Five Tips for Fan-Based Social Media

Hello readers,

Like most of you, I'm a user of most social media platforms: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and most recently, Tumblr (which I'm still trying to figure out...) These are all primarily for personal use like reaching out to my readers, keeping in touch with friends and colleagues, following literary journals, celebs and such.

But recently I've started two "fan" accounts: The Daily Beatle on Twitter (@DailyBeatle) and Bella.Baby.Kitten on Instagram (@bella.baby.kitten).

The Daily Beatle is, as the name suggests, a daily fact of the day account on the Beatles, their music, with the occasional song lyric thrown in. Bella.Baby.Kitten's account has photos and videos of my adorable calico kitten, Bella. (She's gathered quite a following.) 

Keeping non-personal social media accounts is great for sharing specific facts/pictures that would drive your personal connections crazy if you posted them on a regular basis. Plus it's great experience for working with professional social media. But it's not as easy as I thought when I started these accounts. Here's what I've learned so far:

Consistency is key.
Sure, I may not feel like posting a quote by Paul McCartney everyday, but you know who cares? My followers. And when you have followers who are expecting a daily fact you gotta follow through. I post to The Daily Beatle every day, and to Bella's account every few days, depending on how many cute pictures I can get.

Gather a following.
This may be the hardest part of developing a non-personal social media account, but ultimately your followers determine whether your account is going to make it or break it. The two big tricks I've learned are a) follow the people you want to follow you and b) hashtags. I have a love/hate relationship with hashtags, but that's one of the big ways you reach your audience. For example, Bella's photo above:

Yeah, the ten hashtags look obnoxious, but it really worked! Also, a cute caption doesn't hurt :)

Don't mix up your personal and fan accounts.

This is a really big pet peeve of mine, which started long before The Daily Beatle and Bella.Baby.Kitten began. You know that one account you follow for cute animal pics or Irish quotes or whatever that posts random news headlines and memes? Yeah, not a fan. I've been guilty a couple times of mixing my accounts up - it's an easy mistake! Just go back and delete whatever it was before you annoy your followers.

Don't be afraid to put yourself out there!

You know, the whole self-advertising agenda. Tell your friends, your other followers (like you lovely readers!), your great-uncle whose heart is still in the Sixties, whoever you think would like or appreciate your account. If they really like it they'll tell their friends...it all pays off.

Be creative.

When I started The Daily Beatle, I wasn't too surprised by the number of Beatles accounts on Twitter. And they're all tweeting the same thing: quotes, facts, lyrics. You have to make yourself stand out from the competition, whether it's through really random facts (Paul and Ringo are both southpaws - who knew?), clever captions or the video I posted of Bella squeaking when about to jump off her scratching post. Be unique, and social media will love you!

Got any suggestions for social media accounts or followers? Share in the comments!

Cheers, 

Victoria

Confessions of a Non-Adventurer

I am not an adventurer.

(Let's be fair, this was a 5 AM flight. But it pretty much sums up my adventure face.)

I just finished Wild by Cheryl Strayed this morning, and for the first travel memoir I've read she set the bar high. Her writing is incredibly descriptive and beautiful, but it's really her experiences on the Pacific Crest Trail that make Wild the incredible story that it is. Strayed makes me want to hike through the heat and the snow along the PCT, to look into the depths of a lake so deep it only reflects the sky and leave the pain of past experiences in the dusty, weather -beaten trail.

Except, not really.

I've been trying to improve in the last couple years but I'm not even close to being an outdoorsy person. The closest I came to camping was sleeping on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro at WYD13. Falling asleep wasn't bad, actually. Waking up was hell. My yoga pants were damp from the humidity, the sand was wedged hard around my body and was everywhere - in my clothes, in my hair...ugh. Plus, I wasn't alone. Half of my group of thirty-six or so had opted to sleep on the beach (the smart ones stayed in our hotel), and then were an additional thousand or so around us. I felt like a refugee. A very sandy refugee (it took me months to get all the sand out).

I could never walk the PCT. Even if I factored out the extreme temperatures, occasional creepers and countless rattlesnakes.

I'm better at being a mental traveler: i.e. imagining scenarios and creating stories. I guess that's every writer, but the first to come to mind is Karen Blixen, author of Out of Africa. She could come up with incredible stories from a single sentence, and she was even more of an extreme indoor person than I am. When she moved from Denmark to Kenya she brought an entire trunk of china and crystal place wares. I don't even own that kind of stuff.

But living in Africa changed Karen's lifestyle and made her more of an adventurer than a mental traveler. She took over her husband's coffee farm when he left her. She went on safari and was nearly attacked by a lioness. She flew in a biplane with her lover after he had learned to fly the day before and was able to ensure that her workers would be cared for after the farm burned to the ground. Although she had to leave Africa following the fire, she wasn't the same woman who arrived in Kenya with trunks of crystal. She was an adventurer.

Like pre-Kenya Karen, I'm afraid of getting out of my comfort zone. I could never go on the trail alone or face vicious wildlife. I'm scared of going even a couple hours away from my family, my boyfriend or my closest girlfriends. I can dream up all the extreme scenarios in the world, but when it actually comes to taking that first step I pull back.

So I'm asking you, my readers, to give me the courage to get out of my comfort zone and become an adventurer. Share in the comments what inspired you to take that leap into the unknown, or give me a challenge (within reason; I'm paying off student loans here...). Thanks :)

"Not all those who wander are lost." J. R. R. Tolkien

Cheers,
Victoria

So Bad They're the Best

Hello readers!

Twenty-nine years today an Irish band made its big break during the 1986 Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium. Nine days from today, my brother and I will be going to experience that same band at Madison Square Gardens for their iNNOCENCE tour. (If you feel like watching their 12 minute performance of Bad, it's right below. If you don't feel like it, you should anyway!)

My love for U2 skyrocketed during this past year; actually I didn't start listening to them until last summer when my friend Savannah (who's going to iNNOCENCE next Monday) kept sending me their music. Then my brother turned me onto Actung Baby (I'm thanking him by giving him my extra ticket). Since then I've been a passionate 2vian (bad, I know), even going so far to make it official that they've bumped my favorite band, the Beatles.

Yeah, really. And this is the first time I've come out and said it. But there you go. They're that good.

It took a lot to admit that they've replaced the Beatles for me. After all, the Beatles are unquestionably the greatest rock 'n roll band of all time (I'm still upholding that). Their music influenced rock and pop forever, including (and certainly not limited to) U2. The Beatles never hit a point where they were considered unsuccessful (even Magical Mystery Tour didn't dampen their fame) while most bands have faded out of the spotlight temporarily. And they were productive: in their seven years together (not counting their decade building up to success) they came out with twelve albums, twenty-two singles and five movies, not to mention worldwide tours until 1966. Its a lot to live up to, and even U2 hasn't hit that same level.

So, I guess what it came down to was what did U2 that makes them better than any other band?

They stand for something. 

U2 has a ton of Christian themes in their music, which is what made them unique from other 80s bands. But even if Christianity is something you don't subscribe to, every song has a deeper meaning. Sunday Bloody Sunday brought awareness to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Bad, Running to Stand Still and Trip Through Your Wires subtly bring up the problem with heroin in Dublin, and promote world peace through many of their songs, most prominently in Peace on Earth.

They connect with their fans.

The Live Aid performance of Bad was a turning point for U2, partly because it showed Bono's enthusiasm for their fans. About halfway through the performance, Bono leaves the stage, calls three girls out of the audience, vaults to the ground to dance with one and hugs the other two before returning to sing Ruby Tuesday. The rest of the band was furious that he went off for a good five minutes and were convinced that this would ruin their career. However, it was Bono's interaction with the audience that set them apart from the other performances, strengthened their fanbase and set them on the road to superstardom.

They're Irish.

Yes, I'm biased. But the backgrounds of the individual band members influenced them as songwriters and musicians, and much of their background was set against the Troubles. Not only did the conflict in Ireland inspire many of their songs on War and Songs of Innocence, it also influenced their outlook on life. ¨Irish people do melancholy,¨ Bono said in an interview with Rolling Stone, but it's the melancholy that brings out the depth in what would be their more secular music. One, Love is Blindness, With or Without You and Song for Someone would all be just love songs without the touch of Irish sorrow.

They promote other artists. 

U2 is huge, so huge that they pretty much overshadow most other rock bands. But they use their fame to bring other groups to the forefront of music. They still perform covers by smaller bands like For Aslan's This Is. One of my favorite music collaborations is Bono with Chris Martin and Brandon Flowers for the War Child charity singing the Killers' early hit All These Things That I've Done. During another performance, U2 brought Brandon Flowers out to sing In a Little While while on tour in Las Vegas. (I haven't shared the War Child performance due to poor visual quality, but its well worth a listen!)

They won't give up.

In the early 90's, the Edge's wife divorced him, leaving U2's guitarist crushed. Instead of giving up, the Edge poured out his pain into his songwriting. The results turned up on Actung Baby, which is arguably one of their most complex and strongest albums with songs like One and Love is Blindness. Last December, Bono was injured in a biking accident which left him with severe damage to his shoulder. In an open letter to his fans, the singer revealed that it was unlikely that he would be able to play guitar again. However, ¨the band have reminded me that neither they nor Western civilization are depending on this,¨ Bono added. But his injuries haven't stopped him musically, nor physically apparently (the singer climbed up the between the LED screens to sing Cedarwood Road early on in their iNNOCENCE tour.)

 They're not afraid to fail. 

Just look at the free download of Songs of Innocence on iTunes. Although it looked like U2 had nothing to lose, there was a huge number of iTunes owners who were less than happy that a free album was available in their purchases. Maybe it wasn't their most popular move, but it was a bold one. When touring the US, the band was told they couldn't play an venue in Virginia because the audience only wanted country music; so they went incognito as The Dalton Brothers, a cowboy-disguised group who only played ¨country and western¨. U2 doesn't do things in small doses, which really defines them as a band.

Hopefully you enjoyed this overview of my new favorite group. If you're a 2vian (or BonoBro, whichever you prefer), let me know in the comments which is your favorite song! If you haven't listened to them, I gave you a pretty good starting list, so hope you enjoy it :)

Cheers,
Victoria

All About the Cats

Hello readers!

If you follow me on any form of social media you've been introduced to my tuxedo cat, Sylvester.

You remember him, I'm sure. Very spoiled, very loving cat who knew he was the favorite and basked in it. His favorite form of address: "handsome cat," spoken in the highest vocal range possible with a touch of British accent. (What I won't do for my pets...)

Even if he got rather annoyed by my constant selfies and photo ops. But, how could you not when you have such a handsome animal?

Well, he died last Wednesday.

The worst part was I wasn't there. I was supposed to return home the same day he died, but had changed my plans the day before and cancelled my train ticket. My mum, who was taking care of him, called to tell me he wouldn't make it and could she put him on the phone so I could tell him it was okay to let go?

Initially, I thought "oh, now I'm calling my...cat," but said yes. There was a pause and I assumed she had put the phone up against Sylvester's ear. I took a deep breath. "Hey buddy, it's me. Look, I can't make it home... (this is when the tears started) It's okay though. You can let go now. I love you, handsome. I'll see you...soon."

My mum got on after and said he began to purr. A few hours later she texted me to say he had died.

The hardest part was that last goodbye. After that all I felt was that dull ache that occurs when you've lost someone special. He was sixteen, and he had been my cat since he was a little, entitled kitten.

There's no way to completely recover from a pet's death. But sometimes a distraction can jolt you out of the grieving process.

Even an eight week old kitten.

I had to work on Saturday, and when I met up with my family to go to a cookout, Susie came running up to me. "Guess what! We found a kitten on the bridge!"

"Really??"

She clapped her hands over her mouth. "Oops, I wasn't supposed to say that."

She probably expected me to ask a million questions about the new kitten. Instead I said something along the lines of, "You're kidding, right?"

I didn't want to replace Sylvester. I didn't even want to think about getting another kitten. But when I first saw Bella, my heart melted.

I mean, it would be impossible not to, right?

Bella is eight weeks old, the tiniest kitten I've had in years. And is the cutest little thing I've even seen. 

Did I mention she's tiny?

I even got obsessed enough to make her an Instagram page (fine, I said it), @Bella.Baby.Kitten. 

So even though I still miss my Ruckie, and he will always be first and foremost my handsome cat, this baby girl is quickly stealing my heart. 

Even if she has about as much enthusiasm for selfies as Sylvester...

Cheers and love from Bella and me,

Victoria