(n) man·i·fes·to
A written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer.
Nearly all of us have seen this image floating around our social pages. But what many of you may not know is the story behind the Holstee Manifesto, which has been shared over 500,000 times and viewed 60 million times online. It started as an idea for a different kind of clothing company, in the height of the recession in May 2009. The rest, as they say, is history.
A manifesto is a story. A statement of values and beliefs. And as we have talked about several times in our blog, webinars and workshops, people buy stories, not things. Will your story go viral and ignite 500,000 shares and an online business? Who knows. Is it worth taking some time to create yours? Absolutely.
So you may be thinking, isn’t this the same thing as a mission statement? No. Let’s be honest, most mission statements are lame, stale, passionless and old school. Manifestos are the new mission statement. They are real, authentic, emotional, relevant, public and immersed in passion. They are stories. Not just words typed on a piece of paper and filed away.
What is your manifesto? Are your team and clients aware of it? Do you share it on your website, social pages, in your salon or business, your communications and materials?
If you are looking for guidance and inspiration to create your story, we offer one-on-one mentoring to help you craft the ultimate manifesto. Click here to inquire about our programs. We are super excited to be part of your growth and success.
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
“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)
“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
“A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.”
Eudora Welty
We are loving the evolution of Instagram and how our community has taken to it as the go-to app for engaging, sharing and connecting with the world. It’s no surprise though, as we are a creative and visual group of characters, and Instagram plays right into what we value most.
This week, Instagram introduced Web Profiles, where your page can be directly accessed on the web with your own unique URL. Pretty cool, yes? Why do we think its so cool?
1. It allows us to engage on the web, not just on the app, to like, comment and follow new users. Yes, there are several 3rd party apps that allow this already, but this is just kinda more official.
2. It helps our businesses become more discoverable on the web, just like other social platforms, the more we engage, the more discoverable we are.
3. Having our own URL allows us to share our Instagram page more easily among other platforms, as well as through our marketing and communications.
You can also edit your profile, revoke access to 3rd party apps, etc.
So how do you discover your profile? Simply go to www.instagram.com/your Instagram name here
If your page is set to private, only those who you allow to follow you will be able to see your photos. So you may want to double check your privacy settings on the app. You cannot change those settings on your Web Profile.
So there you have it. We will continue watching Web Profiles develop, as we sense this is only the beginning.
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
Scott Adams
In the world of engagement on the social + digital web, a lot of what we are doing is quite frankly trial and error. We will not know what truly engaging content is until we actually start creating content and pay attention to the response of our community. And it takes time, sometimes several months, to find your groove, but once you do, it’s pretty awesome.
Yes, we know the theme of our content, our story, our message, and our goals, but until we actually begin trying different things, without fear of making mistakes, we will never know what makes our fans hearts sing.
We found this handy infographic with some tips for Facebook engagement. And while it may or may not be exactly how your community acts and reacts, its certainly worth a try.
Come on, go for it! What’s the worst thing that could happen? You make a mistake? We call that creativity.
