Forge News and Updates |
Forge is hosting it’s very first event and we’d love for you to join us! We’re bringing in local business founders who can offer advice and tell stories about the growth of their companies.
First up, Kasey Birdsong is our keynote speaker and he is the founder of Planet Fundraiser. They raise funds for schools and nonprofits through your everyday purchases. Businesses near you choose a percentage that they’d like to donate on purchases made at their stores. You simply upload your receipts to their app- it’s as easy as that!
Next up, Cindy Martin is the Founder and President of Bham Now. They are the modern, mobile guide to Birmingham and they’re invested in making our city better! They offer digital media and advertising that is engaging. To prove it, they have over 130,000 unique visitors to their site each month.
Then Jeremy Carter who is one of the owners at Breakout Birmingham. Breakout is pure entertainment- an escape game located in Homewood with a variety of different themed rooms. Go with a small group of people and you’ll have an hour to use clues and puzzles to escape the room!
Lastly, Luke Allen is the Vice President of sales at Occupational Health Dynamics (OHD). They provide top-quality equipment and services to health care providers of occupational medicine.
We’re so excited for our first event so come scope out the Forge workspace and hear these amazing speakers share their stories.
Join us September 21 from 7:30-9:30 for breakfast! Oh and Bham Now gave us a shoutout so check it out!
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Instagram Marketing, Lunch & Learn, Social Media |
Russell Hooks followed up last week’s Lunch & Learn with Part 2: Instagram Micro-Influencers. Russell says the role of social media influencers is changing. The Kardashians aren’t the only ones who can boost a brand! We delved into the emerging field of micro-influencers and talked about how to identify and work with an influencer who is right for you.
“Micro-influencers are testimonials on steroids- they’re effective for marketing your brand, service or product.”
In the beginning of Russell and Amber’s Happenin’s In The ‘Ham account, they wanted to keep their identity anonymous. They thought this would be a good way to focus solely on Birmingham and its activities and events. But their followers started to wonder if they were working for a company like Al.com or even the City of Birmingham. So they eventually decided to begin posting selfies at different events around Birmingham to personalize their Instagram account. This helped them continually gain more followers as people felt more connected to them!
Now they are micro-influencers in Birmingham! Many different local companies, nonprofits, brands and events partner with Russell and Amber to promote to the Birmingham population.
In the past, you needed to be rich to be a influencer! But Instagram has totally changed the game. Micro-Influencers can help get your product in front of a new population of customers who wouldn’t have previously seen it.
Happenin’s In The ‘Ham ‘swipe up’ feature
“Micro-influencers are identified by their industry or geographic location.”
Many ask, “How can you identify who a micro-influencer is?” Accounts with over 10,000 followers can add the swipe up feature on their Instagram story to provide a link to a website or product. So find someone who is in your industry! Think fashion, food, lifestyle blogging, travel, fitness, etc. Just make sure their following population aligns with yours. (Compare your Instagram insights if you have a business account)
Direct messaging on Instagram can easily connect you with an influencer who may help grow your business. Whoever runs that Instagram account clearly has influence over the company and makes big decisions for the brand!
“Treat Instagram as your storefront window- showcasing your product/service to your customers.”
So in conclusion, go after the personalities that fit your brand and align with your consumers.
Instagram Marketing, Lunch & Learn, Social Media |
It’s very likely that you’ve heard of Happenin’s In The Ham before. And if not, be sure to follow their website and social media accounts. Russell and Amber Hooks have a dedicated following and almost 20,000 followers on Instagram! They know exactly what’s going on Birmingham, and they’ll connect you with the best events and activities around town.
Russell Hooks is one of our founding members at Forge, and he led our first Lunch & Learn event. Focusing on the power of Instagram marketing, Russell talked through location tagging, organic engagement, Instagram stories, frequency and time of posting, hashtags and much more.
“Facebook, Instagram and Twitter all have their own language. You have to learn the native language for each of them.”
Over the last two and a half years Russell and Amber have developed their Instagram account without boosting any of their posts. They decided to use Instagram as a platform because it was the best way to show visually what they wanted to portray about Birmingham.
A few quick tips from Russell:
- Instagram is best for a quick overview. Use Facebook and your own personal website to go into more detail.
- Location tags on Instagram are often overlooked but they are valuable- USE THEM!
- Asking questions in your posts gives you more comments from followers…which brings you up in the algorithm feed!
- When you have 10,000 followers or more you can add the “swipe up” button to send people directly to a link.
- Most popular times to post: early morning, lunch, 4:30-6:30pm and right before bed!
“Social media is a lot like fitness- the results take time. It takes consistency.”
Many people ask “How many people should I be following on my Instagram account?” Russell says you should strive to get 2 followers for every 1 person you’re following. And avoid paying for followers- people can easily spot that and they’ll assume you’re disingenuous!
Forge Members at our very first Lunch & Learn!
Use Instagram for business purposes in the right way and you could have a viral marketing success. But use it incorrectly, and your efforts on the site could be a big fail. Thank you Russell for teaching us these valuable tips and tricks!
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Forge News and Updates |
Our space has drastically changed in the last few weeks! If you haven’t come to visit us yet, stop by the Pizitz building and come up the mezzanine level. Here’s a few pictures to show you around our space!
When you step off the elevator, you’ll see our front desk- complete with light-up Forge letters. All of our furniture was made locally- including this amazing desk!
Next up, our front lounge area. Comfy couch and chairs make it the perfect place for a casual meeting or phone call.
You can continue walking through our doors into the kitchen! We know the kitchen is at the heart of what Forge offers our members. This is where we’ll gather for fun, community-building and networking events. Happy hours. Brunch. Cookies. All the good stuff.
All the essentials- refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher. Oh and Revelator Coffee every single day. And some light snacks because we all need those during long work days.
Next to the kitchen you’ll see a light, airy, large conference room which is available for our members to book for meetings and events. This room holds 8-10 people and you an use our TV for presentations and videos.
Outside this conference room is our printer/copy machine. We’ve unanimously decided it has proven to be the most difficult part of opening Forge. Printer woes are real.
Oh and we are in love with this painting from Wellon Bridgers. Isn’t it beautiful?!
Our small conference room is also available to our members for meetings consisting of 4-6 people. We love this space and can’t wait for more Forge members to utilize it!
As you continue walking, you’ll enter into our common space. Our members have been spreading out into this area overlooking the hustle and bustle of the food hall.
We’ve got this additional room that we lovingly refer to as the “pow wow” room. This is a non-reservable area for our members to use for video chats, small meetings or phone calls.
Last but certainly not least, the penthouse conference room. This is the largest conference room available with space for up to 14 people. It’s up on the ninth floor next to the fitness center, pool and the picturesque view of Birmingham’s skyline.
We’d love for you to stop by and check us out!
Click here to schedule a tour today!
Forge News and Updates |
The Forge Team survived (and thrived) in this first week of business!
We loved opening the doors for our founding members and celebrating this new adventure with everyone. As members continue to join our community, we are reminded of the wide variety of careers and companies in our workspace. From graphic design to marketing to podcasting, it’s truly fascinating to hear about everyone’s projects, industries and goals.
Tuesday night we celebrated with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony! And delicious snacks (from many of our friends in the food hall), drinks and the company of our Forge members and friends and family.
Can you believe these sugar cookies with the Forge logo painted on the icing? Great Lakes Bakes – they taste even better than they look. Y’all go look her up!
Delicious appetizers from Bitty’s Living Kitchen
And some treats from Fero
notice the tiny F’s on these chocolate covered strawberries
(Please don’t worry- the kids have apple juice)
Cheers to the first day of Forge!
We had to snap a picture of this group of people who had such a huge impact on the Forge space. Em Lee is the designer who spent countless hours making Forge beautiful. Ken McBride from KPS is the architect. Forrest Millsap and Garrett Millsap built our custom desk and raised countertops. Dorsey and Missy Cox built our sleek tables and chairs.
The Forge Team is so thankful for all of the love and support this week! We’ve loved giving tours and showing off the Forge space that we believe will greatly impact and grow the Birmingham community!
