Social Media from a Small business POV
Social Media from a Small business POV
Owning a small business and social media now days go hand in hand, and today's consumers expects us to have social media. I am by no means a social media expert and would never claim to be but I am going to share my views and journey with social media - which I am still trying to work out.
My personal opinion on social media,
This is a difficult one for me, part of me finds social media a toxic place that can be filled with a lot of opinions and negativity which can make it a very vulnerable place to be. However I understand the sheer power of social media and it can be used for good like starting conversations with your clients, showcasing your product to the world, and a shop window without the shop. Since starting Willow Leaf I have had my ups and downs with social media, it has not been smooth sailing. I have had phases where I was really pushing and forcing generating content I thought people wanted to see. When I didn't see results I liked I put social media down and forgot about it for a while.This cycle has continued for a while. It has taken me at least 3 years to really come to terms with social media and I am still learning about it everyday. At the start of 2023 I have tried to look at the whole social media world in a slightly different way, rather than thinking of it as a shop window and trying to sell, I am using it to document my business journey - each project and each challenge I face whilst in my workshop and running my business. I also use it to give my followers a snippet into my life because as much as I would like to just be in the workshop 24/7 I do have a life outside and hobbies which I love ! I also want to be able to look back on the business to see my growth and where it started. I hope by being more open and honest on social media I find followers who want to join my journey.
One of our instagram posts
Being vulnerable on social media
I have found sharing more personal things about myself on instagram and facebook a surprisingly scary thing. I was scared that my followers might think ‘ why isn't she working on the business’ ‘why is she posting this it isn't relevant.’ However Willow Leaf Gifts is me and Tia is not just woodwork I do other things that make me me. I want to authentically share myself which might take a while for me to be comfortable sharing all aspects of my life but my hope is the more I do it the more comfortable I will become.
Why I stopped looking at numbers (as much)
The analytics are one of the most useful tools in business social media. They can tell you how good each post is doing which is incredibly useful to see what kind of posts your followers engage with the most etc. However I have tried to stop worrying about these as much and I can become a bit obsessed with them. If I want to post something I am just going to, and not over think it.
I am really interested in people's thoughts on social media for business especially from other small businesses- lets chat !