Cover Photo by Pushpak Dsilva on Unsplash

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By Arielle Champion

I run an apparel business that includes loungewear and all things comfortable. Using bleach, I hand-dye hoodies, sweatpants, t-shirts, and more. I also sell keychains and include free stickers in each order. 

When I first started my clothing business, Apparel by Arielle I simply posted pictures of my products on Instagram and that was it. I didn’t have a real plan. My business page had a total of 55 followers which mainly consisted of friends and family. After a while, I started to realize that I needed a bigger audience if I truly wanted to take the whole business thing seriously.

With months of thorough research, I can now say my business is thriving and still continuing to grow. Seven months later and my small business has a following of 1,487 people and the numbers increase weekly. Not only is my Instagram page thriving but my website as well. 

This sudden growth for my business didn’t happen on its own. There were multiple things I did to help my business become successful at a consistent pace. Some of this included using social media to the fullest, creating an aesthetic, and designing a theme for my brand.

Entrepreneur and Professor of Business Administration, Dr. Paul E. Adams, says, “Successful entrepreneurs that understand the importance of developing a theme usually have clear objectives to aim for – and clear objectives mean a better chance of success.”

Color and Themes

When starting a business whether it’s for clothing, jewelry, baking, etc, there needs to be a consistent theme. Creating this will help your audience and customers recognize you automatically. This means, choosing at least 2-3 colors and fonts you’ll use for posts and ads. Typically, the colors and fonts used in your logo should be the ones used for everything else.

When too many colors and fonts are used it can make a business appear unorganized and unappealing. A social media page or website is usually the first thing a customer sees. If it’s visually unappealing they’re more likely to turn away and become less interested.

Social Media Outreach

Social media is such a great tool for any kind of business. It has the power to reach thousands and even millions if used correctly. Facebook and Instagram are some of the most powerful platforms to help your business grow.

The first thing to do is create a Facebook business page. Instagram and Facebook are connected and to open up a shop on these platforms and create ads, a Facebook account is needed. A Facebook page serves as the home base, It should have your website and Instagram link, as well as any other platform used for your business. This will allow easy access to your business as a whole.

The Cover Photo

Adding a cover photo that captures your entire brand is important; this photo is the biggest on the page and it will be the first thing your audience sees. The profile picture should always be your logo, This helps your audience to become familiar with your brand.

Once a Facebook page is created, it’s best to create an Instagram account, and if you already have one, great. Instagram works as a collage and look book for your business. It’s important to upload videos and photos that perfectly capture and advertise your brand.

Consistency

To make your Instagram look even better, it’s best to try uploading corresponding posts. Using a combination of product and customer posts will help your Instagram page look professional. Whether it’s a picture of clothes folded a certain way or someone doing daily tasks while wearing your products, make sure it gets uploaded to Instagram. 

Introducing Yourself

The last important step is adding a bio. With an Instagram bio, you want it to be short and precise that only includes the most important details. If long paragraphs are used in an Instagram bio, most will not read any further.  It’s best to keep the extra details for your website.

With a consistent theme, a resourceful Facebook page, and a visually appealing Instagram page, your business will have the potential to grow. Customers will be instantly drawn to your business and your audience will increase at a quicker pace. 

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By Raimondo Partito

How We Met

My girlfriend and I are no strangers to the difficulty of long-distance relationships. In fact, we spend nine out of the twelve months of the year physically apart. So yes, we are used to being apart, but not in the way the pandemic has forced us to be. Angelica lives in Puerto Rico while I live in Philadelphia. We met each other during our freshman year at Providence College in Rhode Island. When she is at school and I am home, we are still a five-hour train ride away. It is never easy for us, but that doesn’t stop us from being together!

Pandemic Hit

We are not used to being apart without knowing when we might see each other again. Before COVID, we could plan trips to see one another. Due to the shut downs, Angelica was forced to move back to Puerto Rico. This affected our relationship tremendously. We may have been able to lay out our life plans and talk about where we would go next but all of that was put on pause for months. We were not even allowed to travel to one another. We had absolutely no idea when we would see each other again. We were not the only couple who was dealing with this. My fellow classmate, Doris Zheku, who is also in a long-distance relationship said, “If it were not for being able to fly to see each other basically like once a month..if it happened during COVID then I would have never been able to see him.” She then went on to say, “My boyfriend does not think flying is safe so if I flew to him, he probably would make me quarantine for two weeks first.” It is important to understand you and your significant other are not the only ones going through a long-distance relationship during a global pandemic. You are not alone!

Being Patient 

One of the biggest factors with long-distance relationships is how the couples have two completely different schedules.  I will be the first one to admit it: not talking to your partner all day and not knowing what they are doing is extremely hard. Doris mentioned how “it felt more like long-distance because there was no divide between home and being at work. I was home all day doing nothing and he was home all day working. As soon as you know it, the day is over and we barely spoke.” Long-distance relationships are all about patience and resilience. Patience with your significant other when, for example, they’re not able to communicate back as quickly as you’d like and resilience to deal with the worries and frustrations that can come with this. Not being able to talk to your partner throughout the day because you have different schedules is very difficult, but nobody ever said it was going to be easy. You just need to be patient. 

Use Various Forms of Communicating

This might be advice one already knows, but it is only omnipresent because it works. FaceTime dates have kept our relationship strong while we are separated states away from each other. Scheduling them in advance gives us something to look forward to and face-to-face conversation feels special when seeing each other in person is not an option.

Accepting Reality

Adopting an “it is what it is” mindset has been crucial for both myself and my girlfriend. She is much more free-spirited and easy-going than me, so I would say this specific part has been exponentially easier for her, but both of us realized early on that nothing could be set in stone. I had to accept that the pandemic overturned our lives and any plans we had. Though it is still tough to not know when we will be able to live together again, I have learned that it is not worth destroying myself over.

Just Embrace It

My girlfriend and I have learned to appreciate little things, as well as appreciating each other and our relationship. If we can make it through this, I really think we can make it through anything. It is important to remember you’re not alone. Lots of people are sharing their stories about long-distance relationship challenges during the COVID-19 outbreak and sometimes it really helps to know that others are dealing with this too. It is important to know there is no one-size-fits-all formula to maintaining a long-distance relationship and couples have to figure out what works best for them.

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