Christine Vanderpool's CSIT 155 - 2020 Class Blog

I have researched options for starting a MeetUp Group for ArtCrush Parties. I do see that there are some art classes being offered for a fee. Initially, I would promote a free class with an option to have supplies sent to an attendee for a nominal fee. This will help me get new customers and build my business name. One similar MeetUp Group is titled, “Women's Expression Session - Women coming together through art and life”. This class is being offered for a fee of $25. It is part of an umbrella group called: San Diego Expressive Arts Foundation. If mine was a real business I would definitely use Yelp. That way I could promote my business as well as get reviews. I have noticed that businesses that are similar to mine have been dealing with a lot of customer service troubleshooting on Yelp so that would be something I would need to stay on top of. But, for the nature of my business it would be important to have a presence. Although not necessarily a marketing tool per se I believe th...

YouTube would be a great additional marketing tool for my business. Considering ArtCrush Parties are all about learning how to create an art project, perhaps having a YouTube tutorial about a project could bring additional business. The YouTube post could also be cross promoted on the Instagram and Facebook sites. Another idea would be to video a ArtCrush Party taking place. Yelp would be essential with promoting my business as well. I would do an incentive to ask prior customers to post and they would get a free tutorial. MeetUp Groups would be another helpful additional marketing tool for my business. Even during this time of staying at home, MeetUp Groups would be a nice way to host an online ArtCrush Party. I haven't quite figured out the logistics of getting supplies to people so it would need to be items that people who like to paint already have or for items that are around the house. Especially in this new time for business, being creative with additional online ma...

I think my business would benefit from a one time per month newsletter although with this new life of staying at home perhaps twice a month would be beneficial.  Normally I would list the various projects available and party dates available for booking. Since my fictitious business is arts and crafts parties, I have had to shift the focus a bit. Clearly there are no parties going on right now, so I need to promote virtual and at home projects.  Adding this explanation and shift in business will be a good subject for my newsletter.  I think showing projects completed by customers might be something interesting in the newsletter as well.  My research has shown that people love to see a project completed as well as the process itself.  A section right now on how people are managing the stay at home guidelines would be helpful.  Showing projects for families that are easy, fun and creative might be a welcomed part of a newsletter.  I would also love ...

I will often look to bloggers to research a product I would like to buy.  It has become common to want to see the product actually being used and endorsed by what appears to be an honest assessment.   I recently painted the interior of my house and found several bloggers who would show a particular color in various light.  They would also discuss how the color would shift in a particular room.  In the past, I would have just held up a color swatch.  Adding a personal narrative to a blog makes the product or subject come alive and provides so much more credence.  With the shift of influencers becoming such a strong voice in society and marketing, personal narratives in a blog shows the power behind this trend.   It is important to post what is relevant to your followers and be sure that it valuable to them.  By keeping on topic with your blog and what may be interesting to your followers is important.  Do not post just to have something o...

The hashtags used this week on my Instagram posts are:  #artcrush #kindness #rockart #familyart #foodisart #stayathome #bakingislove #artparties #artforhealth #bored #diyfacemask #staysafeandhealthy #artlife To determine what hashtags to use I thought of would be appropriate for the individual post but also included my company name and related business.   I chose to mainly post during the day when my market would be checking their instagram.  I was not able to see if it is effective or not since I am not getting much traffic.   I am discovering that it is important not only to think of a post that could be interesting to your market but also to think through what your hashtags could be.  I need to add more hashtags to get expand my followers.

Expanding Your Reach on Instagram by Using Hashtags What most of these companies are doing that I could do better with is using more hashtags, posting more often, using more art projects to view, and perhaps providing an online tutorial. @Yaymaker #yaymaker #paintnite #artistsofinstagram #homedecor #diydecor #diycraft #diycrafts #diyer #diys #diyideas #ladiesnightout #girlsnightout #girlsnights #girlsnite #sipandmake #sipandcreate #sipandpaint # #quarantine #quarantineandchill #quarantinelife #socialdistance #virtualevents #socialdistancing2020 #socialdistancing #virtualyay #quarantine2020 #virtualeventplanning 77.8K followers They post daily I'm not able to view the number of likes but it appears that the actual art projects themselves get the most likes. April 5, 2020 Hard to determine Not a lot of comments.  Mainly customer service issues from going all online with classes. More hashtags, posting more often, using more art projects...

Trying out a few new things for my Art Crush facebook business page.  I realized, since I created this fictional page as a project for this class, I don't have the material needed to post original content.  I will work on this over the weekend and spring break so I can post items I have actually made or could use in group classes.  I could use being a bit more engaging.  Perhaps will original content I will have more ways to do that. I have posted one item for St. Patrick's Day that is colorful and whimsical.  It offers a tutorial on how to create the project.  I made sure the scheduled posts are for spring and Easter projects as well.  I played around a bit with the timing as I am not sure exactly what time my fictional audience might be viewing.  I am leaning towards the beginning or middle of the day. The scheduler tool was so much easier that I thought to use.