Posts by April Berardi

Point #65: How Are You Preparing for Conference?

April Berardi headshotJulie Taylor headshotBy April Berardi and Julie Taylor

Let’s face it: Conference can be expensive and time-consuming. But if money is tight, planning ahead can save you hundreds of dollars, from registration to hotel booking and flights.

Get Time Off

Talk with your employer about time off now.  Depending on how integral you are to your operation, your boss—and the others who work with you—will want to know as soon as possible that you plan to be gone for a  week. This will also give you time to explain the benefits of the idea if they don’t initially like it.  If you have a boss that is leery to let you go ask if you can cover your shift with a guest piercer and/or do a promotion when you get back.

If you are a studio owner, this may finally be time to train someone to at least work your front desk. This person doesn’t need to be a piercer, but a smiling friend who will hand out a coupon and explain that you are attending a conference with some of the world’s top piercers in order to provide the best possible piercing experience.

In fact, some studios even use this time for a complete shut down, and all of their piercers head to Conference, while their tattoo artists hold down the fort, or take a week’s vacation. Either way, work with your boss to create a solution that works best for you and your studio.

Save, Save, Save

Things to do before you go:

  • Save all of your tips.  If your studio has a tip jar you might put a sign about Conference near it, to let people know their tips are going to a great cause.

  • Save all of your change.

  • Save a certain amount per week/per paycheck.

  • Ask your employer to hold a portion of your paycheck for you.

  • Ask anyone who might give you a birthday or other gift to instead contribute to your Conference fund.

Your accommodations:

  • Bally’s—the hotel where the Conference is located—offers early bird discounts on rooms. Point65-Bally'sEarly bird rates start at $64/night and can be booked here. And keep in mind: You do not need to pay for your room when you reserve it, though you do need a credit card.

  • Find a roommate, or two or three; that will really get the cost down!

  • If you choose to stay in another hotel be sure to factor in the cost of transportation, as well as the time you will spend traveling back and forth.  (Whatever mode of transportation you choose, you’ll be spending precious Vegas time away from Conference if you don’t stay at Bally’s.)

On travel:

  • Watch discount sites, like fly.com and Kayak, to search a number of travel sites at once; watch for sales, promotions, and discounts.

  • Roadtrip!  If you live close enough, join up with other attendees and split the costs of a road trip.

While In Vegas

Eating:

  • Vons.com delivers groceries to Bally’s, which saves a lot on meals, snacks and drinks. It’s also handy to have food in your room when you don’t have time to go to a restaurant between the classes you’ve chosen to take. (And last year Vons was offering free delivery on your first order!)
  • Point65-Las VegasFind a friend (or make a new friend) and carpool/split a cab to one of many local grocery stores.

  • Bally’s also has on-site dining in a wide price range, from pizza and hotdogs to sushi and high-end restaurants.  The hotel keeps an updated list of restaurants on their website.

Entertainment:

  • Many sites, like Vegas.com, offer deals on shows you may want to take in while you are in Sin City, but keep in mind cabs are pricey, running $15-30 from the airport. (Note: The airport shuttle will take you right to Bally’s and runs 24/7 for a cost of $7.)

Conference and Classes:

  • Most classes range from $40-60, but if you are planning to take in a lot of classes (and the Expo) you can save by purchasing a full Conference package, which allows you to take unlimited classes and workshops.  A full conference package costs $400 until May 17, 2014 and then the price goes up by $100.  Register early and save!  You can also save $50 on your full-conference fee if you’re an APP member, and another $50 if you are coming from a country other than the US.

Scholarships

The Al D. scholarship applications are due by March 1, and the application period will open on January 1, 2014.  These scholarships provide full conference fee and shared accommodations for their recipients. The Al D. scholarships  are available to apprentices and piercers.  Among other requirements, applicants must provide an essay and are responsible for their own transportation to and from conference.  Application forms for the Al D. scholarship may be obtained by emailing info@safepiercing.org after November 28, 2013.

Last year an informal group of generous piercers pooled their resources and provided additional scholarships to a number of piercers in need.  A great way to find out more about this type of scholarship is to join the APP 2014 Conference Facebook page.

Even if you are not interested in applying for a scholarship we encourage you to join the APP 2014 Conference Facebook page. While it’s not an official APP page, it is a great place to meet people pre-Conference (and possibly find a roommate), and it will be full of suggestions for making the most of your week.  We hope to meet you there!

Point #61: Making Safe Piercing Viral – Part Two

April Berardi headshotJulie Taylor headshotBy April Berardi and Julie Taylor, with support from the Outreach Committee

Most piercers spend a portion of their day monitoring and updating their social media accounts. In issue #58 of The Point Bethra Szumski mused on the power of social media.  She mentioned the case of the explosively popular triple forward helix piercing which gained exposure on Pinterest. The next thing we knew, the “iDermal” video is blowing up our Facebook pages!

There are hundreds of qualified, talented, and safe piercers using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and other websites. We don’t have to sit back and wait to see what the next piercing trend will be to take social media by storm. Instead, we can work together to use social media to steer people toward safe piercing practices, specifically those that define us as APP members.

To find out how piercers can use social media effectively, we interviewed several social media savvy piercers: April Berardi from Born This Way Body Arts, AJ Goldman from 12 Ounce Studios, Derek Lowe from Saint Sabrina’s, Courtney Jane (CJ) from TRX, Christina Shull from High Priestess, and Crystal Sims from Evolution.

In this, our second article based on those interviews, we will discuss the most effective ways to gain exposure for your website using social media.

Websites are a high dollar investment for most studios. One of the ways we can make our social media sites work for us is to drive traffic to the websites we have invested in,  but how can you practically apply this knowledge? Easy! When posting to any online media source, add your website link or watermark (or safepiercing.org) whenever possible. Of course, each site will have different opportunities to effectively share your web address. We will discuss the best way to link to your site using the most popular social media venues, as well as provide tips for getting the most out of these sites.

Courtesy of YouTube.com
Courtesy of YouTube.com

YouTube  
Every video you post should be placed on YouTube. In addition to the video, you should be sure to post a link to your website in the video’s description and watermark your video      with your URL, for people who don’t read through the description.

Tips (summarized from an article entitled “9 Killer Tips for YouTube and Small Business”)

  • Create a channel for your business. This will help people find and follow other videos related to your business.
  • Tag your videos! It is essential to tag your videos with the related keywords. If your video is not appearing in YouTube search results, you are not receiving the full benefit from it.
  • Create your brand using video(s). Don’t use them like commercials; instead, use them to promote a strategy that you can link to from other networking sites, like Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter.
  • Create “how-to” videos, perhaps on how-to care for piercings, how-to use jewelry, how-to clean jewelry, how-to package it to bring into the shop, how-to pick a piercer, etc.

Courtesy of Facebook.com
Facebook
Facebook is the place to build relationships, answer questions, and connect with your peers as well as the public.  You can share new content as well as content from Instagram, YouTube and other popular social networking sites.

As with YouTube, be sure to include a link to your website in your response to questions whenever possible.  You can also link to a blog post about a particular topic or your aftercare suggestions. It also provides you the opportunity to provide your clients with links to the brochures and information at safepiercing.org, which can be an essential reference for many.

Tips (adapted from “Facebook Edgerank: What Marketers Need to Know”)

  • With facebook’s “edgerank” system, you absolutely need your followers to interact with you in order for your content to show on their news stream.  Asking questions, having contests, and inviting people to post and ask their own questions can increase interactions. (This is especially important to do to ensure the largest audience possible before you make an important announcement.)
  • Videos, photos and links: Facebook gives more weight to these types of content, which means more of your followers will see them–and if lots of people like or comment on this content, the weight increases even more.
  • Facebook cares more about new than old.  Post at least daily, and watch the activity on your page to determine the best times of day to post.  Then, schedule your posts to appear at those times.
Courtesy of Instagram.com.

Instagram
With the popularity of mobile devices, Instagram has gained “instantaneous” fame. It has become the place to showcase what you want to be known for, and undoubtedly, Instagram is the place to share your best and most beautiful photos.

Tips (adapted from “6 Effective Ways to get more Instagram Followers”)

  • Instagramers respond to beauty; use only your very best photos.  Photos of jewelry, piercings, your studio, as well as candid shots of your crew and clients can all work well.
  • Spread your posts out; don’t upload your whole portfolio at once. Ensure you upload a single beautiful photo  with the appropriate “tags” once a day. Be sure  to check out the “Popular” page and watch your “likes” (or monitor them with a service like Statigram) to determine which type of photos and what times of day (to post) yield the best results.
  • Hashtags or tags can be placed in the caption for each photo, allowing categorization with other photos sharing the same hashtags.
    • Examples: #safepiercing #stretchedears #fashion #jewelryoftheday #appmember #instagood #safepiercing #APP #piercings #piercing #yourcityhere #fashion #jewelry #gorgeous #girl
  • Similarly,geotags will categorize your photos by place, allowing you to reach existing and potential clients in your geographic area.
    • Examples: #sanfran #sanfrancisco #sanfranciscoca #california #cali #ca
  • Your instagram page will also gain popularity and garner more attention if you actively participate with your followers, and those that like and comment on your photos, by doing the same for their photos.
Courtesy of Tumblr.com

Tumblr
Tumblr is also a great way to connect with a larger audience, including other piercers. On Tumblr, you are able to set a ‘click-through’ link to your website on every image you post in your feed.

Tips

  • Like Instagram, Tumblr utilizes hashtags. Be sure to use relevant and popular hashtags to get as many viewers as possible.
  • Share or “reblog” others work. Tumblr is a perfect venue to share other great piercings or jewelry photos. However, it should be added that many others will repost your pictures, so be sure to watermark them appropriately.
  • Follow the APP on Tumblr, and reblog amazing piercings from qualified piercers from around the world. (If you are not already, become an APP member and submit your own photos. This can greatly increase your exposure and giving your clientele a great resource to draw ideas from for safe successful piercings.)

Social media sites are filled with millions of people just waiting for the right piercing video or picture to inspire them to stop piercing themselves or find a safer piercer in their area. Legislators look to these media streams for their research and parents are seeking out media when their children ask for (or come home with) a new piercing. You have now been armed with some great information on how to maximize your internet presence through social media. It is now our responsibility.  We have the power to fill these streams with information about safe piercing and its practices; there is power in numbers. The more we work together, the greater the influence we can have on the direction piercing takes.

In the next issue of The Point we will look at how you are able to incorporate these types of social media into your daily work routine.

Editor’s note: Due to the time sensitive nature of the information provided—and the constantly changing state of the internet itself—some the content and/or screencaps in these articles may become outdated very quickly. For up-to-date information on each of these sites, please view their individual FAQs, tutorial or training pages.