It goes without saying that some prompts are pretty easy and an idea may instantly spring to mind! But there are also those which are a little more difficult to interpret! Some of these prompts are deliberately kept vague so that you can interpret them as you wish and so it allows for a wider variety of posts! This page is to help you find your way with those prompts that are a little more difficult. Listed below you'll find the full list of prompts and a brief explanation of my thinking behind them and a few suggestions on ways that you can use them. These are just ideas and I'm not saying you should follow these! I'd like you to interpret them in your own way! Just think of this as a little help if you are a bit stuck!

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1. Brand origin - Where did your brand come from? How did it come about? What is it about? Is there a story behind it? How did you decide on the name? Tell us everything there is to know about your brand!

 

2. All about you - Tell the world about the maker behind the makes! Who are you? Is it just you? Do you have a team? Introduce yourself. What do you like? Where are you based? What makes you, you? Take a selfie or draw a portrait. As difficult as it can be to show our true selves at times, people do love to see the maker behind the magic and get to know you better. If you're not ready for a full-on selfie, could you find other ways to show who you are? Perhaps it could be you working so you're distracted and not looking directly into the camera. Perhaps if you're an illustrator you could draw yourself. Or if you have a favourite photograph of yourself could you style it amongst your products so it's not necessarily the main focus? Either way, we all look forward to getting to know you!

 

3. Snippet - A small piece of something! This could be a small piece of your day, a small part of your product, a section of a process or a small insight into something you make or do.

 

4. Weekend - anything marked as 'weekend' are Saturdays and Sundays! It's entirely up to you if you want to post on these days! You could use them to post about things -that aren't included in the challenge, or as time to catch up on days you've missed. Or, if you're like me and just need a break from social media every now and then, it's a good chance to just relax and spend some time in the real world!

 

5. Weekend - post anything you like, catch up, or take a break!

 

6. Start the day - how do you start the day? Do you have a specific routine? Do you do things in a certain order? Do you have other jobs you have to do before you get to your making? Does every morning look different?

 

7. Learn - what was the last new skill you learnt? Where do you go to learn new things? What was the last lesson you learnt? Perhaps you’ve been on a bit of a learning curve? Is there anything you’ve been looking to learn? Perhaps you teach? Or maybe you want to share some knowledge to help others learn? What was the best thing you learnt since running your business?

 

8. Finishing touches - what are the finishing touches you put on your products? Is there a special finish? A job you save for last? Or perhaps the finishing touch is the way that it is packaged to send out to the customer? Does it come wrapped in something special? With extra postcards or a thank you note? Or maybe you like to draw on the outer packaging too for that extra special touch.

 

9. Trial & error - what have you learnt through trial and error? It’s good place to talk about mistakes, what you’ve learnt from them and for coming back and trying over and over again to get things right! Talk about experiments, successes, failures, accidental ideas, the things that went right, the things that went wrong and any surprises in between.

 

10. Recharge - what do you do to rest and recharge your batteries? Or what do you to refuel your creative drive when it’s running a bit low? What do you do to slow down?

 

11. Weekend - post anything you like, catch up, or take a break!

 

12. Weekend - post anything you like, catch up, or take a break!

 

13. Planning - how do you plan new ranges? Your time? Your week? Everything you do in general? Do you even have a plan? Or are you more of a wing it as you go kind of person? Do you have a bullet journal? Do you make lists? Do you have scraps of paper or do you rely solely on yourself remembering to do things?

 

14. Big or small - what’s the biggest thing you sell? The smallest thing you sell? The biggest order you’ve ever had? A really bit component of a product? A tiny detail? Perhaps it’s not so much a physical thing but is instead a big achievement or milestone. Or perhaps a small win for the day. This one can be interpreted in so many different ways!

 

15. From idea to product - how do your ideas go from being an idea in your head or on paper to the final product? How many stages are there? Do you have to do any specific testing? What do your sketches look like compared to the final outcome? Where do you get your ideas? Where do you keep them? Do you follow a specific process when it comes to making new ideas? Do you make samples? This one is all about rough ideas to polished product!

 

16. Highs & lows - celebrate the highs of running your own creative business but also keep it real with some of the low points too. It’s always refreshing to see people talk about both! Highs could be anything from getting your first wholesale order, hitting a target you set, selling out of something, achieving something you’ve always dreamed of or anything else you’re proud of! Lows could be things like launching a new product and it not going as well as hoped or perhaps you sent out a bunch of emails to potential new stockists and didn’t hear anything back. The lows are the bits that we don’t usually talk about but we all experience them!

 

17. Creative space - This one is entirely up to you! Are you generally immaculate or are you surrounded by paper, lists, materials, off cuts and chaos! If you're torn over what you want to show, a before and after tidy up could be really interesting! Either way, show what's right for you! Workspaces can be spare bedrooms, offices, sheds, kitchen tables, and even your sofa! It's where ever you get creative! There is no right or wrong for this one.

 

18. Weekend - post anything you like, catch up, or take a break!

 

19. Weekend - post anything you like, catch up, or take a break!

 

20. Glow up - have you given anything a make over lately? Or perhaps tweaked something to make improvements? Have you changed your branding? Added a new colourway to a popular product? Updated the design and given it a refresh? Perhaps it’s the same product but different photography? Are you able to show a before and after? Maybe it’s changed slowly over the years! How did it look a year, two years or five years ago? No matter how you look at this, it’s always interesting to see where we started to where we are now!
 

21. Favourite process - this could be a number of things! It could be how you make something, a part of the making process, or even part of the creative process. For example, idea generation, or inspiration. Are there any particular parts of the process that could be interesting to see? Why is it your favourite? It could be how you print your fabrics, an overlocker zooming around fabric edges, pots waiting to dry, yarn being wound into balls, arranging artwork for print, etc. The possibilities are endless! Perhaps you have a special tool that you particularly like using? How does it fit into the making process?

 

22. Decision - have you had to make any big decisions recently? What were they? Or perhaps a decision you made turned out to be the best one you’ve ever made? Did you buy some new equipment? Tried something new? Removed a process or something that wasn’t quite working for you? Made a new product? Stopped selling something that didn’t you bring you joy anymore? Moved premises? Got an accountant? Opened a real-life high street shop? Or perhaps just starting your business altogether has been rewarding?

 

23. Reality - at times, Instagram can be a like giant magazine full of perfect everything so today is about sharing a reality of something. Perhaps it’s a messy work room, as opposed to the neat and tidy ones we’d rather share! Or maybe you had an explosion in the kiln? Or your sewing machine chewed up your latest make just as you were about to finish it! Has something gone wrong recently? What was it? Or maybe it’s the multiple hats you wear in your business? Or your long or scattered work hours? What is your reality of running a small creative business?

 

24. Colour - are there any particular colours you are drawn to in your work? Do you have specific colours you stick to? Or are you more monotone? Or maybe you're a complete colour magpie and love the rainbow! Is there a specific way you incorporate the use of colour? Is it used as a hint or to highlight a specific area? Do you find yourself using the same colours without really thinking about? How many colour variations do you offer? Can people ask for a certain colour? Do you have a colourful workspace? How do you use it?

 

25. Weekend - post anything you like, catch up, or take a break!

 

26. Weekend - post anything you like, catch up, or take a break!

 

27. Tools & machines - what tools and machines do you use within your business? These could be absolutely anything! Do you have a tool that’s specific to your trade? Or a machine that you use daily? What role does it play? Could you live without it? It is easy to use or did it take a lot of learning to get it just right? Perhaps you have more than one that you use? Or a favourite? Why is it your favourite?

 

28. Adapt - have you had to adapt or modify anything in your business over the last year? Perhaps an old process wasn’t working for you anymore so you made a few tweaks? Or maybe your working hours have changed so you’ve had to adapt your schedule. Or maybe you’re looking to adapt part of your business but you’re not sure how? Has a problem presented itself and you’ve found a way to modify yourself, products, processes or business to adapt to the situation? Perhaps adapting to something that hit you out of the blue turned out to be the best thing ever? How about your products, can you adapt them to meet more than one gifting occasion so they have a longer shelf life? Or maybe you can modify them on request and adapt them to the customers needs?

 

29. The best part… - what is the best part of running your small creative business? Is it the creative freedom? Setting your own hours? Connecting with your customers? Glowing reviews? What is the bit that you love the most?

 

30. Nice words - have you had any lovely reviews that you want to share? Or perhaps something that a customer has said to you? Maybe you have a motto or a quote to live by. Or maybe you have some nice words or wisdom to share with your audience? This is place to share them!

 

31. Coming soon - what are you working on? What can we expect to see in the next month, 3 months, 6 months or year? Are you working on new designs? New products? Or some new services? Either way let us know what the future holds for your brand!

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