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When I figured I could make tiny handmade “box-cards” with gifts hiding inside for my friends to make them happy—before my 12 yr old self could even understand, what I was actually doing…
I’ve been doing the same with every piece I’ve created since then; whether that means decorating my dining table to have guests over, making sure every website I design feels like “I’m thinking of you” to every user that visits them, or creating a post for Instagram that gives viewers something… a ‘you are not alone’ thought, inspiration or makes them smile.
That something is something that I like to jokingly call: “The Spellbinding Potion”
I could go on and on about all the fancy technicalities but I’ll save you the hassle and give you what is going to serve you the best: Each time I need to create pretty much anything —aesthetically balanced, pleasing and on point— I come up with 3 elements, both visuals and words, that will fit in the following “potion”
is formed by the following elements:
Let me unpack that a bit:
When in doubt, avoid adding unnecessary noise. Keep your message clean by having 1 goal {and 1 goal only} in mind with every Story. Because: Hello, short attention span?! eeek.
I hear 5 slides is the magic number these days. Test what works best for your audience.
Either your personality or your brand’s.
Consistent colors, voice, style; anything that makes you {or your brand}—you. These are little things that will make you more memorable.
Like on every film or book, make sure to have a beginning, middle and end.
For a marketing touch, don’t forget your CTA {call-to-action}, either dotted or at the end.
Personally I always like to start by defining what the purpose of creating *anything* even is, if I know what the final message is, if I know what the end of my Instagram Story is going to be: I can reverse engineer to the beginning—voilà! makes everyone’s life easier.
Visually and in words, I choose my main character, the center of attention, the Leading Lady. The sweet “honey” made to attract hungry eyes.
Example: In this case my visual element, “The Star”, is a graphic of the moon. In words, “The Star” element could be your goal/subject/conclusion/the reason why you created the Story in the first place, etc.
Your favorite story! Like Tinker Bell is for Peter Pan. Like the Mad Hatter is for Alice. Visually and in words, I choose elements whose only purpose is to use their presence, to help “The Star” shine.
Example: In this case my visual “Supporting Flair Element” are these sparkles. In words, it could be a message that supports the main subject/goal, etc
Your unique take and any element{s} that you’ll need to bring your unique vision to life to help tie everything together. The elements could be your words, brand colors, personal style, photos, etc.
Example: In this case my visual “Magic Dust” are these particles + whatever else I need to make it ‘mine’. In words it could be your brands voice.
I mean, look at how I took all the basic elements {the examples mentioned above} and made them totally my own; do I need to say more?
I like to think of every creative piece I’m making as a closed book waiting to be opened…
The same thing applies to Instagram Stories, they are waiting for the right person to come, open it and explore “their pages” having such a memorable experience that inevitable will make them…fall in love with it.
I’m making an emphasis on “right person” because as we know, not every book is for everyone.
Because as my Business Coach said once: “we all could have the perfect product, the perfect website, the perfect branding”, or as I said; have created “the perfect book”, but if we don’t know who we are aiming to give it to; Your People/your Dream Client/your Target Market —we’ve got nothing.
I believe getting to know our people is a life-long journey, just like getting to know our partners or closest friends; we as humans never stay the same, we are ever evolving creatures.
As someone that is just starting her journey into following her dream of having a successful online business, I’m committed to getting to know my people for the rest of my business life. And since you are here my dear Kindred Spirit, I think you should too.
Chances are you are aiming to build something too; whether that be a present or future business, a personal brand or a community of like-minded people on Instagram.
And that is *why* after so much thinking I decided to be brave, step out of my comfort zone, and share this life-long learning with you. I might just have added a bit of storytelling and whimsy to the whole thing, but the essence stays the same.
As Maya Angelou beautifully expressed…