content creation

Attention artists: Stop chasing likes and follows and start attracting paying customers.

One of the biggest misconceptions about social media is the importance placed on vanity metrics. You know, the likes and follows—things that are meaningless really. Unless they are paying, loyal, repeat customers.

It’s incredibly hard to change this mindset as an artist because I am one! I thrive on likes, follows, comments and emojis🫶☕️🤷‍♀️💫

The only things that matter are saves and shares. Mostly. Oh, and reach. The number of new people that see your work.

The word on the street is that the algorithm has changed again for Instagram—Notorious for being impossible to gain any kind of traction on. But now Instagram is said to be favouring smaller, tiny accounts. So like, 50-200 followers. So rejoice! If you are just starting out, the universe is in your favour!

Get out your phones and start clicking away at the art you’ve done and post like your life depends on it. 🫡 God speed.

Artists, rejoice: Conquer social media marketing without compromising your artistic vision.

A few marketing tips…

1. Don’t just say that you are having a sale, explain what you are going to do for the client. What problems are you solving? Explain the benefits of having your art in their house.

2. Instagram is for nurturing relationships. They’re likely your crowd. Most of Gen X is on that platform and they’re the ones that you specifically want to reach.

3. Likes and follows don’t matter that much. Conversions, saves and shares matter more. Your content needs to speak to your audience, it isn’t for you.

4. Have a clear idea of who your ideal buyer is and cater to that niche. How old are they? How much do they make? What are their interests? Think about that (a lot) before you press “publish”.

Find me on Instagram, WordPress & Pinterest for more tips and tricks about social media management for artists. — 2021

How to unleash your creativity: Navigate social media marketing for artists with soul and substance.

When you remember it, it’s a gift (your abilities).

I think the biggest stumbling block for me when putting my art out into the wild was naming it. Omg I hated naming my paintings. I really overthought it. I ended up naming them randomly but like, then what?

Sometimes it’s things like that which inhibits us from sending out our creations into the world. Sometimes it feels wrong and imposter syndrome creeps in.

All this means is something isn’t aligning in your head with your skill set.

But sometimes we have too many voices competing in our head and taking the leap proves too difficult. If this is the case, wait. Sit down and think about it—what would really make me feel proud to send my stuff out there? What skill? What goal? What? Then focus on working that out in your head and do what you need to get it sorted. A lot of the time, it’s composition. Legit. This means you may have to start over again. Huge deterrent. Problem solved. You’re welcome. Just kidding.

Word on the street: social media is over saturated

If you focus on your unique selling points and niche down to your target audience, you’ll find your people and start selling your art.

See, social media isn’t about spreading the word about your art to everyone, it’s about finding what’s special about you, and discovering your target audience with a buyers persona.

And that’s what I’m here to help you with: finding that audience. And also others stuff but that’s for another post.

6 things to consider before selling art

1. Do you have a way to intake money?

2. Do you know your target audience (buyers persona/know who you want to sell to)

3. Do you have a website?

4. Do you have a pricing strategy?

5. Have you considered the financial and legal aspects?

6. Do you have an online platform selection? Or various ways to reach a wide audience?

7. Bonus: taxes.

Time in the studio 🎨👩‍🎨🖌️

Underpainting

Started a new painting of a Wedgwood vase with a dog handle.

I am thinking to do the edging as orange/taupe of some kind and grey-blue for the vase and lime green highlights. It can be tricky because with those colours, it can look cartoon-y. But in this case, they aren’t deep, intense hues. I just want to use the combination for practice.

I’m thinking of using burnt umber, white, cad red & Prussian blue. Prussian blue cause who else a giant tube sitting around?

Please, stay tuned meus amigos…

This service is for

The ones who need help with their social media and don’t know how it works.

For those who would like to learn more for themselves but mainly for their business.

For those who make art and want to start selling and get a website up and running.

For those who want someone to manage their social media for them.

It’s also for those who are interested to learn how social media works so they can keep up with friends and family.

TBT

How do I know what kind of digital marketer I should hire?

In a sea full of marketers, it’s always a difficult to know where to start. It’s certainly a process of elimination. What I’d suggest is thinking about your brand, where you want to be in a few years and how will you get there; along with that, there are many forms of content out there. You should have your ideal customer in mind and at least some idea of where you are coming up short. Do not leave that bit up to the new hire.

For example, perhaps you are a small business starting out. You’ll want to focus on brand awareness and building that value in the online community. Build loyalty, not likes. Think long-term and not short-term, inconsequential vanity metrics.

Find someone whose media style is close to the look you want and go for it. Listen to them and understand their limits and you have a good start.

Why social media management?

“I don’t want to sellout”

“I don’t want to pester people”

“I don’t want to compromise my art”

We’ve all been there and identified with at least one, or maybe more of those comments, and now, the “not good enough” phase has passed and the first mountain has been climbed.

You want to make money selling your art without compromising your integrity.

The first scary first step. I am here to help you and guide you through your journey.

We’ll delve into who your buyer persona is, we’ll work together to create a strategy for posting, we’ll study the best platforms for you to be on and so much more…

Content creation and marketing

Content creation in relation to marketing is like white to rice. You can’t have one without the other.

As a creative person, it’s the ultimate dream job. There are a bazillion combinations of content to get your message across. The hard part is getting your message across. Lemmie back up.

Just like with art, there are good ideas and there are bad ideas. Some are just better than others and they communicate perfectly and effectively. Like Nike. And just like a good teacher, you need to know when to take the drawing away from the child. You can overdo it.

It’s why it’s so important to have a positive, nurturing work environment.

So in conclusion, while there are many ways to get an idea across, just like a good roast, it takes time. You can’t have a marketing idea without content to support it. White without rice.

For excessively creative people like myself, writing and content creation comes a bit naturally. However, knowing where to go to find ideas and be able to put a unique twist on them to make them your own yet still be trendy and trending and relevant and relatable? Now that’s a bit tricky.

Don’t forget authenticity.

I figure the most essential part in content creation is finding your writing voice. From there you develop your style. I enjoy writing. Relating and connecting with people brings an immense amount of fulfillment so I figure this is what I’m meant to do. I don’t mean content creation specifically but connecting with people through art and creativity.

I’m biased (let’s just put that out there) but it’s very important to find someone who loves what they do. It’ll bring a freshness to their work and you will both be all the better for it. In saying that, not everyone who loves what they do will be your jam. Everyone has different values and goals. Sit down. Have a conversation and see how it goes from there.