I just hired my 16 year old, career-“gamer”, son to be my social media marketing manager! Because… YIKES… trying to turn a smalltime Etsy business into an actual small business that is worthy of a highly taxable LLC (*cough* that I never should have applied for *cough* didn’t do my research *cough* *choke* *die* *cough*) is a G.I.A.N.T. undertaking. I have spent more hours on Pinterest than I care to admit researching social media marketing DIY. Pinterest used to be fun for me. Pinterest used to be a time-suck, where I would fantasize about all of the fabulous things that I could totally do if I had the time, you know, if I wasn’t so busy scrolling and clicking Pin. Now, I kinda dread Pinterest. It’s like… work and shit. Like going from really, really, really enjoying the rare-treat of Georgetown Cupcake and then working for Georgetown Cupcake at sub-entry level where you have to lick the beaters clean and by the end of day one, when you’ve licked your 100th beater, you vomit and vow to never eat another cupcake again. Yeah, learning how to start a business on Pinterest is just like that, I imagine.*
Dear Georgetown Cupcake,
I would totally come lick your cupcake beaters for a day and vomit in your kitchen in exchange for a free dozen. Contact me via Pinterest if you are in need of day labor.
Sincerely,
Carol
Anywho, so learning the in’s and out’s of social media marketing is really, really, involved. It is not as simple as “Hey, guess what I posted on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, Linkedin, YouTube, etc… etc… etc…”. There are optimal times stamps and photoshoots and social media content and blogs and online stores and building relationships and hosts and sharing and commenting on 5+ social media venues a day and they all have to be linked together. And, yes, there are websites/apps that can post on your behalf to multiple social media venues, but you still have to create the posts and the visual media to go with them and schedule them. So basically those apps just make sure your posts hit social media at peak times, you know, in case you are napping bc you were up until 3:00 AM researching, creating content, and scheduling. And, also, for you cheap-bastards like me out there, you have to pay monthly for these apps to post on your behalf to anything more than Twitter and Facebook. The other 35,000+ social media venues are still dangling clouds over your head unless you cough up $15+/month.
So, yeah, like I said, my 16 year old son, who is on multiple social media venues all day long, anyway, like it’s his business… is now actually his business, which is actually my business, so….
Yes, I can see how this can go horribly, horribly wrong.
To be continued…
*full disclosure- I don’t really think anyone or a dog, as photoed, really licks the beaters at Georgetown Cupcake. They are truly an impeccably clean and posh bakery that has the most amazing cupcakes. All jokes aside, go buy two- one for you, one for me.
EV Modern Baby 