by Victoria Stoklasa, CEO

The "selfie"--a self portrait taken with a smartphone--has quickly become a major part of the social media experience. Whether on vacation, at work, or just lounging at home, people are sharing their selfies. With the creation of the selfie stick, a monopod that extends a smartphone beyond normal arm reach, some people think the selfie phenomenon has gone too far. I, however, am a selfie apologist. We even have our staff selfies here on our website. Let me explain why selfies are better than you might realize.

It's easy to assume that people who post selfies are vain and seek attention.  In reality, people with low confidence post selfies, too. "There are very few people who are completely confident," said cultural studies expert Jon Stratton in Bunbury Mail. "It's people looking for their friends to confirm they look good. You want that reassurance, we all want people to say positive things about us." So, snapping a photo of your new haircut is good for you--it shows that your community of friends and family like and respect you.

The BBC reported that selfies are part of how we present ourselves to the public. Dr Aaron Balick explained, "A selfie is an expression of an active online identity, something you have some control over. You might take lots [of pictures], but you'll publish the ones you like - even if they are silly or unflattering." Whether you're a celebrity like Kim Kardashian or a recent college graduate looking for your first job, posting selfies allows you to tailor your public image.

Technology has made taking and sharing photos a breeze. Bim Adewunmi said in an article for The Guardian, "The photographs of my youth were deeply considered affairs – was it worth using up a 24-exposure FujiFilm roll on a photo that might not even be in focus? No such worries with a cameraphone." You don't have to lug a huge camera with you on vacation, nor do you have to take turns having your picture taken in front of monuments--just reach your arm out and hold your friend close as you pose together.

What are your thoughts on selfies--are they great, or are you over them? Leave a comment and let us know!

By Victoria Stoklasa, CEO

Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting Athens. My husband presented at the International Pynchon Week conference, while I spent time soaking up the history and culture of Greece. Since I'm a business owner, however, this meant being responsible in how I manage my company so that there would be no hiccups in our delivery for clients. In the scramble to prepare for our trip, and during the trip itself, here are the lessons I learned for business owners who want to take a vacation but are afraid of leaving their business behind.

In the weeks before your vacation, budget some extra time to take care of the stuff that you won't be able to do while you're traveling. Schedule social media posts, meet with prospective clients, and sort out any financial information. Notice that I said "in the weeks before", and not "in the days before". Do not (I repeat: DO NOT) try to scramble in the last couple of days before you fly out. You will not finish what you need to finish.

Business owners are often Type A--they are the "if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself" sort of people. However, it pays to trust other people in your business to handle important work. Had it not been for my ability to hand off projects to some of my associates, I would have spent a huge swath of time working on projects for clients instead of visiting the Acropolis or going to the beach.

This was my biggest failure--I had forgotten to let a couple of clients know that I would be out of the country. Fortunately, it did not result in any problems, but that doesn't mean that not being clear about your travel plans can't result in a fiasco. Inform any contacts you're working closely with when you'll be traveling, and set up an away message on both your phone and email for any impromptu communication from potential clients.

I'm incredibly lucky that my work is so portable; many of my projects can be done from my laptop. Unfortunately, this can cause me to get glued to said laptop and forget the world around me as I tap away at my work. That's why I had to give myself a schedule: I would spend certain hours of the day doing work for my business, and certain hours exploring Athens and enjoying myself. The result was that I got a lot of tasks accomplished and still was able to enjoy myself at historical sites and museums.

What is your best advice for taking a vacation from your business? Leave a comment and let us know!

By Victoria Stoklasa, CEO

Bon Visto Media is a small business that manages social media for other small businesses. As a result, we understand the needs and concerns of our clients, because we’ve been there—we’ve lived it. That’s why we want to share the tools that we’ve used to succeed…not just in social media, but in business management in general. (If you have a favorite tool that we didn’t list, and you think it’s a total sin that we didn’t mention it, leave a comment!) 

Have you ever posted a link to your company Facebook page and expected an image to automatically attach to the post…only to have nothing but white space and text? This is because Facebook doesn’t understand the content on your link. Using the Debugger helps Facebook scrape information from your link and recognize that there are images on the page you’re attempting to share. Simply copy and paste the link into the box on the Facebook Debugger page and click “Fetch new scrape information”. You may need to click this button a few times to get all the information scraped.

Businesses always have a wealth of checklists…not just for individual employees, but for projects as well. Asana is a project management tool that seamlessly combines the two. Everyone involved in the business signs up on Asana, and they can be assigned to different projects. If Betty, Sue, and Bob join Asan, Betty and Sue can be assigned Project A, Sue and Bob can be assigned Project B, and so on. You can then view individual checklists as well as project checklists. Asana is an elegant, user-friendly tool that can help you breathe easy as you collaborate.

I’m lucky to be a graphic designer by education and intuition, but not everyone has that skill. That’s why Canva is such a valuable design tool. It offers many drag-and-drop templates for multiple design needs—Facebook ad images, invitations, flyers, and so on. Canva also offers an online design school to learn tips and tricks to make your images stand out. Plus, you can purchase stock photos directly from Canva to insert into your designs for a little extra sparkle.

What tools does your business use? Have you used the ones we listed above? Leave a comment and let us know!