We were lucky to catch up with Tenecia Whitehead recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tenecia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?

Hello,

I handle my social media, but that is my preference. I have the following social media accounts:
TikTok: itsakeythingllc
Facebook: itsakeythingllc
IG: itsakeythingllc
Snapchat: itsakeythingllc
(Sometimes Twitter)

Social media, to me, is a great way to promote and advertise your business. It takes a lot of time and effort, but it is definitely worth it. It’s a preference to hire a professional. I started promoting my business on Facebook first. I was getting the majority of my orders from Facebook, then I started promoting on IG, Snapchat, and TikTok. I made a good amount of customers on IG, but the real shock for me was gaining clientele on TikTok. Having your business on social media can really help it grow and help you gain your future customers. I love using social media, it’s fun and very helpful. Using social media can also help you find a lot of resources that can help your business financially. To get the best out of using social media, you have to consistently post or share relevant content. You can’t post about your business for one day and come back a month or two later. You have to let your audience know about you and your business. So, get behind that camera, share your business and let the current and potential customers know the purpose of your business, the meaning of your business, and how your business benefits them. This alone will take your business a long way.

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

I am Tenecia Whitehead, owner and operator of “It’s A Keything,” but I started as a first-time stay-at-home mom/wife. Everything else started in 2020. I just wanted something to do. I knew I loved DIY projects, so I scrolled Facebook and YouTube to see what other stay-at-home moms and wives were doing. On Facebook, I noticed letter keychains and monogramming were the most popular. I started making letter and number resin keychains just as a hobby. I showed them to one of my best friends, and she insisted I sell them. In July of 2021, I went to Facebook and started promoting my keychains just to see how it would go and to my surprise, it went REALLY well. I did FREE Shipping for a good 6 months because I didn’t think they were good enough, and I did not want to overcharge my potential customers since I still had some hiccups like my customers receiving broken keychains. I remade every keychain for my customers FREE of charge because it wasn’t their fault. I learned from those mistakes and changed how I shipped the products. After gaining more customers the same best friend and I came up with the name “Tz Off Da Chain Keychain Accessories” and I made a Facebook page for my keychains but soon changed the name to “It’s A Keything”. I received a lot of great feedback, and my business spread by word of mouth and social media. When my husband passed in September 2021, I took two months off, but I returned and leveled up with more accessories. The same month I obtained my LLC and made my business official: “It’s A Keything, LLC.” Since then, I’ve become an online seller on Etsy, Jane.com, Amazon and Wal-Mart. My business is different from most keychain businesses. I create unique keychains you won’t see anywhere else. I like to make my customers feel special and loved, by doing that I have had returning customers. The best thing of all is seeing the customers’ reviews on my different platforms and the videos being posted on their social media of my work. That is the best feeling, and it lets my products speak for themselves.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

First of all, you HAVE to promote your business consistently. You can’t post one day and then post a month later. Think about it like this: “Let’s say you’re watching TV, YouTube, or whatever you watch, and you see a car you like on an ad/commercial, but when you tried to get the information you missed it. You are more than likely going to continue to watch whatever you’re watching to catch that commercial again. Now, suppose that company doesn’t show that commercial until 2 months later. By that time, you would have found another car perhaps better.” That’s how your business will be if you are not consistent, your potential customers or clients do not want to wait so they will go elsewhere. If you are camera shy, post pictures of your service or product with a brief description of it and how you would use it. Make sure your pictures are clear of clutter and have a bright sunlight background. You can use a ring light if your camera doesn’t take the best pictures. Next, I’d say get your business on as many social medial platforms as possible because different platforms bring in different audiences. Once your customers/clients receive their services or products ask them if they can leave a review on their page or your page that will bring in more customers/clients. Positive reviews let your current/potential customers know that your business is worth supporting.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Jane.com has been the best source of new clients for me. I do not know any of the clients who order from me, but the reviews are amazing. TikTok is another source for new clients because my videos are being watched, my videos are being shared and I am gaining followers. I’ve had two clients with over a million followers who have purchased from me. They opened their orders on their page and I gained three new clients. Social media is the perfect way to grow your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: etsy.com/shop/itsakeything
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/itsakeythingllc
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/itsakeything

Image Credits
Photography by lisa-marie