Let me start by asking you a few questions…

Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed when it comes to social media marketing?

Do you find a lack of focus, irritability, and maybe even anxiety when it comes to updating your social media?

Do you find that sometimes you can as a result spend too much time scrolling?

Do you find you can get frustrated by either a lack of followers or likes on your posts?

And finally…

Do you compare yourself to others? Either through your business or even just personally – do you see what they are doing and does it make you feel like you aren’t doing enough?

If in your head you answered yes to any one of those questions, then this blog is for you.

But why am I qualified to deliver a talk on social media anxiety?

Well, because it’s been my life for the last decade, so first, a bit of background on me…

I’ve worked as a journalist and digital marketing consultant for almost fifteen years now – when I was 21, Facebook made its way to the UK and as a result, near enough my whole career has been digital:

From setting up the first ever live stream website and Facebook page for my old newsroom, to working through the night from midnight until 8am running the website and social media for Good Morning Britain, to running digital campaigns with big brands like adidas, aviva, Barratt Homes and more…

I’ve photographed more grumpy celebrities at 5am than I choose to remember, am a Huffington Post published author, and even spent part of my career being the social media voice of a celebrity dog.

Essentially – digital media has been my entire career – and by default a huge part of my life.

Such a huge part in fact, that almost four years ago, I started to notice what an impact the digital world was having on my life:

My desperate need for instant gratification, my sudden obsession with the way I looked, my constant scrolling, my addiction, not to mention my posture, and a constant dull pain that had begun to form in my right shoulder from too much one handed scrolling.

Social media was starting to consume me – and it was only when I first discovered yoga that I began to realise this.

Yoga taught me to be more mindful, it made me aware of the occupational impact that my job had on my body, it gave me time away from the screen, it enabled me to switch off, and all of a sudden, something inside me started to change for the better – and I had to find out more, so I trained to be a yoga teacher.

Fast forward to where we are now and I’ve been self employed for a year and a half as a Digital Marketing Consultant under EmPower media and I’ve been teaching yoga under EmPower yoga for almost two years.

And I really feel the yoga is the yin to my digital yang – which is why I use a lot of my yoga teachings to influence the way I coach my clients digitally.

Social media shouldn’t be a stress, it should sit comfortably with you, it should be a natural part of what you do and what your business does.

But to many of us it might not feel that way, it might not sit right with you ‘putting yourself out there’, it might take up way too much of your time, it might make you feel inadequate when you compare yourselves to others and it might at times lead to anxiety and acute stress.

Plus there’s the added pressure of the ever conflicting advice: 

Scheduling Content Ahead of Time is the Gold Standard

More Content = Better

Post [insert recommended number here] times a day

You NEED to do Video

Post multiple images to beat algorithms

You must be on every platform 

Geotag

Hashtag

The list goes on…

And with all this information we find a challenging paradox: the digital tools we need to complete our work are often our biggest source of distraction.

And there’s science to prove this, the Addiction Centre has reported:

According to a study by Harvard University, self-disclosure on social networking sites lights up the same part of the brain that also ignites when taking an addictive substance. The reward area in the brain and its chemical messenger pathways affect decisions and sensations. When someone experiences something rewarding, or uses an addictive substance, neurons in the principal dopamine-producing areas in the brain are activated, causing dopamine levels to rise. Therefore, the brain receives a “reward” and associates the drug or activity with positive reinforcement.

So when an individual gets a notification, such as a like or mention, the brain receives a rush of dopamine and sends it along reward pathways, causing him or her to feel pleasure. Social media provides an endless amount of immediate rewards in the form of attention from others for relatively minimal effort. Therefore, the brain rewires itself through this positive reinforcement, making people desire likes, retweets, and emoticon reactions.

Another perpetuating factor of social media addiction is the fact that the reward centres of the brain are most active when people are talking about themselves. In real life, it’s estimated that people talk about themselves around 30 to 40% of the time; however, social media is all about showing off one’s life and accomplishments, so people talk about themselves a staggering 80% of the time. When a person posts a picture and gets positive social feedback, it stimulates the brain to release dopamine, which again rewards that behaviour and perpetuates the social media habit.

As a digital marketing consultant I can tell my clients a million and one things they need to know about how to get the best results from their marketing, and if they want that, I will… but as a yoga teacher and more importantly a human being that cares about the health and welfare of others – I would rather work with a client to find a way to run their digital marketing mindfully, so that it doesn’t impact on their mental health and it doesn’t add to the already stressful position of being a manager of your own business. 

And let’s face it, when you run your own cooking business, or face painting business or beauty business, you are more than just a chef, face painter, or beautician – you are receptionist, accounts, HR, and more, marketing is just one more stress to add to the list.

So… that said – what are my top tips for being more mindful with your digital marketing?

We have to FEAR Less about it and we have to become fearless in our approach towards it: in other words, you have to #FindYourFearless…

F ind time

The easiest way to stay mindful with any part of your business is to reserve time for this task. Even if that is simply fifteen minutes a day dedicated to your small business marketing, it’s fifteen minutes well spent if it is a designated time slot. A section out of your day given to replying to messages, crafting some content, or maybe idea planning – and don’t just make it part of your lunch break, or on your morning walk – sit down, at your computer and take some time to just focus on that one task.

E mbrace creativity

It is good to do things with your hands and step away from the phone, the computer or any other media device. So when you are planning digital content – how about using a sketchbook, a diary or a moodboard to plan what you want your digital content to look like? Sometimes a little break away from the screen can help you focus on creating. You may find you are much more able to trust your own instinct when you are not online constantly doubting yourself or comparing yourself to others. 

A uthenticity is key

What we see on social media can be a persona that people adopt – and we have to remind ourselves that a lot of the things we read and see online aren’t always true. The thing that speaks the loudest volume on social media is TRUST, so when you post, interact and engage with social media, be yourself. Don’t pretend to be something you’re not, don’t build a persona based on what people think of you – be the person that you are, because like attracts like and it’s a lot easier being authentic on social media than being something you’re not – don’t forget you’re speaking to the Twitter voice of a celebrity dog right now.

R eel life vs real life

Why do we compare ourselves so much to someone else’s highlight reel? We see someone who has better graphics, logo, brand image and we put ourselves down – we do it personally probably a hell of a lot more! Do you know the single most important statement I have ever heard in my life, that literally turned my entire outlook on life around? “Comparison is the thief of joy.” – THANK YOU Theodore Roosevelt (it wasn’t him that told me, he was just the first person to say it). Social media is the window to FOMO – fear of missing out – if you’re not on it, you’re missing out, if you are on it, you’re seeing what you’re missing out on – you are constantly comparing yourself to others, to their standards, their practices, and all this can become one huge added stress. So never compare yourself to the snippets of someone else’s highlights real.

L ess is more

It is not important to post 3-4 times a day to beat the algorithm. Post when you have something to say. Posting many times a day could lead to undue pressure, but also a loss in the quality of content. I don’t know about you, but I struggle to find that much to say every day. Just reflecting on why I am posting, why I am choosing to share something with everyone out there, and why I am putting something out in the public domain is often quite a useful practice to me. 

E valuate

It is ok to take a break. The world doesn’t end, nor does the business go kaput. Step away, re-evaluate, and come back to it. Don’t think that you can’t disappear from social media. There are other ways of connecting with people who matter, your customers, and perhaps use this time to focus on the creative side of the business. People who like your work and want to connect would stay with you. People who leave weren’t that interested anyway.

S tay present

It is impossible to manage all the various channels and get informative and useful content out, at the right time, all the time. If you have a particular preference for a particular channel, why not focus on it for a while and try and make meaningful connections! There are bound to be people who have similar interests and want to connect. Focusing our energies on one or maybe two can ease off the pressure and reduce the feeling of dread and overwhelm. 

S hift and change

FOLLOW YOUR HEART – you might start doing something and suddenly it doesn’t sit right with you, it isn’t working for you, so change it – don’t get stuck with that just because it was your strategy – or just because it was what your digital marketing adviser told you. Life changes, we grow up, we have kids, we get a new job, we meet new people – why should your social media strategy be any different for you? And on top of that, the world changes – new laws, new policies, new planets, new ideas… the social media world is part of that and it is changing all the time, so if Mark Zuckerberg can change his algorithms more times than you change your socks, it’s ok to change tact on your social media marketing.

So one final thought for today:

Social media for small businesses does not fit within a one-size-fits-all strategy, and I believe we need to re-evaluate the business model that puts social media right at the center of everything, because in reality, we need to not blindly follow the crowd but find a way forward that works just right for us – by following our hearts and not just the data.

We’ve looked at what was big in 2019, but now it’s time to see what’s in store for 2020.

Social media changes and evolves every day, but if you don’t have time to keep on top of the daily trends, you can at least take a look at what’s in store for the year ahead…

Striking a balance between private and public engagement

Privacy has been a huge talking point over the last few years with anything on social media largely being anyone’s business due to its public nature, but this year we should see a shift in brands and the way they engage with customers, with a higher demand for more intimate social experiences.

The key in 2020 will be finding balance between driving a broad reach across the public feed, while taking to private channels to focus on one-to-one engagement and nurturing deeper relationships with their customers.

The rise and rise of influencer marketing

Micro and mega influencers play a huge part here: we are still, as consumers, wary of ads in our feeds and we want reviews from people we trust when making purchasing decisions.

The social media influencer plays a key part in building that trust and acting as the bridge between the consumer and the product.

And with many small businesses not having the budget for “named” influencers, this may be a good year for the micro influencers.

Shopping on social media

I know we already have it, but this year, this functionality could really come into fruition and continue to grow.

With just a few clicks, you can go from seeing something you like while scrolling Instagram to sharing your credit card information and making a purchase right then and there, and I can only see more brands going in this direction in 2020.

Storytelling in your stories

Trust me – this is the KEY to social media success at the moment, especially with posts in your feed being hidden away among the algorithms that Facebook and Instagram impose.

Stories can provide viewers with more authentic insight, as the videos are often created on the spot.

It’s a glimpse behind the scenes, it’s relevant and timely, and there’s also a huge range of opportunities to format these Stories.

It is also the perfect space for marketers to capitalise on fear of missing out (FOMO) and to offer flash sales and deals.

Chatbots

They are hella useful if you deal with a lot of customer requests, although getting it right and making them feel ‘human’ ain’t easy!

Thankfully, algorithms are improving chatbots’ effectiveness by “understanding” what users are writing to them, meaning they are now becoming to sound more ‘human’.

Of course, they can’t answer every single question, but a lot of time can be saved for the customer service workers by handing over the common questions to the bots.

Instagram stories are a weapon you need to have in your social media arsenal.

They enable you to build relationships with fans, connect with other influencers, and most importantly tell your own brand story.

Because, as I’ve said before, if you don’t decide your brand story, someone else will decide it for you.

So what’s it all about and what do you need to do with your storytelling?

Here’s a few tips to help you out…

Promote your content from your feed

Possibly the simplest way to get the content on your feed seen is to share it in your Instagram stories.

Due to the change in Instagram algorithms earlier this year, this is worth doing as it may mean that more of your followers are likely to see your post.

“But if they see my post on my story, why would they bother going to my feed?”, you might ask…

Well there’s lots of functionalities you can use, like stickers and GIFs to ‘cover up’ or ‘hide’ the content, directing users to your feed if they really wanna see what’s behind there.

Engage with your audience

The different functionalities in your Instagram stories offer a variety of ways for you to encourage engagement with your followers.

With features like geographical location tagging, hashtags, polls, gifs, stickers, and more, growing your following and facilitating brand engagement is simple. You just need a little creativity.

Polls are great for customer feedback, as are questions, they all encourage responses which boost engagement around your stories.

Geotagging is HUGELY important for small businesses, making you more searchable to the local area.

Hashtags too – especially if you are at a big event which is using a branded hashtag.

Stickers, emojis and GIFs add more colour to your story but can also say things that you don’t even need to say with words.

Connect with other influencers

Do you have 1,000 followers or more? Well done you’re a micro-influencer!*

(*up to 100,000 that is, after that you’re simply an influencer).

Know any friends that have this level of followers? Perhaps you’re collaborating with them on something? If you are then tag them – they will (hopefully) repost your content to their feed.

Have you seen something relevant to a friend you were chatting to the other day? Tag them!

Any tags or mentions may lead to a wider reach for your content – in the hopes that said tagged person shares your post!

Use stories to show what makes your brand fun and relatable

All marketers know that social media engagement is important. It’s one of the best ways to develop trust from prospects, and features like Instagram Stories make it easy for brands to show themselves in a fun and interesting light.

Meaning it’s easier than ever to humanise a brand.

Tell a story, track your day, share content from other people that relate to what you do – Inspirational posts, or hilarious memes.

Use your stories to build your brand, your personality, and gain trust from your followers in doing so.

Go behind the scenes

Draw out the story on your feed – show people the work you are putting into the finished product.

Involve them in your story and give them insight into your world – it’s interesting for them to see!

Use highlights to your advantage

You can save Instagram stories to your page, and can use these to collate information, created highlighted subject related snippets, promotions and offers – the list is endless!

Be authentic

Lastly – and a point I make every single time – be authentic and true to yourself and your brand.

If it doesn’t feel right, don’t post it.

Don’t nick people’s ideas, but by all means share it and credit it, but use it to collaborate.

Because collaboration is key to brand trust, authenticity and building long lasting relationships.

Still think you might need some help with your Instagram stories?

Why not drop me a message or email me at emily@empowermedia.live and book in a two hour training session with me!

A lot went on in 2019, more than just Instagram changing its algorithms (shock, horror and despair!)

But what were the biggest trends this year? Well, I’ve got a few ideas…

Rebuilding trust

There’s been a lot of data leaks, a lot of automated bots and a lot of consumers losing faith in big brands recently, and according to Hootsuite, 60% of people say they no longer trust social media and for good reason.

From fake news to password leaks, it’s safe to say that trust building has been a big trend of this last year, and it won’t be stopping any time soon.

Storifying social

Stories are now growing 15 x faster than feed-based sharing.

According to Facebook, 68% of people say they use stories on at least three apps regularly, and 63% plan to use stories more in the future.

This shift in users’ content viewing preference from text-based to visual-based is the driving factor in the rapid rise of Stories, funnily enough this feature was the initial appeal of Snapchat which made it a huge success.

Linking back to trend one, this is fast becoming the norm in a big way due to privacy concerns playing a big role.

Closing the ads gap

With more advertisers jumping into social advertising, reaching users newsfeeds is becoming increasingly more competitive, meaning campaign efficiency will play a bigger role than ever before.

The pay to play environment of all platforms has led to the decline in reach for organic content – which could also be causing the rise in storyfying – directing punters back to the main feed.

Either way it’s making it harder for small businesses to make a splash.

Making it vintage

From light plashes to grainy film, content wise everyone went a little vintage in 2019.

Why? Well, we don’t really know, it just seems to be one of those things.

Subtitles and text

More and more we have less time to watch something, let alone something with sound on.

The benefit of subtitles? It tells you what you are watching, it’s quiet so you don’t need headphones, and it does the hard work for you.

Subtitles on video, stories, and even quote posts have become the new way to connect through social.

If your video isn’t subbed, it’s less likely to be watched, so be warned!

Keep your photos simple

A busy scene makes it hard to create a beautiful composition so one interesting subject is all you need to take great pictures.

Don’t worry if most of your photo is empty space. In photography, we call this negative space and it’s a great way to make your subject stand out.

Before you take the shot, always check the scene for any distracting elements. Move closer, or change your viewpoint, to remove unwanted objects from your photo.

Consider your angle

Learning how to take a good photo involves thinking outside the box!

Automatically we take a photo from chest height, but it’s amazing what taking a photo from ground level will do for your photo composition.

Consider setting the phone down low, or trying from a bird’s eye view, don’t be afraid to play around with angles.

It’s like looking at the world from a new perspective – literally!

Show depth

This helps draw the viewer’s eye into the scene and is especially important in landscape photography.

Consider the use of leading lines – and by this I mean roads, paths, railway tracks, rivers and fences – or at the beach, use the water’s edge or ripples in the sand.

Allow the line to lead from the foreground into the distance. This draws the viewer through the scene, creating depth.

Capture close-up detail

Get close, like really, really close. Close-up patterns, textures and colours will bring your photos to life – think flowers, leaves, water droplets and other textured subjects.

Keep in mind that your iPhone won’t be able to focus if the lens is too close to your subject though – portrait mode is great for this, but again it worn’t work if too close.

Focus your screen

Leading on from this – always tap the screen to get focus on the object you are taking a photo of.

On an iPhone a yellow box will appear – click and hold and this box will lock into position, keeping focus on the object should your hand move out of position.

Take silhouettes

All you need is an interesting subject. Then shoot towards the light.

Ensure your silhouette appears nice and dark – in the Camera app, tap to set the iPhone focus and then swipe down to darken the exposure.

Silhouette photography works best during the golden hours of sunrise and sunset.

Create visual harmony through alignment

Photographing against an amazing backdrop? Think of the frame, and alignment – do you want your subject to be front and centre? Or off to the side?

Consider the symmetry but also the diagonal alignment – it encourages the viewer’s gaze to flow through the scene.

If everything is on one side of the frame, your photo can look unbalanced.

Consider the rule of thirds

Easiest way to explain this is a sunset over the beach: one third is the sky, another is the sea, the other is the sand. Do you want two thirds sky and one third sea and sand?

iPhones already work to a grid of thirds (in fact you can select this in your camera settings to include the gridlines when you take a photo) so that you can line up your shot to work with this rule.

The rule of thirds states that the important compositional elements or subjects should reside along the lines or at the intersections of the lines.

It makes a much more interesting composition when you follow this simple rule!

Use natural light

It’s the best light you’ll ever find, and where possible, avoid the iPhone flash – it’s not great and your photo is worth more than that…

Use your phone’s shortcuts

Did you know about the iPhone volume down trick to take a selfie? Have you tried portrait mode? HDR mode? Or even pano?

Have a play with the features and go and look at your camera settings to see what else you can discover.

Edit your photos

While I’m not an advocate of editing images for beauty reasons, sometimes there’s a person in your sunset shot that hadn’t seen at the time of taking your photo, and now that six second sunset window is gone, and you’ve missed your chance to take another.

Using a photo editing app you can erase obscure objects out of shot, as well as making tweaks and changes to your images, such as lightning and brighting them.

While there are many out there to download – I highly recommend Snapseed as a personal favourite!

Not getting as many likes on Instagram as you used to? Don’t worry, you are not alone.

Instagram has recently changed the way in which its algorithms work, which means best practices that have worked in the past, aren’t as affective anymore.

Why? Well, it’s down to money.

This way Instagram hopes you will eventually spend more money to stay with them.

But if you’re a small business using social media for the free marketing aspect, then you may want to know all the ways you can change your game organically, without stretching the wallet.

So to help you out with your Instagram marketing, here’s a few things you can do to get your content seen…

Keep your hashtags relevant

Since Instagram allowed you to follow hashtags, they made them an even bigger deal.

This is because users now have the power to mark your hashtagged content as something they don’t want to see by selecting the “Don’t Show for This Hashtag” option – to mark the content not interesting or not relevant.

Which means having too many of your posts marked in this manner could potentially raise a red flag on your account and negatively affect all of your other content as well.

So keep all your hashtags relevant, and don’t try to trick the algorithms by hashtagging something that is not relevant to your post.

Avoid spammy behaviour and switch up your hashtags

Copying and pasting the exact same list of Instagram hashtags into every single post won’t just impact your engagement, but it can also make you look spammy!

The most important thing to keep in mind when deciding what hashtags to use is that you’re being intentional – using hashtags that your target audience is actually searching for and following!

And avoid gimmicky hashtags, and ones that have been used over 1M times – while they might get you a few extra likes, they aren’t going to help you grow a highly engaged, targeted following.

Instead, try looking for niche community hashtags that are specifically relevant to the content you post – and don’t forget to use your branded hashtag whenever it makes sense!

Use third-party tools to find the right hashtags for your business

There are many (paid and free) third party tools that offer help with your hashtags – these platforms can also help with scheduling and other ways to format your posts.

Here’s a few examples of third party tools that you can look to:

• Hashtagify
• Hashtag Expert for IG
• All Hashtags
• Seekmetrics
• AutoHash
• Webstagram
• Display Purposes
• Sked Social

Use the right amount of hashtags

The age old debate about how many is exactly the right amount… essentially, the jury is still out!

Some people recommend using the maximum number of hashtags allowed by Instagram, which is thirty, others would say use five key hashtags to punctuate your post – quantity not quality.

Personally? I think it’s a game of trial and error until you find the sweet spot.

The most important thing is that they are relevant.

Follow hashtags on Instagram

Following a hashtag works just like following a user’s profile.

When you find a hashtag you’d like to follow you simply open the hashtag page and tap on the follow button.

For brands and businesses, this opens up a great opportunity to regularly appear in a follower’s feed.

You can also use this new feature to keep a close eye on competitors and even discover potential partners by choosing to follow industry-specific hashtags.

Add hashtags into your Instagram stories

Adding hashtags to your story is a great way to give your content an added chance to be discovered by new audiences. When people search for a hashtag on Instagram, if it’s popular enough, they’ll be able to view active, real-time stories on that hashtag’s page — including your own.

And if they like what they see, they might even tap follow on your profile!

Add hashtags into your bio

Including your branded hashtag in your Instagram bio is a fantastic way to drive engagement on your posts!

Including your branded hashtag in your bio is also a great way to get your followers in the habit of posting with it.

Be more active

Instagram wants to see that people are using its platform, and will (sadly) favour those that are using it more.

This means you need to get to grips with not only posting in your feed but also Instagram stories and Instagram lives and TV.

Keep your publishing to stories consistent – not only do they make you more visible in the home feed (appearing at the top of the page) but they are also a way to create engagement with your followers.

More engagement = more active = Instagram likes you.

Play around with your content

Use Instagram’s third party apps like Hyperlapse, Boomerang and even just plain old video content to show that you are using all their platforms, and posting a variety of content to keep your audience interested.

Post regularly

One post a day is a good way to get seen – with the change in algorithms, only 10% of your audience is actually seeing your posts in their feed.

Therefore posting regularly and consistently gives people more options and chances to see your posts – meaning more options for engagement, and puts you more in Instagram’s favour.

Post at the right time of day

Instagram will favour a post that gets a lot of likes once it is first posted – therefore if your post is a hit from the word go, it has more of a chance of getting bigger – and being seen by more people.

For this reason your really need to think about when you are posting – pick the times of day when people are most active on social media to give your post more of a chance to be seen.

Keep up with your community management

If someone comments on your post, Instagram likes it if you reply to it straight away.

Facebook is building a community – so it wants to see that all its platforms act that way, and remember they want to see you are ACTIVE.

Turning notifications for your app ON will alert you when someone has commented and allow you to reply as soon as you can.

The quicker you respond, the more instagram will like you, the more your post gets favoured by its algorithms… and the more it will get seen.

You get the point, right?

There’s no limit to the number of people who can have a role on a Page – if you are looking to give another member of your team access, but don’t know how to do it – take a look at this step by step guide to find out how…

How to give someone access to your Facebook business page:

If you’re an admin:

• Click Settings at the top of your Page
• Click Page Roles in the left column
• Type a name or email in the box and select the person from the list that appears
• Click Editor to select a role from the dropdown menu
• Click Add and enter your password to confirm

Keep in mind that if you’re not friends with the person you’re adding, they’ll have to accept your invite before they can start helping you manage your Page.

How to remove someone from your Facebook business page:

If you’re admin:

• Click Settings at the top of your Page.
• Click Page Roles in the left column.
• Click Edit next to the person you want to remove, and then click Remove.
• Click Confirm. You may need to enter your password.

You can always remove yourself from a Page, but if you’re the Page’s only admin, you’ll need to add another admin first.

How to change someone’s role on your Facebook business page:

If you’re an admin:

• Click Settings at the top of your Page.
• Click Page Roles in the left column.
• Click Edit next to the name of the person whose role you want to change and then select a new role from the dropdown menu.
• Click Save. You may need to enter your password to confirm.

Note: If you’re a new admin, keep in mind that you may need to wait seven days before you can remove or demote another admin.

Can’t remember your Instagram password? You may want to try and recover it, or maybe even reset it.

Not sure how – here’s a step by step guide on how to do it…

Recover your Instagram password via desktop

• Go to the Instagram website to log in to your account: http://www.instagram.com

• Click on “forget password” below the login field

• Enter the username, email or your phone number linked to your Instagram account. And then click on ‘reset password’

• Then you will receive an Instagram email that includes a link to reset your Instagram password. Click on the link in your email

• Enter your new password (a strong one), confirm it and click on “reset password” for the last time

• Now you will log in and be redirected to your Instagram account.

How to change the Instagram password on an Android or iPhone device

• Open Instagram and touch your profile picture in the lower right corner

• Touch the three line icon in the upper right corner, and then choose Privacy and security

• Towards the bottom, touch Password

• Enter your current password, then your new password twice, touch Save when finished

Reset your password via Instagram desktop…

• Visit the official Instagram website: http://www.instagram.com

• Press the login button.

• Click on the button ‘Forgot your login information’

• Provide your username or Instagram email you used to sign up for Instagram

• Then click on the ‘Send’ option

• Check your email and click on the Instagram reset link

• Then enter the new password one more time, re-confirm your password

• Now click on the reset button

• Your Instagram account is now ready for use

The side hustle: What exactly is it?

Urban dictionary defines it as “freelance or piecework in nature, providing a supplemental income. Most people run a side hustle which eventually comes their full time job.”

Largely (but not always) the side hustle can often be found in the creative spheres – musicians, artists, writers, maybe even chefs, gardeners, brewers – but these days with so many of us desperate to escape the rat race, and longing for a more flexible way of working – the side hustle comes in all shapes and sizes.

As a former side hustler, now turned full time self employed ‘female boss’, here’s my top tips on what to consider before you turn to hustling…

Do what you love

The most obvious thing to say of course, but in order to stick with your side hustle and make it your full time profession, you have to really love what you do – you’re going to be with it, nurturing it and caring for it day in and day out, so make sure it’s something you really do adore.

Be flexible

A good side hustle needs to fit in with your schedule. Helping people out with their digital marketing was a perfect fit for my hour and half commute to and from work every day – you work five days a week, adding a side hustle on top of that means even less hours your partner or family will get to spend with you, not to mention having some well needed time to yourself. Allow your hustle to fit around the schedule you already have.

Consider how much time you have

I’ve already said that I used to use my commute to side hustle, on busy days I’d probably add my lunch break on top of that too – but know your limits. The second you start sacrificing your morning run or yoga practice, or drinks with friends ask yourself – is this really necessary? Your side hustle may be your dream – but you need to allow yourself time to breathe and space to relax also.

Be ready to adapt

When I first started side hustling I thought people would fall at my feet for my help, but turns out that most people don’t have money to spare. Depending on what your side hustle is, you may need to adapt your fee or even work for free on some occasions to get the work. Trust me though – this isn’t a bad thing. Show willing, show them you want to invest your time in their company, and eventually the rewards will follow – think of the bigger picture.

Talk to people

It might come as a shock for those of you who know me to read this, but I am really, really shy. I hate talking to people I don’t know, I hate putting myself out there, I hate handing out business cards and I hate ‘plugging’ myself. My advice on that if you feel the same? Get over it. If you don’t get in there someone else will – be nice, be friendly, make friends, contacts, acquaintances and you never know, you might get a new client out of it.

Stick with it

If you believe in what you do then stick with it. Yes it is going to be hard, yes there will be times when you are working 12, 15 or even 17 hour days, yes you may not see a weekend for a year, and yes you may drive your partner and your family up the wall – but if you believe in it, like really believe in it, your side hustle will be the career you dreamed it would be. Play the long game with your patience, and stick with it, it’s worth it in the end – believe me!

As a yoga teacher and a digital marketer I am in constant conflict over social media.

When social media hit, I fell in love with it – suddenly there was a platform that turned the whole world into a podium, a platform – millions of people connecting, chatting, sharing content, voicing their opinions, making a stand, a difference, a change… it was so easy to speak to friends who had moved half way across the world – I could see what all my mates were up to at the drop of a hat, birthday parties became suddenly SO easy to organise – and my job as a journalist had just become very, VERY exciting.

A career in digital media was only natural, but the more I delved into it, the more aware I became of the negative effects of instant gratification, of poor posture from constant scrolling, damaged retinas from screen gazing, and also what it really meant to have the whole world as a podium with every Tom, Dick and Harry were voicing their opinions, opinions that often weren’t all that…

So that’s when I turned to yoga, to give myself some space from the digital world, but in doing so – I learned new skills to help me navigate this connected world that I had become a part of.

Yoga helped me step back, find balance, and approach social media in a more mindful way.

So if you’re struggling, here’s a few thoughts from me on how to be more mindful with your social media…

1. Don’t use social media every day

You don’t need to post something every day – particularly the Instagrammers out there – why not give people a glimpse into your life once a week, and spend the rest of your time, living your it? If you are sharing nearly every moment of every day, how are you ever truly living in the moment and being mindful?

2. Don’t engage with social media first thing.

When waking up, while it may feel natural to reach for your phone first, don’t. Roll over and hug and kiss the person next to you. Open the window and check out the weather. Do some stretching. Make a cup of tea or meditate. Give yourself time to connect with yourself before connecting to social media.

3. Go to bed with a book in hand instead of your phone.

This allows you time for yourself, escapism too, but also helps you stay present in the moment – and maybe even help you fall asleep quicker too.

4. Don’t bring your phone with you when you have special plans.

If you have to take photos take a camera that is not connected to your phone or at the very least put your phone on flight mode so you won’t get any notifications. And if you do take photographs, please let it be of people and not your food?

5. Disconnect every week.

Every Thursday I teach yoga, and 3pm on a Thursday is my golden hour. I turn my phone off, listen to music and lay on my yoga mat and relax. Sometimes it’s for 40 minutes, sometimes I am lucky enough to get an hour, but it’s never anything less than 20 minutes. It’s important to have this time away from your phone, and everyone else trying to connect with you. So try and reserve space once or twice (or even much more) times a week if you can. And as a yoga teacher – I can honestly say yoga retreats are the greatest for this – five days without your phone is the ultimate heaven.

Try it.

Social media isn’t going anywhere, at least anytime soon, so just give yourself the time to switch off for a bit – you’ll thank yourself for it later!