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4 Easy Ways to Pack Like a Minimalist

What many packing guides leave out is the fundamental advice to pack with intention. That is, pack based on what you’ll need for the specific trip you’re taking—and ignore those just-in-case items that call to you from your closet but you never end up wearing. 

And I get it—it’s easy to throw in a few more pairs of shoes or an extra jacket if you have the suitcase space. But what that does is add to the time you’ll have to spend styling your outfit of the day, when you could be spending that time actually enjoying your day. 

Here are four easy steps to take to pack for your next trip like a minimalist. 

1. Make a packing list 

Before you start tearing your closet apart, sit down and list out what you have planned during your upcoming trip. Fancy dinner with a friend? Morning workout before a conference? Getting clear on your plans and goals will help streamline what you need to bring with you. 

Then, make a list of:

Supplemental reading: How to Pack a Week’s Worth of Clothing in Your Carry-On

2. Create a capsule wardrobe

For those who are unfamiliar, a capsule wardrobe is generally composed of a few essentials that can then be mixed and matched with other (seasonal) clothing items. 

To create a capsule wardrobe for an upcoming trip, start by pulling mostly neutral items from your closet. Depending on the length of your trip, you might be able to get away with taking one staple item each—i.e., one pair of pants, one blazer, one pair of shoes—and mixing and matching those neutral staples with various tops and accessories each day. 

Creating a capsule wardrobe also helps take the mystery out of what to wear on your trips going forward. Knowing your staples will reduce planning and packing time, and make styling your outfits on the go easy—freeing up your time to focus on what’s most important: spending quality time with your family and friends, taking time for yourself, or preparing for a client meeting (should you be traveling for business). 

3. Maximize your suitcase space 

Now, to get packing. First, rolling is the new folding—not only does rolling maximize your carry-on space, it also reduces wrinkles by keeping clothes in place. Pack your largest wardrobe items first, bearing in mind what items you may not need until the end of your trip, as those should go in first.

After you’ve packed your capsule wardrobe in your suitcase, place any smaller items into any open pockets of space, such as shoes (a great place to store socks!) and so on. This also serves to add an extra layer of protection for fragile items. 

Also, keep your chargers, extra headphones, and any other wires rolled up and placed in a spare sunglasses case. This way, they’re easy to access and small enough to transfer from your suitcase to a purse or backpack once you’re back on the ground.

Finally, be sure to put anything that you need to easily access on top—or better yet, in your personal item—so you don’t have to rummage around mid-flight (if you packed a carry-on bag) or once you reach your destination (if you checked your bag).

Read more: 5 Tips for Packing Toiletries

4. Plan to wash the essentials for maximum re-wearability 

So you’ve pared down your wardrobe to the bare essentials—well done! But, you’re going on a two-week trip, and you know you’re going to need to wash (in order to re-wear) some items, like leggings or undergarments. 

That’s where a bit of laundry detergent comes in. Pack a travel-size detergent in your suitcase. Then, you can easily hand wash any of the essentials you feel need a little TLC during your trip. 

Tip: No laundry detergent? No problem? Leverage TripIt’s Nearby Places feature to locate a convenience store near you to pick up what you need.

Planning to need to wash more than a couple items or booking a longer stay? Look for a vacation rental that offers a washer and dryer in-unit. Many hotels offer laundering services, as well (though the prices aren’t as nice as doing it yourself).

The post 4 Easy Ways to Pack Like a Minimalist appeared first on TripIt Blog.

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How to Create Your Content Marketing Strategy

A clear content marketing strategy will help you produce faster, better content with less guessing and less stress.

 

I know you’re a busy business owner, but hear me out: When you take some time to think about what you want to be known for, who your ideal customers are, and how you can serve them with your content (and ultimately your services), your content will DO THE WORK FOR YOU.

 

Which means more sales, more money, and more time. Here’s how to start:

☑ WRITE DOWN YOUR BUSINESS GOALS

Goals can include awareness, lead generation, relationship building, or showing your expertise.

 

☑ FOCUS ON THE TRANSFORMATION

Consider how you address your customer’s pain points and the transformation they experience after your solution. This pain point-solution-transformation sequence should be the foundation of your content.

 

☑ CREATE CONTENT THEMES BASED ON YOUR GOALS

Think of 3-5 topics you want to be known for that you can talk about in your content. For instance, I talk about marketing, style, entrepreneurship, and mindset.

 

☑ DO YOUR RESEARCH

Use tools like Wordtracker, Display Purposes, and BuzzSumo to determine the most relevant hashtags, keywords, and posting topics.

 

☑ CREATE A CONTENT CALENDAR

Create a calendar based on your content themes. Plan when you’ll post, what you’ll post, and which platforms you’ll use. The more you figure out up front, the more consistent and effective your content will be.

With the right strategy in place, your content will do the work FOR you.

If you want your content marketing to contribute to the growth of your business and your bottom line, your strategy should be to lead your followers and readers down your sales funnel so they’re primed to buy from YOU, saving you time and energy.

Looking for more ways to streamline your content marketing, get clear on your process and save time?

Streamlining your content marketing is a breeze with my free Ultimate Content Creation Checklist! Download it now for an easy to follow, step-by-step process. Click here.

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It’s not what you know or even who you know. It’s who knows YOU.

The whole point of building your personal brand is because people need to know, like and trust YOU.

What do the Targets and Nikes and Apples of the world have in common with your favorite actors, musicians, and influencers?

 

They each have a distinct brand that people know, like and trust enough to buy.

 

Their brand tells their story: How they came to be, the experiences that shaped them, how they see the world.

 

Their brand communicates their vision: What type of world they want to create for the people they care about.

 

Their brand has a look: The visuals and colors they use, how they use style and imagery to clarify, emphasize, and convey their message.

 

Their brand has a voice: How they talk, the words they use (and the words they don’t.)

 

Yes, people know these brands and people because they have big platforms and (sometimes) a lot of money, but that wouldn’t matter if you couldn’t tell them apart. If they didn’t have their own distinct vision, story, look, and voice, TarNikApp would barely register on our collective cultural radar.

 

They’ve managed to combine the things that people pay attention to in an appealing way: A clear brand + consistent exposure.

 

The good news (or not-so-good news depending on what day it is) is that in this day and age, you don’t need to spend a ton of money or build a huge platform to have either of those things.

A clear brand + consistent exposure are key.

Storytime!

There’s a woman I’ve been following on social media for a while, and I started following her because it seemed like I saw her everywhere.

 

She was at conferences and hosting workshops and quoted in articles. Online, she was always posting about being a #girlboss and traveling to speak and promoting her brand. But I had no idea what she actually did.

 

I went to one of those conferences and she was there, at the head of a line of people waiting to speak to her. “Oh, that’s [redacted],” I said to a fellow attendee. “I’ve seen her around, but what does she actually DO?”

 

The people around me shrugged; they didn’t know either. But they still got in line to talk to her.

 

That’s when I realized: it didn’t really matter that people didn’t know what she did. What mattered was that people knew who she was.

 

It’s the opposite of what most of us have been taught about hard work and learning valuable skills and developing our talents. But I’ve seen “who knows you is more important that what you do” play out in too many different scenarios to call it a fluke.

 

And it’s not that hard work, talent, etc. are not valuable. They are. It’s just that people want to know who you are before they’ll really pay attention to what you do.

 

As an if-I-just-work-hard-enough-people-will-notice introvert it was a painful realization.

 

But then I started to see the value in exposure, for being known for your story vs your skills, because that’s the way people truly connect. There’s no need for hateration in this dancerie because we all have a story.

 

If you want people to hire you/invest in you/collaborate with you because you’re so damn talented (and you are!), they have to know who you are FIRST. And the best way to make that happen is to build YOUR brand.

 

You don’t have to wait until you’re “ready” to take action. Check out these resources, sign up for my email list, and set up a chat so we can figure out the best way to make sure people know YOU.

Need help taking that first step?

Then you need a PowerUP Session! That’s how I help you unpack your thoughts, create a clear vision that aligns with your goals, and take ACTION to get you started. Learn more.