Here is the audio version of this post. Thank you so much for listening.
So let me set the scene. It’s a Tuesday morning. I am just returning home from my early morning Pilates class. I see cops. A crew of them, in the lobby of my building.
Nothing seems strange, so I go about my morning. Walk the dogs, make myself another Americano, and catch up on Facebook and Instagram.
Having just hired Ashely, my newest awesomeness creator, she was to meet me at the Passion Squared Loft at 9am. I get a text at 8:50 (love people who are on time, and by on time I mean early) saying “I am here, but the cops just escorted me out of the lobby.” OMG I said, I will be right down. Thinking we can grab a quick ice tea at Coffee Bean (yes, I am cheating on Starbucks cause I am obsessed with Coffee Bean’s ice and their straws match my hair color). But to my surprise, as I walked out to get her, I saw cops, and my street being closed down. The cop said, “you can go to Coffee Bean, but you will not be able to come back.” So we headed back upstairs and got to work.
This is when things got nuts. We heard siren after siren, and started looking out the window of my 9th floor loft. Still having NO idea WTF was happening in my building.
So what did we do? What everyone does today, we took to Twitter. And Instagram. And sure enough, we found out exactly what was happening. There was an alleged felony fugitive on the 5th floor. A resident. Who may or may not have been armed. Who was served with a warrant and refused to surrender. So for 8 hours, we waited, with the SWAT team, Bomb Squad, LAPD and LAFD. It was a real life standoff. Like on TV. IN MY BUILDING!
But that is not the point of this blog. The point is where we went for information. How much we relied on the social web, and not news stations (online or off), no, they knew pretty much noting.
It was Twitter, and Instagram, connecting with both official and unofficial tweets and Instagrams. It was about finding and sharing experiences using hashtags such as #DTLA and #LAPD. That’s how it works now. We have access to 24/7 LIVE information, as it happens, thanks to the social web.
So what does that mean for your business? A few things. You can continue to have a “standoff” with the social + digital web. Choosing not to engage on YELP because there are crazy’s on there, or choosing not to engage with an online booking platform like Schedulicity because of fear of losing control of your schedule (which you don’t BTW), or choosing not to find time to Instagram, or Facebook for your business. You can choose to not do any of those things, just as long as you know, each day you wait is a day closer to becoming an irrelevant, un-discoverable business.
Johnny_snips is booked a month out, he’s young and just getting started. AndrewDoesHair delivers a ton of awesome education and launched an awesome product ADH Dry. Larisadoll is passionate about sharing her beautiful, creative colors and can’t take a new client until August 2015. These are just three of several examples of incredibly talented & focused hairdressers who are passionate about building community and engaging on Instagram. They create a ton of value. They care.
The world has changed. Business has changed. The choice you need to make is if you will change too. The choice, as always, is yours.
PS: A BIG shout out of thanks to the LAPD and LAFD, they were amazing. The suspect surrendered peacefully and all is well in the world. And to my new awesomeness creator at Passion Squared, Ashley, thank you for being so amazing on your first day. You rock!
Here is the audio of this post. Thank you so much for listening.
After recording the Masters Series interview with Winn Claybaugh, a question he asked has been heavy on my mind. The question was “Who did I write my book for?” In between all the laughs, and tears of that interview, it really made me think.
While that would seem like such a simple question, it made me think about why I felt compelled to write the book in the first place, and what I was hoping the book would be in the hearts and minds of those who read it.
The message I was trying to communication was that the world wants us to live our purpose. And to me, that means following our heart. By writing down my journey and sharing it, it helped me get more honest and clear about what it takes to live an authentic life.
But the simplicity of that is what many times gets people confused. It is not an easy path to take; it’s actually the most difficult. Because in following our heart, we live on the edges of the society, we seek meaningful relationships and projects, we care deeply, and almost so much it hurts at times. We are seen many times as crazy, which you know, we are. We get comfortable with being uncomfortable. We embrace uncertainly. We are driven by our passions.
However, that does not mean that we are not thinking. We are thinking, actually more in many cases than those who choose to walk through life following someone else’s heart. We are strategic. We crystal clear in what feels awesome and what does not.
So why did I write my book? To challenge the seekers like myself, to open up a dialogue about living our purpose, to push those on the edge, and to share the experience and tools of my journey, in hopes of helping others live an awesomely authentic life.
Following our hearts is simple, but it requires we bring our brains with us, and that my friends, is the most awesome combination of all.
Love + Awesomeness-
Nina
PS: A big shout out of thanks to my friend Winn for the opportunity to share my story. And to all who have invested in my book and are on the path to authentic awesomeness, thank you, I am so grateful for you.
Click here to hear my interview with Winn Claybaugh. To purchase my book, in either ebook, audio book or a printed and signed copy, click here.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Dr. Seuss
Here is the audio version of this post. Thank you so much for listening.
One of the most common questions I get asked about Instagram is about how to share your beautiful images to your Facebook biz page. The question came up again on a recent webinar along with a request for a step by step. So a BIG shout out to Brenda and Dawnette for inspiring this post.
Here we go….
Step One
Log in to Instagram, go to your profile page and click on the little wheel thing in the upper right hand side of the page.
Step Two
Click on Share Settings
Step Three
Click on your name. It should show the name of your Personal Page that is connected to your Business Page. If you have not yet connected your Instagram to your Facebook personal page, it will ask you if you want to connect, etc. Do that. Then click on your name.
Step Four
If you manage one business page, that page name will appear and you simply select that page. If you manage more than one business page, select the business you want to SHARE your Instagrams to. Step Five
Start sharing your awesomeness!
Thank you again to Brenda and Dawnette for inspiring this post. Are you sharing your awesomeness on Instagram? Let’s connect! You can follow me @passionsquared
Here is the audio version of this post. Thank you so much for listening.
This is not a story about my beautiful new eyelash extensions, but one of how word of mouth and referrals happen when you truly become a social business. It does not get any more simple (not easy) than this. Here is how the story goes…
I follow larisadoll on Instagram. She is one of the most insanely talented colorists I have seen and has truly mastered the art of content creation, sharing and engagement on Instagram. She is so in demand, she is not even taking new clients. OMG, how many people can say that?
So as you can see in the pic above, she posted about her new lashes she got from the amazing Claudia Rod, miss_c_rod26 at Sinful Lashes. Now let me get something real clear, I had no intention of getting eyelash extensions. In fact, anything on or in my eyes makes me crazy. But I am a student of the social + digital web, and had to see what the fuss was all about, why did Larisa love her lashes so much?
So I quickly clicked on the Sinful Lashes page, and saw that a promotion was happening with Claudia. (I found out later Claudia was just beginning her career as an eyelash extension artist and is working hard on building her biz).
The Sinful Lashes page had a link to their website which allowed me to book online. Immediately. It was SO EASY. Just as it should be in 2014. A simple and seamless user experience. Is your booking process simple and seamless?
I was so excited for my new lash experience and to meet Claudia. She was so professional, sweet and insanely talented. She also, as professionals do, educated me on caring for my new lashes and recommended all the Sinful Lashes products I needed to care for them. Did I invest in the products she recommended? You bet I did. I just invested time and money into my new lashes and want to be sure they stay awesome in between visits. And yes, there will be more visits. Every three weeks to get a touch up.
But the story does not end there. Of course I had to share my experience on Instagram with all my beautiful followers and now I am writing a blog about my experience.
This is how word of mouth and referrals work in 2014.
It will never replace offline word of mouth, it only amplifies it. This is as simple as it gets. But it takes commitment, time, energy and consistency. It takes creating an awesome offline experience. It takes engaging on the platforms your clients (and potential future clients) engage on. It takes making it easy for clients to talk about you.
Thank you to Sinful Lashes, Larisa Love, and Claudia Rod for the experience and for creating awesome on my lashes. If you are in or around LA or planning on visiting, well, you know what I am going to say… book a reservation with Claudia at Sinful Lashes.
Here is the audio version of this post. Thank you so much for listening.
Some days SUCK! They just do, and in the moment, it seems like our entire life will suck too. But I am here to tell you it won’t, as long as we don’t let it.
For those who have read my book, Follow Your HEART, thank you so much BTW, you know that I struggle with depression and anxiety, and yes, I have a ton of bad days. So I speak from a little bit of experience as I share my thoughts.
What I have learned is that they do not last. But we have to do our part to ensure they don’t. How do I pick myself up? Here are some ways…
1. Be kind and gentle to myself.
2. Accept the reality that sometimes life sucks.
3. Create a gratitude list and try to focus on what’s good, even though I don’t want to.
4. Connect with friends.
5. Cuddle with my dogs.
6. Do something for others.
7. Sleep.
8. Create some kind of art.
9. Watch meaningless TV.
10. Clean the loft.
11. Remind myself it won’t last forever.
12. Take a walk around my neighborhood (which sadly has a large homeless population mostly due to mental illness and addiction) and witness firsthand the reality of what a bad day really looks like.
One of the biggest challenges I see with having a bad day is that we give it so much energy it becomes more than it is. It’s only a bad day. Not a bad life. Remember that.
Love + awesomeness-
Nina
PS: This applies to our businesses too. We can throw our hands up in the air and decide one bad day or week will become a bad month or year. Or we can dig in and determine what needs to be changed, to create more good days than bad. It’s a choice.
Are you looking to create more awesome in your biz + life? Subscribe (directly to the right of this post) to The Weekly Dose of Awesome , my weekly newsletter loaded with love + goodness, delivered to your inbox, every Monday morning.
Here is the audio version of this post. Thank you so much for listening.
