Setting Up Shop: How I Social
When asked about my business growth, I always mention social media. It has completely changed my life, my way of work, and provided me with a unique freedom to create and sell products.
I was recently asked by my friend, and social media strategist, Katie Williamsen what my social media strategy is. Like so many things with my business, any strategy I now have was a gradual evolution that started with me being completely clueless. I'm not someone who is easily proficient with new systems or technology, but I am someone who learns how to become proficient. Call it stubbornness, determination, or an obsession with understanding the details, whatever it is, it's a big part of how I run my business.
When I started my business in 2009, I was selling on Etsy (read more about that here), I already had a personal Facebook account, I'd heard of Twitter but I thought only celebrities used it, and a blog was in my mind just MySpace, but maybe a little more focused. My sister, Lauren (who's now a part of the Suite One Studio team), suggested I start a blog during this time and I remember thinking that was a really odd suggestion. Like why would I want to take the time to babble on about selling pottery that I made on a wheel in my bedroom and that I fired in a kiln plugged into my dryer outlet in my hallway? And why would anyone on earth want to read that?
I was fairly embarrassed by my "studio" set-up at the time, I definitely didn't feel motivated to share that with creepers on MySpace. Clearly now looking back, this was a brilliant suggestion, and I was living under a rock. But my life was making art, going to college (already five years in at that point), and working two part-time jobs. I was already at max capacity. I didn't have time for much more than emails to my friends and the occasional google search when I sat down at a computer. Oh, how things change if you make them change.
Now I spend a good deal of my day on the computer, or at the very least online on my phone. The internet is a huge part of my business and it no longer weirds me out when I hear about a new platform. Now I can almost immediately recognize a way I could use that platform to promote and grow my business. And that's not just optimism, it's a perspective I've developed from experience. New things are new opportunities, even when they don't go as expected. I have one social media platform for example that I don't love using, and others that bring me daily joy. I use each platform differently and have created a system that works for me. Want the details? You can catch my interview with Katie here.
Want to learn even more about How I Social? Come join me first hand here:
Pinterest: Suite One Studio- Lindsay
SnapChat: @suiteonestudio
*If you have any questions related to the Setting Up Shop series, please leave us a comment. We're covering a wide range of topics and look forward to shaping this series with you!