February Extra Blog

February has been somewhat of an in-between month, so I have had time to consolidate all of my senior project ideas. I finally have all three of my answers lined up. First: find your target audience in order to figure out which websites to use. Second: Update your online content frequently and often to keep customers engaged. And Third: Create a blog.

For my 2nd Independent Component, I am planning on testing out my 3rd answer by making another blog for my business. I am still awaiting approval of the idea, but once I'm good to go, I plan on blogging weekly about all things crafty. (Stay tuned for the link to that blog.) So, in the meantime, I've been looking for inspiration in other blogs that tie together business and "lifestyle", as they call it. Through my research, I've come to realize that it's all about finding a good balance between writing about yourself, your business, other businesses, things you are passionate about, and the world around you. It seems like there is quite an art to it all. Hopefully I will be able to master the art of blogging in the weeks to come.

Inspiration Blogs:

http://scathingly-brilliant.blogspot.com/

http://moderngirlblitz.blogspot.com/

Bonus: This infographic has reassured me that business blogging is very important!

Blog #16: Answer 2

1.  What is your EQ?
What is the most effective way for a small business to build an online web presence to promote their business?

2.  What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
Small business owners need to look at their target audience to determine what websites/social media platforms to use.

3.  What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
Small business owners need to update their online content frequently to engage customers.

4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

• The Internet is constantly being updated. Other businesses keep social media that is updated daily. To keep up, it's important to be consistent with online marketing.
• People will remember you and your business if they see you often. If you never post, it will be easier for a customer to forget about you.
• Posting often will increase your visibility. More people will become more familiar with your business and previous customers will be able to share you with friends and family.

5.  What printed source best supports your answer?
Engagement Marketing by Gail F. Goodman

6.  What other source supports your answer?
Mobile Influence by Chuck Martin
Interview 3

7.  Tie this together with a concluding thought.
In order to really create an online presence, it's a given that a business should update that presence as often as possible to keep people engaged.

Blog #15: Independent Component 2 Approval

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

For this project, I am planning on making+maintaining a blog for my Etsy shop. I wanted to focus on this during my first independent component, but I was too busy with actually creating my business. Therefore, this time around, I want to commit to updating my blog frequently.  The goal is one post a week. My blog posts will consist of things such as inspiration I find, new shop items, other businesses I admire, craft tutorials, and favorite finds of the week. I also plan on reaching out to other businesses/bloggers by commenting on their blogs, etc, as a way to enter the community.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

I will link my blog and therefore have digital proof in the form of blog posts. Since blogs are largely photo-based, I will include photos of the work I do for the posts. I also plan on documenting the process of creating posts through photos. I'll include my lists of design/content ideas, as well as the other bloggers I draw inspiration from.

3.  Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.

This project will help me to see how having a blog helps in building a web presence. As of right now, I think that one of my EQ answers will be to have a blog for your business. I think it's a good place to start for online marketing because it actually has a lot of substance to it. I would explore other types of social media, but I figured that a blog would be best because it will be detailed and take a lot more effort than most other options.

4.  Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.

Senior Project Hours

Blog #14: Independent Component 1

LITERAL

(a) I, Isabella Grello, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 32 hours of work.

(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component:

The book Handmade to Sell by Kelly Rand has really helped me so much with this project. It is specifically about selling the kinds of crafts that I have been making, so it was very relevant and very helpful.

Rand, Kelly, Christine Ernest, and Jaime Zollars. Handmade to Sell: Hello Craft's Guide to Owning, Running, and Growing Your Crafty Biz. New York: Potter Craft, 2012. Print.

(c) Senior Project Hours

(d) Explain what you completed: 

I started an Etsy shop to sell my handmade crafts. This was my way of starting a small business. I started from the bottom with making a business plan and thinking of ideas for items to sell. From there, I executed those ideas and spent a lot of time crafting the products that eventually went up. The second part of my independent component was focused on the marketing side of things. I explored online marketing by using Pinterest and updating my Etsy about page, etc to reach more people.

INTERPRETIVE 

Defend your work and explain its significance to your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.  Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.:

Most of my time went into actually making products for my shop. I realized that this took more effort than expected. It was definitely a lot of trial and error. When selling something, you really want to avoid any imperfections, so I spent a lot of time trying to perfect the details. This took away some of the time that I had planned on using for marketing. However, I still accomplished what I initially wanted to accomplish. This whole process was helpful to my project, especially since my business is 100% online. Opposed to a small business with an in store location, an online business relies solely on online marketing to advertise itself. Therefore, I believe having this Etsy shop gave me an idea of how important it is to use a variety of websites to expand your reach.

My shop

My business plan

My Pinterest

My brainstorm list

Etsy

My 1st listing

Banner supplies

Pinterest

Sewing a zip pouch

Etsy About Page

APPLIED

How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate this. 

By creating my own business, I learned first hand how much work goes into the process. Though my essential question focuses in on marketing, I realized that to have a good foundation for a business is extremely important. Before you can dive into advertising yourself, you need to have something to show. This seems like an obvious fact, but as I started with nothing to market, I realized how much work I had to complete. For instance, in the early weeks of this project, I wanted to jump right on the marketing aspect of it. However, with no items in my shop and no foundation to work off of, I couldn't take that next step without establishing my business first.

Once I did so, I was able to explore marketing more. With so many sellers online, I have come to understand that simple visibility is essential. It can be really tricky to just get people to see what you are creating, so it takes a level of persistence and dedication to really spread your message.

January Extra Blog

As I have been working on my own small business, I have realized that before you start marketing, you really have to focus on the business itself. In January, I've had some time to work on the more creative side of having a small business. As a part of this process, I started a little idea book. This mini composition book is super cute and it inspires to brainstorm more ideas for what I could possibly sell in my Etsy shop.