A La Gray Collective

21/12/2020

My new website is here! I've been working on this for ages and I'm so excited to finally share it with you all.
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Building a website from scratch is no joke... especially for a perfectionist like myself. But, I decided that the best way to welcome 2021 would be with a bang. So cheers to a new year, a new website, and new beginnings! 🥂

16/12/2020

I wanted to dive a little deeper into how I create custom social media strategies for my clients. A lot of clients will come to me with ideas of which social media platforms they want to be on and things they want to be posting about. Often they're on the right track, but it's always a good exercise to start at the beginning by redefining your target audience before you develop your social media strategy. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Identifying your target audience is incredibly important and I always start here, because different platforms speak to different groups of people. If you need help identifying your target audience, I have a freebie in my bio that'll help you out. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Once you have a good idea of who you want to connect with, then choose your platforms. Don't be on Instagram or TikTok just for the sake of it. Choose your platforms with purpose. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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After identifying your target audience and platform(s), then you can work on your strategy. Base your strategy on the best ways to connect with your audience in a way that will help you achieve your greatest business goals. If you have a quarterly sales goal, make sure to include sales-driven content in your strategy. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It's important to frequently go back and look at past posts and see how they are performing. Check out your key metrics and see how they compare to previous months. This will help you identify what's working and what isn't. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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If you need help coming up with your business's social media strategy, send me a DM and I can point you in the right direction.

14/12/2020

It's go time!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Mondays are always my busiest days of the week. As a social media strategist, there are so many notifications, emails, and the like to get caught up on. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Plus, each of my clients' social calendars have loose ends that always need to be tied up as the week begins and before content goes live. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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But honestly, I like starting my week off with a bang. Do you prefer your Mondays crazy or chill?

11/12/2020

I've been working on something new for 2 whole months now and I'm beyond excited to reveal it to you all. Any guesses? 🙊 Leave yours in the comments below.

05/11/2020

There is so much information out there about the ‘secrets’ to growing your Instagram and in all honesty, a lot of it is fluff.

As someone who specializes in growing Instagram accounts from the bottom up, the best thing you can do for your Instagram growth is to have a branding overhaul.

02/11/2020

2020 has been a tough one. Tough on motivation. Tough on confidence. And most of all, tough on my expectations and goals I set for myself back in January.

I'm sure a lot of us are in the same boat. This whole entrepreneurship thing is a journey. What do they say? It's a marathon, not a sprint?

This year, I certainly felt like I hit my wall. But, as my high school track coach once said, 'you gotta keep running to push through the pain.' Well, 2020 has definitely been painful and it has lasted a lot longer than the grueling 1/2 mile race that I remember.

At this point, the best way forward is to keep running. But now when I look around, I see an amazing space full of other entrepreneurs and creatives and it's clear that I'm not running alone.

So here's to 2020 and may it finish stronger than it began.

02/11/2020

There is so much information out there about the ‘secrets’ to growing your Instagram and in all honesty, a lot of it is fluff. Here are 5 simple steps you can follow to take your Instagram from amateur to beautifully branded.

There is so much information out there about the ‘secrets’ to growing your Instagram and in all honesty, a lot of it is fluff. As someone who specializes in growing Instagram accounts from nothing, the best thing you can do for your Instagram growth is to have a branding overhaul.

30/10/2020

Are you on the fence about whether social media marketing can benefit your business? Listen up. This one's for you!

Whether you’re bringing on a new client as a social media manager, creating your first social media accounts for your business, or adjusting your overall marketing strategy to encompass a greater social media presence, this post is for you. If you’re on the fence and don’t know whether social ...

20/08/2020

I've been playing around a lot with mood boards recently for my clients and I realized that I didn't have an official mood board for my own brand. Here's what I came up with. What do you think?

14/08/2020

A Content First Strategy is one of my top tips for Instagram success, well honestly for success on most social media platforms.
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If you want to build an engaged following, then it's important to be providing your followers with valuable content in exchange for their attention. There needs to be purpose behind each and every post your share. No more posting for the sake of getting a post up on your feed.
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Providing value will help build your audience's trust in you (your brand) and your expertise. People are much more willing to purchase products and services from brands that they trust and look to as a reputable source of valuable information.
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Valuable content doesn't only mean educational content. Entertaining or inspirational posts are also great examples of content that provides value.
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When I work with my clients to identify their content strategy, I start by first identifying their priority subjects of focus. For example, this could be content that (1) communicates their brand's unique personality, (2) shares what they do, and (3) shows their expertise.

Before any piece of content get's published, I make sure it falls within one of our pillars. This keeps their social media content on-brand while also making it easier for us to come up with post ideas for our content calendar.
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Need some social media help? Always feel welcome to send me a DM. I'd love to chat!

12/08/2020

One of the most commonly asked questions I get from small business owners is "how can social media marketing help my business?"
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The answer to this question is often different depending on what industry your business is in, but social media marketing will most often help your business in these three ways: increasing conversions and sales, boosting brand awareness, and bettering your customer service.
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If you're a small business owner looking for how to measure your return on your social media marketing investment, you should know that it can sometimes be difficult to quantitatively measure the impact of social media. Not all social media posts will lead to direct, trackable sales. How do you put a price on mentions of your brand or a strong engagement rate?
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Swipe through this post to read more about three of the different ways that social media marketing can help strengthen your business.

05/08/2020

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as an entrepreneur was about consistency. It doesn’t matter how knowledgeable you are, how up to date you are on current trends, or how beautiful your website (or Instagram feed) is, if you aren’t consistently delivering high quality work to your clients.

But, how can you determine whether your work is high quality? First, are you meeting your clients’ goals and expectations? High quality work must deliver real results.

When I create social media content for my clients, I always make sure each piece of content that I push out into the world always serves a greater purpose. Maybe that’s to inspire our audience, create deeper connection, or motivate a customer to action.

If you’re struggling to come up with a social media strategy for your business, start with your goals, both short term and long term, and reverse engineer your success. Got a launch coming up? Well, start with the post you want to publish on your launch day and work backwards.

Creating some of your social media content in bulk can help build the foundation for a strong strategy that is rooted in delivering results for a specific goal. Don’t forget to leave a few spots here and there for more in the moment sharing and capitalizing on trends and current events.

Have you ever reverse engineered your social media strategy?

21/07/2020

When I first took over this account in January of 2019, there were a lot of changes that needed to be made. First, the bio needed to be modified. It was important that we captured our customers' attention and motivated them to action. I started with their mission and shared their signature services followed by a call to action. ⁣⁣
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Next, we did a massive rebrand. Before the content shared on social had no strategy behind it. There was no consistency, so in order to transform their feed into something beautiful, we started by establishing our brand colors and fonts. ⁣⁣
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After the rebrand, I created their content calendar and developed new social templates based on our upcoming posts. Based on how each post performed, I went back and tweaked our strategy: post style, captions, calls to action, and more. ⁣⁣
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Swipe to see the transformation >>

15/05/2020

Have you ever had that moment when you realize that you're doing exactly what you're meant to be doing?⁠⠀
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Yeah, me neither... Every time I feel like the stars begin to align and my path starts to look a bit clearer, something shifts. I used to think that it was because I was a perfectionist, but now I think there's something more going on. ⁠⠀
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As we grow, both our priorities and mentalities change and evolve. What once was a goal or a dream may shift into a new vision. Sometimes I find this shift is so subtle, that I don't realize that I've pivoted completely until I'm walking in a whole different direction. ⁠⠀
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A few weeks ago, I had this exact realization. It occurred to me that my favorite part of my day was the moment during a consultation that my client says “OMG I get it now! That makes so much sense!” Or, “I’m so excited to get started on this!” ⠀
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Don’t get me wrong, I love the strategy and the design work that comes with social media marketing. But, what I really love is being able to make and impact on small businesses and the lives of the entrepreneurs that built them. That’s what gets me out of bed in the morning. ⠀
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What’s your favorite part about your work?

14/05/2020

You’ve finally written that amazing blog post or created that beautiful product and now you want to share it to the world, specifically the world of Pinterest.⁠⠀
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Pinterest is a great tool for bringing valuable traffic to your website. What do I mean by ‘valuable traffic’? I mean the kind of people who are actually going to read your blog posts, buy your products, or sign up to your email list. That's what we all want right?!?⁠⠀
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So how to do we get these potential customers, clients, and/or dedicated fans to click over to our website in the first place? Well, we have to entice them with beautifully designed Pinterest graphics. ⁠⠀
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Personally, I love using Canva to design all my social media graphics because it’s so incredibly easy to use. I've even got 4 Pin Templates for Canva that I'm giving away for FREE! All you have to do is click my link in bio.

13/05/2020

Trust me, being a online entrepreneur is not always easy. ⁠
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Yes, it's amazing to be able to work from anywhere with an internet connection. It's amazing to be able to make my own schedule, choose which projects I want to take on and which clients I want to work with. This path I've forged and this business I've created is amazing and I could never take the freedom it has provided me for granted. ⁠
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But sometimes, this path can be really hard. The same job that gives you all the freedom in the world can sometimes build just as many walls to box you in and hold you back. ⁠
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When your motivation depends on you. Your self development depends on you. Your income depends on you. It's hard. ⁠
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One of the biggest challenges I've faced as an solopreneur is being able to push myself out of my own comfort zone to face the things that challenge me head on. ⁠
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That's why I'm making it my mission this year to take all those things on my "Maybe Someday" list and move them on to my "Let's Do It" List. It's time to break out of my comfort zone and break out of my bubble! ⁠
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Anyone else feeling like their "Maybe Someday" list is getting way too long?

27/04/2020

Have you ever wondered if you’re missing out by not having a Pinterest account for your business? ⁠⠀⁣
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Well, if you have an e-commerce store, a blog, or a website of any type, yes, you’re definitely missing out by not being on Pinterest.⁠⠀⁣
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If you have a website, you can’t rely on people just stumbling upon it. You need to drive traffic to your website in order to promote your products, services, content, or message. Just creating a website for your business and sitting back waiting for all the eager web surfers to magically find you is not a good strategy. ⁠⠀⁣
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As one of the top social networks with 250 million users every month, Pinterest provides businesses with the potential for their products and services to reach an enormous audience. ⁠⠀⁣
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Need help setting up your Pinterest Business Account? Grab my FREE guide and get your account up and running in 5 minutes!
https://view.flodesk.com/pages/5ea724d7c58c55002cfd632f

22/04/2020

There is so much information out there about the ‘secrets’ to growing your Instagram and in all honesty, a lot of it is fluff. ⁠⠀
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As someone who specializes in growing Instagram accounts from nothing, one of the best things you can do for your Instagram growth is to have a branding overhaul. ⁠⠀
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Think about it this way. Your account needs to be compelling and attention-grabbing enough to pique someone’s interest and persuade them to click the follow button.⁠⠀
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As we all know, this is no easy task. Thankfully, I've got 5 easy steps you can follow to take your Instagram from amateur to beautifully branded.⁠⠀
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Need more help? Get all the details in my blog post ➡️ https://www.alagraycollective.com/2019/01/11/5-must-dos-to-grow-your-businesss-instagram-account/

21/04/2020

Looking for a way to make deeper connections with your customers, followers, or clients? ✨⁠
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Always remember that people crave human connection. I mean that's why we all love social media in the first place! And few things can forge connections that are deeper and more meaningful than a good story. ⁠
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Telling a story can be a powerful way to resonate with your audience in a new way. Need some inspiration? ⁠
(1) Try telling your brand story from a new perspective. ⁠
(2) Highlight a client or customer and let them tell their story or share a testimonial. Testimonials themselves can be fantastic narratives! ⁠
(3) Share how an experienced shaped you, whether that be personally or professionally. ⁠
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Stories can make you more 'human' and being human makes it easier for your community to relate and identify with you. And from what I've seen, being relatable is the key to building influence. ⁠
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What's one narrative you think would be powerful to share with your audience?

20/04/2020

Instagram is now the new business card, with potential followers, customers, and clients alike relying on the same platform to learn more about your business. ⁠⠀⁣
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This means that having a concise and compelling introduction to who you are as a brand is essential for capturing someone’s interest long enough for them to click the follow button. ⁠⠀⁣
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With only 150 characters to use, writing your bio can be a big challenge. ⁠⠀⁣
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If you need help writing your Instagram Bio, download my FREE Instagram Bio Recipe Card. It’s a fast and easy way to nail your Instagram bio ➡️Link in Bio!

17/04/2020

Let’s go all the way back to 2014 for a moment. I was a freshman in college, I just moved across the country to Los Angeles for school, & I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. My passions were fashion & beauty & to be entirely honest, I would have much rather been enrolled in beauty school than be sitting in a 400 person lecture hall in my introduction to chemistry class.⁠⁣⁠
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As a natural creative, I was desperately searching for something meaningful that I could pour my heart & soul into, a community that I could connect with, & a space I could transform into my own. So, fueled by the era of the YouTube beauty gurus, I decided to start a blog, https://www.alagray.com/. For the first time, I felt like I could finally be a part of a community that deeply resonated with me. It just happened that this community existed online. ⁠⁣⁠
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Instead of taking notes in those chem classes, I began writing blog posts. As my confidence grew, I started learning the ins & outs of how to best market myself online. How I could get the world to see what I was writing & join me in my little corner of the internet. Soon, I became a communications major & discovered the power of social media. I created a Pinterest profile, a page, & an Instagram account all to market my blog online. I learned how to design social media graphics & how to differentiate myself in an ever more crowded space. Never had I been hungrier for the knowledge to do better & be better at something. ⁠⁣⁠
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It wasn’t long before I realized that the answers to my questions lived off campus, so I spent the rest of my college career interning in an effort to get more experience in the world of social media marketing. I started with managing & monitoring the social media accounts for a political campaign. Then I tried on the world of fashion PR & finally landed an internship with a green beauty brand, who is still one of my clients today.

When I moved back home to the Southeast after school, my client list grew thanks to my sheer stubborn insistence that I could turn this freelancing thing I had going on into a real business.

It has now been over two years since I began my crazy journey of running an online business & boy, have I learned a lot. The first being that it’s so incredibly important to invest in yourself, especially if you are your business. And, my favorite way to invest in myself/business is by far through education.

How do you invest in yourself and your business?

16/04/2020

An elevator pitch is a story of who you are and why you do what you do.⁣⁠⠀
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It not only helps define your business to others, but also helps determine the type of content that you share on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and even your website. ⁣⁠⠀
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When creating your elevator pitch, you need to consider these four questions:⁣⁠⠀
1. Who am I? ⁣⁠⠀
2. What do I offer?⁣⁠⠀
3. How does it serve others? ⁣⁠⠀
4. Why does it matter? ⁣⁠⠀
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Need more help crafting your elevator pitch? I've got a FREE worksheet that outlines everything you need to say and provides examples so you can craft your perfect elevator pitch! ⁣⁠⠀
➡️ https://www.alagraycollective.com/2019/01/07/whats-an-elevator-pitch-and-do-you-need-one/

15/04/2020

Three years ago, I was a second semester senior and college graduation was looming. I was living in LA and all of my friends were applying for jobs in big companies with corporate offices and I was feeling completely unmotivated and uninspired to follow in their footsteps. The idea of working a nine-to-five in a corporate office sounded miserable and I was looking for more of an adventure.

I had a dream of doing something different. I just hadn't figured out what that was yet.

So, I pitched being hired as the blog manager for the green beauty company I had been interning for and I left LA with two social media management clients and some big dreams.

After shedding blood sweat and tears growing this business, I can now say that I wouldn't have had it any other way.

How'd you start your business? Or, have you not made the leap yet? Spill!

15/04/2020

15/04/2020

15/04/2020

I’m Grayson, the CEO of A La Gray Collective, a social media marketing agency whose mission is to help entrepreneurs better understand and take advantage of the full capabilities of social media.

Throughout my 5 years of social media marketing experience, I have worked with clients in 10+ industries, ranging from food, service, medical, podcasts, event management, e-commerce, skincare, non-profits, and more!

A La Gray Collective began as a way to help small business owners focus more on their zones of genius and less on social media. By teaching owners how to more effectively and efficiently market on social media, I can give them back more time to spend on what’s really important, their business.

After a few years of working one-on-one with clients, I started getting a lot of questions about how I became a social media manager and if I could teach them how to become one too. Now, I spend much of my time helping like-minded female entrepreneurs launch and grow their social media marketing businesses and I love it!

Whether you enjoy the free resources on my blog, purchase my templates and guides in my online store, or need help managing your small business’s social media accounts, I hope I can help guide you through the often overwhelming, but always fascinating world of social media. I’m excited to start this journey together!