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 -

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