2021: We’re Halfway Through!

You’ve probably heard it 1000 times in the last two weeks but I’m going to say it again…I can’t BELIEVE we are already half way through 2021.

When I look back over the past 6 months in some ways I’m amazed how far we’ve come…

I live in Oregon now!
We’ve welcomed three new companies as clients into Lil Shameless Plug
And weirdest and most wonderful of all, we get to have in-person social interactions again!

But I’m also looking over the past year and thinking where did the time go?

How did I not learn Italian so I can impress my mother-in-law?
Why haven’t I re-started an exercise regime to lose that #COVID15?
When will I have time to leash train my snuggle-pup Viola?

If, like me, you love to get quiet and set goals and intentions for your upcoming year then the workshop that The Center for Women’s Voice is putting together tomorrow is right up your alley. On June 26th at 11 am PT / 2 PM ET Malika is hosing a 90 minute Ritual: Release & Renew virtual workshop.

Malika promises a workshop where the “chat will not be lit” and as our worlds open up and the noise comes back in I’m incredibly comforted by the quiet reflection this workshop promises.

I hope to “see” some of you there.
As always, stay Social Happy!

My Favorite Ways to Get Grounded

It’s amazing that something that was the ultimate punishment as a youth is now something I try to practice on the daily. Maybe my parents did know what they were doing?

If you didn’t catch last month’s blog about the importance of being grounded you can check it out here. I highly recommend that you create a grounding practice either before or after you jump into your social media feeds.

Below are 20 of my favorite ways to get grounded and put myself back in a great mood after being on social media.

Top 20 Ways to Get Grounded

Take a walk around the block (this is my dog’s favorite)
Make yourself a cup of tea.
Snuggle with a furry friend (cat, dog, rat?)
Take a 20 minute reading break
5 Minutes of Meditation – Free Trial with Headspace
Write your friend a REAL letter and send it in the mail
Sit in the yard and listen to the birds (or on your porch/patio/local park)
Destress with an adult coloring book
One minute of stretching it out
Clean the bathroom
Go through your junk mail
Peruse your favorite magazine (real not online)
Journal for 5 minutes
Phone a friend (a quick 5 minute chat can do wonders)
Nap Time!
Drink 8 oz of water
Daydream about your next vacation
Write a Haiku
Declutter one spot in your home
Quick Craft Break (Draw, Stitch, Knit, Collage, Color, your pick)

Let me know if one of these works for you or if you have another grounding practice that you love. And as always, stay Social Happy!

Best,

Lauren

You’re Grounded

(And it’s a good thing)

One of the things I’ve learned over the past 8 years as a social media manager, too much social media does not a happy Lauren make.

Early on in my work I realized that if I spent all day on social media – without breaks – I wasn’t getting BETTER results. But I was getting crankier and crankier.

More time on social media does not equal more success on social media.

When I was spending all day I ended the day

frustrated
angry
hungry
needing a drink!

This is no way to spend your life.

Not only was I not a great person to be around but I also wasn’t seeing a great return on all those hours spent. So I stopped having every account I managed open all day long and I started doing quick check ins throughout the day.

(Those quick check ins are now what I call my Daily F.I.T. click here for a tutorial)

And in between I would get GROUNDED.

Getting GROUNDED means you’re pulling yourself out of the made up world of social media land and getting back to yourself.

For some getting grounded is taking a quick walk. For others it’s a quick snuggle with your pets. However you get yourself feeling more like yourself.

Some guidelines to creating your grounding rituals

You are not looking at a screen or interacting with a screen.
This activity should be something that makes you smile a little, makes your heart feel a little lighter.
You can complete this task in as little as 5 minutes.

So how will you get grounded? Let me know in the comments.

And, as always, stay social happy!

Top 3 Tips for Protecting Your Sanity on Social Media

To opt in or not to opt in, that is the question.

If you haven’t watched The Social Dilemma yet then you better go catch it on Netflix. Go ahead, I’ll wait. 😉

When my husband saw the trailer for this show his actual words were, “I want to see that. You can write it off as market research.” Yes, I know we can’t really write it off, but the point is that my business (social media management) often lends itself to the bizarre and creative.

For years I have known on some level how damaging social media can be. As someone who is on social media for work every day I have taken some pretty extreme measures to protect myself and my own sanity while working.

Post watching The Social Dilemma, I am even more delighted that I have habits in place to limit the effect of social media on my life.

Is The Social Dilemma accurate from a social media managers point of view?

A resounding YES.

For years we have known that social media exists in order to gather information on the masses. As the saying goes, if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.

I remember my first social media course years ago and the teacher demonstrated how he could build an advertising campaign to target a single individual. You know that the tool is powerful if out of everyone that is on the platform, you can narrow your results down to one specific person.

It’s terrifying…and, honestly, exciting for those who are looking to utilize social media to grow their businesses.

Do I think social media is innately evil? NO.

Do I think that we should be wary of social media and use it with caution? YES.

Below are my top three tips to put in place IMMEDIATELY to help improve your experience on social media.

Tip 1. Turn your notifications OFF.

Yes, all of them. There is nothing so important that is going to happen on social media that can’t wait until you next open the app.

Notifications build on our sense of urgency. Something can be urgent and unimportant at the same time.

That doesn’t mean that it’s easy to ignore the urgency. In fact, I have the notifications turned off on my texts and phone calls too.

You don’t have to go that far but I find that it helps me stay calm and focused throughout my workday.

Tip 2. Schedule your social media time.

Social media apps are built to keep you engaged and wanting more. I set a timer before opening the app with the amount of time I think a task will take. Or the amount of time I want to spend.

I can get a basic round of engagement (My Daily FIT) done in 5 minutes or a post in 2 to 3.

Don’t know how much time something takes? Start timing yourself. 🙂

Tips 3. Set a clear intention.
Are you looking to post something? Respond to messages? Or just mindlessly scroll?

Whatever you want to do make sure your goal is clear before opening the app or website. You’re about to engage in the equivalent of disneyland for your mind and it is very easy to lose track of your actual purpose.
I hope these three tips help keep you from being frazzled on social media!

Have a social media question? I would LOVE to help.

Tweet Me / DM Me / Message Me

Stay Social Happy!

Detail Oriented VA

Lil Shameless Plug is hiring!

In Search of a Detail Oriented VA

You Are:

A detail oriented human who loves to close loops and organize!

We Are:

A social media management company and school embarking on our 8th year in business. We love to help small businesses create an online presence and cultivate their community online.

This job is for you if…

You love to keep people organized and on task.
A zeroed out inbox brings you great peace.
Color coded calendars make you super happy.

Must Have Skills (the following qualifications are a must):

knowledge of Mac computer programs
Email inbox organization and response
Meeting, appointment, and training scheduling, planning, preparation. Confidence with Acuity and Google Calendars.
an excellent ability to multitask
love working on a team that helps small businesses find huge success!
you’ve used Trello as a Project Management Software
you’ve used Drip or other newsletter software
fluent in Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Pinterest
at least 2 years experience working in an office
you’ve worked on a team that has launched on online course
mastery of English Grammar
you’re a punctual princess (or prince)
a real detail-a-holic — you doublecheck your work and avoid small mistakes

Nice to Have Skills / Plus’s:

basic wordpress knowledge
graphic design skills (Canva+)
research speaking opportunities (podcasts/in person when we can)
Business goal planning

To apply, email a personal cover letter in the body of your email and attach a pdf of your resume to getsocial@lilshamelessplug.com Please highlight how your specific experience and skill set meet the qualifications mentioned above.

A Social Calendar! Ugh, the overwhelm…

Happy September!

So, I’ve finally done something I’ve always wanted to do and been too scared to do at the same time. I created a Social Media Monthly Calendar!

Now the reason I’ve held off on doing this is I find that social calendars can just lead to overwhelm which leads to paralysis which means you don’t post ANYTHING ALL MONTH! That’s why I’ve created the calendar AND linked it to this challenge.

Your September Social Challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to pick one, ONE, of the holidays or month themes to include in your social media content in September.

Think you can handle that? I do too!

And if doing less more often on your social media feeds is something that speaks to you, join me on September 8th when I show you how you can spend as little as 5 Minutes a Day on your social media and get real results.

And let me know which holiday you’ve picked for our September challenge! Happy Posting!

Administrative Assistant

Lil Shameless Plug is hiring!

Administrative Assistant Great at Detail Magic!

If you are looking for a flexible, work-from-home, part-time position in a creative field, this might be just the place for you.

In your role as Administrative Assistant for Lil Shameless Plug, you’ll be working closely with Lauren. Your duties will range from managing Lauren’s inbox, customer service and scheduling to following up on team project deadlines.

Lil Shameless Plug helps small businesses create a community online so they can thrive IRL and we need someone to make sure the train is running smoothly and on time.

The Deets:

Starting Pay: $17 – $22 / hour based on experience

10 hours/week to start, position will grow as our company grows (we doubled our client list last year)

One non-negotiable team meeting per week at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET that usually last about 30 minutes.

This job is for you if…

You love to keep people organized and on task.
A zeroed out inbox brings you great peace.
Color coded calendars make you super happy.

Must Have Skills

(the following qualifications are a must)

✔ knowledge of Mac computer programs

✔ Email inbox organization and response

✔ Confidence with Acuity and Google Calendars for client meeting, appointment, and training – scheduling, planning, preparation

✔ An excellent ability to multitask

✔ A seeker of knowledge – we’re always learning new things. What are you excited about learning next for your life or your biz?

✔ Love working on a team that helps small businesses find huge success!

✔ You’ve used Trello or another Project Management Software

✔ You’ve used Drip or other newsletter software

✔ Have at least 2 years experience working in an office

✔ You’ve worked on a team that has launched on online course

✔ Mastery of English Grammar

✔ You’re a punctual princess (or prince)

✔ A real detail-a-holic — you double check your work and avoid small mistakes

Nice to Have Skills / Plus’s

✔ Basic WordPress knowledge

✔ Graphic design skills (Canva+)

✔ Research speaking opportunities (podcasts/in person when we can)

✔ Business goal planning

How To Apply

The Doctor’s Kid is Always Sick

Hello World! You’ve heard the saying the doctors kid is always sick and the dentist’s kid needs braces? Well, the social media company has a terrible web presence! When I started Lil Shameless Plug in 2014 I thought that this would just be a little side gig that would help fund my acting career. Our services have become so popular that we have clients all over the United States! And, until today, had NO WEBSITE! How embarrassing. I almost hired someone to create a web presence for me.

The point is I love my company and I love helping my clients pursue their own dreams. My favorite part of working with a new client is figuring out who we’re talking to. Who is your client? What do they love? What do they hate? Do they watch soap operas? And MOST IMPORTANTLY what problem do you solve for them? Once we have your perfect client in mind we get to get super creative with our posting. The guidelines we create together give me the confidence to speak in your voice (there’s my acting training coming in again).

If you want to check and see if you’ve seen me on the silver screen you can check out my IMDB here.

I look forward to chatting about your social media and how I can help!