Angelina M. Lopez
LATEST NEWS
Contemporary Romance Author, Hyperromantic
How to Find the Story of Your Business
What makes YOU special? This is the most important thing to know when communicating to attract customers because YOUR STORY is what distinguishes your business from others. Knowing your story will allow you to authentically communicate with your clients. How? When you know and embrace your story, you speak the truth in everything you say.
What makes YOU special? This is the most important thing to know when communicating to attract customers because YOUR STORY is what distinguishes your business from others. Knowing your story will allow you to authentically communicate with your clients. How? When you know and embrace your story, you speak the truth in everything you say.
Don’t believe me? Try this out:
A. I’m a professional organizer
B. I’m a professional organizer who loves to cook and has tons of gadgets and has spent years coming up with ways to wrangle my gadgets so I specialize in organizing kitchens and I’m REALLY good at getting your kitchen organized and anyone who doesn’t have their kitchen organized by me is really missing out.
See?
Clarifying your story allows you to understand and embrace:
- the value of what you have to offer
- the fact that no one else can offer it (because no one else is YOU)
- that customers need what you’re providing
Finding their story is the first step I take when small business owners want my help with social media and marketing. When I was a newspaper reporter, I had to practice the skills of uncovering someone’s story quickly and then re-telling that story in a compact, compelling way. How do I discover their story? I ask questions.
My Social Media Plan Questionnaire breaks down the difficult “What is your story?” question into four manageable pieces that explore the business owner, her business, her customers and her goals. Instead of asking for a person’s autobiography, I ask a person — metaphorically — where he grew up and who he played with. In this way, we uncover the good stuff that makes a business interesting and indispensable.
First in my Social Media Plan Questionnaire, we explore a person’s business, the reason they’ve called me in the first place. They need to market their business. I ask a lot of questions but listed below are the most powerful in each category.
Next, I ask about a business' customers. We have our own goals and dreams, but we don't build our business in a vacuum. The need we fulfill for someone else is a HUGE part of our story. Who are the people you’re selling to? They define your story as much as your parents and siblings define your autobiography.
Then we investigate you. You're the person who woke up one morning and decided it would be a great idea to open a store or start a solopreneur business or write a book (if you'd only decided to sleep in that morning, amiright?). Why? Explore what dreams, gifts and problem-solving efforts you bring to your enterprise, and you'll be one step closer to finding your story.
Finally, we look at your goals. Our goals tell our stories like nothing else. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" was one of the first questions we were asked as kids. What do you want your business to be when it grows up?
Now take a step back and look at your answers. In repeated themes, in items you got excited about as you answered a question, and in realizations you only had in the process of the exercise, is your story. Embrace your story, include it in your messaging, and your customers-turned-fans will come flocking.
Want to find your story? Discover it on your own -- or contact me for more help -- by filling out this social media plan questionnaire.
WONDER at Hyper-sized Art at Renwick Gallery
WONDER honors this historic building, the first in the country to be built exclusively as an art museum, with room-filling pieces created specifically for the Renwick by nine contemporary artists.
From the Renwick Gallery website
Renwick Gallery -- a newly renovated Smithsonian art gallery across the street from the White House -- has opened its beautifully restored rooms to a WONDER of an exhibit.
WONDER honors this historic building, the first in the country to be built exclusively as an art museum, with room-filling pieces created specifically for the Renwick by nine contemporary artists.
The gigantic art -- a rainbow made of thread, a pieced-together cast of a 150-year-old tree, a gorgeous wallpaper made of bugs and Bryce Canyon-like hoodoos made of paper, tape and toothpicks -- invite the viewer to peer closer, to see the tiny bits and figure out how it works. Some of the work asks you to interact with it; others -- like the rainbow and the bug wallpaper -- require the poor security guards to work overtime to keep the crowds back from it. It's a wonderful exhibit for children and my husband -- you know, the people who aren't huge fans of art museums. And, because we're spoiled rotten here in D.C., it's also free!
I could keep typing, but why. Click on the pictures to take your own virtual tour of the Renwick Gallery, then come soon to see the real thing. The second floor, with its amazing bug wallpaper and deconstructed tree, will close May 8. The first floor closes July 10.
Renwick Gallery
Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20006
Open Daily, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m., free admission
Explore other amazing D.C. art museums:
- A Stroll Through the Hirshhorn
- A Date With a Glamorous Woman at the Hillwood Museum
- Immersive Experience aof the American Indian Museum
Like this blog? Click below to "Share" and click here to subscribe.
7 Tips for Keeping the Fun in Your Marriage
What I’ve learned over 16 years of really enjoying the company of the guy I sit across from at dinner are a few tricks to maintain the fun with the person you need be having the most fun with. To love, honor and make him obey are indeed important (snicker), but to promise to enjoy each other, to laugh and to explore, those are the things that make marriages the happily-ever-after tales we dream of.
In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd re-run this blog I posted a couple of year ago. The lovely couple featured below, Abby and Casey, are married and happy and could now write their own how-to article about keeping the fun in their marriage, if the ridiculous videos they make together while they work out are any indication. Enjoy!
This weekend I’m going to a wedding.
My phenomenal cousin Casey is marrying the woman of any man’s dreams, Abby. He’s a brilliant, funny, artistic, smartass of a guy who’s chosen to remain in his small hometown and teach art to elementary school children. Abby is a kind, patient, peace-filled nurse who loves Casey just the way he is, smartassness and all.
Abby and Casey
These are the kind of people that give you hope in the future of mankind when they come together; the kind of couple that should be required to bring children into the world for the betterment of all humanity.
Yeah, I like this couple. Of course, I want them to stay together forever, but more than that, I want them to have fun together forever.
My blog is about finding fun for GenXers in the DMV, but it’s also about having fun as a partner to someone, when you no longer have the drama and exhilaration that comes with dating. Let’s be honest, it’s not effortless to have a ball with someone you see every night at dinner. It’s much easier to take them for granted.
But what I’ve learned over 16 years of really enjoying the company of the guy I sit across from at dinner – what I hope to give Casey and Abby as they start on this grand adventure together – are a few tricks to maintain the fun with the person you need be having the most fun with. To love, honor and make him obey are indeed important (snicker), but to promise to enjoy each other, to laugh and to explore, those are the things that make marriages the happily-ever-after tales we dream of.
Casey and Abby, I hope for happily ever after for you.
7 TIPS FOR KEEPING THE FUN IN YOUR MARRIAGE
1. Pick a regularly scheduled “date time,” and maintain it on your calendars
You can choose to go out every other Saturday night or enjoy a coffee together every Tuesday morning if that’s all your busy schedules allow. It doesn’t matter when you do it, as long as you prioritize time in your schedule for you to be together as a couple, enjoying each other’s company.
2. Talk about stupid stuff
Every now and then at the dinner table, during a car ride and definitely during your dates, place a moratorium on discussing the mortgage, the dog and who’s driving to soccer practice on Wednesday. Sharing duties on the home front make for great marriages, but sometimes you need to look at your spouse not as your co-chair but as the hot guy or girl you’re lucky to be with. Talk about your excitement for the Star Wars release, reminisce about that one trip you took to Quebec or try to figure out why that apple after your first kiss was the best apple ever created.
3. Embrace what the other person is into
![Photo credit: CarbonNYC [in SF!] via Visualhunt / CC BY](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/504fb388e4b03f467b8dab57/1455206179487-DVJS6KXCL5X46EIGD0SL/7+Tips+For+Keeping+the+Fun+In+Your+Marriage)
Photo credit: CarbonNYC [in SF!] via Visualhunt / CC BY
You don’t have to LOVE your partner’s interests and you don’t have to adopt them as your own. But you have to give them a try, you have to be supportive of the fact that your partner is into them, and under no circumstances whatsoever can you malign them. Occasionally, people who find football boring should go to the sports bar with their spouse and watch the Sunday game. Every now and then, the person with two left feet should agree to take a salsa lesson with their partner. We think we know ourselves, but one of the advantages of getting married is the chance to see the world through another’s eyes.
4. Take down time
One thing I feel is lost in our competitive, self-guilt-inflicted, go-go-go culture is the benefits of relaxing. It’s hard to have fun and appreciate your partner when you’re totally wiped out. Take time to do nothing; allow your spouse the same.
5. Ask about their day
This sounds so simplistic, but I believe what we want most as humans is to be seen and acknowledged. It’s very easy to take the person you go to bed with every night for granted; it’s also relatively easy to make them know you care. Ask about their day – regardless of whether it’s date night or not – and sincerely listen to their response.
6. Balance the amount of date time spent with friends
Inviting friends along on your date night is highly entertaining and adds the spark of new conversations and insights. However, balance how often your precious couple time is spent in a group. Friends sometimes can be the unknowing bandaid over issues that need to be dealt with in your marriage.
7. Deal with the non-fun stuff
One of the best ways to insure fun in your marriage is to deal with the hard stuff as it comes along. It’s impossible to have fun with someone you resent, and resentfulness – or disdain – only builds when issues are allowed to fester. Deal with the hard stuff as soon as you can; be brave enough to have those hard conversations. This person chose to build a life with you; trust that they accept you – warts and all – and that they want to deal with the hard stuff so that only good intentions, hopeful hearts and fun times remain.
Happy Valentine's Day from me and my muse! -- Angelina
How to Love Your Twitter Feed
Twitter has been the single-best way for me to learn from my peers, connect with people who have something worthwhile to say and establish that I have something worthwhile to say, too.
How have I lifted my Twitter feed from the junk? I treat it like gold. Here’s how you can, too.
The doom and gloom stories about how Twitter growth is flat-lining has definitely been reflected in the conversations I’ve been having with new small business clients coming to me for social media help. They don’t get Twitter, they say, and more ominously, they don’t see why they should.
“I’m trying to help people filter out the junk,” said a professional organizing client. “I’m not going to hang onto it on Twitter.”
And yet, except for rare exceptions, I insist on a Twitter component to my clients’ social media strategies. Why? Because Twitter has been the single-best way for me to learn from my peers, connect with people who have something worthwhile to say and establish that I have something worthwhile to say, too.
How have I lifted my Twitter feed from the junk? I treat it like gold. Here’s how you can, too.
Keep your feed sacrosanct
We don’t let just anyone into our front door. So why would we let them onto our Twitter feed? Twitter can be your window onto the virtual world, so be judicious about what you’re going to see. Only follow people and companies that are useful to you, people and companies that have something meaningful to say about your profession, location, clients, hobbies, politics, entertainment, whatever floats your boat. Unfollow them immediately if they are no longer useful (constant sales pitches, abusive tendencies, waaaaay too much snark) and never, ever, ever blindly follow back. Look through the peephole at every Twitter feed and, if they’re not for you, don’t open the door.
Use Twitter Lists
Twitter Lists are a great way to take your feed full of useful information about your profession, location, hobbies, etc., and break them into individual streams of info about each topic. I have lists focusing on social media, D.C-metro area restaurants and Virginia wine (as well as 21 others). So, with a couple of taps, I can instantly discover the latest news in my industry, a place to eat out on Friday night, and where we should go wine tasting on Saturday. Unfortunately, creating lists aren’t as easy as they could be. If you’re new to Twitter, you can download this guide to creating a Twitter list. If you already have an established Twitter feed, the app Listomatic takes some of the finger work out of creating your lists. Making the Twitter lists easier to create and manage would be one way Twitter might be able to get some of its enthusiasm back.
Be true to your voice
I owe my first social media client to my Twitter feed. He said my posts made him laugh; that he liked the way I put things. I use too much hyperbole and too many exclamation points, but it’s who I am. Allow your Twitter posts to reflect who you are. Don’t believe that a too-cool-for-school snark is the only way to be successful. Let your Twitter posts sound like you, let them offer up your goals for your business, your good intentions toward your customers, and your honest motivation to be a contributor to a positive virtual community.
Engage
Liking, re-tweeting, commenting on, and clicking on good content in your Twitter feed is the number one way to insure good content keeps appearing. Let people saying things that you like know it. Those are human beings on the other side of that screen and they are looking for the same validation you are. Don’t be afraid to tell them that you like their message.
Focus on the quality, not quantity, of your Twitter followers
I have a vineyard client in the Russian River Valley wine-growing region of California who only has 622 followers and is only following 595 feeds. But they are connected to every winegrower, winemaker, wine writer and wine organization in their area, and are followed back by many of them as well. Nothing wine related happens in their area that doesn’t pop up on their Twitter feed. This took time, it took patience, and it took repeatedly saying, “Hey, we like what you have to say! Hey we have something to say, too!”
It also took restraint to not blindly chase after followers. Instead, we focused on only distributing posts that are useful to our followers and only taking in posts that say something we need to know. In this way, this client has a Twitter feed that provides a golden, clear view into their industry, instead of a view crowded by a bunch of junk.
Do you love twitter? Hate it? Why? Please comment below. And Include your Twitter handle (@Twitterhandle)
Need help creating Twitter lists?
Six Tricks and Tools for a Lifetime Of Good Health
To have a life without pain, a life where my body is empowered and not restricted, I have to view healthy habits as a lifestyle, not as something I do for a month. Or just after the new year. With that in mind, here are six simple steps and tools I use for a lifetime of good health.
I will stand up and admit that Snowpocalypse or Snowmegeddon or whatever we’re calling the Great East Coast Blizzard of 2016 has DESTROYED my New Year’s health resolutions. The days of being stuck inside, the vacation-like atmosphere created by everyone being home, and the primal imperative to layer on the fat have vastly overwhelmed the call of my Fitbit or my WeightWatchers points tracker.
But it’s one week in a lifetime. Rather than looking at the past week as a crater sinking my health goals, I have to look at it as a minor divot in a lifetime of healthy-choice opportunities. I’m beyond the age when I can look at my health as a diet or an exercise class or a jeans size.
My father was plagued with ill-health connected to food, weight and inactivity for the last 25 years of his life, and last year I started dealing with some of the back issues that affected him. It was a chilling wake-up call. To have a life without pain, a life where my body is empowered and not restricted, I have to view healthy habits as a lifestyle, not as something I do for a month. Or just after the new year. With that in mind, here are six simple steps and tools I use for a lifetime of good health.
1. Plan meals.
It’s so much easier for me to eat healthy when I know what I’m making that evening, and I have all the ingredients in the fridge. I grocery shop once a week using Peapod grocery delivery service, and I keep a consistent theme to make planning meals easy -- Meatless Monday, crockpot or salads on Tuesday and Thursday, Mexican on Fridays, we eat out on Saturday, and I double whatever I make on Sunday for lunches and leftovers. My friend and client, parenting coach Paige Trevor, has an awesome blog about making meal planning easy.
2. Be mindful of what I eat.
I’ve been a member of Weight Watchers online since I turned 30. Weight Watchers works under a simple premise -- you can eat whatever you want. You just have to "track your points." Be accountable for it. Woman up. And when you realize that the cookie has the same amount of points as an entire healthy meal, it changes your opinion about how often you need that cookie. Weight Watchers offers me a simple, painless, common-sense way to be mindful and responsible for what I'm eating.
3. Do something active every day.
The dog wondering when he's going to get his walk
Everyday, I try to walk the dog, weight lift at my gym or go to my kickboxing class. These are not heroic acts; the dog is used to getting gyped, the 5-pound weight gets a lot of use at the gym, and I often hear "Hey, you're back!" when I show up at kickboxing. But when I cannot push myself to leave the house -- say, during a blizzard -- I have Daily Burn. Daily Burn is an app that provides one gazillion workout videos featuring knowledgeable trainers leading every workout style you could want. From dance to high intensity tabata to weight lifting to yoga to prenatal exercise, Daily Burn offers a workout that meets every interest and ability.
4. Be mindful of my activity.
Weight Watchers helps me keep track of what’s going in. Fitbit helps me keep track of what’s going out. When I first got the step-tracking device, I was astonished how far away from the recommended 10,000 steps-per-day I was. The average American only gets 2,000-2,500 steps-per-day. And I, like many Americans, spend a lot of time sitting on my butt typing. I don’t always hit the magic number, but my Fitbit makes me mindful of how much I'm moving, of the necessity to take a quick walk around the block or to park at the back of the parking lot.
5. Get help with healthy meals.
This Tuscan Ribollita Soup was a Blue Apron success!
So when I get too busy or the after-school chauffeuring gets out of control, Step 1's meal planning and cooking goes out the window. This is when I turn to Blue Apron for help. For about $10/meal, which is less than we spend when we eat out, a Blue Apron box shows up at my door with the recipe and all of the ingredients for two healthy meals for my family of four. I'm still cooking, but all of the thinking, deciding and buying has been taken care of for me. Sometimes, the simple relief of not having to make a decision is all I need to stay on a healthy course.
6. Partake in the occasional cleanse.
For me, a cleanse doesn't mean cayenne water or juicing — those are unrealistic for my lifestyle and family. But there are times when I need to right the ship, in terms of my food intake. I found the 17-Day Diet several years ago, and it's my go-to source whenever I need to enforce some healthy eating. Essentially, the 17-Day Diet focuses on lean proteins (chicken, turkey and fish), vegetables, two servings of fruit and probiotics for 17 days. No bready carbs, no sugar, no alcohol. I always lose weight and I always see quick results, which makes me continue with healthy habits.
What are some of your favorite tools and tricks for maintaining a healthy lifestyle?
Like this post? Click below to "Share" or click here to subscribe.
Take a Tour of D.C.'s New Chocolate Factory
I imagine many families with young children will take a tour of this newly opened and locally owned chocolate factory hoping to re-create a portion of the Willy Wonka experience. But the website recommends that only those 10 and over go on this $10/person tour for a reason. Rather than displaying rivers of chocolate and lickable walls, the Harper Macaw tour is all about displaying the intentions of its young owners to save one corner of the planet with cacao beans planted, harvested and transformed into chocolate the right way.
As my family and I drove up to the Harper Macaw chocolate factory off Bladensburg Road NE in D.C.'s Brookland neighborhood, my wise-cracking teen son observed, "There are no tubes full of chocolate coming out of the top. Zero out of ten."
I imagine many families with young children will take a tour of this newly opened and locally owned chocolate factory hoping to re-create a portion of the Willy Wonka experience. But the website recommends that only those 10 and over go on this $10/person tour for a reason. Rather than displaying rivers of chocolate and lickable walls, the Harper Macaw tour is all about displaying the intentions of its young owners to save one corner of the planet with cacao beans planted, harvested and transformed into chocolate the right way.
Head chocolate maker Sarah Hartman and her husband, Colin Hartman, began producing fine chocolate in September and opened the factory to tours in December. They were drawn to D.C. because they liked the manageable size of the area, the fact that they can see the sky, the food scene, and the relative absence of local chocolate.
They source their cacao beans exclusively from three farms in Brazil, Sarah’s home country. Brazil has lost 90 percent of its Atlantic Forest, which provides a necessary canopy for cacao beans, and has slipped from being the third largest producer of cacao beans to sixth. By supporting farmers who are producing cacao in a sustainable way and re-investing a portion of Harper Macaw profits into rainforest restoration, Sarah and Colin see an opportunity to make an impact while producing really good, distinct-tasting chocolate.
Owner Colin Hartman handing out cocoa nib samples as he stands next to the roaster.
“Without good cacao beans, you can’t make good chocolate,” Colin says at the beginning of our 20-person tour of the factory. It’s the same sentiment winemakers use about their grapes, and — like winemakers — Sarah and Colin give “single estate” status to chocolate bars sourced from individual farms in Brazil. The 77 percent Amazon Rainforest bar is from Tomé Açu and the 74 percent Atlantic Forest bar is from Vale do Juliana. The two other bars Harper Macaw is currently producing are the 67 percent Dark Blend and the 52 percent Milk Blend.
Colin leads the tour with chocolate dust on his blazer and an apology for “going into a lot of details on these tours.” No apologies are needed. The hour-long “bean to bar” tour — from seeing the bags of beans fresh off the boat from the Philadelphia harbor (Colin drives there to pick them up), to seeing the equipment used for cleaning, roasting, winnowing, refining, grinding, conching and tempering the chocolate — is a fascinating, in-depth story of how a product is made with love and care.
The tour ends with a chocolate tasting: samples of all four chocolate laid out with crackers and seltzer to cleanse the palate and an entertaining explanation of how to enjoy the chocolate with all five senses. The little ones may not like it, but us big ones certainly did.
Take a Chocolate Factory Tour
Harper Macaw
3160 Bladensburg Rd NE, Washington, DC 20018
Get to the tour early so you can sample Harper Macaw's amazing treats while you wait
Tours of the Harper Macaw chocolate factory occur every Saturday on the hour between 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on a first-come, first-serve basis. People have already discovered this gem, so arrive by the :30 if you want to go on the next hour tour.
Harper Macaw's four fine chocolate bars are currently available in their shop and at a variety of locations around the D.C. area, including the Red Apron shops at Mosaic and Penn Quarter. They plan on releasing more products in May.
Resolve to Create An Annual Social Media Calendar in 2016
For busy authors -- or anyone building a brand or a business -- one of the most daunting tasks we face every day can be sitting down to post to social media. Wouldn't it be phenomenal to sit down every day knowing exactly what you're going to blog, post, and Tweet? And hitting "enter" with the confidence that what you post will reflect your personality and interests, appeal to your fans and move you toward your business goals?
If you're resolving to do better with your social media in 2016, an annual social media calendar is the key to making your New Year's resolution a reality.
I was honored this week to guest blog at Writers in the Storm, a popular blog named one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers by Writer's Digest for the last two years. Since following through on New Year's resolutions seems to be my theme right now (see last week), I figured I would help these writers with their own social media resolutions. The result: A blog about how to develop an Annual Social Media Calendar. While the article is addressing writers, these steps can be used by anyone hoping to put their best social media foot forward in 2016:
For busy authors -- or anyone building a brand or a business -- one of the most daunting tasks we face every day can be sitting down to post to social media.
"What should I say?" we think. "Who's going to care?"
Wouldn't it be phenomenal to sit down every day knowing exactly what you're going to blog, post, and Tweet? And hitting "enter" with the confidence that what you post will reflect your personality and interests, appeal to your fans and move you toward your business goals?
If you're resolving to do better with your social media in 2016, an annual social media calendar is the key to making your New Year's resolution a reality.
Here's how to build one:
Step 1: Make a list of your business goals for 2016.
While writing is a creative endeavor in the search for truth and beauty, and social media is a wonderful forum for giving virtual hugs to your fans, writing is also a job. Social media is the advertisement. So instead of letting social media pull you away from your job, make it work for you. This list will insure that your business goals for that "creative endeavor" are front and center so that you can integrate them into your social media throughout the year.
Step 2: Make a list of your personal and professional events in 2016.
We can forget to post our special events on social media in the midst of a hectic writer's conference or anniversary vacation. And that's the fun stuff -- the stuff our fans love to hear about. Writing these professional and personal dates down now will allow you to remember them later. Sure, you probably won't forget to promote that new book, but seeing it coming up on your social media calendar will remind you to start building a plan for promotion months ahead of time.
Step 3: List holidays/seasonal events that are important to you.
Scroll through the months. What are nationally recognized days that speak to you? Christmas, Hanukkah, spring break, first day of school, National Doughnut Day? Use these days to connect with your fans and to let them know you have the same excitement about Santa, the same relief about the kids going back to school, and the same interest in candied-bacon doughnuts as they do.
Step 4: Write down 4-5 themes that distinguish you.
Themes are the rocket fuel of your social media calendar. Your themes are what distinguish you, your writing and your philosophies from other authors, and they are what will set your social media posts apart from other posts in a fan's stream. Themes -- you're an animal-loving, travel-seeking rock climber who writes sexy small-town contemporaries and loves men in kilts -- give your fans something to hang onto. Staying consistent with your themes gives you a foundation from which you can grow an audience that loves you.
My themes in my annual social media calendar are:
- Social Media/Writing -- Of course.
- Being "In Between" -- Issues of being in my 40s: old enough to have a senior in high school and young enough to still like going to live music shows.
- Ways I Can Help -- How I'm a strategic thinker, storyteller, cheerleader and accountability partner for my clients.
- Fun in D.C. -- Tips on best restaurants, drinks, events and outdoor activities in the D.C. area.
- Community -- Applauding and promoting clients, friends, writers, advice givers and others I admire.
I have a vineyard-owner client whose themes are:
- Evolution of a Vineyard -- Discussing the evolution of this relatively new vineyard.
- The Growing Season -- Tracking the annual cycle of the Pinot Noir vines from pruning to harvest.
- Russian River Valley Winegrowers -- Supporting the winemakers and growers of their area.
- Around the Vineyard -- Celebrating the gophers, family visits, new barn doors and bocce ball games of living on a vineyard.
- To Dos in the Russian River Valley -- Promoting the people, wines, geography and events of Russian River Valley in Sonoma County.
Think big picture when you're developing your themes. Make sure your themes include a mix of professional and personal interests, and -- because social media is "social" -- make sure at least one of your themes focuses on promoting others.
Here are some questions to help you decide your themes:
- What are your books about?
- What do you like to do in your free time?
- What did you study in school?
- How would your friends describe you?
- Is there a cause or charity that you're passionate about?
- Do you have any hobbies?
- What do you day dream about?
- Are there community or writer organizations that you want to support?
Step 5: Build your template.
This step is easy. Click here, fill in your email, and you'll receive the above template to build your annual social media calendar.
Step 6: Enter your business goals at the top of the template under "General."
Installing these goals at the top will insure that they are top of mind as you're developing your social media plan of attack for each month. Make sure your goals are accomplishable within a month (you are only human and you need to sleep), and break large goals, like "Finish a book", into manageable monthly bites, like "Write 20,000 words."
Step 7: Enter your themes on the side of the template.
I like to include details about the themes that will jog ideas when I'm filling it in later.
Step 8: Enter your "Events" at the bottom.
Step 9: Fill in the blanks.
Now you will use your themes as a guide for coming up with content ideas for the rest of the year. Wha...?! I know, sounds daunting. But it's easier than you think. And a little blood, sweat and tears now will prevent you from having to bleed, sweat and cry EVERY TIME you sit down to post for the REST OF THE YEAR.
1. Keep your ideas general. This is just your annual calendar. Your ideas can get more specific when you work on your monthly calendar (more on that later). For example, if you love to cook and one of your themes is "Eating Healthy," a February idea could be "Cooking with root vegetables." What will be in the pot? Who knows? But seeing it on your calendar will help focus you when the time comes.
2. Connect the holidays/seasonal events you listed with a theme that focuses on you personally. My "In Between" theme allows me to talk about my personal life. So in it I will talk about my New Year's resolutions in January, Mother's Day in May, the fact that this will be the first Father's Day without my Dad in June, and my son going off to college in August. Connecting my life events to the holidays and seasons gives "me" a platform to talk about "us."
3. Find a category and stick with it. A writer who writes stories about sexy ski bums could fill his social media feed with pictures of awesome ski resorts. He could highlight a different ski area -- Colorado, California, Switzerland, Chile -- every month. A writer who loves to objectify the male body -- I know I do -- can focus on a different body part every month. Like I said, this does not have to be difficult.
4. Don't re-invent the wheel. I have a professional organizing client who uses online tools like Dropbox and Evernote to help people eliminate the paper clutter in their lives. So guess what? In January, she spotlights tips on how to use Evernote. In February, she offers tips on Dropbox. In March, it's another tool, then another and another, until July comes around and we start with Evernote again. Offer information that you already have and don't be afraid to repeat yourself.
Step 10: Putting your annual social media calendar to work.
Your annual social media calendar will:
- Insure you're hitting all of your business goals by highlighting a goal every month
- Provide you with blogging ideas that enrich the message of your website
- Guarantee that your day-to-day social media posts communicate a consistent message of who you are as a writer
- Remind you of important events to insure you're posting and promoting them
- Provide an outline for your monthly social media calendar
Pantsers can take a look at their annual social media calendar whenever they're stuck and instantly have a social media idea to get them back on track. Plotters can use their annual social media calendar to fill out their monthly social media calendars, a day-by-day listing of what they're going to blog and post about so they'll never have to wonder. But THAT is for another blog post (or you can contact me for more info).
May your social media posts be easy and fruitful in 2016!
Don't forget to sign up for your free annual social media calendar template.
What is one social media challenge you'd like to conquer in 2016? Let me know in the comments section.
Resolving to Find the Fun in 2016
In 2016, I want to focus on being happy again. I believe happiness takes a certain level of mindfulness, and at my age, I know joy doesn't consist of just vacations and mani/pedis. True joy is found in your day-to-day, in taking care of your family, partnership, health, work, friends and home. So, to succeed in this year's theme -- "Find the Fun" -- these are the New Year's resolutions I've made to be responsible for my happiness and to kick the blahs out the door.
Me in 2014.
2015 kind of sucked for me.
I dealt with painful "getting old" back and leg issues, my son was immersed in junior/senior year stress (and we all went along for that ride), and my Dad died. There were many blessings, too: a trip to Vegas, a great writing conference, new clients (yay!), and the continued health and contentment of most of my family.
But in 2016, I want to focus on being happy again. I believe happiness takes a certain level of mindfulness, and I want to be mindful of discovering joy, rather than passively suffering through the misery. At my age, I know joy doesn't consist of just vacations and mani/pedis. True joy is found in your day-to-day, in taking care of your family, partnership, health, work, friends and home.
So, to succeed in this year's theme -- "Find the Fun" -- these are the New Year's resolutions I've made to be responsible for my happiness and to kick the blahs out the door. I only succeed when I'm held accountable, which is why I'm posting them here. I'll blog again in February about how I'm doing.
Family resolution
I resolve to create more moments when we can be together as a family.
It's amazing, when your children are teenagers, how easy it is to live with people that you never connect with. We're home together a lot, but the boys are working as hard as I am on "the future," and when we're not working, we're relaxing on devices -- I'm as bad as they are. I'm trying to keep this resolution simple, i.e.. accomplishable: I'm resolving to eat more meals at the table and to plan one event a month that gets us out of the house together. I've already got this month's event on the calendar: We're going to the Harper Macaw chocolate factory tour in northeast D.C. Could there be a better lure? And yes, there will be a blog.
Marriage resolution
I resolve to find one new adult event to explore every month with my husband.
My man's a blast, he's pretty much up for anything with only mild convincing, and we have a lot of fun together. But with the stress of last year, we went out less and less, and when we did go out, it was generally to the same place. We both enjoy life with a few surprises, so in 2016, I'm committed to finding the Kennedy Center performances, bourbon tastings and hiking trails that will offer them.
Health resolution
I resolve to feel better.
Resolutions about weight and health are rife with controversy, and I thought long and hard about how to phrase this one. But the thing is, I don't feel good at the weight I am. I think it's hard on my frame. The end of last year was a "eat-and-drink-my-pain" fiesta and in the four days that I've been eating better, exercising every day, drinking more water and cutting back on alcohol, I already feel better. The proof is in the pudding, even when I can't have any.
Work resolution
I resolve to post to social media every day, skill build two hours a week, blog every week, and make a certain amount every month.
As a busy social media manager who helps my solopreneur and small business clients learn, plan and post their social media, I forget to do my own learning and planning and posting. The prime directive I give to all my clients is to take control of their marketing and messaging. And yet, I can let my messaging passively dribble out, too. However, with a child soon in college and a directive about how much I have to make in 2016 from my financial planner, my business and income is something I can no longer be passive about. Need help with your social media resolutions? That's what I'm here for.
Friends resolution
I resolve to entertain more and be more entertaining.
Oh, my lovely friends. Does it feel like your digits are gathering dust on my phone? Friends and their information, advice, laughter and love inject a huge dose of fun into my life, and I will use the excuse, "I'm sooooo busy," no longer. I've already got a couple of gatherings at our house planned -- look for your invite -- but I'm also going to remind myself that seeing my friends does not have to be a production. Over coffee, with a glass of wine, or during a joint trip to Target is a great time to enjoy my friends.
Home resolution
I resolve to do what our financial planner says.
While being in our 40s doesn't make my husband and I feel any closer to adulthood, we are trying to behave like adults. We finally met with a financial planner at the end of last year, and she has given us our marching orders. It's calming to know we're driving down the road of our financial future with our eyes wide open, rather than squinted shut while hoping everything is going to be okay. It's also nice to know someone is there to help us handle the dips, rises and inevitable potholes.
What are your resolutions for 2016? Do you have any suggestions to help me with mine? Please comment below. I need all the help I can get.
And please check in again in February to see how I'm doing.
The Perfect Virginia Hiking Trail for the Holidays
A perfect holiday outing when you have an onslaught of guests is one that takes very little effort on your part but delivers spectacular "oohs" and "aahs." The Buzzard Rock North hiking trail in the George Washington National Forest provided that for me and my family the day after Thanksgiving.
A perfect holiday outing when you have an onslaught of guests is one that takes very little effort on your part but delivers spectacular "oohs" and "aahs." The Buzzard Rock North hiking trail in the George Washington National Forest provided that for me and my family the day after Thanksgiving.
We'd decided to #OptOutside with REI (they closed their stores on Black Friday and encouraged everyone to go outside), and Buzzard Rock gave us an effortless way to work off some of the pumpkin pie while still knocking our socks off. Why was it perfect?
1. Buzzard Rock is an hour from the Beltway.
Straight out on I-66 and just past Shenandoah National Park, getting to the trail head only takes an hour from the Beltway. But that drive west that quickly turns tree-thick and hilly makes you feel like you're getting away from it all.
2. Buzzard Rock is a short hike to -- and through -- lots of goodness.
It's a two-mile hike to the cliffs, and that hike is a pretty one: winding through tall trees, crossing streams, over hills and dales. You do switch backs and ascends near the end, but except for one portion, I really didn't huff and puff. And I have NOT been getting to my kickboxing class. It's an all-ages, all-abilities kind of hike.
3. Buzzard Rock loses its leaves.
As we meandered, we noticed pretty hillside views that we wouldn't have been able to see in the summer and early falls months because of the leaves. I'm sure the leaves are spectacular in the fall. So are the crowds. Hiking Buzzard Rock in the winter will allow you to see more of the countryside with fewer people around (although the small parking lot got packed early on the day after Thanksgiving. Learn about the TICKET we got below.).
4. Buzzard Rock has enormous wow factor.
We were tooling along and beginning to ascend and noticing some pretty views when -- BAM! -- we hit a switch back that gave us a spectacular view of the rural countryside, a creek and ponds below. It truly surprised us. Buzzard Rock offers up a lot "ooooooooh" in its short two miles.
5. Buzzard Rock makes you feel like you've climbed a mountain.
After that first "wow" view, Buzzard Rock truly ascends for a short bit; here's where some huffing and puffing come into play. But it's totally worth it. Because at the top, you walk along a narrow ridgeline bordered by jagged slabs of rock that you can clamber on and capture astonishing views of Fort Valley below. The roads are like lines. The cars are like ants. You're high. You're cool. And you and your crew didn't even work that hard to get there.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
THANKS TO THE WASHINGTONIAN FOR INSPIRING US WITH THIS GREAT ARTICLE ON THE HIKE. THE ARTICLE ALSO INCLUDES POST-HIKE RESTAURANT, DESSERT AND WINERY IDEAS.
HERE'S MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE HIKE FROM HIKINGUPWARD.COM.
Buzzard Rock Hiking Trail
Parking lot: The trailhead is at a small parking lot outside Front Royal, at 3087-3139 Mountain Road/Route 619. DO NOT PARK ON THE ROAD!!! The lot was already full when we got there at 10 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving. So we parked just outside the lot, on gravel between the lot and the road. We truly didn't see the No Parking signs. When we returned to our car, a nice trooper told us why we got a $20 ticket. But the other cars, parked after ours, along the road and touching the asphalt -- they were all being TOWED!! Yes, towed. DO NOT PARK ON THE ROAD!!!
Where are your places to hike in the D.C., Virginia Or maryland? Please let me know below. I'm always looking for the next Great outdoor Adventure!
Feeling Overwhelmed by Social Media? This One Simple Statement Will Help...
Overwhelmed. It's the number one reason small business clients call me for social media help. I have a magic statement to calm hyperventilating clients.
Overwhelmed. It's the number one reason small business clients call me for social media help, the first descriptor out of their mouths. “I feel overwhelmed by social media.”
Of course they do. For small business owners just trying to do their due diligence and connect responsibly with their customers, dipping a toe into social media can quickly feel like they’ve been thrown into a lake. Naked. They’ve set up their Facebook page. But when should they post? What should they say? Why can’t anyone see them? And then there’s Twitter? What’s a hashtag? Do they have to be snarky? And what about Snapchat? Vine? Do they have to blog?
Add such charming words as “SEO” and “analytics” to the mix, and you can understand why so many small businesses have dust bunnies gathering on the social media pages they began with such enthusiasm.
I have a magic statement to calm hyperventilating clients:
Social media is a billboard.
It is. At its essence, social media is a tool you use to catch the attention of new customers and jar the memories of old. Yes, it has infinitely more potential than an oversized poster on Highway 169. But its usefulness to you – at its heart – is the ability to draw customers.
When you compress all of those digital options into a two-dimensional billboard, doesn't that make your decisions seem easier? You can probably figure out your billboard plan with no problem -- where it should go, what it should say, what it should look like, how long it should be up there. Now apply that same thinking to your social media billboard plan:
Where should your social media billboard be located?
Does your company want to attract the photo, food and travel hipsters living in the downtown lofts of Instagram? Or is your company aiming for the families living in the comfy middle-class 'burbs of Facebook? How about those cute ladies living in the shabby-chic Pinterest homes over on the eastside? Plunk your social media billboard down where the audience you want to attract most will drive past it. And don't be distracted by the newly sprung communities that pop up everyday claiming to be the new Facebook. As a small business owner with other responsibilities to focus on -- like running your business -- let others test whether those new social media channels will prosper or languish. You don't have the time or energy to stick a billboard in a ghost town.
What should your social media billboard say?
When you have potential customers whizzing by at 55 mph, you've got to get your point across fast. People scroll through their social media feeds at about the same speed. Let those same messages you would place in huge letters on a billboard -- your tagline, what you're proud of, a new offering -- lead what you say in your social media content. I have a parenting coach client who uses an approach we've named "organized parenting" to bring calm and happiness to families. So postings about parenting, organization, being happy and content, and upcoming speaking events fill her feed. I have another client who is very proud to be growing Pinot Noir grapes in Sonoma County's Russian River Valley, a prime wine grape growing region. Most days, their social media feed sings the praises of this acclaimed wine area.
What should your social media billboard look like?
You can get pretty fancy with a billboard -- LED technology, electronic displays, those spangles that shimmer in the wind-- and the same is true with your social media images. But save collaged photos overlaid with quotes and embedded with links until you're further along in your social media journey. What's the one image on your social media billboard you can guarantee no one else will have? You. You, your business, your employees, your satisfied clients and the results of your hard efforts. Get comfy with your smart phone and post those pics that shout most clearly what a good job you do and how much you enjoy doing it.
How long should your social media billboard be up?
Keeping your billboard up for only a couple of weeks would make it ineffective; think of all those potential customers who are distracted by the radio or trying a new route those days. The same goes for your social media billboard. You have to commit to your social media channels and post, consistently and for a duration of time, for them to have an effect on your business.
YOU have to show up.
Because relationship building is where social media FAR exceeds the benefits of a billboard. For the first time in history, you have the opportunity to shake the (virtual) hand of each and every person that depends on you. You can build an authentic relationship with them based on trust and common interests and your good work. But if you get frustrated with your social media and walk away, if you post haphazardly and aren't present for the people who want to hear from you, if you ONLY talk about what you have to sell and don't try to connect with your customers' likes and interests, you might as well have spent that time and effort and money installing your billboard on an abandoned road.
If you're a small business owner, what is the number one thing you find overwhelming about social media? Please let me know in the comments below.
Angelina M. Lopez,
contemporary romance Author
Writing ferocious love stories
Liked this blog?
Want free stuff?
You’ll also be signed up for my oh-so-infrequent newsletter.