Blog

1 Social Media Marketer’s “Favorite Things” List for the 2017 Holidays

It’s been 21 years since Oprah introduced her first “Favorite Things” list, & she hasn’t stopped being the influential & leonine figure whom even teens think is cool for a single day since.

Indeed, a testament to Oprah’s power is how reviewing the list upon its release has become a sort of modern holiday tradition on par with complaining about Starbucks’ holiday cup designs & “watching” Netflix’s digital yule log. For anyone with about $14,000 to spend, you can buy each and every item off of Amazon. But for those who either have leaner budgets or still need additional gift ideas, allow me to offer up a few of my favorite things.

Of A Kind’s “Professional Enthusiast” Round 4 Weekender Bag

Being in social media requires one to always “be on” around people. Why, baked into the term “social media” is the idea that when communicating with others, we ought to be friendly—or, at least, fake a smile when talking to someone whom we really don’t like. There are few better commercial ways to show off one’s gregariousness than by walking from the gym to work, for example, with a bag that announces your professional status as an enthusiast.

LuMee’s Duo Marble Case (for all iPhone Plus models)

If you’re in need of an upgrade to your selfie game, then look no further than Kim Kardashian West’s favorite brand: LuMee. Developed by a professional photographer, you know that you’re selfies are in good “hands” (qua a thoughtfully-designed case) when you’re using a product that makes a cameo in Instagram-worthy pictures like this.

Wacom’s Bamboo Slate

Despite how much of our lives takes place in the digital world, I still prefer jotting my thoughts down on pen & paper to thumbing my thoughts into any given “time-saving” app (sorry, Evernote). Still, it’s often a hassle to transfer what I write or doodle to a computer. What’s cool about Wacom’s Bamboo Slate is that by using it, I don’t have to waste time by, say, retyping what I already physically noted. The Slate can automatically upload what I write on paper to the cloud with a button’s push. The future is here, unfortunately sans jetpacks.

Prep’d Pack Lunchbox with Modular Food Storage Containers and Chopsticks Set

This is actually from Oprah’s most recent “Favorite Things” list but I couldn’t resist including it here. Upgrade your sad paper bag to something that says, “I have my life together, betches.”

Gratitude Collaborative’s “For The Dude” Gift Box

Don’t know what to get your male friends? Want to give back a little to the world? Gratitude Collaborative has exactly what you need with its box filled with goodies for any special man in your life, the price of which includes a donation that goes toward giving meals to the hungry in our society, so why not get a few more boxes? Or, you could always just be a Scrooge & get some gifts that don’t help out charities. What you do with your soul is up to you.

The Face Shop’s Facial Mask Sheets

My job (like those of many others) can be stressful. But after a long day at the office, I usually like to “treat myself” with various things like a good face mask. I know I’m not the only one who enjoys this method of relaxing, so why not spend a little (this isn’t a splurge at all) for a whole pack of face rejuvenation? Your future wrinkle-free self will thank you.

CB2’s Glass Straws

More often than not, you can spot me sipping on an iced coffee, regardless of where I am, what I’m doing, or what the weather is like. It’s easy to imagine then that I use up a lot of plastic from just this one habit. If the one you’re getting a gift for is 1) addicted to caffeine & 2) always trying to be a little “greener”, then I’d highly recommend getting them a dishwasher-safe glass straw (or a few for a chic cocktail set).

Xoopar’s Green Bluetooth Mini Speaker

I don’t even think this speaker needs an introduction. Like, just look at it. It’s cute. Somebody probably needs a speaker for, say, their bathroom. Get it for anyone because everyone will fall in love with how effin’ adorable this little guy is.

Of course, you can always ignore my advice & get whatever you want for the people in your life. Just don’t show up empty-handed to a white elephant party saying you didn’t know what to get because that’d be a lie that would merit some coal this year. Now that’s a gift no one wants.

Santa’s little helper,
KM

Read More

Why You Should Care About Net Neutrality

If you’ve been anywhere on the internet lately, you might’ve seen something—a headline, your vocal-on-Facebook-but-shy-everywhere-else friend’s latest post, some trending video on YouTube, etc.—that references the impending end of “net neutrality.”

I don’t blame you if, despite the amount of coverage the subject’s received, you still don’t know what the term means. I get it. It’s not the sexiest of topics; in fact, it sounds eye-glazingly technical in a way that “Kylie’s baby bump” doesn’t, no matter how much time you spend gathering receipts on where “it” is. Besides, ignorance isn’t necessarily bad, so long as you seek to light up rather than keep dark the shadows your knowledge doesn’t reach.

So let me break down for you what net neutrality is, & what its demise might mean for us, digital marketers & all. Are you ready? Good. Let’s go.

Net neutrality refers to the doctrine that what the internet has to offer & makes possible—from websites to streaming services & everything else online—is equally accessible to you, regardless of who you are. This is the internet as you know it. Internet service providers (or: ISPs for short) such as AT&T & Spectrum cannot limit your access to the internet based on your identity or what you’re accessing, but that can all change after December 14th.

Last week, Federal Communications Commission chair Ajit Pai announced his plan to repeal regulations that have thus far made the internet free of interference from ISPs. These regulations prevented ISPs from, among other things, slowing down or even blocking access to (i.e., censoring) content and/or services that, say, they find disagreeable or competitive. That means in theory you could pay extra for using Instagram if an ISP like Comcast wanted to push its own picture-sharing platform by slowing down access to the app you, your boyfriend, & the thots he follows all spend hours a day on.

You might wonder if the worst predictions about the abolition of net neutrality are overblown. Being a skeptic myself, I understand. But there’s no need to wonder if said predictions will actually come true because they already have in countries like Portugal. Just take a look for yourself.

kKvWsFy

And that, essentially, is what the future could look like: messy, expensive, & downright ugly. But it doesn’t have to look like that. It’s still possible to take action to prevent the FCC from rolling back the rules that have made net neutrality possible. To make your voice heard, visit BattleForTheNet.com, which will help you contact your Congressperson to let them know that you don’t want a future where you have to pay extra to shop online a little tipsy.

Together, we can save America from becoming more like Portugal (no offense, Portugal—you’re a beautiful country).

Your civic-minded social media marketer,
KM

Read More

5 Things I’m Most Thankful For

I don’t know about you but Thanksgiving is probably my FAVORITE holiday, if only because it’s the one time of year people don’t judge me for wearing sweatpants.

But the holiday isn’t only about the food, so we’re told. And believe me: I totally agree (I guess). It’s a rare opportunity for many of us to step away from the busy-ness of work & reflect on everything we’re thankful for.

In the spirit of the holiday, I’m sharing a few of the many things for which I feel #blessed for having in my life.

I am thankful for delivery food.

There are PLENTY of days when I find that I’ve scheduled myself in such a way that it’s nearly impossible to cook some breakfast, let alone lunch or dinner. (And don’t ask me, “Well, how much time do you spend online shopping, Krissi? How much time do you blah blAH BLAH.” I don’t want to hear it. I do what I must.) That’s why Postmates & UberEATS—or, let’s be real, Dominos on those days—are pretty much some of my most used apps (after Instagram & Netflix, of course). I’d probably starve if it weren’t for app-based delivery tbh.

I am thankful for coffee.

Sorry, mom & dad, but there is nothing more sacred in my life right now than the ritual that is my morning cup of caffeinated elixir, which makes the beginning of any day a little less intolerable. Similarly…

I am thankful for wine.

As coffee makes the morning “a little less intolerable”, so wine makes the rest of the day a little less intolerable, not to mention, it’s fucking delicious. If you don’t agree, then you need to upgrade from whatever boxed swill you’re being fed because there is a whole world out there of fermented grapes I know you haven’t tried. Besides, have you ever tried pairing your beautifully shareable-on-social dish with water? Yeah, you try getting a lot of likes on such a sad situation.

I am thankful for Tim Berners-Lee.

Don’t know who good ol’ Timothy is? You should. He literally invented the internet. Can you imagine a world without it? I can’t. I don’t even want to try. The prospect seems too grim.

I am thankful for “the blondes”.

The employees of Blonde are hands down the most important reason why I work here. Really, I couldn’t be more thankful for them. Plenty of offices like to claim that they’re a fun or zany bunch of professional misfits who “work hard” but know how to “play hard” too. Yeah, I’m sure Christine in accounting really knows how to turn up.

You may have seen the photos—professional quality poses of people awkwardly feigning excitement to fight over the same stapler & share a bathroom with strangers. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Here, have a picture.

See what I mean? I’m thankful for the fact that I DON’T have to deal with such a tribe during work hours. Thank you, Blonde, for being enjoyable without trying too hard.

 

And I hope you, dear reader, have some people in your life with whom you too can share in some mothereffin’ gratitude this 2017, a grade-A ordeal of a year.

 

Feeling #blessed,
KM

Read More

5 Ways to Overcome Creative Blocks

Creativity is a big part of what I do. From dreaming up campaigns to angling a photo properly to even writing this blog post, I am constantly engaged in producing original work. Yet as any creative knows, there are times when the social media Muses decide to take a vacation from their regular visits, & that’s when I start to panic.

But before I start hyperventilating, I remember that there are a few routes one can take to successfully circumnavigate nearly any creative block. Here are but a few of my favorite ways to overcoming any lack of inspiration.

1.) Walk away.

From time to time, the best way to deal with a creative block can also be the easiest. You see, the subconscious mind is a powerful problem solver that works behind the scenes of waking life by its own mysterious methods. Walking away (like, literally, going outside & ambulating) & focusing on something else can often be the best opportunity for the subconscious to pick at the pieces of whatever problem you were working on before delivering to your conscious mind a new, perhaps enlightening arrangement of said pieces. Even if you don’t have an “a-ha!” kind of moment while taking a break from your problem, any interruption in your work may break cripplingly recursive habits of thought, thus providing you with a different (and hopefully creative) perspective. That being said…

2.) Sometimes, you’ve just gotta work through it.

You’re not always going to solve a problem by just “walking away” for a stretch. In an over-scheduled world brimming with demands & deadlines, taking a break isn’t always an option. And even when you do have the time to leave a problem alone for a while, that doesn’t mean you should, especially if you’re doing so just to procrastinate. Whether you’re too lazy or too scared of failure to put in the hard work that is being creative, there are times when the only way to overcome a creative block is by dealing with it head-on. Willpower may very well see you through to the end.

3.) Just draw (or write) freely.

This is really only an exercise in momentarily shutting up the occasionally incapacitating critical voice that each one of us has in our respective heads. By free associating, one can open her mind to theretofore ignored ideas, let alone, to connections between ideas—links that could prove to be useful to a creative problem solving task. However, the point isn’t necessarily to produce anything of value (i.e., relevant to what you’re working on). Again, you’re just trying to break free of negative thinking, which inhibits creativity. Alternatively, you could come up with lists of certain numbers of “things” such as people you’d like to meet or places you’d like to visit. Again, the purpose of such an activity is to free your brain from enslavement to habits like perfectionism that are antithetical to creative thinking.

4.) Set up arbitrary parameters for yourself.

In the face of seemingly endless possibilities that a lack of guidelines affords, you might become overwhelmed, & therefore unable to move forward. If that’s that case, then you should consider forcing limits upon yourself. Of course, you have the freedom to move however you may wish between such boundaries. But if you’re the kind of person who thinks too much (which is not always a bad thing), then you might want to consider, say, avoiding using the letter “e”, a feat that’s actually been accomplished already in a novel.

5.) Talk to someone.

Finally, if you’re all out of ideas on what to do, then don’t be so hubristic as to think you couldn’t use some help from another. Find a trusted source with whom you could talk aloud & freely about the problem. This could entail simply defining the problem for yourself to another person or it could even mean brainstorming possible solutions with them. Whatever the problem & whoever the person, there’s almost virtually no harm in getting a fresh perspective.

By now, I hope you’ve realized that blocks are merely momentary obstacles that are ultimately surmountable, so don’t be so hard on yourself the next time your text cursor is blinking menacingly on a blank page. Just loosen up, remember what I wrote, & you’ll be well on your way to being creative yet again.

Creatively yours,
KM

Read More

Stop using social media (but only for a bit)

Did you hear the “news” that Facebook was designed to be addictive? If you’re one of the 2+ billion people who have used the platform, then you’re probably not surprised. Such news is really just common knowledge.

According to the founding president of Facebook Sean Parker, “[t]he thought process that went into building…Facebook…was all about: ‘How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?’” Their answer, which has taken on numerous forms ranging from likes & comments to “pull-to-refresh”, seems to have worked. One analytics company reckons that American consumers now spend 5 hours a day on their smartphones. At such a rate, the average American will spend 5 years of her life on social media, another company reasons. (And by one account, you will spend over a year of your life just looking for something to watch. )

By no means do I mean to cast a negative judgment on our collective digital habits. (Well, maybe I am being slightly critical, if only because I could, say, get really good at playing the guitar if I worked at it for five years. Instead, I’m just liking memes that speak to me on a personal level. ) Social media has connected people the world over in ways unimaginable (I presume) to the average person 100 or so years ago. If bringing people together is a good thing, then social media has been a boon to society.

But it is possible to have too much of “a good thing”. Even though my job entails that 1) I use social media & 2) others use social media, I still need to take breaks from all of the scrolling & tapping that attends phone use (lest I become arthritic before 30). So, instead of obsessively stalking a Tinder match’s extended network on social media, consider putting down the phone for a few hours & go do literally anything else. If you need some inspiration on what you could possibly do during said few hours (other than “read a book”), consider partaking in one of the following activities I myself like to engage in during those times when I tell Siri to zip it for a little bit.

Meditate

I know the thought of just sitting & “doing nothing” might sound absurd if not impossible, but the many positive health benefits should make you reconsider your stance on the matter. Becoming mindful is more than just closing your eyes & keeping silent; it takes a little more effort than you might think. As such, consider downloading an app like Headspace that includes a coach who will guide you through simple ten or so minute sessions.

Go outside

It’s as simple as opening the door and stepping out, but really, going outside can be an event in and of itself. Plan a picnic! Throw a frisbee! Go hiking! I don’t care. Just put on some athletic shoes & reconnect with nature during your time away from social media.

Journal

When’s the last time you didn’t avoid dealing with your thoughts & emotions? If you can’t answer the question easily, then you might want to take some of the time you spend away from your phone writing in a journal. What’s been on your mind lately? Are you on track with your life? Journaling phone-free will definitely help you answer those questions about yourself that no BuzzFeed quiz can.

Visit a theater

If everything I’ve said so far is a little too “crunchy” for you, well, there’s always another option for going phone-free for a bit: visiting a theater. I would highly recommend seeing a play, if only because it’s an experience that grounds you in the present-ness of flesh-and-blood actors performing live in front of you. But if that‘s not your thing, there’s always the cinema. When’s the last time you watched a whole movie through without looking at your phone? Make some allowances for getting sucked into somebody else’s world for a change. Who knows, you might like it there.

And when you’re finally done with your vacation from social media, don’t forget: I’ll be here.

Namaste,
KM

Read More