Podcast: The "How" of Social Media
Last month, we talked about the “why” behind our social media -- why we share what we share, and how we got to that point. This month, we’re going to talk with Kristine Farnum, our Exhale Contributing Artist & Instagram Manager, about the nuts and bolts of social media: tools to use, strategies to try, and more to help you manage the beast of promoting your creative work while also keeping some time to create it.
Kristine Farnum is the calligrapher, artist and poet behind Phoenix Feathers Calligraphy. She’s had work featured in Legacy Magazine, mil Spouse Magazine, Coffee + Crumbs and Dear Mushka, and Glamour Mag, as well as Every Bride. She has managed social media for seven different brands and designed three websites since beginning her business in 2018. She lives in Hawaii with her Navy husband and Shiba Inu puppy, and is currently stepping into a graphic design role with wedding invites and logo design, and shares her work on Instagram.
Resources we shared with you:
Planning out content ahead of time can save your sanity. Here’s some tools to check out:
Instagram: Planoly, UNUM, Later, Buffer.
Pinterest: Tailwind, Planoly.
Facebook: the natvie Facebook scheduling tool is flawed, but still the best.
Twitter: Buffer, Hootsuite, RecurPost.
In Adobe’s free Lightroom app, you can create or purchase presets to create cohesion among your images.
Canva is a free design tool online that can help you create graphics for your social media.
Emma Natter is a strategist that discusses the four elements of fiction as a rubric for your Instagram grid.
Kristine mentioned these Instagrammers as people to follow to see IG done well: Josefina H. Sanders is an artist on IG as @LoveOffering and she has the epitome of a beautifully cohesive feed; Brianna from @HoneyDesignCo is a Christian letterer that posts frequently and always offers encouraging messages; and Katie from @DearMushka graciously speaks openly about theology and creates beautiful jewelry inspired by scripture.
Kristine is offering podcast listeners an opportunity to get feedback on their social media feed and a discount for graphics. Kristine provides custom IG highlights, story templates, and graphics and is offering Exhale listeners 20% off her pricing. She is also offering a complimentary personal review of any Exhale podcast listener's Instagram account. She can give personalized suggestions, tips, and tools for you to use to implement in your social media feed. To use any of these services, DM her on Instagram @phoenixfeatherscalligraphy with the code EXHALE20.
Our prompt:
We’d love for you to take some time to create a social strategy for yourself. You’ve already got your “why” from last month: now take that “why” and pair it with some of the info we learned from Kristine -- what does an ideal social media strategy look like for you? How often will you post and where? What kinds of things will you talk about? What sort of images will you use? Hashtags to consider? Jot it all down, thinking through not just what you *want* to do, but what is feasible and will fit in your life right now.
Our submission opportunity:
We’re giving you a unique submission opportunity this month: why not submit something to yourself? Take the strategy that you hammered out in our prompt and pick one of the tools or apps that Kristine mentioned and queue up some posts for yourself this month!
Our quote for you:
“Find freedom in knowing that your human creativity is an echo intended to inspire worship of your creator. And then, create freely to your heart’s delight.” - Jen Wilkin
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