Have You Thanked Someone Today?
Do you take time to extend gratitude to those who make a difference in your life, even for the small things that sometimes get overlooked? Don’t forget to share a few words of kindness with those who have earned them.
Today’s post is a little out of my wheelhouse, in some respects. I don’t regularly write about the technical side of blogging and social media.
On the contrary though, this post is right up my alley, because I’m sharing about an experience I had that was really great and letting the person who created that experience know about my appreciation. All too often, we forget to or feel uncomfortable extending gratitude toward or complementing someone for their efforts. This often happens at work, and probably even more often at home. We forget to say thanks for the small but wonderful things people in our lives do each day.
For the record, this post is not sponsored. I’m just sharing about something I really liked.
Hello Instagram
If you follow me on Instagram, you probably noticed that my feed has changed a bit. It’s more consistent, and I started a few series (#iheartwastedart #ourbookishbears and #familiesdozerowaste). Did you know you can follow each of those hashtags just like you follow an account? Or you can check out every single image on my Wasted Art Project Page.
Also, I’m starting to explore different types of posts with more creative angles (like this post I love that’s about toilet paper… of all things).
Instagram can be a tough nut to crack if you’re trying to use it to grow an audience or engage a community. As a passionate photographer who also loves to tell stories, I really enjoy Instagram, but I was having a lot of trouble honing in on my style and the direction in which I wanted to take my account. I vaguely knew about lots of tools to help me find and execute my “ideal Instagram vibe” but I just couldn’t pull them all together.
Time For a Change
Enter Dominique and the All That Is Instagram course. If you haven’t seen her Instagram account, it’s amazing. She’s so creative and… MAKES IT LOOK SO EASY???!!!
Today I want to share my appreciation for Dominique, the work she did to create the course, and especially her genuine and meaningful engagement she maintained with what seemed like a pretty small and intimate class size.
Dominique did a fantastic job making this course. She found the perfect balance of technical training for each lesson that was meaningful and effective while still feeling manageable to execute. I was able to complete each weekly lesson on time without feeling overwhelmed but also seeing significant growth in my Instagram competencies.
Dominique is a rock star and also so kind. She was incredibly active in the Facebook group, always offering honest, genuine and in depth feedback on our work and our questions. She never hesitated to add another tutorial to the course if a student needed it, and even recorded tutorials on the fly, posting them in the Facebook group when they came up related to a particular image someone wanted to post. It was clear she was sincerely interested in the success of each of us in the group.
After completing the course, I feel so much more confident with my vision for my Instagram account and my skills relevant to achieving those goals. (I know that for some, that might sound silly… to have “goals” related to Instagram. It’s a social media platform after all. But I really enjoy curating my feed and writing posts, so I am happy to have a more predictable rhythm with my work there.) Dominique taught me more than how to create a beautiful feed; she taught me how to create an Instagram presence that felt representative of me and my brand and do so in a way that was organic and not overly taxing on my personal life.
Dominique went above and beyond with this course. For anyone interested in enhancing their Instagram presence, I highly recommend taking it. You won’t regret it! (Although you may have trouble snagging a spot as the last class sold out pretty quickly.)
Be Sure to Say the Small Thanks
Is there anyone you want to thank today? Do you have someone you really appreciate who could use a reminder about your appreciation? It might just be your spouse, a child, your boss or your staff, or maybe someone at the grocery store who was particularly helpful or friendly. Don’t forget to let them know their efforts and energy make a difference to you. An extra reminder that we’re having an impact on someone else’s life never hurts.
While we’re at it, thank you for reading and stopping by. Writing this blog and sharing on social media channels is far more fun with you in the wings. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
