Travel Essentials for the Roaming Worker

The SS team loves to come together, work in a productive environment, and create an end result we are all proud of. However, like everyone else, we find ourselves meeting deadlines, communicating with clients, and consistently brainstorming even when we're away from the office. With it being easier than ever to stay productive and on top of your work even while trotting across the globe, we wanted to share our must have travel essentials for those who work while roaming.  

1. Plugged In  

It’s a no brainer that you will need your computer, phone, or tablet in order to communicate with others wherever you are in the world. Make sure your devices never fail on you with a reliable portable charger. We also recommend keeping your phone, tablet, and computer chargers stored in a safe place with easy access. We love to keep everything neat and organized in a cute but practical laptop bag that can come along with you on a car, plane, or train!

2. Written Word

For some, writing down your goals, tasks, and to do lists helps to stay organized and focused. Using a planner to keep track and categorize your schedule can be crucial to those who want to stay on top of their work. It's also always satisfying to physically cross off what you have completed, leaving you feeling accomplished and productive!

3. Snacks

Brain food is always a necessity to keep you concentrated and fully alert. Nobody has time to be hangry when they have things to do! Don't rely on overpriced airport food or sad gas station snacks to fuel your mind and body. Wolo Snacks is our go to travel snack to bring around whenever we need a healthy pick-me-up. With each bar containing a full day’s worth of Vitamin C, and coming in delicious flavors like mint chocolate chip, cocoa crunch, and peanut butter, we are always left feeling satisfied and nourished. Some other easy snacks to pack that won't go bad and pass the pesky TSA rules are mixed nuts and seeds, dried fruits, kale chips, individual peanut butter pouches, and roasted chickpeas!

You don’t have to choose work or play when traveling to wherever your heart desires. We hope our travel essentials help you pack to be productive, motivated, and creative on any of your next treks!
 

How To Make Your Food Instagram Worthy

Gorgeous smoothie bowls, beautiful avocado toasts, and stunning salads are a constant recurrence on our feeds lately..and we aren’t complaining! The more food inspo, the better. But when your attempt at the perfect pancake stack looks more like a pinterest fail than your next Instagram post, you might be left wondering how do those food gurus do it? Here are our essentials steps to taking your culinary skills to the next level.  

1. Color Coordinate

The first step to creating a dish that will make any foodie’s mouth water is to pick foods with colors that pop. One of our favorite foods that taste amazing and also has a pretty pink hue is pitaya, which is great blended into a smoothie bowl. Bright veggies like bell pepper, tomatoes, green lettuce, and purple cabbage also brighten any dish. Get creative and choose a wide variety of fruits and veggies for extra taste, texture, and color.

2. Toppings, Toppings, Toppings!

Our intern, Sienna, says her favorite way to make her food on @partywithplants stand out is by adding lots and lots of toppings! Not only does this add extra flavor to any dish, but all of the nuts, seeds, and drizzles allows your creation to become eye-catching. For avocado toasts: sesame, hemp, or chia seeds are great additional details. Finished off with tomato and a sprinkle of salt and pepper make the perfect contrast to the green, creamy avo.  Make top-notch smoothie bowls by starting with a thick base and topping it with cut fruit, shredded coconut, edible flowers (yes it's a thing!) and a generous drizzle of almond butter. Pro Tip: Amazon carries miniature cookie cutters that can turn any fruit into fun shapes. Make your smoothie bowl pretty and eat it too!

3. Know Your Angles

Once you have a meal that looks straight out of a five-star restaurant it's time to snap away! Don’t be ashamed to hover over your food to get the birds-eye view of all of your hard work. Play around with the angles so you have a plethora of options to choose from. Also, never forget to find the light. Natural light enhances your creation’s beauty and makes editing a breeze. Pro Tip: Having a simple, clean background allows your dish to be the center of attention.

4. It's all in the Details

Finally, it's time to post your creation to your feed for all of your friends and family to drool over! But don’t get lazy here. Picking a filter to make your colors pop is crucial in the food-inspo world. Once your filter is chosen (we love VSCO’s options!) go into your camera roll to further adjust your photo’s settings. Brightness, contrast, saturation, and shadows can make or break your post and potentially get it a spot on the coveted popular page.

We hope these tips help you make your dishes so stunning even Gordon Ramsay wouldn’t have a bad thing to say. Now get plating and snap away! Bonus Pro Tip: Eat your amazing creation and enjoy every bite!   

How to Not Let Social Media Control Your Life

For us at Social Sarahmony, being on social media has given us a way to work with businesses, interact with audiences from all over the world, and genuinely enjoy the new digital age. We all love being apart of the social media world, but sometimes, it can feel like social media is our world. Everyone needs a break sometimes, so our newest Intern, Sienna, wanted to share some of her favorite ways to take a step back from the feed, and focus on #irl.

1. Take a detox day

One of the most useful tools I have found to take a much needed break from all of the likes, reposts, and hashtags is to remove myself all together. Once a week, I take a period of 24 hours to delete all apps off my phone so I won’t even be tempted to check how many views my story got or see the latest paparazzi photos of North West. This helps me stay present, enjoy those around me, and even do something fun with friends without having to worry about documenting our every move. Play with how much time works for you, and come back to the social world feeling refreshed and revived.

2. Numbers Don't Always Matter

Even I will admit that if my photo doesn't get how many likes I hoped it would, I get a bit discouraged. I often catch myself checking to see how many people commented the heart eyes emoji on my latest “candid” photo of me sipping on my iced latte that took ten minutes of posing to get the insta worthy shot. The truth is, no matter how many follows, likes, or comments you get a day, it will never change your true self worth. Don’t let the numbers control your life, post whatever you would like (even if it might not go with your aesthetic) and try not to stress if you haven’t hit 10k followers yet.     

3. Don’t Compare.

It's hard not to scroll through your feed seeing beautiful models, people traveling to gorgeous destinations, and another one of your friend’s engagement photos. I know it has been said on every other instagram post you see, but one of the most important things to remember about social media is that it really is the “highlight reel” of people’s lives. Do you think your favorite influencer would have 2 million followers if she only posted photos of her refilling her prescriptions at CVS? People post what they want others to see. Remember that comparison is the thief of joy, and social media should be a positive experience, not the other way around!

I hope that these three steps can help anyone who feels anything negative while being on social media. Posting photos, interacting with friends, and following accounts that you love should leave you feeling inspired and excited. If you ever feel like the apps on your phone have taken a hold of too much of your time and attention, come back to these tips and #takecontrol of your social media. 

Follow Sienna's instagram accounts @tofuslutt for travel and lifestyle inspo and @partywithplants for her vegan food creations! 

Must-Know Social Media Updates May 2018

Instagram Updates

Instagram announced Thursday that it now lets you share a feed post to your story. When you stumble on a post that inspires you, you can share it immediately as a sticker to your story for your followers to see.

Just go to the paper airplane button below the post as if you were sending it via DM, and at the top you’ll now see an option to create a story. Customize it as you please and then post. Voilà.

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Things to note: only posts that are public will be able to be shared, and users will be able to disable this feature at their discretion. If you don’t see the “Create a story with this post” feature yet, stay tuned, it will be released to iOS in the coming days.

Speaking of story updates… have you tried the emoji slider yet?

GDPR Basics 

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If you’ve been hearing a lot about GDPR, but it’s leaving you scratching your head, you’re not alone. Read all about what it is here. All in all, it’s intended to give users back control of their data, which is a good thing.

The changes from this EU legislation take place starting May 25 and have worldwide implications for any entities processing the personal data of EU citizens. What does it mean as a website owner or blogger?

If you’re a webmaster, compliance is necessary. Full disclosure should be given when collecting data. This includes information on how you’re collecting, processing and storing the data you are retaining on everything from your website, to your plugins and email list.

For you this may mean introducing a new privacy policy on your website and having people opt-in. You can add a notification bar to your landing page or use a built in privacy badge. Please note, we aren’t legal experts, so it’s important to read up on the change to make sure you’re properly informed.

Below are some tools that can help with GDPR compliance on:

Wordpress

Mailchimp

Squarespace

Pinterest Makeover

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You’ve likely noticed a new Pinterest profile design on your Pinterest homepage. Did you know that a monthly viewers metric will also be public? This number will tell you (and everyone else) the total number of people who saw your Pins in the last 30 days.

For influencers monetizing their posts, this is a big deal. Pinterest is also using this feature as an opportunity to remind users that they can promote pins to up their reach.

By Jennifer Callahan

Meet @SocialSarahmony's Shantel #EmployeeAppreciationDay

1. Tell us about the typical day in the SS offices.

I arrive to our beautiful office space at The Hills Penthouse located in the center of Sunset in West Hollywood. Everyday is different - we are either managing our client’s social platforms and content, coordinating photoshoots, coming up with campaigns or going to business meetings, to name a few things. I wear many different hats and get to have a hand in each client which I love.

2. What is your favorite part of working in the social media world?

Meeting new clients who have fun and exciting businesses. This aspect helps play a big part in my creativity, because I get to be hands on with a variety of fields such as product, jewelry, fashion and culinary!

3. What does a week in the life of Shantel look like?

I am always up for trying new restaurants especially sushi! I also love to take weekend trips out to either San Francisco, Las Vegas or even staying local in Malibu. Going to wine tastings is my favorite - I love a good glass of rosé.

4. Where is your favorite and most instagrammable spot in LA?

Recently, some coffee shops with great aesthetic and neon signs such as Joe and the Juice Bar, or pop up stores like Mansur Gavriel on Melrose. Also, our office at The Hills - panoramic views for days!

5. Who is your IG inspo spiritual animal?

I have many but will have to say @garyjanetti - his memes are hilarious and feature Prince Charles’ son. I get a good daily laugh out of that account. My favorite part? When Lisa Rinna comments “Gary.”

Follow Shantel on Instagram for all her LA where abouts & fun Social Sarahmony moments!

You Can Now Schedule Your Instagram Posts #Hallelujah

The struggle was real with Instagram posting as a social media manager but the struggle is finally OVER - we guess that is what happens during a super blue blood moon. See below on details you should know about the new Instagram API with the help of TechCrunch:

-Yes, you can schedule your Instagram posts now but not directly from Instagram. It must be through one of Facebook's Marketing Partners or Instagram Partners.

-The account you are scheduling an IG post for must be an Instagram Business Account. To find out how to switch from a personal to business account, click here. Word has it that this helps increase visibility on people’s IG feed as well. 

-The new API does not extend to ads - just posts.

-This is just the start but we believe some other updates on this may roll out sooner than we think. 

The days may be long over where we had to pause to live Instagram post but we always recommend double checking when the post goes live to make sure everything is all good... and to community manage of course!

Happy Posting,

Social Sarahmony Team

SS Holiday Gift Guide 2017

SS has rounded up a few select gifts we think would be perfect as holiday gifts! Each item is tailored to a specific individual to make your picking easier. You can’t go wrong with these unique and thoughtful options!

• For the Interior Buff: Whether you know someone who just moved into a new home or is redecorating - a Judith Gigliotti original print will brighten anyone’s home with the allure of the Italian Riviera.

• For the Jet Setter: The perfect stocking stuffer for the traveler - WOLO SNACKS. The influencer loved snack is packed with immunity blend, turmeric, flax seeds and all things healthy to get you through your travels without hunger. They also come in three delicious flavors: cocoa crunch, mint chocolate chip and peanut butter. Did we mention the packaging is utterly instagrammable?

• For the Coffee Lover: Help your coffee loving friend wiend off the horrible sugar and Splenda they put in their coffee and turn to a healthy and tastier alternative - Leaner Creamer! This cult favorite creamer comes in a variety of flavors and is contains coconut oil, gluten free, sugar free and an appetite suppressant!

• For the Fragrance Fiend: Le Labo was made for those who are picky with their scents but have a love for them. They handmade their fragrances in-store and you can even customize a name on your items - candles are also available to match your scents. Once you step into this store, you won’t want to leave.

• For the Wine-O: It would be a surprise if a wine-o may not have an electric wine opener but an even better wine-o accessory that they may not have is the Vinturi Wine Aerator from Williams Sonoma . This wine aerator speeds up natural aeration and pours out the best components and flavors of the wine for you. 

• For the Dinner Party Host: What better gift to give a chef than Suzanne Goin’s The A.O.C. Cookbook? The thick book contains some of the tastiest and most original recipes - designed to fill anyone’s stomach with love and satisfaction.

Brainstorm In Session

Whether you are in a brainstorm rut or not, SS has rounded up a few useful tips on how to make the most out of a brainstorming session with your team. This works especially for creatives who need to bounce ideas off of each other - we are big believers in team thinking. Keep reading for productive points on how to stay focused and get the most out of your creative brainstorm session:

• Peace & Atmosphere

  • Make sure you are in a quiet space with no distractions - small interruptions can make someone lose a thought or deflect them in some way. Unless your team likes to jam and think to music, putting on some low level tunes can help as well - this is hoping you all have the same taste in music!

• Comfort

  • Absolute comfort. This includes everything from the way you are sitting, the way your items are spread out and organized on your desk to how it smells in the room. Bad odors can also disrupt a great brainstorm sesh. We suggest putting on a diffuser with Rosemary essential oils (if you are into that) which helps stimulate brain activity. 

• Sustenance

  • We heard once to never have an important conversation hungry. Here at SS - we are foodies and it is tough to have a convo without a full stomach! We recommend always having a hearty meal before a brainstorm session along with snacks, COFFEE, juice and water bottles for hydration.

• Inspiration & Goals

  • Inspo - an absolute essential! Whether it’s a moodboard, images saved in your Instagram archives or words written down - inspiration is always vital for a great thinking session. You may remember certain topics to discuss or bring up with these kind of resources around you. Having a list of goals and topics is useful as well to check off any necessary items you may want to go over or accomplish during the session as well.

We hope we helped contribute to your successful coming weeks and future brainstorming sessions! We would love to hear any other tips you may have! Comment below :)