When I first started my business I felt that everyone else was so far ahead of me media wise, that I needed to be on the ball and to save money either take some classes or teach myself all the things I felt were needed to make the business more visible.
Some things did make sense, those being more networking and to get myself ’out there’. This is a good thing and I have made lots of friends and felt a sense of achievement along the way.I learnt a lot from the girls and it is good to bounce ideas of other people who have the same struggles as yourself. Other factors were the advertising etc. I taught myself graphic design and have been able to do all the cards, leaflets, logo’s, banners and advertisements with some expertise. This took such a long time and you do make mistakes but also have bright flashes if genius occasionally. I am pleased that I do have some control over the image I want the business to have.
So then came websites. This I did take a course for designing and loading your own web page but it was a disaster. I just didn’t get it, all this HTML language was foreign to me and I knew that it was a waste of my time. Now we are talking some 8 years ago and so I hired a firm to do it for me. Well, the cost! It went on and on and every time you changed something , another cost arose and in the end I thought that I wouldn’t change a thing and I ended up hating the site, so never promoted it. Defeated the purpose of having the site in the first place.
Then came business Facebook. Also thought that I would save money by doing it myself. NO. No money saved, I ended up getting a college student to set it up so I could maintain it and was able to do the basics like uploading photos and making comments.
What next – well, blogs. This I did manage on my own. Years had passed and I thought that if I gave myself some quiet time and plenty of it then I should be able to figure it out. I did! and now I am pleased to say that I love it and feel that it is a way to get all your opinions, stories and observations ‘out there’.
Returning to the website situation, I decided that enough was enough and that I would have a go at designing, writing, uploading photos and launching my website. Thankfully there are plenty of new companies that give you heaps of help and the templates, free, to get you started. I chose one that was recommended by a friend and again gave myself a day to get control and get started. The proof was in the pudding and the results are great. I am so pleased with the result that it has given me confidence to keep the momentum going.
Photographs became another problem. I didn’t seem to be able to capture the image I wanted and have, in the past, I hired photographers but I am not sure if what they see is the same as me. I know that doesn’t seem to make sense but I know what I like and they don’t seem to understand. That of course, is my fault and so I have decided to take heaps of pics in the hope that at least one will do the job. You need photos because there is the one that you need for the banner of your Facebook, the website and the next big thing. Pinterest….
Yes Jurassic Park blog, now I am going to do Pinterest. I love this site because I have loads of ideas for the pin boards. My guesthouse is c.1857 and over the years I have been painstakingly renovating the whole building Landscape Design, one door at a time, one room and finally think that most of it is done but you never know. One thing that I did was to takes heaps of pics, before and after shots, of the whole renovation, which I must add, never stops, and so I think that it would make a good pin board. Then there is the changing seasons of the garden and my little efforts to keep it looking nice and magical no matter the time of day. I feel sure that over time I will have heaps of boards but I have to come to grips with the set-up, my next challenge.
So am I a techno dinosaur?, yes I am because by the time I post this there will be something else launched that I feel is a must have for the business and the learning process will start all over again – thank goodness I love learning and I am happy to take on the next challenge.