The Best Things in Life in July

We've been inspired by Red Magazine's Contributors column for twelve months now and looking back to this time last year Katie's best things in life were spinning, trying new food and A Beautiful Mess app and her holiday essentials; Red magazine (of course!), Women's Health and Zest. I shared my love for Jimmy's Iced Coffee, Happier app, Color Run training and P20 sun protector!

Here's to another happy year...

Katie

The best things in life...

Seeing Countdown Keeper users post their happy events on social media, it’s the best! We have just passed the 20,000 download mark and we’re currently working on a new update which will be available soon too. You can view it in the App Store 

I spent most of the last 3 months rehearsing for Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer at Highbury Theatre in Sutton Coldfield, it was the first time I had set eyes on this beautiful and historical theatre, and I can’t wait to be back to see the new season of performances! 

Since I was 18 I’ve been going to summer festivals with friends every year, but in all that time I never thought I’d be taking a vegetarian food truck on tour by 2014! I’m excited to be going back to Lovebox this year, and looking forward to all the fun at Boardmasters, Wakestock and Festival No 6 for the very first time!

The song that reminds me of summer is... 

Lucky Man by The Verve -  it reminds me of winding down at Glastonbury as the sun set on a beautiful Sunday evening in 2008, and now I end every run with that song as my cool down, it instantly makes me feel happy, grateful and at peace

From July 2013: The social media question I get asked the most is... 

Do we need a specialist to run our Facebook advertising? This usually happens when companies have been approached, and they don’t quite understand what they are being offered. We have seen Facebook advertising run seamlessly in-house, with a small budget and the use of the simple insights that Facebook provide as to what is working and what might need a tweak. The ads should run alongside and compliment content that’s already going out to the audience every day.  We’ve put together some top tips to help over on our blog

Jane

The best things in life...

Floor picnics! I'm slightly addicted to floor picnics at the moment! They have to be on the floor indoors due to the lovely, wet British weather but I still enjoy them all the same. A blanket filled with crisps and dips, Quorn sausage rolls and scotch eggs is my idea of food heaven!

Red Magazine - I've been a Red reader for years now and despite it being initially published for the older lady even in my late teens I loved it. Red has meaningful articles alongside beautiful imagery; I feel I learn so much every time I read an issue. It doesn't contain news stories on Z-list celebrities but features inspirational women on every cover. I make it a rule not to read the issue until the first of the month so this month I cannot wait to read all about Liv Tyler and her boho life, sunshine living and Red's top 10 beach reads!

Not Dogs - Slightly biased here but I'm already having so much fun sharing our new business Not Dogs with the world! We've already done one mini event and got such great feedback that I cannot wait to be on the road for the summer spreading the veggie sausage love! 

The song that reminds me of summer is...

Friendly Fires - Jump in the Pool - some may say obvious but I don't care! It's an uplifting, catchy song that certainly makes me feel like a refreshing jump in turquoise waters! Love it!

From July 2013: The social media question I get asked the most is...

What's the next big platform? I think many brands are noticing that users are getting tired of Facebook and in a way Twitter and understand that they should be looking to the future platforms to include in their strategy. I completely agree on the Facebook front but we also advise clients to think about where their customers are... Instagram is growing and growing but it's younger people who are the most active, if your customers don't fit Instagram's current demographic there's no need to panic about being an early-adopter as a brand quite yet.

Introducing a new Katie & Jane creation; the vegetarian food truck… Not Dogs!

We’re very excited to tell you that, for the past six months, we have been working quietly in the background on a very exciting new project, backed & supported by the vegetarian food brand Quorn.

Not Dogs was created by us; one meat-eater and one vegetarian, both with a love of quick, scrumptious & simple food. While at festivals, gigs and outdoor events we struggled to find mouth-watering veggie food and trustworthy meaty meals that satisfied that 'fast food' need after a long day so we decided to create our own festival food truck Not Dogs!

Our hot dogs pack a mighty punch exclusively made with the UK’s first meat free Bratwurst crammed with tasty, fresh and original toppings. We like to call them meaty dogs without the meat!

The aim of Not Dogs is to provide food lovers, both carnivores and veggies, with a delicious, fun and quality menu to excite and amaze the taste buds. Choose from Plain Jane, Kickin' Katie Nacho Dog (see what we did there!), The Original Frank, Hello Houmous and newcomer Top o' the Mornin' Dog.

We’ll be kicking off  with a mini-launch this weekend, at Middleton Food & Craft Market, before we embark on a summer tour of (hopefully sunny!) UK festivals including Godiva Festival in Coventry, Lovebox in London, Wakestock in Wales, Boardmasters in Newquay and Festival No 6 in the beautiful setting of Portmeirion in Wales.

To find out more about Not Dogs head to www.notdogs.co.uk and join us for festival fun over on Twitter and Instagram.

We hope to see you in a sunny or muddy field soon!

Katie x

Carrie Green: Founder of the Female Entrepreneur Association talks to us about empowering women, building an online business & a few of her favourite things...

We first came across the Female Entrepreneur Association back in 2012 when we launched Katie & Jane. Since then, its founder Carrie Green has inspired us daily with her online support hub set up for female entrepreneurs all over the world. Here Carrie talks to us about her inspiration, goals, motivation and of course a few of her favourite things...

#1 What was the a-ha moment that inspired you to create your own business?

My first ever a-ha moment was back when I was 19… I’d run out of money while studying at university and found an opportunity to start my own online business and very quickly realised how unbelievably powerful the internet is. That was the moment that I knew I never wanted a job, because I could achieve so much success for myself online.

A few years later I did have another a-ha moment – that building a business really isn’t all about the money. You have to have a lot of passion and love for what you do, otherwise it becomes incredibly difficult. I fell out of love with my first business and went soul searching and realised that I wanted to build a business that really meant something to me and made a difference, which is when I came up with the idea for the Female Entrepreneur Association.

#2 Why did you choose the name ‘Female Entrepreneur Association’?

Because it sounded official and because it had my primary keywords in ‘female’ ‘entrepreneur’, so I knew it would rank well on Google.

#3 What was the ethos behind the Female Entrepreneur Association?

My vision was to create an onlinehub to inspire and empower women from around the world to turn their ideas into a reality and build successful businesses.

So many people are too afraid to follow their heart and their dreams, because they think they’re not good enough, or because they think they’ll fail, or because someone told them they couldn’t do it. But we only have one life in which to achieve all the things we want to achieve, so I want to help as many people as possible to make it happen. I want to inspire and empower people to believe in themselves and be amazing.

#4 What has been your biggest challenge to date? And how did you overcome it? 
Raising awareness of FEA. I started off with a network of zero, I was publishing stories and no one was reading them – it was frustrating and disheartening, but I just kept going. I set myself some goals – one of them was that I wanted to get 25,000 fans on Facebook. I had no idea how I was going to do it, but I took a screenshot of my fan page and I changed the number of fans I had, using Photoshop, to 25,000 so I could see what my page would look like when I’d reached my goal. I printed it out and put it in my goal box and then kept working hard on making it happen. When it happened it was an amazing moment.

The biggest lessons I learned about raising awareness, building your audience and getting traffic are:

• You have to go above and beyond to create amazing content – it’s all about adding value, what compelling reasons are you giving to people to make them want to engage with your business over and over again.
• You have to get really clear on who your target audience are and make sure that everything you do resonates and connects with them – the language you use, the images you use, the products and services you create. 
• You have to know exactly what you’re trying to achieve – when you don’t know, the messages you send out are blurry and confusing for people. You’ll waste time and you won’t make the progress you want to make. At the beginning of each month, week and day it’s important to get clear on what your intentions are and focus on reaching them.
• You have to take the time to learn as much as you can and then keep trying and trying. I’ve managed to build FEA into a network of over 140,000 women because I’ve been consistent, even when nothing seemed to be working, even when I’d had enough, I kept going, because I trusted that somehow I’d make it happen.

#5 What’s the business skill you’ve had to work hardest on improving since becoming an entrepreneur?

Technology. All of my businesses have been online and so the skill I’ve had to work hardest on is how to leverage the internet. The online world provides so many opportunities for people – you can be a one-man-band and build a successful, global business fast, if you know how to leverage technology correctly.

#6 Have there been any moments when you just wanted to pack it all in?

All the time. Building a business is hard. You’re constantly trying to push yourself to do things that you don’t know how to do, so you’re always coming up against challenges and setbacks – it can be incredibly tough. But I’ve come to the realisation that it’s all part of the journey. 

Being an entrepreneur is a way of life – it’s like being on a rollercoaster ride in the dark – there are ups and downs, it’s exciting, but can also be scary as hell and most of the time we have no idea how things are going to work out. There is a lot of uncertainty to deal with, because we can’t see into the future and know for sure that our ideas and decisions are good ones.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve daydreamed about getting a job, so someone else could tell me what to do, when to do it and what time I needed to arrive at work and leave work at. But I just love the freedom and thrill of being an entrepreneur too much to quit.

#7 If you weren't supporting female entrepreneurs every day with the FEA, what would you be doing?

Probably something with animals or children. I like helping and taking care of things, it definitely makes me feel fulfilled.

#8 What keeps you striving forward in business?

The thought that I only have one life and I want to make it as amazing as I possibly can. I want to push myself to grow as much as possible, I want to learn as much as I can, I want to make a difference, I want to get to the end of my life and know that I did the best I could to follow my dreams and live the life I wanted.

#9 Name one future goal of the Female Entrepreneur Association

To open up the website and enable people to contribute to it. We’ve had a few contributors in the past, but it’s not been part of our strategy. But we’ve now set a goal to start sharing more knowledge, expertise and help by bringing on wonderful people who have something great to share.

#10 What is your favourite quote?

Ooo, I don’t know how I can possibly choose! There are a few…

“Everything in life can be taken away from you, except for your freedom to choose how you respond to the situation” Viktor Frankl – this one helps me whenever something bad has happened. It reminds me that I get to choose how it makes me feel and how I respond.

“Successful people hang on when everyone else has let go” I’m not sure who said that, but I love it! Whenever I’m having a tough time I remind myself to be the person who is willing to hang on.

“Your destiny is determined by the choices you make. Choose now, choose well” Anthony Robbins – this quote practically changed my life. It made me realise that I had to start making consistently good decisions, if I wanted to live an amazing life and achieve great things.

#11 A few of your favourites…

Way to relax? Walking my two black labs

Aid to well-being? Meditations & guided visualisations

Fitness activity? Body pump

Wine? Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc

Food? I’ve spent 10 minutes trying to narrow down my choices and I’m failing miserably! I love it all!

Song? At the moment it’s Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker (my boyfriend has got me into country music!)

App? YouTube

Social media platform? Facebook, because it has so many amazing tools for being able to share content and engage with people.

Your hero? My parents – they’re amazing.

And finally...

#12 what piece of advice would you give to entrepreneurs to inspire them to give their dreams a go?

Something that really pushed me to start FEA was a chapter I read in The E-myth Revisited, by Michael Gerber (a must read book!). He said something like…

Imagine walking into a room and sat on the chairs are your family and friends. As you begin to walk down the centre of the room you see a box and as you get to the front of the room you realise that you’re in the box, and it’s your funeral.

What kind of things would you want people to be saying about the kind of person you were, the kind of life that you lived and the kind of things you achieved?

Don’t wait until the end to realise who you want to be and what you want to achieve – start now. Life is precious and it’s up to you to make the very best of it. I think that when you look at life like that, nothing is too scary to go after.  So just go for it, be the amazing person that you’re meant to be and enjoy the journey.

******************************

To find out more about Carrie and the Female Entrepreneur Association head to www.femaleentrepreneurassociation.com and connect to the network on Facebook, Pinterest & Twitter.

To read the full set of entrepreneur interviews on our blog click here.

Katie x

Captivating Crete: A Travel Review

I've just got back from a week filled with sunshine, Tiropites (cheese pies) and history on the Greek island of Crete. Having visited a few of the 200 plus Greek Islands, Crete has the feel of the mainland thanks to its 650-mile loop of coastline. This year, we stayed on part of its beautiful coast near the sleepy resort of Elounda having visited Rethymnon and Chania in the past.

Although I try and book our holidays using my own steam instead of a travel agent this year we turned to our old go-to Thomson as we couldn't resist the ease of it all being nicely packaged together. Plus, my parents recommended our hotel, Aquila Elounda Village which we were only able to book through the company. We opted for half-board, something we don't usually do in Greece as we love to explore the little seafront tavernas but, after research discovered we could swap some of our half-board dinners for lunch so we went ahead and, as usual, Thomson gave us an excellent service.

I was very happy that Aquila Elounda Village surpassed our expectations (I am hard to please!) in every way. It's positioned perfectly in the middle of the two towns Elounda and Aghios Nikolaos; close enough to get a cheap taxi to but far enough away to not be affected by noise. 

Aghios Nikolaos is described as being an affluent town with the promise of spotting a few 'super yachts' within and, although it's a nice enough place with an unusual lake in the middle of the town, surrounded by welcoming restaurants, it wasn't as expected. It's quite rundown with a few of the usual touristy shops dotted around a number of nondescript bars. 

Elounda, the smaller of the two, on the other-hand was lovely - focused around a little harbour with a handful of traditional tavernas and bars we spent two nights here enjoying dinners of Greek meze, seafood and baklava.

The hotel's facilities were great; four restaurants, tennis courts, two saltwater pools, a beach with watersports and a peaceful spa. Although all that sounds like an expansive offering, it has a lovely small-hotel feel unlike our trip to Jamaica which was the opposite. The staff were so friendly and helpful and gave you a personal experience every time. I was slightly concerned about the food choice but the four restaurants each had a different feel and offered traditional Greek food with a twist. Mirabello overlooking the sea was our favourite for lunchtime shade!

It seems there are a lack of sandy beaches on the coast and surprisingly, as feeling the sand between my toes is usually a holiday must, I didn't actually miss it... in fact, I think I preferred the tasteful stone leading to the sea rather than worrying about getting sand in places I really didn't want! Again the hotel had a fantastic vibe with a beach bar, double sun-loungers (and comfy single ones too!) and a range of watersports from waterskiing to sailing. We opted to ditch the planned car hire (we liked the hotel so much we didn't want to leave!) and hired a jetski to admire the beautiful rugged Cretan coastline instead.

On one of our few days away from the hotel I ticked off one of my '101 Dreams'; to visit Spinalonga - the tiny island which my favourite book The Island by Victoria Hislop is focused around. We boarded a large boat at Aghios Nikolaos harbour and set off on a day cruising to see the many islands off the coast of Crete, followed by a swim in the bright blue Aegean Sea with our last stop being my most anticipated.

Spinalonga is located just off the coast of Crete and due to its location served a variety of roles and purposes over the centuries. It was initially walled to protect the ancient city for Olous, then in the late 16th century the Venetians built one of the most important defensive sea fortresses in the Mediterranean on Spinalonga. Moving forward to 1715 the Turks took over the island with 1,112 Muslims living there by 1881. In 1903 the Cretan State established a leper colony on the island and its first 251 patients arrived in 1904. Patients lived independently in their own houses, earned a livelihood on the island, grew vegetables and even got married and had children. As treatment for leprosy was developed the colony closed in 1957 and has reminded uninhabited ever since. 

The book 'The Island' is about a Greek family living across from Spinalonga's leper colony and their relationship with the island which goes up and down throughout the years. It's absolutely fantastic... as was our tour guide who told us about the history and secrets of the island whilst taking us around the empty, rundown houses of past inhabitants. After our tour we were able to explore the island ourselves and we managed to walk around the whole perimeter passing the hospital, churches, cemeteries, gardens and ancient architecture.

Having experienced Spinalonga and writing about it in my Kikki.K 101 Dreams journal there was nothing left to do for the rest of the week but relax by the pool, splash around in the clear sea and have a few leisurely games of evening tennis before indulging in some delicious Greek specialities!

There's not many places I'd feel confident enough about to recommend to friends (aside from Melbourne of course!) but Aquila Elounda Village is certainly one of them, in fact, I'm going to actively encourage them (and you!) to go!

Highlights...

• Cheese pies followed by the most delicious garlic prawns ever at Olondi taverna in Elounda
• Lounging in the hammocks in the gardens of Aquila Elounda Village whilst reading The Island for the umpteenth time!

Must-Dos...

• Enjoy a simple entree of bread dipped in local rosemary olive oil
• A tour of Spinalonga

Jane x   

A Beautiful Mess Photo Challenge Summary

Since September last year I've had so much fun doing 20 of the 95 A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book challenges and feel I have learnt many things about photography. More importantly I think the book has made me take more photos than I was before, capturing even more beautiful memories to look back on.

You can see the whole series below from the first to the last photograph :)

Enjoy!

Jane x

Social Media Recipe for Success: The Sequel - Part 2 - Why are you on Social Media?

After the first part of our sequel to the Recipe for Social Media Success ‘Understand Social Media’, we are now onto the next stage – and one that many people overlook; Why Are You On Social Media?

For many companies social media is a route they cannot overlook in their marketing activity, which usually begins with a foundation of getting lots of followers, fans and likes for something they want customers to buy. Social Media works best when the consumer is put at the heart of the activity and when companies are direct about who they want to connect and engage with and most importantly; why. Here are five things to remember before jumping onto every social media platform going for your business…

#1  Don’t start out with tunnel-vision and aim to get a following for something you want people to buy, start out by realising that social media connects you to your existing and future customers every single day. If you want them to buy into your brand or product, then use social media to bring to life the amazing things about your company, the people and the ethos behind the offering or product.

#2  Have a really long hard think about your purpose for being on social media, without a reason you have no goals or objectives when it comes to planning your strategy – a sure fire way for activity to plateau after a while!

#3  Think about who your target audience is, and don’t say everybody! If your consumer demographic is broad, then start by tackling one by one and tailoring your ideas and content to suit the lives, thoughts, loves and hates of that audience – get on a level with them.

#4  Research into where that audience is when it comes to social media, it might be that different segments of your audience are typically on different platforms. For example, Facebook could be a successful route to your audience 35+, while Instagram could help you to connect with a younger audience.

#5  Stay dedicated to building an engaged following organically. Social media advertising can be a great tool to find new customers that would like to hear from you, but attracting thousands of new followers doesn’t happen overnight and usually when it does, it’s too good to be true!

We’ll be bringing you more social media musings in the next few months, but for now here’s a list of our past blog posts, we hope you find them useful. To receive our newsletter each month filled with handy social media tips sign up at www.katieandjane.com

Take our online Facebook eCourse to plan your first social media strategy here. 

Download our handy social media toolkits here.

How To Become a YouTube Superstar!

Twitter Lingo or 'Twermingology'!

Simple Social Media Advertising Tips

Facebook & Twitter? I’m not Pinterested!

Pinterest - The Only Social Network Needed for Luxury Brands?

Twitter Lists and How to Use Them

New Facebook Competition Guidelines - What You Need to Know

Social Media Competition Guidelines Made Simple!

The Hashtag & How to Use it by #katieandjane

Katie x

Updated: Madesquare App Review: Everything is Better Square!

There's a new photo printing app on the market, which has most likely been inspired by the increasing popularity of the square formatted photo editing app Instagram, called Madesquare and as we both like the concept we wanted to review it.

Madesquare was created by a team of four craft-making women from America who sell 'finely-crafted square photo products' through their beautifully designed app.

There are many, many innovative products available... you can print photos on mini wood blocks, create a recipe card from your favourite food photo, go vintage and print photos 'photo strip' style or display photos on metallic, to name just a few ways Madesquare allow you to print photos. These products would make the perfect gift as they are so unique and modern, yet personal.

Looking at the app itself the branding is striking, clear and simple with bright colours and detailed information on the various products. The imagery they use for the product examples are really aspirational which makes you want to buy everything! I like the way users can share the funky examples via social media (a great marketing tool for downloads too!).

If you think the app's aim is to sell tonnes of products, think again, as they've got the great additions of 'Discover' and 'Blog'. On the Discover tab users can gain inspiration for their own DIY crafty projects and tips on all-things photography too. The Blog is, as expected, Madesquare's blog again packed with nice imagery alongside topical posts.

So far, so good, but, I discovered a major issue with the app... I wanted to order a photo strip book complete with hard cover as I'd never seen one of these before so I spent quite a while going through my albums and picking photos that go together well to add to my order. After the book was complete and added to my basket I went to place my order to be delivered to the UK and I was unable to proceed. No alert appeared to tell me why I was stuck on the order screen and, after trying numerous times I emailed the team.

*** Update - June 2014 ***

The team responded really quickly to my above issue telling me that they were working very hard to fix their International shipping issues, and, I'm pleased to say they followed through and about two weeks later my lovely photo strip book is on it's way. The customer care was fantastic which is why I wanted to update this blog post and up Madesquare's score from 6 to 9 out of 10!

Score: 9/10

I love...

• The app's concept and design
• The range of unique products available

I'd like...

• To be able to print my photos on even more square items (I'm being greedy!)

Jane x