Pros and Cons of Switching to an Instagram Business Profile

Once a month I hold open Office Hours on Facebook Live to answer people's quick social media questions (for FREE). This month, I talked about the pros and cons of switching to an Instagram business profile. Think of this as a companion guide to the video.

Rejoice! You can schedule posts in Instagram if you're a business (and you use Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or SocialFlow). Can any business on Instagram schedule posts? No, only businesses with a business profile. What's a business profile? Should you switch to one? Glad you asked!

Fun fact about me: People pay me to help with their social media!

Because of that, I switched to a business profile. I get a lot of engagement on Instagram and I wanted to open the door to some of that engagement turning into business.

With a business profile you get:

• a contact button
• business industry category
• clickable business address
• analytics
• ability to run ads

One very important note, you must have a Facebook business page to use an Instagram business profile.

Should you make the switch? Let's look at the pros and cons.

Pros:

• If you're a restaurant or retailer, that clickable address is a huge pro.
• Email? You love it! Can't get enough. See also: don't have a website.
• The life-changing ability to schedule posts if you manage multiple accounts, or just don't want work on nights and weekends.
• In-app analytics that show you things like demographics on your audience, times they're active in Instagram, and reach/engagement on your posts.
• Ability to "boost" ($$$) your posts and reach people outside of your audience.

Cons:

There are no "real" (I'm using air quotes) cons to making the switch, but here's some food for thought.

• A contact button? Please, you haven't answered an email since 2012.
• You have a great website that people should visit and on that website is an FAQ that answers any question someone would email you about.
• You don't have or want to share your physical address (raises hand).
• You have other ways to pull your analytics.
• Switching solely to see an increase in engagement or sales.

If you're looking to get more followers and increase engagement, switching to a business profile isn't necessarily the answer. Learn how to organically grow an audience and increase engagement by scheduling a one-on-one consultation.

What do you think? Did you make the switch? What's it been like so far?

Let me know in the comments!

P.S. 5 Ways To Increase Engagement With Hashtags

P.P.S. Overwhelmed? Good news, you can hire me to help.

5 Ways To Increase Engagement With Hashtags

Being a business or brand (or blog) online is a constant struggle between trying to get more followers and trying not to embarrass yourself while getting more followers. Should you use hashtags? Should you follow everyone back who follows you? Should you pay for one of those services that guarantees followers?

The one thing I get asked about the most from every client, in every pitch, and from all of my friends is hashtags. I even started holding open Office Hours so you could ask me questions live and get answers in real time. So without further ado....

Here are 5 ways to increase engagement with hashtags!

1) Search for hashtags that describe your product/brand and the people you're trying to reach. Look for hashtags that are relevant, but less widely used, i.e. with 5k-100k uses instead of 1-2 million, that way your post will rise to the top in the section. Hashtags with over a million uses are getting updated every second and your post will get lost in the fray.

2) Use your own name and/or brand as a hashtag. A good hashtag does two things: covers your overall brand, and is specific to your post.

3) Create a community hashtag for your product/brand. Make sure and include the hashtag in your bio:  "Show us how you use our product with #____". Then you can repost pics showing people using your products. A good example of this is, #igotitatgoodwill.

4) Use between 11-30 hashtags on a post to do well in the Instagram algorithm (30 is the max allowed). It's personal preference whether you include them in the post or as a comment.

5) Find brands like yours with a strong hashtag game and copy theirs!

Tips and tricks!

Use predictive text on your phone for the hashtags you use the most so you don't have to copy and paste every time. Open Settings, go to General, Keyboard, then Text Replacement. Click on the + in the upper right corner to add your phrase. The phrase is the list of hashtags you want to fill in. The shortcut is what will automatically expand into the word or phrase as you type, i.e. blog, business, etc.

Look for trending hashtags, but again, beware of hashtags with 1 million + uses. Hilariously, a few months ago, #september was trending, but unbeknownst to everyone using it, they were all shadow banned because the tag got so overused. [insert scream face emoji]

Every 30, 60, or 90 days, do a search of the hashtags you're using and make sure they're still relevant to your posts/brand.

Please for the love of god tell me what a shadow ban is!

Shadow bans happen on hashtags with over a million uses. It's because spammers use the trending hashtags and clutter the feed with content that goes against Instagram's Terms Of Use. So everyone under the hashtag gets a temporary "shadowban" while Instagram investigates and decides which posts get to stay. To avoid this, use a mix of hashtags with different sizes (5k-100k) and beware of hashtags with sexual connotations. As all of my friends in the burlesque community can attest, Instagram is a prude!

P.S. How do I know all of this? Because it's my job!

P.P.S. Overwhelmed? Good news, you can hire me.

The Blonde Mule is 10!

A couple of big things happened recently. *Janie Crawford turned 29, and my blog - this blog - turned 10! I wrote my first blog post on December 4, 2007. A whopping 82 people read it and it received 1 comment from my very good friend bitch, Natalie, aka Shawtime. I've written 1310 blog posts, roughly 131 posts a year (11 posts a month) for TEN YEARS!

*The Paperless Post I sent for my blog party didn't autofill correctly, and instead invited everyone to Janie Crawford's 29th birthday at Herb's Jazz Club.

Let me paint a picture of 2007. MySpace had just died (RIP Top 8), Facebook and Twitter were a year old, not widely used, and Instagram didn't exist. What a time to be alive! All these really cool women had really cool blogs, and you could leave comments and they'd respond. Blogging enabled a lot of women to have a voice on the internet - and go on to write books, start companies, etc. What you now put on Facebook, in 2007, you put into a 4-paragraph blog post. Instagram? Please. No one knew how to take pictures in 2007. There weren't smart phones! There were no filters or ways to edit the brightness. What, was I going to buy editing software and learn how to edit my pictures? Hell no. Those dark ass pictures went straight to my blog.

In 2007, I was 31 years old, working as a staffer in the state senate, dating John, living in a garage, getting my cardio from a step aerobics class at the Green Hills Y (shout-out, Marcus!), and preaching the gospel of Weight Watchers. It was a simpler time. So what was I blogging about? Who knows! I'm too embarrassed to go back and read my old posts. J/K. I've read them and they are hilariously awful. On brand, but awful.

Here are my most viewed posts of all time!

8018 views - Warby Parker Glasses
4337 views - The Day I Met Dan Auerbach
3909 views - Knee Pain - Ouch!
3144 views - An Interview with EBTH Sales Specialist Brittney Forrister
2096 views - Smitten Kitchen Love
2068 views - An Interview with Goodwill Marketing Manager Niketa Hailey-Hill
1981 views - Training For A Triathlon - OMG, SO MUCH GEAR!!! $$$
1363 views - An Interview with Attorney and Fashion Blogger Betsey Appleton
1328 views - Easy Lasagna
1312 views - An Interview with b.fab.fitness Instructor Katherine Tisha Wilson

So what are my plans for the future? Glad you asked! A couple of things. One, I'm switching platforms, because lol Blogger. I actually tried to move to Wordpress about 4 years ago, but ultimately didn't because I would have lost all my pageviews and stats. Now you can move and keep your shizz, so I'm moving. TBD Wordpress or Squarespace.

My other plan for the future is to post more. Over the last couple of years I've quit writing personal posts. It's just not where I'm at anymore, but I'd like more variety on my blog. Right now, it's almost exclusively These My Bitches. In 2018, I may aim for 4 posts a month: 2 These My Bitches, 1 biz/social media post, and 1 personal-ish post. We'll see. I've got to figure out how to redistribute my creativity. Right now, all of it is going into my job and what little is left is going into Instagram Stories of my dog talking to me through thought bubbles.

Thank you to everyone who reads these posts, likes and comments on Facebook. I didn't set out to became "a brand", but somewhere along the way, I did. And that brand enabled me to start a social media business in 2014 that is doing quite well, thank you very much.

At Porter Flea over the weekend, I was overwhelmed by how many vendors (and shoppers) are Bitches. It's the first time I've really come face to face with how many Nashville women have been featured on my blog - all because I had this bizarre idea a few years ago to start writing about my friends' jobs.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'd say here's to 10 more years, but I'm not convinced we'll still have free internet in 2027. To quote sheroes, Aminatou and Ann, "See you on the internet, boo!"

How to Create a Street Style Look on a Budget

I come from a long line of women with the gift of thrift. As a child, every time I opened a gift from one of my grandmothers, I would ask my mom if it was from the “big G”, meaning Goodwill. I thrift for important reasons like sustainable fashion, and I thrift for fun reasons, like knowing no one else at the art crawl will be wearing what I’m wearing. But mostly I like the challenge of recreating Instagram-worthy street style outfits for eight dollars.

Do you try thrift shopping, but can't seem to find anything worth buying? Do you score awesome finds, then get home and have no idea how to wear them? Do you get overwhelmed, hangry and end up abandoning a cart full of clothes you're too tired to try on? Is that four year old Banana Republic shirt really worth six dollars? Seriously, is there a vending machine in this building? Can a sister get a Snickers?

Good news! I can help. On October 19 Goodwill is hosting a meet-up called Style with a Purpose. Get personalized advice from a dozen local bloggers and shop merchandise especially selected by the experts (that's me!) to reflect our unique styles. We'll share our shopping strategies and help you put outfits together.

You guys, this is the most excited I've been in a long time. I get to pull items from Goodwill and put them on my very own clothing rack! And that's not even the best part. I get a mannequin!!! I mean, if for nothing else, come to see what I put on that mannequin.

My style is Sally Jessy Raphael goes to Brooklyn. I’m a buttoned-up Gen X-er with a passion for Bushwick street style. I am nothing if not a woman of contradictions. I'm in my forties, but don't have the disposable income to prove it. I want to be accepted, but I don't want to look like anyone else in the room.

You, too? Great! Here are some tips for creating a street style look on a budget.

How To Shop:

Pay attention to sale days. I like to shop Goodwill on the first Saturday of the month when everything is 50% off. Pro tip: follow Goodwill on Instagram for sale reminders.

Don't ignore the Men's section. Some of my favorite finds are from the Men's section: denim jackets, ironic tees, overalls, sweatshirts, etc.

Shop in the outfit you're looking to complete. If I want to buy a kimono or robe to wear as a jacket, I'll shop in the jeans and t-shirt I'm planning to wear with the kimono/robe.

How To Wear Robes:

With confidence. Also, if I'm wearing a thrifted family vacation tee under a Sears Roebuck 3XL housecoat, I'll wear designer jeans, nice shoes and a normal (ish) handbag. But this may be more of a testament to my age than my style.

Who To Follow for Street Style Inspiration:

Me!
Man Repeller
Who What Wear
New York Times Fashion
Clare Press
New York From Behind

Where To Wear:

At this point, I'm getting dressed to walk to the mailbox, but hey, I work from home. I save my craziest best street style outfits for art crawls, burlesque shows, Frist Fridays, drag shows, and going to Publix. If you're lucky, you can find me accidentally hiking in a caftan and Birkenstocks when someone forgets to tell me what to dress for on a Sunday drive.

There's no non-creepy way to say this, but if you follow me online and have never met me, come to this event! I promise, it won't be weird. Unless the fact that I've already named my mannequin Stevie Nicks is weird.

If you know you're coming, duh, go ahead and RSVP. Having a headcount helps know how many drinks and snacks to buy. I did mention there will be drinks and snacks, right? Put it on your calendar now! I'll be too busy dressing Stevie Nicks to remind you on the day of.

See you on October 19!

P.S. Now is the perfect time to get your denim jacket ready for fall!

P.P.S. A report on NYC street style trends by moi.

Snapchat Vs. Instagram Stories

A few years ago when I was in DC for work, I bought a fancy Madewell dress. It's a fantastic dress that I still wear. It's white with navy stripes that alternate between horizontal and vertical, a zipper that runs the length of the dress, and pockets. It is a great dress that I have worn a million times.

Last summer, both Target and Old Navy made knock-offs of this dress. They used a cheaper material, left out the pockets and the zipper, but to the untrained eye, it looks like the same dress.

I am continually frustrated with Old Navy's blatant reproduction of Madewell products, but this dress was especially frustrating because most of the people I saw wearing it could have bought the Madewell dress. Every time I saw someone in the knock-off dress I wanted to scream, "There is a better version of this dress available to you!"

This is how I feel about Instagram Stories. Instagram Stories is the Merona of Snapchat.

While Snapchat has been around since 2012, I didn't start using it until earlier this year. Like everyone else, I thought it was for ::eggplant emoji:: pics and I didn't have a need for those in my life. But then two things happened, I started getting into Periscope, and I got invited to a Snapchat webinar for political consultants.

I loved Periscope, but it drained my phone battery and no one I know used it, so I switched to Snapchat. Because I am a forty year old woman, I had to teach myself how to use Snapchat. I read a bunch of how-to articles and watched tutorials (hosted by eleven year olds). Once I figured out how to turn my face into a dog, I was hooked. And don't even get me started on that one day you could turn yourself into a taco. Some of my best work to date is a product of that illustrious Taco Bell filter.

By the time I attended the Snapchat webinar, I had been a user for about two months, so I had gotten my feet wet, but still had a lot to learn. Granted, this info and these stats pre-date Instagram Stories, but here is what I learned about Snapchat:

audience:  100 million+  daily active users

8 billion+ daily videos

41% average daily reach with 18-34 year olds (TV is 6%)
50% of new users are 25+

I'm curious how these stats have changed since the launch of Instagram Stories. A large percentage of the people I follow on Snapchat have left for Instagram Stories, which is frustrating because: A) I understand their decision, but B) I'm disappointed in them for not sticking with the better app.

Here's the thing, Instagram Stories is better if you're a brand or a blogger with a large audience. Snapchat just can't compete with Instagram's reach. Again, I get it, it's a legit marketing decision, but it's hard to swallow because Snapchat is a superior app. To go back to my dress analogy, not everyone is going to drive to the mall for a $70-$100 dress when they could go down the street and get a good enough version for $20. At the end of the day, you've got a new dress either way.

I posted the same video on Snapchat and Instagram Stories to compare reach. On Snapchat, I tap out at about 22 views. The same video on Instagram Stories will garner 70-100 views.

What I like about Snapchat is it's funny. If you know me, and like me, you will probably love me on Snapchat. It's the most "me" I am on any social media platform. Snapchat is meant to be self-expressive and ephemeral, e.g. real life in the moment. And Snapchat provides you a real funny way to do that.

When I joined Snapchat, my favorite user was Birchbox. They snapped all day from their office, showing everyone's desks and what their favorite makeup products are. And they would give the account over to different employees for the day to show how they got ready at home and what products they used, etc. It was genius. I bought so much makeup during this time. But they've left Snapchat for Facebook Live and Instagram Stories. And it makes me very sad.

Same with artist, Dallas Clayton. I LOVED his Snaps, but he moved to Instagram Stories. I've watched both Dallas and Birchbox's Stories, but it's just not the same. For one, Instagram Stories eats up my phone battery, and two, the videos pause to load a lot (A LOT) and it's aggravating. Also, there are no filters or geotags, which is the piece de resistance of Snapchat. What are you even doing if you can't turn your face into a vomiting edamame?

Here are some current Snapchat users I enjoy following:

Aidy Bryant
Username:  @AIDYBRYANT

Andy Cohen
Username:  @AndyCohen

Birchbox
Username:  @Birchbox

Franchesca Ramsey
Username:  @chescaleigh

Chrissy Teigen
Username:  @ChrissyTeigen

Cory Booker
Username:  @CoryBooker

Dj Khaled
Username:  @DjKhaled

Hillary Clinton
Username:  @HillaryClinton

Jen Gotch
Username:  @JenGotch

Jeni Britton Bauer
Username:  @jenibrittonbauer

Joel Strong
Username:  @joelstrong

Joy the Baker
Username:  @joythebaker

Kim Kardashian
Username:  @KimKardashian

Laverne Cox
Username:  @LaverneCox

Leslie Jones
Username:  @LesDogggg

Michelle Obama
Username:  @michelleobama

Paris Hilton
Username:  @ParisHilton

Retta
Username:  @Retta

Smitten Kitchen
Username:  @SmittenKitchen

The New York Times
Username:  @TheNewYorkTimes

The White House
Username:  @TheWhiteHouse

Warby Parker
Username:  @WarbyParker

My fear is that I'm on the wrong side of this argument and will have to begrudgingly make the switch to Instagram Stories - a cheap knock-off of a quality app. But for now, I remain a Snapchat loyalist. Follow me at:  theblondemule.

To be begrudgingly continued. Probably.

P.S. I've noticed (no judgment) that a lot of you have forgotten how to repost pictures in Instagram.

P.P.S. Don't forget, you can hire me if you need helping managing your social media.

Finding Peers Online Over Forty

Where my over-forty bloggers at? I've been wondering this for awhile now, and it keeps coming up in conversations with friends. I'm having a hard time finding people like me online, not just people who are in my situation, but women I feel a connection with. The internet is full of female voices - creatives, entrepreneurs, bloggers, podcasters - but a lot of them are younger and talking about things I've already figured out.

While I do love a millennial podcast, I would looooove to hear from women in their 40's and 50's talking about what they've learned, what they did wrong, how they overcame their failures, and how they reinvented themselves.

Where are the women who are starting businesses after leaving a 10-15 year career? Where are the women who left their careers to raise children and are starting businesses after being at home for 5 years? Where are the women who realized they were unhappy, scrapped it all and started all over, possibly more than once?

I'm not saying I don't know women like this, because, of course I do. What I'm saying is, this is not a predominant, or even easy to find, voice online, or on podcasts. Why is that? If the women I know IRL (I learned that by listening to millennial podcasts) are any indication, it's because they're too busy.

Or is it timing? I started this blog in 2007 when I was 31. If I had been even five years older, I wouldn't have started a blog. The women around my age who did start blogs back then are either too famous to be authentic, or found fulfillment somewhere else and left the internet. There are exceptions - Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge has been around since the beginning and is still super authentic and helpful. Also, Kim France of Girls of a Certain Age. Kim's not doling out live your best life advice, but she's a badass, she's in her 50's, and she has an strong presence online.

Speaking of blogs, there is a "how to" trend right now. Oy. I'm not saying these how-to posts aren't helpful, a lot of them are, but because they're so sharable ("click to pin"; "click to tweet"), and clicks equal money, they are everywhere. I miss storytelling and honest writing. I miss feeling connected to women's lives and struggles. There's not enough balance. The pendulum swung too far when everyone got so goddamn mean in comments sections.

I have the same issue with podcasts. I wish there was a podcast of professional women in their 40's and 50's talking about boundaries, good enough instead of perfect, saying yes to things you don't know how to do, stretching to learn new things, keeping up with technology, better ways to say no to clients, the isolation of working from home, etc.

Maybe this is part of turning 40 - realizing if I want to see a space online for women like me, I have to create it. Does this mean I have to start a podcast? In fairness, I do have a pretty solid connection to a recording engineer... (I'm not starting a podcast.)

To balance out all the shade I just threw, here is a list of blogs and podcasts I thoroughly enjoy:

Blogs:

A Kaleidoscoped Life
Design*Sponge
Emily Henderson
Girls of a Certain Age
Joy the Baker
Parnassus Musing
Sweet Fine Day
The Crepes of Wrath
Wholeheartedly Healthy
Yes and Yes

Podcasts:

2 Dope Queens
Another Round
Call Your Girlfriend
Ctrl Alt Delete
Dear Sugar Radio
Fresh Air
Put Your Hands Together
This American Life
WTF with Marc Maron

Random Sheroes Born Before the Bicentennial:

Brene Brown
Elizabeth Gilbert
Jen Lancaster
Ann Patchett
Esther Perel
Ruth Reichl
Gretchen Rubin
Patti Smith
Zadie Smith
Cheryl Strayed

How To Get Involved In Local and State Politics

There are a lot of things going on politically that give me heartburn, but one thing I'm glad to see is an uptick in engagement. I've worked in local, state and federal Tennessee politics since 2006, and I still do as most of my social media clients are public figures, candidates and consultants. While we're all interested and engaged in national politics, I'd like to make the argument for paying as much, if not more, attention to what's going on locally. These state laws and local ordinances have a much greater impact on our daily lives than most of the stuff going on at the federal/national level do.

I know it can seem overwhelming to get involved, or to even get information, but there are simple things you can do to get involved at whatever level of engagement you're comfortable with - and none of it involves getting in fights with your cousin on Facebook.

Civics 101, aka This Is Who Represents You Locally

State Level:
Governor
State Senator
State House Representative

Nashville Metropolitan Level:
Mayor
Vice-Mayor
Council Members At-Large (you have 5)
District Council Member

This is a basic list of your elected officials. Most people don't know the names of these 11 people - that's okay, it's normal not to know. But it's super easy to find out! For Metro, go here. For the state, go here.

How To Get Involved

Vote
Find out who your reps are
Follow them on social
Subscribe to their newsletters
Engage on Twitter

Vote:
The next election cycle in Tennessee is in 2018, so you have a year to either register to vote, or to change the address on your voter registration, which you can do here.

Find out who your reps are:

Covered above. Send me a PM and I can help you figure out who your people are.

Follow them on social:

You guys, all of these people are on the internet. Follow them. The younger ones are better at Twitter. The older ones are better at Facebook. Adjust accordingly.

Subscribe to their newsletters:

My State House Rep is John Ray Clemmons and he sends out one hell of a newsletter. I bet your people do, too. You should find out, and subscribe.

Engage on Twitter:

Or Facebook, but Twitter is better.

Correspondence 101

If you send an email to one of your elected officials, odds are, it gets read. But there are things you can do to make sure it gets read:

Use their title in the salutation
Include your home address
Tell them you live in their district
When possible, include the bill number you're writing about
Keep it short and sweet
Close with a call to action
Include your contact info

Sample email:

Kim Baldwin
123 Fake Street
Nashville, TN 12345

Dear Rep. Clemmons,

I live in your District and want to thank you for your work on behalf of the cycling community. As a cyclist, I am constantly worried about getting hit by a car when I'm riding my bike. I'm writing to you in strong opposition to HB 1650. Please vote no on this bill if it makes it to the Floor. It's currently moving through committee.

Thank you,
Kim Baldwin
(123) 123-1234

Petitions and Form Letters:

Petitions and form letters aren't as effective as a personal email. When an office gets 300 of the exact same email, it kind of loses its punch. Also, it's fine to email elected officials who don't represent you, but know that their constituents (i.e. the people who vote for them) get top billing.

Twitter!

Things to know about Twitter. One, you can "mute" people from your feed. Two, you can make lists. I have a list called "Local News & Politics" and another one called "State Legislature". I have everyone on these two lists muted so that they aren't in my feed. If I want political news, I go to my lists. I highly recommend doing this.

Who to follow:

Follow your elected representatives. All of mine are on Twitter and I bet yours are, too. You can also fall down a political wormhole and follow all the various caucuses, state parties, political reporters, newspapers, and various advocacy and resistance groups. If there is a cause or organization that you care about, follow them.

From where I sit, there are a lot of issues being debated at the state-level that aren't aligned with my views on what I do or don't do with my body, or what I believe my LGBTQ friends have the right to do or don't do. These issues aren't just bills being debated to get on the six o'clock news. These bills are being voted on, and they're passing, which means they could become Tennessee state law.

Yes, it matters what happens in Washington D.C. - very much. But it also matters what the laws are in your state, and if your neighborhood gets sidewalks, updated infrastructure, or that you can sell your house and afford to buy another house in the same neighborhood.

Pay attention. Get involved. VOTE!

P.S. Political social media - how I do it.

P.P.S. How to work with me.

How To Switch Between Multiple Accounts On Instagram

Good news for those of us with more than one Instagram account, you can now switch between accounts without logging out! Here is how you do it.

First, go to Instagram and click on the wheel (bolt?) in the upper right-hand corner to get into your profile settings.

Then click "Add Account". This will take you to the home/login screen.

Enter the login information of the first account you'd like to add and then click "Login". Repeat this process for all accounts you manage and would like to add. I added three.

Once you've added all of your accounts, tap the username at the top of the profile to switch between accounts. When all of your accounts have been added, you'll see your profile pic appear in places throughout Instagram - that way you'll know which account you're in.

Happy 'Gramming!

P.S. I've noticed (no judgment) that a lot of you have forgotten how to repost pictures in Instagram.

P.P.S. Don't forget, you can hire me if you need helping managing your social media.

Morning Ritual

In 2014, I left the 9-to-5 world and started my own business, which means working from home, and working irregular hours. Creating a morning ritual has been a life-saver. When I'm tired or overwhelmed, I can spend hours staring at a screen until I muster the fortitude to answer emails. Having a way to start my day makes waking up easier and keeps me on an even keel.

Morning Ritual:

meditate
make coffee
20-minutes reading
10-minutes reading
10-minutes journaling
breakfast
start working

Initially, I was reading business books, but I read too many and hate them all now, so I spend 20 minutes reading which ever library book is due and then 10 minutes reading an inspirational/creative book.

You'll notice that "check email" is nowhere on this list. That's on purpose. I do not get online or look at my phone until after I've done my morning ritual. In fact, I set my phone to Do Not Disturb until after breakfast. Gone are the days of waking up, looking at my phone and letting whatever is in my inbox or on Twitter dictate my mood for the day.

Let's talk about journaling. Here's what I do: 3 blog ideas, and a list-form brain dump. The lists look something like:  Anxious About, Excited About, Proud Of, Grateful For, Reach Out To, etc. It helps clear my mind before my day starts. I use a blank Moleskine notebook, but there are all kinds of guided journaling/free-writing workbooks if you struggle for content.

I've also started doing affirmations because, turns out, I'm one hell of a manifester. I keep an affirmation journal nearby that I read in the morning. Go ahead, roll your eyes. I'm laughing all the way to the bank, fools.

I'm a morning person, so I like to front-load my day because I lose my creativity in the afternoon. After breakfast, I'll work hard writing all my content for the day and then I spend the afternoon checking notifications, answering email, etc.

So this is what I do every morning! I love it. I start my day in a good mood, inspired, calm, and with a list of ideas I can get creative with later. Try it for yourself!

P.S. Social Media: A Day In The Life. The answer to what exactly is my job?

P.P.S. One time I went off Facebook - and lived to tell about it.

Social Media: A Day In The Life

The Blonde Mule Media

During a recent election, I was fortunate to manage the social media for two candidates, and do outside consulting for a third. It was a great fit for me because with ten years of political experience, I knew the audience, the language and the candidates well enough to speak in their voices. Also, I'm funny, which, according to the latest OFA Social Media Summit, is a powerful part of an effective social media campaign.

I was busier than a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest, and I loved every second of it! I thought it would be neat to pull back the proverbial curtain and show you what goes into political social media. Here is what a typical Saturday looked like for me.

Saturday, August 2015

10:30am
Drive to Candidate 1 event

11:00am
Stay with Candidate 1 at event
Live-tweet, take pictures, post on Instagram and Facebook
Talk to other candidates, candidates' staff, share pictures, etc.

1:00pm
Part ways with Candidate 1
Gas station lunch!
Change out of Candidate 1 t-shirt and into Candidate 2 t-shirt

1:30pm
Drive to Candidate 2's house

2:00pm
Drive Candidate 2 to speaking event

2:15pm
Stay with Candidate 2 at event
Live-tweet, take pictures, post on Facebook

2:30pm
*Canvass district with Candidate 2
Live-tweet, take pictures, post on Facebook
Drive around to find campaign volunteers and take pictures of them canvassing

*canvass means walking the neighborhoods of the voting district, knocking on doors and talking to voters

5:00pm
Drive Candidate 2 to his house
Pet Candidate 2's dog
Drive home
Lament the absence of drive-thru daiquiri shops

5:30pm
Upload the day's pictures to Dropbox
Create photo collage, write 'daily wrap-up' and post on both candidates' Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages

6:00pm
Monitor and respond to activity on both candidates' Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages

6:30pm
Collapse on couch and refuse to do anything you told your husband you'd do that night. And... scene.

A lot goes into making a day like this work. The most important thing is finding out who decides the candidate's schedule and making that person like you and share information with you. The same goes for the handler. Higher level candidates have handlers - people who drive them to their events and stay with them. You need that handler to like you and communicate with you. Schedules change, people run late, and you need a dedicated person you can call and get an ETA.

You also need to be organized. I had three other clients in addition to these two candidates, so I had to work smart during the week to make sure I could dedicate all day Saturday to these campaigns.

Lastly, and most important, you need all the chargers. I have a car charger for myself and a fancy multi-plugin portable charger for my candidates' phones. Attending events and live-tweeting is great and obviously needed, but being able to charge your client's dead, five year old iPhone is what gets you a high-five at the end of the day.

P.S. I wrote a post on How To Get Involved In Local and State Politics.

P.P.S. How to work with me.

How To Repost Pictures In Instagram

Do you ever wonder how your friends repost pictures on Instagram? Do they take a screen shot and crop out the edges? Maybe, but there's better way. I use the Repost for Instagram app. The app is available for both IOS and Android.

I have an iPhone, so Android users, adjust these steps as necessary. First, go to the app store and download the app. It's free with the option to upgrade to a pro account for $4.99. I use the free account.

After the app finishes downloading, simply open it.

When you open the app, you'll see this welcome screen asking you to log in to your Instagram account.

Enter your Instagram username and password and click "Log in". Note the box at the bottom of the screen. This will be checked to automatically follow @RepostApp in Instagram. You can either uncheck this box before logging in, or if you miss it, which I always do, you can unfollow them later in Instagram.

Once you've logged in, Repost takes you to your Likes page, correctly assuming that you "liked" the picture you want to repost. If not, you have the option to search for an image.

Click on the image you'd like to repost, preferably a monkey surrounded by fat stacks.

You can get creative with the Repost tag box. They give you the choice of 4 screen positions in either light or dark. They also give you the option of no tag box at all. I always use a tag box to make it clear I'm not taking credit for the image.

This step is confusing. The only thing you have to click on this screen is "OK". The text is automatically copied to your clipboard and will magically reappear later in the process.

Next, click on the Instagram icon.

Then proceed in Instagram like you usually do - choose a filter, hit Next.

You'll come to this familiar screen. But don't start typing. Remember, you have text copied to your clipboard.

Click "Paste".

You can edit this text however you like, but I do recommend keeping it as-is. If I add any commentary, I add it at the beginning, before "#Repost". Again, this is to make it clear that you're not stealing the image and to give credit to the original user.

When you're finished with the text, hit Share!

Voila! You have successfully reposted an image on Instagram. Now, go forth and repost!

P.S. The difference between Snapchat and Instagram Stories.

P.P.S. How to work with me.