Posts tagged brochure series

Point #62: Making Safe Piercing Viral — Part Three

1 Comment read Social Media & Safe Piercing

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

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

In this, our third article based on the aforementioned interviews, we look at making social media a part of your daily routine. (Click here for part one and part two.)

But first a word of caution from Jesse:

“Be careful about signing up for all social media and trying to manage them all.  This alone could be very stressful and may require more hours in your day than you are willing to give.  People want answers in a timely fashion, mainly within a 24 to 48 hour timeline is sufficient for email responses; however, some people expect less of a response time from Facebook messages or Twitter.

Only take on what you can handle!

It can become quite overwhelming once you realize you’re constantly trying to keep up with replying to emails and the numerous social networks you have joined.  If you can’t dedicate the time to monitor all these accounts then you should really question why you have them in the first place?  It looks worse on you and/or your business if you do not reply to a message, so make sure you have the time to keep an eye on all the different sites you’ve joined.”

Jesse himself fell victim to trying to keep up with too many social media outlets.  He has since scaled back to the networks that are best suited to his business needs.

The piercers we interviewed spend anywhere from an hour to several hours a day monitoring their social media sites.  Some, like AJ, spend all of their time between clients online whereas Chrissy and Derek may only spend an hour or so a day. (Crystal admits to going in cycles of spending more and less time.) The important thing is to figure out what commitment you can make and what fits into your own schedule.

With Jesse’s words in mind, let’s look at some tips for establishing a routine to keep up with the social media networks you have chosen to participate in.

  • You will want to check for comments and questions from your networks at least once a day.  Ideally, you will upload something to them daily as well.  The more you put in, the more you will get out.
  • Consider checking your social media sites as part of your opening and closing duties, or delegate the task to your fellow studio members, counter staff, or apprentices as part of their daily assigned work duties.
  • Disable questions/comments on social media sites, such as Tumblr or Facebook, if you are having problems overseeing your them. (You can always turn these functions back on when you have the time to maintain them.)
    • Instagram doesn’t really encourage questions so it needs less maintenance. What’s more, since it works primarily from smart phones, it can be as easy as uploading a picture on a lunch break.
  • Generate content by taking lots of photos of jewelry and your studio so that you have things to upload when you need them.
  • Use the Tumblr queue and Facebook activity log to schedule posts.  These tools could enable you to generate a whole month’s worth of posts in a single afternoon.

All this media can be overwhelming to learn and to use. In order to help studio owners and piercers get ahead, below are some simple “How-To’s”— complete with diagrams to help you utilize these time management features.

Facebook
To see your recent and scheduled posts: Select “Edit Page” from the Page Admin panel. A expanded text box will appear. Select “Use Activity Log” to see all posts—past, present, and future.

To schedule a post: Type content, link an article, or upload an image in your status bar. Instead of clicking “Post,” select the clock icon in the bottom left-hand corner. This will allow you to select the year, month, date, hour, and minute you want your post to go live. Once you have entered all of this information, click “Schedule.”

Tumblr
To use Tumblr’s Queue function: First create a post. By default, your post will publish immediately. Selecting the dropdown menu will reveal options to “Add to queue”, or to schedule your post for a specific date & time.

Once you add your first post to your queue, you will see an added feature on your home page. Use this feature to edit, delete, or reorganize your queued posts.

From your Queue menu, you can edit how often Tumblr posts the items in your queue.


Finding a routine may be challenging at first, but don’t be discouraged. It takes time, as well as trial and error to find what works best for you and your studio. Some find it helpful to keep a journal to track their progress; others find networking groups helpful when they are stuck on ideas or just want to compare notes. Once you do establish your routine not only will you be saving time, you will be helping to make safe piercing viral!

And remember: You can also provide content for the APP’s social media sites.  The APP has committee of volunteers dedicated to posting members’ safe and successful piercing pictures to their network of over 15,000 followers. Along with other health & safety related information, photos are a very integral part of the safe piercing experience we want to provide on our media pages. After all a picture speaks a thousand words.

Please join us next issue where we will share some more “Do’s and Don’ts” for managing your social media sites. Until then, be sure to continue (or start) uploading content to your own page, and send your beautiful piercing photos—with your name, studio name, and a little bit about you—to: submissions@safepiercing.org.

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.

Point #61: The APP Brochures Overview Article Two: What They Are and How to Use Them

1 Comment read APP Brochures

Julie Taylor, April Berardi, and Lou Quino

There is a hefty stack of informational brochures available through the Association of Professional Piercers that can be used in a variety of ways to educate the public about safe piercing. To help you better make use of these resources, we’ve summarized a few of these helpful educational pamphlets below and listed a number of ways in which studios have successfully utilized this vital information.

This is the second of three articles about the APP’s brochures. In this segment, we’ll be discussing “Oral Piercing Risks & Safety Measures,” “Body Aftercare,” and “Oral Aftercare”

Name of Brochure: Oral Piercing Risks & Safety Measures
“A well-informed and discerning consumer is subject to far fewer dangers than one with incomplete or inaccurate information. When properly performed, the piercing procedure itself takes only a few seconds and involves minimal discomfort and often no blood. Healing is commonly rapid and uneventful.”

This brochure can help a piercee not only seek out a safe place to be pierced by a professional, but also provides guidelines for the appropriate placement, aftercare, and jewelry for oral piercings.  This brochure also succinctly outlines the steps required to diminish potential hazards and concerns, such as the fear of an unsafe procedure, the potential for damage to teeth and oral structures, and the risk of infection.

The risks of piercings can only be truly controlled with the conscientious efforts of 2010brochuressafe piercers to share accurate information with the public. We suggest the use of the following two pamphlets to educate anyone who may be interested in oral piercings or may be concerned about oral piercing safety. Members are encouraged to pass along these brochures to any medical professional who may deal with piercees. Examples of these medical professionals include school nurses, dentists, EMT’s, ER personnel, and physicians. Many piercers have also found it helpful to share these during college outreach visits or with local college RA (Resident Assistant) programs.

Name of Brochures: “Oral Aftercare” and “Body Aftercare”
“These guidelines are based on a combination of vast professional experience, common sense, research, and extensive clinical practice. This is not to be considered a substitute for medical advice from a doctor. If you suspect an infection, seek medical attention. Be aware that many doctors have not received specific training regarding piercing.”

These brochures contain helpful information for providing proper aftercare to a client or a potential client. They include helpful hints and tips, what to do and not to do, potential pitfalls and how to avoid them, along with a list of suggested care products.

These pamphlets provide a ready made, full-color alternative to creating your own studio brochures. Shop personnel should distribute these to clients who are receiving oral or body piercings, and to those inquiring about future piercings. Members have found it helpful to share this information with local healthcare professionals, schools, and at conventions.
**Note: The APP has special versions of each of these aftercare brochures available for minors. These brochures include simplified language and are available for outreach to middle schools and high schools.

Studios are always looking for more ways to get involved in their community, to spread the word and to support the APP’s mission. We hope that you found new ways to use the brochures discussed to promote safe piercing. The resources provided by the APP are invaluable and when used by the entire membership; in the same ways, we can impact our communities in a much bigger way than on our own.

To download these and other APP pamphlets, and for more information about the APP brochures and other resources, visit the APP’s website at www.safepiercing.org. You can place an order on the website or by contacting (888) 888-1APP. Or, you can download web or print quality .PDF files of the brochures for free!