DO YOU HAVE A TIP FOR US?
Every day, since February 3rd 2018 I have posted a tip about jewelry making over on the Metalsmith Society page. Most of these tips generously come from members of our community. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to submit a tip (or multiple tips :) Here is my simple guide on how to best submit a tip!
WHAT KIND OF IMAGES TO SEND
In order to share your ideas with the community I will need at least one picture (but more is typically better.) Your images should clearly convey the context of your tip. Ideally someone shouldn't need the caption to make sense of what they are seeing in the post. The images you send should belong to you and not be *borrowed* from a Google search or Pinterest. I also prefer images without text overlay. My reasoning is that I prefer the explanation of the tip to be in the caption, which can be translated via the Instagram app. Lastly please consider the lighting and clearness of your images, I'm hesitant to share blurry pictures as they can make it hard to understand the tip in some cases.
SHARING VIDEOS
We LOVE videos, they get some of the best engagement and can really help beginners understand the use of a tool or technique. Ideally a video is 4-59 seconds long. Instagram has a maximum length of 1 minute for videos in a post so sending clips under a minute is best and they also can be easily attached in an email. I like to share videos without someone speaking and explaining, again because if someone needs close captioning or they don't speak english they can still get the same explanation from the caption as everyone else and not miss out on any crucial info. 9:16 ratio is ideal for videos!
SENDING REELS
REELS are currently having a moment on Instagram and if you made an educational reel or one that shares a tip you can download it and email the video to me!
DON'T HAVE A VIDEO? THAT'S OKAY!
I know reels seem like they are super important but recently I realized that reels are helpful for new accounts discovering Metalsmith Society but regular posts are still very important for engaging with our active community! So if you want to share some beautiful images of a tip please send them over!
WRITING A CAPTION
An Instagram post has a character limit of 2200, I can't tell you how many times I've had to edit down a 3000 character post 😂 so when you write a caption please be mindful of that. Typically short and sweet is best. If you are showing a tip with a tool you will want to mention what that tool is. Some members of our community are very new to jewelry making and every post is a learning opportunity! Have fun with it, emojis are encouraged! ⚒
SENDING ME YOUR TIP
The best way to send me your tip is to email me at TIPS@METALSMITHSOCIETY.COM with the subject line describing the tip. It's very important you share your Instagram handle as I always want to give full credit to you. Sometimes I am unable to write back immediately, please don't hesitate to send a follow up email after a month if you don't hear from me. I get hundred of emails a week and sometimes a tip can slip by so don't be shy!
CAN YOU SEND ME A DM?
It's not ideal to send a tip through a DM, simply because it will easily get lost. I get a hundred DM a day at times, which I always appreciate it is just simply impossible to see and respond to them all. On the same note if you need my help, have a question with an order from the Society Shop or just reaaaaaallly need to get in touch, email me!
WHAT TYPES OF TIPS TO SEND
I am open to sharing your tips and techniques about basically everything relating to jewelry making as long as you are not sharing proprietary information that would allow someone to copy your designs! Tips about organization of your studio space, materials, tools and finished work are always a hit. Soldering tips, stone setting tips, fabrication tips. If you made your own tool or modified a tool. If you found ways to save time with production or you streamlined some other technique. Safety tips are great as well. Business tips, photography tips the list goes on and on! If you are curious about whether we have shared a tip in the past you can look it up on the TIP SEARCH PAGE. This is a search engine created just for us (thanks to my Patreons) where you can search a term like "dental floss" and see any tip we have shared that mentions floss in the caption.
WHAT IF I ALREADY SHARED A TIP ABOUT THAT?
Even if you see I've already shared a tip does not mean I won't share it again! So go ahead and send it! Only 5% of our 190,000 community see a tip on any given day so I love to revisit an idea with new pictures, a new caption and from a new perspective!
I can't tell you enough how grateful I am to all of you, if it weren't for everyone being so generous with sharing their information there would be no Metalsmith Society! Every tip shared keeps the community going another day! If you are looking to support the page further please visit the Society Shop or consider becoming a Patreon. Thanks for reading!
x
Corkie
TL;DR
- Email me your tips! TIPS@METALSMITHSOCIETY.COM
- Send between 1-10 pictures and/or video
- 9:16 ratio is ideal for videos
- Please don't text overlay in images or record yourself speaking in videos
- Write a caption that explains your tip or technique
