For the last couple of years my approach to my business has been "throw spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks." My brain is not built for business. In addition, my approach to social media has been "I hate the internet and I want no part of it." I do post erratically on instagram and have my blog posts auto-feed to facebook, but for the most part I've felt like letting social media play an active part in my life only sours my mood and makes me feel less good about human beings.
Enter Kyle... aka, my little brother.
While I'm strictly a right-brained-girl with no mind for analytical or logical thinking, my brother was blessed with a pretty even helping of right-brain and left-brain-ness (?) He's insanely clever and creative, but he also knows how to run numbers, make plans, and figure things out. While I'm throwing spaghetti against the wall, he's concocting a brilliant plan for a new type of noodle that will stick more often, while simultaneously cooking up a strategy to market this new noodle on social media.
So we've joined forces. Kyle will be handling my marketing, business structure, product photography, customer service (you might have already spoken with him if you've contacted my etsy shops or shopify store!) and social media.
Now, as far as social media goes, I'm still creating the content. Kyle is creating a more structured schedule for me (not just a random cat picture once every two weeks) and he'll be sharing posting-duties with me so that I'm not spending more time online than I'm comfortable with.
How will this affect you if you're a customer or follower of mine online? The only change you should notice is that I'll probably be posting more often than I used to (but still not TOO MUCH because I don't want to annoy anyone!) and your e-mails and convos will be answered by Kyle. Otherwise you'll still be seeing the same content, the same cats (#mylittlearrietty on instagram -- go look!) and the same me. The only real difference is that because Kyle is taking over a lot of my day-to-day busywork, I already have more time for creating more products, redesigning packaging, uploading more outfit posts to my style blog, creating wishlists (something missing from my blog since 2014) and brainstorming ways to expand and grow my business.
Just since Kyle started in mid-June I've already finished two projects that had been sitting on my to-do list for months (they'll be hitting the shop this month), I designed three new lapel pins (one is coming this week, two more should hit the store in early August) and I completely revamped my branding.
And the best part of the new arrangement is that I get to spend more time with my brother! He's an incredibly smart, funny and kind person and I know that my business and my customers are in good hands with him. If you see any new posts pop up on social media tonight, be sure to say "hello" and wish him well! :)
Now it's time for me to get back to drawing! :D
