HSL Creative: a story about discovering your purpose

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

And thus begins the launch of HSL Creative. After 13 years of school, 4 years of college, 4 years of living all over, 2 years of grad school, and finally supporting myself as a freelance writer, social media specialist and actor, this day has come. I'm not starting a new job this week but I am finally embracing what I do and sharing it with the world.

I’ve always been a person who was curious. I’ve liked lots of things and had trouble narrowing down my interests. Choosing one major and one minor in college was challenging. (I ended up with 3 minors. Who does that?) Saint-Exupéry’s quote above resonates with me because I’ve finally gotten to the point where I know what my life’s work is:

My passion is to tell stories. Whether they're ones that I've made up, ones other people have lived, ones I perform on a stage or ones I share in a magazine article, telling stories is what I know I'm meant to do.

So with the launch of HSL Creative, there is nothing left to take away. This is the next step in living a life on purpose. I'm a storyteller. And I look forward to continuing on this journey of sharing humanity with you through the written word.

5 Tips to Kickstart Your Social Media Presence

Social Media Logotype Background

At this point every one knows their business needs a social media presence but maybe you’re not sure where to begin. Here are five tips to make sure you’re doing it right.

1. Determine your audience’s location. In order to reach your intended audience with your brand’s exciting message you first have to figure out where they hang out online. Thoroughly carve out the image of your customer. Does she tweet? Does he have a smartphone? How busy is she? Figure out where that person spends time online and invest your social media presence there.

2. Be predictable. Content may be king but consistency is queen. Post regularly. Your following will grow if they come to know what to expect from you. This doesn’t mean you have to post 10 times a day on the hour. But it does mean that you should stick to a regular schedule. Consistency is a characteristic of brand credibility. So be credible.

3. Contribute something. Social media users only follow brands that provide them with something--whether it’s entertaining, inspiring, or useful, people have come to expect to get something from the businesses they allow into their social media feeds. So while plugging your own stuff is a necessity from time to time, give people content they’ll find interesting even if it doesn’t lead to a shopping cart.

4. Check in regularly. While some of your online presence can be automated, you can’t schedule a connection with your audience. Be sure to check in regularly to comment, reply and take part in discussions online. Your absence will be noticeable if you don’t.

5. Keep it PUFI. PUFI? Yes. Pleasant, Useful, Fun, and Interesting. Your posts should fall into one of these four categories at all times--even better if you hit 2, 3 or 4. Keep your content light. Social media is not the right medium for heady debates. Your content needs to provide your audience with a good experience. So be useful, enjoyable and fun to follow.

These are five surefire ways to get your social media presence off on the right foot. Have anything to add? I’d love to hear it in the comments.