Timing is everything. Try to post your pictures at times when people are playing around with their phones. I try to post around lunch time, late afternoon, and early evenings. Don’t flood your followers feeds either because that will get you unfollowed. One picture every one to two hours is just fine.

My most-used social media platform is Instagram. I use it to post all my photos of my nail art; I interact with my followers, and make friends with people who share a love for nail art. I have gained many new clients off of Instagram as well. It seems like everyone is looking at pictures to see what’s trending with nail art and I really try to stay up to par with that.  My top three used apps are Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter.

I am a huge advocate of social media and it’s helpful to me in expanding my business. I use Facebook, Instagram, WeChat, Kijiji, and Craigslist. Kijiji and Craigslist have been a convenient way for me to advertise since it’s free to post and I’ve successfully secured a handful of clients this way. Facebook has been a great way to showcase my work and connect with clients and potential clients. Instagram allows me to gain constructive feedback from fellow nail techs to improve and hone my skills. I never used to like hashtags but now I’m the hashtag queen. WeChat is something fairly new I’m trying out. It provides you with the opportunity to connect with people in your area by proximity. The option to post pictures is awesome to showcase my work too.

Being that I basically run my own business out of another business, I have the freedom to offer my own promotions. I offer a $5 discount for clients who “check in” on Facebook because that helps promote my business to friends and family of theirs. New clients and clients who have referred their friends and family also receive a discount. From time to time I also do promotions on nail art, which I post on social media. 
Best Practices: Be active, post consistently, and don’t be afraid to ask your clients to like and share your Facebook page.

I have my clients showcase a photo of my art with my business card on their individual social media accounts. In addition to my clients, I also post pictures on Instagram, Facebook, and even Pinterest. However, I find Instagram to be more user-friendly and I receive more feedback from Instagram users. Social media is a great tool to reach individuals who typically would not come across my art and it provides individuals the chance to reach out to me. 

Having amassed such a huge fan base on Instagram and on other media platforms is directly correlated with my ability to meticulously manage my accounts, interact with my followers, and brand myself. My first and most important tip is that I am very interactive on all my social platforms. I am currently present on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, We Heart It, Ustream, and Influence Network, and I’m always up to speed with the newest and latest social spheres so that I can join and be present there as well. It is important to keep in mind that different social platforms appeal to different groups of people. I respond and reply to my fans and clients as much as I can, thereby creating a closer and more personal relationship with each individual. Not only do I reply to questions or comments, but I also shout out my followers, do random phone calls where I catch them by surprise, and post questions so that I can get a deeper insight and understanding of my followers. By doing so, I have created a very loyal fan base who will most likely recommend my profile to their friends, family, and their own followers as well. As a result, I am not only maintaining my current fan base, but I am also gaining new followers by referrals.     
My second tip is to focus on branding yourself, which is something I have excelled at. By posting a wide array of posts such as personal pictures, inspirational quotes, and comedic videos that are not related to my profession as a nail artist, I am actually reinforcing my brand that I am so much more than just your average nail tech. I engage people in my own life and show them more facets of my personality which is something I try to reflect in my nail designs.