By Jamie Lindsey
Doniqua Colbert, Owner and Founder of F.L.O.W. Studios had her creative juices flowing after starting her own podcast with her cousin, Colbert Connection. She found a new need in the community and had decided that she wanted to pursue her passion of helping people whilst mixing it with her love of social media. And she did just that. Doniqua created F.L.O.W. Studios, which is a business designed to help business owners and creators promote their brands through multiple avenues.
“A lot of people started podcasting during the pandemic. People will podcast everywhere, even in their bathrooms for the right lighting,” Doniqua laughed. “What if you need to interview someone? You’re not going to bring them to your bathroom. How awkward.”
Doniqua offers several services at her studio, including but not limited to: studio space rental for podcasting, social media marketing, basic web design, video and audio design and logo design. “If I can’t figure out how to do it, I will learn or I will find you someone that can,” she said.
“2020 happened and everybody was in lockdown. We were attached to our phones and computers. If you didn’t know how to operate your business without having a face-to-face, you were screwed,” Doniqua stated quite frankly. “My goal is to start teaching people how to leverage the networks they already have. Most businesses have some social media with a crowd and some of them don’t realize how big that reach is or could be.”
How can this be beneficial to people in the Joplin and surrounding communities? Local artists, grassroots, non-profits, small business owners and creators are what keep Joplin amazing. Doniqua mentioned, “The places you found before weren’t exactly affordable for small businesses. Small businesses need this more than anything. If you don’t have a full time person to do your social media, you’re going to be paying with your time.”
“Most advertising used correctly these days needs to be online. We don’t see newspapers anymore and we fast forward through commercials,” Doniqua discusses. “Online is where the smartest dollar is spent right now and using it for your demographic is incredibly beneficial.”
Doniqua also mentioned that if you don’t have all the time to do social media, you should be posting through your organization or business at least three times a day. Basically morning, noon and evening. She discussed the importance of interacting online socially as your brand, including liking and commenting on posts. “It might be 30 minutes. But that’s a crucial 30 minutes for your business. It’s building that audience.”
Being a female-owned business in the area is incredibly empowering and Doniqua utilizes her skills to help other female, and men, owned businesses in the area. “I’ve sat in all those rooms where you were the only African-American female and everybody else was old white men. So you feel out of place,” she discusses. “The first people that reach out to me are women and people I’ve known and work with and support me. There’s no better support than women supporting women.”
If you are interested in the services that F.L.O.W. Studios have to offer, contact Doniqua! “When you call the number, you’re going to be graced with my presence,” Doniqua laughs.
Her prices in services range from $25-$350 a month. It’s a perfect way for a grassroot, non-profit, business owner or artist to get started with promoting their work!
You can contact Doniqua and F.L.O.W. Studios at 417536-9966
connect@castflowstudios.com
Or you can visit their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/castflowstudios
Pictures given by Doniqua Colbert
juliejoplin.wordpress.com 