Catching Up on Admin!

The past few days have been busy - but not with painting. We’d just returned from a long weekend away in the country, so I was feeling invigorated and ready to tackle all those time consuming “admin” tasks I’d been avoiding for too long. I thought it might be useful to share those tasks here, for those of you who are just starting out on your journey in furniture refinishing.

Social media - love it or hate it, it can be one of most effective ways of getting your brand “out there”. Set up business pages on Facebook and Instagram, post regularly (and not just “for sale posts) and join groups. I don’t view this as a task, mainly because I’m always checking my social media accounts, but one of the things I’d been meaning to do for ages was to change my page template and header. I had recently created a new logo in an app called Canva and wanted a coherent look across all my online accounts. If you’re going to have an online presence over several platforms then I believe it’s important to give them as consistent an appearance as possible. Not only does this make things easier for you but it creates a recognisable brand. 

Get a logo! It doesn’t have to be fancy, even the name of your business in text is fine. As I mentioned above I recently designed a logo that I now use across the board as well as using it as a watermark on my photos. One of my tasks this week was to reformat my logo. I wanted a “solid” version as well as the png format (transparent background) I already had. The png version works well on photos because of the lack of a coloured background. If you don’t have a logo yet I would suggest you try to get to grips with an app like Canva...there are lots of tutorials on YouTube that will help you. You can also use Canva online at their website. Otherwise you could try something like Photoshop, which makes saving a png file very easy...just make sure to start your “document” with a transparent background.

Updating your blog/website - this is something I’m not the best at. Sometimes it’s just because I have nothing of interest to share and other times I just can’t motivate myself to get it done at the end of a busy day painting! If you struggle with content, like I do, then it helps to keep a notebook where you can jot down ideas as they come to you. I have a list of tutorials I plan on doing, plus some helpful hints and tips for the furniture painter. Nowadays people seem to prefer a video tutorial to a written version, so if you’re comfortable with appearing on camera then that’s the way to go. It’s something I really need to tap into!

On the subject of content, I find it very helpful to take photos and video clips of each stage in refinishing a piece of furniture. Not only can you post photos of your progress to your Facebook and Instagram accounts, but once the piece is finished you can put them al together to make a short video. There are various apps available that make this a simple process. One that I’d recommend would be Ripl which is very user friendly, even for the beginner. You can also find it online here. I now use iMovie as it gives me more options and much more control over the finished video.

One of my most time consuming tasks this week was to upload some of my graphic designs to a Spreadshirt shop I opened a while ago. It’s a store platform where creatives, artists and graphic designers can sell their designs on clothing and accessories. I hadn’t really done anything with it, mainly because I had a distinct lack of time!  First of all I had to create some designs which I hoped would appeal to my fellow furniture refinishers and upcyclers. I managed to get around half a dozens designs done in Photoshop so it was just a case of getting the store set up and getting those designs onto products. I then had to configure the products and customise the store to reflect my branding. Fun to do but I had to put several hours aside. I then wanted to integrate my store into this blog, which wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. It should be much simpler to keep the store updated as and when I create new graphics...and I have LOTS of ideas!

The final task on my “to do” list was to add some channel art to my YouTube account. Luckily Canva provide a template for just that purpose (along with others for social media posts). My channel is still in it’s infancy but I still wanted it to reflect the same branding I had on my other online accounts. So now all the basics are done I can get on with creating and adding content. I can now look forward to picking up my paintbrush and getting started on a commission piece that’s arriving tomorrow! 

I hope you found something useful in this post. It really is aimed at those who are thinking of, or have just started, to take their hobby to the next level. As a relative newbie myself it gives me pleasure to share what I’ve learned over the past year or so! I’ll be talking about building a customer base and how to start with commission jobs in my next post, so please either subscribe to the blog or sign up for email updates. You’ll find the forms on the left side of this page. Also if you have a request for me to cover a particular subject then please get in touch using the contact form. Join me on my journey!

Until next time,

Sooze x