Choose Your Own Topic-Using Class Concepts in the Real World
For this week’s blog post, we were given the option to write about anything of our choosing. I thought this was hard at first, but then I started thinking about the class and what aspects have really stuck with me and social media tips for business’ came to mind.
A little about me… at the start of COVID quarantine I was running out of things to do and tv shows to binge, which made me start to think of my past hobbies I used to fill my time with. The only one I could really think of that I still enjoyed was stained glass. The only issue with this hobby was that, I stopped after I graduated from high school, because I no longer had to supplies/tools to continue on.
It is a very expensive hobby to get into, because the supplies that you need are pricey. For example, a grinder ranges anywhere from $90–600, plus repurchasing grinder bits that each cost $15–30. I decided to bite the bullet and get what I needed to get to get started.
After I got started and made a few pieces, I posted them to my personal Instagram and got great reactions and questions on purchasing pieces. I was shocked! It started to think that maybe I could start my own small business. coolAFglass was formed and debuted on Instagram shortly after.
I was strictly based on Instagram, but now have a Facebook page and website. Throughout this entire class I have been taking what I have been learning about social media and have been applying it to my business. One of the first things I did was a web search on my name. In class we discussed how things/accounts from our past could resurface, so I wanted to cover all of my bases.
I started all of this a few months ago, before this class started, so I had a base layer, but I was missing a lot of small aspects like my brands personality, voice, and pitches. I never thought it was important to actually sit down and write all of this stuff out, but it helps with your overall business and customer service. I decided right away that I wanted to have high engagement with my followers/customers. I did not want to look at them as customers, but more as a community being formed. Knowing I had a niche business idea, I wanted that to reflect in my brands voice. So far, I have continued to interact with my followers daily and have been expanding my brands voice. I like to look at the stained glass market to see what is popular, but I have also been asking my followers what they want to see, so that I can continue to stay relevant to them.
Recently, I created a Facebook page for my glass account, so I can reach people without an Instagram. I started cross posting the same content between the platforms, but I am working on changing that since we discussed the benefits of different captions for different platforms. I have found that my Instagram still receives better engagement than my Facebook page.
One of my first goals I created when I started all of this was to reach 100 followers on my Instagram account. Goals are important, but this class brought up the point that you also need to have a strategy to meet those goals. I decided that my best strategy was to consistently post and to be actively engaging with my followers. Recently, I did hit 100 followers! Since I reached 100 followers, I decided to host a giveaway with a honeycomb stained glass piece. The rules were simple, all you had to do was be following my account, like this post, and reshare this post on your story to be entered. I got over 30 entries, which was an awesomely high and unexpected number! The winner happened to be the founder of a local magazine. They posted the piece on there personal and magazine Instagram story and then messaged me asking if I was interested in doing an interview for there magazine. This is such an amazing opportunity that just happen to come along from doing a giveaway because I reached one of my goals! I am super excited because this is going to get my name out there even more.
I have been using this class as a tool and have been applying each teaching to my own business. Being able to actually see the ideas we were taught in class actually work for a business strictly operating on social media is super exciting. I am looking forward to the rest of the semester and all of the new concepts to come! I know I have a lot to work on, especially with my captions, but I think this class will continue to open my mind to new concepts.
