Closing a Chapter: Making JMR’s final post

by jramon2 Posted on April 22, 2013

As we come to an end, I have one final question?

Can I keep the blog?

This blog has really helped me see the progress I have made with JMR. It has also allowed me realized what doesn’t work. For example choosing to blog first, bad idea. But uploading a daily picture to Facebook, good idea. The best decision I have ever made was to get certified through HootSuite and starting using HootSuite as a platform to post to all my social media platforms. I also wanted to share how much the class helped me with JMR. From who.is to Google Analytics I loved how applicable this class was. The one thing I cannot express enough is how important a social media presence is in today’s society. The brilliant thing is that these platforms are free. Of course the advertising does cost you, but not at all as much as print, radio or magazine. I feel that because print/radio/magazine are so expensive sometimes you have to limit yourself (budget wise) to not do exactly what you want to do. For example, not come out in the magazines you really want to, or not have the budget to pay someone to come up with a catchy radio ad. The amazing thing about internet is that (if you one Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator) you can be as creative as you want and post pictures on your own sites. Yes, the Adobe creative suite is an investment you similar to the Canon 60SD you only pay once and can  enjoy it’s benefits for as long as you want.. I will keep track of my progress with Making JMR.

JMR

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Blogging for JMR: My initial idea

by jramon2 Posted on April 22, 2013

So, when I started JMR I wanted to connect my jewelry with blogging. I really like blogging and fashion and I wanted to incorporate my it into my jewelry. That is why I started J For JMR. Initially I wanted to use social media as a tool to communicate the style of my brand, but later I figured out I had started the other way around. My strategy plan was to post a picture everyday of different people wearing JMR. This, along with the brands of clothes they were wearing. I started doing this but I did not realize how hard it was going to be to build an audience for both things while keeping up with orders and Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I soon realized it as tough stuff. Regina Ramon

Bullet shel necklace – Stone necklace – Blank plate necklaceHannah Dibrell

Stone necklace – Initial necklace with Fatima’s Eye – Stone necklace (Chain & Silk chord)

 

Ellie Murdock.

Stone Necklaces – Vintage Chanel bracelets

These are examples of the pictures I wanted to post. As you can see, the style is very similar in all the shots. That was my initial image for JMR. What I can say is I was on the right track. I had what I wanted down but I need a whole army of people to help me do it. (Not a whole army, maybe just one or maybe just better organizational skills) As you can see, my “models” are all wearing JMR. If they are wearing anything else they are things that could go with the JMR brand. Along with these I have many more models and pictures but I never got to post them for lack of organiztional. I decided I would go the easier route and just post pictures and captions on Facebook. I will have a blogging social media explosion one day soon. I just have no decided when. But blogging is a very good way to attract customers. A couple of style blogs I really recommend.

Devon Rachel

Damsel in Dior

Pho & Chips 

A bit of my daily reads. What fashion blogs do you read daily? Any in particular you’d recommend?

 

JMR

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Taking the Facebook Thrown: Is Instagram The New Facebook?

by jramon2 Posted on April 17, 2013

 

Over these past few weeks I have dedicated my time to conducting couple of surveys of JMR. I am really trying to get into my target’s brain to see when and where I can post a picture/status about JMR without being to pushy. The results were kind of scary/yetfresh. Although my survey was a bit small I really did try to get a diverse crowd to get a well-rounded response. Well, people are starting to prefer Instagram. Yes, many might say Facebook owns Instagram.. Literally, Facebook bought it but… I think we know in this case Mark Zuckerburg has favoristism for his one of this children… Facebook.

 

The answers were almost unanimous.. “I don’t even get on Facebook anymore, I prefer Instagram.” It could just be a trend similar to other apps that have tried to take Facebook’s thrown. No one ever seems to be able to do it, but I think we might have a winner. Well, winner or no winner I started listening to my target. I am always.. somewhat constant at keeping up with my platforms. I do admit HootSuite has made this so much easier. But, of course like many other things sometimes it is just too hard. Well, for a week I said I would post two pictures a day. One between 11-12 and one between 3-5. Just over that week orders spiked on the website. I also posted the pictures on Facebook but people that asked for things kept referring to the Instagram posts. Well isn’t that something.

What do you guys think? Is Instagram the new Facebook? Has someone really some to take the Facebook thrown?

 

JMR

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Canon EOS 60D: The Importance of Investing in A Good Camera

by jramon2 Posted on April 8, 2013

A good investment does go a long way. Although I do thank my iphone for capturing wonderful images, as a small business owner, I need something with a bit more quality. I set my sites on a Canon EOS 60D (completely over my small business budget, but thank God for good parents). I felt like I really needed this to evolve as a small business to be able to be esthetically appealing in my social media platforms. I wanted to dedicate this post to the importance of a somewhat big investment for long-term ROI. Although I did not technically make the investment with JMR’s money because my parents got it for me, I would have gotten it for myself anyway. I found this article that I wanted to share about how pictures can make or break a marketing campaign. In sum, small business, big business if you CAN make a difference with a good picture; do it.

“If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with b*****t.“

Although I don’t really know who said this and believe me I really wanted to research the great mind that came up with it, it’s so true. Even though you’re a small business, you can act like a big one and be respected as one with certain resources you do have available.

 Here’s an example of one of my shots. For this one I also used a light reflector I purchased at Camera Exchange for about $24. This really goes to show a little goes a long way with a simple picture.

JMR

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Whole ‘Nother Level: JMR meets Men’s Market

by jramon2 Posted on April 2, 2013

When I started JMR, I wanted it to be for just women. Being a woman, I thought I would really understand the woman market. There was of course one problem facing the woman’s market? It’s saturated. Everyone everywhere is trying to be someone in the jewelry biz for woman. When I launched JMR’s Facebook I had a bunch of e-mails, inbox and messages all asking the same thing. When I would get a men’s bracelet. Because I am a new business and I really didn’t want to say no to anything, I, of course said: soon. You think men are simple. Their facebook’s are simple, twitter’s are straight to the point and instagram posts are sometimes are tasteless BUT there is a HUGE market that has yet to be discovered for men’s jewelry that isn’t VERY feminine for men that are metrosexual. It is hard to find a nice in between. Therefore I present the new addition to my JMR family. This is the official men’s bracelet. It can come in a variety of colors. I have just started marketing on my social media platforms and I am trying very hard to appeal to my male audience. Do any of the men suggest any special ways to appeal to men audience looking for bracelets? Let me know.

 

JMR

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Good news, HootSuite works. Let’s all get certified!

by jramon2 Posted on March 25, 2013

So, I guess my HootSuite certification was worth it. I thought it would purely be for empty bragging rights but I was actually able to name drop it when I was at Bella Salon. Bella is conveniently located on West 6th street and is completely part of the Austin ambiance. It’s modern and vintage, boutique-y and fabulous. It’s been around for about 20 years and has a very good prestige going on for them. I was in there about to cash out on a haircut and color I had been waiting to splurge on.

I’m a Comm major and I tend to ramble, therefore I was talking the stylists ear off about school, homework, senior year and to my luck — upper level classes. One of them being: Social Media for PR. As I was casually giving a brief summary of what the class was about, she started asking more questions. Because I felt she was actually intrigued and not just forcefully making small talk because I was going to be in her chair for about another hour, I went on to talk about how important social media for business was. I was actually pretty proud of my social media jargon. I suppose paying attention in class paid off in the end. After talking for what seemed like forever about retweets and instagram pictures she said she had a question. A question that put a smile on my face the entire day. I will put it verbatim.

“Okay so.. Let me ask you something” brief pause, “how do you feel about trading cut and color for advice on social media.”

The first thing that came to my mind: “HootSuite.” In attempts not to seem overly excited about this amazing opportunity I casually said,

“Of course, I would love too. And if it makes you feel any better, I am a certified Social Media Consultant through HootSuite. HootSuite is also an awesome tool to have to keep your platforms all in one place.”

Although I did keep my cool, I cannot begin to explain the excitement going on inside my head. Tuesday I will be meeting with Bella’s manager to discuss social media strategy plans and I am beyond thrilled. Having the HootSuite certification adds so much credibility and any Comm major that is interested in the PR and Advertising field should consider getting it.

 

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info me this.

by jramon2 Posted on March 12, 2013

You can find the article to this infographic here. Although Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are somewhat easy to maintain if they are for personal use it is very different if you are trying to gain revenue using social media for small businesses. Honestly as soon as all the hype started building around social media for small business I didn’t understand the fuzz. What’s so hard about it? It’s JUST a Facebook. Well no, it’s not just a Facebook it’s the business’ integrity and I hate to break it to you, but you run out of things to say. Another problem is you can’t just say anything. Everything reflects back on your small business.

One very important thing that I noticed also mentioned in the infographic was to put one person in charge of the social media platforms. Although there are a lot people that might have really important things to say it is very important to keep the same voice.

My one objection to this infographic is to focus more on Facebook. Although I do believe Facebook is a very efficient way to get people to notice you. Instagram is also a great way to get people’s attention. Twitter is also a great way to get people’s attention. The advantage to both of these is that both these platforms is that the message is short and sweet.

I hope these tips were a bit helpful for small business with social media phobias.

JMR

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HootSuite

by jramon2 Posted on March 4, 2013

 My HootSuite Certificate profile. The link to it is below.

http://learn.hootsuite.com/u/jimenamramon

Well, I did it! This weekend I officially received my HootSuite University Social Media Consulting certificate. I am beyond excited. And if you take a look at my side bar you will notice my shiny new badge I have added to my humble collection. —>

At first I was just really intrigued with the idea of receiving a certificate for something and I knew I had to have it, but after watching the videos and actually putting HootSuite to work I found it so helpful. As a “small business owner” per say HootSuite is something super important to have. Especially if you’re someone like me that decided to take on a huge responsibility by yourself. You have to learn accounting, finance, administration and so many other business related things that were completely foreign to me. Social media, now that is more my comfort zone. But even then it is so hard to manage everything and be consistent. After the first few days of using HootSuite I was so relived that I could have everything in one place. If you don’t believe me about HootSuite I found a very interesting article that gives 7 reasons you should use it. (in case you don’t believe me).

I also highly recommend this article from a little newspaper that maybe you’ve heard of… New York Times… talking about how of course HootSuite saves the day for Burger King.
That’s all for now. Consider HootSuite. It’s awesome.

JMR

 

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Advertising for JMR

by jramon2 Posted on February 25, 2013


Above is an ad I created for Dearest Lou. I got in touch with Ceclie from Deartest Lou from IFB (Independent Fashion Bloggers). By joining this society I was able to communicate to other bloggers about my work. The ones that really liked it asked me if I would host giveaways for their blogs. I, of course, accepted.

This is an ad I created for The Trendy Chick. I worked with Scarlett to create a Christmas giveaway. It’s super fun to work with bloggers but also a bit stressful. Because their blog is their personal space you have to adhere by all of their rules. Although at times you have a common goal sometimes it is just not like that. You can complicate your life all you want but it is really all about perception, PR and the way you sell yourself especially  on social media. Which brings me to my next point; my Facebook page. The one I so desperately wanted to avoid having.

After putting myself out there on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and the blogging world I was able to achieve 1,000 likes and sales went up. This goes to show how much social media has an impact in sales for a small business.

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Just Me & My Trademark

by jramon2 Posted on February 18, 2013

So, this blog is about my venture to build an audience for my brand. For some reason I found this to be incredibly helpful: getting a trademark. YES, it was expensive and YES it was so stressful but posting about my “Registered Trademark” on all of JMR’s platform got to much traffic and more importantly credibility.

 

This is the picture ^ I posted on JMR’s Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter

After just that sales went up (yes, my minimal sales count too). I supposed this only goes to show that an interesting enough post going viral can help not only generate traffic to your website but a great ROI. In case anyone in the business world is out there I did my trademark and DBA through LegalZoom. They probably hate the annoying student that always called to check her status but I loved their efficiency. Not only are they great at what they do they have a really cool twitter that I actually guess what? ENJOY FOLLOWING. They have great conversational tweets and interesting articles that I enjoy opening every morning that I am getting my “twitter fix.”

In sum, moral of this story is how one big interesting enough post can drive momentum through all of platforms if placed correctly. You can not only get virtual, likes and “double taps” on Instagram but an actual physical investment.

 

 

JMR

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