Giving Back This Holiday Season

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As Thanksgiving approaches this week, we all begin to reflect on all the blessings we have in our lives. In our #KeystoKindness series this month, we have been encouraging everyone to find ways to reach out and spread kindness. Another way to do that is to give back to your communities. Each of us has a set of specialized talents and skillsthat we use to be successful. Here are some ways to spread your generosity through the end of the year.
Community Service
The obvious choice for many, when it comes to giving back to our local communities, is to participate in a community service project. This can be done solo, with your family, or arranged as a teamwith your organization. There are so many different non-profits out there looking for help during the holiday season.
Collaboration
Short on time or ideas? Team up with a location organization to help them in their community service efforts. Plenty of businesses, churches and scouting groups are already coordinating drives and other service efforts. This is a great way to make an impact without having to do all the coordination and behind the scenes work.
Mentoring
As a business professional, you have plenty to offer someone out there trying to make their mark. This could be a great opportunity to take on an intern or to work with a local youth group to coach and mentor based on your own expertiseand knowledge. This is a way to give back that could have long-term benefits for people and costs you nothing but time and energy.
Random Acts of Kindness
The pay it forward concept is not new and never gets old. Get in the habit of practicing random acts of kindness or giving in ways where you expect nothing in return. If someone wants to reciprocate, cultivate that pay it forward vibe by telling him or her to do something for another person. Keep it going!
Sponsor a Charity Event
This is a great way to help out a local organization while also generating some marketing presence for your company. It also requires little effort on your part as often the only requirements are to send over a check and email a copy of your logo for marketing purposes.
Give Back Event
Instead of planning an event this month to make profit, consider running a webinar, workshop or class and not charging for your time and knowledge. Or organize an event that utilizes your skill set for free. This one time event is a great way to practice giving back and helping others. It will also generate some good will and word of mouth for you and what you do!
Hopefully this article gives you some ideas to mull over. Don’t let this opportunity to spread kindness pass up without doing something. We all get busy, especially during the holidays. However, nothing feels better or is more rewarding than sharing your gifts with those in need. #BeAwesome everyone!
~ Social Media is changing the way people do business.  Don’t get left behind ~ 
https://thesocialmediaadvisor.com/


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Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn,Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , YouTube,Pinterest, Instagram  and the tools to manage them. 

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars.

Social Seven: Tools of the Trade – Hootsuite

Social Seven – Social Media Podcast
With Erin Cell of Socially Powered and Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor



Tools of the Trade – Hootsuite

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Hootsuite is one of our very favorite social media management tools. Hollie uses Hootsuite every day and sets it up for her clients.  What she loves about Hootsuite is that there is all the flexibility in the world to customize content. You can also add images, schedule timing, and upload different items. There is also a new functionality now where you can add pictures to different albums and, therefore, add multiple images.
 
 

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Does Canva work with Hootsuite? Yes, you can use your Canva images within Hootsuite and schedule it out. The capture feature takes an image from a blog post or article and automatically puts into the content.
The reporting offered through Hootsuite is a little bit pricey. However, the overview can be beneficial to see a simple snapshot. Plus, it can be sent via email. Clients can also be notified when a post goes out through the tool.
The bulk import option is a lifesaver, especially for Twitter users. Sometimes it is a little bit finicky but saves quite a bit of time. It’s an option to import a lot of tweets all at once. This is great for social media content managers to reuse or repurpose old content. Twitter content moves constantly so it’s unlikely that followers there will ever notice that the content has been posted prior.
Free or paid version of Hootsuite? It’s a reasonable fee for the ease of use and benefit that you get from the tool. There are over 180 apps within the site. However, there is a free version available as well. Users can upload a video from YouTube into Hootsuite.
Should you schedule Facebook posts through Hootsuite? Is there a difference in reach and engagement when posting through the tool? It depends on the type of post.
There is a rumor that Facebook penalizes account owners who schedule posts through other sites or tools because they want users to natively post directly from the site. However, Facebook scheduler doesn’t always work and you can count on Hootsuite posting the content as scheduled. This is still a bit of uncharted territory so be sure to monitor engagement when using Hootsuite and compare it against what you receive when you post to Facebook directly.
Think Hootsuite has a place in your toolbox for scheduling content and staying on top of your social media? Follow us on social media to find out when our Social Seven podcast is streaming live!

World Peace Day – Being Kind in Interactions

November 17th is the time set aside each year for World Peace Day. This ties in nicely with the month of gratitude and blessings. Taking a moment to sit back and practice harmony, diversity and peace is a good way to begin new habits. While world peace may seem like a lofty goal, there are ways to smart small – in your own communities – to promote the same idea. It is all about practicing kindness. More than just random acts of kindness, curating a habit of being kind on a daily basis will be rewarding in so many ways.
Being kind is more than just an activity; it can be a way of life. Often people get wrapped up in all the reasons or justifications for not being kind:
“I’ve had a bad day.”
“No one said a kind word to me today.”
“That person is so standoffish.”
“I’ve just been so busy.”
Yes, anyone can find a reason to avoid being kind. Here are all the reasons you should cultivate a kindness approach instead.
Being Kind is Good for Others
Spreading kindness in a world that is fast moving and mostly self-centered causes people to stop and take note. It is not expected but is so often needed. As they say, everyone is fighting a battle of some sort. As human beings, we crave connection with others and a kind wordor gesture can turn a person’s day around or change a negative outlook.
Being Kind is Good for You
Doing something nice for others actually makes us feel better. There is science to back it up! Being kind increases our dopamine levels and releases oxytocin. Dopamine is the same chemical that is released when we are in love or get a natural high. Oxytocin is released when we receive hugs, cuddle, and feel bliss. This is our body’s way of encouraging us to be supportive of each other!
If you believe in the notion of karma, every kind move you make will return to you tenfold. I’d call that stacking the deckin your favor!
Being Kind Sets An Example
Kindness can be contagious. This is why random acts of kindness and pay it forward are such popular concepts. As you radiate an aura of kindness, your family, friends and colleagues will notice. You will inspire others to follow your example. This is the highest form of flattery and the easiest way to spread kindness in your community.
They say it takes at least two weeks to develop a new habit. Why not start contributing to world peace by practicing kindness every day for the rest of the month? This is a natural way to #BeAwesome! If you appreciate this week’s #KeystoKindness article, please share it with your networks.
~ Social Media is changing the way people do business.  Don’t get left behind ~ 
https://thesocialmediaadvisor.com/


Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn,Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , YouTube,Pinterest, Instagram  and the tools to manage them. 

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars.

The Scoop on Canva

Social Seven – Social Media Podcast
With Erin Cell of Socially Powered and Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor


The Scoop on Canva!

Canva is a social media management tool. It allows you to create images for your website, social media, business cards, presentations and other branding needs. There is a free version and an upgraded version. There is also the option to select from premium images and pay for different templates and designs.
The crisp colors, cool fonts and other options in Canva are very nice. Plus, you can import your own images and edit them within the site. This helps to really brand. It takes it from a corporate brand to something a bit more personal. Social media users should be using a lot of images.
Canva is now coming out with Canva for work, which will allow social media managers to better organize design elements for their clients. That will enable this group to separate logos, images, fonts and colors by clients and keep everything separate but still accessible on the site.
When you play with different photo editing tools there can be a bit of a learning curve. This takes advanced graphic design knowledge out of the equation. No need to learn Photoshop or be a graphic designer to create something in Canva. When you use this tool, you feel like you are paying for top-notch design elements. Even the templates are affordably priced. You could make 100 different designs or images and store them within the tool for future use.
Also, Canva has all the major social media platform dimensions. It’s automatically formatted whether you want to make a Facebook ad or a Twitter cover image. Users can also create images using custom dimensions as well.
Canva at work does have an affiliate program for early access to this site feature.
Canva also provides learning tools including a design school. These will teach you how to use the tool. For those with writer’s block, there is a stream of designs from other users to help inspire you to make something new.
Those of you who haven’t used Canva before, check it out. Play with the templates. Go through some of the tutorials and try some different things. It’s an awesome tool. It will change your branding and put yourself into your brand for a change.
Think Canva has a place in your toolbox to design on the fly and spread your message? Follow us on social media to find out when our Social Seven podcast is streaming live!

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