Paper Planner Essentials Planner Magazine
A Happy Planner HOLIDAY A Closer look at holiday planners
Shop til you drop: sticker shop holiday round-up
Facebook groups: behind the scenes
Volume 1 Issue 2 december 2019
Holiday planner spread inspiration
CONTENTS ON THE COVER: HOLIDAY HAPPY PLANNER We’ve gathered some great ideas for your holiday planning!
Behind the Scenes Hear from Facebook Admins about what it takes to manage our beloved Facebook groups
Holiday Planner Spreads Find inspiration for planning your holiday layouts
Shop ‘Till You Drop Let’s Go Shopping! Paper Planner Essentials Magazine™ is owned and published electronically by Keisha Greene Copyright © 2019 Keisha Greene All rights reserved No part of this electronic magazine may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any other means without the written consent of the publisher. This magazine is a collection of articles and information designed for educational and entertainment purposes. Requests for permission should be directed to: Keisha Greene 3436 Warpath Rd. Macon, GA 31217
Visit some of our favorite planner shops just in time for the holidays!
Keisha Greene
ON THE COVER: HOLIDAY PLANNING WITH THE HAPPY PLANNER Be inspired this holiday season by these December planners!
Interested in being a contributor? Do you have a unique gift to share with the planner community? Why not join our team? Contact us via email or send us a message through social media for more information.
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It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! by Keisha Greene
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IG: bearandmepaperie
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IG: bella_plannergal Southern Planner Girl
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IG: craftyplanner_queen
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Behind the scenes Facebook Admins Speak Out by Keisha Greene
In the planner community, our social media connections have become a fixture in our lives. We’ve made friends who have become sisters (and brothers). When we are in a creative rut, we turn to our Facebook groups for inspiration, motivation, and support. These Facebook groups are managed by teams of people who inherently share our love for planning. Thousands of people “live” in these communities and interact with each other on a daily basis. As a moderator in one of these groups, I can tell you that team members put in countless hours (online and offline) to make sure our happy spaces stay “happy.” There’s more work put into maintaining these communities than one would think. I had the opportunity to speak with a few of the admins of some of the Facebook groups to give them the opportunity to provide some insight into what it really takes to run their groups. Here is a look at what goes on behind the scenes.
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1. How do you balance your day-to-day life and managing such a large group? To be honest, I was lost at first and didn’t know how I was going to manage!!! However, I came across a video created by @kellofaplan entitled “Planner Chats- Growing Your Planner Instagram.” In this video, she gave several suggestions and ideas on how to manage and grow your page. This included a variety of information from scheduling out time for you to post on your pages, commenting on other posts so that they can start to recognize your name, making a weekly list of content to post daily, venturing out of your comport zone, just basically being more active in a productive yet fun way!
Aishia Hunter-Cone
In fact, this allowed me to organize my content; therefore, helping me to schedule times to post and reply to others post. Believe it or not, this even inspired me to post on my IG and my Facebook group page early in the morning around 6:00am! Before I knew it, I was scheduling time, just to comment about an hour in the afternoon to review other pages with comments if necessary. Overall, I would definitely say that it takes dedication, commitment, and passion for the planner community to balance a growing Facebook Group and Instagram page. 2. What are the pros and cons of being an admin? This is a great question; I would say a con of being an administrator is having to address those who are not following the group rules or posting inappropriate content. The pros of being an administrator is the ability to control the content that is being shared to ensure that it’s positive. It also allows to you to get to know your members and connect them with other content providers and resources.
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3. There are so many planner groups on Facebook. How have you made your group unique from other groups on Facebook? There are so many wonderful planner groups on Facebook that cater to a variety of planner brands, planners’ styles, and geographical location. What makes Ready•Set•Plan unique is that this group is designed for everyone from all locations to be a fun, supportive, and safe place for planners to learn tips/tricks for planning, display cool and creative layouts/spreads, and suggest “must have” items for your planner. This page features YouTube tutorials, store sales/coupons, and new releases just a name a few. 4. Do you offer special features for your members (i.e. special event days, freebies, giveaways, etc)? Currently, I do not offer any special features; however, I am working on developing giveaways and set up opportunities for members to participate in Happy Mail and Freebies. 5. What is one feature that you think Facebook needs to create that would make Facebook groups easier to manage? I would like a permanent block button lol, so I won’t have to keep blocking people over and over.
6. Starting a new group is a daunting task. What is one thing that group members can do to make it easier to run the group? What do you wish members understood about managing your group? One thing, I think group members can do to make it easier to run the group is follow the group rules and ask questions if they don’t understand the rules prior to posting. Often times, administrators work full time jobs, are full time care givers and/or they are the only administrator of the group and can’t reply or approve post/commitments right away. So, my wish would be that members be understanding and patient with the administrators and allow them a little more time to approve post and comments.
7. We all have heard about the moments when drama invades planner communities on social media. How would you handle such situations if they occur in the group? I feel being “respectful and direct” is the key to resolving and handle difficult situation. Therefore, if I had to deal with a drama in the group, I would address the situation directly with those involved and resolve the matter in a way that would have the least impact within the group. 8. What are you most proud of about your group? Wow this question brings a smile to my face. This group has brought me so much joy I can’t even put it into words. But, I am most proud that this group has given me an opportunity to meet some wonderful planners and share my love of planning. Being able to interact daily with culturally diverse members of the planner community allows me to learn new skills, tips, and share this with others. It’s very important that people are “happy” when planning aspects of their lives. In fact, this is what I most enjoy because this affiliation provides a platform for me to inspire others to be happy about their lives and the many tasks that they are blessed to even have the ability to accomplish. Overall, I am proud about this groups focus to have a “healthy” and “happy” mindset when planning which in turn, positivelt impact’s their ability to be more productive and live a Happy Life!
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Nicole Cushing 1. How do you balance your day-to-day life and managing such a large group? The day to day life when managing a large Facebook group can vary, somedays you are online a lot, and other days not at all. Having a strong team helping run the group gives everyone a balance of being online and not. As an admin team, we have to know the purpose of the group. This will allow you to manage the group in a way we all collectively see fit. 2. What are the pros and cons of being an admin? Definitely the biggest pro of being an admin of a successful planner Facebook group is having the opportunity to become a discussion leader, facilitator, connector, and resource for this community. We are able to encourage people to contribute, participate, and connect. A con of being an Admin is learning to navigate through difficult discussions. I hope that we have been able to set clear guidelines from the beginning and been able to tweak these This has allowed us to establish a positive environment for everyone, After all, we are a MAMBI The Happy Planner Group. 3. There are so many planner groups on Facebook. How have you made your group unique from other groups on Facebook? We are unique from other planner groups because our group is for all who are in love with the Me & My Big Ideas, The Happy Planner! We do have other planners posted in the group and people might ask about different planner systems, but the group is primarily happy planner users. Please note that we are not affiliated with Me and My Big Ideas or The Happy Planner in anyway. While we are not affiliated with the MAMBI Company, we do have an interest in upholding the brand name. 18 Paper Planner Essentials
4. Do you offer special features for your members (i.e. special event days, freebies, giveaways, etc)? We do offer different features to our community. People are allowed to post giveaways, with admins approval. We also have themed days to promote engagement and conversations. These days are: $2 Tuesday, Happy Humpday, Sell It Saturday, Show us Sunday. 5. What is one feature that you think Facebook needs to create that would make Facebook groups easier to manage? I don’t know if I have an answer for this one, Facebook is forever changing and is coming up with new ways to run a group. 6. Managing a large group is a daunting task. What is one thing that group members can do to make it easier to run the group? What do you wish members understood about managing a group as large as yours? Having a large community can be daunting because even though we have planners as a common hobby we all have different views on other subjects. As admin, we encourage people to post, connect, and share information to learn and grow as people. With this, everyone has very different passionate responses to things. You can’t please them all, and the ones who are upset about the way you handle an issue will greatly upset the others. 7. We all have heard about the moments when drama invades planner communities on social media. How would you handle such situations if they occur in the group? Every situation is looked at different. I can say we make decisions as an admin group. We also try to keep the group informed as much as we can, after all we are a community. Like I said above in the pros and cons, having guidelines for the group is a key element. When writing our guidelines, we put just as much emphasis on what we do want as what we don’t want. 8. What are you most proud of about your group? I am very proud of the group the admin and I have created. I love that we are growing an online community that has a common hobby as an interest. Not only do we connect over stickers, planners, and pens, but life in general. We are able to learn about all different types of people and connect people from all over the world. Paper Planner Essentials 19
MAMBI The Happy Planner Divas
Rica Alcidor
1. How do you balance your day-to-day life and managing such a large group? Balancing day to day life and managing a large group is about priority and having the support of the other admins and mod team. 2. What are the pros and cons of being an admin? The pros of being an admin is seeing a group of people come together, share and show their love in the planner community. 3. There are so many planner groups on Facebook. How have you made your group unique from other groups on Facebook? We post weekly welcome posts, planner spreads, contests, RAK's, giveaways and events. We try to keep topics planner-related and resourceful.
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4. Do you offer special features for your members (i.e. special event days, freebies, giveaways, etc)? We do have the occasional member contest, RAK's, giveaways and seller features. 5. What is one feature that you think Facebook needs to create that would make Facebook groups easier to manage? Facebook has come up with so many helpful features in the last year or so. I'm happy with it so far. 6. Managing a large group is a daunting task. What is one thing that group members can do to make it easier to run the group? What do you wish members understood about managing a group as large as yours? The #1 thing group members can do to make it easier to run a group is to follow the rules. I wish they would understand when an admin or moderator posts something, it’s for their benefit. It is to make sure the group remains fun, informative and enjoyable! 7. We all have heard about the moments when drama invades planner communities on social media. How would you handle such situations if they occur in the group? The admin and mod team assess the situation and then brainstorm on what would be the appropriate course of action. Whether it’s deleting the comment, reaching out to a member or removing them from the group. 8. What are you most proud of about your group?
I am very proud of the group for steadily growing and remaining drama free for the most part.
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By Monique May
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Holiday Shopping www.xquisitesoul.com diverse planner stickers https://www.etsy.com/shop/AliciaMichelleXO themed planner sticker sheets (Harry Potter, Christmas)
https://kglamco.com/ monthly kits, stickers, & die cuts https://jdandbrooklyn.com/ Home of the Big Hair doll, custom stickers https://capitolchicdesigns.com/ Custom planner dolls and accessories https://www.jumptoitdesigns.com/ foiled stickers, planner kits https://naomilovedesigns.com/ planner kits, washi, accessories, and more https://cookiestickerco.com/ planner kits, washi, accessories, dashboards, and more https://simply-me-kish.myshopify.com/ planner stickers and kits, Kawaii-style designs
https://melanineclectic.com/ Cosplay stickers, Hobo Kits, character stickers, custom stickers http://www.simplydollsplannerco.com/ fashion planner dolls https://www.etsy.com/shop/AuthenticLoveDesign decorative and functional planner stickers https://madewithsouthernluv.com/ decorative and functional stickers and kits
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DesignLovelyStudio Printables for all sizes, digital paper packs https://www.etsy.com/shop/nessiecraft Stickers, handmade items, and more
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! Etsy Shop AliciaMichelleXO IG: aliciamichellexo
Planner Spaces by Tomeka Hardin Howard
stephanyhappilyplans
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my.lovelyplans
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the_latindiva_plans
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planningwithlouiz
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Planner Sketches 10 Stickers, 3 Ways
ÂŽ
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Be Merry
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Scrapbooking in Your Planner By Shauna Devereux
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Planner’s Gallery Looking for holiday inspiration? Check out this month’s planner gallery. Make sure you follow these planner babes for unending planner inspiration.
Photo by: Lupita IG: lptgcreates
Photo by: Madeline IG: madelinesmasterplan
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Photo by: Michelle IG: planthehappies
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Photo by: Marisa Human IG: human.planning
Planner’s Gallery
Photo by: Cindy IG: happy_planner_cindy
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Photo by: Kirra Stephanie IG: pinkdinodiary Paper Planner Essentials 37
Planner’s Gallery
Photos by Caitlin IG: creatinginchaos_official YouTube: Creating In Chaos
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DIY Your Planner!
By Marie Vann
Half Sheet Note Paper - Classic - Dot Grid Happy Memory Keeping™ Value Pack Stickers - BIG - Dates & Holidays 2 Value Pack Stickers Journaling Farmhouse Fun Florals Stick Figure Girls Dashboard Stickers
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Tips & Tricks By Nicole Cole
Planner tools: A good pair of tweezers makes picking up and placing stickers a breeze. Using an X-ACTO knife to cut washi tape leaves perfect clean cut edges. Tape runners are awesome for adding scrapbook paper your weekly spread! Make a mistake or need to cover something? Use Wite-Out EZ correct! When it comes to planning I have found that these four tools are a must have!
Pens: Find the right pen for you! From classic black to every color of the rainbow, there is a wide variety to choose from! A few of my favorites are: Paper Mate Ink Joy gel 0.7, FriXion clicker 0.7, Precise V5 0.5 and FriXion Erasable Fineliner!
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Tips & Tricks Peek-a-boo stickers: Have a sticker that is too big? Can’t find the right angle to place it? Don’t be afraid to cut them!! Allow your creative mind to wander when using your stickers. In this weekly spread I chose to cut a few stickers to add a fun creative twist!
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IN THE NEXT ISSUE Goal setting for the new year!
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