Social Media & The Business of Artist

In 2009, social media was just taking off. Most artist, writers, musicians, comics: You name it where on MySpace. It was different then AOL. You could actually share your own work with more then one or two people in a chat room you knew. It showcased talent. It had a lot of technical issues but the just of it was that. I looked at it then in two ways. One, I had a place to show folks what I could do. Or was good at. Two, I thought it was a untapped market for local businesses because a lot of folks would get on it an show the local party scene. No one in I knew running a business in real life, would listen to me.


It frustrated me to no end because my fathers tavern business was being reopened. An I was being kept out of the business decisions. So I made the business a page anyway because their customers where right there. Then handed it over to do what they will with it but at least customers could add them. It did okay, but could have reached more customers. Since I was a silent partner. I kept my mouth shut an focused on my own identity.


I wasn't sure wanted to get re caught up in the party scene just to promote a business I was being excluded from. Since I had experienced what marketing a real website was like, saw it as traffic. A mini website. I looked at it just like I would a game.


I'm a gamier.


I played Ever Quest II for a long time to relax. An really looked at MySpace as sorta a joke. Or as a game. How many locals could I get to add my families business today? It was free advertisement! Who doesn't love that? So I'd add folks I knew locally to it.


But in my own space: I'd add my internet buddies. Non-locals I knew. Spoke to. Or had a interest in my writing. Art. Ect and I'd add content to ever day just like I would have a website. For me, it was just brushing up on my skills. An like I said, I sorta treated it like a game: just like in game reaching for the next level. How many readers could I get today? Could I make it to the top of the list writing. I wrote about my opinions. Life experiences like my near death. Grief. My views. I wrote poems.


It was a good artist outlet for me.


All this was going on as I was recovering from a illness. While my daughter was ill. I had to be at home, I didn't really want to run a website again but it offered feedback an a challenge. I did make it into the top 20 or so a few times. People where interested in my work. As the real life business opened, I went back to just artwork. Posting it. I was offered a spot in the local art show. Featured on the front page of the newspaper an exploring what was happening in the art world on the web. But as a person that had went to school for programming: I hated MySpace. The amount of bugs, spam an computer virus on it just didn't make worth messing with for long.


I migrated to Facebook.


I knew it was going to be difficult because I choose to join it with my given name. Not a handle, but I wanted that business to do well an my art to as well. I just wasn't going to do art under a handle name. I was serious about it. So I migrated my online friends, the local scene, an added everyone I think I have ever meet before. Opened a artist page for myself, a one for the business: to get them both off the ground. But it was overwhelming having that many folks that where so different then each other in one place. My online friends made fun of my real life ones. My real life ones mocked me for online ones. An frankly: I just got fed up with it sorta.
I didn't want to be what they call today: An “influencer”.


Although I had it. I also had real life stalkers. Ex's boyfriends bothering me on public display. People trying to use it as a way to hook up. Stealing artwork. I was extremely frustrated because I had two different types of “audiences”. A really over intellectual one, national an then party hardy local folks. It clashed. I felt criticized a lot for knowing so many different types of people. Which truth is, it's a good problem to have. Andy Warhol invited celebrities an homeless people to his openings but I felt stuck in a weird place all through it. Like I was being torn in several directions at once socially. But in my mind, this was the best way to establish myself as an artist. An the cheapest free advertisement anyone could ever get for a business. It landed me several jobs because I used my Facebook page as a way to document my progress as an artist.


I really did need to get back to “work”.


I wanted that work to be in art, preferably one that use my business, management & computer skills as well. An in 2011 I found it. Or they found me. They used my Facebook page and portfolio on Imagekind as a measure for if they thought I could do that job: Not just my management & career history. It proved I could do art. Sell art. Manage different groups of people.


It opened up opportunity for me.
One to grow as an artist, in another genre.


So when I tell you being on social media is important. I'm not kidding. This was what was happening to me putting myself fully out there. Creating content: Artwork and for just understanding how important is was going to become just projecting to other folks who you are: Interacting with them. Few businesses had even fully caught on. The one I went to work for did to a small degree but even they didn't take it as serious as they should. They had a page, but ignored folks on it. Didn't put out as much content as the could have daily on it. .


You can not sell something to others if they never see it.
Social media became a way to get traffic to online websites.


I didn't even have one of my own: While all this was social media was exploding I didn't even need one to get my art listed on search engines. Or sell art. Or get my name out there. When I went to work for them: Most of my work as a photographer was only seen by one customer at a time because I worked for companies. Having the experience I do on the internet saw this as a wasted opportunity. For me, them and my studio. I've done probably around 5000 photo sessions. Most of, never shown publicly. When I ran my studio, I started getting in the habit of asking each customer for consent to use their images I created to show others. I opened a simple facebook page of the local studio. I'd go home at night, an post the days best work an tag my customers to show them off. My sales increased 30k an would have kept climbing had the company not folded. It folded because they didn't understand the power of the internet. How to compete on it. Or social media.


I didn't slow down as an artist. Or on social media: I just posted on a different page, under a company name. I used it like I would have liked to seen our family business using it or the company I was working for. If the company I worked for had used it like I had: They might not have went bankrupt. Studios of the company that did, where going up in sales. Studios, that just relied on the companies website & social media pages didn't. They had a following: They just didn't pay as much attention to it as they should have.


So, yes: You need to be on social media.


But is it going to have the impact it did back when social media was exploding? Yes an No. The organic reach is not the same as it was back in 2009-2013ish on Facebook. Which is the platform I'm specifically talking about today. In five years or so it's changed. People aren't particularly fond of people just using it to sell to them. They've stopped just adding anyone. An they don't particularly want to just see you run ads of your business on it. They will delete you, unfollow you if you don't have anything interesting to add to their feeds. Or if you fail to interact with them personally. The attention span on Facebook is different.


They don't open things often to read.


So the kind of content that has always worked with websites, isn't a sure win on social media. It's a hit or miss with a general audience. So it's getting more an more important for you to know who your audience is. For me, it was easy promoting the studio. It was specifically my customers from there. It encouraged a bond between us. So, I really didn't work on my artist page until the studio closed. I had no reason to. I didn't have to add them to my personal profile. Or show them my other art work. They where interested in interacting with me, the story of the studio an me highlighting their involvement with it. They liked it simply be me getting them involved with it: Showing off them, as I showed my work. So new customers would follow it. It grew pretty fast.


I would look at my personal profile an just get overwhelmed.


I have about a 1000 folks on it, an couldn't even see my own kids post the way it was set up so I decided this was going so well. I deleted everyone on my personal profile but my kids. They still follow me, I just don't see their feeds. I'm just not nosy like that. I blocked a few folks who where on my personal profile & art page for the wrong reasons. I was so busy doing art, I didn't have time to post on it. Nor could I share a good bulk of the artwork I was doing the last ten years or so. It was the companies I worked for policy.


An it's not a bad policy to have: Respecting others privacy.


If others are in your artwork: Like photography, you should get written consent. My profile right now has examples of my work: But it's basically just family I will show work of on it. It shows some of my life, but not a lot of it. I created a page just for my private studio, so people locally can find it. I don't add much to it like I did the studio one because I'm not in a high volume location like I was. An can just ask my customers to like it. My circumstances have changed. Facebook has as well.


I know I have different types of customers.
I do different types of art.


My website is only place they all come together anymore. My approach on Facebook has changed. I'm starting over. From scratch. I use my profile to add local customers: I know who close enough I can do portrait photography for. Who are my taget audience for it. Facebook added that nifty see first: So I can always see my kids & families post first now. I've just now started using Instagram, mainly for those customers. Instagram has a measure of protection built into it for protecting artwork. People can't just copy it easily. If they do share it: They are going to advertise my work for me. Everything I do now, is waterproofed, an includes my signature. I post my other art, on my artist page for customers who really are interested in it. I only invite those who are.


I stay away from posting other folks Meme's. I created a private page, just for that so if I can't resit the urge to share something sarcastic it's got a place to land without messing up my branding. I use to share other artist works for them, cause they would mine: I created a page for that. To get me out of the habit of sharing anything not related to my own work on my own profile. My art page, shows my growth an progress as an artist alone.


It doesn't tell my story fully.


My website brings it all together: It all of it points back to my site like it should to get the full story. Sharing snippets of your life, art and story drives customers back to your site. It's content. Its not just about likes, or how many followers you have: Or even just influence. It's about building a customer base. An you want those customers to be interested in YOU an actually purchasing your art, product or service. Your business. Not you just spending your time entertaining them. Trust me, I got off social media cause I don't get paid just to entertain.


I'm a entertaining person.


An you have to be part clown to do portrait photography, or sell artwork. But it can't be all you do. Don't get into the trap of spending all your time on social media. Spend the bulk of your time doing the actual artwork. Build a portfolio with social media, a story of you. Entertain some but don't get lost in the crowd on social media.


I'm actually a pretty funny gall


I could spend all my time doing that an not get any artwork done. Let alone sell any. I'm not saying, not to show your personality. I'm saying think about how to use that to sell you & your artwork. My photography clients, who liked my page for the studio already knew I was fun. They had spent time in my studio with me. I entertained them every day. Personally in a interactive art experience. Let that bubble over into your profile or pages: but keep in mind---I got paid to be entertaining. To make a session a enjoyable experience. What your wanting folks to see is in your social media is enough to want to pay you to interact with them.


It's a tool to interact wit them, yes.


But save the best for the actual experience of working with you. Make it enjoyable as possible online an off but keep a boundary line there. You are running a business. An I think like I thought back before social media exploded: It's important for businesses to market on Social Media platforms. An for a long while, it's been free to do so: But the organic reach isn't there like it use to be. It might be smarter to just run an ad. In the photography business: I would. An I'd use it as a customer service tool. To keep in touch with customers an offer them the same attention I would in my store. This helps with referrals an repeat business.


I haven't really seen facebook work for artist to run ads though: Unless they had a specific product. Instead of running an ad to like my page or visit my site: I might show a specific product: Like a shirt. It's really going to depend on what your art is on how you want to approach social media, but think of it like someone entering your “store”. Of course you want them to enter. Check you out, but I didn't put all my effort into just social media expecting exposure to create an income.
You can't sell anything if people don't see your work.


But exposure doesn't pay bills. It can help with branding, enhance customer support, create leads an open up opportunities: but exposure is an expense. Just like taking a time to run an ad in a local newspaper use to be. It takes time to be on all these social networks, an you do not want to spend so much time on them that you do not get any artwork done. It should enhance your business, not distract you from it.


I keep using photography as an example because I've seen many different ways to do it. I see a lot of people open Facebook pages offering photography services. An right off the bat, I see a lot of them approaching it wrong because they are worried about building a portfolio an “exposure”. My photography portfolio was owned by several different companies I worked for. Most of it never was seen by the public. I just needed to give a few examples of my work online, because I was actually busy selling it to the person that would buy it. What I see a lot of photographers do, is post anything the do immediately to social media. They want that exposure, to show it off. An there is nothing wrong with that if the person paid for it before you post it an gave consent.


A lot of folks are taking advantage.


Saying they will pay for something later, go ahead an post it. Then take the work an never pay. They justify it by “giving you exposure”. Exposure is something you are going to get either way posting your work. It should be posted with a watermark, after the sale. Not before, an not if they didn't pay for your services. I see these folks more worried about showing off on social media then actually worried about the business or the industry they are in. A lot of them undermine the industry by charging a third of the price a professional photographer charges. All for exposure.


Most end up out of business within a year.


Social Media should enhance your business. Not create a loss for you. If it is creating a loss you are doing something wrong. I would rather have 500 people following me truly interested in buying my art then 2000 who won't. Or have a competitor following me trying to copy my style an selling it for half it's worth. To be a happy artist, doing what you love: You have to be able to make a living at it. You have to treat it like a business. Online & off.


Yes, show your work. Build up a portfolio by all means. But do not give away the house for free.


How do you do that with other types of art? By watermarking. By putting your name on it where it can not be easily cropped out with photoshop. Get these habits down, before you even start posting artwork. Remove anything from your social media profiles you posted before you got in this habit. A lot of us share with others just because we are excited about it before we even think about it being our business. I did the first couple of months, but I quickly went back an removed them to. Protect your work. Don't give it away for free unless you can afford to or have a specific reason for doing so. Brand yourself an your art as you go. Put those signatures on your work. Just like you would finishing any piece of work. Use photoshop! Not your phone to get digital copies of it. Photoshop allows you to put your watermark information right into the digital copy of it. An can't be removed. Upload your artwork to sites that protect it more, then share the link of it on social media instead.


It will display the same way, be shareable but on a site that protects it.


I focused on Facebook through most of this article, because it's been the bigger of the social medias. I do photography locally, an find it's best set up for local markets. But being on Google, locally is just as important. These two ways are the number one way people are going to find your services locally. Google, owns 60% of the market share on how people are going to find you: locally an nationally. Facebook isn't fully scanned by Google as far as I can tell. I tend to lean towards a local market on Facebook, for photography. A national one for traditional & fractal artwork.


You should also be on Pintrest.


Without having a website, I used Pintrest as a portfolio of my work an things related artwork & photography. I use it for art buyers nationally an to reach other artist. I've link every piece of artwork I do on it but the portrait photography. I have photography I share with other artist for photo manipulation. On it, I share articles buyers might be interested in: Like advice about how to get ready for a photo session. Advice I would give in studio, on a session call preparing for a photo session. I share articles that would attract other artist, who might be interested in using some of my photos for manipulation. Anything related to my three buyer types: art buyers, photography customers an other artist.


I get 10K traffic from it regularly.


Google scans it. I'm more easily found this way then any other. All without even having a website. I get the most art customers this way then any other. An it is a combo of using two social medias. I do not link back directly to my site: unless it is directly on my site an my site only.


The reason being is this: Clicks.


Most folks will only click once, or twice on a link then stop following it. I do not want to waste my potential sale. I send them right to the product, no matter where it is. So I don't loose them. That first click is valuable. I don't want to loose their attention or sale. An majority of my art sales come from this avenue still today. An I keep those links up to date. I don't post links that change very often on it so it's always correct. Out of all the social sites I am on, it by far out performs all the other social medias combined an I didn't even need a website to stay in the top results when searching for artist Dana Haynes.


Pintrest supports content.


Your artwork is content: Link it..... don't upload it to it. It will pick the image up of your artwork you are trying to sell. It's a ongoing revenue stream. Without you having to talk to a lot of folks daily. It gets your work out there. An if I had to choose any social platform to use over all the others. It would be this one. People who visit it, are specifically going there to buy, or dream about buying something. For a long while, t his is the only social site: Id post on because it gives results. It takes a little work, but has longer lasting results then other social medias.


So I've covered Myspace, Facebook, Pintrest an a little about Google & Instagram.


Myspace isn't even worth posting on any longer right now. Facebook is dying, but still an important way to document your journey as a artist. It's time line is helpful in regards to that. Pintrest is important and works with Google well. But what about Google? It has a social platform but is it worth using socially? I tend to look at Google two different ways. Local an National. It's important to at least have your local business listed on it an best if your in the top three return for those results. My photo studio always popped up first because it was the most popular in the area. So I didn't worry about it too much. I had the traffic I needed from it because it was popular. Starting over, with my own private photograph studio: I watch it. I created a Google page, similar to a Facebook page to keep me on the map locally of people to call when they search for local photographers.


It's what you would call a splash page.


It has information locals would need to contact me, an schedule a photoshoot: A few examples of my work. But I do not spend a lot of time on it as long as I am coming back in those results: photographer in my area. It's not something I needed to spend a lot of ad money on. There are two other studios in my area that do, that would compete like my old company that would with ads. They are something to look into, an if I was going to spend money on ads for my photography business. This is where I would do it. An Facebook for more targeted user ads.


For artwork, it's a little more complicated to be found.


I tend to think of Google as a national market for it. So, I do have a google page. I haven't paid as much attention to it as I should for artwork because I was busy doing portrait photography an didn't really NEED to. But since I'm focusing back on my traditional art more being semi retired: It's way more important then Facebook. Why? Because it's a national audience. I can go into a whole article just on it. Websites. Tags. Hashtags & search results.


An that's just it about social media: Use it for your custom needs.


Instagram, I just actually started using. I ignored it for a long time because I am a professional photographer. Not a hobbyist. So was reluctant to mix my work with snap happy phone picture takers. Now that it's established as a social platform I intend to use it to show the difference. It protects work to a degree an find it more beneficial to use then posting my portrait work on other social media. So I'm going to use it as a way for locals to reach me for that by using hashtags. So I can be found. I don't have to spend a lot of time on it either. It's just another way to portfolio my work. Once in a while, to break things up: I might throw in a piece of my artwork so it stands out.


An that's the thing, each social media platform can be used or good for something specific. Like Facebook, I've found just isn't the greatest place to post writing. It's better for me to post it on Google, Tumblr or Pintrest so it gets picked up by a wider audience that are specifically looking to read. Facebook, it be better to promote my art business posting Memes of quotes by me on top of my artwork.


Twitter, is like my garbage can.


Everything I do gets automatically shared an linked there. I don't waste a lot of time on it because I just never picked up a lot of followers there. I didn't focus on it, so actually closed it from public view for more then five years. I can't tell you the best way or right way to promote yourself or your business on it. But might look into it further now that I have more time on my hands on the best way for me to or other artist to use it. You are welcome to leave comments about it, if you do understand it better. But for the most part, I've just used it as automated feed. I check for comments on it but I find it a little too political for me.


An knowing what kind of customer your looking for helps when being on these platforms.


I'm not looking for political debates, my artwork isn't about that. So I just never saw it as having the viewers or customers I wanted. It might an I have under utilized it. I am on it though, with a few links encase someone looks for me: I can be found. Instead of using it: I asked the younger generation what they use:


The answer was Tumblr.


I'm on it for that specific reason: It reaches a my twenty somethings better. An that's the part of being on social media you want to understand. Who are you trying to reach? What customers. Who buys your artwork? Who your photography? Where is your time best spent promoting your art work on social media? Who's your niche. I sell children's photography the most: So I want to reach out to who has them an who will buy them. In my photography, senior citzens buy more often then anyone. So Facebook is important for it. Tumblr, seems better for blogs. An LinkedIn for reaching professionals. Snap Chat might reach a younger generation: but I'm not on it. Because it doesn't save my work. It's a waste of my time to interact on.


I'm on all other social medias that are imporant, but how much time I dedicated to building a following on or network has varied. The last ten years, I was in a position that I didn't need to spend tons of time on social media to sell art. I sold face to face but always kept the social media accounts for back up: an would update others occasionally about what I was doing. They helped me get the opportunity I had. But depending on what you are doing, is going to dictate how much time is worth investing in being on them.


They are a part of my daily, weekly, monthly routines selling art.


I haven't really fully used them to their capacities since 2014. I spent my time actually doing the art. Artwork I couldn't share to protect the customers privacy. While the work I put into social media previously still produced fruit. Not as much as they are capable of because I don't have a full time marketing team behind me. The good news about them is, if you get busy people don't seem to mind if you fall off the face of the earth for a while. You can pick them back up, an continue to brand your art with them. Your effort isn't lost.


Now that I have time to work more independently as an artist: I intend pick right back up where I left off and use them to my full advantage. All the efforts, I put in before where without a website. They left a lasting impact. Opened doors for me as an artist with others but I did want to see what would happen if I left them for a long period of time. If my work could still be found because I used them.


I happy to report it can be.


So it's not a wasted effort marketing this way. An like I mentioned before: Loosing a great deal of digital work. It was a priority for me to know the work I put in would last. Marketing is a lot of work. But your art is a business, an this is the best way to reach customers today. You might have to follow the trends on social media, but content last. This is the cheapest way to reach others: Word of mouth.


It always has been.


But it's also the most priceless.


My last suggestion is not to come off as an advertisement, but your authentic self.
Your an artist, an that alone makes you interesting to others. Use social media to let others learn about you. Your story is told a little bit at a time on each one of these platforms. The more you can document it on them, an still get art work done the better. Just don't loose site, an be on them more then you continue to do your art. Marketing and networking is just one step, in selling your art. Not all of it. I slowed down on social media only when those where was covered by the companies I worked for. When I'm not working for someone else, working independently: I use them. But I don't spend all my time on them. Limit yourself an the time you spend on them so you actually produce artwork (content) for them.


An remind yourself, it's business: Not just socializing.


It's networking with clients & potential customers: Not just socializing. Interacting with them is important. Service is important. But it's not all you are going to do as an artist. It's just one aspect of being an artist. Running a business. I spent a third of my day talking with customers at my studio. Doing sales & marketing. I thought of social marketing, like newspaper and flyers. Just another important step in promoting my studio. The rest of the day, I was actually doing the artwork.


Keep this in mind.


You can't sell a product if you forget to take the time to produce it. Doing artwork takes time. Some things I do artistically takes a long time. Like murals. Painting. Drawing. Writing. Don't let marketing online, distract you from the main focus of your job: Art.


Use it to back up what it is you actually do: Make & Sell Art.
You want your art business: work to be popular, not necessary you.


Just keep in mind, major companies have folded because they didn't take the internet or social media seriously when marketing. Keep at it, but don't let it consume you or all your time. My grandmother use to say: If you just get one thing done a day. It amounts to something over time. So, try to get a least one post a day of your artwork done. If it takes longer: Post about working on it. The top people marketing on the internet post ten-twenty things all over different social platforms to be successful making a living on it.


Explore different ways to get your message across without being a walking billboard. Your an artist. Coming up with creative ways to express yourself an your art should be second nature to you. Just displaying your artwork is one way. Writing about it another. Creating quotes. Meme's. Photo's. Videos. Flyers. Podcast another.


Be yourself, an what you want your brand to be about.


I've watched one branding themselves: An all they do is post sarcastic memes. They are funny. It suits their brand. Their name. It sells their clothing line. Artwork. They post something simple about ten times a day, linking back to their work, to buy. It doesn't have to be over complicated as being all all these sites seem. So, think about the image you want to project. Who do you want to attract? How: What emotion can you express or illicit that will reach them? Be yourself in the process, giving a high level of response: Service in the process being consistent.


Social marketing does work.


If it's not working for you, examine what you can change in your approach to it.