Field Notes: Styling and Content Tips from Facebook and Instagram

Yesterday I got to hang out at PCM with the fine folks of Instagram and Facebook at a free event in celebration of Small Business Week! Go small business, go! I had the chance to connect with some fun people while picking up some tips and tools from the pros.

Styling Tips

I was really overwhelmed at how encouraging the team was at the Facebook Creative Shop. Their motto seemed to be: There is no reason that small business should be creating less than stellar images. If you're like me,  definetly NOT a photographer, take heart. You can get high quality images with a smart phone and a small lighting set up that would set you back about $50. They had an awesome mobile light studio and a few lights set up to show how quickly you can create your own little photo cube. They used contact paper on foam board to create marble, wood and other textures. (I have been hauling the heavy extender leaf from my table up and down the stairs for photo sessions. Face palm.) They also had flat poster boards for color blocked backgrounds. I know this was all on the internet already, but seeing in person just how easy it all was to set up gave me new hope.

A video posted by Mad & Dusty (@madanddusty) on May 6, 2016 at 12:29pm PDT

Movement

The one thing I kept hearing over and over was how much movement affects your content’s success. Whether this be through video, a gif, or boomerang. Movement is simply more engaging and generates more clicks. It jumps out at you as you scroll through your feed. Below is a list of Instagram Facebook’s Creative Shop’s favorite apps for editing.

But, Quiet Movement

If you’re not optimizing your video for quiet then you could be missing out on a lot of engagement. People who view Instagram and Facebook on mobile generally have their sound off. If you need to have sound in your video, consider making the first bit “quiet friendly” and give the viewer time to click for sound.

Editing Apps

If you have a smartphone, you literally have a film/photography studio in your pocket. These are the favorite apps of the Facebook Creative Shop:

• Hyperlapse - Time lapse videos 
• Boomerang - Mini videos that loop back and forth (like the note cards above!) 
• Layout - Combine photos into different layouts
• Legend - Animate text over videos or gifs
• ALIVE - Movie maker with effects
• Gif Toaster - Make a gif
• Over - Overlay art work on photos

Marketing Resources for Small Business 

I loved chatting with the team at Facebook Blueprint. They offer training modules on how to use Facebook and Instagram marketing to their fullest potential. They are working on a certification program too, which sounds awesome! I'll definitely be keeping an eye on that.

Hope these tips help you in your content creation. I left with a better understanding and I'm excited to try some of these apps and tips myself! What new things would you be most excited to try?

Hugs + Happy Weekend!!
Mads

Mad & Dusty Restyle Their Brand

DUSTY: When we first started Mad & Dusty, it was our intention to showcase our work as a husband + wife team. But since I work full time at a screen print shop, I've been more of a shadowy figure in the background. The one Maddy talks about occasionally, but some may not believe is real. But with our impending rebrand, we decided that it's time for me to make my presence more apparent. Starting with my input on the whole restyling thing... 

First of all, we want Mad & Dusty to be more design focused. Our business has been many things since we've started. We did a little bit of this and a lotta bit of that. Designing, painting, printing, woodworking, etc. More or less taking any job that we could tackle, regardless of what it was. As time has gone on, we've gotten a better feel about how to run a business. Obviously we haven't nailed it, but we're getting there (fingers crossed!) We've refined who and what we are, so it felt like time for a refresh!

Right now, our business looks rather clean and safe. But that's not what we are. We're a little messy and we like to experiment and adventure! And we want that to be reflected in our business.

Maddy has a fun and youthful illustrative style that people love. And I've got a clean retro style focusing on design and type-layout. It may sound kind of boring, but it helps us balance each other out. Clients love the way our styles come together, so we want these things to be evident up-front. Which we'll hopefully be able to achieve as we walk ourselves through the same branding exercises we work through with our clients.

MADS: When we first started, we had trouble with our brand. We were trying to build a brand around something that wasn’t fully formed. Luckily we were getting married and a designer friend was able to gift us with a logo. (Thank you Joey!) That got us started and gave us the confidence to move forward. Now that we’ve grown and been working on this thing for a while, we noticed some things were off. The brand we were in person was not syncing up with what’s online.

Our site was (is) clean and structured, but our house is chaotic and eclectic. There’s no clean white space. Our home is full of video games and roommates and old things getting renovated by Dusty. It’s even in the suburbs. I can’t keep a plant alive, let alone Instagram it. I don’t like pineapples as a design element, even if you put them in gold foil. With all this working together, it seemed to me that we were doomed to failure. (When you think success is simply looking like everyone else.) I felt this discord around the beginning of February. Our brand started to feel like clothes that will never fit right, no matter how much you tug on them.

I felt lost. Like I wasn’t matching up with who I wanted to be and just couldn’t catch up. There’s the good aspirational “I want to be more…” and then the bad aspirational “I want to be more because what I am now isn’t good enough.” I was operating in that second space for a good while, and probably will always navigate back there from time to time.

I was juggling too much, not sleeping and we were saying yes to everything. I was looking for that job, that client, that goal achieved, that affirmation to say, “Yes, you’ve finally made it. You can sit with us.” But no matter how hard I worked, how much family time I sacrificed, I wasn’t hearing that.

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I think I finally realized it was because I didn’t need to hear that. God wasn’t holding his affirmation out of reach on purpose to show me who’s boss. (Really a thing I had believed for a while.) God had already given me affirmation. I was sitting at the right table, wearing the right clothes and just staring with envy at all the other tables. Yuck. Even writing that physically hurts my fingers as I type. Chasing that sort of affirmation through your work is not a healthy way to operate, no matter your profession, but especially as a creative. That sort of chase makes it incredibly hard to be authentic. You’re too busy trying on the brand that “works” and not exploring your own person.

I had been so busy jamming ourselves into “the right” persona online, that we were missing out on the chance to communicate a lot of what makes our brand unique. We weren’t telling anyone what makes us fun to work with or why we love to design and who we love to design for. So, yeah, basically what Dusty said with a side of all the feels. 

Since we are two people forming one brand, we both created separate mood boards. They look kinda Different Don't they? Sign up for next week's dispatch to see how we merged them!

No Makeup March: What a Month Without Eyeliner Taught Me About Boundaries

I made it a week into March and hadn't worn makeup, so I decided to commit to it. I created No Makeup March. I realize the no makeup trend is not a new thing, but it was new to me. I work from home most days, so makeup doesn't play too big a role in my life. I was curious about no makeup date nights, and no makeup meetings. Truth be told, they were a little scary at first. Gradually, they became liberating. Wandering around for a month without makeup taught me a lot. I though I knew what it would teach me, but there were some pretty big surprises too. 

Surprise: NO SUNSCREEN!

I sat out in the sun for a whole morning with my mom and got mega sunburn. I have been taking for granted the hidden SPF in many of my products. So, I guess I have to admit, makeup is good for you in some ways. 

Surprise: I PUT IN MORE EFFORT

Without my eyeliner wing(ed) woman, I put a little more effort into my outfits. I wore shoes that sorta matched. I wore jewelry. I spent time on my hair. I got my eyebrows waxed. It was a nice way to change things up. No Makeup March allowed me to take a step back and evaluate my whole look.  

No Surprise: NO ONE CARED

I repeat, no one really cared. I think people were interested in the idea. But no one seemed to be horrified by the fact that I would show my face in public without makeup. I got a few high fives, and no gasps of disgust. (Thanks, friends!)

No Surprise: I HAD MORE TIME / Surprise: I STILL WASTED IT

I did save about 30 minutes every morning. But I have no idea where that time went. Some days it went to more sleep. Yay! Other days to more time creeping on social media. Boo! 

THE BEST Surprise: IT TAUGHT ME ABOUT BOUNDARIES

This is the best part. This no makeup manifesto taught me more about boundaries. Learning to say "no" to myself every morning was helpful in learning to say "no" to bigger things. I used to think boundaries were about pushing people away and protecting yourself. I realized in this challenge that boundaries are about saying "no" so you can say "yes" to something more meaningful. When I said "hellz nah" to makeup, I was saying yes to a plan I had put in place. I was strengthening my commitment muscle. It was a small no/yes, but it helped me get acquainted with the process. 

So will I be wearing makeup today? Probably not, but maybe. Mascara would be nice! We will just have to see! What about you? Have you learned any lessons from unexpected places recently? Would love to hear about it!

Hugs!
Mads