Lucy Judd, Lucy Victoria Art, writes about her experience taking part in the Shine Online Club:
“Recently started my business in the last three months, specialising in dogs, cats, and horses, using soft pastels and pastel pencils on either A4 or A3 sized paper. I’ve been drawing since school, art was my favourite subject, and I had done oil painting commissions for friends, though only recently switched my hobby into a business. I started experimenting with pastels following a workshop and love working with them.
As I was new to running my own business I needed confidence with social media. Before joining Shine Online Club my business’s social media presence was none existence. I had my own personal social media channels and shared a couple of images there, though I didn’t know where to start with promoting my business through social media. I lacked experience with this side of social media.
I was introduced to Clare through while having my nails done, my nail lady recommended Clare as someone who knew how best to use social media for my business. I emailed Clare and right from that first stage Clare has been sharing her experience and knowledge.
The three months of the Shine Online Club have been brilliant. I had my last meeting with Clare earlier in July and I said it scares me if I hadn’t signed up. Clare and the Shine Online Club have given me confidence and a structure to approach my social media output, of which I am extremely grateful.
My husband noticed that my presence in social media has become more of a story. I’ve learnt to post consistently and use different types of posts. Because I am a new business the Club has given me such a big confidence boost and knowledge which is extremely helpful. Social media had previously been out of my comfort zone though through the bootcamp I now have that confidence.
The bootcamp’s Facebook group page has been a great help, we were all able to ask questions and Clare would provide help and advice. I would not have had a clue if it hadn’t been for the bootcamp and the Shine Online Club, I would have been at a complete and utter loss what to do. Clare gave me a clear direction, ideas and inspiration on what to post. We have a monthly plan though this gave me the freedom to elaborate and confidence to tweak.
The whole experience from start to finish has just been brilliant. Clare is the most approachable person, she listens, provides help and guidance, and shares her knowledge and experience freely. It is a good idea for what Clare does, the monthly calls helped look ahead to what is next while being enjoyable and reassuring. In the first month I messaged Clare a lot and all of them were met with Clare’s reassurance.
Through her support I’ve launched my first competition, which is helping push my presence. The monthly plans gave me structure though also took some of the guess work out of the process. Clare prompted me to try Reels in my second month, so I videoed myself going through the stages of creating a portrait. This was very thought provoking.
It has been the best thing I could have done. It is a good idea for people like me who are starting out and want to learn how to use social media, though it is also good for someone who is more established and needs to refresh their approach with Clare’s advice and support. For me I’ve learnt a large amount in a relatively short period of time. What I’ve gained has been invaluable for myself and my business. I’ve loved it.”
If you would like to take part in Shine Online Club, sign up here.