Obviously, you want someone with professional graphic design experience and a discerning eye, who knows how to create beautiful, made-for-you content. But more importantly, they should also be someone you can trust to make smart decisions for your business, and put your business first.

Those are just the basics of what makes a good Social Media Manager. But if we dig a little deeper, what else should you look for to find your perfect match?

Look for the expertise you don’t have time to learn.

You’re a busy business owner! You may be social media savvy, but you don’t have time for it and you certainly don’t want to spend your limited time on: brainstorming content ideas, researching trends, panicking about making a reel with your face in it, creating and scheduling a consistent flow of social content, and spiraling into a state of overwhelm because the choice paralysis of what to say on social is real. 

When you hire a Social Media Manager, that person is there to give you back time you would have spent managing your social. Give yourself permission to set boundaries with your social media time and only spend what you genuinely want to dedicate to it. Being freed from that responsibility is a huge gift and will give you time to do what you truly love in your business. 

Look for social media skills that get you noticed fast – but not too fast. 

A Social Media Manager has tools and strategies to create content that resonates with your audience and build you a loyal following. That being said, if your business is brand new to social media, you should be wary of someone who promises to provide you with a large amount of followers in a short period of time. You could be signing on for shady tactics like using bots, or even buying followers!

Unpaid, organic growth on social takes time and a lot of careful planning. With the right Social Media Manager, they’ll definitely get you followers–it probably won’t happen overnight, but those followers are real people who will stick around because they love what you have to offer.

Two is better than one – in fact, three is even better!  

It goes without saying that a Social Media Manager who is part of a marketing team, will give you more bang for your buck than a solo Social Media Manager. When you work with a team, you get multiple eyes and creative minds collaborating to make awesome social content for your business. 

A team also has a process set in place in which each team member plays a key role. In this way, a team has the ability to manage multiple responsibilities that would be too overwhelming for a solo Social Media Manager. 

A project manager (like Anna) gets to know your business and what you’re specifically looking for in terms of social media management. Then the Social Media Manager (like Kaïa) collaborates with you to create and schedule tailored social content. Meanwhile, a Creative Director (like Sarah) jumps in at multiple points during the process to brainstorm, provide creative guidance, edit designs and copy, and otherwise ensure everything is meeting your expectations. A team gives you a seamless social media management experience. 

Go beyond overrated trends and traditional marketing strategies. 

Find someone who isn’t just following the crowd. When you rely too heavily on trends and traditional marketing strategies, you fall into the trap of doing what everyone else is also doing to get noticed on social media. The latest TikTok trend may seem like it’s everywhere, but does it even fit your brand? 

When you go against the tide of trends and traditional marketing, you can discover your own innovative ways to market your business. Not only will you challenge the norm, your content will also better align with your brand, and thereby make you stand out. 

Find someone whose values align with your own. 

Do you care about building an ethical small business? You’ll have a far easier time working with a social media team who shares your values! 

People who share your values will more automatically “get” your perspective and your voice. You also won’t have to waste your precious time explaining things like social justice, business ethics, or other issues you care about. 

We believe in community over competition. We know we’re stronger when we work together. We see that Portland needs your expertise, unique outlook, diversity, and yes… weird quirks too! Your business helps make Portland a place worth calling home and we want to help you spread the word.

What’s in a Consultation?

A consultation is an excellent opportunity for you and your potential agency to get to know one another. A successful consultation allows both parties to learn about each other, clarify goals, and hopefully create a plan to work together.

While you may want to jump right into discussing the specifics of what you need, the creative team will benefit from understanding your business. Sharing a bit of your history and your mission will give your team a more accurate picture of who they’ll be working with.

What Makes You Unique?

You’ve chosen an agency likely because of their design expertise. They’ll want to know more about what you do, as well. Share details about your industry that may be relevant to the project. Include what sets you apart from your competitors. Let the team know why you’re the best at what you do!

Who Do You Serve?

If you already have distinct personas for your typical clients or customers, be sure to have that information handy. If you’re just getting started, think about who you’d ideally love to work with. Your agency may already have experience with that audience! 

You’ve Got Goals, Yeah?

You’re ready to level up your business. You want better brand recognition, more bookings, or maybe it’s time to hire new staff. Your agency will want to know what you hope to get out of this collaboration, and why you chose them as a potential partner.

Your goals will also help the creative team determine the full scope of your project. New website functionalities and integrations can make doing business a lot easier, and thethe team should know what works best.

How Much Time Do You Have?

In order to ensure a successful collaboration, both parties must be crystal clear about timelines. Say you’ve got an event planned in your future. Do you need your new website launched before then? If so, be sure to bring this up during your consultation. 

Something else to consider when thinking about timelines: feedback. You’ll need to factor in time on your end for reviewing mockups and drafts. Include ample time for sharing your feedback and reviewing revisions. Be as honest and upfront about your schedule.

Running your business is your priority, of course. Keep in mind, though: you’ll be working with another business whose priority is to deliver a top-notch project to you, their client. Use your consultation to get a sense of what’s expected of everyone involved.

But Really, What Do You Need?

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll be chatting with folks who are experts in their field. They’ll know all the bells and whistles necessary to bring your project to life. Ideally, your consultation will include a discussion of specific content and resource requirements. Make sure there is a clear understanding of who is responsible for each item. This will not only help your agency partner draft an accurate proposal, it will give you a better idea of what you may need to contribute.

This sounds like a lot to consider, huh? It can be… but finding the right team to bring your vision to life is worth the effort. 

If you’ve got big marketing goals for your business, you know we’re ready to help! Jump on a consultation call with us to get started!

—Vivian Ward, Pretty Woman

Whether we like it or not, social media is an important part of modern marketing strategy. 

To be as visible as possible you need a strong, consistent, focused social media presence with engaging content and strategic messaging. You’ll have to regularly post new information, engage with your audience, and keep up with the latest trends and best practices.

And who, exactly, has time to do that and run a business?

You can DIY it for a while, but eventually, you’ll a) get burned out by having to keep up with posting or b) grow enough that social media needs to play a larger part in your business, or c) both. 

Social Media Managers to the rescue! Posting powers activate! 

Having someone take over your social media needs is one of the best things you can do to save yourself time and energy. 

But… what does a Social Media Manager do?

As Upswept Creative’s Social Media Maven I say what we post, when we post, and how often we post. 

Follow me for a peek into what it’s like to have me on your side!

Social Media Strategy

One of the first things I do as a social media manager is evaluate your current social media strategies and figure out how to make them better. If you’ve been flying solo with posting you might not have much of a strategy, but believe me—it’s a whole lot better to have a plan.

Your strategy is individual to you and your business, but includes a few key things:

• What are your goals with social media? 
• Who are you trying to reach?
• What are they interested in and what do they like?
• Where and when are they on social media?

All of these questions determine which social media platform is best for your business and what kind of message will speak to your particular audience. 

Optimize Your Social Media Accounts

Do not neglect your bios! 

If you only knew how many times I’ve seen bios with no information, outdated information, or irrelevant information…

You don’t want to be that person, and I won’t let you. I’ll optimize your accounts to be the first impression that grabs attention. Social media algorithms pick up keywords in your bio that can direct more people to your account. 

We’ll work together to make sure any images, profile pics, or logos are up to date and relevant to your audience and your branding.

And I’ll check that your accounts are all set up to be as effective as possible.

Set Up Social Marketing Tools

There are hundreds of tools, platforms, and software that all want to help you streamline your social media marketing. Researching all the options and learning how to use them is a giant time suck as a business owner.

I’ll help you choose the tools that fit your budget and your needs. And I’ll figure out how to use them!

Social Media Content and Branding

Not all Social Media Managers also create content, but it’s generally part of the job description unless you work with a dedicated marketing team—as is branding.

Your brand is how you show up online. It’s your story, your personality, your voice, and your look. My job is to bring your social media content in line with your brand. 

When someone looks at your social media, they should automatically be able to tell it’s yours. The colors, style, and tone of your posts should be consistent and cohesive across platforms. 

As a content creator, I aim to get your message across in your voice—whether it’s funny and irreverent, serious and business-like, or cute and bubbly. 

Social Media Analytics

How do you know your social media strategy is working? 

As part of my job as a Social Media Manager, I keep a close eye on what’s getting engagement and what’s not. Tracking, tweaking, and testing different kinds of content or different scheduling strategies helps me know what your audience wants more of. 

We’ll meet at certain intervals (monthly, quarterly) to discuss the analytics and what direction we need to take. 

Analytics is one of the most intimidating parts of social media for people to learn, so it’s helpful to have someone else take that on. 

Do I Need a Social Media Manager?

If you want to grow your social media presence and make the platforms work for you, you can totally do it yourself. 

But the time commitment necessary might be more than you’re willing to give. And social media might not be in your wheelhouse. I definitely can’t run a foundation, bake a wedding cake, or any number of things that our clients are amazing at!

If you find yourself overwhelmed and unsure about what to do with your social media, check out our Social Media Strategy Session! We’d love to help you figure out what your next steps should be.

Follow us on Instagram for more social media info and tips.

Kelley generously took some time to chat with us about diving head-first into self-employment, reaching your ideal clients, where to find some extremely tasty baked goods, and how to know when to call in some professional copywriting help.

UPSWEPT CREATIVE: According to your Instagram, you “quit your job to become a writer.” What were you doing before this? Have you encountered any noteworthy and/or mundane challenges in making that transition?

KELLEY GARDINER: In short, I was sitting at a desk with other people telling me what to do. Before that gig, I was creating programming for a continuing education program department at a community college in Indiana. (Then, we moved back to Portland in a recession.) Things I miss about working in an office: the food carts across the street. People hardly ever tell me if my outfit is cute. It’s hard to keep myself on track, as distractions are everywhere, and other than client deadlines, nothing really HAS to be done. That newsletter can go out a few days late, and no one but me will know, you know? 

It’s also a challenge going into a field that requires putting a lot of yourself on the line and dealing with rejection. Desk jobs might be soul-crushing, but they usually require little emotional energy. Running your own gig takes a lot.

UC: What are some strategies you use to reach your ideal clients?

KG: Talk to them. Show them what a catch I am. The right people will pick up what I’m laying down.

Right now, I’m using a bunch of strategies: blogging on kelleygardiner.com with relevant, fun stuff, guest blogging to boost my quote-unquote authority, having lots of coffees with people, networking events. I’ve actually gotten to the point where I kind of like networking, because I realized that it’s not sleazy. It’s about talking to people, learning about what they do, and seeing how you can help them. Sometimes, you can help people by writing words for them in exchange for money. That’s a valuable service, and no one has to buy unless they really want to.

UC: We love the updated website copy that you wrote with us — how the heck did you capture Upswept’s brand voice so authentically?

KG: Luckily for me, you have a strong brand voice that I was able to plug into! My biggest job was pulling out messages that needed to be coaxed a little further. Like about how awesome you are. That’s an important one.

Maybe I cheated a little bit by following Upswept over the course of several years, and knowing Sarah for a long time.  [ed. note: hey, it’s important to do the research, however it happens!]

UC: Let’s say I’ve got a website for my business and I know it needs a copy overhaul, but I don’t think I have the budget for it and I want to try to rewrite myself. Do you have any advice for me? Where do I start? How do I know when it’s time to call in a pro?

KG: Just write it! That’s always the easiest and hardest writing advice. Getting started is the hardest part. Remember the basics: what your customer wants, and why you are the best person to deliver it.

Write it. Leave it for two days. Edit it. Have a friend come look at it.

Are people confused about what you do after they read your website? Are you getting the wrong kind of leads? Are people not taking the actions you want? You might need help.

To be honest, most people don’t have the cash for professional copy when they’re first starting out. When you’re ready to go to the next level, give us a call. I also happen to have super affordable consulting packages to help people get their brains wrapped around projects like this. I’m here to help!

UC: Do you have a preferred coffee shop or similar for working away from home?

KG: More like a small rotation of coffee shops. I’ll shout out Jet Black, my walking-distance vegan coffee shop extraordinaire, with the friendliest staff and usually cute dogs on the patio. Then there’s Hungry Heart Bakery in Montavilla. Get the banana walnut muffin and/or the chocolate chunk cookie. No, seriously. They are both extremely good.

UC: Is this the right time for the story of your book about roller derby?

It’s extremely the right time! Somehow, it’s been six years since I played roller derby and the book is out of date/not being published. But, lately, I’ve been thinking about how it’s exactly the kind of writing I want to do more of. Taking something overwhelming and breaking it down to easy-to-follow steps. Encouraging people to do the thing. Writing that’s easy to read and keep reading. Helping people! I don’t want to literally hold your hand, because you know, sweaty, but I want to make hard things easier and more relatable.

—

If you’d like Kelley to make hard things easier for you, give her a holler via her website. We definitely recommend it!

• Oregon is 25% agricultural land
• In the next 20 years 64% of that land will change ownership as the current generation of farmers retires
• That comes to 10.5 million acres changing hands, potentially irreversibly affecting Oregon’s natural resources, economy, and culture

Working Together for Working Lands

Portlander Nellie McAdams has made it her business to help protect those 10.5 million acres from development. In 2017, we worked with Nellie and Maggie Sisco to develop an infographic to explain succession planning and working land conservation easements that speaks to farmers, the general public, and decision makers about  the threats to farmland and how we can all help farmers safeguard their land against development.

Farmers comprise less than 1% of the population and, even for the motivated, Nellie says it can be difficult to break into the industry without a family connection. Startup costs are high, margins are low, and both the weather and the markets can be unpredictable, making farming for a living a challenging proposition.

Nellie’s professional background in environmental law and agriculture, as well as her lived experience growing up the daughter of a hazelnut grower, places her at an ideal intersection. She can relate to parties on all sides of farm succession.

Nellie says she was drawn to the farming lifestyle for personal reasons. For her, working the land is deeply gratifying, as are the natural connections with land and community, and she feels lucky to be set to inherit her father’s land when he’s ready to retire. For her, a farm is not only  a commodity to be bought and sold, but also an heirloom and natural resource. Both sentimental and practical in nature, it farmland more difficult to divide among successors than a typical business or estate.

When we met last fall, Nellie was splitting her workweek between her own farming training, and her outreach and program development work. In partnership with several organizations, Nellie leads programs that support a retiring generation of farmers with succession planning. They’re also building support for the next generation of Oregon farmers to help them gain the business and land-management skills they’ll need to succeed at farming.

Our Safeguarding Oregon’s Farmland infographic is at work for these three organizations

The Oregon Community Food Systems Network is a collaboration of 40 nonprofit organizations and allies dedicated to strengthening local and regional food systems to deliver better economic, social, health and environmental outcomes across the state. They provide networking, information sharing, research, education, training, planning,  fundraising, and more to participating organizations in pursuit of their vision: that all Oregonians will have meaningful access to healthy and affordable foods that are grown and processed regionally in an environmentally and economically resilient food system.

Rogue Farm Corps’ mission is to train the next generation of farmers and ranchers through hands-on educational program and the preservation of farmland. They do so by offering practical training programs and farm succession planning and access to land workshops.

The Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program(OAHP) was passed by the 2017 Oregon State Legislature to help address the challenges of preserving farmland from development and helping farmers pass it on to the next generation. The program provides voluntary incentives to farmers and ranchers to support practices that maintain or enhance both agriculture and natural resources such as fish and wildlife on agricultural lands. OAHP was developed by a collaborative of organizations representing natural resource conservation and agriculture, including farmer and rancher representatives.

Good Design for Farmland

When Nellie and Maggie approached us to develop the Working Lands infographic, their “rough draft” was in pages of notes that  looked more a grant proposal outline than a snappy single-sheet infographic for public consumption.

The first phase of our work was in helping them and their stakeholders narrow down the scope of the document and refine the language to be concise, direct, and effective. Using color, typography, simple icons, and an intuitive content structure, we were able to communicate a lot of information into a relatively small space while maintaining a visually appealing and user-friendly look. After we completed the final product, Nellie told us that the development process of refining the images and talking points helped her better communicate about the issues in the rest of her work.

What makes you passionate about your work? Team Upswept can’t wait to hear about it, and work with you to reach your ideal audience and grow your business. Click to Get Started and schedule your consultation with us.

IDENTIFYING YOUR BRAND MESSAGE

At Upswept Creative, we call this “Finding Your Brand Center.” It is the core aspects of your brand that will help an audience quickly determine what your business is all about. Sarah actually wrote a short workbook that guides you through finding your brand center, which you can download for free.

A core philosophy behind “Finding Your Brand Center” is to imagine your ideal customer or client. Put yourself in their shoes. Which aspects of your business to you need to highlight in order to get noticed?

VARIETY IS THE (SOCIAL) SPICE OF LIFE

Facebook heavily controls how a page’s posts appear in the feeds of its followers. The link you include, the actual text content, the image – literally everything has an affect. Engagement has a huge positive affect. Generally, the more engagement a post generates, the further its reach. Engagement bait, however, is monitored and punished.

Having variety in the tone and content of your posts is a huge help in finding success. Not only do you get to experiment often, and find what works, but you avoid falling into the pitfall of sameness that plagues a lot of Facebook business pages. Providing a variety of content is more interesting to look at and stay engaged with. The challenge is to experiment with different types of posts while maintaining a consistent brand message.

BE POSITIVE

The world is pretty grim. Social media feeds can often be a minefield of bad news, outrage, and aimless political arguments. Your business presence has an opportunity to cut through the darkness, and all it takes is some positivity. Don’t be afraid of getting a little silly with your posts. This is the internet after all, have fun with it!

Pictures of cute animals, using a popular meme format, or simply a “day-in-the-life” style post of your work day are all good options. Be creative!

FIND THE CENTER

I often think of social media marketing as a balancing act. Striking a tone that is both personal and speaks to the core of your business, experimenting with variety while maintaining strong brand messaging, and staying positive in a sea of negativity are all part of the balancing act. Stay focused by setting goals and measuring your success. Ultimately, though, it’s a lot of work.

Upswept Creative has a resident Social Media Maven, Josselyn, who is an expert in finding the path to success in social media. She’ll create for your business a plan that meets you where you’re at – from comprehensive management, to empowering you to take the reins of your own online marketing. Reach out to us today to schedule your consultation!

Janet Price grew up in Los Angeles during the reign of Mouseketeers and The Gong Show. As a kid, she felt surrounded by the entertainment industry — it was normal for people she knew to go in for auditions, and shows that she saw on TV were being produced right down the road. Her involvement in the industry felt natural. It wasn’t strange to think she’d  grow up to be a Mouseketeer, because that’s what LA kids did.

In 1984, Janet moved to Oregon with her family and got involved with high school drama productions. Fascinated by the parentally-forbidden art of makeup, she studied library books to teach herself how to work with theatrical makeup while secretly painting her face at school and making sure to arrive home before her dad did to wash off the evidence of her artistic rule-breaking.

While Janet chose not to pursue makeup artistry as a career, she continued to expand her knowledge about new products and techniques as a hobby she couldn’t shake off.

Some years later, Janet was flipping through a Northwest School of Film class catalog and found a 3-month intensive Makeup for Film + TV class and was excited to get formal education. The class instructor, Christina, began to casually mentor Janet after the class ended, no doubt seeing Janet’s talent for the work and her affinity for the industry. Christina was preparing to retire, so she gifted Janet makeup and tools that she wouldn’t need once she retired. Christina recommended Janet for her first job as an assistant makeup artist, on a Paramount Universal film that was shooting in Portland. It took just the one recommendation from a veteran artist, and Janet’s work as a makeup artist  took off from there, booking jobs of all sizes in film, TV, theater, and studio settings.

We worked with Janet in 2016 to create a new logotype, business card, and brochure website, which resides at http://www.janetpricemakeup.com/. She hoped to modernize her brand, and make her work easier to find. Now, when professionals in the film industry are planning Portland-based productions, they can easily find Janet’s work and contact her through her new website. That means less of her time spent looking for work, and more of her time spent doing the work.

What is your passion? Whether it’s a side-hustle or your main gig, we’d love to help make your brand shine and spread the word about how awesome you are. Whether you want to revise your website, change your branding, build a strategy for marketing more effectively, or you’re not sure where to start, get in touch with us to schedule your FREE consultation, and we’ll use our extensive online experience to help you get clear on your next steps.

SET YOUR TONE

Deciding on the tone you’d like your social media presence to embody is a fundamental aspect of any online strategy. It’s also one of the most difficult things to nail down. Tone comes across through word choice in your posts and profiles, the actual content of your posts, and how you engage with followers, comments, and private messages.

While the voice you use on social media should be similar to the tone of your website, it shouldn’t be a carbon copy. Social media is social after all. Find a voice that encourages engagement, whether that’s a “like”, comment, or click-through to your website.

A PICTURE IS WORTH 1000… LIKES

Across all social media platforms, posts with pictures get the most attention by far. This blog did an informal study that showed tweets with images garnered 89% more favorites than tweets without images. But you shouldn’t just attach random images. If you can, create or commision your own visual content by taking product pictures, crafting digital graphics, or snapping some thoughtful photos while at a work-relevant event. When using images created by a third party, make sure you have permission!

The benefit of having in-house visual content is that you can make sure it’s all on brand. It will naturally feel a part of your overall brand identity.

GET THAT GOAL

Social media platforms are fantastic for bringing your brand’s tone and personality to the fore, and getting your name out to a lot of people. They aren’t so great as a place for information dumps, or straight-up advertisements — those fit better on a company website, and something people will be more prone to absorb if they’re already interested. Cast a wide net with your social media presence. Strike a tone that’s personal, use visual content that’s on brand and engaging, and craft content that makes people want to click that link to your website, ticket sale, or product page.

I like to think of a social media presence like a digital storefront, and the overall strategy as the decorations and window displays. The goal is to get as many people in the store (onto your website, online store, etc…) as possible. Once they’re inside, it’s much more likely that you’ll make that sale!

At Upswept Creative, we’re a one-stop-shop for branding, web design, and social media marketing. You can get all the elements you need for a successful online presence from our small-but-fierce firm. Check out our variety of service offerings, designed to meet the needs of business owners at different price points. We’re looking forward to chatting with you!

STARTING OUT

Cherry City came to us with an outdated website, in terms of both content and design. The platform on which their site was built made it difficult for league leadership to post updates. Key information for a roller derby league would get buried in the design. Upcoming events like fundraisers, bouts, and recruitments  were hard to find. League sponsors were also not prominently featured, making sponsorship a less attractive prospect. That can be a big problem for a non-profit!

ROLLIN’ UP OUR SLEEVES

We knew we wanted to build the site on WordPress. This would be a big usability upgrade for Cherry City, and would help them keep  the site’s content fresh and up-to-date. But, we also had to consider how to organize the content in a more beautiful and less confusing way.  Upcoming events needed to be easily accessible, and presented in a consistent visual format.

We drew on our experience working with Portland’s roller derby league, Rose City Rollers, to find approaches that we knew worked with this kind of content. We knew that public bouts needed to be at the forefront of their online presence, so we made their games the star of the show. But, Cherry City also puts emphasis on recruiting, and makes a special effort to be a welcoming league that keeps its members and volunteers engaged, so we created space in their Events area to highlight Recruitment events as well.
Keeping track of Sponsors at different levels would be important to growing their sponsorship base. We also knew that the same individuals could be involved with multiple teams or committees. We created structures for both Sponsors and Team Members, so Cherry City could easily manage those details all in one easy-to-find place, instead of updating multiple pages.

THERE AND BACK AGAIN

To get the visual and functional improvements we were all looking for, we communicated regularly with Cherry City’s all-volunteer Board of Directors about our design inspirations. We shared with them our wireframes and graphic mock ups, ensuring that we were persisting in the right direction on the project.
After many rounds of feedback, and all of our tweaks made, we were happy to launch their brand new website near the beginning of April!  Their league leadership is quickly gaining comfort with the new structure we’ve built, and they’ll be able to keep their fans, future skaters and volunteers, and sponsors engaged with ease.

On Radical Inclusivity

The shop — it’s spacious layout, bright lighting, and friendly displays — the diverse stock, and Katie herself are all tuned towards making entry into comics an easy and stress-free experience, making it OK for adults to not know anything about comics when they come in, or for parents to come in to get a comic for their kids and not know what they are looking for, or should be looking for. You don’t have to feel like you are already part of the “in” crowd, is the thing. Because at Books with Pictures there is no “in” crowd, just folks who like to read books and connect with each other about it.  

Katie says that comic books have forever been full of stories of misfits overcoming the things that set them apart from mainstream culture to find their own power, and there is a lot happening in terms of diverse content, identifiable storylines for people who feel like outsiders. Most of her customers are new to comic book stores, and it’s clear that a big part of Katie’s passion is in creating a safe and welcoming space where there’s a book for anyone who comes into her shop, whether they are looking for the mainstream offerings, or something else.

Katie has a diverse background which includes information design, bike advocacy, biomedical ethics, sales enablement programs, computing cultures, and history of science. She has been reading comic books since since adolescence, but really got into them after having children, who are five and seven now.

On Being So Much More Than a Bookstore

It’s a daring thing to open a brick-and-mortar bookstore, but Katie says the key to being successful and vibrant is to be a resource for the community that it can’t get online. In addition to carrying the less-mainstream titles (Yes, she has more than one book for kids in which the princesses fall in love with each other), a big part of this mission is fulfilled by the many events the shop hosts every month.

There is some kind of lecture, signing, panel, or class every Wednesday night, Yarn with Pictures, a monthly knitting group, as well as events and programming in partnership with University of Oregon, Portland State University, and Helioscope Studios. In keeping with her community-oriented theme, Katie is excited to foster synergy between our city’s comics luminaries and its up-and-comers.

Books with Pictures is the kind of local business we love to work with, one with a clear message of inclusivity and positivity that makes a real effort to be present in the community it serves. Katie Proctor has built something beautiful for all fans of comic books, and we are proud to highlight her talent and hard work.