Spring Cleaning: A look Beyond

Thoughts for the Upcoming Year.

Spring is finally here!! Now is the time to reflect and make those changes you've been putting off since last year. We here at Yellow Hibiscus Gallery ("YH") are in a reflective mood. March happens to be our official anniversary.  We can't believe that it’s been more than a year since we opened our digital doors and welcomed you into our gallery. In that time, we’ve had a lot of ups and downs, but overall - we’ve made some great strides.

A little background for those who are new to this blog. YH was conceptualized by our fearless leader, who fell in love with an idea that he couldn't let go. I came onboard as the creative director and lead designer of the site in the spring of 2014, when I was sold on the dream for YH after I took a meeting with our business director/founder.  Fast forward a few restless nights, angst ridden phone calls, marathon meetings, and presto!! YH is born!! We initially launched with the goal of introducing African artists and those from the diaspora to the masses, but as you can tell, we've tweaked that a bit.

Naturally, we’ve had our setbacks, but we’ve also had some successes. We’ve formed relationships with six artists, all whom I can assure you are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G; we’ve sold several pieces; and we have formed and continue to form close relationships with people in the art industry.

So, What’s in store for this year?

We are determined to have an eventful and successful year. How will we do this? Simple!  By increasing our social  media outreach, driving traffic to our site, and focusing on sales. We know that we have quite a ways to go on increasing our brand awareness. As a small business, it’s not unusual to have little to no brand recognition and reach, but since our business is to sell strictly online, increasing our online standing is tantamount to our success. 

As spring rears her lovely head, we’ve determined to have a eventful and successful year by increasing our social reach thereby selling more fantastic artwork. One thing that we’ve learned this year is that our brand has little social recognition. We however recognize that as a small business, it will take a while for us to build our brand recognition and reach, but since our business is to sell strictly online, increasing our online standing is paramount to our success. 

So how will we do this?  To widen our reach, we are committed to growing our  social media presence via some paid campaigns on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Our future customers are smart, witty, and tech savvy.  They are comfortable socializing and shopping online. Our goal is to make sure that we are reachable and searchable at all times on relevant platforms. Increasing our social reach will hopefully build trust with future clients, and introduce them to, and educate them about our artists.

While we grow our social media presence, we will also court press coverage and produce more content for blog. Admittedly, we’ve been a tad bit shy this past year, and have not made our rounds on the social circuit.  This will soon change. We will now be splitting our time with events, acquiring new artists and content creation. We’ve learned that the more you are seen, the more people know your brand and so, be prepared to see our pretty faces at a party near you.

Lastly, we will seek to build an online community for our clients, artists, fans, friends, and family to help you discover, admire and collect our art pieces.  Check back from time to time for new content from us, and sign up for our newsletter.  We want to encourage you to engage with us as we begin a conversation around art, and what it means for you.  Your heartfelt reviews, comments, and suggestions are welcomed. 

We are excited, and look forward to a successful year and beyond.