OH, YOU WANTED TO REPOST SOMETHING THAT YOU LOVE?? FIRST LET'S GO OVER A FEW "RULES"

May 8

You're trolling Instagram ... you find something that is SO CUUUUUUUUTE!! You love it! You just *have* to repost it and share with your followers!! Reposting is helpful! It's supportive! You're spreading word of someone else and their achievements ... what could be wrong with that?

OH, JUST ALL OF THIS:

If you are a business owner and you have an Instagram account then you need to be VERY CAREFUL of what you are reposting out there. I don't make the rules ... but I do know that the below should be the rules ... and if there are people who disagree with me ... then they're wrong ... sorry, not sorry.

YOU'RE A WEDDING PLANNER / DESIGNER

You see a table design that inspires you! You love the colors, the flowers, the linen ... you want to share it to SAY WHY you're inspired ... you want to add a dash of 'look at how pretty this is' ... and then all of those people will READ that it's not your design (because people are all about reading these days << insert eye-roll) and will most definitely click to see it (again) on the original Instagram feed ... NOPE!!! None of << that is going to happen. Here's that story in REAL LIFE:

You repost the pretty table that WASN'T designed by you ... your followers see the table ... they like your image of it ... they DO NOT READ what you wrote ... and they believe (because it's Instagram and why wouldn't it be) it's YOUR design. Period. End of story. You just visually lied.

YOU'RE A CALLIGRAPHER / INVITATION DESIGNER

You see a pretty invitation suite that is made with amazing paper ... you want to share it with your following to TALK ABOUT the new trend in invitations and use this as an example. DUH!! The invitation designer will *LOVE* that you're promoting her work and talking so highly about it ... Nooooooo!!!! People do not read! They don't read enough to actually understand that it's NOT YOUR WORK ... and furthermore?? Once that repost is buried on your IG feed amongst all the other images - then the people who just go to your feed to browse and not actually open an image to see the blurbs will be completely 'lied to' that it's your design.

YOU'RE A PHOTOGRAPHER

This is really easy: YOU CAN NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER repost anything EVER. Like, ever. Here's your rule: didn't click it??? can't share it. << ZERO EXCEPTIONS. I could go on ... but the rule is so simple!!! If you are a photographer then ONLY SHARE images that were photographed by YOU.

So who can repost images? If you are a florist and you see an image that doesn't even have a leaf in it ... then I'd say it's pretty safe for you to share it as long as you CREDIT EVERYONE ... if you are an invitation designer and you see an image that doesn't breathe even a hint of anything made with paper and doesn't show anything with calligraphy or fonts of any kind .. sure, why not. Basically the rule is: