How to Maintain Your Business's Social Media Presence While You're on Vacation

I just spent the last ten days in Florida.

Except I wasn't on vacation. Not really, anyway. 

Even though I was in another country, lying on the beach most of the time, I still feel obligated to fit in my 8-hour workday responsibilities, which was extremely difficult given the allure of the sun and the on-average 29° temperatures and my parents' constant reminders of how pale I am.

I had a hard time staying on track with my typical daily routine, and I'd have to have been delusional to think I could follow my strict schedule to a "T" in vacation mode. So how do some people do it? How do they go away for weeks at a time and manage to maintain some kind of social media/business presence? I've compiled a list of ways (and subsequently a short rhyme, because things are better when they rhyme) to help you stay on track with your work responsibilities when you go on vacation.

Schedule

Properly scheduling your posts isn't just about knowing what you plan to post on which days, but about having those pictures, blog posts, and hashtags ready to go so you can get them over with in less than a minute. Sure, some people are actually organized and plan these things ahead of time already, but some of you must be like me: waiting until the last minute then all of a sudden you're like, "Oh yeah, I need to post something today!"

While I do schedule photoshoot days where I get a bunch of flat lay shots, a few selfies, and a few other content pictures out of the way, I don't actually plan which photos will be posted on which days. It's the same with blog posts and Tweets; I don't plan specific days to post, I just post as soon as I get to it. 

With a regular structured schedule, it's not a huge deal if you're planning your content day-by-day, but by planning ahead, you can go on vacation and actually enjoy your vacation without creating unnecessary stress everyday that you're away. (After all, you're supposed to be forgetting about work.)

Create

Sometimes I'll have a few days-worth of posts ready and just as I'm about to post, I'll look at a picture and decide I hate it and have to find something new. Tastes change and sometimes what you had planned doesn't feel right in the moment. Try to have some extra content ready to post in case you decide at the last minute you really don't want to post that workspace picture, or you've suddenly decided you hate that selfie you were going to post.

Despite having my entire social media scheduled while I was away, I think I changed every single post I had planned anyway. I don't write blog posts very frequently, but it would be the same idea for someone who likes to post on their blog once a week: have more finished posts than you need, so you have options when the time comes to post.

(How many times do you think I can say post?) 

Incorporate

To me this is kind of the lazy man's way of staying on top of things (so naturally, the way I do it). It's like "I ran out of ideas for what to post, so I'm just going to wait until I'm on vacation to post pictures from my trip"--and that's totally valid! I find it's actually very effective and that travel pictures garner more engagement than other pictures do when they're posted periodically. Unless you're a travel blogger/writer, littering your social media accounts with travel pictures is very misleading of your brand (I also thing the whole travel-fashion-lifestyle Instagrammer thing is so overdone and completely unoriginal), but a few here and there is a nice and aesthetically appealing change for your audience. 

Or, do what I did and write something based on your trip, like How to Do Such-and-Such While You're on Vacation, or 5 Non-Touristy Things to Do in X-Country. 

When you're scheduling your posts for the next X-amount of days, for organization's sake, just allot specific days to travel post like you would any other post. I knew I wanted a workspace picture while I was in Florida, but obviously couldn't get one until I was in Florida, so I said, "On this day, I'm going to find a coffee shop to work in, and I'm going to take a picture of my workspace setup." It also motivated me to actually get off the beach for a bit to go to a coffee shop and do work.

Yes, we live in a very work-obsessed time where people work 60-hours a week and only get two weeks of paid vacation a year, but if you're lucky enough to work from home or be your own boss, I think it's important to make the most of that freedom and get out into the world once in awhile. Hopefully these tips can help you plan ahead so you can make the most of your holidays. 

The Copywriter's Foolproof Guide to Creating Effective Copy

Copywriting is different from content writing in that it's about selling something, whether it's a product or service, or selling a company through their website. Effective copywriting will target a specific audience by getting inside their minds and using the language and tone that most appeal to them. A copywriter must keep both their client and their client's customer in mind, while also reining in his or her own voice. I go through a specific process when I write copy for a company's website to make sure the language feels right. This guide will help you to create the most effective copy for your brand.

Step 1: Who?

Naturally, the first thing you need to consider before you begin writing is who you're writing for? Who is your client is and who is their target customer? Does your client cater to millennials? Stay-at-home moms? Successful copy depends on reaching the right audience, and if you use high school slang or make millennial pop culture references on a website intended for the 35+ crowd, chances are they won't stick around to keep reading because they won't identify with your content. 

Step 2: How?

How does your client want their customer to feel? Once you know the target audience, you can branch off into a tone that would best appeal to the audience. A high-end restaurant, for example, would probably want you to use a more formal language and fancy-pants wording to portray a luxurious, exclusive tone. A fast-food chain, on the other hand, might prefer to keep things casual and use simple, fewer-syllable words to portray a chill, laid back vibe. 

Step 3: Make a list

Based on my established target customer, I will then make a list of words that would resonate with or be used by that audience. For example, one of my clients was in a music-related field and they wanted to project an image of luxury. So, before even beginning to write the copy for their website, I made a list of musical-sounding words and that I thought would appeal best to their target customer.

You won't use half the words you come up with, but creating a list of related words puts you in the mindset of that customer and will help generate some kind of flow of ideas.

My actual rough copy for a company's website content.

Step 4: Write out the Facts

I don't know if I'm just a weird person or if other writers would agree with me, but I feel words before I understand them. When I write, I first write total garbage in the way that I want my writing to feel before plugging in the right words to actually convey my message.

Write down the necessary information before tailoring the content to your client, then just write out anything that comes into your mind. Many writers have trouble getting words out because they over-think what they're writing out, but the best way to figure out what you want to say is to "word-vomit" all over the page.   

Step 5: Plug-in

Once I've gotten all my ideas on the page, I mould the text to the client. I'll throw in words from my list, read the text aloud, and see how it flows and makes me feel. Of course, there are infinite ways to write the simplest of ideas, so you will probably want to re-write the whole thing in a completely new way.

I don't think most writers are ever fully happy with their writing; I still re-read old posts and wish I'd written something differently, but by following these steps you can at least ensure that the copy you've written will effectively resonate with your intended audience. 

Why Freelancers and Work-From-Homers Should Work From Around the World

One of the biggest benefits of working from home is the ability to work from anywhere. As long as you're getting the job done, who really cares where it's from? I'm a huge advocate that any work-from-home creative-type not only can work from around the world, but should. 

Working from around the world can inspire and influence your work in such a different way than working from the familiarity of your own home ever could. Immersing yourself in a new culture, feeling like you're on vacation (and thus less pressure to get a certain amount of work done in a set amount of time), and being exposed to different sites and scenery can give you a whole new perspective on life and in whatever it is that you do in your career. And in the end, isn't the goal to expand our perspectives and better ourselves?

You Get to Immerse Yourself in a New Culture

I don't know if it's because Toronto isn't exactly known for its rich history, or if it's some kind of placebo effect, but being in a different culture altogether gave me newfound motivation. The Icelandic lifestyle, for example, is so unbelievably slow, which stressed me out at first, having become accustomed to the fast-pace city life. But once I got comfortable with the slow pace, I was able to approach my work with a fresher, more laid-back perspective. Your environment has a much larger effect on your work style than you might think, and just like switching it up from working at your desk to working in a coffee shop benefits your work ethic and increases productivity, so does switching your location on a much larger scale.

Less Stress Because You're "on Vacation"

I like working on weekends more so than during the week. There's really no difference between working on a Wednesday and working on a Saturday, and it's not as if time freezes on the weekend, thus allowing us to get more work done. The difference is that on weekends, I don't put pressure on myself to sit at a desk for eight hours and get twenty different tasks done. It's the same case when I'm travelling. I feel like I'm on vacation and therefore don't feel pressured to get work done. Instead, I choose to work because I'm inspired and because I love what I do. It makes a great deal of difference in my productivity when I'm not pushing myself to think creatively within a structured schedule, but instead work as I become inspired. 

Get Inspired by Different Scenery

Working abroad requires a conscious work-sightseeing balance. Obviously you'll want to explore as many landmarks as possible while you're in a new country, but you still need to find the time to work. Personally, I don't care for sightseeing; I'm happy sitting in a cafe just knowing I'm in a new country. If you're a sightseeing fiend, try fitting your work in during breakfast, or get a couple hours in before going to sleep at night. Travelling shouldn't be stressful, and the whole purpose is to be inspired by the city you're in. If an 8 hour tour is what's going to inspire you to write a great article or paint a beautiful picture, do it. You can always get your work done later. 

During my 10-hour tours in Iceland, two women on my bus made notes every time we stopped at a new site, and jotted down extra notes as we headed to the next site. All it takes are a few brief notes to refresh your memory at the end of the day, when you can finally sit down to get your work done. 

And finally, the last and best reason to work from around the world: It's an excuse to travel! 

5 Ways to Stay Focused as a Freelancer

When I made the transition from 9-5 to freelance, I first found myself ecstatically waking up at 6:45am, getting my workout and chores done by 9am, and happily sitting down and working straight through my day without any distractions. 

Within a few days, however, I started waking up later and losing focus sooner. As happy as I was to be working from home and doing what I love on my own schedule, it was easy to put things off until later. 

Just like being in a gym full of people working out motivates you to workout, being in an office full of people motivates us to work, but when you are your own source of motivation, productivity methods need to be readjusted to meet your newfound professional freedom.  

So that's what I did. 

I tweaked my daily routine until I figured out what worked for me, and was finally able to get back on track with my work. 

Visualize

I always find it easier to get things done when I can actually see what has to be done. 

As soon as I started writing down what I had to do, it became harder to escape my responsibilities. It's so satisfying to watch that list get smaller and smaller. Whether you choose to use Post-Its, like in the pic above, or a day planner, keeping track of your task deadlines (and making your own deadlines in cases where you don't have one), will force you to focus instead of put things off until later. 

Switch it up

Personally, I can't sit in one spot for 8 hours, which is why I don't like office environments. I'll usually work until noon, eat my lunch, then switch locations by either meeting a friend at the library or heading to the nearest Starbucks. Alternatively, sometimes I'll head to a coffee shop in the morning, until about 1pm, then come home for the rest of the day. 

With remote work becoming increasingly common, workspaces dedicated to providing work-from-homers with a pseudo-office are popping up all over the place, so you no longer have to awkwardly sit in Starbucks for hours at a time without buying anything. 

Take breaks

I plan my breaks for the day every morning. If I sleep in and don't get up in time for a morning workout (which happens often), I'll schedule a workout in mid-afternoon, and work an extra hour later.

I believe it's important to establish a healthy work-life balance, yet many freelancers (and most other people) end up working sunrise to sunset and refusing to take a break out of fear of being seen as lazy. Western culture has stigmatized rest and perpetuated the idea that we should be proud of being burnt out, when really, the most effective way to be productive is to take a 15 minute break every 60-90 minutes. 

Meal Prep

At the risk of sounding like every fitness account on Instagram, make your food ahead of time. In bulk. The easiest way to make lunches is to make leftovers. If you work in an office, preparing your lunch the night before allows you to sleep in an extra 15-20 minutes, and if you work from home, it shaves off the time you need for your lunch break, and allows you to allocate it to something more important to you (The gym? A nap? TV show?). 

Put on some pants

The simplest way to focus: don't do work in bed or in your PJs. Working in your pyjamas is a surefire way to fall asleep, unless you have superhuman willpower or can handle caffeine a lot better than I can. Getting dressed just puts you in a more professional mindset. The more structured your work-from-home schedule is, the less trouble you'll have staying focused. You wouldn't show up to the office in your PJs, so keep that mentality and put on some pants. 

Working from home is extremely relaxed by comparison to maintaining a professional image in the workplace, and it's easy to lose a day-to-day structure. It took some time to figure out what practices worked for me, so it's important to explore different methods in order to learn what helps make you your most productive self.  

The Starving Artist

After nine summers of job hunting in between my school years spent getting a degree, a diploma, and now a certificate, I've become too familiar with the struggle of finding a job. Finding a basic entry-level job in something as generic as admin is tough, but it's especially difficult getting your foot into a specific industry, in my case the publishing industry, when you have no experience. The number of postings on job sites for interns or volunteer writers to "build your portfolio" can be discouraging and make you feel like everyone just wants to take advantage of the fact that you need to gain experience before you can be taken seriously. 

Then, when you finally get a shot at a paid (working-wage) job in the industry, it seems like there's always someone more experienced or more personable or more qualified for the job that you fought so hard just to get an interview for. My years of job hunting have helped me to become an expert on the ins-and-outs of the tools and resources for finding a job in the publishing industry, and while I decided to opt for the freelance route, I know that many people like the security and stability of a full time 9-5 job. Based on my own experiences, I've put together the most important tips for forging your career path in the publishing industry. 

Experience - There's a reason there are so many memes poking fun of the illogicalness in the job industry that expects recent grads to have experience for low-paying entry-level jobs. What I've learned is that if they won't give me experience, I need to figure out other ways to get it. Maybe it's the forever-student in me, but I think the key to standing out is to always improve your credentials. Whether it's through classes, work, or volunteering in your field, you'll either eventually be considered experienced enough to do a job, or you'll meet someone through networking who has the ability to get you a job. 

Network - Starting out I got most, if not all of my opportunities through friends and family. My mom is like my own personal cheerleader who promoted me to anyone who might possibly have a job opportunity for me, so I got a couple jobs from her perseverance. I've had a few friends whose bosses have needed writers or editors, so they've also helped me. The key is to gradually expand your professional network in such a way that one contact can lead to another, and so forth, until one contact can potentially lead to a job. 

Resources - Job hunting is a job in itself. It takes consistent and frequent cross-referencing of different job sites. When I first started my job search, I rolled my eyes at the thought of using generic sites like Indeed, but a surprising number of well-known companies use these sites to find prospective candidates. You might only find one job, but that might be all you need! Indeed, Workopolis, Keyobi, LinkedIn, Quill & Quire, Facebook groups like Bunz Employment Zone and Binders Full of Writing Jobs (if you can figure out how to get in to it, because I have no clue how I did!), are all useful resources, and if you can check back everyday, you have the best shot at being the first to apply for new opportunities as they're posted. 

Portfolio - Keep track of everything you do. For awhile I didn't, and when I started my website, I had to scrounge through pages and pages of posts on the sites I've done work for, in order to add them to my portfolio. A few companies' sites aren't around anymore, so I was lucky to have taken screenshots of the posts I had written. It's not enough to keep track of dates and links of your work - try to get a screenshot or some kind of saved file of the work just in case something ever happens to the site. I also find it beneficial to look over things I wrote when I was a teenager. Although I was full of angst and illogical emotions, sometimes reading over the poems I wrote inspires new ideas. Write these ideas down in a blog, because a blog can act as a testament to your abilities if you have no other professional experience. 

Know Your Worth - Don't settle for doing work for sites like Fiverr or Upwork, where many people are looking to hire someone to write thousand-word posts for $15-20. These sites can be incredibly beneficial if you manage to find a legitimate poster who will pay you a reasonable wage, but I find so many freelancers are so desperate to find work that they'll bust their butts for a significantly lower wage than the work merits. I would even say volunteering or unpaid internships are more worth your time than cheap clients. At least when you're volunteering, it's understood that you're there to learn and gain experience; when clients offer you peanuts to do a time consuming job, they're acknowledging you're good enough to do the job, but they're also acknowledging that they don't feel your time is worth a living wage. 

Live Creatively

I always thought I was destined to be jobless and a permanent resident of my parents' basement. I started playing piano when I was 6, and gradually added tuba, guitar, and singing to my "musical repertoire". Instead of playing Barbie with my friends, I made her clothes and cut her hair. Instead of running around outside with my classmates at recess, I preferred to stay inside and wrote poems and stories. I guess most kids grow out of this stage and start making real life goals related to math or science or something... I still remember hanging my head in shame when my teacher announced that the lowest mark on the physics test was 8/41... I was that bad.

Come grade 12, I was terrified to start applying to schools because it seemed like I wasn't good at anything that mattered; it seemed impossible to make a career out of anything I was good at. Since I was seven, my career goals have shifted from actor to musician to movie director to fashion designer, author, journalist... The only consistent thing that I've known all my life was that I wanted to create - which is a hard thing to do when you're nearly drowning in school work and a part-time job. I've managed to come up with a few ways to exercise the right side of my brain when things become too mind-numbingly monotonous (and yes, writing this article was one of those ways!) :

•Adobe

Ever since I took Adobe Illustrator in school a few years ago, I've become addicted to the entire Adobe suite. When I commuted to and from school, I'd sit on the train playing around with the programs, putting together collages or designing outfits in Illustrator. I even tried to use the program for assignments or presentations as an excuse to be creative for school. Honestly, I'm not very good at Adobe, but I find that just trying to maneuver my way around the programs is enough to give me that spark of creativity.

•Lookbook

I used to read magazines religiously until I started accumulating boxes full and my mom told me to get rid of them. I started my lookbook back in high school and each time my magazine stack gets too high, I cut out the pictures and articles that I find inspiring and put them in my lookbook, along with inspirational quotes and tips. Added bonus: sometimes if I'm in need of inspiration, I just have to look through it and it's kind of like a personalized magazine that only shows the things I like. 

•Photoshoots

Photoshoots take a lot more planning, but even if the actual photoshoot part doesn't happen, it's fun to just organize a one. I try to organize shoots with my friend, and if we both happen to be free at the same time (which rarely happens), then we go out and take pictures. If we aren't able to meet up, it's still fun to plan a theme and the details as if it were going to happen.

•Write

If all else fails, I always have my notebook with me and am ready to write whenever I feel the need for inspiration. If I'm supposed to meet friends or my group for a school project and I'm early, I'll try to write whatever comes to mind, even if it's just a plain ol' shopping list. Even if my mind is blank, as soon as I start, it's almost always guaranteed that eventually something worthy will come out of it.