MENTALITY - KICK THOSE EXCUSES TO THE CURB

We all have goals. And dreams. And places we want to see. There’s the people we want to meet. The life we want to live. And the plans we have to make it all happen. But time after time, many of us find excuses or get stuck in comfortable routines, so much so that our intricate plans are set aside for another day. Or no day at all. Sadly, this is the way many of us live. We all go into a mentality where a pace is set and for a variety of reasons, alters. As most would, we ask ourselves many “what if” questions. What if I took on less work? What if I bought a spur of the moment plane ticket to Paris and just relaxed for a long weekend? What if I ate healthier? What if I changed my career? Each question most can admit they would promptly answer with some sort of excuse and then the question originally posed is simply forgotten about the next day. The idea of change, however, kept coming back to me and weighed heavily on my mind ( and my back ) for some time. So finally, I decided to break routine. Because really, if something isn’t working … maybe it’s time to try a different approach. So that’s what I did. With the looming date of graduation I asked myself what needed to change, wrote down some honest goals, and stopped my train of thought right there. Instead of allowing my mind to sweep in with those ever familiar “what if” questions, I stood firm. And without any excuses in the way, clarity set in. I ended up with four simple truths, WORRY LESS, ANALYSE LESS, LEARN MORE, AND CREATE MORE, all of which made complete sense. For me, they felt good. And very very right. Sure, I could have easily given myself reasons to walk away from each and every one of those goals. Excuses, like these, hold us back, even when we really should be moving forward. Perhaps it’s time you kick those “what if” questions to the curb, too? I have a sneaky suspicion that I’m not alone.

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What’s holding you back? 

- jessie may -

SOCIAL MEDIA - ALL ABOUT R.O.I

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When spending time and money implementing social media strategies. Measuring R.O.I is a vital step in measuring success and noticing opportunities. Measuring R.O.I involves setting social media goals that compliment existing business and departmental goals. If you have set a specific number of leads you’re trying to attain, set the number of leads you want to specifically be driven by social media. If one of your goals is to increase landing page conversion by 10%, ensure that you’re tracking the conversion rate of people who land on the page through social channels. Audit your existing social media performance to establish baseline targets, then set appropriate goals for improvement. The brand awareness created by social media—seen from KPI’s is valuable, but it is not enough. According to Altimeter, only 34% of businesses feel that their social strategy is connected to business outcomes. To demonstrate social media’s value, you need to measure social media ROI as it relates to your broader business goals.

- Key examples of social media metrics to track include -

Reach, Site traffic, Leads generated, Sign-ups and conversions, Revenue generated

It’s important for social data to be relevant. Tying social media to the big picture by linking it to organisational and departmental goals will help you achieve that. Once you’ve established your social media goals, you’ll need to identify and implement the tools and processes required to measure the ROI on your social media. This may involve adding tracking codes to URLs through po.st.it or google url builder, building custom landing pages, and more. There are a variety of social media analytics tools which service to track the diverse metrics you are after. 

- Here are some to consider - 

Google Analytics: Track website traffic, on-site conversions, and sign-ups originating from social media campaigns, Salesforce: Add Salesforce tracking codes to the links you share on social networks. When paired with marketing automation software like Marketo, you’ll be able to track sales leads back to specific campaigns or social messages, Hootsuite Analytics: Hootsuite offers a variety of analytics tools to help you track your reach, conversions and more. A few noteworthy examples are:

Custom URL parameters allows you to track which social networks and social messaging did or did not drive traffic to your site, blog or landing page. Hootsuite Analytics Reports offer quick snapshots of your reach through metrics like follower growth, total daily URL click-through and per-post stats for Facebook, Twitter and more Creating analytics templates will allow you to track your desired metrics without having to build out custom reports for each campaign. These reports will also present the data in an easily digestible way, allowing you to simply and effectively share your ROI on social media with the organisation.

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- jessie may - 

A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN - BALMAIN FOR H&M

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H&M, Europe’s second-largest clothing retailer, is teaming up with French fashion label Balmain in its latest designer collaboration. A collection of apparel and accessories featuring items for men and women will go on sale in about 250 stores and online Nov. 5, Stockholm-based H&M said in a statement Monday. Olivier Rousteing, Balmain’s creative director, and model Kendall Jenner revealed the first items of the line Sunday at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. The retailer has offered one-time lower-price collections by high-end designers every year for more than a decade, starting in 2004 with Karl Lagerfeld. Last year, the Swedish company formed a partnership with American designer Alexander Wang for a sporty collection including a little black dress in wet-suit fabric and reflective leggings. The hype has already begun! Through social media, H&M and Balmain invited their fans to join a movement of togetherness with: #HMBalmaination. "I want to talk to my generation: this is my main aim as a designer. H&M allows me the unique possibility of bringing everyone into the world of Balmain get a piece of the dream and create a global #HMBalmaination: a movement of togetherness, fuelled on a hashtag. The collaboration felt extremely natural to me: H&M is a brand that everybody connects to. It calls for unity, and I am all for it", says Olivier Rousteing. Under the creative directorship of young Olivier Rousteing, Balmain – the epitome of French luxury – has grown into a global pop culture phenomenon, with modern day icons like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West marching in the forefront. I can guarantee that like the collections previous, I will be queuing outside the doors of the Birmingham Bullring store on November 5th. 

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Who’s joining me? 

- jessie may -

TOP 5 INTERIORS BLOGS

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Weekday Carnival - "RK Design, or Riikka Kantinkoski as she’s known to her friends, studied art, photography and interior design, and her passion for creating knows no bounds. She blogs, she takes photographs, she makes jewellery, she makes posters, she weaves and even found the time to create three children as well. She managed to find herself a spare sliver of her day to tell us what inspires her."

Gh0stparties - "Kate, writer of gh0stparties.com, set the blog up in early 2010 and has been going strong ever since! She think of herself as a beauty and lifestyle blogger, as she often does post product reviews and daily makeup posts, with a hint of home & interior updates and occasionally some style and personal posts. It’s a varied mix…"

Abigail Ahern - "Designer, style maven and author Abigail Ahern is recognised amongst design aficionados and  devotees alike for her enchanting take on interiors. She is an influential tastemaker, and is highly acclaimed for her trendsetting designs that are synonymous with glamour, eclecticism and British humour."

The Selby - "Todd Selby is a photographer, director, author and illustrator. His project, The Selby, offers an insider’s view of creative individuals in their personal spaces with an artist’s eye for detail. The Selby began in June 2008 as a website where Todd posted photo shoots he did of his friends in their homes. Requests quickly began coming in daily from viewers all over the world who wanted their homes to be featured on the site.  The Selby’s website became so influential — with up to 100,000 unique visitors daily—that within months, top companies from around the world began asking to collaborate."

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Keep checking back for more of my blogging favourites…

- jessie may -

H&M MAKEUP

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The Swedish fashion brand H&M has gone all out by confirming the launch of a complete skincare, bodycare, hair styling and make-up range recently. On its beauty brief, H&M reveals that fashion is at the heart of H&M Beauty; just as its clothes are inspired by seasonal trends and colours, so too will the make-up, 'with seasonal drops of new and limited edition colour palettes throughout the year,' says the brand. Replacing the existing beauty products, H&M Beauty will also a premium beauty line and a conscious range of sustainable products. They are set to launch their beauty line with over 700 products. These items will cover areas for makeup, hair care, skin care, nail polish, beauty tools and more to satisfy all your beauty needs; and it’s going down this September. H&M has decided to stock its new beauty collection in dedicated in-store areas, as well as online at H&M.com, 'for customers to experiment with the latest make-up trends and develop a personal and unique look,' it says. We hear that a natural, dramatic and classic looks will all be catered for, too. According to Sally Wallander (Concept Designer, H&M beauty) – “We are very excited to have ‘fashion for the face’ on offer at H&M. It’s an opportunity to be inventive, creative and to have fun with colours.“ The products are said to be priced between a low to mid price point. ‘HOORAH!’ 

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Are you excited to see if the H&M beauty line is as good as it’s packaging? 

- jessie may -

further reading? click here

TIPS FOR CREATING PIN-WORTHY CONTENT

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Pinterest can take a website from unknown to super successful with a single pin. However, up until now, finding the secret formula for content that will take off and go viral has been largely based on trial and error. Marketers have been scrambling to find a way to reach the largest market possible using Pinterest as the medium. Using the right combination of content, images and infographics seems to key. Follow the tips below to create pinnable content that meets or exceeds your expectations for the network while reaching the largest audience possible. Whether your brand creates and sells a single product or an entire line of retail goods or services, new content is a necessity. If a pin is not a success the first time, it can’t be relied upon over and over again. Instead, new content should be produced on an ongoing basis and regularly pinned to the brand’s account. Using SEO keywords and images that speak to the content that has been created are a must. Think of information that matters to your target market; what are they searching for? What questions do they ask? What news stories pertain to their interests? Use these as inspiration for content creation. Think about lists and actionable ideas that Pinterest users may be interested in. In most cases, those who use Pinterest on a regular basis are looking for projects and recipes—you can provide these easily. Many Pinterest users have entire boards of images: images that speak to them, images that are dynamic, images that are humorous and so on. Visually appealing pieces of information attract users on all social networks, Pinterest operates in the same way, maybe even more so. This is also a great way to supplement content creation. Snapping a photo takes a few seconds and can have a huge impact in driving website traffic. Marketers looking to create pinnable content should focus on blog posts, images and infographics. It only takes one sharable piece of information to make an impact.

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For further reading click here...

- jessie may -

QUINOA, ROASTED FENNEL & PARSNIP SALAD

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- quinoa, apple and roasted fennel & parsnip salad + raw honey vinaigrette -

INGREDIENTS

- for salad -

1 1/2 cups dried quinoa, rinsed, 1 medium fennel bulb, cored & cut into bite sized chunks, 1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into 1" chunks, 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, kosher salt & freshly ground pepper, 1 firm, tart apple, cut into 1/2" chunks (optional), 3 eggs, 1/2 cup sprouts like sunflower or alfaalfa, 1/4 cup tamari roasted or plain pepitas, 1 small shallot, shaved or sliced thin, 1/2 cup crumbled feta, 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

- for vinaigrette -

zest of one lemon, juice of two lemons or 1/4 cup, 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar, 3/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup raw honey (or to taste, sometimes i use as much as 1/3 cup), a three finger pinch of kosher salt (or to taste)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. heat the oven to 450°f (~225°c). toss the fennel and parsnip with the olive oil on a sheet tray and season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. set aside while until the oven comes to temp, then roast 25 minutes, stirring half way through, or until veggies are browned and tender but not mushy. you want them to hold up in the salad and still have a little bite. if they're tender but not yet brown, pop them under the broiler for a minute or two to get color on them and avoid over-cooking.
2. meanwhile, cook the quinoa. in a medium pot combine the quinoa with 3 cups of water. bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15-20 minutes until the water is absorbed. remove from heat, let sit an additional five minutes covered, and then fluff with a fork.
3. while the quinoa is cooking, make your five minute eggs. cover eggs in cold water, bring to a boil, immediately remove from the heat, cover the pot, and allow them to sit for five minutes. while they sit, prepare an ice bath. gently remove the eggs to the ice bath after the five minutes and peel once cool. slice in half and sprinkle with a bit of course salt and set aside.
4. make the dressing. combine all ingredients except for the olive oil in a bowl and then slowly whisk in the oil to emulsify.
5. once the quinoa and vegetables are cooked, allow them to both cool to room temperature and then combine them in a bowl. toss in the apples, if using. pour the dressing over the salad and stir to combine thoroughly. taste and add additional salt or lemon juice if desired.
6. top the salad with the sprouts, pepitas, feta, shaved shallot, chopped parsley, and eggs. serve at room temperature.

- recipe from local milk -

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Keep checking back for more of my blogging favourites…

- jessie may -

TOP 5 DESIGN BLOGS

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Design Love Fest - "Bri Emery is an art director and the Los Angeles-based founder and editor of designlovefest, a lifestyle blog with an eye for design in style, DIY, food, travel, entertaining and more. With an enticing and recognizable aesthetic, Bri’s styling, creative direction and design has transformed the designlovefest studio into an arthouse creating original concept campaigns for countless brands. Bri has been featured in publications such as Elle Décor, Apartment Therapy, HGTV, Lucky Magazine, Martha Stewart Weddings, The Los Angeles times and more, and travels the world teaching photoshop to bloggers with her BLOGSHOP brand, founded in 2011."

Breanna Rose - "Breanna Rose is a graphic designer and art director living and working in Minneapolis, MN. She began her own design studio, Rowan Made, directly out of school and continues to focus on thoughtfully refined design for passionate creatives all around the world. Recently, Bre also co-founded Be Free, Lance, an online workshop for creatives looking to boost their freelancing game. And to top it off, she also curates this blog, sharing a unique behind the scenes look into both her personal and working life."

Jessie K Farris - "Currently working as a visual designer for IBM's Mobile Innovation Lab in Austin, TX. When not pushing pixels at her day job, she can be found blogging at By Jessie Kay or working on a freelance project. She's an avid distance runner and lover of the outdoors!"

Canary Grey - "Canary Grey Photography was launched in 2010 as an extension of the creative pursuits Wing has been passionate about since childhood. The result is a business that specializes in the lifestyle and wedding industry with a fine sense of style that isn’t afraid to go outside the lines in order to capture something truly authentic. Along with photography, Wing also partners with clients on art direction, styling and creative brand strategies."

Jenna McBride - "Jenna is a graphic designer living and working in the great city of Philadelphia. She has a BFA in Graphic and Interactive Design from Tyler School of Art. She loves to take inspiration from long walks down tiny streets, travel, parks, old houses and buildings, and vintage ephemera. She's a self-certified old-timey enthusiast. 

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Keep checking back for more of my blogging favourites…

- jessie may -

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGIES

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After deciding that social media marketing was the avenue for my graduate career, I have been delving into the ins and outs of varying social strategies. These two categories of social media strategy can be called “outbound” and “inbound”. They shouldn’t be confused with inbound or outbound digital marketing strategies. In the case of these social media categories, we’re being a little more straight forward than that. An outbound social media marketing strategy is what most who believe in social media want to achieve. They feel that social media is a venue through which to reach people, communicate, improve branding, and expose the company’s messages. Its goal is to be aggressive and take advantage of the fact that the masses are using social media regularly. In many cases, customers are spending more time on social media than any other digital activity. It’s about returning on investment, creating revenue and becoming a leader in social marketing. An inbound social media strategy is very different from a pure inbound marketing strategy. It can be viewed as a defensive posture, a way of covering social media without much time or effort. It’s about checking off the social media task box with little effort and costings. This is the type of strategy that a business should employ if they either do not believe in social media as an appropriate marketing venue or they do not have the time and/or budget to put a true effort towards an outbound strategy.

The strategies in more detail:

• Outbound Social Media Marketing: This is an “all in” strategy. It focuses on the beliefs that lots of people are on social media, that sites like Facebook have the data that can be used for targeting them with the right messages, and that either ideas or website clicks can be driven through an aggressive advertising component.
• Inbound Social Media Presence: Less aggressive than the latter, hence why I did not call it “marketing”. With an inbound strategy, a business is simply creating and managing a presence so that they are there without putting in much effort. It’s not a defeatist strategy by any means. For many, they have not found the benefits of social media or they’re not ready to invest what it takes to have a strong marketing strategy, so they simply get their social media covered.

This is important because people will visit pages and profiles. Most businesses have buttons that lead to their social media profiles right there on their website. The search engines will often rank social media profiles and pages high on search results for the business by name. Making sure that pages have an ongoing flow of content is important while not being too time consuming or expensive.

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Keep checking back for more on social media marketing...

- jessie may -

for further reading head to - soshable

BREAK FOR PERSPECTIVE

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I’ve been thinking a lot about my future lately, and how different it looks and feels from just a few years ago. I used to fall into this go go go mentality… Something that over time, tired me out. Completely. After the realisation that this particular lifestyle wasn’t sustainable, I pulled back and focused on getting myself into a healthy lifestyle and back into a more stable routine. As I now approach the end of my three years at university it feels like the end of an era. Although I am excited for the next steps I again find myself in limbo, debating which path to take. I am a recovering perfectionist and have so many ideas buzzing around in my head, that it’s become overwhelming to actually take that next step. And then, just like that, an opportunity arose in my current career as a Social Entertainment Writer. A position became available for when I graduate to become the Global Social Media Co-Ordinator for the business and that reminded me that it’s okay to focus on just one thing for the time being. By doing so, i've put my heart and sole into one goal instead of spreading myself too thin.  When I graduate I will do so knowing I will fully enjoy my time in the role and with the company i've admire since I began in August. Then, when the time comes, my (fresh) focus will shift towards a business goal: streamlining. AKA, niching myself even more and making my process as a social media coordinator and designer more intuitive. I’m hoping to share more about what I learn and decide along the way, as I myself always love seeing how other individuals handle their own routines as well as business. 

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Keep checking back for more life updates...

- jessie may -

SEARCHING FOR CREATIVES

NEST QUARTERLY needs YOU!

I am about to begin a creative project for my final year of university and I need your help! I'm searching for talented creatives to contribute to a new lifestyle publication...

PHOTOGRAPHERS - WANDERERS - DESIGNERS - ARTISTS - FOODIES - CREATIVE WRITERS - CRAFTERS - GARDENERS ETC.

No matter what you love doing... I'd love to hear about it and hopefully feature your work! This beautiful, printed independent lifestyle magazine will be a source of entertainment and advice for the whole household and provide families with a method of escape from the online world... 

Interested? Want to know more? Email me at... 

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nestquarterly@hotmail.com

- jessie may -

LIFE AS OF LATE

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Happy February! Life as of late has been pretty hectic to say the least, so much has happened since my last post (apologies for the delay!)... It's 2015 and the year ahead is shaping up to be full of excitement and fresh thinking! (Hence the botanical imagery...) Here's a few updates to fill you in...

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ALL GROWN UP - I'm now twenty-one... I celebrated my 21st birthday last September surrounded by my wonderful friends and family and boy was it fun! My friends and I spend a weekend away and then to top it all off, me and my boyfriend spent a week exploring the Island of Cyprus. The culture, heat and beauty of the stunning scenery has made me want to explore and travel more in the future...

MY DREAM JOB - I've embarked on my new career with Claire's *YAAAAY*, my new role as 'Social Entertainment Writer' has opened my eyes to a variety of new possibilities and doors that could open for me when I've finished my studies! I absolutely LOVE working for the company and I've met some amazing people so far! My work consists of blogging for the #ClairesBlog, covering PR events on social media and developing the design and online presence of the brand through social media.

MOVING IN - You may or may not know that I've been with my amazing boyfriend/bestfriend (Alex) for 7 years this year, which has flown by! This Autumn we plan to make the next step in our journey together and get our own place... Prepare to see a lot of home inspiration posts and wishlists.

THE ROAD TO A SLIMMER SUMMER - Another big change in my life has begun! In January I rejoined Slimming World. I'm aiming to change my lifestyle and my health and not just lose weight. *Wish me luck!* I also passed my driving test in November so I have no excuses to not go to the gym!!!

THE END IS IN SIGHT - I'm now in the final year in my studies, I can't believe that by Summer I will have a degree! My time at university has flown by and can't believe that it's nearly all over! This blog will also be used to document my final stages in my studies and share an insight into what i'm up to. 

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Keep checking back for more life updates & future posts...

- jessie may -