The Makeup of Social Media
Makeup Artists talk about the ways social media has changed their industry
Social media has changed many industries, but some industries have experienced more of a revolution than others. Strongly visual industries, such as the makeup industry, have flourished as cameras have become digital and image sharing so simple. In an Instagram world where millions of women are posting and sharing un-retouched images of themselves constantly, there is a heightened interest in makeup. For makeup artists social media has truly been an amazing tool. Cahoots interviewed makeup artist Elena Ismail of Vancouver and Jyoti Purba of Calgary to get their perspectives on how social media has changed their industry.
“I think social media has changed everything for all artists. There is so much more exposure beyond what you could ever have thought to have. You have people who you’ve never met nor will ever meet admiring your work and supporting you. I think it is very flattering and encouraging for any artist to know that their art is appreciated by people because they genuinely appreciate the art, not just because they know you personally and like you.” –Elena Ismail
“I am very lucky to have many fans who adore my work. That is the number one thing that keeps me going. I am very passionate about my work this isn’t a hobby or something on the side I am very proud to say this is my profession.” –Jyoti Purba
Prior to Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Model Mayhem makeup artistry was typically only seen in books and magazines. Now it is seen on Facebook pages, YouTube, blogs, and online portfolios.
“Social media has allowed our art to be just as admired as the art of photography or styling. Now people see the names of MUA’s alongside everyone else’s and not somewhere in the back of the magazine in small font or at the end when the movie is done and everyone leaves. People now more than ever, can see the magic of what makeup can do. I feel that although not everyone buys a magazine, even my dad has Facebook!”– Elena Ismail
Social media has allowed makeup artists to expand their reach and highlight themselves as individuals.
“Makeup is more than eyeshadow and blush to me, it is ART. I am an artist who happens to love makeup. I want to transform people and make them feel beautiful and sexy. I want them to see something in themselves that they didn’t know was there!” – Elena Ismail
Jyoti Purba doing hair and makeup for a bride.
Power to the Makeup Artist
In a world full of beauty blogs, YouTube tutorials, and online portfolios makeup artists are able to attract the attention of advertisers and sponsors like never before. Beauty blogs rank very high in google searches. According to research by mymarketmonitor, 45 percent of all online conversations about beauty take place on blogs and there are over 8000 English language beauty blogs on the web. YouTube is full of makeup tutorials and has changed the way makeup artistry is shared and learned:
“Many people use YouTube videos to help themselves out. I also started to learn a lot of my makeup techniques and skills from people who posted makeup tutorials. Since I learnt that way, I also made some videos to help others. “ -Jyoti Purba
If you have a lot of followers or traffic, beauty brands may be interested in sending you free products to try, sponsoring you, or buying advertising on your blog. This acts as a new stream of revenue for makeup artists. For although makeup artists may be bursting with creativity, there is a lot of competition and the real-time paid work is not always aligned with their creative interests:
“Paid work in Vancouver is definitely not aligned with what I want to do in terms of creativity. My number one passion would be fashion and editorial, but Bridal is what really pays.” – Elena Ismail
Elena Ismail’s Creative Work
Here are some ways to use social media for Makeup artistry:
- Blog: A place to post content such as How-To’s, tips, and tricks.
- YouTube: Create makeup tutorials and upload them to YouTube.
- Facebook Page: Create a Facebook fan page that showcases your work
- Pinterest: Create a pin board and upload your work to Pinterest. Create your own infographics.
- Twitter: Tweet short and sweet tips for your followers.
- Join Model Mayhem: Model Mayhem is full of models, photographers, makeup artists, and stylists of various skill levels. A great networking and portfolio building tool.
- Get In Cahoots (of course): When we launch this spring/summer.
These social media methods can be time-consuming, so it is best to focus on one platform- say a blog, and have the other platforms direct traffic to that blog.
Social media and sharing has resulted in an increased interest in makeup techniques and makeup artistry as a profession. It has forever changed the way makeup artists collaborate, network, and market themselves. However, it is important to keep in mind that as powerful as social media has become, networking offline is still a big deal:
“Networking is very important in this industry because people get to know you on a personal level and they like what you do, so they call you back. I think word of mouth is still one of the most powerful marketing tools available. You work with one person and it’s like a chain reaction!” –Elena Ismail
“Most of my clients find me by word of mouth! How great is that. I truly feel that when you do your best for others the favors pay back in return. All my clients always speak so well of my work they always refer me. “ – Jyotia Purba
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MyMakeupWonderland
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BlushProfessionalHairMakeup
The Future of Online Bartering
A barter exchange system is one where goods and/or services are directly exchanged without money. For example, trading chickens for a newspaper subscription or offering free baking in exchange for manicures. Bartering predates currency and is still common in developing countries and still present on a small-scale in developed nations. Contrary to popular belief there is no record at any point in history of a society that exchanged solely through the barter system. This could be due to some of the problems with a barter system:
- Mutual Coincidence of Demand: People with complimentary goods or services need to be able to find one another and discover that they both need what the other possesses.
- Variations in Value: In a barter economy, there is no concrete value attached to goods or services- this makes their value unpredictable and subjective.
- Indivisibility of Goods: Some goods and services cannot be divided into smaller units. If one indivisible unit is worth much more than the one be traded for, then the transaction cannot take place.
- Time Consuming: Money is certainly more efficient at getting what you want. Bartering requires finding and negotiating an appropriate trade.
- Negotiation: Barterers have to decide on an equal trade. This can lead to a somewhat awkward conversation about the value of one’s goods and services in relation to another’s.
- Building Wealth: You cannot invest bartering. Building capital through exchange isn’t possible.
Despite these inefficiencies and disadvantages bartering still takes place. Sometimes it is actually more effective than using money.
Money isn’t Everything…
Bartering can be particularly useful under certain circumstances:
- Inflation: When money loses its value, a barter system can allow exchange to take place under conditions of great uncertainty such as poverty.
- Natural Disaster: In times of chaos where the system is not working- bartering can spontaneously emerge as a great alternative.
- Surplus: When a business has a surplus of goods or idle workers they may trade them for other goods and services, saving their money for other purposes.
In the internet age there is the opportunity for web-based bartering to take place and solve the issues of mutual demand and time consumption in barter transactions. In our current global economy why hasn’t online bartering caught on?
- Critical Mass: In order for online bartering to effectively take place a critical mass of barterers must be reached.
- Geographic Barriers: Many goods and services can only realistically be traded locally.
- Perception: In our currency reliant culture bartering is frequently perceived as a last resort, a thing of the past.
- Too Narrow? : A website designed only for swapping and bartering may be too narrow in its scope to attract users.
Bartering Websites and Networks
Networks- Bartering networks have appeared. For a fee these networks help you find someone who wants what you have to offer, or someone who is offering what you want. These networks offer trade credits in place of direct exchange between two people. The problem with these is that they still involve money-the fee that one pays to the network, and trade credits are basically like an online currency. The only advantage that these trade credits have over money is that they must be spent within the barter community, which will lead to more bartering. This also can be seen as a disadvantage for you can only spend your money in one place, similar to Canadian Tire Money. These attempts at organizing bartering in an agency like fashion have only been moderately successful, and one has to wonder what the point of bartering is if it just turns into an online currency anyways? Why not just make and spend money without the network?
Swapping Sites- Sites like swapsity.com, swap.com, swapace.com, and many others were all created with the intent to facilitate bartering/swapping in an online space. Some have experienced marginal success but the web is full of the ghosts of bartering/swapping sites that failed to gain momentum.
Classifieds: Despite the lack of a successful bartering/swapping websites a quick glance at the barter section of the classifieds on Craigslist will reveal over a hundred local listings a day. Craigslist does not have the sophisticated technology that these barter/swap websites do, but nevertheless people still use it for these purposes. Craigslist already attracts a lot of usage on a local level, something these swapping sites struggle with.
Are people interested in bartering?
Not really. They are interested in exchanging goods and services, but the word ‘barter’ seems to carry more hesitation. So what is the difference between exchanging and bartering? Bartering is defined as ‘to trade by exchange of commodities rather by the use of money‘ where as exchange is described as ‘to give and receive reciprocally‘. The primary difference between these two words is that bartering explicitly excludes money from the trading equation. Exchange is a much more common word and familiar concept. Exchange has better connotations as it is associated with reciprocity and give/take trade relationships. The word barter is associated with an old-fashioned, outdated system that predated currency.
Bartering gets a Makeover
A step beyond exchange we get collaboration, a place where a form of bartering occurs all the time. A good example of this is the website Model Mayhem, which is largely populated by photographers, models, makeup artists, and stylists. On this platform castings for TF* (TF= trade for) photo shoots are listed frequently. Photographers offer their skills in exchange for modeling services and vice versa. The model gets free pictures and the photographer doesn’t have to hire a model as a subject. This symbiotic relationship can happen between amateurs just starting out all the way up to fashion photographers and agency represented models. Model Mayhem has definitely led to a boom in collaborative creativity and learning.
Bartering is Everywhere
You are bartering when you offer to bake someone cookies in exchange for helping you move. When a business offers sponsorship in exchange for advertising it is bartering. There is no money being exchanged, but each party is giving in receiving. So perhaps the future of online bartering does not lie within a narrow swap/barter only network, but rather an online community that is more broadly focused on exchange, collaboration, and reciprocal relationships.
Blue and the Social Media Status Quo
Why Cahoots is going with green instead of the color blue.
I will begin by informing you that blue is actually my favorite color. However, when it came to choosing colors for our start up’s logo and design I was not excited about using blue. Why? It didn’t seem refreshing, new, or eye-catching. Indeed, the color blue has become the status quo of social media. The three current major social networks all use blue as their dominant color.
Oh wait what’s that green and black owl doing on the end?! Our icon is definitely not like the others. When everyone is doing the same thing, it’s very easy to make a contrast.
So why are the social media giants using blue?
- Mark Zuckerberg is actually red-green colorblind. Blue is the color he sees best. That is a huge part of why Facebook is blue.
- Blue is the most favored color universally, so it is the safest to use. In turn, its use is likely increased due to blue being ‘safe’, and this meaning is reinforced by those playing it safe.
- Blue is the color of the sky and sea, it is a soothing, calm color.
- Blue is associated with positive meanings like loyalty, intellect, communication, and reliability.
However, the color blue also has some negative connotations:
- It is associated with sadness and depression “the Blues”.
- It is associated with coldness and rigidity.
- It is associated with boredom and being conservative.
These negative connotations do note bode well with my vision for Cahoots. During hard global economic times I want something associated with energy and renewal, not calmness and the status quo. I don’t want the color of safety and being conservative. Being an entrepreneur means taking risks, not playing it safe. So that brings me to the color green.
What we like about green:
- Green is the color of life, renewal,growth and vitality.
- Green is the color of sustainability, and much of our vision is about sustainability.
- Green is associated with adaptability and flexibility.
- Owl eyes look proper green (logo).
- Where so many are using blue, green stands out.
If I were to choose blue over green it would mean choosing to be a follower rather than a leader. So the color of Cahoots will be green.
10 Advantages of Being a Small Business
The business lined streets of Nathan Road in Hong Kong
While small businesses don’t operate on the same scale as big businesses, they have some distinct advantages:
1. Flexibility: Small businesses experience less bureaucratic inertia. This enables them to respond to changes in the market more quickly than big companies that have to jump through their own hoops. Small businesses can maneuver where big businesses lack the speed. In a world that is continually speeding up, businesses are facing the challenge of adapting quickly.
2. Personal: Small businesses can be personal in ways that big ones cannot. This allows for more meaningful interactions between businesses and customers. Big companies spend massive amounts of money trying to create this same level of personal engagement.
3. Passion: When a business is a run by a smaller number of people or just one self-employed individual you often see more pure passion. That passion hasn’t been diluted by large staff and or altered by a compromised vision.
4. Independence: With less bureaucracy comes more independence. Small business entrepreneurs are able to exercise with much more independence, which is often part of what got them into running a small business in the first place.
5. Best in their niche: It’s hard to please everyone, and where super companies are trying to please the majority a small business can zoom in on a niche and provide them with exactly what they need.
6. Local Contributions: Small businesses typically circulate more of their revenue back into their local community. This makes the local economy more resilient, which in turn makes the global economy more resilient.
7. Diversity: There are more small businesses than big ones. This means more competition and more innovation.
8. Easier Start Up: It is much lower in cost to start a small business and can be done working part-time hours.
9. Straight Forward: Small business owners are far more likely to be directly involved with their consumers. This enables them to be more in tune with their customer’s satisfaction and concerns.
10. Sustainability: Small businesses are less likely to harm the environment. They are more likely to be catering to their locale, which means less driving and more walking. They are more aware and in control of their energy costs and less likely to engage in wasteful practices like leaving lights on. They often operate from home and therefore don’t use store or office space.
As a small business owner or self-employed individual it is wise to use these advantages to the fullest. As a small business transitioning into a mid to large-sized business it is important to try to maintain the intimacy and advantages of being smaller.
Small Business Adds Up
Every big tree starts with a small seed. Some of these seeds go on to become giants, others reach contentment at a certain capacity, and some fail to thrive at all. Every big business started as a small one- and the ones that remain small still play a very big role in our global economy.
Despite varying definitions of what constitutes a small business or being self-employed, they comprise the majority of the workforce in any country.
In Canada…
– There are 2.7 million small business entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals, which is about fifteen percent of the population (Statistics Canada).
-48 percent of the Canadian workforce is employed by a small business.
– Small businesses with under 50 employees represent 97.8 percent of the total business establishments in Canada (CFIB 2009).
– 45 percent of Canada’s GDP is generated by small and mid-sized businesses.
In the United States…
-There are over 27 million small businesses that employ 117 million people and generate 30 trillion in annual revenue (American Express OPEN).
-60-80% of new jobs created annually in the US can be attributed to small businesses.
In China…
-Nearly 60 percent of China’s GDP comes from small to mid-sized businesses (Intuit Small Business).
– There are over 30 million people running their own household businesses.
-Small businesses create 75 percent of China’s urban job opportunities
In the WORLD…
There are roughly 189 million small businesses.
Small business is a big business. Although the spotlight may not shine on small businesses, collectively they are bigger than any fortune 500 out there. Self-employment and small business are the key to economic health and resilience.
CAHOOTS 