Other Businesses and a Visual Platform

The following are businesses that are somewhat similar to mine and were truly the inspiration behind my delving into the world of home and body products:

LAVISH -  A San Diego business run by two sisters. They are located on Washington Street. I adore their store, concept and energy.
http://www.lavishproducts.com/

They do not have any social media accounts listed on their website! I'm surprised. I think this could benefit them greatly. They have a lot of media coverage and have very strong products.

LUSH - OMG I love this store. I wish there was one in San Diego (probably soon). Lush is an international company that makes products en masse, BUT they are all totally healthy and good for your body. They don't use nasty chemicals in their products, zero animal testing. Their stores smell amazing. However, they do use fragrances, etc, so I'm not 100% down with their products.

Lush's facebook page also leads me to a pinterest and an instagram account. I LOVE it and want to copy it. I didn't really get it until I looked at this. Basically the pinterest account is a visual store. They've created categories and placed their products into each. Gift ideas, ingredient information, Recipes, etc. It's GREAT! On it! The instagram feed is fun, but it lacks the educational, verbal information that comes with pinterest. Pinterest really appeals to our short attention spans, but also provides information!

I created a pinterest page for my business: http://www.pinterest.com/renewinjulian

The visual networks - are they right for you and your brand? Compare the 4 most widely used visual platforms. Which would work the best for your product or service?

After reading the YouTube post, I am inspired to use the platform to share short videos about making things I love. I find the idea of making a video somewhat intimidating because it requires a bit more planning and a camera stand (its the little things that get in my way sometimes). I would be way to embarrassed to record a video with someone helping (even my love..haha). I think short 30 second instructions could be kinda rad. I hate long instructional videos. This could be a fun thing to add to my business.

Instagram is appealing. I like the idea of creating a community and truly pushing a brand concept. I don't think I have the ability to commit to the large number of posts and quality of photography required to make it a useful tool.

I love the idea of using Tumblr but have always been confused by it. I think after reading the blog post I have a better understanding. It is simply a blog, but formats things in a nice way and allows you to randomly search. This would also feed effortlessly into my website which would be very helpful.

Pinterest would be very useful to gain content for a blog, but I think would have the same drawback as instagram. I don't have high quality photos or content and would not want to market photos dominately. If I were to get a bit more serious about creating educational content (how to's for products or artwork) then I might be able to use this as a better platform. 

Overall I think that tumblr would be a great tool to promote my business.

COMMENT TO THE INSTRUCTORS:

I totally wrote this post on Monday. I'm so bummed because it (ok...I) saved to draft instead of publishing. I really thought I had it locked and loaded. :-( Sorry.

Twitter Search

Using the advanced search function I looked for "San Diego Art" to follow people who are involved in the art scene. I want to know when juried art shows are taking place in the area. My goal is to find opportunities to show my work. This resulted in many art galleries and these are the people I want to network with. I will do further searches for art critics, teachers, artists, etc.

Scheduled Posts

This is actually a bit of a challenge for me as I tend to post a painting as I finish it or a product as it's completed. This is a huge benefit though. I shouldn't be spending time in the store posting to facebook. That's when I'm supposed to be painting. Posts should happen at night in my pj's. What would be good is to save up some content and get going on a schedule.

Scheduled Posts:

Likes!

I was so glad we had done this exercise because I previously had liked pages as ReNew, but couldn't remember how to do this! Furthermore I had no idea I could go to a homepage as ReNew and see all the pages I liked! Yay!

I liked...

The Old Well - a local business with a similar vibe. I would like to see how Forrest posts on his page and how he is reaching his audience. Plus there may be opportunity to collaborate someday.

Alicia Dunn - A San Diego artist who sells her work quiet regularly. I am curious as to how she uses facebook and what I can learn from her as a professional artist.

Vladimir Kush - an internationally recognized artist. I would love to reach his level someday and think there is a great deal to learn from his posts.

The Sleepy Artisan - I find the artwork inspiring and would like to incorporate a similar style in my shop.

Art, Artists and Artisans - this is a great marketing page for artists. It offers a myriad of inspirational work and allows artists to post their own work. The work may then be reposted for all who subscribe to view.

I really like the idea of simply using this feature to share interesting content on my page. I have a friend who posts 5-10 beautiful or cute pictures about 2-3 times a day! He promotes his band with this. What's great about this is he isn't posting anything annoying, he is making my facebook page better because of his imagery. I would like to share and post beautiful artwork through my page regularly. Following these artists and businesses makes it very easy.