Free Marketing - Instagram

For instagram it seems that you do need a smart phone that accepts the app. Luckily the app is free on the app store! I have made some screen shots from my phone to explain how it works. Once you've downloaded it to your phone and made yourself a little profile it should look something like this:

Make sure you mention who you are as a business and add your website in there! Next you're going to want to post a couple of pictures relating to your shop which I'll show below. 

You can choose to either take a picture with the camera on instagram or you can choose from your photo album on your phone. 

If you'd like to have some fun you can choose from a number of filters that edit your photos for you. When you're done click the arrow to post the photo.

From here you should link you instagram to as many of your other social networks as you can. Once you have, click on them every time you post an image so that more people can see them! It the description you want to put "hashtags" which help people search for related posts. Hashtags start with "#" followed by a word like "#handmade". When you're done your post should look something like this:

Now that you have a couple of pictures up it's time to start following some people! It's smart to follow other people and like their pictures because it shows you care about other shops and such as well. You can search for your favourite shops or hashtags that relate to your shop or interests.

You can search with the little navigate icon at the bottom!

Next we'll go over tumblr!

free marketing - blogger

Before getting started with your blog the first thing to do is a little brainstorm! By now your shop should be up and running and have a look or theme that is very true to your shop. Remember to keep that consistent with your blog as well. Brain storm the following key points:

1)   Title – often your shop name, or something similar and remember it may be taken, so think about how you can modify that name to still be consistent

2)   Appearance and Layout – Make sure it is consistent to your shop and your other sites. Think about color schemes and branding

3)   What to blog about – try to come up with a good idea of what related things you are going to blog about and how often, keeping consistent is key!

So now you should have a better idea of what your site will look like and it is time to get started!

Today we are going to be creating a blog with blogger, which is run by Google. If you do not have a google / gmail account you can log into www.gmail.com to sign up.  There will be an icon on the top right hand corner that says: “create an account”.  Click on it and continue to fill in all of the information. Once you are set up or logged in, you can either click on “more” and find “blogger” or you can go to www.blogger.com.

Now that you are on blogger your page should appear something like this:

*Note I already have a few blogs so those side icons may not show up for you. The important part is where that arrow is pointing.

Click on the button on the left hand side that says: “New Blog”.

This screen should then pop up:

There are three easy steps that go as follows:

1)   Type in the title of your blog for example “A New Start”

2)   Type in what your actual URL address will be for example “anewstartonline” because “anewstart” was not available. Make sure that there is a checkmark beside your address and clearly states “This blog address is available” underneath.

3)   Once you have figured out all of your titles, just simply click on “create blog” at the bottom!

Here comes the fun part! Designing your template! 

Once your page is completed there will be an arrow you can click on which will give you a few options. Click on “Layout”

Now, you are welcome to start with this page but I always find it more fun to start with the “template designer”.

A screen like this should appear and there will be a few options for templates. The bottom part that says: “No posts found” is where the examples will appear to how your site will appear.

If you find this stuff complicated I recommend clicking on the “simple” layouts and find a simple color scheme.

On the left hand side there are also some other options to play with, including font, color, sizing, etc. We will go over all of that another time (potentially next week) but for now a simple start to a blog is the goal of this post.

To apply all of the changes you have made please remember to click on “apply to blog” in the upper right hand corner.

Now that your basic set up is complete; it’s time to head back to the main page by clicking “Back to Blogger”.

Now it’s time to create a small profile so when visitors come to your site they can find out a little more about you. Click on your name on the upper right corner and this screen should show up. From there click on “blogger profile”.

In the next screen in the same place it will say “Edit Profile”. Click that!

Now that you are on the edit page, feel free to fill in any of the information that you think would be important for others to know, that you are also comfortable sharing. Do not share any personal information that you are not comfortable with!

The most important thing to fill in is “Introduction” which is in the “extended info” section near the end. This is where you can accurately describe yourself and what you do. Some things that may be important to mention in your introduction;

-Your name

-Your business name

-What you sell / make / create

-Your background (education, experience, skills that make what you do your passion)

-Anything else you think describes you and your work!

It may also be fun to fill out any of the other boxes so that your readers can get a better idea of who you are as a person behind your business! The introduction section will appear on the side of your page when people visit your site.

It is also a good idea to add an image to your site. This can either be your logo, an image of your face, or something related to your business. Just click on “choose file” and upload a picture from your computer.

When you are finished do NOT forget to click on “save profile”