Brand Lift

Meet Grant Sikkema

Grant Sikkema is a business student that loves Marketing and Entrepreneurship. He is also a former intern at Tori Sikkema Photography, where he helped and managed social media platforms, took photographs, etc. He shares his experience as an intern and what he learned and discovered during his internship journey.

Get inspired as Grant shares his social media platform strategies to increase your brand presence and awareness, especially on TikTok and Instagram and the younger generation’s perspective on social media.

GRANT’S SUMMER INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE

During the summer, Grant helped out his mom and became her intern. One of his duties and responsibilities is managing the business’s social media pages, like TikTok, Instagram, and others. Aside from that, he also helped in the photography side of the business, where he helped set up the gear and gadgets and take pictures.

His mom didn’t teach him how to take proper shots with the camera, and he picked up his photography skills by watching her work, and he could do it without any problems.

All in all, he learned many things during his internship, ranging from photography to social media.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TIKTOK OR INSTAGRAM?

One of the tasks that Grant successfully did as an intern was setting up the business TikTok account and increasing its presence on that platform. Grant mentioned that TikTok and Instagram might seem similar. However, they still operate differently. Instagram, an older platform, offers features like reels, stories, lives, and much more. Meanwhile, TikTok allows you to upload videos.

There’s a difference in the audience of the two platforms. As Instagram is an older platform, it can have various audiences from different age groups. TikTok, a newer app than Instagram, mainly has the younger generation. Depending on your target audience, you can use either platform to catch their attention.

“I would say my generation, which I was born in 2003, which makes me 19. I would say the general population around my age uses TikTok more. As the younger kids are starting to get on technology, they’re starting to use TikTok more. So, I would say influencing the younger generation on TikTok is a lot easier and a lot more influential.” - Grant Sikkema.

WHAT STRATEGIES CAN YOU DO TO INCREASE PRESENCE?

One of the strategies you can do on TikTok to increase your presence is to upload videos daily on your account. This should help catch the attention of the people. Aside from that, your videos on TikTok shouldn’t be long, and remember your audience’s attention span.

Viral sounds and hashtags could also help you increase your presence on TikTok and Instagram.

THE TIKTOK ACCOUNT THAT INFLUENCED GRANT

Grant mentioned a TikTok account that has influenced not only him but also the younger generation. Bradley Kraut is known for his nickname “Academic Weapon.” His TikTok content revolves around motivation and productivity. He encourages people to go to school, be on time, wake up early, and much more. He approaches it in a comedic way which attracts the people’s attention.

“So I will say he definitely influenced me a little bit. He definitely put a smile on my face. And, you know, he made me want to get it more. So, I’ve been following this guy for about two months now, and his videos cracked me up. But they also inspire me to tackle life and take hold of the so Bradley Kraut is definitely an influential guy.” - Grant Sikkema

INSIGHTS OF THE YOUNGER GENERATION

Technology is advancing as time passes, and everyone’s lives depend on and revolve around it. Although it may seem that the younger generation focuses more on technology, Grant mentions that they still take time off the internet to physically hang out and interact with their friends. However, we can never deny how much technology has influenced us.

The younger generation is constantly looking for people who can help their lives somehow. If you can grab the attention of the people and help and guide them, you’ll be beneficial to them. In return, you can level up your business or organization.

INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Grant is open to accepting exciting internship opportunities that he can take. He aims to enhance his skills and knowledge in social media management. Aside from that, he is still willing to help out in his mom’s business.

Links:

www.linkedin.com/in/grantsikkema

Email: [email protected]

Until next time, take one new action that lifts up your brand!

Tune in for Branding, Marketing, and Business

Joanne is the Founder of The Beach Home and TBH Interiors, based in Lavallette, New Jersey. She grew up visiting the iconic furniture department at Bloomingdale and Ralph Lauren store inside the Rhinelander mansion, envisioning a beautiful and comfortable environment as she appreciates the people who brought life to these designs.

Get inspired as Joanne shares her insights and experiences working in various trades and why designers are more than people expect them to be.

Joanne’s life inspiration has always been her mother. She inherited her mother’s appreciation and passion for art and design. Her mother believes that home is made up of whatever you can contribute to it, and as a self-proclaimed designer, she put as much as she could into fabrics on their weekend home in Rockland County. In awe of the designs seen in Kips Bay Showhouse every year birthed their overwhelming desire to craft art they can call their own.

However, Joanne’s journey to owning a design firm was heavily influenced by her time as a real estate manager. Seeing the top brand interior designers in a closer view, how they make an empty white apartment into something spectacular, showed what path she wanted to take.

After the devastation brought by Hurricane Sandy, Joanne was reluctant to pursue her dream as people had different needs at the time. However, with the support of their community, Joanne and her husband decided to realize their vision and help people who want to take their homes to the next level. Even without certifications, just from pure and raw experience, Joanne was able to build her firm into what it is today.

Styling is not as simple as adding flair to things without intent. Every additional detail should result in a better-looking scenario, even if it is as minor as adding a lemon. Joanne shares that styling is necessary, but you will never know if you have missed something until you thoroughly look at the scene through your lens.

Joanne collaborated and experienced working with various trades, architects, builders, and project managers. Due to this wide range of experiences, her lens of expertise allowed her to incorporate new ideas and consider other aspects. Joanne describes the stages:

1. The Blueprint Stage – Clients have their own version and view of their homes. Having a blueprint as a designer can help you encapsulate that vision without getting in the way of others.
2. The Costing Stage – At what point do you think the design justifies the cost? Joanne emphasizes that you should always be mindful of the cost of your designs.
3. The Engineering Stage – If you have a working blueprint, then be mindful of how you do the design without getting in the way of lighting and HVAC plans. In fact, you want to collaborate with them to ensure that no hitches go along the way.

Planning is important in everything that you do. However, not all plans go along the way you wanted them to. Joanne shares a story of this:

Joanne learned that new clients who are building new homes should be a “squeaky wheel”—Allow the designers to step in front of you because building a beautiful home cannot be realized unless you give them the chance to do their creative work.

It is not easy to thrive in a competitive market. Having an established brand means a lot to Joanne. It provided her a tremendous boost of confidence because she believes in what she is capable of – except for the fact that she lacks the marketing to spread her creative work.

Joanne feels gratified to have her work validated and recognized by the New Jersey Home in a 10-page spread magazine – which furthered their means of becoming a seasoned interior design firm. Getting published means having a broader audience to showcase what you are capable of. Many people see designers as “just there to decorate,” but that’s not it! Through the power of photography, online presence, and a solid portfolio, it is a no-brainer to think that you are more than “just” a designer!

Links:

https://thebeachhomelife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thebeachhomenj/

https://www.instagram.com/tbhstudionj/

Neil is the Vice President of Marketing for Universal Furniture in High Point, North Carolina. Neil is responsible for the strategic and creative direction of Universal Furniture brands, which include Universal Furniture and To The Trade. He also manages the company's licensing programs with current partners, Coastal Living Magazine and Miranda Kerr, the supermodel! Neil has over 20 years of marketing experience working with B2B and B2C clients. His specialties include strategy and branding, advertising, planning, website development and analysis, social corporate identity, and media planning.

Be motivated as Neil will share some knowledge about how their company works that you could also practice being successful.

Neil is also inviting us to join the upcoming events at Universal's Learning Center, where we can experience designer-focused panels and discussions and meet known personalities.

STRATEGIC AND CREATIVE VISION FOR UNIVERSAL

The vision of the business has to be connected to your brand ethos. Doing so will make your business more solid. Neil stated they want their customers to have an easy transaction with them.

Universal is great to do business with, no matter the size of your design firm. They are easy to transact with! Universal is a good resource for all-size designers.

Examine everything you do, accept every firm that could do business with us, and build a recognizable brand. It eliminates a lot of conversation and guarantees everyone is on the same page. In general, the more you communicate, the better your execution. These methods Neil uses.

Universal has a broad range of product lines like Coastal Living, Miranda Kerr, and Modern Farmhouse. Customers are getting a lot of value. You receive more looks for less without sacrificing anything.

Neil MacKenzie

TRADE AND RESOURCES FOR CLIENTS

Their team is always attempting to comprehend and learn from what they see from the analytic perspective regarding how people engage and interact with the website to things they can change to make it simpler to interact and, eventually, transact on.

In 2020, when Covid was still rampant, they shot everything in advance. They were rolling out their second collection with Coastal Living Magazine called Getaway and had already been on location. They hosted a virtual market and did showrooms virtually.

FALL MARKET AT UNIVERSAL

Neil invites us to join Universal's Learning Center for market events where they have designer-focused panels & discussions on October 21-25, 2022. They are excited to have folks return, in person, to fall market. The following are the things you may see.

You can visit Universal Furniture.com/marketevents to see them or know more about the event.

Be sure to follow #HPMKT on Instagram!

CELEBRITIES TO MEET

Shalena Smith is on the Panel, Leslie Carothers is doing some events on a space, and LuAnn Nigara will be hosting and moderating. These are some of the well-known personalities coming to the event.

IMPORTANT LINKS

Universal Explore Home Learning Center Market Events Friday - Tuesday, October 21-25, 2022

Tori Sikkema speaking on Friday, October 21 @ 4:00 pm, Telling your Design Story Visually

Six S's of Success to Get Published, The Ultimate Guide

Until next time, take one new action that lifts up your brand!

Tune in for Branding, Marketing, and Business

Brand Lift Podcast w/ Danielle Marchese

In this episode of Brand Lift, Tori interviews Danielle Marchese. Danielle is a consultant and a brand and marketing strategist who has been helping brands carve out their own unique corner of the internet since 2017. She shares her journey of entrepreneurship as a business owner, assisting clients to rebrand, optimize their businesses through SEO, and build their brand presence on social media platforms. Get inspired as Danielle shares her practical, yet unique and authentic approaches to marketing, as well as strategies on re-branding; from taking quizzes to evaluate your brand and your website, to specific techniques for maximizing Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

It's such a thrilling conversation as Tori and Danielle shared the same passion for branding, marketing, and business to help you get seen, published, and booked by dream clients. Get access to this expert advice from Danielle Marchese with links to her social media platforms, her website with the quiz to re-evaluate your brand, your business, and recommendations on what to do next. What an exciting opportunity so tune in on another great episode on all things branding, marketing, and design. Listen now! 

Find Danielle here:

Instagram: @danielle_marchese

thedaniellemarchese.com

Good luck, and let me know how these tips help you to grow your community!

Until next time, take one new action that lifts up your brand!

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Maggie Brittian is the owner of Chesterfield Organizing Co., 

She is a visual problem solver, and a homebody at heart. ​Professional Organizer and Clutter Guide/Coach and a wife of an outdoor enthusiast, a mother of four active humans, and one lazy pup, creating peaceful and clutter-free spaces is a must to maintain smoother daily routines in her home. Smoother days are exactly what I want for you and your home too! 

Maggie and her team want to save you time and teach you the steps to maintain your newly organized space. 

In addition to offering IN-home organizing, Maggie also offers online education: Coco Organized One offering is A self-paced course guiding you online through 4 core steps of organizing (COCO) to create a space that looks and feels like the best version of YOU! 

https://www.chesterfieldorganizingco.com/

[email protected]

Good luck, and let me know how these tips help you to grow your community!

Until next time, take one new action that lifts up your brand!

Tune in for Branding, Marketing, and Business

Living a Life of Meaning

Karen Ann Bulluck is a transcendent leadership specialist and founder of TRANSCENDENCE: Living A Life of Meaning, a boutique executive coaching practice.  Karen partners with leaders to EXPLORE what matters, INTEGRATE the Higher Self, and FLOURISH in new dimensions. She is the creator of the Transcendence proprietary methodology: “Living A Life of Meaning”, which provides transformative and integrative teachings learned from three decades of applied practice.

She is the author of the Amazon bestselling novel Ascending Ladders, which follows a female executive through a transformation change in corporate leadership. Karen is also a contributing author to the international bestselling books: Significant Women: Leaders Reveal What Matters Most and The X-Factor: The Spiritual Secrets Behind Successful Executives & Entrepreneurs. 

Karen will share how to be your authentic self, what living a life of meaning is, and what transcendence means.

Karen shares three pillars of transcendence that are the foundation of creating and flourishing as a leader.

20:33.40

Life of transcendence for yourself of creating that state of mind.

Connection

The first pillar is a connection to whatever is your faith. Whatever it is your belief in that higher consciousness whether you call it the universe whether you call it universal consciousness.

It's really important to connect and for leaders especially to have that daily practice of connecting into that higher level of consciousness because that's where you're going to get the wisdom and that's where you're going to.

Getting this piece to be able to stay focused in the midst of all this uncertainty um, learning to trust that connection and stay connected. All the time is really critical.

Develop Awareness

The second thing is to develop awareness. And this is really developing awareness of your internal programming. You know what your limiting beliefs are what your cultural conditioning is and learning to rewire that by being present with the cost understanding what it's costing you to continue believing what you believe now and then changing that. Changing your belief system because we really all the chaos and suffering that we have a lot of that is tied to our belief systems and if we can change our belief systems.

Clarity

The clarity to explore what matters what your values are what's really important to you and then creating a vision around that and living true to that vision living true your values and so

those are the 3 main components of the underline. What leaders and anybody needs to do to really tap in and begin to access that transcendence access that higher level of consciousness and transcend versus just changed.

To learn more about Karen, she can be reached at: 

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/karenannbulluck

Website: www.livingalifeofmeaning.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/karenannbulluck

Good luck, and let me know how these tips help you to grow your community!

Until next time, take one new action that lifts up your brand!

Tune in for Branding, Marketing, and Business

Networking to grow your business is a conversation away!

Did you know I've got this networking thing down to a science? I will take you into my networking world, what I do and why I love it! Learn how I interact with people to keep things friendly and get booked so you can do it too!

In this episode, I distill down 4 tips and actionable steps for you to take to help you grow your community of potential customers through having conversations with people every day.

I share 4 tips to help you to begin networking to grow your business and connect with like-minded people who may be potential customers.

Find out more about how Paul guides his clients through the construction process, and more. Listen to the full podcast and subscribe to hear more inspirational stories.

Tune in for Branding, Marketing, and Business

https://torisikkemaphotos.com/the-podcast

Architecture to Construction

Tips to help homeowners navigate the building process.

Have you ever thought about building your dream home or renovating or remodeling your existing home? Well, statistics show that homeowners will continue to build remodel or renovate their homes well into 2022 and beyond. Having the proper tools to navigate the process and the right team of experts working in collaboration for a positive outcome is critical. 

This week's guest, Paul David Rugarber, grew up around tools and the smell of sawdust from his grandfather's garage and his father's remodeling business, which instilled in Paul the love of construction and inspired him to become an architect. Paul now owns PDR Designs an Architectural Firm. 

Specializing in guiding homeowners through the process of residential design and construction along the jersey shore since 2008, Paul is a registered architect in New Jersey, New York, and Florida, and a member of the American Institute of Architects. Paul's passion for others inspired him to write his first book, which was published in December 2017, Architecture to Construction and Everything in Between.  The book quickly became an Amazon best seller!  It was designed and written for homeowners to answer questions about what to expect during the design and construction process, whether it's an alteration, addition, or new home build, this book guides clients through the process. 

From design to completion, Paul's knowledge and understanding of the architectural and construction fields have allowed him to continually grow his firm and influence as a vital leader in the community. Paul Works with habitat for humanity tunnel to towers, and he just finished a project alongside NBC’s George to the Rescue, renovating a wounded warriors veterans basement, which aired in May 2022.

Find out more about how Paul guides his clients through the construction process, and more. Listen to the full podcast and subscribe to hear more inspirational stories.

Tune in for Branding, Marketing, and Business

https://torisikkemaphotos.com/the-podcast

Reaching my goals in my first year wasn’t easy, and yet I did it anyway. Want to know how you can have success in your first year? 

Here’s a look into my first year of business, how I found success, and how you can do it too.

My road to success was paved with challenges, lessons, and wins. If you are struggling with where or how to begin your journey as a creative entrepreneur, I am here to share my story of the five steps I took to grow my business in the first year. These steps can work for you too. 

Do you remember vision boards? I made a vision board for EVERYTHING! We would have stacks of magazines, yes, magazines, sitting on the floor with my girlfriends, listening to Madonna, or Bruce, cutting out pictures of how we envisioned our future. We didn’t put limits on our dreams or see barriers to our success back then. If we put it on the board, it was going to happen!

I want you to go back to that dreamer, and start keeping your dreams in front of you again. Make a vision board and put it where you will see it every day.

The formula is simple:

Define your why & put it in front of you daily + Becoming a student + Action + Marketing = Success

 DSAMS

What you see, speak, and do on a daily basis will determine your future. Let’s dive into your future! Let’s go!  Listen to the podcast for the 5 steps I took and learn how my success can be your success.

https://torisikkemaphotos.com/

Work-life balance is a hot topic. As we live our busy lives, how can we keep ourselves in balance and in check? 

We are talking to Sirena White-Singleton: brand photographer, entrepreneur, and storyteller. She will share all about finding the work-life rhythm… and not balance.

Sirena knows exactly what it means to be overbooked, overwhelmed, and need to prioritize her time. 

“In 2015 I shot 24 weddings, but the burnout with weddings was real. I was like, yeah, shooting these weddings every weekend is not gonna work having a child.” - Sirena

Sirena pivoted her business, doubled her income from 2020, and hit the 6 figure mark in 2021 while finding a rhythm to life. 

“I do not like to waste 2 things: that's time and money.”

Sirena shares with us her journey to success and why clients choose her over everyone else: because she doesn’t waste their time or money. Hear how she brings value through her brand photography and how she has built a strong community around her business. 

She’s a mom, a wife, a business owner, and a full-time entrepreneur now. How does she keep it all in balance?

You're creating a work-life rhythm. Distinguish the 2: a rhythm versus a balance.

“So balance, think of a tightrope, someone trying to keep their balance so they don't fall down. Well, that's hard. That's really hard but now think about a rhythm or beat. 

It's a flow. It's a vibe. 

It's not like you have to find that balance. I think when you give yourself grace and find a rhythm and flow into something, it just makes it easier. 

That flow and vibe flow into how she works with her clients too.

Find out more about how Sirena creates her rhythm, learn how she built her successful business, and more. Listen to the full podcast and subscribe to hear more inspirational stories.

Tune in for Branding, Marketing, and Business

https://torisikkemaphotos.com/