Podcasts to help you kick-start your year and crush your goals

In case you missed it, 2020 has left the building! Whether you’ve jumped into the new year head first ready to take action, or if you’re still coming out from summer hibernation mode (guilty!) we have a collection of must-listen podcasts to help kick-start your year and crush your goals. 

#GrowGetters

Image Source: Apple Podcasts

No surprises here—we’re BIG fans of #GrowGetters at Creative Women’s Circle. If you’re yet to check out Tanya and Tiffany’s podcast, the good news is, you have plenty of episodes to dive into.

#GrowGetters is the future skills podcast for smart women in business. Known for their signature digestible and fun format style of producing, and available every Wednesday, their episodes are the perfect mid-week dose of inspiration and motivation.  Tune in as Tanya and Tiffany download the latest trending work methods and models, share insider knowledge on how to grow your brand, along with bringing you the latest digital growth hacks. 

If you’re a professional woman, passionate entrepreneur, or seasoned side hustler, #GrowGetters is a must listen!

Brandfetti

Image Source: Apple Podcasts

No matter what profession or industry you work in, words are the cornerstone to conveying your message and creating an impact. But like many, finding the right words, and more importantly, knowing how to use them effectively, can leave us mystified. Enter Brandfetti.

Brandfetti is hosted by Anita Siek, the founder and Director of Wordfetti, a strategic copywriting and communications agency. The no-fluff podcast dedicates itself to helping you craft a standout brand through creative content marketing, diving deep into consumer psychology, and lifting the veil on how some of the best-known brands have built a successful brand using words. 

StartUp Creative

Image Source: Apple Podcasts

Business coach and founder of StartUp Creative, Kaylene Langford, shares authentic and raw startup stories from the frontline of successful businesses. Episodes are jam-packed with actionable advice, resources, inspiration and recommendations for startups, freelancers and entrepreneurs.

The podcast features interviews from creative women such as Lunch Lady co-founder, Kate Berry and Seed & Sprout founder Sophie Kovic. Listeners are left feeling empowered in the knowledge that managing a business you love isn’t a dream for the future, but something that can be achieved now through persistence, sleep deprivation and a reckless renegade spirit of possibility and positivity. 

The Emily Osmond Show

Image Source: Apple Podcasts

If you’ve been searching for a podcast that blends marketing, mindset and money, then The Emily Osmond Show is for you.

With episodes released bi-weekly, listeners can geek out on practical strategies for business and career success, and indulge in shared candid stories from some of your favourite brands and entrepreneurs (hint: check out the Raw and Real episode if you’re a Lisa Messenger fan!). Emily’s episodes are honest and inspiring and have become known as the go-to for relatable and actionable resources for small business owners.

Vogue Codes:

Image Source: Apple Podcasts

The Vogue Codes podcast series hosts an array of leading female founders and entrepreneurs to unveil what it takes to succeed in the worlds of tech, fashion and beauty. 

Vogue Codes inception came from a desire to break down the stigma around women in STEM, and inspire them to look towards careers in science, technology and engineering. The podcast series follows from the 2019 and 2020 event series, where an incredible range of women deliver inspiring keynotes and panel discussions on a range of topics, all to encourage women to explore careers in the tech industry. 

Vogue Codes is the perfect accompaniment on your morning walk with easily digestible episodes to motivate you at the onset of a busy workday, week or in our case, a new year!

How to plan a photoshoot

As a small ( or not so small ) business owner / creative there will perhaps come a time to consider hiring a professional photographer for a photoshoot. Whether it’s for a headshot / portrait, product photography for your website or social media, a market stall application, event photography, pitch to a magazine… but where do you begin?

There are many things to consider - including choosing the actual photographer, but first up is usually the budget - what can you afford? Perhaps you have the $’s to fly to the Maldives with a team of stylists, models and make-up artists - but realistically, most of us don’t!

Costs

After you’ve established your rough budget, most photographers will work in hourly or half day / full day rates. Their rates are usually dependant on their skill and experience, plus post production and editing time on your chosen images.

Communication with your chosen photographer is key - from the outset, know what you want and whether it is achievable in the time frame that meets your budget. Shooting 50 products in 2 locations in 1 hour is unlikely!

Licensing of images

There are usually licensing or usage costs per image - this will vary from photographer to photographer and the client. For example, the terms of usage for a big brand’s large scale advertising campaign would generally cost more than a small business product shoot. There may be usage limitations on the images, and a smaller usage will often equate to a smaller fee. Some examples of usage are:

• Usage for social media content only.

• Photography for use in a packaging / element of a new product or that will be a product for resale.

• Photography of your business / product for your website and branding.

Some photographers may also set a time frame limitations in licensing. One example is that you might have usage of those images for 12 months, then they will be available for you to re-license for an additional time and fee. Or they will give you total rights to those images for 6-12 months and then after that the photographer may license the images to another company or magazine.

How to find a photographer

Unless you have a good friend or a family member that is a professional photographer, it can be difficult to know where to start. Word of mouth is usually the easiest way - ask around your network. There are also many creative networking groups online where you can post a job and then go through the photographers profile/ website. Another good way is to look on social media at other brands/ imagery that you like and see who they have used. Many will include a photographer’s credit on a shoot. 

Questions to ask/ things to think about prior to booking a shoot

Location: Where will the photo shoot take place? Is it in your own home/ office/ studio? Does the photographer work from their own studio? Will your shoot be on location, in a public space?

Some locations require permits for a photo shoot, with approval and payment prior to the shoot taking place. As an example, see Heide Museum which has requirements for using their site. With this in mind, is the location/ studio hire an additional cost to add into your budget ? Is the location out of town, and will it incur an additional photographer’s travel fee?

Props: Will you be sourcing the props / backdrops yourself or will you be employing a stylist ? A photographer will often have an existing supply of props or backdrops, however there may be a need for prop hire for flowers, food, additional products, plinths etc. Who will supply what ? Can you borrow items from friends ? Many retail shops will also hire furniture and props for a fee.

Create a brief: What exactly are you after ? Try to include any image examples/ sketches /mood board /colour /vibe etc. Pinterest is a great tool for this. Here’s an example of a food mood board I created recently.

Set a time frame: Do you require the images under a tight deadline? Most photographers will have a 1-2 week turnaround on post production of images, if not longer. If you need images ASAP, there may be an additional fee.

Know what you want, so that you can communicate your needs to your photographer, then they can provide a quote.

Here’s an example…

I was approached via email to shoot a product range of 5 new artwork prints, with the possibility of photographing the existing range if time permitted. I met in person with the business owner of Gussy - Simone (who agreed to me including this shoot here) to discuss further and to provide a quote. 

Considerations were her budget, the time required for the shoot - we agreed upon a half day / 4 hour shoot. The chosen location was her home interior, utilising 6 different rooms. Each artwork required individual styling, using props from her home, my collection or borrowed from friends. So additional costs were minimal. We set ourselves the target of photographing her entire range of 18 prints in 4 hours, prioritising the new edition prints. We discussed that the images were for her website and social media/ promotion.

We created a Pinterest board and Simone organised a shot list, including which artworks would hang where within her home and with what props to suit each artwork, so time was not wasted on the day. 

Here are some of the images from the shoot:

One thing to also consider with image usage is that we shoot in either and landscape or portrait mode, however posting to Instagram or your website design may be square - so images will need to be cropped. Remember to discuss this as an option in your usage/ editing or composition at the shoot. Also websites such as Shopify have their own file specifications / colour management. 

Find a Photographer you can work and communicate with, ask questions - it may seem daunting, but most of us are nice!!!

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Based in Melbourne, Australia, Natalie Jeffcott is a professional freelance photographer - specialising in editorial, interiors, small business lifestyle and product photography.

All images by Natalie Jeffcott.

http://www.nataliejeffcott.com/

How to set up an online business - Tips from Christina Lowry

When I started my online business I wasn't sure that I could run a business without a business degree. I laugh now at how innocent I was and I want to share my top tips and techniques to first create a business and then build it online.

I’m Christina Lowry, a jeweller and photographer. I created an online jewellery business, Christina Lowry Designs, when my first son was just a toddler and worked from home for several years. I started my online business after completing a bachelor of fine arts visual arts at Griffith University and working for ten years in the jewellery industry. I studied photography and gold and silversmithing as part of my degree and decided to pursue a jewellery apprenticeship upon completing my degree.

In my business, I handmade collections of gold and silver jewellery in my workshop, as well as taking custom orders. Recently I closed my online store for this business as it was generating more work that I could manage since I took on the opportunity of home-schooling our three children, which I love. Looking for greater flexibility, I followed my passion down a different avenue that emerged out of that business and now I run Christina Lowry Photography. I work with small businesses to create beautiful product photography for their websites, advertising and social media. This grew out of my initial business after creating several photoshoots for my jewellery collections and having other business owners contact me for the photographer’s details. I have been able to apply the knowledge gained from my retail years and online business experience into this new business

Image: Christina Lowry

Find your ‘why’

There is a saying that not every great baker should open a bakery. Is it a hobby or a potential business? Businesses are hard work. You need passion and commitment to even start a business, let alone maintain one through the ups and downs. So before we start discussing how to start a business you need to find your why. You’ll hear this all the time. ‘Find your why’. And that why may even change over time. Why do you want to start a business? Do you want to work from home in your pjs? Do you want to take control of your career? Are you looking for a way to contribute to the finances while raising children? Are you looking for pocket money in retirement? Do you make something that you want to sell? Do you want to help people? Help the environment? Knowing your why helps answer the questions that will follow. The why is not just about money.

If your why is because you want to earn over $100,000 a year while travelling the world, your business model will look very different to that of someone whose why is to follow a passion in retirement.

My why is that I want to get paid for doing what I love. I need a creative outlet that is flexible enough to fit with my lifestyle, I want to contribute to the family finances while staying at home and homeschooling my children, I want to follow my photography passion and use my skills and knowledge to work with other small businesses to up-level their brands. I’d like you to take to write down your why. Maybe next time you are sitting with a cuppa try explaining to yourself why you want to do what you want to do.

What’s your product?

Every business sells something. Product is the starting point of business. What is your product? A product can tangible, physical, expertise, virtual. Like online bookkeeping, stylist, business coach. Can you create a viable business around it? If your why is to support your family with your business, how much money do you need to make each year? If your product is hand carved wooden spoons, can you carve enough spoons a year to reach your goal? Or can you supplement that income by selling spoon carving kits and teaching workshops? Your product needs to fill a gap in the market. It needs to be useful to the client. A bag they can carry their groceries in, a wedding ring, a light shade for their lounge room, a candle as a gift for a loved one. So once you have decided on your product, it’s time to think about the client. Some clients will buy a $2 wooden spoon, some will buy a $60 hand carved wooden spoon, you need to find the right clients.

A note on pricing…

As a rule retail price is twice your wholesale price. To be a business and not a hobby you need to make a profit. Too many businesses start by charging too low, then worry when they lose customers once they adjust their prices. Start where you need to be. Being the cheapest is not a great strategy long term. Be the best. People pay more for great products and great service. For instance, Australian handmade businesses cannot compete on price alone with products coming from countries overseas with a lower cost of living. But we can compete on quality, design, innovation and customer service.

In terms of pricing, keep in mind that jewellery has up to a 300% mark up while stationary can be a lot less. Perceived value, cost of stock, insurance, overheads; there is a lot to take into account. But this rule of thumb is a great place to start.

Materials + labour x 2 = wholesale

Wholesale x 2 = retail

Even if you aren’t yet selling wholesale, you need to price accordingly for growth. When you are approached to sell in a bricks and mortar store you can do so. (Don’t be scared to lose clients by putting your price up. Educate them on why the price is the way it is. Your tools, experience, skill, aesthetic, customer service, overheads etc.)

Find your market

Once you have a product you need to find your market. Who are you selling to? You can have a great product, but if the people who need your product can’t find it, you won’t have a business. If your product is nappies, you need pregnant women and mothers to see you. If your product is silk ties, you want businessmen and women to see you. So, a nappy advertisement in the magazine on a first class flight would miss its mark. Silk ties in a mother and baby magazine is missing its mark too. You want to define your audience and then find where they are, what they are reading, what they are looking at. Who is your audience? I can guarantee it isn’t ‘everyone’. Is it you? People like you? Male or female? Age range? Are they buying for themselves or as gifts? This is going to affect the way you write about your product. There are a lot of exercises online about finding your ‘ideal client’. It may be a customer you already have. It might be an imaginary dream client. You can look at your current followers to research further. Knowing who they are gives you the tone on how to talk to them.

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Tip: Your budget is not their budget. This was a great piece of advice I got early on. I have never spent over $1000 online on a product I have never seen, but I have made $1000 plus sales in my online shop. Don’t underprice because it feels expensive to you. Something is only expensive if you can’t afford it. Other people can afford it.

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My ideal customer for Christina Lowry Designs jewellery was a female, 25 and over, university educated, working in a creative field like graphic design, who doesn’t buy mass produced items, is eco-conscious and prefers shopping online with small businesses.

Next, what is a brand?

Do you need a brand? I want you to think about some big, recognisable businesses. Big businesses have spent a lot of money on marketing and research and we can learn a lot from them that we can apply to our own businesses. Think of McDonalds. The golden arches. Red and Yellow. A fast, inexpensive, family-friendly restaurant. They never go off brand. Think of Tiffany’s jewellery. That duck egg blue box. Luxury Diamond jewellery. Their brand is simple and memorable. Your brand is everything about your business – your name, your logo, the colours you use, your tone of voice. Have you seen ‘who gives a crap’ toilet paper? Their tone is humorous, from the wrapping around their toilet rolls to the toilet humour in their emails. But they are also eco-conscious and installing toilets in third world countries.

What is your name? Logo? Colours? Copy Tone?

My brand for Christina Lowry Designs was black and white, clean and minimalist, my images had a creative and slightly vintage feel. My logo was cohesive across all my packaging. My tone was personable.

Image: Christina Lowry

On to the second part – building an online business.

Once you have your why, your product, your market and your brand you can start building your actual online website. Please, don’t even start until you have these things or it will be random rather than cohesive.

It’s not an online business without a website, and there are many platform providers out there these days. Your decision will depend upon your product, market and brand. From my experience, I love Squarespace for their websites, portfolios, blogs etc, and Shopify for an online storefront. You may want to sell on Etsy, Madeit on another online platform. This may work great for you. In my experience, even if you sell on one of these platforms you still need your own website to be sending your traffic too. Online marketplaces can close, or shut your account without warning. When people shop on Etsy you have more chance of losing a sale than if they shop directly on your website.

Even without much experience, you can create a great website using the templates Squarespace and Shopify provide. Or, support another small business and hire a graphic designer to create your logo, brand and website with you.
Once you have your name, claim your website and get an ABN. You can’t run a business if you aren’t buying your materials at wholesale. Research any other relevant legal issues pertaining to your business – eg, if you sell food or baby items. I don’t give legal advice. There are lots of government sites online that you can find out about things like registering your business, when you need to register for GST etc.

A mailing list!

It’s a must. It is easier to sell to a past client than to find a new one. Keep them up to date with what it happening behind the scenes, with promotions and product launches. Don’t be scared to email them. They love your business and they want to know about you and stay up to date. If you lose some subscribers don’t worry, they weren’t going to buy off you anyway. Most people use an opt-in to get subscribers. Be careful that your opt-in is attracting the right subscribers. If you do a giveaway of your product to drum up mailing list subscribers, you may just end up with subscribers who are after freebies and never buy.

Social Media

Social Media is a must in today’s day and age, but you don’t have to do it all. By knowing your market and researching where they are spending time, you will know whether you should be targeting Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube or a blog. Pick one or two and do them well. You can’t and don’t need to do them all. You will have the most success with the one you enjoy spending time on the most.

As a visual person I love Instagram and I love curating my feed, writing captions and creating conversations in this space. I tick the box in IG that posts the same post to Facebook, which gives me a facebook feed for my business with minimal fuss. I love Instagram and I could talk all day about it. But a few tips for Instagram.

• Only post your best pictures. If you only have a crappy picture don’t post it. Can you imagine Tiffany’s posting a crappy photo?

• Be genuine. Leave genuine comments and always answer comments.

• Use hashtags and locations

• Write a list of content ideas, batch shoot and edit them and have them ready in an app like Mosaico

• Don’t use bots to gain fake followers

• ‘Like for like’ and ‘follow for follow’ are the saddest sayings on the net - again, 100 genuine followers are better than 1,000 fake followers

Keep it maintained

So, once that is all in place you are done, right? You have created a business. You created an online storefront and you can sell to the world. Well, like a garden, it is never done. Your online store needs constant maintenance. But just chip away at it. One thing a day for your business = 365 things in a year.

Show up, set goals, embrace rejection as another step closer to a yes.

Image: Christina Lowry

What you need to know to host a workshop

Running a workshop or short course is a great opportunity for creatives to diversify income while sharing their skills, knowledge and passions. But before you run a workshop of your own, it pays to do a little research to ensure there is demand, a venue and that you have the time and skills for marketing to ensure your event is a success.

What can you offer?

I believe we’re seeing an increase in the number of self-hosted workshops as education becomes more democratized: learning by the people, for the people! Many creatives have mastered processes and adapted techniques to make them more easily shareable with others. Ask yourself: what can you offer? What will participants specifically gain from undertaking a workshop with you?

Does someone else already offer it? Do people want it?

Dig around the Internet and you’ll see a whole bunch of workshops being offered by retailers, artist collectives and practicing designers. As you browse what’s available, here are some questions to guide your research.

• Does anyone else currently offer workshops in your field of expertise?

• If you have competitors, great! It means there is genuine interest from others wanting to learn this set of skills. How do your competitors run their workshops? Can you do it better?

• If you don’t have competitors, ask your friends, colleagues and even strangers whether they or someone they know would be interested in taking one of your workshops.

• Find out where your competitors are located. Can you find alternate regions or locations to attract another demographic?

Outline the purpose of your workshop.

The more clearly you define the purpose of your workshop, the easier it will be to hone in on your target market.

• Does your workshop require prior skills or knowledge, or is it introductory and inclusive?

• Are you offering professional development or sharing knowledge or artisan skills?

• Will there be something physical to take home afterwards, either a handmade object or a set of reference materials?

• How long will the session go for? Can you condense it into one day or will you need to stretch it out over a weekend or multiple evening sessions?

• Define the aims and goals of your workshop so participants know what to expect. Tell them specifically what prior knowledge or skills they’ll need, what to bring, what’s supplied and what you’ll provide.

Find a space.

Venue rentals can easily eat away workshop profits and the ability to pay yourself after costs, so it’s worth considering other options. Could you run your workshop from your home or studio? Could you find a venue partner who will benefit from you bringing in new customers? Consider linking with a food and beverage or retail business to boost sales in exchange for free space. You could also consider profit-share so there’s a mutual benefit from cross-promotion and marketing. Make sure your venue is easy to get to, accessible to public transport and has parking options.

All images: Surface Art Symposium, run by Emily Wills

Sell tickets. Promote and share. Sell more tickets!

Give yourself six to eight weeks lead-time to book a space or find a collaborator or host. You’ll want to have the event information up with a minimum of four weeks to market and promote. If you don’t have an existing online shop, consider using a third-party booking system such as Stickytickets, Eventbrite or WeTeachme to manage sales.

To promote your event, create a flyer or image that effectively communicates your workshop outcomes. If you don’t have graphic design skills, an edited photo or simple graphic designed on Canva.com can be really effective.

Share your workshop visuals, information and booking link across social media channels. Encourage others to share the event details. Link with your target market via Facebook groups and send emails to your database, friends and family. Get the workshop information out there! Promote and share! Keep going right up until launch time.

Do a great job. Get feedback. Build a tribe!

Finally, you’re running a workshop! Give it your all to make it special and memorable. Follow up with an email to let people know you appreciated their time and interest, and ask if there’s anything you could do to make it better next time.

Building an audience takes time. Sometimes the people who would most love to come to your workshop are unavailable or simply forgot to book tickets. Have a second date ready to gauge interest and send through to any enquiries that come through.

Emily Wills is the creative director of SURFACE 1°22, a surface pattern design studio. In her various manifestations, she has worked as a fashion designer, illustrator, curator, arts educator and printed textile designer. Emily founded the SURFACE 1°22 Design School in Melbourne, offering hands-on workshops and short courses in surface and textile design. For more information, visit her Facebook page and Instagram feeds (@surface122designschool and @surface122).

Photography credits: Tendai Hatendi

The importance of a professional headshot

You only have to spend a few minutes looking through LinkedIn to see how much of a difference a professional headshot can make. No longer are your shoes the first thing a person notices. We live in a visual time and your headshot is the new first impression.

Whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Tinder or Instagram, different platforms have different audiences and therefore require different headshots. You know that photo of you drinking wine on the beach in Mexico? As good as you look in it, is not going to land you your dream job. I’m not saying that your professional headshot needs to show you sitting nice and straight in a sharp suit against a plain background — though that might work for an IT professional or a CEO — but even creatives like photographers and graphic designers need professional images, albeit with a little more creative license.

The beauty of working with a professional photographer to capture your headshot is that he or she will talk to you about your job and what style of image might suit your needs. You may need a few different styles to cover your online presence. Your photographer can help you determine what you need.

Some things to consider when thinking about your headshots are:

• What length images do you need? Some options include full length, head and shoulders, or waist up.

• Do you need a particular crop for your images? Some websites work best with a square crop, others with a standard crop.

• What industry are you pitching yourself to? Are you in a corporate environment where a plain background and a head-and-shoulders style image is common or do you work in a creative industry where more relaxed images are acceptable?

• Does your company have a style guide that needs to be adhered to? If so, are you able to obtain a copy to give to your photographer?

• If this is your first time in front of a professional photographer, consider hiring a stylist or makeup artist. While these are not necessary, they can make a big difference if you are unsure about what to wear or how to do your makeup to get the look you are after. Your photographer will be able to recommend stylists and makeup artists if you are interested.

Different industries tend toward different types of headshots.

‘Okay!’ you say, ‘but how do I choose the right photographer?’

Good question. The most important thing is that you are comfortable with whomever you choose. Ask friends for recommendations, then look online for examples of the photographer’s work or ask him or her to send you some examples. Talk to the photographer about the style or any reference images you have seen to give her a good understanding of what you are after. Questions to ask your photographer may be:

• How many outfit changes are included?

• How many images will I receive?

• Will they be edited?

• How long is the session?

• Will I receive both high-resolution (for print) and low-resolution (for online) image files?

Now have fun with it! Getting a headshot should not be a torturous experience. No one likes getting their photo taken but with the right photographer you’ll not only enjoy yourself, you’ll get some great images out of it, too.

Amanda Shackleton is a Melbourne-based emerging photographer with a focus on documentary-style imagery. She is currently exploring the relationship between people and their smartphones. To learn more about Amanda, visit her website or Facebook page, or follow her on Instagram (@amandashackletonphotography/).

Photography by Amanda Shackleton

What creatives need to know about the new Instagram algorithm

How does the Instagram algorithm work? This is a question I get asked a lot, as if I’m the KFC colonel with the secret herbs-and-spices recipe.

It’s only April and already there have already been so many changes. Each time I can’t help but shout ‘Instaaargghhh!’ in the hopes that Insta HQ hears me and stops meddling with the recipe.

So how do you keep up when you’ve also got a business to run and people to delight? It can be tough, so I’ve distilled what every creative should know about the algorithm along with five simple actions to take your Insta presence to the next level this year.

1. Engagement matters

There’s no way around it: Instagram is still growing fast and it’s becoming more and more saturated. More than 95 million photos are posted every day, but 70 percent of them are never even seen, let alone engaged with. This can be incredibly frustrating for anyone trying to grow her business.

For a long time now, the algorithm has been based mainly on engagement. This includes numbers of likes, comments, video views, saves, shared posts, DMs and any other type of interactions with a post. In a nutshell, when a post gets a lot of engagement, Instagram deems it high quality and engaging, so shows it more. This hasn’t changed, but it now also includes all the interactions you receive on Instagram Stories as well, such as views, replies and shares. In short, the more a user interacts with your stories, the more likely it is that your individual posts will also show up in her feed.

I also have a theory (but can’t confirm it) that variation in engagement type matters, too, to combat the fact that you can now easily buy thousands of likes or views in the time it takes to order a cup of coffee.

ACTION #1: TELL STORIES
If you haven’t got on the Stories bandwagon yet, it’s time to jump on board. Instagram Stories now has more than 300 million daily active users, almost double the number on Snapchat! More importantly, it’s a great way to connect with your followers and share a behind-the-scenes, unfiltered view of your business.

Here are some simple ways to maximise engagement with Stories:

• Share progress shots of work.

• If you’re self-branded (i.e., photographers and designers), don’t be afraid to share more human moments to give insight into who you are.

• If you sell products, use it as an opportunity to be transparent about your products and supply chain.

• Take advantage of built-in engagement opportunities, like the polling feature.

• Tell followers to ‘DM us for a 10% off code!’ (or similar). This is a great way to build relationships and drive people to your inbox, boosting engagement figures through more DMs.

• Include the ‘Swipe up’ option if you have a business account with more than ten thousand followers.

• Include links (again, only available if you have a business account with more than ten thousand followers).

2. Speed matters

Not only does the algorithm factor in the amount of love your post gets, it also cares how quickly you get it. If a post gets a lot of engagement shortly after it’s posted, this signals that it’s quality content, so the post will be shown to even more of your followers.

ACTION #2: POST DURING PEAK TIMES
Take two minutes right now to find out when your followers are most active, then schedule your posts during this time, when you’re most likely to get engagement.

To find this out, click on the Insights graph for your business account. Scroll down to Followers and click ‘See more’. At the bottom you can see when your followers are online each day, and at what times. Easy!

 3. Lingering matters

Since Facebook bought Instagram in 2012, it’s been rolling out features that ‘work’ in Facebook-to-Instagram, and this is one of them. It’s not just about how many people view your post, it’s about how long they view it for. So how do you stop followers in their tracks?

ACTION #3: SLOW IT DOWN
There are two simple ways to do this: write longer captions, and use more videos and carousel images.

If your post has an in-depth caption, your followers are more likely to actually read it or click the ‘more’ button, which increases the time spent on your post. Try spending a few minutes to write your captions for the entire week when you’re feeling creative or in the zone, then schedule them using a tool like Later or Planoly.

One of the reasons why videos perform so well in the Instagram algorithm is because they take longer to view than an image. So post more videos. If videos aren’t part of your visual strategy, try carousels (multiple-image posts) every now and again.

4. Hashtags matter

Instagram recently rolled out the ability to follow hashtags, which means your posts could show up automatically in the feeds of potential new followers. The downside is that users also have the power to mark your hashtagged content as irrelevant, marking it ‘Don’t show for this hashtag’ and potentially raising a red flag on your account.

ACTION #4: STAY RELEVANT
As we learned from the Shadowban scare last year, posting the same block of hashtags over and over can have a negative impact. Instead, switch it up and use hashtags that are hands-down relevant to what you’re posting.

Tools like Planoly or Later allow you to save a library of hashtag blocks. Or you can use this amazing hack using the text replacement setting in your phone.

5. Your interaction matters

I’m (sadly) not the KFC colonel with the secret recipe so can’t confirm this for sure, but it’s believed that Instagram may also restrict exposure based on your engagement with your followers. I know, keeping track of Instagram comments can be hard if you have a lot of followers, but to get engagement, you’ve got to give.

ACTION #5: STAY ON TOP OF COMMENTS
Social media should be just that: social. Treat comments like a conversation and avoid comments like ‘Great pic!’ or ‘Nice feed!’ that can be seen as coming from a robot.

Instead, include a question or some sort of meaningful response. At the very least, show some love with an emoji. Try to respond to comments within the first hour if possible, as this is likely to lead to more comments and, in turn, increase your post’s visibility.

Keep your eye on the prize

When using Instagram for your business — whatever your industry — your end goal should be to get customers to buy your products or services, not to increase followers. Sure, your initial aim might be to grow brand recognition or do more collaborations, but the overall aim is to grow revenue.

At the end of the day, the harsh reality is that your follower count is a vanity metric. Focus instead on measuring engagement and making incremental improvements as you go, and you’ll be well on your way to a strong, highly engaged account.

Courtney Goes is a Melbourne-based digital marketing and brand consultant with experience across a range of industries in Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Since leaving the corporate world in 2016, she’s been on a mission to help women make smarter marketing decisions to elevate their businesses and personal brands through simple, effective strategies. Working mostly with creatives, freelancers, and female-owned startups and small businesses, she provides clarity, structure and accountability to get real, tangible results. She has also launched Marketing Emporium, a resource hub designed to provide simple and straightforward marketing advice. Contact her at courtneygoes.com

How to create art for businesses

In the last post on this series, we covered some basic tips for working on art commissions.

On this post, we’ll discuss in more detail things you can do when working on art commissions for businesses. 

Creating art for businesses is very different from creating commissions for individuals, because there will often be a lot more people involved in the process. Whereas some organisations (such as city councils) regularly commission artists and will have a clear process in place, others have never done so before. Because you might be working with feedback and expectations from a large team of people, communication can be even more challenging. 

Keep in mind some of these tips to help you during the process:

Know who is making decisions and giving you feedback. 

Even if you deal directly with only one individual in the organisation, they will often be the spokesperson for a group of people that all have a say in the artwork. Understand who is involved and what process they use to discuss your work and come to agreements. If someone is passing on the ideas between you and a larger team, do something so that they can be easily presented (such as a PDF explaining your concepts) or try to arrange a meeting to present them yourself. 

Establish your creative context.

You need to understand from the start what they expect from you as an artist and how much your creative input will be valued and listened to. Some businesses will have a designer / creative team, and they might see you as a collaborator on the conceptual phase or merely want you to reproduce their ideas, as well as anything in between those two extremes. If there is an existing creative project in place (such as interior redesign or a rebrand of the company) try to speak to the designers to understand what your creative context is. 

Always understand their brand and who you are creating for.

Even if you have complete creative freedom with your piece, make an effort to understand the company’s brand and values, as well as the audience of your artwork, so that you can sell your ideas. If you have to justify any creative choices, it’ll be much more effective to do so explaining how they are relevant to the company and the people involved with it. 

Make art for the audience, not the boss. 

Inevitably, sometimes you will receive feedback that is based on the personal taste of an authority in the company or the individuals working with you. Although their understanding of the organisation is essential, their personal taste should NOT determine the direction of the artwork. It is essential that the conversations about your piece centres around its audience, whether it's existing customers, prospects or staff. Be prepared to explain your creative decisions and stand your ground on important points. 

Accept that some people will hate it. 

The bigger the business, the smaller the chances that every single person in it will love your work. Do the best art you can in the context of the project and don't worry too much about individual opinions.

Follow Julia on instagram at @artofboth, and at her website artofboth.com.