Hi guys!
Have you noticed the latest addition to Twinkle Apothecary?
We now have a whole community! (forum that is!)
I feel like this could either be the best or worst idea I've ever had... lol
But really, ever since the very beginnings of Twinkle Apothecary I've wanted to find a better way to connect and create a virtual community around all of our amazing, brilliant, beautiful customers and fans. Now that I have a physical shop in OKC and have had the opportunity to get to know my local customers in person it only makes me want to be able to get to know everyone from all over a little better!
So I've got this blog, which is great, and I will continue to try to post as much as I can, but it definitely has limitations - for one thing I'm not able to respond to comments on my posts! Kind of hard to build a community when you're just out here having a completely one sided conversation...
I also considered creating a Facebook group, but UGGGGGH, no. I do NOT need another reason to open facebook throughout the day and I know you guys have better things to do than to check notifications constantly.
Then one day, after responding separately to two different people who had asked me the exact same skincare question within the span of a couple of hours, I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice to just share this discussion with everyone as a resource so I don't have to send the same email over and over? ANNNNND WHAT IF OTHER PEOPLE COULD CHIME IN AND HELP ME ANSWER ALL OF THE QUESTIONS BY SHARING THEIR EXPERIENCES WITH MY PRODUCTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS?!"
And it turns out - there's an app for that.
Since the forum app isn't exactly cheap, I took an instagram poll (which is the closest thing I have to a community but still very much one sided) and 98% of my followers who responded said that they were "into it."
So I installed a free 2 week trial and here we are!
To be honest, I don't know that much about running a forum (never figured out reddit) so I'm kind of just winging it. I've set up a bunch of different topics based on the conversations that I've been having with you all individually in the hopes that we can start an open discussion and have a place to share resources, but please feel free to start a new topic about anything you like.
Really, anything. This is our community and it can be anything we want!
In order to keep it as private as possible (and because I totally want to see your goofiest face mask and lip tint selfies) I have most of the topics set up so that only registered users can view and post.
This means that you'll need to log into your Twinkle Apothecary customer account to see most of the latest discussions. By default, your forum name and avatar (picture) will be the name on your customer account, but you can create a new nickname to use in the forum by clicking the "manage preferences" link in the bottom right corner of the forum page.
Looks like this:
I'm open to feedback here - do you guys think it should be completely closed, completely open, or what I've got now?
(Go post in the forum to let me know because I can't respond to comments on the blog!)
Now, the rules.
1. Keep it friendly.
2. Keep it inclusive. (Of all genders and races - I want to hear from everyone!)
3. Please DO share links to your blog, brand, or website if you think it's relevant to the discussion - this doesn't have to be all about Twinkle Apothecary products and I want to see what you're up to!
4. Please do NOT spam us with random promotions.
I'll be moderating the forum daily and will delete anything inappropriate or even slightly spammy - and please feel free to email me to report anything that feels inappropriate to you.
Also, don't feel like you have to use the forum if you'd rather just email me personally, but I do hope you'll consider posting your questions in the forum too - you never know when you could be helping someone else out by sharing your experiences.
Seriously, I get SOOOO MANY emails and direct messages every day, and often they're the same questions over and over - but how cool would it be if you could just check the forum and find what you're looking for without having to wait for me to email you back?!
Right???!
I'll be responding as best I can to your questions on the forum every day, but please feel free to chime in if you see something that you can help with too - like, a lot of people don't know this, but I actually don't always have all of the answers when it comes to skincare. Ha!
And it doesn't have to be all about asking skincare questions - this is also a place to connect and share what you're loving, what's working for you, your favorite DIY recipes, recycling tips, give general feedback, post longer reviews, and even recommend other brands that you're loving too. As long as it's a friendly, open discussion I'm here for anything!
So let's go continue this discussion in the forum, shall we?!
Can't wait to hear what you think!
-XO-
