A Teddy Bear Tale

Depending on who you are and where you are reading this, you will either jump for joy at the thought of a Teddy Bear or run for the hills. My wife and I have more than 200 Teddy Bears on a ratio of 80/20. She has the lion's share, but we love our soft friends so much that we have given them all names and personalities.

We love them so much that we have created an Instagram account, TeddyLens. That may seem like a shameless plug but that is not my intention. By mentioning the account I want to emphasise how much we love our cuddly friends.

Before I met my wife I had Teddy Bears but had nowhere near as many as 200. I had a few Pokemon softies, my childhood Teddy and one or two extra beyond this but now that I can move my hand and find more Teddies than I ever thought possible.

I feel an obligation to share their stories, taking them around the world to find the best shots possible...or simply shifting the angles to work for us.

TeddyLens

You can find TeddyLens here: https://www.instagram.com/teddy_lens/.

That is the final shameless plug that I will do (for now at least). It is an account of life and whilst we have only just started our journey, the future is bright, and the future is orange. We started small, paused for a while to reset and are now shooting for the moon.

Realistically it is a fun hobby and allows us to share our love for the fluffy friends that we call Teddy. It is something that we have gotten in the habit of updating each and every Monday to create a level of consistency. It is a project of love and one by which we have no intention of slowing down yet.

Will it take over the world? I doubt it but then not every idea needs to be the next Facebook. We can simply enjoy creating and learning, speaking and sharing ideas that offer our day's purpose and that is a consideration that should never be shied away from.

I work in marketing and my wife is a teacher. Two different worlds with two different interests and yet we can still come together to share our passions in life and that is a huge plus in life.

What is next?

Christmas. It is just over 45 days away and that is my back-of-mind focus right now. TeddyLens is a Monday consideration but that is not to say that it will be like this for the rest of our lives. Maybe we begin to shoot up in terms of numbers connected. Reaching into the thousands and beyond and advertisers begin to knock at the door but that is not today.

Do Teddy Bears float the boat and are they niche enough to gain attention across the country/continent/world? I believe there is a small possibility but they are not unique enough to get over straight away. They are amazing and we love them but will our account stick out? Maybe if we add a narrative element to the mix and what I mean by this is stories.

An idea that I had was to create children's books based on the characters. These would naturally appeal to a wider audience and that is where we could develop a niche. Turning our favourite Teddy Bears into a narrative with colourful illustrations and story...something that does conjure up memories of reading Mr. Men books growing up and that is where the danger lies. Would our stories stand out and be unique enough?

Another idea that I had involved video. Creating Instagram shorts but these would be difficult to put together in a way that would not scream two drunk adults at home holding their Teddy Bears to the camera and moving them around. With practice and knowledge we could move beyond this amateur feel but then maybe that is what the audience would like.

Beyond video and stories/illustration could be a podcast...with my wife and I 'interviewing' our favourite Teddy Bears. This could become our niche as I cannot think of any other podcasts of this nature. I have not researched it but it feels very unique at this stage.

Regardless of which route we choose to go down, there are plenty of options to learn and grow. It feels as though we are children in a sweet store and have far too many choices, which is a nice position to be in.

We do not need to make money from this endeavour. It would be nice but we can live on our monthly salaries and that means that we have the freedom to test, develop and grow.

What About You?

I have continued writing about my wife and me.

• One of our hobbies and where we would like to take it but what about you reader?
• What are you working on at the moment apart from saving money?
• Are you happy and is there anything that at this point of your life is making you smile?

Let me know as I would love to find out, trade stories and see where everyone's head is? It is always good to share ideas, share thoughts and feelings, as well as what motivates us. It is something that keeps me going and I hope that many of you out there are working on your own side projects.

A Final Thought

TeddyLens is a hobby of ours and we have others such as running but it is the only hobby that could one day, potentially make us some money. A dream and something to focus on but deep down it is a laugh for us and something that we enjoy adding to each week as they say, if you find work enjoyable then you will never work a day in your life.