Oh, what we wouldn’t give to go back to those seemingly simpler times! 

In all seriousness, though: adaptability in the face of changing circumstances is crucial to keeping your social media presence effective and successful. How can you learn from the unexpected? We’ve got a few ideas for you.

You Don’t Need To Start From Scratch Again

Even without a global pandemic, the life of your business can take wild, unpredictable turns. Your social media strategy needs to respond to these turns no matter what. There’s also no guarantee your best-laid plans will land with your audience as you hope. Having a framework already in place gives you an idea of what content is still usable and what might need to be shelved.

Folks who follow Upswept on social media know how much we love our animal friends. While we felt it important to shift our professional focus towards helping people get service-oriented businesses online and make their social media feeds more agile, we also didn’t want to completely abandon our light-hearted side. Sarah took our #FurryFriendsFriday hashtag from weekly photos to a weekly live video, giving our followers a closer look at her handsome kitty, Zergling, while also continuing to share business-relevant content (and hyping some of her favorite local makers!).

Talk Less, Listen More

What are your followers saying? How are they engaging with your content? What else is competing for their attention? Your strategy should be customer-focused at all times; what you share should add value while also respecting their experience. Continue to remain engaged by paying attention not only to interactions they have with you, but also to the cultural conversations happening at large. Make sure your contributions to these conversations don’t come across as insensitive or tactless.

Be Real, Be Relevant… Or Be Reserved

This suggestion might frighten you for a brief second. Consider letting down your professional guard, and giving your followers a glimpse of your side of the struggle. By now, you know well how Team Upswept bristles at the overuse of words like “authenticity.” (If we had a nickel for every time it was used insincerely…) Right now many of us feel unsure about our futures, regardless of our work situations or our experiences in isolation. Acting like you can operate business-as-usual will likely ring false with your fans and friends.

As circumstances continue to shift, you may find new best practices for serving your community. You may also find that your voice isn’t the one that needs to be loudest right now. That is also okay. Don’t drop off the face of the social media planet, though. A heartfelt message of empathy and concern goes a long way. Make sure you pause any planned campaigns or posts that don’t match this tone.

Reduce Stress and “Recycle”

Let’s be honest: trying to stay on top of the 24-hour social media cycle can be draining. Resist the unspoken obligation to create brand new content if you’re spending more time online. Take a moment to dig through your own archives for content you can reintroduce with a new perspective. Also, don’t be afraid to tap into your own social connections! Are there others in your field telling great stories? Give them a boost and re-share. This is also an excellent time to consider user-generated content. As you pay attention to what your followers say, ask them to contribute to your conversations with their experiences.

Your focus should always be on your community and how you can best serve them, global crisis or not. Let this experience remind you of the importance of engagement, honesty, planning, and flexibility. Our team is always here to help you adapt your social media strategy or any aspect of your business; we’d love to hear from you!

But what about our digital space?

If you spend much of your workday on your computer, as I do, it may need the same attention to clarity as your physical space. Keeping things simple, uncluttered, and easy to access can help you stay focused and lessen the stress of your work day.

Patience Makes Perfect

Before we get into our virtual spring cleaning, make sure to give yourself enough time and space for the process. You likely didn’t accumulate all your digital “clutter” in one day. Be patient with yourself. Consider this an item on your to-do list and tackle it accordingly. Use a time management system, like the Pomodoro technique, to keep yourself focused on the task when you’re working and allow yourself time to take breaks.

Treat Your Computer Like Your Desk

To get started, ask yourself: are you using everything you see on your computer desktop? If not, get rid of files and programs that serve no purpose. Yes, that might mean deleting the drafts of that one blog post from seasons ago (I resemble this remark, by the way). You could even go Marie Kondo on things, in a way, and ask yourself if the file in question serves any purpose for you. If that incredibly adorable photo of your puppy sparks the most joy ever, then it can stay!

Use Names and Folders Wisely  

Speaking of files: how are your files named? Creating a naming convention for files will help you prioritize what’s needed and why, and will also make them easier to find. If you’re looking at an older file and wondering what to call it because you’re not quite sure of its usefulness, that might be a cue that it’s time for it to go.

I also recommend creating two (or three) folders for your desktop. Label one “personal” and another “work.” Place items in said folders accordingly. Remember: you’ve already named files appropriately thanks to your new naming convention, so you won’t lose things. Promise. A third folder might help for items that don’t quite fit into the two main categories. I have a “stuff-n-things” folder where my favorite fun images and GIFs live. Feel free to be creative with this extra folder, if it serves you!

Desktop Wallpaper: Pretty and  Purposeful?

Yes! You can get deeper into clearing your desktop by choosing a clean, simple image for your wallpaper. Some wallpapers can even help you stay organized!  Hiding your dock can also help you stay focused. Start slow; take whichever steps will help you in the here and now to avoid overwhelm.

Our digital spaces have become a big part of our lives, so it’s natural for them to feel stale or cluttered from time to time. By using strategies that we use in the real world, we can make our digital life feel that extra bit fresher.

This night’s features:

• A first look at the MOVED. project, an ongoing photography venture focusing on people who celebrate their bodies for what they can DO.
• Fashion and photos from the Fall/Winter 2014 collection by Carolyn Hart Designs
• New jewelry designs by Noniko

As always, we’ll have lots of lovely things to take in, and refreshments at the ready, including delicious pastries by nom*ables. Come party with us!

RSVP ON FACEBOOK>>

Tuesday, October 7th, 2014
4:00-7:00pm
Upswept Creative HQ
217 NW Couch St.
Portland, OR 97209

Details on the Design Week Portland web site: http://www.designweekportland.com/openhouses/upswept-creative

Portland fashion photographer | Portland rebranding agency | Upswept Creative

In with the New in Old Town

We opened 2013 settling into our new space on NW Couch St. in Portland’s Old Town, and it was quite a change from our old space in Southeast. It’s cozier than before, but the added character, new amenities, and awesome street-level location (complete with a sweet window display area!) more than made up for it!

That also made the perfect opening for Petra to come on board! She hopped right into keeping the studio gears turning, and brought some extra magic to the mix with her styling prowess. She’s the wizard behind our window displays, and she started bringing her panache with floral and visual styling to our photoshoots, over the course of the year.

And speaking of team additions, in the Fall we also added our first intern, Malee! She joined us and flexed her muscles doing some graphic design pieces, and honing her skills for designing and building web sites from the ground up in WordPress.

Workshops! (?!)

I have to admit, workshops weren’t the first thing that sprang to my mind when I thought about things I’d be doing. Public speaking isn’t exactly a thing that comes naturally to me! But, 2013 had me pushing myself on that front–first with the help of Shelby Rice Style in our co-led online class + photo session, Branding Your Style. We loved working together and we’re looking forward to offering the workshop again in 2014!

After that, I found the inspiration to launch my first solo workshop through Upswept: Make The Camera Love You, which is all about being your best, most authentic self in photos. It was really fun and valuable time spent–enough so that we’re offering an expanded version of the workshop in January 2014! We’re adding live mini-photo-sessions to the workshop, so you can practice what you’ve learned and get some individual attention. You can get more information and register for our January 30th session.

I also had the pleasure of presenting at the Siren Nation Festival with a workshop I called Getting To The Heart Of Your Brand. I did that presentation coming off of a nasty flu, but we had an amazing group of ladies who shared great discussions, and gave me a lot of inspiration to take forward. You might be seeing this one again in the future…!

Rebranding: even tougher when it’s your own brand.

After adding onto the team, and realizing that, hey, maybe this whole, “run a design and photography studio in Portland,” idea could be bigger than just me, the notion of re-branding started gnawing at my thoughts.

The name had already been rattling around in the back of my brain for months, so in the fall, I finally decided to do the work and make it a reality. It was much more agonizing to make branding decisions about my own brand! Our minds, hearts, and emotions can get so tangled up in our own work that everything seems critical and dire. So, when I say that I know how our clients feel, I’m really not kidding, especially now.

Upswept Creative became official in October, and the new name seems to fit like a glove so far. Best of all, we got to unveil our new name as part of Design Week Portland! We hosted an open house gathering together some awesome new collaborators, and chatted with a lot of awesome new people. And, we’re fairly certain that ours was the only Design Week Portland Open House with a pair of live steampunk heroines on-site.

A Couple of Goodbyes

We did have to say goodbye to a couple of people, towards the end of the year. Malee’s internship was for Fall Term, so after her 10 weeks were up, we bid her a fond farewell. But, who knows? You might be see her hand on some of our future projects–some goodbyes don’t last forever.

December also saw our last photoshoot with Bonnie Thor Style, before she moves to California. I had the good fortune to meet her at a summer BBQ over a year ago, and she’s brought endless thought, creativity, and style into all of our sessions. When Bonnie asked about the possibility of squeezing in one last photoshoot, turning a one-look beauty shot into a three-look fashion session was the least I could do!

It’s rare to find someone whom you respect and have fun working with, and who you enjoy as a person, too. I’m so, so grateful that we got to make so much pretty together! We’ll miss you, Bonnie!

Looking ahead at 2014

What’s coming up in the new year? As I already mentioned, January 30th is our expanded Make The Camera Love You Workshop, and we’ll have more offerings in the coming weeks. We’ll have more pro tips and pretty photos coming at you on the blog, too!

We have a few potential changes to make around the shop, and some exciting consultations already on the calendar, so there’s plenty to look forward to. If you’re looking to refresh your brand, we’d be so excited to help you! Get in touch with us, and let’s start talking about making you look awesome.

THANK YOU for being a part of our adventure!

<3, Sarah