of gratitude-
Nina @passionsquared


BTS of this blog + challenge
Total Time: 4 hours

Building the challenge
Developing the idea and daily themes 1 hour
Designing graphics on Canva.com 1 hour
Editing 30 min.

Building the blog
Writing 30 min.
Editing/SEO stuff 30 min.
Proof reading 15 min.
Designing graphics on Canva.com 15 min.

Passion Squared #gratefulAF challenge 2018 hd

The #gratefulAF challenge 2018

October 1, 2018Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW, MY TRUTH

There is always something to be grateful for.

Last year, we kicked off our annual #gratefulAF challenge and I had NO idea the impact it would make. Like, WOW. Each day I saw you, our passionate community, light up the world. A big shout out of gratitude to all of you who participated!

So this year, we decided to start a month early. Why? It seems like so many are grateful in November, but we believe in 365 day gratitude so there is no better time then NOW.

This is my story and why gratitude is the center of all that we do at Passion Squared…
In early 2007 I was in the darkest place I have ever been in my life. So much so, that I was planning my suicide. But here it is, 20 fucking 18… I am alive, living my purpose and empowering others to live their’s too. How did this happen? It all began with gratitude.

Of course, there is so much more to the story which I share in my book Follow Your Heart, but it was learning about the power of daily gratitude that made me realize that I had more to do on this planet, and that no matter how dark my head became, there was always something to be grateful for.

From there, I was able to keep perspective, and perspective allows me to get through just about any hardship, sadness or loss. It was this quote that changed it all for me, which is tattooed on my left arm to be sure I never forget that gratitude saved my fucking life.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. Melody Beattie

We created a simple challenge for you and one I hope you invite your community + teams to join in too. It’s called the #gratefulAF challenge. Each day in the month of October we invite you to practice a little piece of gratitude.

Passion Squared gratefulAF challenge 2018 social art

 

Here’s how it works…

1. Capture your gratitude in action
2. Post to Instagram page or Stories (only if you feel inspired to do so)
3. Use #passionsquared #gratefulAF
4. Tag @passionsquared /@ mention passionsquared if posting in Stories

Click here for the Instagram graphic
Click here and here for Instagram Stories graphics

NEW for this year is our Instagram Story GIF’s! Search the term GRATEFUL to find our grateful logo GIF.

Heart Love Sticker by Passion Squared for iOS & Android | GIPHY

My intention is that after 31 days you will feel how much gratitude can change your perspective, your energy, your brain, your biz and your LIFE and you see the value of a daily gratitude practice.

With love + a fuck ton of gratitude-
Nina @passionsquared


BTS of this blog + challenge
Total Time: 4 hours

Building the challenge
Developing the idea and daily themes 1 hour
Designing graphics on Canva.com 1 hour
Editing 30 min.

Building the blog
Writing 30 min.
Editing/SEO stuff 30 min.
Proof reading 15 min.
Designing graphics on Canva.com 15 min.

4 Lessons of Gratitude In Action Passion Squared blog hd

5 Lessons of Gratitude in Action

December 4, 2017Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

In the month of November, we witnessed gratitude in action, online and off, thanks to all you passionate + courageous humans who joined our #gratefulAF challenge. Our intention with this challenge was to help you see value in beginning a lifelong practice of daily gratitude.

To be honest, I had no idea when we created this challenge how it would go. November is a “busy” month, yet it took off and took on a life of it’s own, which I am in awe of and so grateful for.

For some context, gratitude is a cornerstone of all that we are and do at Passion Squared, because gratitude both saved, and changed, my life, you can read more about that here. I have seen how gratitude can change everything, as when you are grateful, you are empowered, and when you are empowered, there is nothing that can stop you.

What did we learn about gratitude in action?

1. It’s so easy to lose perspective and so simple to get it back

This lesson came from watching your energy shift as the month went on.
Watching you discover how gratitude changes perspective was awesome. So much of our angst at times comes from a loss of perspective. We get so wrapped up in our own shit that we end up with a distorted view of what is real and what is imaginary. Gratitude is a perspective keeper.

2. Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable is a key to growth

This lesson was apparent from week 1, when we asked you to buy coffee for a stranger and in week 3 when we asked that you buy a meal for someone.
No matter what business you are in, or social circle you keep, some of us are so focused on “playing it safe” that we have stunted our own growth. Nothing in life, or biz, is guaranteed. Failure is inevitable. But if you want to grow, it will be uncomfortable and uncertain. That is where faith + courage come in, and yes, gratitude.

3. When we focus on service to others, we are being a service to ourselves

This lesson was super apparent throughout the month, whether it was when we shouted out our glam squad, or sent a surprise thank you note to a client, to sending flowers to a loved one.
When we give joy, we get joy. When we step out of ourselves, and begin to see the world around us, our hearts expand. We learn about the gifts of compassion & empathy, and realize we are not the center of the universe. This lesson helps us become better leaders, co-workers, companions and humans.

4. Giving is not about getting 

This lesson came from watching you all give of yourselves all month, without asking anything in return. You just gave, and not surprisingly, you got so much back. Getting something from doing the challenge was not your intention. There was no prize, contest, or pot of gold at the end. You simply saw value in making a commitment to doing something different. And that leads us to lesson 5.

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”  John Bunyan

5. Value is in the eye of the beholder

You saw value in challenging yourself. You saw value in being of service to others. There are both biz + life lessons in this one. But the ONE biz lesson I will share is that we must dig deep to understand what our audience and team values. It’s easy to assume they all value the “prize”, but that is not always the case. And if we run and lead our business with prizes, eventually the prizes run dry, and where does that leave you?

Here’s the thing loves. There is always something to be grateful for. We don’t have to wait til November every year to be grateful. And lastly, gratitude changes everything.

From the bottom of my emoAF heart, thank you for stepping up and leading this challenge. Thank you for raising the vibration of your spaces and in turn, touching the hearts, minds and lives of many you will never even realize you did. Thank you for being beacons of light and love. We are #gratefulAF for you.

 

Love + Awesomeness-
Nina @passionsquared

BTS of This Blog

Total Time: 3 hours
Researching + Writing 2 hours
Editing/SEO/Proofing 30 min
Graphics made with Canva.com 30 min