It’s that time of the year where most of us are focusing our energies on those unwanted holiday pounds, firming up before bathing suit season, and making better choices for a healthier lifestyle. While there’s nothing wrong with this—in fact I’m doing it myself—I do think that it’s important to keep things, in perspective.

I ran across the following TedEx video in my newsfeed. I can honestly say I don’t ever watch videos that are longer than a couple of minutes, let along a thirteen-minute video, but I couldn’t stop. I encourage you to watch this video and ask yourself what defines you. 

http://youtu.be/c62Aqdlzvqk

I hope you find Lizzie’s story as inspiring as I have.

Kasie Smith is the president and publisher of West Michigan Woman magazine. 

Social media is all about timing. If you have breaking news on a winner, post quickly and accurately. Here are some tips and tricks on running great social media pages. 

• Facebook: Post one to three times a day. Post photos with links back to your website, because photos get the most “Likes” and click-throughs, and you want to inform girls about how they could be the ones in the photos. 

• Twitter: This is a quick-moving social feed. Tweet throughout the day and include photos. This is a great platform for promoting current events and giving updates during the pageant. Don’t forget to use hashtags to organize your tweets about your program! For example: #MAO, #MAOTeen, #fourpoints 

• Instagram: Who doesn’t take a lot of photos at the pageant? Use this social platform for snapping those quick pics of the contestants on stage—and, of course, the winner! 

• YouTube: Seeing the reaction of contestants becoming titleholders is the best! Share that with future contestants by promoting it on your website, Facebook, and Twitter pages.

• Pinterest: What girl does not love Pinterest? Pin photos of dresses, inspirational quotes, shoes, jewelry, share videos from your YouTube channel … the possibilities are endless! No one has a whole day to devote to social media. That’s why these social managers are a great way to keep you on top of your social posting game.

• Hootsuite: The most popular social manager makes it easy to keep track of posts across multiple channels, as well as conversations, analytics, and more.

• Tweetdeck: This is a good resource if you use Twitter a lot. Manage Twitter feeds, schedule posts, and keep track of all inbox messages. 

• SproutSocial: A great business tool to keep your messages organized, make scheduling posts easy, and allow you to keep tabs on your engagement and outreach to new followers.

Written by: Chelsea Stoskopf is fourpoints magazine's editorial assistant.