Ten Years Gone
Ten Years.
I know that number is confusing because in June I celebrated HeyGiud's 2nd Birthday. But I have been managing social media accounts for businesses for 10 years. Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of the first Business Page I launched. Technically, the client was my Dad and his business. Facebook had launched the option for Businesses to have a presence on the social networking platform. The allways curious, lifelong learner I am decided to call up my Dad and ask for the logos for Beaverdale Tees, a little side hustle he'd developed making t-shirts for local businesses and a few funny tees for people who love our neighborhood as much as he does. He wasn't sure what I was doing but he went along with it.
Several hours, a million edits, and a lot of learning later this happened:
My Dad to this day still doesn't have Facebook. He wasn't even sure he wanted it for Beaverdale Tees at the time but knew that Social Media was the next big thing and that if he was supporting his daughter in learning something knew it was worth it. The page is old enough that he has a login to look at the page and post things without having a personal page, something Facebook eliminated fairly quickly. We all know that their goal is to have more people on the platform so there are a few accounts out there grandfathered in with the old login capabilities.
Since that day I've helped countless businesses, nonprofits, and friends figure out their way around everything from a Facebook page to LinkedIn or Instagram and the beast that is Twitter. I taught myself everything I'd need to know. I read every article I could find. I learned about Facebook's Algorithm and what I should be doing best to help my clients out. Eventually I added Christopher's Restaurant in Beaverdale to the list of clients I worked with. I got paid in pizza, it was the best deal ever in my eyes at that time.
Finally in winter of 2015 I figured it was time I get some formal training in what I was doing. I enrolled in Northwestern University's Social Media Marketing Specialization through Coursera and spent the next six months absorbing everything I could about social media marketing. I finished my capstone and earned my specialization certificate a few weeks after launching HeyGiud.
Since June 3, 2016 I've grown so much. I'm not working for pizzas anymore, though admittedly I sometimes miss that deal. I can't thank each and everyone of you enough. My friends listened to me babble on about things that made no sense to them. My clients took a chance on a girl who often times showed up with pink hair shoved into a messy bun and yesterday's eyeliner smeared under her eyes because she'd been up all night working.
A huge thank you to my Dad and my cousin Ron for taking a chance on me. For letting me use them as my guinea pigs and testing out every weird thing I thought might work for their businesses.
Thank you to each of HeyGiud's clients, past and present, over the last 2.5 years for allowing me to be part of your organization and help you navigate, plan and execute your social media. Whether we worked together for a short period of time, still work together, or you have been with me since day one I say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Without your belief and support I wouldn't be here.
Beaverdale Tees
Christopher's Restaurant
Joy Giudicessi - my Mother the artist
FuseDSM: Your Chamber of Commerce
Beacon of Life and Beacon Boutique
Graziano Brothers
Kneeling Cat Pilates
Kaitlyn Munro, LMT.
Friends of SW 9th
Dr. Ryan Anderson and No Coast Consulting
JCI Des Moines Jaycees
Britney Brown Photography
The Barnum Factory
RiverBend Neighborhood Association
Tricia Rivas and her many adventures including Trixies Salon and Dream Catchers Foundation
Dawn Edwards, Club200, and Jack & Vinnie's Food Truck
Lauren Campbell Photography
The Kidsperts
Shade Tree Bakery
SpeakPR
Austin Parks
Active Body Needs
Best Buddies Iowa
Lupus Foundation of America, Iowa Chapter
Neighborhood Development Corporation
Shannon Sobek
Madison Ray and ANDRO
Rendezvous on Riverview
Driftless Drones
Marce Peters
Allegra Marketing, Print, Mail
Urbandale Community Action Network and the Urbandale Centennial Committee
Gigi Filer and Gigi's Pilates
Ankeny Historical Society
The BeYouTiful Initiative
And I know there are countless people who have asked me questions, had consultations with me, and allowed me to impart some of my knowledge on them. Thank you to each of you, I wouldn't be here without all of you.
Cheers to the next 10 years!
Annie