Social Media Spring Clean

I’ve had a social media spring clean. As we step into a new season I’ve been reflecting on where I want to spend my time online this year. As a small business owner I have to wear many hats. Some of them feel heavier than others. I’m not in a position to employ anyone so have to work out where to split my time and energy.

Growing flowers should be the main event but you’ll be surprised at how little time I actually spend outside. Social media supersedes most activities and it’s that space I’ve really been thinking about. I hop onto my phone to check a message and lose 15 minutes to a stream of reels about being an ‘elder millennial’ and Guinea pigs. It’s driving me mad.

I took part in a bit of market research which really highlighted how much of my time was being drained by the constant demand of being online. Over Easter I stepped back and looked at how I was working and realised I need some new guidelines. Ironically, when I mentioned this on Instagram I had a lot of people in a similar position saying the same. I used a really simple workbook called The Clarity Reset by Sarah Raad on Substack. It took me an hour to complete and really helped me workout why I felt stuck. The answers can be related to any part of your business, social media was the theme that came up for me. You can sign up (for free) to Sarah’s Substack and she’ll send you a copy with the welcome email. It really helped and has inspired this post.

In true Elder Millennial form, blogging and gentle story led content will always be my happy place. I thought about shifting to Substack for a while. After taking great advice from Barbara Gill, who echoed what I was really feeling. I decided to keep my blog in house.

Having a record of my work is vital. From weddings to magazine features, my blog is up-to-date portfolio of my work. The plan is to write a book someday; having a place to keep writing and sharing my photography helps me improve.

My blog has always been small and I like it that way. I’ve never used affiliate links because I didn’t want it to feel salesy. However, my opinion of them has changed lately, you might see them introduced in the following months. For the summer consistency will be key. Flowers will feature heavily as they are the power behind my business. Those sales pay for the website and editing programmes I use. However, I’d like to reintroduce my other passions such as travel, photography and home improvements. My most searched post is Il de Re with Children, surely I should take notice of that?!

The plan is to write on a weekly basis from here on in, stop by on your next tea/phone break and see how I’m doing. I’d love to write or be featured in more magazines or websites, if anyone reading this can help I’d be so grateful.

My focus this year has been on writing a monthly newsletter. It feels very uncomfortable writing to the abyss, I miss the immediate feedback of a platform like Instagram. When I created my moodboard for the year. There was a strong theme of ‘story telling’. Newsletter writing has free’d me up a bit to get more personal. Each month I give a recap of my month. It’s quite feelings based but I hope it gives the reader a deeper understanding of how I work and what each month brings. There’s a seasonal monthly word, I take great pleasure in hand selecting past posts to sit with it. There is also information on workshops and the garden.

I’m a huge fan of reading these types of posts over the weekend. I aim to get the newsletter out towards the last Friday of the month so you can take your time reading. You can sign up here.

I can’t talk about social media with out talking about our bouncy friend Instagram. It’s a platform I love to hate. It has brought so many opportunities and friends but lately it feels really sinister. There are a few garden posts which get pushed my way and they all feel a bit gimmicky and a tad psychotic. I’m just not doing it. I love the connection and chats I have on there. Sharing snippets of how the flowers are growing, bringing you on my journey and teaching how I do things are the great parts.

What has been really resonating lately is sharing my career path and experiences. It’s made me reflect and workout what is truly important. I have been testing longer format reels where I actually teach a technique.

They are doing well and if I’m being honest the plan is to write longer online tutorials. These quick guides are helping develop an online teaching style. Plus, I love doing them as is. No fancy set up, just my phone precariously propped up on a stack of books and the flowers. If you’d like to see more inaction ideas then Insta is the place to find me, you can follow me @LottsandLots.

If this all feels a bit confusing, here’s a quick summary. My blog is for slow format story telling, I’ll be posting once a week. My newsletter is a monthly affair with the occasional freebie if I think you’d like it. I’m talking one-off tutorials etc. Instagram is for real time information, quick tutorials and a nose around the garden.

Let’s see how we go. If you can/would like to drop a comment below say Hi! I’m a very curious person, feel free to share more about yourself. Unless you’re a spammer – I’m not interested in hearing about your beautiful sister..!