Why Candles? I have always loved candles, but I could never find exactly what I was looking for. I tried making my own candles a few years ago, but it didn't go well. I didn't have the correct equipment, so it failed miserably. Recently, I wanted to experiment with a new medium and decided to try and make candles again with the correct equipment this time. I am always looking for all-natural pet-safe candles that have a strong smell. With some extra time on my hands, I was looking for a new hobby so I decided to try candle making again. Candle Jars and Tins I wanted to make candles that not only smell unique but look unique as well. I came up with the idea of using recycled materials as candle jars. I went to Goodwill and found old china, coffee mugs, and jars. For my other jars, I wanted to go with a classic metal candle tin so I ordered some online. Finding the Correct Dimensions Next on my to-do list was to measure the candle jars from every angle, so my labels would fit right. After I had the correct dimensions, I used an online converter to convert the inches to pixels, so I could create the correct sized labels on Canva. After a few attempts at getting the measurements right, I was ready to start designing my labels. Designing the Labels I wanted each label to be eye-catching so I started by picking a color pallet for each of my scents. At the time I didn't have the best printer so I kept running into issues with coloring. I ended up having to print everything in darker shades than how I wanted them to look. It was a frustrating process, but once I had the correct colors for each label it got easier. From that point, I started looking for pictures and graphics to fulfill my creative vision. Here are a few examples of the stages each label went through: Blooming Lilac

The past month I have been focusing on building a website for my small business , and testing which type of social media ad would generate the most sales. If you’re interested in reading more, feel free to scroll through my landing page! Over the past month I spent my time: - Building a stunning website for my resin art products - Creating different types of social media ads (video and picture) using Canva - Testing the ads to see which generates more, views, clicks, and swipe ups - Documenting the process through blog posts Why I Chose This Project I have always been super interested in website building. When I was young I built a few not-so-good websites just for fun, but I never really did a deep dive into building a website. This month I did a deep dive into website building to learn all the elements that go into having a good website. I also wanted to really focus on learning more about social media advertising. I wanted to do a lot of research and then put my knowledge to the test. With my ever growing interest in marketing, I felt this would be the perfect project to do for my small business. What is KatNeylanCreations? KatNeylanCreations is a jewelry and resin art business that I created in 2020 during the pandemic. I sell key chains, coasters, ashtrays, jewelry organization, bookmarks, necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets, and jewelry sets. The Ads Originally I was planning to run ads on two platforms to see which platform generated more sales, but as you will see in my week three updates I had to pivot my project. Each advertisement was run for exactly two weeks. I created one video ad and one picture ad for Snapchat . At the end of the two weeks I was able to figure out which ad generated more sales, clicks, and views for my small business. Follow my Project From Start to Finish! First week update - planning, product production, and website building Second week update - researching Etsy SEO, researching social media marketing, listing the products, creating landing pages for my ads, and creating and launching the ads. Third week update - writing about what I’ve learned, and publishing the rough draft of my website Fourth week update - writing an ad analysis blog, and publishing the final draft of my website What I Have Accomplished in 4 Weeks - I built a website for my small business Here is the website , and the blog I wrote about website building ! - I created two ads using Canva Here are the ads , and the blog I wrote about advertising on Snapchat ! - I tested two of the ads on Snapchat to see which generated more views, clicks, and swipe ups. Here is my Snapchat ad analysis blog ! - I documented the whole process through blogs A blog about the start of KatNeylanCreations A blog about time management A blog about using Etsy SEO A blog about advertising on Instagram A blog about advertising on Snapchat A blog about using Canva An ad analysis blog Here Are the Ads That I created

This month I focused on building a website for my small business , and tested which type of social media ads would generate the most sales. If you’re interested in reading more, feel free to scroll through my landing page ! Week Four At the end of week four, I documented how each advertisement did, and finished building the website. I was able to figure out which ad generated the most clicks, and impressions. At the beginning of week four, my website was nearly complete. I spent my time going through and checking for spelling errors, making sure all the links work properly, and testing the website to make sure that it was easy to navigate. I also created one blog: Snapchat vs Instagram Which is Better for Advertising? Problems I faced This Week This week had a very small amount of problems. The only problem that I faced was while uploading my blog post about Snapchat ads. For some reason my website wouldn't let me upload the GIF of my video ad which was strange because it had let me upload GIFs in the past. I had to go through a third party GIF convertor and create a new GIF, to get it to upload. What went well this week This week was smooth sailing. I was able to get my website finished, and write my blog post about the Snapchat ads at the beginning of the week. Now it's time for me to plan my next big project! What's Next? Although this project has taught me a lot about hard work and problem solving, it has also helped me to grow. I learned how to balance raising two dogs, a social life, and running a small business, while spending an average of 12-14 hours a day building my website. If you want to see what project I come up with next, here are all my socials: Personal LinkedIn , personal Talent Profile , business Instagram , and business Facebook.

The past month I have been focusing on building a website for my small business , and testing which type of social media ad would generate the most sales. If you’re interested in reading more, feel free to scroll through my landing page! Starting From Scratch I decided to build a website for my small business before the holiday season. I set a deadline to have the whole website done in four weeks. I used a website builder called Ionos to create a product oriented site for KatNeylanCreations . I started with a single blank page and built an entire website from there. My website has landing pages for ads, an email sign up, a contact page, and lots of product pages. Over the month that I was working on this I encountered a few different problems, but overall I had a lot of fun making my first website. Everything Takes Time I knew when I started this huge project that website building wasn't a fast and easy task. However, I did not expect it to take up this much time. Although I loved building the website, I found myself spending an average of 12-16 hours a day working on the website. I even worked on the website on weekends, and on my vacation. I found myself tired and unmotivated a lot, but I was determined to get it done within the four week goal I had set. The Problems I Encountered I had a lot of problems with Ionos, the website builder I was using. I would do hours of work, adding pictures and links to each page only for them to disappear when I returned to the website. For the longest time I couldn't figure out what was causing the issue, and I wasn't able to find anything online about it so I did some experimenting. I discovered that everytime I wanted to look at one of my other pages, I had to republish first. Otherwise, all my work would be gone. I had no idea why this was happening but I sure was glad I figured it out. Finally, all the hours and redoing the same page was over. The Website The website itself has a total of 40 pages. Each page has information, pictures, and links to Etsy, or Instagram. I included an about page, and product care pages so my website wasn't just products. Here is a preview of my website I like the way my website turned out, and I discovered that I really like website building. It wasn't easy, that's for sure, but I liked how all the little puzzle pieces began to fit together as the site was developing. Despite all the little problems I faced while building this site, I would definitely want to build another one!

This month I will be focusing on building a website for my small business , and testing which type of social media ad would generate the most sales. If you’re interested in reading more, feel free to scroll through my landing page! The first Snapchat ad I created was a basic picture ad showcasing one of my products. The purpose of this ad was to draw awareness to my brand, get swipe ups, and website visits. For this ad, I used a clear photo, a minimalistic filter, and as little words as possible. I included a CTA, the name of my business, and a very basic description of the product. Here is the ad:

This month I focused on building a website for my small business , and tested which type of social media ads would generate the most sales. If you’re interested in reading more, feel free to scroll through my landing page! What is Canva? Canva is one of the easiest platforms to use when it comes to graphic design. Canva is an easy-to-use website that makes it so that users don't have to learn a whole software in order to do graphic design. With its easy to use settings, Canva is great when something needs to get done fast. Although there are paid upgrades to Canva, they still have hundreds of free options. How to create a project The first thing you need to do when creating anything on Canva is pick a template, or create your own. Canva has hundreds of pre-sets for creating ads, Instagram stories, flyers, posters, and so much more. If for whatever reason you are unable to find the size template you need, you can always create one of your own. The video below demonstrates how to create a custom size template.

This month I will be focusing on building a website for my small business , and testing which type of social media ad would generate the most sales. If you’re interested in reading more, feel free to scroll through my landing page! Week Three: I spent this week writing about what I have learned, and working on my website . I added pictures, links, and made sure that everything looked aesthetically pleasing on the site. I also created two blog posts this week: I Built my First Website in One Month, The Two Snapchat Ads That I Created and Should You be Using Canva? Problems I Faced This Week I only had one problem this week, but don't be fooled because it was a big one. On Monday morning I went to check in on my ads to see their progress only to discover that Facebook had deactivated my account. My ads were no longer running and there was no way to fix it. I reached out to Facebook, but I didn't have time to wait for a response since each ad needed to run for two weeks. I had to pivot part of my project. I decided that since comparing the Snapchat ads to the Instagram ads was no longer possible, I would have to compare the Snapchat video ad to the Snapchat picture ad. What Went Well This Week This week I felt like I really got used to using the website builder Ionos . I found that editing, and adding things was going a lot quicker than the past weeks. I was able to get so much done on my website in a shorter amount of time which was a huge relief. Another thing that went really well this week was writing my blogs. Usually I have to sit and think for a while before I can figure out what to say, but this week that was not the case. The information just poured out of me. I even had time to write an extra blog that wasn't planned. Overall this week was pretty smooth sailing. Check out week four! For week four I will be focusing on the analysis of my advertisements, and finishing the final draft of my website . Here's my link to my week three updates!

This month I focused on building a website for my small business , and tested which type of social media ads would generate the most sales. If you’re interested in reading more, feel free to scroll through my landing page ! Creating a Snapchat Ad To have your ad shown to potential leads, you will need to narrow down who sees the ad. It’s important to know who your demographic is. How old are your customers? What are they interested in? What gender are they? This helps your ad to appear to your target audience. It’s also important to have a thorough understanding of your goal for each ad. Are you trying to raise brand awareness? Are you trying to get app installs? Snapchat makes it very easy to create the correct ad for your business because they offer lots of ad types. Top Snapchat Ads Top Snapchat Ads are GIFs or videos that show up on the top of a user's feed. These ads are good for known companies to advertise new products or run sales. You can't add a link to Top Snapchat Ads, so they aren't the best for smaller businesses. Long-Form Video Ads Long-Form Video ads can be up to 10 minutes long. Long-Form Videos ads are great for promoting movie trailers, or music videos. However, they can also be used to show how-to tutorial videos. Web View Ads These ads are the same as Top Snap Ads, however, you can add a link. The link must be in URL format. This ad type is a good choice for both small and big businesses. Deep-link Ads Deep-link ads are a variation of Webview ads, however, the link doesn't have to be a URL. You can link these ads straight to a website, making it easy for potential leads to find what you are advertising. App Install Ads The title App install Ad is pretty self-explanatory. This ad is specifically designed to get potential leads to download an app, with a link that brings them straight to the app store. Sponsored Lenses ads On Snapchat there are different lenses that allow users to change their face. An example of a sponsored lens: A lens that allows users to turn themselves into a 3d taco, with a little Taco Bell logo at the bottom of the screen. These ads are especially great for big companies. Sponsored Geofilter Ads Geofilters are filters that users can scroll through once they have taken a picture or video. These are branded filters, so it will show a creative coloring aspect as well as the company name. These ads are great for larger companies. On-Demand Geofilter Ads These ads are similar to regular Geofilter Ads, however, they are location-based. So if you were sitting in Colorado and scrolling through filters, an animated filter might pop up saying “Gunnison Colorado”. That is an example of an On-Demand Geofilter ad. Creating a Snapchat Ad First, you have to create a picture or video that you want to use for the ad. Then you want to go to Snapchat.com and click on advertisements. From there it is really simple to build an ad. You fill out the demographics, interests, budget, and schedule. Once you hit submit, your ad will go under review. After its completion, the ad will start on the set date. Inside the Snapchat website, you can track the progress and all the analytics for each ad. This makes it super easy to see if your ad is working how you want it to. Pricing a Snapchat Ad Advertising on snapchat does cost money, but how much? It depends on what you want to spend. Snapchat makes it easy to set your own budget. You can choose a daily amount, a weekly amount, or a lifetime amount. A lifetime amount is the total amount that will be spent during the ad campaign. Something really cool that snapchat does, is match the price you put down. So if you were to spend $50 on an ad campaign, Snapchat will also spend $50. This helps your campagnes to have a larger reach. Is Snapchat Easy to Advertise On? There are many options when it comes to picking the right type of Snapchat ad for your business. Each ad is designed to help provide the correct tools for different types of businesses. Creating a Snapchat ad is super simple, and easy to understand. Snapchat also makes it extremely easy to check on the progress of each ad. Overall Snapchat makes advertising a very easy experience.

This month I focused on building a website for my small business , and tested which type of social media ads would generate the most sales. If you’re interested in reading more, feel free to scroll through my landing page ! Types of Ads for Instagram There are nine different types of Instagram ads. These ads include: Image Ads, Video Ads, Story Ads, Explore Page Ads, IGTV Ads, Reels Ads, Carousel Ads, Collection Ads, and Shopping Ads. Phew, that's a lot! Let me explain what each one is and how it works. Image Ads