3 Activities I did This Week And What I Learned From Them

How I made my first Instagram post, upped my photography game, and prepared for Christmas.

Overview

This week was full of creative ventures like photography, videography, and writing.

From my videography, I learned how to make a social media post more engaging. With the photography, I learned the importance of having a system. Through my writing this week, I have learned the importance of planning ahead and being prepared.

First Instagram Post

This week I made my first Instagram post.

Given that I had never been on instagram before a few weeks ago, let alone making a post, I had some pre-posting jitters. I have done videography/photography in the past, so I was not worried about that. My main concern was that my video would fit the platform. Would it be engaging enough? Funny enough?

I had one great weapon against these worries.

I knew that it was more important for the post to go out than for it to be excellent quality. I knew that falling into the trap of making sure that a post was “ready” or “perfect” would not lead to improvement. Rather, I knew that it was important to “just do it.”

Despite my worries, I enjoyed making the post. Let me walk you through the process of how I made it.

First I wrote a script. I did write out a whole script, but, in practice, tried to keep a few of the main points in my head and then riff off of that. Next, I filmed. I made sure to choose a nice location and waited until the lighting was right. Then, I was ready to edit! I attempted to keep it fast paced and interesting by varying camera angles, zooming in, and adding stickers and music.

Overall, it was enjoyable to make. Take a look! (If you have any suggestions for improvement, do not hesitate to comment).

I would also like to give a shout out to

Lily Whipple

for her social media expertise and advice! ( you can check out here instagram here)

You can check out Arete Tallow’s Instagram here.

Photography

Another task that I accomplished this week was updating my product photography.

I have had a couple sessions of doing product photography before but was never fully pleased with them. “The lighting is not just right.” “The angle is a little off.” It was time for a redo. What surprised me about this photo shoot is that I was pleased with the photos, even though I had not taken them at the golden hour (when I typically shoot). The magic ingredient was open shade*. With the open shade I was able to take photos that had plenty of light but minimal shadows.

The other change that I made in the photo shoot was creating a system.

Previously, I would spend too much time finding creative angles and lighting. This time, I took a few photos of a certain product until I got four to five with which I was satisfied. Then, I repeated the process for every other product. Once I had established a system, the process sped up dramatically. This way, I was able to walk away with several photos of each product.

My newest product photography.

* Open shade is where you are standing in shade, but there is nothing above you. An example of this would be standing next to a house that is casting a shadow on you.

With these photos I was able to update my Etsy shop. Take a look! Feedback is appreciated!

Preparing for Christmas

Something that is becoming more important to me is that Christmas is coming up.

This will be my first Christmas as a business owner. I have come to realize that if you are selling a product, you need to operate on a different schedule than if you are buying a product. I would typically begin thinking about Christmas a few days into December, but I am realizing that business owner Serena needs to start thinking about Christmas now (or last month).

With that in mind, my main plan for preparing for Christmas is social media marketing.

Now that I have activated Arete Tallow’s Instagram account, hopefully I can come out guns blazing. Well, maybe not guns blazing, but I hope to post as often as I can and bring awareness to my business this Christmas. The other action step I have taken is that I have started writing a Christmas email campaign. You can see them coming out in real time by subscribing to my Arete Tallow Newsletter. Stay tuned for Christmas photos coming soon!

Thank you for reading,

Serena Atkinson