It's seed planting time in the McCarthy household, and I wonder if it is for you, too? The peace and calm I have in my life is something I don't take for granted, and the slow, purposeful process of shifting soil, dropping a seed into it, hoping that something will grow, is both extraordinarily light and dense with meaning at the moment.
It can feel frustrating when we can't see substantial growth in our businesses - they are no different to the gardens and allotment we tend. But, if you need it, I want to remind you that the most critical changes happen under the soil. You know that. Take a moment to pause and consider what is the same and different from six months ago, a year ago….a few years ago. Look inward as well as out.
My best advice is to avoid digging anything up in a hurry if you can. If sales are slow, don't think you are useless at marketing and throw your tools down; use your time wisely to work on your foundations, systems, and customer experiences. Refine your skills, ask for help, converse with upbuilding and people who encourage you to work ahead in hope.
If your business is going in an unexpected direction, do some weeding. What's working, and what feels like it needs to go?
I'd love to know, have you come close to ‘digging up’ your business? If so, what happened? Send me a quick email when you can.
Spring collections from
Friends of Firain
The Garden Shed
In this section, I share helpful, practical ideas and tools to use in our small, creative businesses - and I share them in a jargon-free way. Hoorah! Please think of this as a communal shed on an allotment where we skillshare and swap best practices for online shopkeepers.
This week, let's focus on Instagram captions. If you're using Instagram to promote your business - which I am - some established practices help increase engagement, i.e., the number of people who see and interact with the content we produce.
There are exceptions, and you must frankly do what feels good to you, but generally, to grab the attention of scrollers, captions need to:
Start with an interesting opening sentence. Only the first two lines in a caption are visible when someone scrolls through their feed. Put your most important, inspiring, entertaining, educational point in the first line, then build on that point in the body of the caption.
Be easy to read.Break up chunks of text into small paragraphs. Use emojis or icons to create vertical lists. At times you'll hear advice that captions should be long, short, or medium-sized… write as much as you want, but make it easy to read.
Have your thumbprint on them.Use your tone of voice, write how you talk, and people will connect with you. Focus on just one story, or make a personal observation.
Include a call to action. What do you want someone to do next?
Include hashtags.Is there an optimal number? Who knows. The aim is to use tags that are relevant to your subject matter and group your work with communities that might appreciate it. I like to find relevant hashtags by looking at other people's tags and working out if I want to be part of that group. Create your own hashtag (I use #firainloves and #firaintips). Tools like Later and Hashtagifyme are helpful if you're feeling stuck.
Bonus tip: recycle content that your community enjoys. If you had 'success' with a post last spring, we'd love to see it again this spring! Most people can't remember what they had for breakfast, let alone your Instagram content, so make life easier for yourself!!
Remember that Instagram owes us nothing. It's a tool for our businesses. Appropriately handled, with creativity and energy, it can be a helpful one, too. If you're unsure about your relationship with Instagram and would like to work through your questions together, send me an email!
I'm trying to reconnect with my personal style of drawing and painting and remembered Margaret Mellis. I love her use of cobalt blue.
When Ben and I lived in Nigeria, we had fun getting clothes made with gorgeous, bold fabrics. It's no surprise that Yvonne Oluwakemi Telford is one of my favourite designers, and I returned to her wonderful 'introduction' posts recently as an example of someone using Instagram on her terms, sharing her extraordinary story within the few lines of a caption.
My kitchen stinks of vinegar after making this classic apple chutney, and I am not mad about it.
Welcome to this week's new subscribers - Jennie, Hazel, Rita and quite a few with business emails. A big hearty, huggy hello to you.
I'd love to know your thoughts, comments, feedback, and suggestions as I develop Firain - a place where I support creatives to plan, open and grow online shops. Get in touch if you fancy a natter and to work together one-to-one. I have some space in April for new clients.
Thank you for your continued support and for allowing me to greet you in your inbox.
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