We recently connected with Allyn Brennan and have shared our conversation below.

Allyn, appreciate you joining us today. Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?

I manage my own social media for Porch Perfect NC. Word of mouth and referrals will always be the best source for new business, but social media has been the tool that allows me to share my work, which is entirely visual, and introduce myself as a local business owner in my community.

I have had a personal Instagram account for years and felt comfortable using social media, but creating a business account felt daunting at first. The thought of creating reels and tagging each post and researching tips and tricks was overwhelming. I spent so much time taking pictures and videos of each job then after my kids went to bed I would edit the photos and videos and create different albums on my phone for each house. From there I would create reels of every single job I did and post them early in the morning or late at night. The process was tedious, and time consuming. I would experiment with posting at different times of day, using old or new music, changing tags and switching up the content. I realized people had no idea how much work and preparation went into each pumpkin porch, so I started sharing more “behind the scenes” and “get ready with me” reels where I loaded my minivan with 50 dirty pumpkins and then cleaned each of them in my garage. To my surprise, these posts often outperformed the ones with beautiful pictures.

When I first started I would decorate my friend’s porches and ask them to post pictures to social media to help grow my business. I imagine some people would feel uncomfortable asking friends to post on Facebook or Instagram–epecially if they weren’t active on those sites, but I knew it would be the most effective way to grow my customer base. There are so many Facebook groups to use to your advantage–specific neighborhood groups, mom groups, moving to Raleigh groups, etc. I would ask my friends to post to as many of these groups as possible. I would send them photos and videos of their decorated porches and even send a write up to make it as easy as possible.

My advice to other business owners would be to work your network and not be afraid to ask them for help promoting your business. What’s the worst that can happen? They say no? Then you ask the next person. I would also encourage them to share behind the scenes content–the less perfect, but more relatable parts of the job. This helps the customer see how much work you put into your business and lets them get to know you.

Once I started gaining a following on Instagram, I started to receive offers from local influencers and business owners to collaborate on projects or giveaways. I would advise any new business owner to take the time to evaluate these offers, negotiate, and make sure it will benefit your business. I collaborated with a local family photographer to design a fall mini portrait session and in return, received professional photos of my work that I could use for my future website and marketing material. This photographer was a fellow Mom with a mature, established business and marketed to a similar customer base. She shared my posts of her photos to her network, shared local connections, and continues to be a great resource. I found this type of collaboration to be much more meaningful than a pumpkin porch giveaway with a fashion or food influencer with thousands of followers, for example.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Porch Perfect NC is a seasonal design and decor business. I offer pumpkin porch delivery and design as well as holiday decor and design. I am a stay at home mom of 3 young kids living in Apex and started my business after reading an article about a porch pumpkin business out of Dallas, TX. I have always wanted to start my own business and enjoyed decorating my own home, so this seemed like the perfect fit. I could start this business without having to give up time with my young children. I started by decorating my own porch with pumpkins and shared the photos on social media. From there I started to design my friend’s porches and they shared photos on social media to local mom groups. My business grew from there–I would purchase all different types of pumpkins from local farms, deliver them to the customer and create a beautiful design for their porch. I always had one or two of my kids with me and they would play outside while I worked. I would decorate a porch in the morning after preschool drop off, then another after naptime and finish in time to pick up my kids from school. I learned quickly that there were so many busy homeowners that wanted to decorate for fall or achieve that “pinterest” look for their house, but didn’t have the time or desire to go to the farm, pick out 30-50 dirty pumpkins, haul them to their car, then spend time designing them on their stairway or porch. I also knew that having to get rid of that many pumpkins at the end of the season could be a deterrent for potential customers, so I offered disposal as an add on service. I connected with a local farm owner who was more than happy to accept hundreds of pumpkins for their animals to eat at the end of the season–This also made for great social media content!

As my business picked up, I started getting messages and requests for Christmas decorating services. Once I wrapped up my pumpkin decorating season, I went straight into designing holiday porches. I would work with each homeowner to pick out wreaths, garland, ribbon, trees, lights, etc. This service was much more personalized and time consuming compared to pumpkin porches. Each home was unique and required more planning and measuring. I had to order products, consider lead times, and deal with products arriving damaged. I also wanted to make sure everyone’s home was designed thoughtfully and that each home looked different from the next, so there wouldn’t be a “packaged” look. Several of my clients started gifting porch decorating to their family members and my business grew to a point that I had to turn some business away because I just didn’t have enough time to get to everyone. I am planning to bring on some part time help from other stay at home moms in the community for the next holiday season.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Our workforce isn’t structured to offer part time work opportunities to women caretakers. Stay at home moms and caretakers are an underutilized resource for part time work, yet they are some of the hardest working people in our community. They are experts in time management, multitasking and problem solving. Once I build my business to where I need to hire help, I plan to hire local moms that want to work part time. I feel fortunate to be able to bring my children with me while I work and hope it teaches them to be resourceful and creative.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I have always had an eye for color and design and I think that stands out in my work. I try to make sure that each design is unique–some houses have a funky design, so I like to play around with the colors and textures I use to decorate. Other homes are classic or modern, so I try to keep with that aesthetic. I would hate for all of my work to look the same, like a copy paste from one house to the next. I think that consideration comes through in my work and helps it stand out in comparison.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.porchperfectnc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/porchperfectnc?igsh=M3BsdGczeXk4aDky&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/15WUS3zwAJ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Image Credits

Deanna Decker Photography
Glynnis Christensen Photography