Hello, faithful readers of the Dear Caitlin series. Since my first post last month, I’ve been getting a ton of questions via email, my private Facebook group, and Instagram. I can only talk to my cat so many times a day, so these emails have been a great distraction. Audrey, the cat, thanks you. P.S. This series also appears on Academy of Handmade’s blog. If you haven’t read their blog yet, just go.
Dear Caitlin,
How many times a week should I post? Is there a max/min?
Sincerely, Maximus Postus (Rachel Lewis @treadstudios )
Dear Maximus Postus,
Here’s the short list of reasons why I recommend posting once a day.
- People will be less likely to follow you if they think you don’t provide regular content.
- Your photos will get better with practice. Everyone takes awkward photos in the beginning. Everyone. Just get going and keep going. P.S. If you can’t think of 7 days worth of content each week, we should talk.
- Sometimes you will post a hideous photo. It happens to all of us. Do you want that photo to be the first thing someone sees in your feed for an entire week? No. Keep your content fresh.
- Who has the time to post more than once a day? Seriously. Even Grace Bonney, of Design*Sponge, posts a max of three times a day. She also has more than 300k followers and an entire staff. Do you? If you are reading this, then probably not. (How insane would that be if Grace was actually reading this post and taking every single word on my blog to heart? I love you, Grace B. XO.) P.S. If you love styling photos and posting three times a day is already part of your daily routine, then keep doing it. Also, high five. You are amazing.
XO, Caitlin
Dear Caitlin,
What is your feeling on using watermarks for product photos posted to social media feeds?
Sincerely,
Watermark Wonderings ( Katie Chalmers @katie_bettylouisestudio )
Dear Watermark Wonderings,
I get it. You work hard and when you see someone posting your work without giving proper credit, especially when they have more followers than you, it is super duper frustrating.
The problem with watermarks is that they are f-ing ugly. They destroy your work. I have seen many brands get pissed about people reposting their stuff, go on a rant about it on Instagram, and then vow to watermark every single one of their images. This will massively slow your growth.
Let’s talk about numbers. If you post something beautiful and 20 people repost it, maybe 13 of those people will tag you. If you post something beautiful with a gross watermark, 0 people will repost it. Zero. Let that sink in.
On the rare occasion that someone does repost your watermarked image, do you think their followers are going to say, “Who is that cool person with all the watermarked images. I want to follow them right now!”
Let me introduce you to Jasmine Dowling, of Instagram. She paints beautiful quotes with exquisite lettering. Over the last year, she has gained 100k followers, quit her day job to blog and freelance full time, and never-ever-never uses a watermark.
People share her stuff all the time without giving her proper credit. On the other hand, even more people share her work and DO give credit. I’m sure she gets pissed when people don’t tag her, or maybe she’s too busy upping her game to care. The point is, she increases the chance of people sharing her work with proper credit by NOT including a watermark.
XO, Caitlin
