The Socialize Forecast - 1/21/25 Time to Diversify
Welcome to the socialized forecast, January 21st. What a weekend we had. Oh my goodness. I'm not even sure where to begin. I'm almost, speechless at the same time as having a lot to say.
Helen:So I want to just first start with Saturday night when the TikTok lights went out. I will tell you a couple of things. If you happen to have been on my live that night, I went live at 8:25, I think, because I said I got had gotten an email from someone that told me it was gonna go dark at 8:30 PM EST. So I said, oh, I wanna be on my live when it goes off. So I got on the live, and then that same person came into my live to tell me that, oh, they moved back the time to 10 o'clock.
Helen:It's like 10 o'clock. Oh my God. I don't wanna stay online till 10 o'clock, but I did. I stayed on the live till 10 o'clock and then the lights didn't go out at 10 o'clock. And I was on with now at this point, a group of people, and I don't usually do group lives.
Helen:I often find them as distracting and then I can't really concentrate on the comments. And the whole reason I go live is to connect with the community. And so when I have a few people in there, it's I'm just really talking to them and it becomes other people just listening to our conversation. So 2 different types of lives and I don't usually do those group lives, but it turned into a dance party. It was like a little bit of a throwback to the women's only dance parties I used to have at my house in the suburbs.
Helen:I had some throwback music on. I said that was DJ ing a Durbo party that night, and Durbo means d u r b o, dance your butt off. So now you know. Anyway, I had that going, and then I didn't once it didn't go off at 10, I'm like, well, I'm not gonna stay on again now another 2 hours till midnight. And I also didn't want to be on where it would start to get emotional because I don't like that.
Helen:I don't want it to be because I know the thing is even in my soul of souls when I knew, okay. Yeah. That they are gonna go dark tonight. Like, it's gonna happen. I didn't think it was gonna be for long.
Helen:So I also don't like when it's like this dramatic, making a dramatic goodbye video and having all this, like, emotional I just don't like it. I don't like to feel maybe I just don't like to be sad about things, so I don't like goodbyes. You know? So to that point, I didn't really wanna stay on till the bitter end, so I signed off And shortly thereafter, the app went dark. But when I when it did go dark, my gut feeling was immediately that I had to connect with my people.
Helen:And it was really interesting to see what happened to me because I took that matter into more real life. I decided to immediately make a post to my studio members because I felt like they were my core community now that I've talking to every day. And also my email list and my subscribers on my podcast. And I was like, these are the people I wanna be able to be here for. So the first thing I did really was write a feed post and say to everyone, nobody panic.
Helen:You know, the lights went out. It's probably temporary. We're gonna be okay. We're all gonna work together. It's gonna be fine.
Helen:And I did I did kind of go down that path. And then I decided to make people feel calm about the lack of cap cut because a lot of creators that I'm working with now are making content for other for user generated content, for brand content, and they're on Instagram. So they still need to make videos and they were using CapCut, which now went dark. So I decided to take that take my energies instead of spinning into a spiral of of a bummer. I decided to take those energies and spend time making a tutorial that's gonna be useful for people during this period.
Helen:And that's where I decided to channel my energy. But so I I wrote the email to I wrote the post out to the studio folks so they knew that I was gonna be covering their back and they'd have a tutorial soon and that I'd be sharing other ways to edit and that we're gonna be talking about plans to diversify moving forward and all of that. So I felt like I was keeping to my purpose and that felt good. I also decided, well, now maybe I'll have a day where I'm not gonna be looking at TikTok that often or worried about my TikTok comments. And even though I just do still post on Instagram and YouTube, I was like, I'll take like kind of a down day.
Helen:And that morning I did a little self care, had a little sauna, I did a little DIY facial, had some exercise and all that. And that felt kinda good to just step back and then strategize and be peaceful and mindful about what I was gonna do next. I was also quite thankful that I didn't make a dramatic goodbye video when the app turned back on because then they a lot of people were poking fun at people who did that. I mean, not that that was a bad thing because it was kinda nice to see people's emotional videos towards the end there. But I I didn't wanna partake in that because it would have been really rough for me.
Helen:I had people, you know, helping me during cancer here, so on my platform. So that would have just taken a whole different turn for me, and I didn't really want it want it to go there. So that is how I let it play out. And then, of course, it did come back on much quicker, and now there's all these theories about why it was off for 12 hours. I'm not even gonna get into it.
Helen:Again, I like, what am I gonna stress about? I cannot change it. I don't have the power to change it in my own hands, so I am not going to let it take me down. And I'm still gonna force myself to think, okay, what can I do to maximize this situation? So I wanna tell you a couple of interesting things that I've I found interesting from this.
Helen:Number 1, not in this priority order, but number 1, it was kind of interesting to see how I felt like, oh, okay. We're gonna have a break from that. How am I gonna spend my energy? So it was kind of interesting to see. It was almost like COVID again.
Helen:Like, okay, there's no work. How am I gonna spend my energies now? Because I don't have production things to do. So it was the same kind of reset for a second. Also, my son was interesting when I my oldest son when I, messaged him and he messaged me and he said, oh, how you doing with the TikTok ban?
Helen:And then I said, oh god. It's really a bummer or whatever. And he said, you're gonna make it great. And I was like, okay. Like, that was an interesting response.
Helen:Right? The other thing I liked that happened is that I immediately knew that I wanted to connect with the people that I'd met through that platform, meaning the studio people who are now working with me, friends I have made that I have connected with on off the app on WhatsApp and whatnot around the world. And so that was kind of cool to still be in touch with them and that they had my back and that they were watching the accounts for me and helping me to say, oh, listen, your account's still there. Don't worry. They didn't take down the American account.
Helen:So it was nice to be in touch with people that were supportive. And I did wanna get immediately on and put out an email to the email list and a podcast, but instead of jumping on that immediately, because I do feel like this is where I can just talk freely, more freely than making a video that's just gonna run on and on and on where I feel here that I I'm thoughtful, but yet I can speak freely. I can't explain the difference. But anyway, I wanted to get on and make a podcast, but I really also wanted to wait and see where the dust settled a little bit. Because a lot of times people make these videos immediately and they spin in this direction, and then they have to take a left turn and spin in that direction, and then they're reporting this, and then they're reporting that.
Helen:That's exhausting. I mean, it happens to me too. I I was like, oh my god, CapCut doesn't work. Gotta teach another editing app, which I'm glad I did because a lot of people, CapCut isn't working. But then find out, oh, if you go to airplane mode, your CapCut might work.
Helen:So then I spent all that time teaching VideoLEAP. And I'm thinking, did I waste my time? Probably not because I think there were people who might wanna understand how other editing apps work. So I felt like I still wanted to be productive. And the good part was I didn't feel beaten.
Helen:I felt like challenged. So there's a difference. I didn't feel like, wah, wah, wah. I felt like, okay, what are we doing now? Like, I just took it.
Helen:I don't know if that's just the nature of who I am. I don't really know why that happens, but I immediately was like, producer, like, fix not fix it because I know I was gonna fix what was broken, but, like, pivot or let's figure out how to make that work. That's really more where my head goes. It it always is and not in a in a solve someone's problem way, but in a solve the situation because I'm gonna go in a different direction. So I don't know if there's a difference there, but anyway, that's where I went.
Helen:And what I'm gonna do now for my studio folks especially is start paying attention to other social media apps on a more equal level, because we're not sure what's happening with this. So instead With TikTok, I mean. So instead of being complacent, I'm going to think about how I'm gonna change slightly moving forward. And I don't mean dramatically. I don't do anything like, okay, now go this way.
Helen:I I always work it and just figure it out. Like, I'm still gonna do this, but I'm also gonna be paying attention to this now. And that's what I'm going to do. And in the studio, we're gonna be challenging. I do mini challenges every week and I'm gonna be challenging people.
Helen:This week, we're gonna focus on this app and everybody's gonna post a couple of times if they're interested and we're gonna do a little mini challenge where we're gonna post to blue sky this week every day and just see if anything interesting happens over there. And now this week, we're gonna really pay attention to YouTube and we're gonna have a lesson about YouTube. We're gonna learn some of the tricks of the trade of posting YouTube, how to make a YouTube account if you don't know. So that's what I'm gonna do in the studio. I'm really gonna try and because it helps me if I'm, if I'm helping other people do it, then I will stick to it as well.
Helen:So that is my plan and we'll see how that all pans out. And I'm still gonna go, of course, I'm gonna be posting on my TikTok. I love it. It's like my little home, my happy place, and I will continue to enjoy every single minute of it until it's just not fun anymore. And that is my plan.
Helen:So are you with me? As I said last week, fist bump. Let's do something fun. Alright. Now let's go through some of the trends and I'm gonna briefly run through them.
Helen:Because again, I think a lot of people are just who knows if trends are really hitting that hard right now because it's all the feed this week is gonna be the next couple of days for sure is gonna be inauguration stuff. It's gonna be the TikTok ban stuff. So I think a lot of these TikTok trends, you'll might wanna focus on that topic, meaning the TikTok ban or coming back from the ban or I don't know putting out it's always a hit or miss thing when something is very very trending in the news to then all of a sudden be posting your regular content and it's likely not gonna hit. So, you know, always be mindful about the topical things that are being in your feed and know that, you know, it may not do well this week, so don't stress about it. So the first one is very related to the TikTok band.
Helen:So it's the phone Your phone's ringing like crazy sound effect. And then you could say, you could show off a humorous reason why people were contacting you maybe during the band. Who knows? So that could be a fun one. And you can also use that for other things, obviously.
Helen:You can do like, one of my oh, this would be funny too. When one of my videos went viral but I couldn't access my my account for 12 hours because I'm sure there's people's videos that were going vile viral while they were all flying. That could be a funny one. Or you could be like, oh, when sales were going through the roof but my TikTok went dark so I didn't know who who was ordering. You'd be some something funny like that.
Helen:It doesn't even have to necessarily be true. It just could be like a humorous imaginary story. The other one is the Shania Twain. That don't impress me much. And that one is just like explaining why something that happens in your life doesn't really impress you.
Helen:Like people think, you know, this is the one person did here. Some guy mansplaining sports to me and it's like she's not impressed. She doesn't care. So that was a funny one. Okay.
Helen:Then on Instagram, a lot of people using that here I am once again that torn into pieces. And that one is coming back to Instagram when the TikTok man happened. Like, I'm back to Instagram. You know, that's funny. But you can actually use that to say you can use that for other things.
Helen:Like, here I am once again because I ran over to TikTok to see what was happening or however you want to present that on Instagram. What whatever it is, whatever reason you came back to Instagram maybe or that you're gonna post more consistently because now you realize that TikTok is like iffy. It could be a lot of different ways you could do that if you are a TikTok if you are a TikTok or posting on Instagram. That could be a fun one. If you're not a TikTok or posting on Instagram and you're just posting on Instagram, you could just be like when everyone else is going away and panicking about a van.
Helen:And I'm like, here I am once again because I've been here the whole time. So you can also use it in that direction. Then there's the bing bak boom audio which is a lot of fun. I just love the sound of it. It's like bing bak boom.
Helen:And you can make a quick cut edited video showing off something on your weekend. You can do something, whatever, anything with that. Like, I'm looking right now at a snowy bay, and it's like I'm thinking about dropping things on this icy bay that I could be like, oh, I'm slipping slip sliding around in the snow. Like, there's a lot of things you can do with this audio. So have fun with that.
Helen:Alright. I've already talked about what's happening this week in the studio, but I didn't tell you this. I am working on a transition that everyone's gonna learn where the clothing last week, we did the clothing flying on. This week, we're doing throwing your shirt and you're, like, ripping your shirt and then a new outfit appears. So So that's what we're focused on this week.
Helen:Can't wait to see those videos and I will I love making a montage or featuring the successful videos on my stories. So we will be seeing some of that this week. You can know that in advance. And then, like I said, we're gonna be working on some YouTube details and some vlogging details. That's gonna be the subjects for this week, and we have a live meeting as always.
Helen:We always do our live meeting once meetings once a week. So I think this week it's on Thursday, and I'll see you there. I like when it sometimes I laugh because I change the times. So it's 1 o'clock, it's 3 o'clock, it's 5 o'clock. I try to mix it up.
Helen:I don't like to do them early in the morning. First, because I'm not a morning person, but more importantly, I have a lot of California studio members. So that's really early in the morning for them. If I decide I'm gonna do a 10 AM, that's like people have to get up at 7 AM. That's not nice.
Helen:Number 1, I don't like to get up at 7 AM. So no. Secondly, I'd rather not even do it at 10 AM myself because I like to get up, get rolling, and do my own things before I get into my work things. That's number 2. But number 3, and my maybe it's the first priority one is that I have some Australia studio members, Australians.
Helen:And for them, 1 o'clock is like middle of the night. And this poor woman, Julie unruly, I love you. She gets up. She gets up at, like, 3 and 4 in the morning when I have these these meetings. And I'm like, no, girl.
Helen:I can't do that to you. So I'm sorry if the 5 o'clock sessions are not always good for my European people, but that's not too late in Europe compared to somebody having to get up at 4 AM for the meeting. So I have to be nice to everyone, and I try and just mix up the times. We do have fun in there, by the way. I even said after my live dance party that each now each time on my Zoom Zoom meetings, I'm gonna after after the Zoom meeting ends, I'm gonna play, like, my favorite throwback song at the end before we end because it was fun.
Helen:Alright. Let's talk about the original content ideas for this week because these are funny. One of them is to post what you did while TikTok was down because I did that. I was like I decided 1st, I was just doing the things and I went, oh, darn. I should have documented this to make a vlog of what I did when TikTok went dark.
Helen:So I then I did reenact myself getting out of bed, scrolling and seeing TikTok was closed and throwing my phone and then getting up and then doing a facial, do an exercise. I had my weights and facial. So I tried to, reenact it a little bit. I mean, I had the idea when I was already into the facial mask, and then I was like, oh, shoot. I should have shot myself exercising.
Helen:I should have shot myself getting out of bed. So I went back and I did those things, and then I ended up it came on so fast. I didn't even get a chance to post the vlog. So I decided to just post the 3 photos of what I did in the morning. So it was funny.
Helen:But you can do it with a photo carousel or and just some words and topics of what you did during and it could be funny, like, laid in bed and stared at the ceiling because I didn't wanna scroll. I couldn't scroll on my phone. I mean, there's so many things you can do with that that you can reenact after the fact that could be funny. Okay. You could also have one of yourself, like, running to Instagram and opening the door, like, hello.
Helen:Hello. I'm back. Anyway, the other one is, the next site's content idea is really very related to what we're doing in the studio, which is try posting on a different format, on a different social media platform. Anyway, that would just be a fun a fun way to just say if you usually post videos, try making a static post or a text based post. If you usually post photos, try posting a video.
Helen:Experiment and maybe just post on a different platform platform while you're experimenting. We're gonna be inspired to do that in the studio, and we're gonna be pushed to do that in the studio, and that's gonna be a lot of fun. And then the third idea, are you ready for this? Get off social media. No.
Helen:Yes. Take a break from social media. Make some plans to get off social media and see people in real life, but then share those events on social media. It's a full circle. Even when I'm in real life, I'm documenting so that I can share.
Helen:And I just think that's what my joy of social media is, that I am having fun in real life. And I am with those people and doing and enjoying the times and when I'm at parties. But then I like to document it. I like to share the joy that I'm having. So I don't know.
Helen:And maybe one might say you're not in the moment and I feel the opposite. I feel like I'm so I'm so channeled into the moment that I'm seeing it through a memory lens. Like, I'm so aware that I'm building a memory when I'm having a good time. There's something in this. I have to make a video about this, but I am.
Helen:I'm acutely aware of it. And so, therefore, I tend to pick up my phone and document it. So much to the point that when my son and my daughter-in-law told us they were having a baby and I heard the news, I was like, I am not recording. Oh my God. I literally picked up my phone and started filming because I was experiencing it and I knew that I'd want to savor this memory and my way of savoring the moments I'm in is documenting them so that I can look back on them.
Helen:So call me crazy and you can say that means you're not in the moment, To that I say, b s. I'm so in the moment that I'm acutely aware that I'm gonna wanna look back at this moment because it's so special right at this moment. So that's an argument that I'm gonna stand on in court if I ever have to. When people are like you weren't in the moment, I'll be like, no. I was deeper in the moment than you were because I was thinking about the fact that I'd wanna look back on it.
Helen:It. Oh, Lord. Somebody come and save me. Okay. We know I'm crazy.
Helen:Onward we go into the featured tutorial. As I said earlier, I immediately decided that the tutorial I needed to do was an editing tutorial about a new editing app because CapCut suddenly went dark with TikTok. So frustrating because all of my tutorials are like, here's how to do it. We're gonna use CapCut. Oh my god.
Helen:And it's such a good edit app. But I did dive in and decided to put my claws in and fig figure out which one I liked, and I I did in shot for a little bit. I tested it out and I was like, it's not as intuitive. It's not as it's not as I wanted to find something somewhat similar in the way the timeline shows up and where the features show up. Videoleap is pretty close.
Helen:There's another one called me Mayetu. I might demonstrate that one next. Others are asking me to demonstrate in shot, so maybe I'll demonstrate that one. But I'm going to focus on really what I do best, which is I am an an editor by nature. I, like, look at my life through a lens and I am editing my life somewhat somewhat when I, share it.
Helen:So, picking out those highlight moments. And yeah. So that's who I am. So I'm gonna keep doing it. And so because I have that skill, I'm going to continue to teach you how to do these editing things.
Helen:So yay to that. Good times that we have to look forward to is lots of editing lessons, and you are gonna get better and better at it if you stick with me. That is for sure. I was just recently booked to teach a corporate group of people, trainers, how to make training videos in a company, and I'm gonna be doing that in early February. And then in February oh my gosh.
Helen:I'm so glad I remember to mention this. I'm gonna be in Tampa on February 5th. So if you happen to live in the Tampa area and would like to meet up, I'm doing a meet up. I'm gonna be doing it at the Westin Waterside. I think it's called.
Helen:Oh my god. I can't remember the name of the of the place, but I will put it in the newsletter when I when I find it. And that's where I'm gonna be meeting creating a meetup there for anybody that's in that area and wants to do a quick, like, social socialize, like, as in socialize in real life. Meet, talk about social media, talk about life, whatever. And that is gonna be the plan on February 5th because I'm finally going to start using the time when I'm traveling for work to say, oh, I'm in this area.
Helen:Let me see if I can meet the people that have been following me on social media and make myself available to connect with people in real life because I've realized the value of my community over there on TikTok and on Instagram and on my social channels and here on my podcast and my newsletter. I just wanna, I wanna know you. Call me crazy, but I do. So if you wanna meet me in Tampa, just either reply to the newsletter today and let me know, and I will keep you informed of the time. I already am going to include the place some some Weston and it's on the marina.
Helen:Okay. That's what I know right off the top of my head. Alrighty. What else do I have to say for today? Let me look through the newsletter.
Helen:Oh, we have music options, blah blah blah. And, yes, I am going to be in Jamaica on May 1st to 4th, Montego Bay at a women's entrepreneur retreat. Please, if you have any desire to go to Jamaica, this would be a great opportunity. And you know what's cool about it? You don't even have to go with someone.
Helen:Like you could say, oh, I don't really like traveling alone. This is the perfect time because you will be with a group of people when you get there. It's like you can just all you have to do alone is get on a plane. Once you get there, you're gonna be in a group. You're gonna be we're gonna hang out.
Helen:We're gonna have some fun. We're gonna do workshops. We're gonna do social media trainings. You're gonna have learn how to. You'll even have, hair and makeup experts and fitness experts and business coaches.
Helen:And there's somebody that's gonna do headshots and take your photos and give you business plans and all this stuff. So if you are a entrepreneur looking for some support, it's just gonna be a fun one. And you don't really need to have any, anybody with you. You can literally do this and have socialized, have some fun in the sun as well as business coaching tips and networking and you'll get swag and gifts and social media tips and all the things. So maybe I'll see you in Jamaica.
Helen:And last but not least, we have the music suggestions for today, which are really fun. Oh my God. I love that Julie put mamma mia in there because she's bringing it back for me. But mamma mia started to show up on my for you page, so I picked it when I did my montage video. So if you like it, go with a little Abba, let's go.
Helen:And there's some lots of other options. Alright. As always, thank you for being here. If you have questions about anything as you're navigating this new TikTok algorithm or this new plan to diversify, I am here for you. And the studio is even more here for you because that's where I'm in touch every single day If you want me to be.
Helen:You could also turn it off. You don't have to listen to me every single day. Oh, dear. I don't wanna scare people. Alright.
Helen:Have a great week, and I will I will see you on Friday. Thank you as always for listening. We got through one dramatic weekend, and I'm sure there's more to come. So hang in, hang in, and I'll see you soon.
