As the fall semester of most colleges and universities comes to a close, you may be taking a good hard look at your grades for the semester and wondering how you could have done better. If you are early in your college career, you may not yet have learned the best ways to maximize your time in class and in college as a whole, so I thought now would be the perfect time to share some tips about how to get more out of your college classes. Think about these tips as you head into winter break and get yourself a plan of action for the spring semester!
1. Show Up: Look, college isn’t like high school, you are actually paying to be there and believe it or not, the time spent in class can have a profound affect on your knowledge and understanding of the world. Make your best effort to show up to all your classes, and make sure to get there early to snag a great seat!
2. Sit in the front row or center aisle: Apparently, studies have shown that students that sit in either the front row or center aisle of a classroom score higher than their peers in other seats. Make this special T zone your permanent destination in every class.
3. Actively participate in class: Yep, classes can sometimes be boring and even though you are in college, there are still classes that you are required to take that may not interest you. But, you know what they say? Time flies when you’re having fun! So, actively engage in your classes, take copious amounts of notes and ask questions regularly to keep your brain working. This will result in more information retention for you and a much quicker and enjoyable experience all around.
4. Buddy up with your professors: Although some of your professors may seem big and scary, for the most part, they can be some of the most interesting people you will ever meet. Now, I’m not saying that you need to hang out with your professor regularly, however, getting comfortable with them will drastically help you with your classes and workload, because you will feel more at ease asking them for help or advice. Plus, if you become friendly with professors in your major, they are more likely to write you great recommendation letters for grad school in the future or be a great reference for a resume!
5. Get your assignments done early: In most classes you will receive a syllabus on day one outlining all your assignments and their due dates for your class. If you stay on top of your work and get your papers and projects done early, you will be ahead of the curve. A week or two before that assignment is due, when your other classmates are just beginning their work, you can bring yours to your professor and ask them to review it for you before you hand in a final draft. This means you get feedback from your professor on your project or paper with enough time to make the necessary edits and hand in perfect A+ work!
With 2015 right around the corner, I thought it was about time that I shared with you all my planner setup for the upcoming year. Ever since the beginning of 2014 when I purchased my first filofax style planner, the large Mint Kikki K Time Planner, I have been searching for the ever elusive concept of Planner Peace. If you are not familiar, planner peace is essentially a state of organizational bliss where you have found the planner system that works best for you and are regularly using it to keep yourself organized! Well, it has been a long year, but I found peace at last with my pair of Fluoro Pink Originals; one in personal and the other A5. To go along with my two planners, I also have a supplementary third planner from Sugar Paper for Target, this lovely gold python number pictured above, that basically completes my planner needs for 2015! So, without further ado, let’s jump into my setup!
Let’s start smallest first, shall we? Although the Sugar Paper for Target pocket sized planner is the littlest member of the group, she certainly isn’t the least! This planner has a very specific purpose for me in 2015 as my only bound planner. This is going to be my food journal for the year!
As someone who tries to make sure they are keeping a food journal, I have found that I tend to keep my food journal entries all over the place, but now I have one dedicated spot with space enough for the details of my meals that is bound together in one compact little planner!
Next, moving on into my personal Fluoro pink, which is my every day carry planner! As I have explained in previous setups, my personal sized is my main planner, housing all the information for my in progress projects as well as keeping track of my tasks and calendar schedule! If you are familiar with my previous setups, you will know that not much as changed, but I would like to point out a few new additions! First of all is this custom personal information page I made for myself! I think it’s much cuter than the run of the mill info page I was using before.
The next major change to my personal sized is my calendar pages! I am currently using a month on two pages of my own design that you can purchase in my shop, as well as my custom week on one page insert. These two calendars contain my daily schedules with important information I need to keep track of.
After my calendar section, comes my yearly overview. For 2015, I made this lovely little printable filled with quotes and reminders to keep me on track and focused on what is most important to me throughout the year. If you would like this printable, click here to download your copy now!
The next major element of my yearly overview section is this year at a glance calendar that I downloaded from Philofaxy.com! Philofaxy is a great resource for planner lovers and they keep a library of free inserts that I love to use whenever I am interested in trying out a new layout or style! This yearly page is something I use to keep track of health related items like my workouts and weight.
The final element in my yearly overview section is my project planning and tracking inserts. They start off with a month on one page insert of my own design (available on my shop alone or as part of my project planning bundle). This insert keeps track of date specific as well as month specific tasks that relate to projects I have on my plate!
The next insert which is also part of my project planning bundle is my yearly goal tracker. This insert is another trifold like the year at a glance page, and is a place for me to keep track of my short-term, mid-term and long-term goals for the year!
Once my yearly goals are tracked in my yearly page, I break them down into manageable action steps within my project planning pages which round out my project planning bundle of inserts! If you like these inserts, feel free to check them out in my shop, they are available in both personal and A5 sizes.
After my yearly overview section comes my work section. The main focus of this section is my Blog & YouTube tracker pages that help keep me organized and focused on content for my blog and youtube channel. These inserts are also my own design and available on my shop as well! Other than these trackers, I also keep pages with lists of blog post and youtube video ideas within this section, as well as other work related items such as inserts and designs I want to create for my shop.
The next section of my planner is filled with miscellaneous and personal information and inspiration! Not much as changed in this section in comparison to previous set ups, however, one notable addition is my Pen Scratch Testing sheet, which is essential a piece of personal sized paper that I use to test pens when they stop writing. I have that problem a lot with my pens for some reason, so it is good to have a dedicated page in my planner where I don’t feel guilty scribbling to get my pens to start again!
The final section of my planner is a lists section where I keep, you guessed it, lists! Anything I need to write a list for is here in this section, and so I keep this divider stocked with a variety of notepaper and inserts. This To Do list above comes from a Garance Dore for Rifle Paper Company notepad that I absolutely adore!
Now, at the very end of my planner, I also like to keep a custom file folder in case I have any loose items that I need to store quickly! I used to use a two-pocket folder that I have a DIY File Folder video on, however, when I moved into my personal original, I found that it took up too much space so I made a slimmer pocket instead.
Well, now we have made it to the final element in my 2015 Planner System, my A5 Original! If you have seen my video on How to GTD with a Filofax & 43 Folders, you already know that I use this planner as a storage and organization system using the 43 Folders method.
Of course, technically, this is a 45 folders system because, as you can see in the image above, I actually have added two more folders to the mix; one as an inbox, and one as an outbox! The inbox is just a place for me to quickly stash away papers that I will later file into my 43 folders system when I am in a rush, and the outbox is a place where I keep things that need delegating or mailing.
So, after those first two folders, I actually have 12 file folders that I made using standard paper files, one for each month of the year. These folders act as catch alls for any paperwork or items that need to be processed in the month before I schedule the tasks to be completed on a specific day.
Following each monthly folder is also a custom made month on one page calendar where I can keep track of important events and information. On the flip side of this calendar I also have a master monthly checklist that helps me to keep track of items I have processed like bills and items that I need to remember!
In addition to the 12 monthly folders, I also have 31 tabbed pages, one for each of the maximum number of days in a month. Although these would also be files in the 43 Folders system, to save space in my planner, I just use a single sheet of A5 sized paper to represent each day of the month. Here I will stick notes or insert important paperwork that may be date sensitive. I will also distribute any items from the monthly folder to days of the month in order to manage and organize my workload! As you may be able to tell, this planner is less about tracking, and more about storing and organizing information that is not yet actionable, or is simply too large to be kept in my personal sized planner.
The final little touch in my A5 is one of my favorite notepads, this iPad tablet style notepad that I purchased from Walmart! I use this as extra notepaper if I need it, its a great size for this planner as it is about A5 size!
Now, of course I made a complete setup video on all of my planners! Here is the video linked above, and if you are interested in seeing a page by page flip through of these planners, feel free to check it out! I go into much more detail about elements in the system within the video, so definitely give it a watch when you have the time! Just a warning, it is a longer video because I am covering three planners within my system, so keep that in mind!
Well, that is it for my 2015 Planner System! Like I said, this is the system that has brought me to Planner Nirvana and I am so excited that I have a great system set up for 2015! If you have found planner peace, please let me know down in the comments what your setup is like or feel free to tag me in Instagram photos and even send me the link to your own setup video! I can’t wait to see what your planners and setups look like!
Every once in a while, I get an itch. A feeling like I want to do something I have never done before, perhaps I have seen an upswing in a certain trend that I had always admired, or just feel like I want to change something in my life in a big way. I get an urge for spontaneity and adventure, and that stereotypical “you only live once” mentality comes on. Of course, when I sit down to give good thought to the idea of dying my hair turquoise or getting a foot tattoo, two of the more prominent urges I often feel, I end up realizing that for me, those choices would be a mistake. There are plenty of opportunities I have missed throughout the years, regrets scattered here and there that I try not to give thought to, but these are the five things I’m glad I’ve never done!
1. Smoked: I’ll admit that when I was 18 I bought a pack of cigarettes just because I could! They were those super small and skinny girly cigarettes and I would sit with my father at his favorite bar and pretend to smoke them. “You’re not inhaling,” he’d notice. “Of course not,” I’d respond. “That’s what get’s you addicted!” He would proceed to laugh at me with a gang of other regulars, eventually coming to the conclusion that I was too smart for my own good. Coming from a family of smokers, I’m often surprised that I never actually took up smoking seriously, but then again, I always hated the smell of cigarette smoke and growing up it was definitely hammered into my brain by one too many after school specials that smoking was bad, just say no! I’m often surprised at the number of people my own age that smoke. I firmly believe it’s a result of peer pressure and a need to just fit in, but geez, sometimes I feel like people should just know better!
2. Got a tattoo: My father always told me that if I got a tattoo he would cut it off me with a knife, but when my younger brother proceeded to cover his body with them, not much of an argument was raised beyond an opinion of their ridiculousness. In college I had a bunch of friends that had tattoos, little marks here and there that were easy to hide with clothing or in places that were not commonly exposed. I gave great thought to the idea of getting a tattoo, and I still sometimes think that if they ever come up with an ink that is able to be removed in a single laser removal appointment, that I just might. But, for now, I am glad I’ve never put a drop of ink into my skin!
3. Been promiscuous: Apparently one of the trademarks of my generation is that of promiscuity. It’s common for teenage girls to lose their virginity to a random high school boyfriend and then follow it up with a series of lovers through college and into formal adulthood. I, however, being the good little Catholic girl I was raised to be, abhorred the idea of casual sex. Not only do I find it to be gross, but I don’t understand nor do I believe that people, women really, can separate the act of physical love with the emotion side of it all. I believe that casual sex as a form of sexual freedom is a lie that promiscuous girls tell themselves and others to legitimize and rationalize their acts, and I believe men exploit this for their own ends. Now, I may not have been a virgin when I got married, but I’m proud that I was able to rise above the pressures most girls face and reserve that part of myself for the few true relationships I have had in my life.
4. Dramatically changed my hair: For the majority of my life, I have had long, dark brown hair. When I was younger, I hated it. It was too thick, extremely curly and impossible to manage in middle school. I desperately wanted to go blonde and made several attempts that resulted in a reddish/copper toned mane that was far from platinum blonde. Once my hair had returned to a more neutral hue later in my high school years, I made the discovery of a lifetime. The Chi! Yes, a hair straightener that acted like a magic wand, changing my hair from big and frizzy to sleek and soft gave my relationship with my hair a fresh start! After that, I began to enjoy my thick dark locks in a way I never had before, growing it out long and lovely. I am often told that I would look good with this or that certain shorter cut, but I wouldn’t dare change it dramatically, I just love it too much. Likewise I often see images of girls with lovely pastel and rainbow toned hair and think to myself “well, I work for myself now, I could dye my hair turquoise without fear,” but the end result is always that I refuse to change one single hair on my head!
5. Followed the crowd: From a young age I distinctly remember realizing that following the crowd was not the way to happiness. Yes, I always wanted to fit in and be accepted at school and such, but I never felt like I needed to do xy or z in order to be accepted. So, for the most part, I was always a little bit of an outsider. I had friends and I wanted them to like me, but not at the expense of my own internal compass. To be honest, there were times when going it my own way was a little tough, I still find it hard to fit in 100% in certain social situations and I go out of my way for people because I am a self-proclaimed people pleaser, but when I did something, I did it my way, and as far as I can tell, this was the best approach to take. It took me years to realize that going it my own way and being comfortable with myself and my beliefs actually made other people envious of my freedom. I may have been on the outside, but when your standing out on your own, its much easier for other people to see you!
I hope that at least some part of this post resonated with you. Let me know in the comments which things you agree or disagree with. I’d love to know your opinion!
From time to time, you might have heard me mention this little site called YouTube and how I have my own YouTube Channel where I create regular videos! I happen to be a big fan of YouTube, not just because I am a content creator there, but also because I believe, as a medium, that YouTube is a great place to actually discover fun, entertaining and informative content for free! I feel like sometimes YouTube get’s a bad rap, or is slightly misunderstood by people who may not be very interested in internet and social connectivity online. You may think of it as a place to find funny videos to share with friends or to watch leaked footage of a celebrity sex tape, but in truth, I believe YouTube is a great place to find and watch entertaining content, the likes of which have never been seen on television before. So before you think to yourself that you need a TV or cable box to have a relaxing evening of easy entertainment, think again. Here are 5 reasons YouTube is a better destination for regular entertainment than your TV or even a movie theater!
1. Variety
Without a doubt, the best thing about YouTube is the sheer variety of content you can find there. Every single form of entertainment can be found there from movies to music, audiobooks, theater, reality, informational- you name it, YouTube has got it, and on top of that, it has much more of it than even the most advanced package of satellite cable! There is literally something for everyone on YouTube, just type in a few words about your favorite hobby or interests and you will find a plethora of content to enjoy!
2. Quality
Although YouTube is composed of a collection of videos created by people just like you and I, you’d be surprised at the quality of many of the videos you can watch on YouTube. Yes, there is a lot of crap on YouTube, but because it has become such an open platform for creating content, it has attracted a massive amount of creators that are dedicated to creating high quality content. To me, some of the videos and series you can find on YouTube rival and even surpass much of the content you will find on TV on any given day. I believe this is because YouTube creators, unlike TV and Movie executives, aren’t focused on creating content that is broadly applicable and marketable, instead, YouTube creators are focused on creating the best and most interesting content they can. As a viewer you get much more bang for your buck than you do with standard television and even cable, and you’re not even paying for it!
3. Accessibility
Obviously when it comes down to it, YouTube is much more accessible than television. For one, you don’t need a television or cable subscription to watch the content on YouTube, you just need an internet enabled device and you are watching your videos from anywhere at any time! That’s right, because unlike TV, content isn’t on a schedule on YouTube! You get to watch what you want, when you want! With YouTube you can tailor the content you watch to your own interests, subscribing only to channels you are interested in and funneling out all the other noise.
4. Innovation
As I explained in point number 2 above, YouTube content creators aren’t bound by the same economics and industry standards as television and movie executives, so they are able to create more interesting and innovative content! YouTubers are constantly pushing the envelope creating new forms of content, incorporating various elements of new media and the power of the internet to enhance the experience of the end user (you)! How often do you get to give live feedback to the creators of your favorite tv show or movie? How often do you get to watch a live stream of your favorite video game on TV? When was the last time your favorite TV channels collaborated to give you awesome hybrid content? I think you see where I am going with this- there is just more possibility with YouTube than TV and cable, and it results in a more exciting and interesting experience for you as a viewer! Seriously, the most innovation to come to television lately has been reality TV, think about that!
5. Education
The one thing about YouTube that never ceases to amaze me, is the amount of educational content you will find in comparison to standard television. If you look closely, education is often at the core of many videos you will find on YouTube. Unlike television and movies which are often pure entertainment, YouTube is built on the concept of blending information with entertainment to bring maximum value to the viewer! Take a close look at some of your favorite YouTube channels and you will see that more often than not, the creator is sharing knowledge and information with you to help educate or inform you on a certain topic. You probably didn’t even realize it was happening, but I’m pretty sure YouTube is making you smarter one video at a time!
So what do you think? Are you a fan of YouTube? Any great channels and awesome content creators you think I need to know about? I am always looking for new YouTubers to follow, so I would love your recommendations!
I know I say this every month, but WOW, I can’t believe it’s December already! Where has the time gone? I feel like I have officially entered that stage in life when you begin to notice that the days, weeks, months and years are passing quicker and quicker! This is exactly why I think it’s important to stay on top of your plans and goals and to celebrate the little things throughout the month and December is just another wonderful month filled with exciting opportunities for memory making!
First off, if you didn’t see it, I do have a December FREE Filofax printable up on my shop, 31 Days of Merriment & Cheer is your monthly checklist of festive and seasonal to-dos and prompts for special moments to create and share in your own life! You all seem to really be enjoying these printables, so I am glad to create them for you, but please make sure to share pictures of your inserts at home in your own planners via Instagram (make sure to tag me, @misstrenchcoat)!
Second item on the agenda for this month is VLOGMAS! In case you aren’t aware, Vlogmas is a daily vlogging challenge for the month of December, where you put up a vlog (video blog) everyday in the month leading up to Christmas. I did it last year and I am doing it again this year. It’s one of my favorite daily vlogging challenges and I hope I am successful this year in my endeavor. I won’t necessarily be posting my videos here on the blog everyday (one or two key vlogs may make it into a post) so make sure you are subscribed to my YouTube Channel to follow along with my daily adventures. I will also be kicking off a really fun little event for Vlogmas this year starting in my first video which will be up today, so make sure you check that out to see what I have planned!
Next order of business for the month is my vacation! Yes, Mike and I will be going on vacation this month to Las Vegas. We have never been, so we would really appreciate your suggestions for things to do, great places to eat and all that jazz. Please leave me a comment below with your suggestions- I would really appreciate it.
Well, that was a lot to update you all on! Other than that, it should be business as usual around here. I will be posting during my vacation and of course I will be putting up some lovely photos on my Instagram account, so if you would like to follow along on my adventure to Las Vegas, please feel free to follow me on Instagram! I have a lot of great content planned for the blog this month as well. I’ll be writing about why YouTube is better than TV (and even movies), providing a guide to taking great photos of friends and loved one’s during the holiday season (and year round!), and even sharing my fashion necessities for winter!
So, go make yourself a cup a hot cocoa, snuggle up with your favorite blanket and your tablet or laptop and enjoy the content I have for you this month! Happy Holidays!
Happy Thanksgiving Internet Friends!! If you celebrate the holiday, I hope you are having a wonderful day with your friends and family! If you do not celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you are having a wonderful Thursday none the less! Now, usually my editor’s faves post would be all about my favorite things for the month, but because today is Thanksgiving and for those of you who are in the US, this is also the start of a nice long weekend (!), I have decided that I am going to make this post a little extra special! First and foremost, I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all my readers, viewers and customers! 2014 has been such a wonderful year for me and you have been such a major part of that happiness for me! Your love and support for my endeavors has really helped me to push myself through and make my dreams come true for myself and you have no idea how much I care about and love each and every one of you! So Thank You so much for being here along with me on this journey! XOXO
Well, now that I have gotten the most important item done, here is my Monthly Favorites Video for you if that is what you are waiting for! I actually started something new in this video by doing my Favorites & my “I’m over it’s”! I hope you guys like hearing about the trends I am over for November as well as my favorites. I thought adding that in may help add to the discussion in the comments section which I always love because I get to chat with you all one on one! So check it out when you have a moment and let me know what you think! If you missed my digital monthly favorites, feel free to check that out as well!
Next, for everyone who is heading out shopping for Black Friday, I thought I would also go ahead and leave you my Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide for 2014 as well! You may have seen this already, but now is the time to bookmark the items you want or want to purchase for others! This guide has literally all the hottest, most popular items this holiday season for the Strange & Charmed lady in your life so if you’re stuck and need a gift idea, feel free to refer to this list for a variety of gifts at a variety of prices!
Since you may also be enjoying a nice long weekend for the Thanksgiving holiday, now is the perfect time to get my new FREE filofax printable 31 Days of Merriment & Cheer to print out and put into your planner before December begins! After all, December is MONDAY!!! While you are in my shop downloading this printable, you mine as well do a little shopping around for yourself and your filofax and pick up your printable calendar inserts for 2015!
Speaking of Filofax, have you seen my latest Filofax DIY video where I show you How to GTD with a Filofax and 43 Folders? This would make a wonderful weekend project in between the shopping and leftover turkey sandwiches!
Don’t forget to add some great personalizations to your planner while you are at it with my 10 Ways to Personalize your Planner video or my DIY on How to Repurpose Sugar Paper Planner tabs into your Filofax calendar pages linked below!
So, I think I have left you with enough entertainment for one weekend! Again, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday if you are in the U.S. or celebrating abroad and I will see you in December!
Hello Friends & Happy Thanksgiving Eve! It’s Wednesday and I am here in a special mid-week extra blog post to share with you all my latest free Filofax printable insert! As I have been doing in previous months, I created a monthly to do list filled with seasonal and holiday driven items called 31 Days of Merriment & Cheer! This personal sized insert is now available over on my Shop as an instant download! I wanted to make sure I got it up before the hustle and bustle of Thanksgiving started, so that you had the time to print and decorate yours before December begins!
Now, after creating my first two monthly printables, I received some good feedback from some of you that you preferred for me to leave off the seasonal icons and images I was including in these printables because for some of you the images didn’t pertain (i.e. Turkeys and Cornucopias on my 30 Days of Thankfulness Printable, since those of you outside the U.S. don’t celebrate Thanksgiving). Since December is a time of multiple holidays and many seasonal events, I thought it would be best for me to leave this insert blank of any decorations, as you had suggested, leaving room for you to break out your own washi tapes and stickers and add whatever special icons and images help you to express your love of the season in your own way! Now, I don’t plan to leave extra decorations off all of my future printables, but I am going to make sure I give more thought to my global audience for these inserts from now on! Again, thank you all so much for your feedback, because it really does help me to create things that are more useful for you!
So, go ahead and jump on over to my Shop and get your free printable now! And while you are there, make sure to take a look around at my other printable inserts because I am constantly adding new designs and you may find something new that you haven’t seen before! Enjoy the printable and for all of you celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, I wish you a happy and safe Thanksgiving!
On my iPhone is a monthly feature on Strange & Charmed where I give you a peak into what I have been loving on my iPhone for the month! Covering topics like apps, games, podcasts, music, websites, books and more, I hope this series helps you all discover new and exciting content out there that can be enjoyed from your iPhone! To stay up to date with this series, make sure to follow the On My iPhone tag!
As I write this, I am in a whirlwind of Thanksgiving prep! The end of November has come, and I would just like to take a moment to thank my lucky stars and all of my readers, viewers and community members for making November a wonderful month for me. As I think I already mentioned, November is an important month for me because of my Wedding Anniversary, my Husbands Birthday and of course, Thanksgiving! But seriously, this month has been awesome for me. The support you have all shown me for my new Shop has been overwhelming and because of you, I am finding myself motivated and inspired everyday to create amazing new content! Of course, with all the work I have been doing, there have been some key apps and digital favorites that have kept me on track for the month, so let me share those with you now!
Currently Playing, Afterlight: I know I have talked about my favorite iOS photo editing apps in the past, but seriously, Afterlight takes the cake for them all! It really is a powerhouse of mobile photography editors, helping me to brighten, crop, and saturate my images, creating perfect Instagram ready images! Definitely worth the money if you love to edit photos on your phone!
Currently Reading, 365 Style by Nicky Hilton:I heard about this book over the summer and loved the concept of designing and refining your wardrobe to fit your day-to-day needs! As you may have already heard, I am currently in the process of reorganizing and pairing down my wardrobe, and 365 Style has been a major influence and inspiration for managing this rather large life project! Nicky Hilton lays out a very unique plan for organizing your wardrobe by the major events in your life that you dress for, and then breaks those events down by the key pieces you have in your wardrobe for those events! It’s absolutely genius and a must read for any style maven who needs to take control of their wardrobe!
Currently Watching, Peaky Blinders: In October, my husband and I discovered the Netflix Original Series Peaky Blinders. A turn of the century tale of a gang-family in Birmingham England fighting for control of the mean streets where they reside! We finished the first season in record time and absolutely loved it! Then, earlier this month, we were very pleasantly surprised when we discovered that Netflix had also released a second season of the drama as well! I consider this a turn of the century Law and Order meets the Soprano’s, and it is very reminiscent of the BBC series Copper that my husband and I also very much enjoyed!
Currently Surfing, Miss Poppy Design: Since the launch of my Shop, I have been preoccupied with discovering new design inspiration for creating new content and printables! I stumbled upon Miss Poppy Design after following their Instagram account and falling in love with their style! Think ultra feminine, peonies, hot pink, sprinkles of gold and glitter, and a dash of high fashion editorial! I have been loving surfing their site, finding new bits of inspiration with every scroll of my mouse! Definitely check them out if you love design as well, their shop is also lovely!
Currently Listening, Coffitivity: I have been using Coffitivity for a while now, it’s basically an app/site that provides a sound machine that recreates the white noise you would hear if you were working from a coffee shop! I find that since I have been spending a lot of time working at the computer doing my design work, that this app has really helped me to get that feeling that I am working outside of my home, which really helps increase my productivity and concentration. Definitely check out the site and download the app for your computer or phone if you like what you hear!
Of course, I also like to keep you guys informed of the iPhone case I am currently sporting! This month I have still been loving that Festive Flowers case from Kate Spade that I purchased last month from the outlet! It’s it just lovely?
Last but not least! I filmed a video on my monthly favorites if you also care to give that a watch! I have some good close ups of the digital favorites and the apps in case you are curious as well!
Now, its time for you to let me know what you thought about my favorites. Are you familiar with any of the items I included this month? What do you think about them? And of course, what were your digital favorites this month? I would love to know, so please feel free to leave me a comment below!
I cannot believe how quickly November is coming to a close! Seriously, with Thanksgiving on Thursday and then the official start of the holiday shopping season starting as soon as the plates are cleared from your turkey feast, it is time to get cracking with those wish lists. It always puts me in such a good mood whenever I create a gift guide, and this year is seriously no exception! With this Strange and Charmed Ultimate 2014 Holiday Gift Guide, I have curated 15 of the loveliest, most practical, but still highly luxurious items I am currently coveting! In typical Strange & Charmed fashion, we have a mix of productivity inspired gifts, must have beauty staples and the most charming accessories of the season. The best part is, everything on my list is under $150 and as always I made sure to include a range of price tags so you can find a beautiful gift at any price point! I hope you all enjoy this post, I have made sure to link below to all the items I have featured!
#1. You don’t have a website: For businesses and individuals that want to promote themselves online, having a dedicated website is a must! You need to have a place online that can act as a landing page for all your business and important information so that people who search for you can find you! Now, this can be as simple as a Facebook page or as complicated as a full featured website, but carving out a little piece of the internet for yourself or your business is a must! Oh, and social media accounts don’t count as websites, sorry!
#2. You’re not covering all social media:So you’re online and testing the waters with social media but you aren’t yet comfortable with all the platforms. That’s understandable, but you need to at least have an account set up for your business in each and every major social network, which means Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and if you are selling things online, Pinterest! If you’re not ready to use the account yet, don’t start until you are ready to commit to it, but at least have the basic profile information filled out as well as an icon picture set in place that is something you already use on other platforms!
#3. You’re misusing social media:The beauty of the various social media platforms is that you use each platform for different purposes. They are not one size fits all! What works on Twitter does not work on Instagram, and what works on Instagram, doesn’t work on Facebook. You need to understand how best to use each media to their maximum potential! A great book that covers this is Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk! If you’re looking to promote online and you are confused about how to properly market and grow an audience across the various social media platforms, you need to read that book.
#4. You post too often: Most people consider personalities and businesses that post too frequently on social media spammers. Even if you are putting out completely unique information with each tweet or Facebook post, too many posts in a short amount of time annoy people and they will just end up unfollowing you! Stop posting on social media every 5 minutes, and bring it down to a manageable number. Tweet up to 3 times an hour (not including retweets or replies), Post on Instagram 1-3 times per day max and stick to about the same number of Facebook posts during peak traffic times!
#5. You don’t post enough: So you have these accounts and you post on them once a week or worse, once a month! Well that is a sure-fire way to get nowhere fast with your business! Like I said before, if you aren’t ready to start using a social media platform, don’t use, just leave your profile set with a message that says “coming soon” to give your followers a reason to subscribe even if you aren’t currently posting. Once you are ready to use the platform to it’s full potential, make a plan and stick to a regular posting schedule!
#6. You’re not providing value to your audience: How would you feel if Starbucks started posting pictures on Instagram of shoes? You would probably be confused as to why a major coffee company is suddenly interested in footwear! If you follow Starbucks in social media, you probably follow them to see what’s new in store or when your favorite seasonal drink becomes available, right? So, the shoes really don’t provide any value to you. If you wanted to look at shoes, you’d follow DSW or Payless! Well, the same goes for you and your audience. Make sure you are posting things that apply to the people who are following you so they get value out of the experience. If your posts are all over the place, it will confuse your online presence and you won’t be able to establish a firm following.
#7. You’re ignoring video: For some reason, I have noticed that many business and personalities on the internet are apparently afraid of video, although video sharing sites like YouTube and Twitch are gaining ridiculous amounts of success and every other day I feel like new video capture apps and features are being added to our current social media feeds. There is a clear trend here, video is happening and its big! So, you really need to get over the fact that the camera adds 10 lbs and start bringing your message to the video sphere. YouTube is a great way to share quick messages with your followers and share important or helpful information with others, but it’s not the only way! I already wrote about ways to add video to your website, but even creating videos for places like Instagram and Facebook will really help to establish your footing with video and bring added value to your followers!
I hope this post helps you to identify areas in your online marketing plan that may be preventing you from reaching your fullest potential online! If you have any additional no-no’s for self-promotion online, let me know in the comments!
