The Season Of Leo :: Time For Expression, Not To Be Shy

PS: This shirt is from La Mère, run by April Perri, who is not shy, and has recently transformed her store IG to focus on sharing her disabled children as she and her daughter undergo a possible kidney swap/transplant.

Taking a moment here to give you permission not to be shy about what you do, offer, make or sell. We are in the season of Leo, and everywhere from Moon Omens to Refinery29 is telling us to release our voice, and let us shine.

Particularly inspiring was this paragraph from this Refinery29 article explaining this. After reading it, I made a video for Tin Shingle’s Instagram friends, to help those of us who need a push, break through an Instagram, TikTok or newsletter wall. Give it a listen below.

For those who find it hard to express their love for themselves, it may be hard to vye for breadcrumbs of attention and affection. Being one’s own PR person could be challenging for those who are modest. Therefore, it’s time to ditch the humble and passive approach to situations. Be loud and ostentatious, brag about your accomplishments, post thirst traps on social media, and show off your fabulous life to the world. Wear sequins and neon colors. Lean into your personal style. Flaunt your success. The reason why you should brag about your accomplishments is because the universe wants you to believe in yourself and to be confident. It’s not the month to be shy. 

Scroll down to see this example of how the Abraham and Christian in Twins Barbershop in Beacon, NY live in Leo Season every day by having no shyness about promoting themselves and their talents.

Abraham and Christian opened Twins Barbershop in Beacon and are non-stop on the scene to reach the community, especially the youth - with their hair styles. They sponsor youth sports, and are the most popular vendor at Beacon High School Career Fair when they offer free hair cuts.

This portrait on the wall of them both styling is fitting for its bold look, reflecting the pride they both take in their work. Some may be modest about a self-portrait in their studio, but as a patron, this photo fits the space and only re-iterates their brand. The Twins always have capes that are color coordinated or of a theme they are sporting for that moment. Their own collection of art and figures is displayed in a protective case. Passion for their work and purpose is evident on all of the walls.

If you are having a moment where you could show yourself in a professional light, but hesitate, think of the Twins, and then do it.

Timeline Of Elon Musk's Twitter Takeover From 2022 - Tracking The Weird And Wonky

Elon Musk became the owner and CEO of Twitter on October 27, 2022, after acquiring the social media company for $44 billion. Before the deal was sealed, 19,000 tweets showed his long time complications with Twitter.

Below is a timeline of events and the changes implemented under Musk’s leadership.

December 20, 2022

Musk announces he will step down as CEO once he finds a replacement

December 14, 2022

Musk suspends the Twitter account that tracked his private jet and introduces a new policy prohibiting posting someone’s real-time location details. Newsletter platform Revue shut down.

December 12, 2022

Twitter relaunches Blue Verified.

December 9, 2022

Musk announces plans to free up inactive accounts

December 8, 2022

Musk promotes the release of part two of the “Twitter Files.”

December 2, 2022

Musk promotes the release of the “Twitter Files.”

November 25, 2022

Musk mentions creating his own phone if Apple and Google remove Twitter from their app stores.

November 24, 2022

Musk announces ‘amnesty’ for suspended Twitter accounts begins next week.

November 19, 2022

Musk reinstates Trump’s Twitter account.

November 18, 2022

The deadline for Twitter employees to accept Musk’s ultimatum passes; many decide to leave.

Musk publishes a poll on Twitter asking whether he should reinstate the account of Donald Trump.

November 17, 2022

A majority of Twitter employees reportedly reject Musk’s ultimatum, opting to leave the company.

November 16, 2022

Musk issues an ultimatum to Twitter staff, asking them to commit to “hardcore” working conditions with longer hours and no remote work or get leave the company with three months severence pay.

November 15, 2022

Musk fires employees for criticizing him in a private Slack channel.

November 14, 2022

Musk turns off “bloatware” services which he claims isn’t necessary for the site to work

November 12, 2022

Under Musk’s leadership, Twitter fires an estimated 80% of contract employees without no advance notice.

November 11, 2022

Musk pauses Twitter Blue subscriptions due to fake accounts impersonating brands and public figures.

November 10, 2022

Musk warns about a dire money situation and believes Twitter could go bankrupt.

November 9, 2022

Twitter launches a new verification system, with all users receiving a blue checkmark by purchasing Twitter Blue.

November 4, 2022

Musk lays off half of Twitter employees to cut costs

November 1, 2022

After facing criticism from Stephen King after Musk confirms plans to charge $20/month for verification, Musk has a counteroffer.

October 30, 2022

Musk reveals plans to revise verification system

October 27, 2022

Musk and Twitter close the deal, making Musk the new owner. Musk immediately fires CEO and top executives.

October 26, 2022

Musk tweets a video of him carrying a kitchen sink into Twitter headquarters - referring to the “let that sink in” internet meme as he changes his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit”

October 20, 2022

Musk told investors he plans to cut nearly 75% of Twitter’s staff.

October 4, 2022

Musk proposes to seal the $44 billion ($54.20 per share) deal to own Twitter on the condition that Twitter drops its lawsuit.

August 6, 2022

Musk challenges former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal to a ‘public debate’ about the Twitter bot percentage

July 12, 2022

Unable to come to an agreement, Twitter formally launches a lawsuit against Musk after he tried to back out of the acquisition.

July 8, 2022

Musk announces his plan to terminate the Twitter acquisition, claiming that Twitter still refuses to comply with requests for data on spam accounts.

Twitter’s chairman, Bret Taylor, says that the board plans legal action to enforce the agreement.

June 8, 2022

Twitter’s board complies with Musk’s demands to access data stream of tweets.

This was first reported by The Washington Post.

June 6, 2022

Musk says Twitter is refusing to share data on spam accounts and threatens to terminate his agreement.

May 13, 2022

Musk puts the buyout deal on hold after he learned that 5% of Twitter’s users are spam accounts.

April 25, 2022

A filing with the United States Security and Exchange Commission accepts Musk’s buyout deal

April 14, 2022

Musk offers to buy Twitter for $43 billion, or $54.20 per share, to transform it as “private”

April 10, 2022

Twitter’s chief executive, Parag Agrawal, said on Monday morning that Musk had declined the offer to join Twitter’s Board of Directors

April 4, 2022

A securities filing reveals Musk is Twitter’s largest shareholder, with a 9% stake in the company.

Musk is invited to join Twitter’s board of directors.

March 25, 2022

Musk begins openly criticizing Twitter with the principle of free speech - an “essential to a functioning democracy.”

Join Tin Shingle Today To Get In On Office Hours - Where You Can Get The Word Out Using PR And Social Media

The reverse view of today’s Office Hours TuneUp. Katie James, Inc. has been on the go a lot, and needs a solid place to work from. In the meantime, she pops up at different locations.

For some Tin Shingle Office Hours, which is a small group strategy session with Tin Shingle members only, she’ll be on these comfortable stools. To get on these calls, which discuss how to get the word out using PR and Social Media, join Tin Shingle today >

Don't Send That PDF! How Not To Pitch The Media About A Protest

Hours after verdict came down from the Supreme Court and Roe v Wade was overturned, people began organizing protests and rallies. Some organized celebrations. Those people began emailing the media in order to get the word out about their event. In a time likes this, where an event is last minute and is in the middle of a news cycle tidal wave, one must be very on-point if they want to get the media to mention the event.

Over at my local media news outlet, A Little Beacon Blog, readers began writing in: “Where is a protest in Beacon? Where can we go?” The only condensed list that I saw was from a local politician in Newburgh, NY, who shared an Instagram roundup from Planned Parenthood of Greater New York. We shared it on Instagram, but many people - despite what you think about social media - only get their information from the articles on our blog and stay out of social media.

Our Program Manager Teslie Andrade quickly retyped the agenda and published it on the blog. Right after that, we received a submission for a protest in another city. But the submission was a PDF, and one that we could not copy from.

Being that this all happened on a Friday, the day ended (we have kids and dogs and deadlines), and could not take the time to retype the protest submitted via email on a PDF. You need to write all of this in the body of the email, and don’t care about the tight formatting you want to control. Of course, you can format words in the body of the email to make it look nice, but staging it in a PDF hurts your chances of it getting republished.

Suggestions For How To Send An Event Promo

• Include a photo of the location of the protest or meeting.

• Include photos of any speakers if any.

• Include suggestions for what a sign could say.

How To Get Media Promotion After The Event

• Send photos of participants and speakers.

• Send quotes of what speakers or participants said.

• Include what readers can do still after the protest - what action steps they can take.

To get personalized help on any of this, join Tin Shingle today and take advantage of our online Forum where you can ask questions, and attend our Office Hours TuneUp for direct access to Katie for small group training with other members on the call.

Including The Deaf Community In Your Instagram Posts - Turning On Captions In "Stories"

Businesses are becoming more and more comfortable with posting videos on Instagram, allowing their platform to reach users globally. What you may have noticed is that now viewers are reading captions in the videos, rather than listening to them, or while listening to them. This is a huge inclusionary step for the Deaf community, who otherwise could not access all of the content in the same way.

When you’re posting videos to Instagram, it is essential that you add captions to your videos, and here’s why…

Video Captions For Accessibility

First, accessibility! Some viewers may be Deaf or Hard of Hearing, and missing out on what you are saying. Mashable reported in 2019 how Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used Captions, and how Deaf activist Nyle DiMarco tweeted his appreciation.

We checked in with Licensed Clinical Psychologist Jamiee Arnoff of BFF Therapy, who specializes in teens and young adults, including those in the Deaf community, to learn her perspective on this important and inclusive move. “I'm so glad that this is being talked about and that accessibility is highlighted. In terms of how captions impact the population, it is all about inclusivity. Captions allow for Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals to engage in the content without issue, encouraging dialogue on the topic from the entire audience. It definitely does not go unnoticed when someone includes captions in their posts, taking the extra step to ensure the information provided is accessible.”

How To Turn Video Captioning On - It’s easy!

Finding the settings to turn your Captions on is a little tricky.

THE STEPS:
Go to Settings. This is behind the 3 bars in the top right of your screen..

Click “Account”

Click “Captions” and toggle on “Auto-Generated Captions”

You’re not done yet. You will need to set the Auto-Generated Captions for each IGTV Video.

That’s right - your video needs to be an IGTV Video right now, which means you’ll need to select that type of post when you’re posting.

The IGTV VIdeo needs to be at least 1 minute long.

When you’re posting the IGTV Video, before you post, scroll down to the Advance Settings tab. Click that, and make sure the Auto-Generated Caption is clicked on.

This guy, Alec Wilcock, made a super easy video about it to show you, which we have posted below.

PS: Dr. Jaimee gave additional guidance on how to speak to and about the Deaf Community. Her points center on capitalizing the D in Deaf, as well as the term “hearing impraired” that you may be used to, but is time for retirement. Dr. Jaimee says: “The term ‘hearing impaired,’ can be replaced with "Deaf or Hard of Hearing,’ as many Deaf individuals do not view themselves as having an impairment, and there is some long-standing resentments about the negative, medical tone of the word, being that it was coined by hearing people. There is also significant cultural meaning behind using a lowercase or capital (d) when writing out the word deaf (we know it terms of the "little d" and "big D" discussion).”

Thank you, Dr. Jaimee, for helping us speak to and about a community!

Blessings For Midwin Charles, Attorney, & Legal and Social Justice Analyst

Photo Credit: Deadline

On Tuesday, April 6, 2021, attorney and MSNBC legal analyst, Midwin Charles, passed away at age 47. The week before, she had postponed one of her group Instagram gatherings, saying she wasn’t feeling well. Before that, she celebrated Deb Haaland: “This is amazing news! Herstory made during Women’s History Month could not be more poetic. Deb Haaland is the first Native American to serve as a cabinet member in 2021? Appalling it took this long. Native Americans were almost driven to extinction by genocide when Europeans arrived on these shores. She is the 35th generation on this land. Yes, 35.” And prior to that, she had gone with her vaccine reluctant Mom to get vaccinated. Midwin was thrilled that her mother got vaccinated, and was encouraging friends to keep at their parents who were reluctant.

But In a post this week, her family reported that she had passed away. Her family reported: “It is with a profoundly heavy heart and the deepest sadness that we announce the untimely passing of our beloved Midwin Charles.” They continued, “She was known to many as a legal commentator on television but to us, she was devoted daughter, sister, aunt, niece, and cousin. Our lives are forever changed and we will miss her for a lifetime. The family thanks you in advance for your love and prayers.”

Midwin Charles, who also appeared on CNN and contributed to Essence magazine, and The Huffington Post, was born and raised in Brooklyn. She was a member of the Dean’s Diversity Council for American University’s Washington College of Law and served on the board of Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN). With this, Charles was a member of the Civil Rights Committee for the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and lectured at Syracuse University. She founded the law firm, Midwin Charles & Associates, in New York City.

According to TODAY, Charles also worked for CNN as a legal contributor for “In Session,” and started “Infinite Possibilities of the Law Degree.”

MSNBC’s Joy Reid shared she was “stunned” by the news of Charles’ Death. Reid tweeted, “Midwin dear heart, you were a brilliant spirit and beautiful soul. You were such a blessing, I’m just stunned, and have been since I learned of this today.”

The New York Post also shared that, “White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also paid tribute to the lawyer.” She shared, “This one hit really hard today. Rest in Power Sis @MidwinCharles.”

How To Design Your Instagram Story Highlights (Circles) To Make Them POP!

Using Instagram to get the word out about your business is key! It helps to build a personal connection with people through sharing images of your brands uniqueness, plus, there are millions of users! Instagram Story Highlights (Circles), specifically, are extremely valuable because it allows you (and your business) to showcase important content that you want your customers to see! Think of them as a really good movie trailer… where you just can’t wait to see more!

Canva - The DIY Graphic Design App - Made Designs Templates For You!

Using the Canva app for graphic design can help to create beautiful designs for your business. Canva is an app for the phone or laptop that is like a graphic design program/platform that enables anybody to be an amazing designer - even if you aren’t a designer. Canva has all of the tools necessary - templates, elements, styles, text, etc. Find what works for you and your biz. It’s easy once you get the hang of it!

See below for screenshots of the step-by-step process.

Best Practice For Designing Highlights (Circles At The Top Of Your Instagram Page)

To really make the Circle Highlights stand out for a smooth flow on your Instsagram page, you’ll want to make sure circle images ‘flow,’ meaning, are cohesive with one another. This helps people see your page as a unit, instead of bouncing around a bunch of unrelated visual markers.

Ok. Now you’re ready to design your own Highlight circles!

Step 1: Search Instagram Story Highlight

Use Canva’s search box to search for exactly what you looking for (shown below). Use the keyword term “instagram highlight.”

Canva’s ready-to-use Highlight templates will show up in the search results. You may be presented with several selections. Look below to see.

Step 2: Customize To Your Liking!

Pick one of those templates, and then plug and play. Add different colors or fonts, move shapes around, whatever you want! Canva has an abundance of free tools to use. Use the tool bar located to the left to upload some of your own images/photos, browse different elements, add funky text!

Canva allows you to choose colors and fonts that fit in with your business theme! You can create from scratch, or you can choose a template and then change things around to fit with what you want.

Step 3: Download Your Design

Once you create a design, download it, and then head on over to Instagram to edit your Highlight cover with your new beautiful design images!

Step 4: Where To Find The Place To Upload Your New Highlight Circle Design In Instagram

Inside of Instagram, you will find…

You’re all done!

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Now It’s Time To Add Your Custom Designed Circle Highlight To Your Instagram

Here at Tin Shingle, we elected to use a soft color of pink. That goes with our branding, and the flowers we tend to use elsewhere on our website. It’s easy on the eyes, and does indicate that Tin Shingle has a feminine approach, even though our platform is gender neutral.

STEP 1: Access The Edit Point

Hold down the Highlight you want to edit and click or tap ‘Edit Highlight.’

STEP 2: Select The Cover Art

Next, you’re going to click or tap ‘Edit Cover.’

STEP 3: Grab The Image From Your Phone

Swipe all the way to the left until you see a white outlined graphic with an image placeholder. Choose the photo image that you downloaded from canva.

STEP 4: VOILA! All Done!

Your Story Highlights are poppin’!

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“Help! Just Do It For Me!”

Sure! The team at Tin Shingle would be happy to take care of this for you, and design the branding of your Highlight circles! We can either walk you through it or be your sounding board when you book a Private Session. Or, we can do it for you in our Highlight Circle Design Package. For that, we’ll take a deep dive into your existing branding, and design a selection pack. We will upload it for you as well.

If you are designing them on your own, and want feedback from the Tin Shingle Community, simply activate your Tin Shingle Membership and create a conversation in our Community Forum!

[PR] TuneUp: What To Pitch The Media This Month: October

It's time for our monthly series where we start a new month and plan ahead for what we are pitching! October is a special month because...it's your time to begin pitching Valentine's Day. Oh yes. If you missed your chance last year, and found Tin Shingle when you were Googling "how to pitch valentine's day gift guides," and discovered that the time is not January, but is October, then this is your time to shine!

In this TuneUp, we went over ideas for national print magazines (6 months ahead), local (2-3 months ahead) and trending news stories right now.

Plus, we shared a special Motivation Minute- slowing down to a slow jam.

HOW TO WATCH

Anyone can watch a Tin Shingle TuneUp from their computer, mobile phone or tablet. The process is different for premium members and the public.

MEMBERS OF TIN SHINGLE (FREE)

Stream any TuneUp Webinar anytime with your Tin Shingle membership. No need to purchase it, this TuneUp is ready to play from this page! When you are logged in, you will see a big screen.

NON-MEMBERS ($65)

Once you buy a TuneUp, you own it forever. The video or audio recording will appear on the TuneUp page that you just purchased from, and all you need to do is press play.

Leave A Review Tuesday - Help A Woman Owned Biz

We didn't forget... Did you? 

It's Leave A Review Tuesday! It's also American Business Woman Day. Small businesses need us now more than ever. Not just for dining, shopping, etc., but to leave them a good review so more people are inclined to visit them. We are challenging you to leave a good review somewhere every Tuesday. And today, we challenge you to leave a review for a woman owned business.

It’s easy to think and write negatively, and publishing negativity hurts small businesses. Online reviews on sites like, Yelp, Trip Advisor, and even Facebook can mean the difference- particularly if you are a restaurant. Something else to consider is that having no reviews at all can also have a negative impact on a business. 

Bottom line, lots of positive reviews is great for businesses and for customers! Leave a review every Tuesday & share with us on our instagram @tinshingle where you left the review!

Use Tin Shingle to get ideas for how to get reviews, and how to leverage reviews. Get ideas face to face on our Group Training calls every other week, or drop a line any time in our Community Forum on our website!

[PR] TuneUp: Pitching The Media All The Ways: Social Media and Alternative Ways

We're talking about all the ways to pitch the media these days - the alternative ways. When you can't find an email, you go rogue on LinkedIn, DMs, Contact Us pages, even Text (gasp!).

This TuneUp covers all the ways to do this.

HOW TO WATCH

Anyone can watch a Tin Shingle TuneUp from their computer, mobile phone or tablet. The process is different for premium members and the public.

MEMBERS OF TIN SHINGLE (FREE)

Stream any TuneUp Webinar anytime with your Tin Shingle membership. No need to purchase it, this TuneUp is ready to play from this page! When you are logged in, you will see a big screen.

NON-MEMBERS ($65)

Once you buy a TuneUp, you own it forever. The video or audio recording will appear on the TuneUp page that you just purchased from, and all you need to do is press play.