Social Media Tips from 3 Wise Southern Women Entrepreneurs

Here are some stats about women entrepreneurs:

• Women start companies at 1.5 times the average rate in the United States.
• The absolute number of startups in Crunchbase with at least one female founder has more than quadrupled in the last five years, from 117 in 2009 to 555 in 2014.
• Women entrepreneurs in the United States rank their happiness at nearly three times that of women who are not entrepreneurs or established business owners.
• The U.S. ranks No. 1 among 31 countries considered by Dell on the support of women’s entrepreneurship.
• Today, 18 percent of all startups have at least one female founder.
• There are just over 9 million women-owned companies in the United States.
• A net new 340,000 jobs were added by woman-owned businesses between 2007 and 2015. At the same time, men-owned businesses shed 1.2 million jobs, according to a 2015 study by Womenable and American Express.
• Forty-six percent of the privately held companies in the U.S. are now at least half owned by women.
• Financially, women entrepreneurs outperform everyone but blue chips over time. In the last couple decades, the growth in the number of women’s businesses (up 68 percent), employment (up 11 percent), and revenues (up 72 percent) blows past the growth rates of all but the largest publicly-traded businesses, and tops growth rates among all other privately-held businesses over this period.

Source: http://www.inc.com/lisa-calhoun/30-surprising-facts-about-female-founders.html

Being a female business owner, I’ve gotten to know others like myself from many different industries. Living in the South, there are thousands of us alone. I am a part of a group call The Southern Coterie, or more commonly referred to as the Southern C. This is a group of phenomenal Southern female entrepreneurs who come together to share their experience and knowledge to help each other. Through this group, I’ve gotten to know many of these wonderful ladies and today three of them are sharing their social media experience with us.

Monica Lavin
The Lavin Label

Monica is an independent content publisher, stylist and founder of Lavin Label. She is also a contributor for Southern Living’s The Daily South and the Southern C. Her work has been featured on Pottery Barn, Reese Witherspoon’s Draper James, The Glitter Guide, Savannah Magazine, Golden Isles Magazine, Southern Living and more.

Her Lavin Label offers entertaining, style and travel inspiration through unique visual storytelling.  Monica is well versed in emerging technology and social influence through her work at NASA and most recently her job as Communications Director for Information Technology at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. Monica’s knowledge of technology and her well curated taste in all things lifestyle lend themselves naturally to a fresh perspective on storytelling that captivates her followers and inspires them to become part of that story. I personally enjoy reading her blog when I get it via email 🙂

What is your #1 tip for using social media for your business?

Just that — Use it for business. In other words, don’t post images that don’t relate directly to your brand/business. That’s the fastest way to lose followers.

What is something you wish someone had told you about using social media for your business when you started?

Managing social media is a full time job. If you’re going to manage an account then you have to commit to it 100%. Keep in mind that all of the social media channels are completely different. Knowing that I do know, I probably would have just created an IG account and focus solely on that platform rather than have to keep up with Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and now Periscope.

What has been your greatest success using social media for your business and how did you achieve that?

I’ve learned that my social media feed is my online portfolio. I’ve been contacted to work with Pottery Barn, Savannah Magazine, Golden Isles Magazine… (and more) because of my Instagram feed more so than my actual blog.

Follow the Lavin Label on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Alesya Opelt
Alesya Bags

CEO & Founder of Alesya Bags, work bags for successful women. In my career, I’ve worked for tech companies—my first job was for a Silicon Valley startup and later VP of a digital marketing company. Like you, I had invested in my wardrobe (ahem!), but always felt the clunky masculine laptop bags on the market totally undermined my look.

Revisiting my first true love of fashion, I took a deep breath and began the Alesya Bags journey.  After much research and development (under the category of “What Women Want”) the ?rst bags were born in 2010, putting style ?rst, with organized, accessible storage a close second.

What is your #1 tip for using social media for your business?

Promote others as well as yourself.  Like, comment and share with others.  Don’t think it of as box you can’t leave.  It’s not a stage – it’s cocktails where everybody knows your name.

What is something you wish someone had told you about using social media for your business when you started?

Grab your username on every platform ASAP.  Even if you don’t think you’ll ever use it.  You never know what is going to get popular.

What has been your greatest success using social media for your business and how did you achieve that?

My entire business has been built on social media.  The most surprising success was a Sample Sale I ran on Instagram.  I sold 20 samples within minutes and gained 200 followers  Since then I’ve used Insta tell sell one offs that normally would just sit in my warehouse.  

Follow the Aleysa Bags on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Angie Tillman
Phickles

Angie is the owner of Phickles – which can be described on their site as “Phickles…. a family owned and operated small batch pickle company located in Athens, Georgia. We source our vegetables responsibly from certified naturally grown farms as close to home as possible…. supporting local farmers as best as we can. Pickled okra, green tomatoes, carrots, snap beans, jalapenos, asparagus, cucumbers, and other seasonal goodies…..seasoned with fresh, whole garlic, peppers, and dill. Phickles pickles are excellent with charcuterie and make a bloody mary or martini extra phun!”

These are sold locally here in Statesboro and you definitely need to try some!!

What is your #1 tip for using social media for your business?

Always be positive and respond to people who take the time to share positive feedback with you.  Those people are your company’s fanbase, your cheerleaders and your best advertisement!

What is something you wish someone had told you about using social media for your business when you started?

This one’s hard for me to answer…as among my circle of friends and colleagues… I started using social media before any of them. 🙂  One thing I’ve learned though…. is that by sharing mine and my company’s story daily through social media platforms… I have a responsibility to BE the same in person as I am online.  It’s sometimes tough to be ON all the time.  We all have sluggish days…but I’m not allowed to have them. haha!  One of my favorite memories of meeting someone in person that I met through Facebook…was a few years ago.  This person said to me:  “Wow!  You’re the SAME in person as you are online!”  I hugged the heck out of that girl!

What has been your greatest success using social media for your business and how did you achieve that?

I believe my greatest success I’ve achieved through using social media for my business is collaborations with stores, bloggers, events, and a very supportive fanbase.  I owe so much to the people who have helped the Phickles Brand grow through their support….whether it be from them purchasing my products, writing about my products, liking and sharing on Facebook, retweeting, instagramming pictures of my products, and more!  We are who we hang with! And I hang with some really nice folks online! 🙂

Follow the Phickles on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Please go follow these fabulous ladies! They are doing wonderful things with their businesses via social media and you’ll want to keep an eye on them in the future 🙂