Advertising on Instagram

22 Jul

Advertising on Instagram

Good News – Instagram Now Allows Boosted Posts!

Good news for those of us who have been eagerly awaiting changes to capabilities for advertising on Instagram – they recently began allowing business accounts to boost their individual posts directly on Instagram! Previously the only way for small businesses to advertise on Instagram was via boosted posts & ad creation on their Facebook business account & we’ve been expecting this change for a while now, considering the fact that Facebook purchased Instagram some time back & had already made algorithmic changes to Instagram users’ newsfeeds, similar to how Facebook handles its content.

Facebook business pages still retain the ability for advertising on Instagram as before – when a business page creates a Facebook ad, they can still publish it to both Facebook & Instagram. Now, however, they’re able to get more fine-grained metrics on their posts & ads on Instagram with the recently added direct advertising capability.

The recent change to Instagram’s advertising is a long-awaited & welcome addition to user capabilities – read more about it on their page. While this is good news, the content & composition of your Instagram ads is going to be the major determining factor of how well advertising on Instagram works for your business.

The Autumn Lane Story: Part 3

blog

5 Jul

The Autumn Lane Story: Part 3

It’s us again! This photo was taken during my last “official” gig as a photographer, shooting a three day wedding event for a friend. I had a blast shooting it — I’m glad I closed this chapter of my life with such an awesome experience with an old friend & making new ones.

When Logos Sell

After our first logo sale, we had a handful of other sales — custom logos, pre-made logos, and even a few invitation sales. Everyone that purchased had some weird faith in us that we could do what they wanted. I’m fortunate that they took the leap of faith, and even more so that they felt I did a quality job enough to leave me glowing reviews on Etsy. On our fifth Etsy sale, we went international (Hi Clare!), and she’s been a returning client of ours. We sold our first branding package in less than two months after opening (Hi Mariana!). It was overwhelming that these people — these people just like me — were trusting me to design something amazeballs for their business. It was an honor, it was exciting, and so completely terrifying.

There were days that I got wound up and stressed out over having 5-6 orders open in Etsy. There were days that I got stressed out because clients didn’t reply to me immediately and I worried that they didn’t like what I sent them. I was legitimately freaking out over feeling stretched so thin with only a few orders. Fast forward to today: on any given day I have 200+ orders open and have to schedule my days so carefully to ensure that I’m not making people wait on *me* with my workload. I feel that I have reached Expert Level for time management. Every once in a while, I think back to how I sat at our dining room table with my super slow laptop that I made last YEARS past what it should have, complaining that I was worried about so-and-so client and how they hadn’t responded to me. I was also hugely concerned I had more than 5 orders open, and I was about to be SO busy that I couldn’t handle it, along with homework. I think back to that and realize that it was such a welcome “problem” to have — this new stress over actually having things to do that I was getting paid regularly for… crazy!

Progress

I finished school in December 2015, and somehow managed to juggle running the business and working for clients while earning my master’s degree. I’m eventually going to get it framed so it can sit along side my bachelor’s degree. I think back regularly to what it was like going to school one to two nights a week, writing paper after paper, and doing regular homework, and I’m not even sure how I pulled it off. I recall working on my bachelor’s degree as a single mom and still working with the Air Force, but this…this was just nuts. I’m not even sure how I fit it in!

Goodbye Invitations…Hello Brands for Creatives!

At some point, I abandoned invitations. I realized I was far more suited for the business world — logos and branding were my *thing* and I had the knowledge to back it up. I knew psychology, and I knew sociology, and I knew how leadership worked, and how to identify what the public wanted. I also knew what it felt like to be a brand-new business owner, or a business owner that was fighting to make it work. I had a lot invested in Autumn Lane Paperie. I still do. Making it work meant the difference between working at home, versus working out of the home. It meant being there for my kids, or not being physically there when they needed me. It meant whether or not the bills would be paid. Logos and business branding seemed to be what people found us for, and they trusted us — so, I went with it. I figured that my design skills coupled with my knowledge might actually work out.

What do you know…it’s still working out!

Save

The Autumn Lane Story: Part 2

blog

27 Jun

The Autumn Lane Story: Part 2

A few people…or more than a few…have asked about our namesake. My name is Beck, I’m the CEO and Creative Director for Autumn Lane Paperie & Autumn is my daughter’s name. Jeff, my husband and much better half, came on board in February 2015 & is the VP, Director of Operations, & web designer. Yes, we have five kids. Lily, our eldest, is a part-time designer for ALP and a future art school student. Kate is our next oldest, followed by Ethan — he’s our only son. Autumn is my only biological child (we’re a blended family, if you haven’t figured this out already!) and I’ve always loved the name. Kirsten is our youngest, but not by much — she’s only a few weeks younger than Auttie! I wanted to pick something that sounded pretty, or like my target audience would identify with — thus, Autumn Lane seemed like a good fit. Add “Paperie” behind it, and it seemed to me like an instant indication that we dealt in paper products. As luck, or Murphy’s Law, would have it, we transitioned out of paper products quickly but felt that it would be too confusing to change our name again.

I’ve learned a lot since Autumn Lane started. I’ve learned that I know a lot more than I thought I did. I’ve learned that my schooling in a variety of subjects & military experience has been a huge benefit to me. I began a graduate degree in psychology in 2012, and got pretty close to finishing it before I decided that practicing wasn’t really up my alley, but that psychology plays an integral role in the business world. It has helped me to understand my role, Autumn Lane’s role, Jeff’s role, Lily’s role, and target audience / client perception. It has also been an invaluable resource as it relates to communicating with clients and human relations/resources.

What Makes Us Tick

When I decided I wasn’t certain about my direction as a marriage & family therapist, I took a break from the course work. Instead, I decided that a second bachelor’s was in order. I have yet to complete my sociology bachelor’s degree (reason forthcoming) but the courses I took toward it were incredibly helpful, as well. As a veteran, I’ve had an amazing opportunity presented, and fully utilized, to continue my higher education. (As a side note: I earned my Middle Eastern Studies B.A. while I was still in the Air Force. It helped me gain employment as a brand spankin’ new contractor and a new perspective on the topic that so many are afraid to touch.) It meant being in school 36 months straight, no summer breaks allowed, to continue my higher education goals.

While I was deciding what I wanted to do during my second undergrad degree experience, I realized that I could easily transition to an Organizational Leadership graduate degree. I had a lot of courses that would transfer, and I was interested in the topic. Workplaces, employment, leadership, followership, trust, buy-in, mission statements, vision statements, RELATIONSHIPS. On the surface, I felt I could handle it, and decided to pursue it. What I didn’t realize was what a crucial role it would play with how I ran my own business, and how I began and continued my relationships with my clients.

Many of the topics & courses covered in my bajillion years of education have helped me make decisions for the business. It has also helped guide decision-making. Following what I’ll now call The Staircase Convo, Autumn Lane started out as a wedding invitation & stationery company. I saw that some other folks were doing pretty well with it, and I figured that I already had the knowledge & know-how for design, so I went with it. Sales didn’t happen quickly. Or maybe they did.

For our situation, they didn’t happen quickly enough, but real world…it was about a week from the time that I opened my Etsy shop that I had my first sale, and that cha-ching was the sweetest sound ever. From that point, our relationships with our clients and how we approach business has been crucial in making Autumn Lane what it is today – it’s just good business to treat people like people & with mutual respect.

And So It Begins

I decided shortly after opening to include a few pre-made logos after careful consideration. It was another one of those “why the heck not?” ideas. (I have a lot of those, Jeff will attest to that.) I was willing to try anything…anything that would allow me to stay or work from home, since being there for the kids was important to me. My graduate courses that required a fair amount of my attention, too. Realistically, I’d be thrilled at the prospect of a Starbucks employee discount just as much as the next gal (do they do that?!?). But given family + school situations, working part-time outside of the home just didn’t seem like the best use of my time.

Those few pre-made logos launched us into something that we didn’t even know we could do. My first logo sale actually came from my friend Ruthie — I’ve always remembered it. Although I never understood it, I’ve been eternally grateful because in some way, I’m convinced that without that initial logo sale it may not have turned out the way it did. Whatever may have happened, we’re thrilled that you’re along for the ride with us!

We Just Introduced New Premade Logo Styles

Branding· Coming Soon

27 Jun

We’ve Got New Premade Logo Styles!

Hey there, ALP fans! We just listed some brand-spanking new premade logo styles in our shop for your viewing pleasure. While we aren’t quite to the point where we want to DESIGN ALL THE THINGS! we are beginning to introduce new styles that have been requested by several of you. A few of our new premade logo styles are the bakery, western, & coastal themed logos. Currently there are only 2 of the coastal logos (unless you count the mermaid logo) so they won’t be getting their own category just yet, but here they are:

We’ve also introduced a Western section to our premade collection, some of which you may have noticed previously with the succulents, but we have a few others now, as well – here are some of the Western themed premade logos in our collection!

Here are a few of the others we think you’ll all like! If you like these but need something a little different, don’t forget that we also do custom logo design – hit us up & chat with us about your needs!

Stay tuned for more new premade logo styles in coming weeks, along with our reintroduction of ALP’s Design Resources section, which will feature printable, clipart, & digital paper designs!

The Autumn Lane Story: Part 1

blog· Our Story

17 Jun

The Autumn Lane Story: Part 1

We work with a variety of people here at Autumn Lane – people across the country, people across the world! They’re business owners, creatives, & bloggers — lawyers, food critics, jewelry makers, photographers, real estate agents, candle & soap makers, and entrepreneurs of all types. Over the many miles & types of businesses we work with, the people behind the businesses and blogs share a few things in common: passion, the drive to succeed, and they’re quite protective of what they’ve started. We understand that here, because we’re protective of our business, too.

Autumn Lane Paperie founders, Beck & Jeff.

Oh, look! There we are. This is one of my favorite pictures of us! I thought it might be nice for you to get to know *us* while we’re telling you a pretty raw, honest story about how this business was born.

“And, so begins Autumn Lane Paperie… A baby business, started on what many would consider to be high hopes and a whim, and an insane amount of determination, and a huge will to make it succeed. I had NO other choice but to make it be that way.”

In the beginning …

Autumn Lane started not too many years ago (August 2014), and it was very close to a last ditch effort on my part. In fact, it was so “last ditch” that I had an application filled out for the Starbucks down the road and ready to send in. I’d considered many other opportunities in addition to this, applied a few places (government & contracting positions) but none panned out. I looked into other local and remote opportunities that were available to me, and despite my education level, security clearance level, or qualifications, none really went anywhere. In fact, I had zero call-backs for any professional-level jobs despite my standing with my previous employer.

Jeff was running his own landscaping company (and was also keen to learn of the opportunities to get back into government work) – while the landscaping (or “gardening” as they call it in SoCal) business was decent, it was expensive to run & keep up, and he was a one-man show out there making enough to pay the bills but not quite enough to hire someone.

I’ll do it!

Rather than have him take on more clients, I felt like I needed to find a part-time job to help out financially while I was going to school. I’d dabbled in a few other things that didn’t quite pan out like I’d hoped after our move cross-country. I was a little hesitant to start something new given my less than stellar attempts before, but something about it just told me it was different. I was also a full-time student in graduate level courses, so it took up quite a bit of my time during the day.

Working from home seemed like the most feasible “solution” to our situation, but it was pretty tense for a while. I was determined to find something that worked for us that met my “requirements.” I say “requirements” but it was really more of a wishlist. Ultimately, I wanted something that would pay enough to help with our bills, and allow me the opportunity to be available when our kids needed something. Whether it was school, summertime, or just having a parent around, I wanted to be there.

When it just doesn’t seem to be working.

There was a particular conversation that was had when we were pretty close to rock-bottom following our summer where I stayed at home with the kids all day, every day. Jeff was working sometimes 6 days a week just to ensure that the needs of all customers were met. Yet, the number of customers he had still wasn’t enough to pay our bills, pay the business bills, AND hire someone. It was clear that we needed to change something about what we were doing. The business that I moved from Georgia to California wasn’t seeing any interest or growth. I assumed it was because I was viewed as a newcomer in a saturated market. The concept I’d developed for photographers just wasn’t headed in a positive direction, and I couldn’t put more time, money, resources into it. We had ideas, too! They were great ideas (which we still haven’t pursued and are protecting) but they all required…you guessed it…capital! (And, time. A HUGE amount of time.)

Really? That happened?

Anyway, a conversation was had. I don’t remember the conversation, because I think a part of me blocked it out. It was a really rough time for our family, and for our marriage, to feel like we were financially about to be broken. I felt broken, too, because I was trying so hard to make things work. I was trying to manage family, school, and business…and the business side was just… *sad trombone* That’s the best way to describe it. The talent was there, but the interest in Southern California, not so much.

I keep getting off track! The Conversation: The way Jeff tells it, he was standing on the stairs of our house, and he told me that maybe it was time for me to throw in the towel. He said I should just abandon the idea that I could work from home. I should give up on making my own hours while going to school and being there for the family. He says he told me—not in these same words—that I needed to come to terms with the fact that what I was doing wasn’t working.

I apparently told him that I had no choice but to make it work, and that it was going to work. I would make it work.

All aboard!

He left it at that, and didn’t touch it again. He told me recently (as we were discussing telling our story) that it wasn’t about what someone was offering, the products or services they had, or the way they were running their business. It was about determination and the drive to do it, and that my assertion that I would make it work, and had no other choice but to make it work was enough for him to leave it alone.

And, so begins Autumn Lane Paperie. A baby business, started on what many would consider to be high hopes and a whim, and an insane amount of determination and a huge will to make it succeed because I had NO other choice but to make it be that way.

Save