After a few weeks of inspirational slumber, I decided to take the bull by the proverbial horns and take the subject head on. Today I am going to address the topic of Inspiration - Three quick and easy tips on how to inspire yourself and your clients.

1. Instagram
   You should be using Instagram already to create and display a digital portfolio of your work and propel your personal and professional brand forward. However, Instagram should also be your source of inspiration. Make sure you follow fellow nail techs that inspire but do not stop there.
   
   Instagram goes beyond its social media channel capabilities and it will be able to provide you with your feed of dreams if you know what inspires you. You should be following fashion houses to make sure you stay on top of seasonal trends. And do not forget your personal inspiration areas. For me it is graphic design and illustration, they bring me so much joy and inspiration. I make sure that I follow accounts on Instagram related with these topics so that I can see imagery in my feed that will later inspire some of my designs.
   
   Instagram now also boasts a feature that further enhances its inspirational streak. You can save images by bookmarking them on your profile. You can even create different "folders" for different purposes and save all the images that inspire you there. You can read more about this feature in their blog.
    
2. Pinterest
   Now, if you are a Nail Tech or any other type of Beauty Industry professional and you have never heard of Pinterest, you were either born inspired or you've been living under a rock. Pinterest is a social network that allows users to visually share, and discover new interests by posting (known as 'pinning' on Pinterest) images or videos to their own or others' boards (i.e. a collection of 'pins,' usually with a common theme) and browsing what other users have pinned. You can create an account for your beauty business and use that as a digital portfolio much like Instagram, however you can organize your content in a way that is easily found throughout the web and the focus will be on the imagery and the boards as opposed to the more social side aspect of the connections (unlike Instagram).
   
   You can create "mood" boards that can inspire you as well where the above advice applies. Make sure you follow your favourite trendsetters, topics you like, similar boards, pins and inners to your taste. Pinterest will give you some bonus points if you are also blogging for your business (such as meself). It is a well-known tool to propel your Blog forward by attracting traffic. You simply need to make sure you create some beautiful portrait images that really sell your posts. Peg Fitzpatrick, author and social media expert has an amazing board for her "Ultimate Guide on Pinterest" - be sure to check it out.
    
3. Your Nails!
   This is one is geared towards your clients more so than yourself. I can speak from experience here as I don't think I have ever worn a set of nails that were not afterwards requested by my clients. Make sure you really display your skills and your range of products on your nails. I will swear to you that if you wear it your clients will want it. Furthermore, make sure you use them as practice for new techniques and you post photos of your own nails on Social Media. Particularly if you are rocking a new product or a new technique!

If you want to learn a bit more about how to use Instagram or Pinterest for inspiration and to help you run your business I highly suggest you find yourself some good materials to read and learn from online. I use YouTube and Skillshare to make the most of both channels. YouTube has really become a source of DIY and online tutoring. And Skillshare is a very affordable source of training. You can use my referral link and get two free months of their premium service through this link. As a disclaimer, you can register to Skillshare for free and you are not forced into a premium subscription as some of their content if free. However you do get a lot more content and full courses if you subscribe to their premium services and using my referral link also provides me with a free month, which I would be most grateful for. I swear by it and a number of skills I've learnt there!

As a rule of thumb, you have two main sources of inspiration, your own experiences in the real world and what you see out there on the world wide web. The three tips above are the edge of a huge iceberg you can unveil if you set your mind to it. Anything on your day to day can fuel your inspiration if you are in the right mindset. Make sure you take a few minutes every day to get inspired!

Let me know what your tips and tricks for creative inspiration are down below in the comment section.

Also be sure to check me out on Instagram and Pinterest as well as my other Social media accounts.