Are you discoverable?

Claim Your Name, Claim Your Name

September 28, 2012Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

“The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand.”

Frank Herbert

Are you discoverable?

In the world of social + digital, one super important thing to remember is search + discovery.  This is when people looking for your salon can easily DISCOVER you on the web.  A big part of search + discovery on the web is the URL (uniform resource locator) or your personalized web address.

With social platforms, we have an opportunity to choose our username, if it’s not already taken.  We highly recommend for branding, marketing and easy discovery, that you stick with the name of your brand (salon, company, product).  By doing this, you can add your Facebook Page username to your marketing materials, business cards, etc.

Here is a simple step-by-step on how to claim your personalized Facebook username (URL).

Unclaimed Username URL
www.facebook.com/pages/passion-squared/1234567890

Claimed Username URL (this is what we want it to look like)
Facebook Pages

 

1. Go into your Admin Panel on Facebook, Click on Edit Page then Click on Update Info.

Facebook Page

 

2. You will now be in the Basic Information Section, and will see Username.  Click on Change Username.

Facebook Pages

 

3. Now you can type in your desired Page username.  We recommend you try first for the name of your actual Facebook Page. Click on Check Availability.  If your first choice is not available, you can try to add another word that still connects with your Facebook page name.

Example: Your Page name is Passion Squared.  You type that in and see that it is taken.  So try Passion Squared Salon, or Passion Squared Hair Salon, etc. (NOTE: Once you claim a username for your page, you can ONLY change it one more time)

Facebook Page

 

 

 

 

4. Time to celebrate. You did it!

To learn more about how to expand your social beauty intelligence and craft the ultimate social + digital plan to better engage and build word of mouth and referrals, click here.  We would love to hear from you.

(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)

 

Do You Like Me?

They Like Me, They Really Like Me

September 27, 2012Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

“Activate your fans, don’t just collect them like baseball cards.”

Jay Baer

Do You Like Me?

So Two Hairdressers Walk Into A Bar
In the social + digital world, one BIG thing many of us have forgotten is that the online world is no different than the offline world, it’s still all about the people.  It’s one big cocktail party, just instead of hanging at the bar, we are hanging at a new “virtual bar”.

Asking for likes over and over, spamming other peoples pages, collecting likes like baseball cards is kind of missing the point of community building.

To have an effective community online, you need your community engaged.  The real purpose of these platforms are to help us listen, engage authentically, build relationships, have meaningful two way conversations, deliver value, to become discoverable on the web and ultimately grow our businesses through word of mouth and referrals.

Give Them Something To Talk About
What you need is right likes which are the people you are targeting and marketing your services and products to.

The most important number to be mindful of is your engagement rate, on Facebook, that’s the “talking about this” number.  That is the number which represents your real community, meaning people are liking, commenting, sharing, checking-in at your salon or RSVP’ing to an event.  In order to increase engagement, you need to provide content worth sharing (posts, tweets, blogs, pins, etc.) A good “talking about this” percentage on Facebook is between 10-30%. Anything above that is awesome, anything below that just says you need to revise your content and posting plan.

Here is some simple math, we promise…
Talking About This Number (divided by) Total Page Likes = Real Engagement Percentage

So, instead of “collecting likes” like baseball cards, remember first that each like represents a REAL person who has chosen to engage your page and your business.  People want to be loved and recognized and have come to your page to see if there is something of value to them.  If you give them something compelling, relevant, interesting and cool to share, like or comment on, believe us, they will.

For more information on how to craft an authentic, engaging and effective social + digital plan to become more discoverable on the social web, give us a shout on Facebook, Twitter or click here.

PS: We like you, we really like you.  Thank you for being here with us.

(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)

 

 

Awesome Facebook Photo Cheat Sheet

September 22, 2012Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

“The simplest things are often the truest.”

 Richard Bach

Seriously one of the most awesome discoveries on the web recently.  And while Facebook likes to change things up on us often, this is a great foundation for us all to ensure our images look their best; a super important part of building our brand image on the social web. Yay!

Facebook Photo Size Dimensions Infographic by Louise Myers

Courtesy of: Louise Myers Graphic Design

Thank you Louise Myers for creating this simple, yet incredibly useful tool.

(discovered on Google and shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)

5 Steps to Updating Your Twitter Page

September 19, 2012Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

“The only thing constant in life is change”

François de la Rochefoucauld

So Twitter surprised the social web yesterday when they changed their page layout.
If you are up for an adventure and love change, here is a simple step-by-step.

1. Log into your Twitter account

2. Go to Settings

3. Click on Design

4. Click on Change header to upload a header image (you can preview it and play around a bit with different photos to see what looks the best)

5. Click Save

Ta-Da! You did it!  Awesome!

Do you like the “new” Twitter?  Do you use Twitter for business, fun or both? Lets play on Twitter, you can follow us @passionsquared2

(shared with LOVE from your tweeting passionistas Nina + Gordon)

 

 

 

Intelligence is Sexy

August 2, 2012Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime “

Chinese Proverb

The Social Beauty Intelligence Story

The AHA Moment

When we began discussing the creation of Passion Squared, we were energized (thank you Starbucks and our obsession with the pro beauty biz) and driven by the many opportunities we discovered within the social + digital space.  But it was not about the platforms as much as it was about how the platforms could engage and empower the people and industry we love.

The Platforms Where We Play

We saw YELP driving significant new client traffic, Facebook allowing you to have meaningful conversations with current and future guests and YouTube beginning to bring the pro beauty biz to life in a whole new way.  We were and are continually inspired by the power these new platforms have to transform businesses and careers, and help all of us achieve our dreams.

Help Me, Help You

Along the way, we realized that our community needed support, help, guidance, education and lot’s of love around the social + digital platforms which get us so excited – and out of that realization,  the Social Beauty Intelligence Check-Up was born.

Its Just What The Doctor Ordered

The Social Beauty Intelligence Check-Up is kind of like going to the doctor for your annual visit, but for your salon or business and WAY more fun and empowering.

If you are ready for your Check-Up, give us a shout via email, phone, Facebook, Twitter, pony express or click here. (a handy link to Nina’s e-mail, cool, right?)

Remember, we’ve got your back, today and always!

(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)