Building Community Over Followers: The Key to Business Success On and Off Social Media
Real social media success isn’t about numbers—it’s about building a loyal community that trusts and connects with you.
By Kristina Bartold-Sorgota
It's easy for business owners to get caught up in the numbers game, obsessing over follower counts and engagement metrics. However, as a social media expert and the CEO and Co-Founder of social media and podcasting agency The Social Snippet, I've learned that the real secret to success on social media lies in building a strong online community. It's not about posting and ghosting; it's about nurturing relationships with your followers, engaging with their content, and adding value so that you become the go-to person when they're ready to make a purchasing decision. Let's dive into why community matters more than followers and how you can cultivate a thriving digital community.
The Algorithm: Friend, Not Foe
Many business owners view the algorithm as this mysterious force that works against them. When a post underperforms, it's tempting to blame the algorithm. However, understanding that the algorithm aims to show your content to the most relevant audience can shift your perspective. The key is to create content that resonates with your ideal clients, optimizing your profile for clarity and searchability, and ultimately breaking through any algorithm woes.
Optimizing Your Profile for Community Building
The foundation of building a community starts with your profile. When potential followers land on your page, you have just a few seconds to make an impression. Here's how you can make those seconds count:
Clear and Searchable Username: Your username should be easily searchable and reflective of your business or personal brand. Avoid unnecessary characters or complex spellings that might make it difficult for people to find you.
Search-Friendly Display Name: Think about what your ideal clients would search for when trying to locate services or products like yours. If you offer social media marketing services, include that in your display name to increase discoverability.
Memorable Profile Photo: Use a clear, recognizable photo that represents your brand. Whether it’s your logo or a professional headshot, consistency is key.
Engaging Bio: Your bio should succinctly explain who you are, what you do, and how you help your audience. Include a call-to-action and a link to your most important offerings or content.
Pinned Posts: Utilize pinned posts to introduce new visitors to your services or showcase your most valuable content. This can serve as a quick guide to what your page is about and how followers can engage with you.
Knowing Your Ideal Client
Getting clear on your ideal client is essential. Understand their needs, challenges, and the type of content they may resonate with. This knowledge allows you to create content that speaks directly to them, adding value in a way that builds trust and loyalty.
Creating Valuable Content
Value-driven content is the cornerstone of a strong community. Here are a few tips to ensure your content resonates:
Educational and Entertaining Content: While educational content is vital, don't underestimate the power of entertainment. Mixing tutorials with behind-the-scenes glimpses or day-in-the-life posts can keep your audience engaged.
Speak Their Language: Avoid industry jargon that might confuse your audience. Use simple, relatable language that your ideal clients can easily understand.
Focus on Authenticity: Authenticity is more appealing than perfection. Share real, unpolished moments and be transparent about your journey. According to a 2024 survey conducted by Hootsuite, 56% of consumers think brands need to be more relatable. This relatability builds a deeper connection with your audience.
Engaging with Your Community
Engagement is a two-way street. It's not enough to post content and disappear. Here’s how to foster real connections:
Comment and Respond: Engage with your followers by responding to their comments and questions. Show them that you value their input and appreciate their support.
Engage with Their Content: Spend time liking, commenting, and sharing content from your community members. This not only shows support but also increases your visibility.
Host Live Sessions: Live sessions are a great way to interact with your audience in real-time. Use these sessions to answer questions, share insights, and foster a sense of community.
Cross-Pollination and Collaboration
Collaborating with other businesses or influencers who share your target audience can significantly expand your reach. Here’s how:
Identify Power Partners: Look for businesses that complement, rather than compete with, yours. For instance, a social media manager might partner with a web designer.
Collaborative Content: Host joint live sessions, co-create content, or feature each other in posts. This introduces your community to new, valuable resources and vice versa.
Measuring Your Success
Regularly reviewing your analytics is crucial to understanding what works and what doesn’t. In fact, according to a Sprout Social poll, 85% of executives believe that social data will become a primary source of business intelligence over the next few years. So, track your engagement metrics, identify top-performing content, and adjust your strategy accordingly. Remember, not every post will be a hit, but each one provides valuable insights that extend beyond social media.
The Power of Relationships
At the end of the day, social media is meant to be social (shocker, right?). So, building a community based on trust, engagement, and genuine relationships will always outperform a large but disconnected follower count. A study by Deloitte found that 78% of consumers were more likely to remember companies that exhibit a strong purpose. By focusing on adding value, being authentic, and actively engaging with your audience, you position yourself as a trusted resource, ensuring that you are the first person they think of when they need the services you offer.
If I could leave you with one key piece of advice, it would be this: Don't get caught up in the follower count. Instead, focus on cultivating a community of engaged, loyal followers who view you as a valuable and trusted part of their lives. This approach not only strengthens your social media presence but also drives meaningful business results offline, too.
How Podcast Guesting Can Supercharge Your Community
Podcast guesting is your secret weapon for amplifying your influence and showcasing your expertise. With over 164 million Americans tuning in, it’s a prime platform to reach new audiences and build authority.
Feeling pulled to expand your professional influence and showcase your expertise? Podcast guesting is a powerful yet underutilized strategy that I believe can help you achieve both at once. As the CEO and Co-Founder of social media and podcasting agency The Social Snippet, and a podcaster myself on the Community podcast, I've seen first hand how being a guest on podcasts can significantly boost your network, build authority, and open doors to new opportunities. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a business owner, or a professional looking to advance your reach, here’s how you can leverage podcast guesting to build your community.
Why Podcast Guesting Matters
There’s no denying that podcasts have surged in popularity, with over 164 million Americans tuning into them regularly. Needless to say, this medium offers a distinct platform to get into new people’s ears and reach a highly engaged audience. As a podcast guest, you can:
Showcase Your Expertise: Share your knowledge and experiences on a podcast to establish yourself as an authority in your field.
Expand Your Reach: Podcasts have dedicated listener bases. By guesting, you borrow these audiences, many of whom might not be familiar with you or your work.
Build Relationships: Podcast hosts often have extensive networks. Building a rapport with them can lead to further opportunities and introductions to key figures in your industry.
How to Get Started with Podcast Guesting
If you're brand new to podcast guesting, I know that the idea of getting on a podcast might seem daunting. Here are some practical steps to help you get started:
1. Leverage Your Existing Network
Start by reaching out to people within your network. You’ll be surprised how many colleagues, friends, or acquaintances either have their own podcasts or know someone who does. Here’s how to do it:
Let your network know you’re interested in guesting on podcasts and ask if they have any recommendations.
Be clear about what topics you can speak authentically on and how your insights can add clear value to a podcast’s audience.
2. Use Podcast Guest Matching Platforms
Platforms like MatchMaker.fm are designed to connect podcast hosts with potential guests. Create a compelling profile that highlights your areas of expertise, past speaking engagements, and what you can bring to a podcast.
3. Join Relevant Facebook Groups
There are numerous Facebook groups dedicated to podcasting. Join groups like "Podcast Guest Collaboration Community" or "Podcasts We Listen To." These groups often have threads where hosts are looking for guests or where you can pitch yourself.
4. Identify Power Partners
Power partners are individuals or brands that share a similar audience but are not direct competitors. Collaborating with power partners can be mutually beneficial. Here’s how to find them:
Attend industry conferences, webinars, and networking events to cross paths with potential partners.
Follow and engage with individuals and brands on platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn. Look for those who share valuable content related to your niche.
Use directories like Spotify or Apple Podcasts to find shows that align with your expertise and target audience.
5. Craft Your Pitch
Once you’ve identified potential podcasts, it’s time to craft your pitch. Here are some tips for creating a compelling pitch:
Address the host by name and mention specific episodes that you’ve listened to and enjoyed.
Explain what insights or experiences you can specifically bring to their audience.
Mention any past podcast appearances, speaking engagements, or relevant achievements.
6. Prepare for Your Appearance
Once you secure a guest spot (yay!), preparation is key to making a great impression when it’s time to record:
Listen to a few episodes to understand the tone, format, and audience.
Outline the main points you want to discuss and how they can benefit the listeners.
Share the episode with your network and on social media to maximize its reach.
The Long-Term Impacts of Podcast Guesting
The benefits of podcast guesting extend beyond the immediate boost in visibility. Here are some of the long-term advantages:
1. Strengthening Your Personal Brand
Regularly appearing on podcasts helps to solidify your reputation as an expert in your field. It builds know, like and trust with both the podcast audience and your own network.
2. Growing Your Network
Every podcast appearance introduces you to a new audience and new potential connections. The relationships you build with hosts and listeners can lead to further collaborations, speaking opportunities, and even new clients or customers.
3. Enhancing Your Skills
Being a podcast guest can finesse your communication and public speaking skills. It teaches you how to articulate your thoughts clearly and concisely, making you a better presenter.
Ultimately, podcast guesting is a remarkable tool for ambitious business owners like you and I, looking to grow their network and establish themselves as industry leaders. By leveraging your existing contacts, utilizing guest matching platforms, engaging in relevant communities, and forming power partnerships, you can achieve a wealth of podcast opportunities. Remember, every podcast appearance is a chance to share your story, connect with new audiences, and further your impact.
I believe that everyone has a podcast in them. So, why wait? You have so much to share. Start your podcast guesting journey today and watch your network and influence expand with every listener. You may even become compelled to start a podcast of your very own some day!
About the Author
Kristina Bartold-Sorgota is the co-founder and CEO of The Social Snippet. She loves helping entrepreneurs and small businesses grow their communities online using social media and podcasting. Kristina has been working in social media almost 10 years as a side hustle, and finally realized it was her passion and calling to pair her extensive experience coaching with her love for social strategy. The Social Snippet was born with her co-founder, Maria, and the rest is history! Kristina spends most of her days recording podcast episodes for the Build Your Digital Community podcast, coaching business owners on how to grow their businesses or hosting events for local female entrepreneurs to grow.
FORM Founder Sami Clarke's 5 Tips for Standing Out on TikTok
With more than a billion active users worldwide, TikTok is far more than just a popular app for viral dance routines and comedic clips. The video-sharing platform is also utilized as a strategic marketing tool for businesses to boost success (and nearly five million are using the app for just that).
Companies often utilize TikTok to increase brand awareness on a rapid scale, build and engage with online communities (i.e. potential customers), promote products or services, develop partnerships, and assess competitors within their respective markets. It’s also a chance to get creative with video clips and establish more connectivity between brands and consumers.
But with millions of users saturating the TikTok world, how do brands or businesses stand out among the rest? While there may not be a concrete formula for viral success, Sami Clarke—influencer and founder of the digital wellness platform FORM—seems to have it all figured out.
Together with her business partner and co-founder Sami Bernstein Spalter, the 29-year-old fitness instructor has built a cult following for her motivational workout videos, lifestyle inspo, and self-love approach. Millions of users tune in to her TikTok account for all things wellness, as well as community and connection. This July, the company also launched its new activewear line, the promo for which garnered over 30,000 plays on TikTok.
"All of our teasers have just gone out on socials and the amount of engagement and interaction and excitement behind what we’re doing just shows that we’re not going to need to market outside of just talking to our people," says Bernstein Spalter on the latest episode of WorkParty.
Clarke’s presence on social media has undoubtedly played a role in the success of the brand. Here, she shares five key tips for those looking to stand out on TikTok.
1. Always focus on the content that you want to create. There are so many different people doing workouts, of course, and every space is saturated, but what makes it different is YOU.
2. Don’t jump on all the trends, but follow the ones that actually do feel exciting and enticing for you.
3. Think about what content you like to consume. I was very resistant about doing ‘get ready with me’ videos because everyone was doing them, but [those were the kinds of videos I enjoyed] watching. The moment I started doing them within the realm of wellness and talking to camera, my videos were blowing up.
4. Think about what content your community is craving. You’ll know what people want from you because it’ll get the most attraction.
5. Always stay true to yourself—I know that’s so cliche to say, but it really is so true.
Tune into WorkParty with Jaclyn Johnson for more on how Sami Clarke and Sami Bernstein Spalter propelled FORM to success in just two years—plus tips on navigating friendship and business partnership.
RESOURCES
To connect with Sami Clarke click here
To connect with Jaclyn Johnson click here
To follow along with Create & Cultivate click here
To submit your questions call the WorkParty Hotline: 1-(833)-57-PARTY (577-2789)
OTHER EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE
Hot Takes With Cheval: Don't Forget Yourself While Chasing Your Dreams
Female-Led Women's Health Apps Are Leading the Way in Data Privacy
This June marks the one year anniversary of the landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, effectively ending a woman’s constitutional right to abortion in the United States. In its aftermath, a resounding alarm echoed throughout the tech world and among health app users over data privacy and protection. The growing concern is that prosecutors in states with abortion bans (now 14 states) could subpoena data, such as location, search history, and personal health information, to criminalize individuals in abortion-related cases.
The allure of logging health details into an app is simple: ease, function, the ability to take control of your health, and informative feedback/insights at the touch of your fingertips. But unlike traditional medical records, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) does not protect this data as it is intended for personal use. With no federal legislation in place, it’s up to tech companies themselves (or individual states) to ensure data privacy and protection for consumers.
Ever since the Supreme Court draft decision was leaked in May of 2022, women’s health apps, namely period-tracking apps, have been catapulted to the forefront of debate over ethics, data privacy, and protection. Thousands on Twitter called for the deletion of period-tracking apps altogether. The explosive divide and demand for change highlighted a growing mistrust among users and tech companies.
To fully grasp the gravity of the implications is to understand how many women nationwide rely on these programs. Nearly a third of women in the United States have used a period-tracking app, according to a 2019 survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation. One of the most popular apps alone, Flo, has over 240 million downloads and 50 million active users per month.
Users have increasingly relied on health apps and consented to inputting personal data, but it wasn't until the fallout of Roe v. Wade, that people truly understood the downstream impact of tech without data privacy at the forefront. If they weren't aware before, they certainly are now.
“People are paying attention to the broken systems around our data and how it’s protected,” says Tazin Khan, longtime cyber security specialist and founder of Cyber Collective, a community driven research organization educating individuals on technology, security, and privacy online. “It has ignited the advocates, the ethicists, and the people that care to be fast and move hard to make sure that protection is in place.”
Khan describes data privacy and data protection as two-fold: “Privacy regulation is essentially around the compliance of businesses and how they are maintaining data and hygiene and the way that they’re collecting, storing, and redistributing data,” she says. “It is not about consumer data protection. Consumer data protection is very different, right? Do I have the right to delete? Do I have the right to access my data? Do I have the right to opt out of being opted into something?”
While the overturn of Roe v. Wade has certainly highlighted significant needs for improvement in both categories, it has also brought attention to what some companies are doing right.
Female-led women's health apps putting data privacy first
For Berlin-based period-and-ovulation tracking app Clue, data privacy was always a part of the company’s ethos. Founded and led by women, the Berlin-based app is protected by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), one of the strictest data privacy and protection laws in the world. While it covers various aspects of data protection, including websites, it also includes provisions that protect personal data privacy on apps, from consent requirements, to transparency, to user rights, data security, and more.
In light of growing concerns from American users, the app’s co-CEOs, Carrie Walter and Audrey Tsang, released a statement to its community of 11 million active users stating that private health data will never be shared, including to authorities. “Your personally identifiable health data regarding pregnancies, pregnancy loss or abortion, is kept private and safe. We don’t sell it, we don’t share it for anyone else’s use, we won’t disclose it,” says the release. The GDPR establishes protections over personal data and holds organizations accountable with severe penalties for breaching these protections with fines up to tens of millions of euros.
With the advent of the Dobbs decision, privacy advocates and legislators have been working to impose similar federal protections in the U.S. On the state level, select states have introduced comprehensive data privacy laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which grants users more control over the personal data that businesses can collect. Several tech companies in the U.S. have amended their data privacy and protections, largely in response to the demand of consumers, and users have been receptive to these changes.
Also governed by the GDPR is Natural Cycles, the first FDA-cleared birth control app in the U.S., which measures fertility through body temperature. The company is headquartered in Sweden with operations in the United States, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK. Unlike other apps on the market, the company has integrated a subscription-based model, so selling data to third parties was never a part of their revenue stream. (For many companies, it’s common practice to purchase data from third parties for advertising purposes or to gather information about consumer behavior.)
“We always cared about data privacy and data protection,” says CEO and co-founder Elina Berglund. “But after the Dobbs decision, we felt like we had to take it one step further.”
Natural Cycles recently developed its NC° Secure program, an advanced data protection program that includes encryption and pseudonymization (a data management system where identifiable information fields are replaced with a pseudonym). Additionally, the company is rolling out a ‘Go Anonymous’ mode. “We’re separating the personal identifiable information from the census related to your health or fertility, such that not even we at Natural Cycles can know which user has sensitive data,” says Berglund. “If one day, we get subpoenaed, we ourselves cannot hand out any information on a user because we don’t know who they are.”
The only way to link personal identifiable data (such as name, etc.) from sensitive data (such as period data) is through the user’s own key. So while the anonymous user will be able to get the same personalized insights, including fertility status, within the NC° app, there will be some limitations when it comes to getting personal reminders and help outside the app that require both sensitive and personal data (such as email communication, customer support help, account recovery, etc.). Before a user enters Go Anonymous, the app walks them through these limitations and lets them decide if they want to choose that mode or not.
Taking a broader approach to period tracking is Stardust, a free, astronomy-focused app that provides insights on users’ cycle, horoscope, and mood. Owned and operated by women, the company leads a privacy first model (as stated on its Instagram bio) and has been vocal about user protection and transparency in a post-Roe world.
“Given the current political climate, we have taken rigorous measures to protect users, especially those in states where abortion is being criminalized,” reads Stardust’s privacy policy. “We believe all period trackers should stringently protect the privacy of users—and be transparent about exactly how they do so.”
Stardust’s policy page maps out exactly what data is collected, how it is being used, and addresses burning questions, such as what happens if law enforcement subpoenas information (in this case, the app will not share period data because it is not connected to user’s login information) and how you can delete your data in the app.
For other apps, such as Drip, privacy is integrated into the fertility app design itself. When the app was created in Berlin in 2017, developer Marie Koschiek wanted to create a safe and trustworthy product that was non-commercial, free, and gender-neutral, using scientific methods for fertility awareness, as well as being secure and open source—meaning the app is maintained and developed through open collaboration. No data is collected and information is stored locally on the user’s device rather than in the cloud. Additionally, the app does not allow any third-party tracking.
“On the day that Roe vs. Wade was overturned, we saw a significant increase in downloads and users from the U.S.,” says Koschiek of the app, which is run by a collective. “We also had people from the U.S. contact us directly to offer help and support for developing Drip.”
It’s no surprise that those looking for low-risk assessment would download an app like Drip. However, the reality is that the zero data collection/locally stored app design is a rarity. In a world where technology plays such a pivotal role in our daily lives, how can we better educate ourselves as users before putting personal health information into an app?
Red flags to look out for, from a cyber security expert
It’s no question that consumers share concerns over confidentiality and lack of security over personal health information. More than 92 percent of people believe privacy is a right and their health data should not be available for purchase by corporations or other individuals, according to a survey of 1,000 patients across the U.S. conducted by the American Medical Association.
When it comes to downloading an app, for health purposes or otherwise, education is the best tool in navigating the tech landscape and determining what apps are more secure. Here, Khan of Cyber Collective breaks down three red flags to look out for before inputting personal information.
1. You don’t get access to the tool unless you share private information
If you can’t sign up for a service without providing your name, email, and address, it’s likely a red flag. Ask yourself, what are they doing with this information and why is it being collected?
2. Terms and conditions are in ‘legalese’
Is the language overly complex and difficult to understand? Does the app ask you to hit accept without prompting you to read through the terms and conditions first? The best privacy policies are written in simple, concise language that answers your questions, as opposed to prompting more.
3. The app starts asking for access to things that it doesn’t need in order to function
It’s important to think critically about the function of the app and why it is being downloaded. For example, if you download a flashlight app and it starts asking for access to your photos or mic, it’s important to question why. If the answer doesn’t seem right, it’s a sign to delete the app.
For Khan, education goes both ways— “If you have the propensity and the time, let whatever entity know that you wanted to download the app, but you don’t feel comfortable using it because you saw these red flags,” she says. “Share how you are feeling because tech companies don’t hear enough from us.”
While these women's health apps are taking significant measures to secure and update their data privacy policies and protections, it is important to educate yourself as a consumer in terms of what information you’re sharing and with whom. As technology continues to evolve and play an integral role in our daily lives, it is crucial to have awareness of the function of the apps you’re using, why data is being collected, where it’s being stored, and your rights as a user in the process.
“If we want real change, we have to lean into curiosity,” says Khan. “We have to ask questions and we have to be informed.” For more information on data privacy and tracking legislation in the U.S., Khan recommends visiting the International Association of Privacy Professionals.
—Written by Danielle Torres
Mara Founder Allison McNamara on Must-Have Digital Tools for Day-to-Day Business Operations
After nearly a decade of TV hosting with stints on The Today Show, the Oscars red carpet for ABC, and the entertainment show Popsugar Now, Los Angeles-based Allison McNamara knows how to tell a story. Her experience informs the content behind her lauded skin-care brand, Mara, launched in 2018. But when it came to the intricacies of running a business, she admits there was much to learn. To fill in those gaps and optimize her business operations, she turned to digital tools and resources.
The financial arm of her business runs through NetSuite, an integrated, cloud-based business software that offers enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications (a software system that helps automate and manage day-to-day business operations) such as financial management, accounting, inventory management, and procurement. Eighty-four percent of companies in the Forbes Cloud 100 List are NetSuite customers, according to the platform.
“We’ve really streamlined our accounting,” says McNamara on the latest episode of WorkParty. “NetSuite is our cloud-based paper trail. I really use that as the holy grail of our business.”
She even hired a coach and spent over 100 hours educating herself on the platform. “You have to be open to learning…like basic accounting books or taking the time to listen to a podcast— something that you wouldn’t normally listen to that is kind of an expert in that field,” says McNamara, who bootstrapped her brand of algae-infused products. (The line is now sold at Sephora and received the celebrity stamp of approval from the likes of Chrissy Teigen, Hailey Beiber, and Olivia Munn.)
As for internal communication, her company uses Slack, an instant messaging program designed to streamline comms and promote team collaboration in an organized, fast, and secure way. Nearly 80 percent of Fortune 100 companies rely on Slack to build their digital HQ, according to the platform.
“I’m a big quick communicator, so I prefer Slack like texts,” she says. “Get it to me as fast as possible, but just don’t call me, "she adds while laughing.
Even though McNamara is busy running the business, she’s still very much involved in content. “My biggest strengths come from training in media because I’m really good at telling stories quickly,” she says. “I still do all of our copywriting because I enjoy it.”
For all things content, she relies on Google’s G Suite. "That's how we worked when I was an editor," she says. "We made our [Google] Calendars and [Google] Sheets. I work religiously in Docs."
Over six million companies pay to use G Suite, according to 2020 reports (latest count), up from five million in 2019. The productivity software includes a digital calendar, cloud spreadsheets, presentations, cloud storage for documents, and a video conferencing feature.
“There’s a tool for everything,” says McNamara.
For more on how she bootstrapped her business and made it to Sephora, as well as candid conversations on her best and worst days as an entrepreneur, tune into the latest episode of WorkParty with Jaclyn Johnson.
RESOURCES
To connect with Allison McNamara click here
To follow along with Mara click here
To connect with Jaclyn Johnson click here
To follow along with Create & Cultivate click here
To submit your questions call the WorkParty Hotline: 1-(833)-57-PARTY (577-2789)
OTHER EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE
Hot Takes with Tinx: Your 20's are a Mis-Marketed Decade
Tiffany Yu On Combating the Stigma of Disability and Finding Empowerment in Adversity
How 3 Trainers Leverage Technology To Expand Reach and Deepen Connections With Clients
Digital fitness has changed how we stay healthy—from how we get our heart rates up when we exercise to how we slow them down as we catch some ZZZs. In addition to making things easier for customers, this pivot from fitness belonging solely in posh city studios to literally anywhere there’s Wi-Fi reception has helped trainers and entrepreneurs expand their reach and find new ways to interact with their clients.
“By keeping training virtual, people still get the same workout they would in person,” says founder and fitness trainer Allegra Paris. “With lower price points, I’ve been able to reach more people and make fitness more attainable to someone like the mom who just had a baby and can’t get to a class.”
This expansion of reach has created a big boom in the fitness industry. Market segment projections estimate that digital fitness will reach $19.30 billion in 2023, according to Statista, and revenue is estimated to grow another 6.49 percent by 2027. Prior to 2020, the market was just hitting $11 billion and, in just three years, has nearly doubled its massive reach.
How are trainers capitalizing on the technology at hand to prioritize their clients and have their fitness content go further? We talked to three trainers to find out just that—keep scrolling for their insights.
Allegra Paris
Armed with a business degree, Paris decided that she could combine her education with her interests to become a fitness instructor. She was on the fly from New York to Miami to Los Angeles to train her clients, but when COVID-19 hit, she took her personal training virtual and scaled her business up. “Going virtual gave me my physical health back,” Paris says. “I was running around New York City, going from client to client, trying to fit everyone in. Now, I am able to get workouts to more people and virtual training allows me to have a lower price point for everyone.”
Today, clients can do her beloved sculpting workouts and track their progress via her app. Still, Paris is excited to see the fitness tech industry continue to evolve and access new, cutting-edge features that can help her better track each client, like the ZOZOFIT 3D body scan app – used with the wearable ZOZOSUIT. “Previously, it might take a few months to really get to know a client and their needs, but new tech options like ZOZOFIT are changing the game,” she says.
Tracking minute progress from the get-go can boost motivation and accountability early on and change the client’s mindset of what progress is, while showing Allegra real change in increments as small as ¼ inch.
“This makes my job more efficient and productive as I am truly able to make sure my clients are progressing and seeing results,” Allegra says.
Both the client and Allegra will also simultaneously utilize the hands-on app that features a precise 3D body scan for each user in less than two minutes, producing ten key body measurements. This eliminates both the human error of measuring and inaccurate scales, and allows clients to visualize goals in a new way.
“I’ll be able to get information about my clients body fat and measurements that I might not have been able to accurately get before,” Allegra says. “This makes my job more efficient and productive as I am truly able to make sure my clients are progressing and seeing results.”
Not to mention, the feeling both she and her clients will get from seeing those measurements change even if training remotely. Allegra says she is excited to accurately obtain this information, track it with each training, and be able to guarantee they'll see progress and results. The hyper-focused details make troubleshooting problem areas easier, leading to results from a motivated client. Starting a client in the suit from the get-go, she explains, is opening up a whole new chapter.
“I am excited to start out a new client wearing the suit,” Paris says. “Now, I have to take a few months to fully get to know each client and fully understand them. Having this at the introductory is really cool.”
While she grows her business and community, she will continue adding new and innovative ways to stay connected. “ I think everyone should have equal access to training,” she says.
Cleopatra Lee
Cleopatra Lee, trainer and founder of Cleopatra’s Army, is reshaping health and wellness for women of color. “What pushed me to create Cleopatra’s Army was growing up in Harlem, I noticed a lack of wellness initiatives,” she says. “There needed to be more well-rounded opportunities for people of color and especially women to focus on their own health. That is what really pushed me to start Cleopatra’s Army.”
Lee found her footing in high school, posting her track outfits, and she extended this reach post-grad to further fitness. “If I can platform myself looking cute, I can use that attention and shift that focus to health and wellness.” Today, Lee says what motivates her is the community she has created. “It’s what keeps me going,” she says. “I get to spend a lot of time around a lot of different women with a common goal, and helping them reach their health and wellness goals motivates me.”
Her community is anchored in connection. They utilize accountability chats, the website forum, and even an Instagram chat to keep each other focused on their well-being. “Following up and checking on people is one of the most important parts of the business,” she says. “It lets them know you are there.”
She plans to utilize the ZOZOFIT to take that interactive feature and connection to the next level. “You can track even the body fat percentage along with the measurements,” she says, which helps her clients stay in tune with their goals. “Having access to the ZOZOFIT gives my clients direct access to monitor themselves without a Cleopatra’s Army trainer being present.”
Cleopatra’s Army is rooted in providing wellness opportunities for minority groups, and while the tech industry continues to evolve, high price tags can price some clients out. ZOZOFIT, however, democratizes fitness in new ways by offering precise, high-tech tools for under $100, a piece that aligns with Cleopatra’s values and with her training approach.
“Cleopatra’s Army is dedicated to making wellness more accessible to minority groups, and accessibility requires affordability,” she says. “ZOZOFIT being well priced creates opportunities for more people to benefit from this new fitness/technology crossover.”
Beyond the price point, the tech can also be utilized by anyone who has a phone, bringing fitness and training to their fingertips.“Our ‘Army Bratz’ will have access to new tech that can help them picture their fitness goals and share their progress,” Cleopatra says. And not to mention, the ZOZOFIT app comes with a free subscription and unlimited scans. As new fitness technology like ZOZOFIT and more help her provide new ways to reach her growing army, this is just the beginning.
From apparel and workouts to forums and events, Lee and her army are changing the fitness industry.
Sami Clarke
Sami Clarke, trainer and creator of FORM, an online digital fitness platform, describes her training style as relatable and tangible for those on the go. “When I moved to LA, I started playing with different workouts and finding my routine and my groove,” she says. “As I started to travel and talk to other women, we connected on finding the enjoyment of moving our bodies and it not being a chore.”
In 2016 when Instagram added the Stories feature to the platform, Clarke saw an opportunity to share insights into this movement-as-pleasure model. “I realized this was my time to share what I am passionate about, and I was passionate about really taking care of myself,” she says. She began by sharing her workouts, what she was eating, and what her day looked like—and it resonated with her followers. From there, she began curating 30-minute workouts for free on Instagram Live and YouTube.
As the pandemic sent everyone looking for ways to stay active while remaining apart, Clarke had a greater realization. She founded FORM after seeing the ease with which anyone could participate, modify, and use her workouts. “It is an inviting welcoming workout that is 30 minutes,” Clarke explains of the hybrid HIIT and Pilates workout.
Looking ahead, Clarke is excited to continue to expand FORM. The brand just launched nutrition on its site and Clarke is continuing to look for ways to use technology to deepen her connection with her clients on the app and in forums. “I feel like the tech is allowing us to communicate with our audience and not feel far away,” she says. In the meantime, she is just excited to see how small actions can have huge impacts on the FORM community.
How the Beauty Industry is Using Blockchain to Tackle Transparency Issues and Drive Loyalty
When you hear the term “blockchain,” it’s unlikely that the next words that come to your mind are “lipstick,” “cleanser,” or even something as broad as “cosmetics.”
Because the beauty industry is fueled mostly by females and the cryptocurrency scene is primarily dominated by a male audience—women make up only 15 percent of Bitcoin traders, according to investment platform eToro—it’s no surprise that blockchain isn’t commonly associated with cosmetics and personal care products.
But blockchains infiltrating the beauty industry would be quite the lucrative move, since the global cosmetics market is projected to reach $758.4 billion by 2025—with male beauty alone set to reach $276.9 billion by 2030.
What do beauty brands stand to gain from using blockchain platforms? Aside from adopting cutting-edge technology to keep up with an ever-evolving innovation landscape, one of the biggests answers is something that the beauty industry has been historically lacking: full transparency.
Blockchain could help the beauty industry meet consumer demand for supply chain transparency
We’re seeing a rising number of digitally savvy consumers who are growing increasingly conscious of what exactly they are consuming and demanding more clarity from the beauty industry. A global study done by the Fashion Institute of Technology found that 42 percent of shoppers do not feel companies inform them enough regarding the safety of ingredients while 72 percent would like brands to explain what the ingredients in their products actually do. And more than 60 percent want brands to identify sources for ingredients.
As a decentralized method of storing and transmitting data that individuals or companies can access globally in real time, blockchain allows brands to show consumers exactly what they want to know about the products they are buying. For example, when a brand has a product claim like “100 percent natural,” “cruelty-free,” “organic,” “clinically trialed,” or “sustainably sourced”—each one can be stored on a decentralized ledger—that cannot be tampered with or falsified—to provide a consumer with its dated accreditation or certification to justify the claim.
This is exactly how Cult Beauty, a global online cosmetics retailer headquartered in London, began using blockchain—they worked with Provenance, a software developer specializing in designing applications to provide supply chain transparency, to install over 1,500 of what they call “proof points” across 60 of their different brands.
In 2021, European luxury brands LVMH, Prada, and Richemont announced a partnership with The Aura Blockchain Consortium. According to LVMH’s press release: “This unprecedented collaboration between competitors represents a single, innovative solution to shared challenges of communicating information on authenticity, responsible sourcing, and sustainability in a secure, digital format. The objective is to provide consumers with a high level of transparency and traceability throughout the lifecycle of a product.”
While supply chain transparency is one of the most important and needed benefits, it is only a small piece of how we are seeing brands begin to embrace blockchain in the beauty industry’s bigger picture.
Using blockchain to centralize and elevate the customer loyalty experience
A strategic, compelling loyalty rewards program can elevate the customer experience but one that comes with low client redemption rates, time delays, and high costs can break a brand.
By centralizing a customer’s loyalty program, blockchain can modernize and elevate the structure a few different ways:
Reducing system management costs with smart contracts that report secure, tracked, transparent transactions guaranteed by cryptography.
Enabling a transaction to be recorded and accessed by multiple involved parties in near real time, helping the provider credit points faster.
Creating an immutable and time-stamped distributed database entry of every single transaction ever made, making each transaction and its record easily traceable, but also rendering them irreversible to preventing double spending, fraud, abuse, and any other type of manipulation of the transactions.
Em Cosmetics, founded by Youtube beauty guru Michelle Phan, turned to blockchain solutions to offer its customers more flexible loyalty initiatives. Partnering with Lolli, a cryptocurrency rewards company, they offer up to a 4.5 percent portion of Bitcoin to any customer who downloads Lolli’s web extension and shops with Em Cosmetics. So instead of the usual cashback, customers on Em Cosmetics receive Bitcoin back.
NFTs and ‘Crypto Comsetics’ could be the future of brand relationship building
In the world of beauty, brands are constantly looking for fresh and exciting ways to extrapolate their DNA. Good branding not only sets a brand apart from its competitors, but it also allows a company to build relationships with its audiences, eventually turning them into loyal customers.
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are electronic tokens that have been recorded onto a blockchain ledger (meaning it can be verified as the original of that specific file) and represent the unique and genuine possession of a digital or real asset or concept. They are completely unique digital assets that can be auctioned on and traded in cryptocurrency marketplaces.
The art and fashion world were some of the first industries outside the crypto-universe that began using NFTs to create unique pieces for their consumers that would offer digitally preserved right of ownership—resulting in a buyer’s sense of exclusivity and ability to feel like they own a little piece of the brand the love.
The beauty industry isn’t too far behind now as we start to see some cult brands offering NFTs:
In June 2021, e.l.f Cosmetics created three limited edition NFT versions of its bestselling products, all dipped in gold: The Poreless Putty Primer, 16HR Camo Concealer and Ride or Die Lip Balm.
Cult brand NARS collaborated with three female artists: DJ and music producer Nina Kraviz, collage and crystal artist Sara Shakeel and fashion designer Azéde Jean-Pierre, tasking them to create three NFTs inspired by their iconic NARS Orgasm product line, which it announced in August 2021.
Clinique created three editions of their first NFT, called “MetaOptimist” in October 2021. Instead of selling them, each year over the next decade the brand is giving its Smart Rewards members the chance to receive the NFT and a selection of products. To enter for a chance of winning, they are asking customers to share their stories of optimism and hopes for the future.
The lines between metaverse and real life are becoming as blurred and smudged as leftover lipstick after a Friday night out. It was only a matter of time until technology like blockchain began to fuse with beauty—which can be confusing given the tangible nature of cosmetics. But considering the bold benefits and all the ways it’s already begun to revolutionize the beauty industry, it seems that the mutually beneficial relationship between the two has a future.
And considering that blockchain offers the beauty industry an opportunity to become more digitized and interactive—one that actually aligns with the values that consumers are beginning to demand most, authenticity and transparency—it’s a future that looks bright.
Written by Kate Dillen
Everything You Need To Know About the TikTok Bans—And What They Mean for Your Social Media Strategy
While it may appear to be business as usual on your TikTok feed (you know: line dancing, salad dressing hacks, bunnies sleeping on panda bears, and the like), a lot is going on behind the scenes. The app, which is owned by ByteDance (a China-based social platform-focused tech company founded in 2012), has been under fire for its privacy settings since 2019, when it was fined is fined $5.7 million for child data privacy violations. In the years since then, various branches of the United States government have attempted to ban the app (including the military and President Donald Trump). And in 2023, those efforts continue.
The "why" behind TikTok bans
Many U.S. government agencies have discussed nationwide bans on TikTok, citing security and privacy concerns. Here's why: ByteDance, which, remember, is the parent company of TikTok has had a history of lawsuits over privacy issues. For example, earlier this year, Buzzfeed News reported that ByteDance employees were accessing non-public data for TikTok users—including phone numbers and birthdays.
This event is part of a larger concern that China's national security laws may require companies like ByteDance to supply personal and proprietary data to the government on demand, reports NPR. (However, it's worth noting that TikTok claims this data stays within the U.S.)
This growing concern for data privacy has led Republican lawmakers to introduce a bill that would ban the app nationwide. FBI director Christopher Wray has also expressed his concerns surrounding the app. "They include the possibility that the Chinese government could use it to control data collection on millions of users or control the recommendation algorithm, which could be used for influence operations if they so chose, or to control software on millions of devices, which gives it an opportunity to potentially technically compromise personal devices," he said last month.
Now, as the year comes to a close, seven states have issued bans of TikTok on state-provided devices. Below, you'll find the TL;DR on who is now pursuing TikTok lawsuits and bans. Plus, what all this TikTok drama really means for your business's social media strategy.
Efforts to ban TikTok by state
Alabama
In Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey has prohibited the use of TikTok on all state IT infrastructure as of December 12. “Protecting the state of Alabama and our citizens’ right to privacy is a must, and I surely don’t take a security threat from China lightly,” Governor Ivey said in a statement. “After we discussed this with our OIT secretary, I came to the no brainer decision to ban the use of the TikTok app on our state devices and network. Look, I’m no TikTok user, but the evidence speaks for itself, and I want to make sure I’m doing everything we can as a state to stand against this growing security risk.”
Maryland
On December 7, Maryland banned the use of TikTok and certain China and Russia-based platforms in the state's executive branch of government, an effort led by Governor Larry Hogan.
Nebraska
The first statewide ban of TikTok on all State electronic devices was announced by Governor Pete Ricketts on August 12.
South Carolina
"Protecting our State’s critical cyber infrastructure from foreign and domestic threats is key to ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of our citizens and businesses," Governor Henry McMaster wrote in a letter to South Carolina Department of Administration Executive Director Marcia Adams (released December 5). "Federal law enforcement and national security officials have warned that TikTok poses a clear and present danger to its users and a growing bi-partisan coalition in Congress is pushing to ban access to TikTok in the United States."
South Dakota
South Dakota announced that TikTok will no longer be accessed on state-owned or state-leased devices.
Texas
Governor Greg Abbott banned TikTok on government-issued cell phones and computers, stating that TikTok "harvests" data from its users' devices.
Utah
Utah Governor Spencer Cox also banned the use of TikTok on state-owned technological devices on December 12.
How concerned you should be about TikTok bans right now, according to a social media expert
So, what does all this mean for your business? According to Ashley Rector, Founder of Laura Alexandria Marketing, an organic and paid social media marketing company, this news should encourage you to keep a close eye on TikTok and consider how it fits into your overall brand strategy. "Several states have already banned Tiktok on a state level for government devices, which only gives more credibility to the legislation that was just introduced to ban Tiktok in the U.S. as a whole," she explains.
She adds that taking a broader view of this news and looking beyond TikTok itself may also be useful. "Data privacy is extremely important," says Rector. "It won't be the last of new laws and regulations coming out that will hinder social media apps and advertising, so connecting with audiences in an organic way is important." In other words: As a founder, it's crucial to keep close tabs on privacy and data news so that you can pivot when necessary and remain agile in your marketing efforts.
6 tips for TikTok proofing your marketing plan
1. Diversify your content channels
"Utilize Tiktok up until the final nail in the coffin, however, make sure you are also prioritizing content on other video-heavy channels like Youtube and Instagram," says Rector. "Youtube Shorts is an excellent way to start testing out Youtube if you are currently not on the platform." She adds that Instagram is also a solid option since Meta has proven it has staying power.
2. Let go of TikTok perfectionism
While you should still have a "business as usual" mindset about TikTok, Rector recommends taking shortcuts on the app. That way, you can lend that time to other platforms. "Less polished content is key right now, so stop spending so much time creating the perfect video and let it be a little rough around the edges," she says.
3. Have fun with new social media platforms and releases
"Every social channel copies what the other is doing, so instead of resisting what is coming, lean in and make it your own," says Rector. Give Youtube Shorts a try or experiment with BeReal. Why not?
4. Look at who your customers/clients are—and allow that information to inform your social media strategy
If you don't know who your people are yet, now's the time to really get to know them, says Rector. "Get really clear about who your target consumer is. What is their age? Where do they live? What do they like? Each social platform has a strong base of a certain demo, so start there," she says. Once you've gathered this information, you can make strategic decisions about which non-TikTok platforms deserve your brain space.
5. Tell your TikTok followers to check you out on other channels
"Make sure you leverage Tiktok now," says Rector. "Tell users that they should follow you on other channels. We did that for one of our clients and saw a big increase in followers on the other social channel we directed them to."
6. Always focus on what you can control
Here's the not-great news: At the end of the day, no social media app is 100 percent reliable. "It is extremely important to use social media to funnel into your other marketing efforts," says Rector. "So think about where you can lead people on your channels. Is it an email list, your website, where is it?" Sending your community to places you control is critical—and, right now, TikTok ain't it.
This is a developing story.
5 Steps To Successfully Launch an Online Course, From a Multi-Million Dollar Course Creator
The first time I ever made money from one of my online courses, I was standing in line at the grocery store.
*Ding*
My phone buzzed. It was a notification that I had just made $3,400… while grocery shopping!
In the following week, I made over $18,000 from selling my first online course. As a service-based business owner, I realized I could generate more revenue in one week selling an online course than I could in a few months of trading my time for money with one-to-one services.
To date, my company, Bucketlist Bombshells, has generated over $5 million dollars of revenue from our online courses that have taught 10,000 women worldwide how to successfully start and grow an online business from scratch. One of the things that I always tell our members inside our monthly business-growth membership that teaches women how to grow their business to 6-figures is that the key to scaling your business is to stop trading your individual time for money.
Maybe you currently have a service-based business, and you’re maxing out on the number of hours you have to serve your clients. Instead of offering your services one-on-one, you’re curious about packaging your expertise into an online course to sell one-to-many. Plus, by offering an online course, you can maximize your business’ reach, mission, and impact.
But what does it really take to successfully launch your own online course? Here are five steps you can take to successfully launch your own online course and add a significant revenue stream to your business.
1. Choose your online course niche
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the first step is to decide on your online course topic or “niche.” Some ideas to get you started on choosing your online course topic are to brainstorm:
What expertise do your customers currently come to you for?
What are the top questions you’re constantly asked?
What topics are you an expert in?
What results are you excellent at getting people?
Your online course niche doesn’t necessarily need to reinvent the wheel. There may be plenty of online courses on your exact topic. However, your students may choose your course because of your past experience, teaching style, or your unique way of doing something.
For example: If you’re a book illustrator, you may want to create an online course that teaches others how to become a book illustrator using your years of experience and your unique creative methods.
2. Build a community of potential students
Now that you’ve decided on your online course niche, it’s time to begin building a community of potential students.
There are many different platforms to host a free community. One of the easiest and arguably most accessible is by simply starting a free Facebook group around your topic.
Not only will your Facebook community be an amazing source of future customers as it grows, it will also provide invaluable insights to your target audience. Pay attention to the struggles that your community members have around your topic. What questions are they constantly asking? Maybe even run a poll to gather their feedback as you start building your course.
Quick tip: Gather email addresses when members request to join your group to start building your email list, too. When it’s time to launch your online course, you’ll have an entire group of potential customers to sell to!
3. Create a waitlist page
Don’t wait until your online course is created to begin marketing it!
By creating a simple waitlist page, you can begin to gather leads for your new online course. If you already have a business website, I recommend adding a link to “Get on the waitlist!” for your new online course coming soon.
As you execute other marketing strategies in your business (like blogging, guest podcasting, creating YouTube videos, etc.), you should always link to your waitlist page to continue building your list of future students.
4. Create your course content
Now for the extra fun part: actually creating your course content!
In a nutshell, all you need is a microphone and a computer to create your course content.
One of my favorite brainstorming techniques for creating a new course is what we like to call “The Sticky Note Method.” Using sticky notes, write down all of the concepts you’d like to teach in your course. Next, group similar concepts together to define your course “modules.” Think of your modules like chapters in a book!
While there’s no “perfect” amount of content you should have, keep in mind two important things I’ve learned the hard way:
Stick with bite-sized videos, as people tend to have a short attention span.
Avoid overwhelming your students with too much content.
For a very user-friendly and all-in-one platform to create and host your online course, I recommend using Teachable.
5. Launch your online course
It’s time to launch your online course!
Using the leads from your waitlist page and the members of your Facebook community, it’s time to execute what online course creators like to call “a launch.”
Your online course launch should have:
A sales page
A deadline to enroll
An exciting and special sales offer (i.e., a discount, bonuses, etc.)
This is officially your time to strongly market and sell your online course to your community. Remember to focus on the results your online course will help someone achieve rather than focusing solely on the digital product itself. How will your online course add value to their lives? What pain points will it help someone avoid or breakthrough? What goals will it help them to achieve?
By following these steps, you’ll be well on your way to successfully launching your own online course, too.
About Shay Brown
Shay Brown is the COO and co-founder of the Bucketlist Bombshells, an online community that equips women with the confidence, skills, and business foundation to start and grow a thriving service-based online business. She’s been featured on Forbes and CNBC for teaching over 10,000 students around the world to successfully launch their own businesses. If you’re ready to grow your business to 6-figures, learn more about their monthly business growth membership here or tune into their top-rated Freedom Filled Life Podcast™.
Daria Shapovalova on How Digital Clothing Can Disrupt the Fashion Industry
Imagine a closet filled with clothing that automatically fits your body, always looks good in photos, and is sustainably and ethically made. That’s what virtual fashion is designed to do: Blur the lines between fantasy and reality by creating digital garments to be worn by your online avatars using 3D technology or edited onto images of your body using augmented reality.
While the concept of selling virtual clothing is still relatively new, it’s not totally foreign. In May 2019, the world’s first piece of ‘digital couture’, an iridescent, translucent one-piece designed by Amber Jae Slooton, was sold at a New York charity auction for $9,500.
And 2023 CC100 honoree Dara Shapovalova, co-founder of DressX, the first multi-brand digital fashion retailer, predicts that in the future, every fashion brand will offer a digital collection regardless of style or price point—similarly to how high-fashion luxury brands branched out to offer perfumes or accessories when the industry saw a rise in those categories.
DressX was created as a “metacloset” for consumers and brands to easily access the Metaverse. Launched in 2020 by Shapovalova and Natalia Modenova, the digitally native company’s main goal is to offer every person in the world an infinite digital wardrobe for their online identity with no limitations on creative expression. The company just raised $15 million in Series A funding, which it plans to use to improve its app and NFT marketplace.
“Digital fashion offers a more accessible and eco-friendly way for customers to experience luxury fashion while still providing a sense of exclusivity and excitement that comes with wearing designer pieces in a digital space,” Shapovalova explains.
A few pioneering fashion houses have already begun to pave the way for luxury fashion in the metaverse: Gucci, already well-known for its experimenting, released virtual sneakers while Louis Vuitton launched a metaverse game where players can collect NFTs.
But the biggest hurdle, when it comes to digital clothing going mainstream, is understanding what the Metaverse is and how virtual fashion exists inside of it.
Waiting for ‘meta fashion’ to have its moment
Purchasing in-game “skins” and cosmetics, used to customize characters, is nothing new to the gaming world. And now the fashion industry and its consumers are starting to take notice—Morgan Stanley forecasts that the virtual fashion market could be worth over $55 billion by 2030.
“Meta fashion presents a great opportunity for the industry to reach new heights, open up new opportunities, create new markets, and become integrated into the digital creative economy,” says Shapovalova.
“The transition from traditional fashion to its digital form continues to take place in a natural way,” she adds. “It’s reflecting the overall shift in how we live and experience the world around us.”
She describes how within this rapidly changing landscape, we are increasingly becoming “the avatars of ourselves” on various social media platforms, gaming, messaging, and streaming services, adding that “digital fashion serves to adorn our digital personas.”
Like media, fashion will have to embrace digital to survive
For luxury fashion to thrive in the next decade, brands will need to release their collections into a digital world where most young consumers are already spending or gambling with the chance that contemporary artists who are already well-versed in the online world will release some sort of variation before them, which recently happened to the French luxury brand Hermés.
In December 2021, digital artist Mason Rothchild released an NFT collection of faux fur, colorful variants of Hermès iconic Birkin handbag dubbed “The MetaBirkin.” After being sued by the famed fashion house, the court ultimately ruled against Rothschild in February 2023 when a nine-person federal jury in Manhattan determined that he had infringed on the company’s trademark rights. The jurors also found that his NFTs were not protected speech.
Virtual fashion paves the way for a more sustainable future
With the fashion industry being the second-most polluting industry, it’s been widely debated whether or not virtual clothing is a definite answer to its long-existing environmental issues. According to TechCrunch, an estimated 30 percent of all manufactured goods end up as waste within months of rolling off the production line every year. In a survey commissioned by the credit card company Barclaycard, nearly one in 10 UK shoppers (9 percent) admit to buying clothing only to take a photo for social media.
Considering the current data combined with the continuous rise of fast fashion that only promises more waste to come, the benefits of digitally constructing fashion present a compelling opportunity for brands to reshape outdated business models and pave the way for a more sustainable future.
Shapolvalova says that the production of a digital garment produced by DressX emitts 97 percent less CO2 and saves 3,300 liters of water per garment on average, compared to a physical one.
“By replacing just one percent of physical clothing with digital garments, we could save five trillion liters of water and reduce the fashion industry’s annual carbon footprint by 35 million tons,” says Shapovalova, citing a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
The reality is that as long as physical clothing exists, the industry will still likely struggle with the damage done to the environment. But if digital outfits can be used as more sustainable alternatives when it comes to things like content creation or building, introducing trendy, one-off collections, and building hype around brands, that damage could be reduced dramatically.
Looking forward to digital fashion
As Shapovalova explains, meta fashion will definitely shape the future of the fashion industry. Even though digital fashion cannot fully replace physical clothing in its current form, what it can do, she says, is allow us to continue to enjoy the fun of fashion while also making a meaningful contribution to the environment.
And while an argument can be made that virtual fashion only exists in the digital space, robbing us of the tangible joy that physical clothing can bring—it isn’t any less real because of that. Virtual fashion opens up previously locked doors that lead us to very real experiences that are at the core of the traditional fashion industry: creativity and self-expression. While the clothing may not exist in real life, those feelings still do.
Rewatch the Keynotes, Panels, and Workshops from Future Summit
Create & Cultivate recently hosted our Future Summit in Austin, Texas, which brought together founders and entrepreneurs from some of the most disruptive brands in the tech and innovation industries. The conference aimed to help attendees stay ahead of the curve with emerging technologies such as Web3, cybersecurity, fintech, and customer acquisition.
Below, the keynotes, workshops, and panels provide actionable advice and resources from the speakers, who shared their firsthand experiences and expertise on timely topics and trends in the industry. Dive into the conversations below, and check out the next events to sign up for.
How To Be a Multifaceted Creator with Tinx
Tinx has continually innovated throughout her career to be in service of her audience, who consistently asks for her help with wide-ranging issues. In this talk, we'll dive into how she stays on the cutting-edge of trends and what's next.
How To Use Burgeoning Tech To Bolster Your Small Business with Victoria Mariscal
This conversation will focus on how small businesses can leverage Web 3 tactics to build stronger brands. The tenants of this talk will be about creating community, developing new ways to get your brand in front of customers, and utilizing NFTs to interact with your customers, etc.
Web3 and Beyond: What Every Entrepreneur Should Know
From open-source social media to the leaps made in AI, AR, VR, and beyond, 2023 will push forward how small business owners and entrepreneurs approach their digital footprint. In this panel, we’ll discuss a handful of these new technologies—what they are, how to use them, and where they’re headed.
The Realities of a Recession from Women at the Top
The economic downturn calls for new protocols from leaders at every level. In this panel, we’ll bring together leaders to talk about how they’ve pivoted given the looming recession, how they navigate during tumultuous times, and use technology to do so.
What EComm Looks Like in the Metaverse
Explore the intersection of e-commerce and the metaverse, including virtual storefronts and immersive shopping experiences. Follow along and fill out the corresponding worksheet here.
How To Grow a Quality Audience
Discover how to optimize business performance by incorporating AI and data science strategies into your operations—from Chat GPT to programs that help you dive deep into your company's analytics.
Why Your Next Blog Post Should Be Evergreen
The best content is the kind that doesn't have an expiration date.
Photo: Ekaterina Bolovtsova from Pexels
Evergreen content. You’ve probably heard that it’s super important for your blog, but often people forget to mention why that is and how you can make it work for your blog specifically.
So first, let’s cover the basics. Evergreen, or pillar, content is content that lasts all year round, for many years—just like the leaves on an evergreen tree. For blogging, this means that your post continues to attract readers to your site continuously after it is first posted.
Your evergreen content is often your most popular because new readers keep finding your site through these “pillar” posts.
As these types of post support your site with visitors in the long term, they need to really reflect your blogging brand and niche. They are the pillars or building blocks of your blog. When your posts do reflect your overall focus, the visitor to your site is highly likely to find other content on your site interesting and stay a little longer to look around.
Let’s break it down.
Why evergreen content?
For us busy bloggers and biz owners, every moment is important. We wear so many different hats, being writers, social media whizzes, educators, salespersons, and more – you don’t need me to tell you our time is pretty stretched.
That is why evergreen content is the must-have type of content for your blog. Why? Because it has the biggest return on investment for your time (ROI).
Rather than constantly producing new content that will be forgotten the next week, your time is much better re-paid by producing content that people will continue to visit weeks, months, and years later. A few hours of work for continuous return in visitors. Sounds good, right?
Even more importantly, by creating your evergreen content intentionally, the visitors it continues to attract will be the right kind of visitors. They will be interested in your blogging niche. This makes them more likely to click through to other posts on your site, sign up for your mailing list, share your content, and buy your products and services.
Pretty valuable visitors, huh? And the content that keeps them coming – even more so.
Spoiler! You have already posted evergreen content!
Some of your existing blog posts will already be pillar content.
You can usually find these types of posts by looking at your analytics. Which posts attract the most page views? Which attracts the most engagement through comments, likes, shares, and pins? These are the current cornerstones of your blog.
If these posts accurately represent your blog’s niche, then use them to guide the next blog posts you create. Look for a trend and create posts from different angles on the same theme.
Let me give you an example. I discovered that recipes including chocolate bars were really popular on Knead to Dough, so I produced more of those. As expected, these have all moved up to my most viewed posts and continue to bring visitors to my site. My target readers are foodie bloggers which many of these visitors are, but not all of them.
I also discovered that my how-to-style blog posts continued to attract traffic. As these directly appeal to my target reader, and the recipe posts offer valuable case studies to them, this is the most valuable of my two types of evergreen content.
It brings the right people to my site to then look at other recipes and my blogging posts. They are also likely to sign up for my free resource library, which includes some guides specifically for foodies as well as general content resources.
How to use evergreen content on your blog
So you know how I use evergreen content to boost traffic continuously for Knead to Dough, but how can you apply it to your own blog?
You’re already starting to assess your popular posts for their suitability as pillar content for your blog and using them as inspiration for more.
You can also create pillar content by creating content that is already known to be successful, shareable, and regularly searched. How-to and list posts are typically very popular as they usually provide in-depth, valuable, actionable advice.
The key to writing successful evergreen content is to provide as much value as possible. Pick your frequently searched niche topic and cover it in depth. Don’t leave your readers with unanswered questions at the end. If your content is valuable and informative, people will continue to find it useful.
“The key to writing successful evergreen content is to provide as much value as possible.”
Set yourself the challenge to make every blog post evergreen for the next month. If you can, challenge yourself to do this forever.
Tip: Don’t forget to update pillar content as and when changes occur that apply to that topic.
The takeaways?
Evergreen content gives you the best ROI for your time
It attracts the right kind of visitors who are likely to subscribe and buy
Create content intentionally to attract these visitors and provide them lots of value
How-to and list posts are great options for creating evergreen content
Love this story? Pin the below graphic to your Pinterest board.
This post originally appeared on Blog Society. Lauren Fraser helps other blogs and businesses (especially foodies!) transform their social media and blogging strategies to get the traffic, engagement, and leads they want. You can find blogging resources and guides on her site, Knead to Dough, with a pinch of delicious recipes thrown in for good measure!
This story was originally published on September 24, 2016, and has since been updated.
MORE FROM OUR BLOG
1099 Lyfe: 6 Apps and Tools You Need to Be Your Most Productive
Consider us your work from homies.
Photo: Ekaterina Bolovtsova from Pexels
Oh, the freelance world. Charming in its lack of predictability, cutthroat when it comes to competition, and total chaos when it comes to organization.
When it’s you vs. your inbox, deadline, receipts, mileage, and hustle there is a lot that can get lost in the fray. Until now.
It’s 1099 problems, but an app ain’t one. We’re rounding up some of our favorite apps and tools for freelancers to make life, organization, and even next year’s taxes that much easier. That way you can focus on the important stuff: like entrepreneur world wide web domination.
WriteRoom
Are you prone to distraction? Symptoms include: checking Instagram before reading a full paragraph, shopping online, vanity googling, googling exes, checking your RSS feed, and getting in Facebook arguments with your grandma. When you’re a freelancer, everything and anything is a welcome diversion. WriteRoom is a full-screen writing environment to minimize distractions and is super helpful when it comes to re-disciplining yourself. It’s obviously great for writers, but it also works when brainstorming ideas for brands. It’s a way to block out the noise and focus on the ideas in your brain.
“Block out the noise and focus on the ideas in your brain.”
MileIQ
If you use your personal vehicle for work, every mile you drive is worth 58 cents in tax deduction of mileage reimbursement. But logging that? Forget it. (And you do.)
The average MileIQ customer is logging $6,900 in mileage deductions. It’s an app that catches every drive, easily classifies drives as business or personal, and gives you a report with the push of a button.
Receiptmate
This is a fully integrated companion app for Evernote (also useful) that allows you to scan your receipts directly into Evernote, enter the amounts (or highlight the total and the app will read), organize and tag, and report on the totals. You don’t need an overcomplicated filing system or that shoebox under your bed (or worse, the center console in your car) because you can throw your receipts away after you scan them. Bless.
Apple Notes (yes, Apple Notes)
The notes app has come a long way. (Remember when everyone was jumping Apple ship to use the aforementioned Evernote?) You can collaborate with multiple people, live, in the notes app. For a freelancer, this means you can create interactive checklists and save time bouncing ideas back and forth in email. Even if you work alone, collaboration is crucial.
Stay Focusd
Have you ever thought, “Gosh, I would be so successful if it weren’t for the internet? Stay Focussd is a tool that blocks the amount of time you can spend on time-suck sites. It’s an app you manage yourself and is customizable. The way it works is simple. You choose the sites you want to block for a specific amount of time. If you are a freelancer who is chronically obsessed with social media, this app could help you immensely.
Toggl
If you need help tracking your hours, Toggl is the leading timesheet app for tracking hours. You can set multiple billable rates for various projects and you can organize as many projects as you can possibly juggle. They say that if you can measure it, you can improve it. Knowing exactly how long it’s taking you to complete certain projects will help you adjust billing and helps increase productivity.
Love this story? Pin the below graphic to your Pinterest board.
This story was originally published on June 16, 2016, and has since been updated.
MORE ON THE BLOG
Slow Stories: Creating and Consuming Content During the COVID-19 Outbreak
“We've never had more tools at our disposal to create content that inspires action.”
Photo: Courtesy of Slow Stories
The spread of COVID-19 has upended the business community on a global level. However, living in an age of profound interconnectivity has brought people together in ways that we never expected—especially on social media.
Like so many others, I've tirelessly refreshed my news and social feeds and watched as they've unearthed a variety of responses to the uncertainty that we're all facing. Recently, I've also ruminated on the ways content can play a role in facilitating productivity in a time that will inevitably call for slowing down in nearly every aspect of our lives.
In one of my earlier columns, I outlined a few key pillars that our initial podcast interviewees attribute to the slow content movement. But as I look at the below touchpoints again (and in the context of present-day challenges), I find myself thinking about how we can take these one step further:
Slow content provides value and purpose.
Slow, thoughtful content has a clear intention. Whether it is to inspire or educate, creating content in this climate forces us to think about how we can provide value beyond our immediate business goals. Ask yourself: Can I provide value to my community by sharing a founder anecdote or reposting a fun image that evokes laughter? Even in a professional context, times of uncertainty offer the opportunity to create value for our customers in new (and necessary) ways.
Slow content considers data and fact-checking.
Content can be an incredible tool to drive conversations forward. Still, the spread of misinformation can also make it difficult to discern the difference between what is fabricated and what is real. During times where there is an uptick in sharing information, creators and businesses can engage with their community by using content to call attention to credible institutions and outlets.
Slowing down our relationship to content makes us nicer, more well-rounded people.
In a rapidly-changing news cycle and digital sharing landscape, slowing down our relationship with content can create more mental runway to think about the things that add value to our lives (beyond our devices). In the case of a global pandemic, finding a balance between staying aware and engaged while establishing healthy digital consumption habits will be essential in how we relate to one another through this trying time.
With so much hanging in the balance, our professional endeavors are certainly no exception. Many people in my own network have begun to think about how content and storytelling will play a role in their brands over the next few months. Below, I'm sharing a few things to consider as we recalibrate our routines and work through the challenges that are becoming increasingly present in our digital age.
Re-evaluate your communications strategy.
When there's an increase in online communication, content creators and business owners have the opportunity to streamline—and in some cases, reevaluate—their content, PR, and brand messaging so that the message they wish to convey is consistent across all communications channels. Use this time to think about what your brand wants to say, how you want it to come across, and how it can stay in-line with your usual voice and tone to avoid sounding inauthentic to your followers or customers.
Create content that inspires social/philanthropic participation.
We've never had more tools at our disposal to create content that inspires action.
However, it's essential to consider how to do this in a way that encourages inclusivity. From sharing charity donation stickers on Instagram Stories to creating bespoke content that ties in more personal brand narratives, creating content that can diversify how your community can get involved can elicit a powerful response. Thinking holistically about content in this way will also create more avenues for charitable goals to be reached, too.
Pause the post.
One of my interviewees said it best: "There is power in the pause." As we become more inundated with content from all directions, we have another option at our fingertips: to pause and step away. As consumers of content, we often forget to be discerning in what we choose to engage in a landscape that demands so much of our time and attention. Communicating what you want (and don't want!) from your favorite brands can be valuable feedback for business leaders to make informed decisions about their future storytelling and brand strategies. At the other end of the spectrum, if you're a content creator and unsure about how to proceed with your current storytelling efforts, use this period to take a step back and reflect. Your followers will thank you for it in the long run.
The points I've laid out in this article only scratch the surface of what we can be doing online. In any case, I hope this piece provides a jumping-off point for you to make thoughtful decisions about the kinds of stories you or your brand wants to tell in the near future. For more insights and musings on creating slow content and stories with longevity, I invite you to check out the ”Slow Stories” podcast (stay tuned for new episodes launching this spring) along with articles from my column here. And, most importantly, I wish you all health and happiness in this tumultuous time.
About the Author: Rachel Schwartzmann is the founder and CEO of The Style Line LLC. She created The Style Line in late January 2011 via Tumblr and has fostered The Style Line’s brand in its growth since then. Rachel has been featured in esteemed sources including Forbes, Refinery29, and MyDomaine and has also spoken at Create & Cultivate and Columbia University on establishing a unique brand point of view and entrepreneurship. On October 1, 2015, Rachel took The Style Line in a new direction as a boutique content company with the introduction of its slow content agency CONNECT(ED)ITORIAL.
You can follow Rachel at:
The Style Line: @thestyleline (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter)
CONNECT(ED)ITORIAL: @connecteditorial (Instagram)
Rachel Schwartzmann: @rachelschwartzmann (Instagram) @RMSchwartzmann (Twitter)
MORE ON THE BLOG
Slow Stories: How to Set Content Resolutions for the New Year
“The resolve to create content will be rooted in something much more profound than virality and beauty.”
Photo: Courtesy of Slow Stories
As we ease back into our daily workflow and embrace the opportunities that come with a new (albeit uncertain) year, the resolve to create content will be rooted in something much more profound than virality and beauty. Now more than ever before, content creators must consider the current cultural landscape to ignite dialogues that not only further their business goals but inspire widespread change, too.
That's not to say that these efforts haven't culminated in action already. When I look back on 2019 from a business perspective, there was certainly no shortage of inspiring and impactful brand storytelling. Many of the founders and professionals I interviewed in our most recent season of Slow Stories have already doubled down on their efforts to slow down and spearhead thoughtful online narratives.
As a refresher, here are a few key takeaways from our most recent episodes:
Lead with vulnerability.
Vulnerability has become one of those words that can take on multiple meanings. While some may choose to be more forthcoming or vocal about certain experiences than others, our podcast guests argued that taking a more unfiltered or candid approach to storytelling will resonate with modern consumers. How far you want to go is up to you.
Time is money—but it's also much more than that.
Our relationship with time was another recurring theme that arose during these discussions. Our interviewees made the case that slowing down both our content creation and consumption habits creates headspace to be thoughtful about how we spend our time personally and professionally. Adopting this approach also creates a more sustainable cadence in how we engage with our customer communities online.
With interconnectivity comes great responsibility.
Lastly, our interviewees acknowledged that we have a responsibility not only to our customers but to one another as industry professionals. Stewarding responsible discussions within key leadership circles will become even more critical to enact actual systemic change—especially in our current business culture, which has become dependent upon "always-on" communication.
When the podcast season ended in December, these ideas naturally inspired me to think about how to goal-set and create resolutions through a digital/content lens. In many ways, maintaining resolutions of any kind is an ongoing process. So if you're unsure of where to start when it comes to identifying your "content" resolutions, I'm sharing a few pillars to help jumpstart your planning for the year ahead.
“Connect with others beyond the four corners of a screen... strengthening real-life connections can often lead to valuable feedback and new ways of thinking about your online storytelling efforts. ”
Organization: Don't underestimate the power of preparation.
Digital housekeeping is no exception to this. Several tools can help you stay on track with your goals so that you're maximizing your time on checking the boxes of your big- picture content goals and action items. Scheduling and planning apps like PLANOLY (revisit my interview with their founder here) can help with baseline organizational tactics like setting up weekly or monthly content calendars. There are also analog options like Create & Cultivate's career-focused collection of agenda books and calendars, which can help organize your big-picture business goals. Whatever your style may be, getting organized is the best way to free your mind up so that you can create intentional and purposeful content.
Exploration: Explore what motivates you and the stories you want to tell.
Many new businesses often go through exploratory phases to discover key elements about what will make their brand stand out and appeal to their target audience. While this approach can often be time-consuming (and eye-opening), it's a resolution worth pursuing in that it will allow you to think critically about what stories you want to contribute to an already highly-saturated content landscape. To start, try having an exploratory workshop with your team every quarter—if anything, it is an act in remembering to think (and dream) big.
Connection: Get "social" outside of social media.
One of my last recommended resolutions is to connect with others beyond the four corners of a screen. Even if you're an introvert like me, there is immense value in attending events and getting together with peers. You can be discerning about the gatherings or events you attend (remember to honor your time), but strengthening real-life connections can often lead to valuable feedback and new ways of thinking about your online storytelling efforts. Investing in professional relationships can also translate into fruitful professional collaborations, in turn, creating opportunities to make your content that much more dynamic.
While it's difficult to predict future industry trends and the inevitable ebbs and flows of business, I hope this article provides a framework to start thinking about the ways you can implement thoughtful storytelling in your own brand or content for 2020 — and beyond. I'll be touching more on these themes in the coming months, but in the meantime, if you're interested in learning more about how brand builders are approaching slow content in their businesses, check out the Slow Stories podcast along with past articles from my column here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rachel Schwartzmann is the Founder and CEO of The Style Line LLC. She created The Style Line in late January 2011 via Tumblr and has fostered The Style Line’s brand in its growth since then. Rachel has been featured in esteemed sources including Forbes, Refinery29, and MyDomaine and has also spoken at Create & Cultivate and Columbia University on establishing a unique brand point of view and entrepreneurship. On October 1, 2015, Rachel took The Style Line in a new direction as a boutique content company with the introduction of its slow content agency CONNECT(ED)ITORIAL.
You can follow Rachel at:
The Style Line: @thestyleline (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter)
CONNECT(ED)ITORIAL: @connecteditorial (Instagram)
Rachel Schwartzmann: @rachelschwartzmann (Instagram) @RMSchwartzmann (Twitter)
3 Things To Consider Before Becoming A Digital Nomad
Choosing to work and travel the world is now easier than ever.
It seems like everywhere we look, more and more people are choosing to become digital nomads and embracing the #workfromanywhere lifestyle. While the thought of living and working on the road is what a lot of people aspire to do, it’s important to realize that once you take the leap, it isn’t all just sangria on the coast of Spain (although that is an added perk).
When you’re thinking about becoming location independent, either working remotely for a company, freelancing, or realizing that your current business simply requires an internet connection and a good cup of coffee... it’s important to remember these three things:
Slow Travel Is Sustainable Travel
When you’re starting this new chapter of your life, odds are you’re going to want to book a ticket around the world and head to a different country every week. Heed my advice: slow travel is sustainable travel.
If being a digital nomad or location independent is something you want to keep up for a while, make an effort to be in one place for 3 to 4 weeks at a time so you can truly make the most of your experience.
Being on the road takes time and energy, but when you’re fully immersed in a place for around a month, there are endless benefits. You’ll be able to feel settled, create a routine, and most importantly be able to be present instead of worrying about the next plane ticket you have to buy or when the next train leaves.
When you opt for slower travel, it also allows you to become fully immersed in the culture you’re in. When you’re in a new country or city for 4 to 5 days, you’ll only just scratch the surface of what it has to offer.
Learn How To Work Smarter, Not Harder
Don’t believe the Instagram hype. Being a digital nomad doesn’t mean that you’ll be on the beach in the Amalfi Coast all day long or ziplining through Guatemala from sunrise to sundown. While these new experiences might be part of your journey, don’t forget that you’ll still need to work to pay the bills (and lattes).
Choosing to work from anywhere will force you to work smarter, not harder. With new experiences, people, and places at your fingertips, you’ll learn how to get the essentials done in less time so you can enjoy where you are.
A few ways to keep things under control especially when starting out....
When planning your travel, think about where your team or clients are based so that you don’t have to work odds hours. Let’s be real, conference calls at 2 am in Thailand isn’t ideal.
Create a new schedule that allows you to still respect your ideal working hours while you’re on the road so you can stay balanced and happy while still checking off items on your to-do list.
Consider spending “off-peak” hours exploring so that you aren’t stuck behind a computer all day long. If you’re traveling through Europe and your team is in the U.S., consider taking the morning hours to get to know your new city so that when everyone else is headed into the office (6 hours later) you’ll be readily available without regret.
Find Community That Fosters Deep Connection
“Why do I need to find community? I have my friends and family at home as my support system.”
While that may be true, one of the things that connects us as human beings is shared experiences. When you start life on the road, you’ll find yourself longing for real connections with others who are on the same path. Loneliness as a location independent worker is real.
While you’ll meet a lot of new people, it’s important to go the extra mile to foster relationships that aren’t just surface level.
Many people who work and travel choose to stay at coliving spaces exactly for that reason. Coliving is an up-and-coming trend where you live and work with other like-minded people for a period of time, normally between 2 - 8 weeks.
Something I’ve seen time and time again at one of the leading coliving spaces in Europe is when you’re in a place that offers both personal and professional development, you seem to connect on a deeper level. Sharing a space and certain experiences with others positively impacts life on the road and creates long-lasting friendships.
Choosing to work and travel the world is now easier than ever and such a rewarding experience at the same time. Be sure to do your research before you get ready to take the leap and remember that slow and steady wins the race. You want to make the most of your digital nomad experience and when you set yourself up for success before even leaving home, you’ll have that much more of an opportunity to thrive along the way.
Sienna Brown is an entrepreneur and expat thriving on the coast of Spain. Her mission is to teach others how to build a life that they love. She’s the founder of Las Morenas de Espana, a platform teaching women of color how to move abroad and thrive. She also leads business development at Sun and Co., one of the leading coliving spaces in Europe. Follow her on Instagram @siempregirando and reach out sienna@siempregirando.com
MORE FROM THE BLOG
How Refusing To Compare & Despair Helped Me Build a Unique App
“We focused less on standing out, and more on what we had to offer.”
I initially didn’t love the idea: an app that livestreams meditation. My boss suggested it amidst a lunchtime brainstorm, about the intersections of the wellness and technology spaces. I questioned whether live meditation really offered something different than other meditation apps. We brushed over the idea.
It wasn’t until I coincidentally began offering an optional Friday meditation to my coworkers via conference call (most of them were remote in different parts of the US) that I began to connect the dots. The real catalyst was a feeling my coworker experienced during this weekly meditation call. As she listened in and followed my voice, she noticed that her mind was not spiraling with anxious thoughts in the same way she had experienced when listening to guided meditation alone. She explained that it felt like everyone was meditating there with her in Seattle, even though the rest of the team was actually in Brooklyn, Toronto, and Walla Walla.
I couldn’t stop thinking about it: live meditation. Hundreds of people meditating at the same time across the world. Meditating in collective energy. I was reminded of studies that showed that group meditation has had a resonant effect on surrounding areas, reducing conflict and violence. This led me to a question that many of our great thinkers have explored: is there a single unifying force that joins us all together? And if so, can we tap into it?
I went back to my boss. Luckily, exploring and investing in this idea aligned with our company mission to start creating our own digital products again.
So, we went for it.
I kicked off the process, ushering myself through the same steps I often usher clients through: research, strategy, design, build, refinement. I was confronted with a sea of well-designed meditation apps from credible meditation experts, funded by lots of capital. There was a small opening in the market: no one was offering live meditation. We also had a unique scenario rare to the “app” world, where we were our own clients. We focused less on how to stand out, and focused our effort on what would allow an authentic manifestation of this idea.
As I began digging into design, I realized that if I continued to face the challenge of designing a meditation app, it would likely look and feel similar to other apps. In order to stand out, I needed to nurture what was unique to us. How do I help people feel the presence of others? How do I create a space in which people feel a sense of community, perhaps the presence of something “bigger” than themselves, without drawing away from the meditation practice itself? We focused less on standing out, and more on what we had to offer.
I used these questions as guard-rails. Functionality, structure, and aesthetic all had to contribute to accentuating this “feeling” of calm and the collective.
We started by stripping away anything that might distract people, or feed into our familiar behaviors of consuming content. I thought about how well-established apps (Twitter, Instagram) started, and noticed that these now refined, polished products launched with a single function. A small focused product could create big impact. We removed functionality— sign-ups, likes, comments, noted meditations— and interactions — scrolling and double taps—that weren’t 100% necessary to our experience. We landed on one single UI element: a button that allows you to Tap In and listen to a live meditation.
Our meditations wouldn’t be stored. We committed whole-heartedly to the desire to bring people together at the same time. Storing meditations would mean there would be less people sitting together daily.
We used a working prototype internally for 8 weeks prior to our beta week. During that time, we learned what being live really meant. For example, while in our internal prototype phase, I led one of our first meditations using the app from my home in Brooklyn. A man, outside my window very loudly yelled “F*** you!” It was a quintessential New York moment, but not one that was conducive to meditation. Being live meant things could go wrong: teachers could cough, a fire truck could go by, a man outside the window could yell profanities. It introduced a rawness that felt uncomfortable in a digital world that obsesses over curated experiences. We’d be removing the mask of curation, revealing our imperfections. Meditation teaches us to notice all of the facets of being human, including the environments we’re in. The more we can turn into ourselves and our breath, the more we can turn down the chaos around us. With some loose guidelines in place to ensure a relaxing experience, we chose to embrace it.
The remainder was primarily aesthetic, and relied on details and metaphors. We landed on the idea of each user being represented by a light orb, rather than photos or videos. As users “Tap In,” we could create a celestial ecosystem. With a halo identifying your own orb, you flock together and shift shapes with the other meditators. We aim to accentuate the feeling of togetherness— or at least ignite the imagination. Our backgrounds are blobs of colors, with ribbon-like shapes intersecting, visualizing what energy looks like to me. They continuously undulate and shift back and forth, up and down. We created a space that users can walk into, in hopes of immediately promoting calm.
As I reflect back on the creation experience, I noticed it’s often easier to look at other products and see value in their solution, rather than mold your own unique but raw ideas. Looking out rather than in often moves us into a space of comparison instead of creation. What is it that you are really trying to solve? And how can you share your unique take on that idea. In the creation of Tap In, solving the design for the app meant borrowing deeply from meditation traditions: silencing the noise in order to stay clear and true to the pure “essence,” the seed, the soul of the idea.
Originally from Montréal, Margaux Le Pierrès works as the design director at Fictive Kin, a digital product studio, where she had lead branding & digital product design for fabulous companies like National Geographic & Kickstarter. Margaux is also a certified Reiki Master, and Akashic record practitioner, with experience working with clients one-on-one to help facilitate opportunities for people to connect to themselves more deeply, and live a more authentic life. Along with Fictive Kin, Margaux recently launched Tap In, the first live, collective meditation app.
MORE ON THE BLOG
6 Ways To Use Copywriting To Build Your Personal Brand
Write the right way.
Doesn’t it feel like advice about building a personal brand is everywhere lately? It’s true that a big part of building your personal brand is showing up on social media and maintaining an aesthetically pleasing, strategic website. But the thing that really makes or breaks your personal brand is your messaging. From blog posts to newsletters (and even Instagram captions), you’re the one shaping how others view you through words.
When you’re struggling to bring it all together, the best place to start is on your website. Social media platforms will come and go, but website copywriting is one of the seven pillars of your personal brand as an entrepreneur since brand clarity— how you want to be perceived by others— is where it all starts after you define the purpose of your business.
Writing your website might totally freak you out, but it doesn’t have to be such an undertaking. Keep reading for six ways you can use copywriting to build your personal brand and have confidence that what you want to say matches up with how you say it.
Start by writing your website.
Going through the steps of writing your website copy and then moving outwards towards other communications like blogs, newsletters, social posts, and even podcasts is a solid strategy for finding the brand voice that fits you.
Before you start writing, make sure you’ve given plenty of thought to what you’d like to be known for. Which topics are you an expert in? Which services or products are you selling, and who are you selling them to? These are the questions you should answer before digging into your homepage. If you’re lost, look back on your social media posts. How did you use these posts to communicate with your ideal client or reader?
To make the process of bringing it all together a little less scary, try writing the homepage headline first. A typical format is “I help [ideal client] with [specific goal] by [list or one-liner of what you do.” Yours might look a little like this: I help creative service-based businesses shore up their marketing strategies through SEO and social reach.
But this isn’t the only way to write a homepage headline. Feel free to get creative here!
Find the intersection between your voice and audience.
As you’re writing the pages of your website, you’ll want to bank words, lingo, and stories you find yourself using a lot. While you’ll want to avoid repetition, it’s definitely a good idea to know which words work with your personal brand. But you’re not the only one reading your site.
When writing, you should always remember to speak to your ideal client. If you’re unclear about who that is, pause the writing process and poll them. If you don’t have readers yet, pop into a Facebook group in your niche and ask for feedback. Genuinely, of course.
You’ll want to know what their pain points are so that your offerings will be much more specific to them. Plus, you may get some ideas for what to write straight from your audience.
Make a brand guide with core values.
If you make a brand guide before you write anything, it’s all too easy to fall into analysis paralysis. Instead of banking all your words and ideas beforehand, a better way to solidify what you want to write is by quantifying what’s unique about your service in the form of core values.
What do you believe and how is that absolutely necessary to run your business? What is unique about what you offer? These are questions you should ask yourself and write down, especially in a saturated niche.
Look at unique words for inspiration.
An important element of writing your website is characterizing the tone and style of your brand. Is it exuberant? Bookish? Classy? If you’re stuck describing what you want to write as fun or nice, get inspiration from out-there or untranslatable words on Pinterest or the thesaurus. You may not be packing your copy with these words, but you’ll definitely benefit from the fresh ideas.
Learn from voices outside your industry to really stand out.
Staying in your lane and not interested in the competition? While it may seem like a good idea to avoid looking at the competition at all costs, it’s a good idea to see where your competitors stand so your pricing and offers match up with the industry. It’s also a great way to see how your website copy can present you as a unique and separate solution from your competition. Still, you don’t want this to drive your entire strategy.
Look to those slightly outside your industry.
As a copywriter, I would not want to pay too close attention to a fellow writer, but I love looking to designers’ websites to see how other creatives present themselves.
When you’re writing, don’t look at their webpages. Try to focus on what you want to do. Take notes on what works, and use those to guide you instead.
Don’t rely on design to tell you if your copy is good.
When you have a pretty website, it’s all too easy to get swept away by design. That’s why you should avoid writing your website words directly into your template. Open up Google Docs and type away. Check for errors, read aloud, and don’t let your design tell you that the copy is working when it isn’t. Wording should come first, and then you can beta test it in the live preview.
Kayla Dean is a website copywriter and content writer for visual creatives helping entrepreneurs say what they mean with confidence and strategy. Her byline has appeared in publications like Bustle, The Believer, and Darling. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her planning her next big trip or marking a book as “Currently Reading” on Goodreads.
MORE ON THE BLOG
Our 5 Favorite Email Marketing Platforms
Send, convert, profit.
Whether you have a business in place or just the inkling of an idea, it’s never too early (or late) to beef up your communication with customers. Long gone are the days of spending money on print ads. With the creation of email, it has never been easier to find someone looking to buy what you’re selling.
These five email marketing sites are just waiting to help you and your business connect with that next dream client.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp was made for getting your feet wet. You can start using the site free of charge if you have 2000 subscribers or less. As your contacts list grows, you can upgrade your account at any time to either the Grow or Pro Plan without affecting your existing account. Mailchimp offers unique and easy-to-use design templates as well as Facebook and Instagram ads to match. If you’re still into physical mail, they also have a postcard option, so your customers’ mailboxes can get some love, too.
HubSpot
HubSpot believes in businesses building better relationships with their customers, which is why they offer a completely free option known as HubSpot CRM (customer relationship management). It offers the ability to email up to one million contacts, so you never have to worry about outgrowing it. While HubSpot CRM remains free forever, you can build upon it with any (or all) of the three extensions: Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, or Service Hub. HubSpot also offers Instagram and Facebook ads along with their emails.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact not only formats emails for desktop, they also have your phone in mind (because let’s be honest, we all check email on our phones). With templates for both desktop and phone, you can easily personalize your emails to look professional and enticing on all sorts of devices. While it only offers a 60-day free trial, the most basic plan on the site starts at $20 a month. Want to make your subscribers feel like family? There’s also the option of sending out specialized emails for birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions.
Drip
Drip sells itself as the first e-commerce customer relationship manager, and it focuses on how best to get a customer to buy your product. With multiple app integrations, Drip can be tailored to meet your needs. Individualized messages can be sent to customers to help build meaningful relationships, as well as specialized Facebook ads and postcards. Drip’s basic plan starts at $49 a month and can support up to 2,500 subscribers.
SendinBlue
SendinBlue will help you create the professional newsletter of your dreams. Simply drag and drop the sleek and clean design blocks to create your own template. The system uses an algorithm to help you send emails out at the best time for each of your customers, so you reach them when it’s most convenient for them (and effective for you). SendinBlue’s free plan allows you to send 300 emails a day and is GDRP compliant as of May 2018.
Do you have another favorite email marketing service? Share with us in the comments!
MORE ON THE BLOG
Instagram 101: 5 Quick Ways To Grow Your Following
From 0 to 100k, real quick.
When it comes to social media for brands and influencers, it's fair to say its all a numbers game. But let's face it: if you don't have a proper plan in place to grow your Instagram, you can't expect your profile to have 1000+ followers from one day to another, and it definitely isn't a matter of posting on Instagram just to post something. By having a strategic plan in place and following these quick 5 tips to boost your engagement, you can expect a steady growth in your following and a much more engaged audience!
1. Engage and comment!
Engaging and commenting is a given when it comes to growing your social media numbers. This is how you keep the followers you have, and also attract new ones by putting yourself on their radar. The purpose of social media is to stay connected, so make your followers and audience feel like you're accessible rather than just posting a photo and waiting for the likes to come through.
2. Unfollow the fluff
Sometimes, who we follow is a strategic part of how you maintain your account, so always be sure to follow people or brands that are in line with what your brand represents. Unfollow profiles that are irrelevant to what your brand is about, inactive profiles, or even brands that are your competition. If you're following your 4th grade classmate that you haven't talked to in 20+ years and the last time they posted was in 2016, might just need to hit that unfollow button.
3. Participate in popular hashtags
Thanks to the Instagram search page, you can immediately see what's trending on Instagram. If you see something trending that's relevant to your brand, go crazy and ENGAGE ENGAGE ENGAGE. Not only that, but use the hashtags with your own content and end your captions with 3-5 hashtags that are most important to what your content is about. However, make sure to keep your hashtags to a minimum. There more you add can seem a bit spammy, and if you have to add more, make sure to add it in a second comment aside from the caption in order to avoid distracting your followers with 30+ hashtags that will probably make them unfollow you.
4. Put your photography skills into practice with the use of props, great angles, and good lighting!
Think of your Instagram as a perfect opportunity to do some styling in order to get the perfect shot. For the perfect Insta, use the best lighting, the right angles, the right props, and make sure that the shot is cohesive to what the rest of your Instagram looks like. The more thought out and aesthetically pleasing your Instagram is, the more more you can expect new followers coming in on the daily. To build the perfect feed, check out some of our tips here!
5. Plan ahead with a content calendar!
So you haven't posted in two days, and now you're left thinking "oh man, what should I post today?" Avoid the drama of figuring out what you're going to post and plan out your content ahead of time! Spend a day collecting photos to post throughout the week, and use tools like Planogr.am to schedule your posts ahead of time and also to style how you want your feed to look ahead of time! That way you can focus more of your week on other important things that constantly wondering what you're going to post next!
What tactics have helped you grow your platforms? Let us know below!
Priscilla Castro is Create & Cultivate's Director of Social Media and Community in Los Angeles. She also does social media client work at (No Subject), and was previously Editorial Director at BeautyCon. Follow her @kodeofkondukt.
MORE ON THE BLOG