“Life without you is like; Facebook without friends, YouTube without videos, and Google with no results…”
Unknown
YouTube is changing the way we view and consume media, for better for for worse. And beauty and YouTube go together like peas & carrots, peanut butter & jelly or hairdressers & coffee. You get our drift. Over 1 million results come up when searching beauty, hair and hair how-to, is one of those search results your channel?
If you have a YouTube channel for your brand or salon, there is one really important step you must take to ensure all of your social channels are connected, which is a big part of discovery on the social + digital web. Meaning, where else can people engage with you.
Here is a simple How-To. Enjoy.
Step One
Log onto your YouTube channel, go to your “home page” and click Edit on the right hand side of the screen.
Step Two
A box will appear at the bottom of this area. Type in the social or digital platform name you want to add. Then type in the URL (web address) where you want the link to take people. (be sure it’s your unique URL address i.e. www.facebook.com/passionsquared, not just www.facebook.com)
Step Three
Once you have added the Name and URL, simply click Apply. It’s always good to test the links just to be sure you are connecting everything to the right place. And if it got messed up, no biggie, just click on Edit, delete it and begin again.
Congratulations! You now are officially more connected. It’s time to get busy liking, favoriting, and creating video content for your fans & followers.
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
“Build it, and they will come” only works in the movies. Social Media is a “build it, nurture it, engage them, and they may come and stay.”
Seth Godin
Happy Giving Tuesday, yes, that is the new term being used after the shopping frenzy’s known as Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday and a day dedicated to giving back to those in need through charitable donations. Very important indeed.
Today we wanted to focus on Cyber Monday as we see a huge opportunity for salons to become part of the estimated $1.42 billion dollars spent yesterday. How you ask? Well let’s first take a look at the stats in this awesome infographic.
Now lets talk about how you can be part of this online shopping frenzy, not only to increase revenue but more importantly to offer value, convenience and options for your clients.
One of the coolest trends we see is the shift towards gifting experiences over “things”. And what better gift is there than an experience in your salon or spa?
So we gotta ask…
1. Do you offer Online Appointment Booking?
2. Do you offer Gift Cards (that are able to be purchased online?)
3. Do you offer Series or Packages of your services (that are able to be purchased online?)
There are several ways you can begin to engage in the online sales world, not just for Cyber Monday, but 365 days a year to increase engagement, traffic and ultimately sales.
One small business we work with offers packages to their clients, available for purchase online, and ran a special between Black Friday and Cyber Monday and sold $8000 in packages. Yes, you read that right. Wow.
Did you offer any Cyber Monday specials? Are you considering offering online sales in the future? Two very important questions to ask yourself as we move into 2013.
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
“When Instagram was down, I ran around town shouting “like” at flowers, dogs and expensive hamburgers”
via @laurenlaborde on Twitter
It’s clear that Instagram continues to be the latest social obsession. Over 10 million photos mentioning Thanksgiving were shared on Instagram on Thursday, a new record, WOW!
In a blog a few weeks ago, we shared about the new Web Profiles, one step closer to connecting your Instagram creations with the world. Now they have added Badges, to connect your Instagram Web Profile to your website or blog site, which will increase your engagement + connections.
How To Add the Instagram Badge to Your Site
Step One
Go to your Web Profile by typing in the URL www.instagram.com/your Instagram name here and click on your name, then click Badges.
Step Two
Click on the Badge you would like to embed into your site.
Step Three
Copy the code and embed it into your site. If you do not know how to embed code on your Blogsite or Website, ask your Webmaster, IT guy/gal (smart person), or whoever in your world helps you with this kind of stuff.
This is what the Badges look like once they are embedded. Cool, right? Click on the Badge and see where it takes you!
To learn more about Instagram Web Profiles, check out our previous blog on the topic, then go check out your page, and start sharing the love with your community.
We are still using Statigram on our site, which is awesome too. We have also claimed our Webstagram page, also awesome.
Running Instagram Contests on Statigram
On a total side note, if you are interested in running a Photo Contest on Instagram, Statigram has a super easy Toolkit to help you run contests, which can increase the fun and engagement of your community. Go to Statigram to learn more.
We will most likely switch to the official Instagram Badge as we expect Instagram Web Profiles to ultimately be more engaging then some of the other platforms. But only time will tell, as is with everything in this wild and wonderful social evolution.
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas, Nina + Gordon)
PS: You can follow us on Instagram @passionsquared
“More contact means more sharing of information, gossiping, exchanging, engaging – in short more word of mouth.”
Gary Vaynerchuk
Facebook for business is more than collecting likes and fans, it’s the “talking about this” number that is the true measure of how many people are truly interacting with your page. This number is made up of fans liking posts, commenting, sharing, RSVP’ing for events, etc. Those actions show how engaged your community is, and the social web is all about engagement.
How To Keep Fans More Engaged
Step One
Ask your Fans to go to your Page. Hover over the “Liked” button. A box will pop up. Then simply click “Show in News Feed” and “Get Notifications”.
One Step. Ta-Da!
We all know how crowded News Feeds can be and how it totally depends on several factors whether your posts will show up, so its really the “Get Notifications” that can make a HUGE difference in ensuring Fans are aware of your posts and engaging with your Page.
If your fans select “Get Notifications”, this is what it will look like when you post something to your Page.
Feel free to make your own How-To image for your Fans. (We are using a MAC for this example, if you have a PC, we suggested Google’ing it for instructions.)
How To Make An Image with Arrows
Simply go to your Page, and take a “screen grab” (command + shift+4) hovering over the “Liked” button. Then go to Preview, choose Tools, select Annotate, then Add Arrow, then click on the Arrow, and “draw” it on the image.
Step One
Step Two Step Three Step Four Now that you have made your own, you can post it to your Page, nicely ask your Fans to take these actions & show them how to do it with the super cool image you made. Awesome!
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
“We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, we create the dreams.”
Albert Einstein
We love TEDTalks, as many of you who read Passion Squared know, and this one may be our all time faves! In about 3 minutes, this video illustrates how to start a movement, powerful stuff!
Many of us have seen this awesome video before, but what may be new to you, as it was to us, is how Derek Sivers breaks it down into a powerful lesson on leadership. Whether you are a leader, want to be a leader, or the very important follower, this is something you will not want to miss.
Now add the power of the social + digital web to the equation, and the sky’s the limit.
So jump off this blog, and go start one! We cannot wait to see you dance.
(discovered on Mashable and shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
