Inspired By You & Co. Social Media Recap

This is Inspired By You & Co. last blog posting for my Social Media Marketing class at Chippewa Valley Technical College. After looking through my blog posts week after week, I have shown growth in my quality of blog postings since my first blog. Social Media Marketing has really tested me. All this time I thought I knew the in's and out of social media because I am on Facebook and Instagram  ALL the time! However, I was shockingly wrong. This class challenged me and broke me out of my comfort zone with my writing, advertising, and overall creativity.

In our Social Media Marketing class we were introduced to a variety of different plat forms of social media including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Jing, Soundcloud, Podcast, and blogger to name a few.

@ibyandco

My personal favorite plat forms to work with were Facebook, Pinterest, and Blogger. Marketing Inspired By You & Co. on Facebook made me feel "safe" so to speak because comfortable posting and sharing on Facebook. Facebook was a great source for me to link and share DIY projects with our friends who liked Inspired By You & Co. Facebook page. Pinterest was my personal favorite platform because it is full of fun and easy DIY projects. Pinterest allowed me to pin and share DIY crafts and projects with my followers and friends. I would tweet and post on Facebook inspirations that I found on Pinterest which made it fun way to engage and connect with friends. Blogger really, really challenged me. However, blogger broke me out of my comfort zone and made me delve into my creativity. It's been great to see my growth in my blog postings week to week. I am embarrassed to say that my first blog posting didn't include any words, it was just a picture of an open house invitation. What's the point of a blog if it doesn't have words? I now know how to write a creative, credible, and well written blog.

If Inspired By You & Co. was a real business I would definitely utilize some of the social media plat forms that we learned about. I would primarily focus on marketing through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Facebook allows you to advertise within a specific budget to a market that you might not be able to reach through other social media plat forms. Facebook is a great way to share upcoming

Like Us on Facebook!

events or specials with your Facebook friends. Twitter is very interactive form of connecting with your followers. Twitter allows followers to share photos, hashtag, tweet, and retweet information with their followers that you posted on Twitter. Instagram is a great visual representation of your company. You can upload photos to Instagram of upcoming events, projects, or inspirations to share with your followers.

Inspired Designs App!

Inspired By You & Co. is excited to launch its FREE digital app readily available for download on mobile devices! We created The Inspired By You & Co. app to allow users to convene unwanted household supplies lying around the house that are not being utilized anymore and will generate fun and easy do it yourself projects with those supplies.  The app will ask you a series of questions based on demographics to obtain crafts that are suitable for your age and categories of interests. The mobile app will allow users to submit three to ten household items into a search engine and from there it will generate projects, from those supplies listed, to create suggested projects with step by step instructions and visual aids. If you don’t like the project it suggested, swipe your finger to the left and it will create a different project for you. For example, you have an empty wine bottle, paint, marbles, and Christmas lights. It will suggest making a do it yourself nightlight. You take the wine bottle and paint it as you desire, hot glue the glue marbles all around the wine bottle, and then you put the Christmas lights inside of it. This app will allow users to recycle unwanted items and recreate them into something practical and useful.

Inspired By You & Co. digital app is unique because there is no app out there comparable to it. Every do it yourself project it spits out is personalized to your own unique style. Each endeavor is created especially for you based on your age, interest, and level of creativity you submit. The Inspired By You & Co. app will allow users to bookmark and save projects to come back to in the future along with the sharing feature with your friends. Inspired By You & Co. app will have sharing features connected to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Inspired By You & Co. app is intended to entertain users and help spark their creativity. This app is fun for kids and adults at any level of creativity. It is a great way to recycle unwanted items and recreate them into something practical and useful. Download the free Inspired By You & Co. app in the app store on your mobile device today! 

Men, Put Down Those Razors!

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This blog posting is dedicated to all of our male DIY'ers! No-Shave November is commonly known as as a personal challenge for men to see how full and how long their beards can grow throughout the month of November. But there is much much more to it. According to No-Shave November, "No-Shave November is a month-long journey during which participants forgo shaving and grooming in order to evoke conversation and raise cancer awareness...The goal of No-Shave November is to grow awareness by embracing our hair, which many cancer patients lose, and letting it grow wild and free." Put down the razor November 1st-30th and take the money that you would typically spend on hair maintenance and donate that amount to the No-Shave November cause.

Inspired By You & Co. team members are taking on the challenge and are putting down the razors and will be donating to raise awareness and funds towards mens health. We will be doing a give away to the male DIY'er with the best beard! Find us on Twitter  and tweet us pictures of those burley beards. The winner will be announced on December 1st via Twitter. Let the BEARDS begin!

No-Shave November

Giving Thanks Sweepstakes

Home Makeover

November is a month of giving thanks, so what better way than to launch our Giving Thanks Sweepstakes. Inspired By You & Co. wants to give back to our customers in a way never done before. We have teamed up with local businesses and sponsors in the Chippewa Valley and are excited to present you with the opportunity to win the Giving Thanks Sweepstakes. One lucky winner will win a $15,000 home improvement makeover done by the team at Inspired By You & Co. 

We understand home improvement projects can get costly when needing major home repairs and renovations. Whether you need a new kitchen or bathroom, new carpet, or garage doors, whatever you need, we will provide it up to $15,000. If you or somebody you know needs a home improvement but cant afford it, please share with us your story below and tell us why you deserve to win the Giving Thanks Sweepstakes from Inspired By You & Co. 

Please read the Giving Thanks Sweepstakes official rules. We are accepting entries now through November 25, 2015. Must be 21 years or older to submit an entry.

To enter, please complete the following: 

• Email your story to anirmaier21@gmail.com
• Like and share Inspired By You & Co. Facebook Page 
• Like and share Inspired By You & Co. first ever commercial

*The Giving Thanks winner will be announced on November 30, 2015 via Email. 

Deals So Good, They Will Scare You

Boo Door Hanging 

BOO! Did I scare you? 

If that didn't scare you, I know this will. Inspired By You & Co. is offering Halloween deals so good they will scare you. This featured project will be absolutely perfect for your last minute decorating for your Halloween party you got talked into having. No worries, we got you covered. 

Inspired By You & Co. is offering 50% off all wooden letter templates to aspire you, DIY'ers, to make this a-door-able BOO door hanging kit! (See what I did there?)

 This BOO-tastic wall hanging is a perfect addition to your Halloween decorations this year. This project is fun, easy, and with 50% off letters, extremely affordable. 

To create this project you'll need the letters spelled out B-O-O, burlap ribbon, raffia, and paint, all of which can be purchased at Inspired By You & Co. 

 

Step one- Start out by picking out the sized letters you'd like, I have an assortment of sizes and styles to choose from.
Step two- Paint the letters with any color you choose and let dry.
Step three- After painting the letters your color of choice, apply several coats of clear coat to prevent chipping or fading of the paint.
Step four- From there, with the raffia, tie the letters
B-O-O together.
Step five- Tie the burlap in a bow around the top of the "B" and hang on the door with a door hanger or a nail.

 

I hope you all enjoyed this project as much as I did! Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter in the link on the left hand side. If you missed last weeks podcast, click on the link to get update information about Inspired By You & Co. Have a fun and safe Halloween! 

~Amie  

Falling for DIY'ing

Fall in Love Centerpiece

You are going to fall in love with this fabulous DIY craft that can be used as a centerpiece for any occasion such as a fall wedding, Thanksgiving, or fall home décor. Inspired By You & Co. loves this time of year with all the leaves changing but even better, its home décor changing season! That means more fun DIY projects for us to make and share with you. This specific centerpiece allows you to get creative and make it your own. We fell in love with these fun and easy centerpieces.

Materials Needed:
Pumpkin of Any Size
Carving Knife
Scissors
Recycled Soup Can
Bouquet of Flowers
Masking Tape or Twine

What a brilliant idea to put flowers in a pumpkin rather than a vase. Simply cut a circle around the top of stem wide enough for a soup can to sit inside the pumpkin. Next, clean out the guts and save the seeds so you can eat them, of course! Place the can inside the pumpkin with a little bit of water for your flowers. You can use real or fake flowers in your bouquet but I purchased mine from the local farmers market in Eau Claire, WI for $5.00. We are all about crafting on a budget. Cut the stems, at an angle, to the appropriate size so that the flowers sit right on the top of the pumpkin. Lastly, I wrapped the stems with tape or twine so the bouquet stays together. And there you go, you have your fabulous fall centerpiece. I hope you enjoyed this fun and easy DIY project as much as we did!

DIY Necklace and Bracelet Holder

Neck Lace Holder By LifeAnnStyle

Alright ladies, you can thank me later for this gold mine of a DIY project I stumbled upon over the weekend. I was so excited about how my necklace and bracelet holder turned out that I just had to share! I don't know about ya'll but I love my jewelry and want to be able to display it in a cute and organizational way without all my necklaces getting knotted up. I Pinterest "DIY Jewlery Organization Holder" and found this great project.  Click on the link for LifeAnn Style's full tutorial on how to create this fun and easy necklace and bracelet holder.




Candle holders
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Supplies Needed:
Wooden Dowel 

Candle Holder

Hot Glue Gun

Primer and Paint
 

Step 1- For this first step you are going to need a plastic, glass, or wood candle holder. You can find candle holders just about anywhere but keep in mind that you need one that is tall enough for your jewlery to hang.



Wooden Dowel and Paper Towel Roll
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Step 2- Step two calls for a wooden dowel. Wooden dowels can be found at most craft stores for under $5.00. With a ruler, find the center of the wooden dowel and marker the center so you know where to attach the base.

Step 3- You will need a hot glue gun to attach the wooden dowel and the base together. Apply hot glue around the base of the candle holder and attach to the center point of the wooden dowel. Let the glue set before priming.


Primer and Paint
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Step 4- Next step, primer. If you are going to paint the wood a brighter color than you need to use white primer. If you are going to paint it a darker color than you need to use black primer to help make the color pop. Once the primer is set and dry apply your paint. Wait a full day for it to set and dry.




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Step 5- Decorate however you'd like. Enjoy!