Make Me Laugh! How to Stand Out on Vine

June 4, 2013 ~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

♫ Might as well face it, I’m addicted to Vine. ♫

Truth is this obsession has only been going on for about 2 months now. When I wanted to start my own “30 Day Vine Challenge”. I wanted to challenge myself to start taking a video a day of NYC life, then gradually became obsessed with the Vine community and all the Vine ‘personalities’. At first I wanted to make this into a ‘Top Video Personalities/Comedians to Watch” list, which it is. But the more I did my research the more I noticed how the top Viners each really have their own niche.

Let’s start with some videos.

Note: Best way to view these is by turning on/off the sound to each Vine one at a time.

KC James

Had to put KC at the top of my list because he’s a personal favorite. He’s hilarious and always changing his Vines up where most others on this list will stick to only one of two Vine themes they’re known for, but not KC. He has a number of “Vine Series” including:
How to Recover After an Embarrassing Slip
https://twitter.com/iamkcjames/status/335109992803868672
“Magic Vines” – Which are stop-motion Vines that create interesting concepts (flying, disappearing, etc.)

https://twitter.com/iamkcjames/status/336206197675937793
How To’s:

https://twitter.com/iamkcjames/status/334824925925892096

https://twitter.com/iamkcjames/status/330824052136636416

https://twitter.com/iamkcjames/status/327968498267602944

Series: How To Be An Orange Country Mom

https://twitter.com/iamkcjames/status/328669909364113410
Series: How To Concern People In The Bathroom:

https://twitter.com/iamkcjames/status/327207341894291457
Series: How To Spot An InchWorm At (Wal-Mart/Target)

https://twitter.com/iamkcjames/status/327523689518215168
And last but not least, his amazing basketball shots:

https://twitter.com/iamkcjames/status/322200473908170752

DirtyCurt

Best known for Huckle Bee Bob (He’s even brought this costume to Europe) and pretty much torturing is puppy with cat noises and dressing him up as a triceratops.

#hucklebeebob is having the #bestnightever! #favthings #friendsforever https://t.co/bOQtq9iH6j

— curtis lepore (@curtislepore) May 14, 2013

#howto Wake up your dog! #lol #favthings #busterbeans HAHAHA https://t.co/3dtSBZLs6m

— curtis lepore (@curtislepore) May 10, 2013

SWEET DREAMS, BUSTER BEANS! ❤ #CUTEOVERLOAD https://t.co/ZAW3dmUsok

— curtis lepore (@curtislepore) May 25, 2013

BUSTER GOT BUSTED #howto be a fuckin #badass #favthings #dirtycurt #busterbeans #fuckthepolice #loop #ameri… https://t.co/v9YbbEKMmB

— curtis lepore (@curtislepore) May 17, 2013

Nick Mastodon

Best know for his music/movie/commercial mashups:

Pursuit Of Happiness #favthings https://t.co/G3RriYQRt4

— nick mastodon (@nickmastodon) April 20, 2013

Wicked Witch of the East https://t.co/CqLuin4LAl

— nick mastodon (@nickmastodon) April 23, 2013

Woodsie

Best know for demon baby and my personal favorites are when he spends time at home playing with his daughter’s toys:

this children's farm seems nice OH SHIT #howto #timetogo #demonbaby #comedy https://t.co/IvT3a48caT

— Woodsie (@woodsie_tv) April 14, 2013

oh that child of mine! #cute #magic #comedy #demonbaby https://t.co/wV2kqZs83t

— Woodsie (@woodsie_tv) March 26, 2013

no resemblance #favthings #vineportraits #baby #comedy https://t.co/cHuiWRoquJ

— Woodsie (@woodsie_tv) April 8, 2013

finally got that song out of my head #elmosworld #cute #howto #comedy https://t.co/KZoObOo7BP

— Woodsie (@woodsie_tv) April 13, 2013

Nick Confalone

Best known for Vine’s of his ridiculously cute baby:

https://twitter.com/nickconfalone/status/323599453472841728

https://twitter.com/nickconfalone/status/330494378571358208

Rudy Mancuso

Rudy hasn’t posted too many of his Vine’s on Twitter. And Vine hasn’t quite figured out an easier way to share Vine’s other than your own but I did manage to find a “Best of Rudy on YouTube” — That’s right, someone other than Rudy has too much time on their hands.

He’s best known for his characters Isaac and Alberto, Isaac as Siri, chair spinning, mi madre, foreign parents (aka making his mom say really long sentences in English), and Lion King in random places. These all make sense when you follow his Vine’s as religiously as I do.

Here’s two more of my personal favorites:

https://twitter.com/rudymancuso/status/340970489444974592

WhoisMaxwell

Max is probably best known for his creepy mustache, yelling, and how to videos. Here’s a few of my favorites:

https://twitter.com/whoismaxwell/status/339487223265239040

https://twitter.com/whoismaxwell/status/327261544780021760

https://twitter.com/whoismaxwell/status/316291703675949061

https://twitter.com/whoismaxwell/status/315962299653435392

Takeaways:

The key to standing out on Vine? These Viner’s create content that is unique, interesting, and funny, while pushing their ideas to the next level. All these Viners are known for their own unique themes, series, and ideas. This translates to a community of Viners. Remake Vines and collaboration between the rest of the Vine community start to begin.

I’m always so surprised when I see that most of these great Viners are from Cali, they all know each other and show up in each others Vines. And if they’re not from the same state they do collaborations or remakes of each others work. It’s amazing when it unfolds.

You can follow all these great talents by looking up their names on the Vine App — as well as myself, Nicole Monahan (shameless plug!) I mostly Vine NYC life, office puppies, events, and subways musicians. 🙂

Pass on the NYCbaton!

February 1, 2013 ~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

This week I had the honor of holding the NYCbaton. For those that aren’t familiar with NYCbaton, it’s a collaboration from the NYC instagram community. The idea is that a different New Yorker gets passed the baton (Instagram account) and has a day to shoot through the eyes of a New Yorker’s day. Recently I had the opportunity to hold it this past Wednesday.

After my first shot of the day got over 200 likes, I felt the power trip start to form.

I had the attention of 2,892 people. This was the largest audience I’ve ever been faced with one-on-one. It was terrifying and overwhelming all at once. With the limit of 7 photos for the entire day, the pressure was on. This is New York, I thought, realistically there’s far too many things to take pictures of.

Instagram comes naturally to me especially when it’s on your own terms. You have complete control of your own social presence. You have no one to blame but yourself. The only question you have to ask is, do you want a huge fan base or want to be an authority of awesome. I’d chose the latter. Followers will come when you’re original, interesting, and true to yourself. However in this moment I felt like this was my one shot. It wasn’t until the first few photos that it clicked. I had to ask myself, who really cares and what exactly do they care about? The answer’s simple. They care about your day. They care about a New Yorker’s perspective. As much as I struggled to take those scenic Empire State Building shots, I knew deep down inside people could see that anywhere and at WAY better quality than from my iPhone5. What they really wanted was to see our surroundings, how we live, what it’s like to be a New Yorker. We’re like one of those rare species of tree frogs in the wildness that scientists can’t help but study. And to my surprise a lot of people commenting weren’t even from here. All that was left was to give the people what they want. At the end of the day, my personal Instagram will still be there as my own creative outlet.

Here’s how the rest of my day turned out:

Social Hashtag Series #1: #ChristmasInNY

Toy Solider NYC Christmas #ChristmasInNY

December 5, 2012January 11, 2013 ~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

My new hashtag series sparked from a number of different places…

Beginning in October, I had the pleasure to doing 2 Instagram Meetups. One with NBCU’s Health Week. Another was an Instagram walk in Central Park with Estee Lauder using the hashtag #mysimplepleasures as the theme. Both had sparked my love for events, exploring, photography, and social media.

Another huge inspiration goes out to Jimmy Fallon’s #latenight hashtags. #IGotCaught is a personal favorite.

And finally, meeting with many people for informational interviews. The last one I conducted was with Monica Lo and Megan Nuttall who’s advice to “Do things that matter” has stuck with me ever since. Starting this series matters to me. I love creating new ideas and sharing what I’m most passionate about, social media.

Above all, lets just say I was recently left discouraged from doing the things that I know I’m capable of — there is nothing greater than proving people wrong and since then I am left with this reminder:

“The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”

And with that I will leave you with my first of many #hashtag series. Enjoy!

#ChristmasInNY

Rockefeller Christmas Tree NYC 2012 #ChristmasInNY

Holiday Shopping NYC Christmas 2012 #ChristmasInNY Bust Craftacular

Unicef Snowflake NYC Christmas #ChristmasInNY

Social Marketing Finds: Classes, Contests, and Partnerships Oh My!

October 16, 2012 ~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

The week started off with a class themed overload, just forewarned, but these contests, partnerships, and content finds just couldn’t be ignored. However, there’s more than just classes, I promise.

Here’s a few examples of partnerships and contests from my favorite brands, in addition to extra goodies I wanted to share with you all. Enjoy!

Of A Kind + General Assembly: Get Schooled Giveaway

I was first introduced to Of A Kind a few weeks ago, when I found out they were having an event at their limited time only Pop-Up store. While checking out the company I fell in love with the concept. It felt exclusive, like buying something truly unique. I saw this back to school set on the site before, which I loved and seemed like the only reasonable thing I could afford. However, I’m also one of those indecisive buyers. That’s why I’m glad I found this, and this is such a great partnership.

General Assembly: Private Class Giveaway

I’m not sure what the reason is for so many giveaways with General Assembly but I’m not complaining. Who wouldn’t want a private class. Keep ’em coming. You have my attention. I’ve enter to win both. Pick Me Please!

3rd Ward Brooklyn: Creative Speed Networking

Why must 3rd Ward be so far away. I’m in need of more class based companies in Astoria. This image instantly caught my attention first and then I looked at the description. Now that’s a creative event concept, especially since I don’t really like networking. This is a great solution; it’s quick, easy, and if it’s awkward you can move on in a few minutes.

Warby Parker Class Trip + American Express

This is simply well executed. More than anything, I love A.) A creative campaign or event and B.) Attention to detail. Check out the full site to get the whole experience. My personal faves: Their Facebook Class Rep Video Contest & the on the road blog. Now I’m super bummed I missed out on NYC- I’m due for a new pair of glasses. These old ones need to get off my face immediately!

ModCloth: Awe & Order Contest

This contest works because it makes me realize how much I need to spruce up my space and put more order in my life. These entries provide great visual examples of organizing your space while putting my apartment to shame. Then it hooks me into ModCloth– Could they be the answer to my clutter? Now I’m on their site…again. Brilliant. Just wish there was more buzz and promotion on it. As you can see I caught the tail end of the contest and I’m not the only one, they only had a handful of entries.

Seamless: It’s Raining

Clever, funny, simple, and doesn’t have to go too far on the design to get its message across.

Orbitz & 5 Gum Micro Pack – Freebies

Hustler Tip: Stick around Midtown for awesome street promotions and marketing ops, like these free micro gum packs I scored. I tend to avoid Midtown (and Chinatown) like the plague but I forgot about the freebies. I may need to rethink this.

Enjoy the rest of your week! Share your favorite social media brand posts, contests, partnerships, freebies, anything at all, in the comments.