hey guys so I just did a blog post
recently about how I use Instagram to
sell my artwork and I figured I'd go
ahead and do a YouTube video on that
also just because I do want to do more
with my youtube channel but I figured if
I'm doing a blog post I can do a video
so this video is about how I use
Instagram to sell my artwork I started
my Instagram account kind of early on in
the days of Instagram so even though I
wasn't super consistent in the beginning
I don't think it was detrimental to my
growth on Instagram just because there
weren't so many people using it and
businesses and companies hadn't really
gone on Instagram yet I can see her so
distracting but then as I started to
post more and I started to make more art
and be more consistent I get people
asking me if my art was for sale I think
now because Instagram is such an
established platform and so many artists
and creators are on Instagram if you're
consistent you will build a following
and it might be slow at first because
again it's free so you're not paying for
ads you're not paying for promotions you
don't have to to grow and build a
following all you have to do is produce
consistent content and you'll find
people or people will find you who like
what you're doing you don't have to
spend a lot of money which is a huge
bonus but you do have to be consistent
so if you have a small tight budget like
I do then Instagram is amazing because
again you don't to pay to promote
yourself or get in front of people but
that means you have to be mindful and
take the time every day to think of
something to post whether that's in the
actual Instagram feed for your real
account or if it's in the stories and a
second thing that I think will really
help you grow your account it's take
good photos and I don't believe this is
detrimental to growing a following on
Instagram because I up until very very
recently I didn't take a lot of time or
put a lot of attention into the photos I
was posting if you don't have a newer
phone that takes good photos then just
do what I do and
a real camera and what I also do because
I'm not a good photo editor I actually
downloaded some presets from Sorella
more and what presets are if you're
using Lightroom backtrack I use
Lightroom to edit my photos and then I
post them on Instagram and so in
Lightroom you can get presets which are
basically just like preset settings for
your photos with a preset just
automatically adjusts all your settings
you can still go in and change things so
I like them because it's super super
fast and you get a really consistent
editing style so your photos look a lot
more consistent and if you do have a
good phone and you do like Adobe
software and you do want to use presets
then you can actually get them for your
phone all you have to do is download the
Lightroom cc app not Lightroom classic
CC classic is for desktop regular
Lightroom cc you can use it on your
desktop and install all of your presets
there and when you download the app and
sign into your Adobe account it'll
automatically update your phone and
you're like Lightroom presets so that
when you go into Lightroom on your
mobile device after taking a photo you
can apply those preset and you can do
all the editing styles that you put on
your desktop but it's mobile and the
last thing when you're actually posting
to your Instagram feed the aspect ratio
that you want to use is like a 4 or 5 or
an 8 10 aspect ratio and that's just
because it takes up the most like real
estate on someone's phone so use that
it's a lot harder for people to miss
your post it's so much easier for them
to notice it and then you're likely to
get more engagement obviously because
nobody missed seeing your photo
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alright so third is hashtags there's a
general rule of thumb that I've started
to follow and it's to not use super
super popular hashtags and to also not
use super obscure hashtags so for me the
sweet spot is between like 500,000 uses
and when you're going on Instagram and
you're starting to look up your hashtags
and you're typing in like hashtag art
you'll see how many people have used
hashtag
art and its millions and then you'll see
how many people have used hashtag
watercolor art hashtag artwork and you
can go through and pick the one that's
closer to 500,000 because that means
that it's popular enough to get searched
but not so so popular and overused that
if you post a photo with hashtag art
that it's gonna immediately get lost and
so when somebody goes into Instagram and
types in hashtag art looking for art on
Instagram your posts gonna be buried
because so many people use it so
sometimes I use very popular hashtags
and sometimes I use super obscure
hashtags like hashtag Shane Reynolds
no one's searching for that but maybe
someday they will so I'm trying to get a
head start by the next thing that I
think a lot of people tend to neglect
not everyone I've seen plenty of people
use this that a lot of people who don't
is to tag your photos you want to always
tag your location and I believe in
Internet safety and I'm a petite single
female so I definitely don't want anyone
to know where I'm at because I'm a
little afraid of strangers but I will
always tag my general location so
instead of tagging my apartment complex
or my county I'll just tag Dallas Texas
as my location and if I'm in a cool spot
working and I want to promote that
business I won't post the photo until
after I've already left
so definitely geo tag location tag your
photos because that can connect you with
so many local buyers or other local
creatives and artists that are maybe
wanting to collaborate with you or for
me I was interviewed on a podcast
recently because of my location tags so
definitely use those because they can be
beneficial the second tag that you can
do is to tag people or businesses and
I'll admit I overdid this in the
beginning when I realized that it was
like a useful thing to do and I would
tag gosh she was it I can't remember the
account that I was constantly tagging I
was tagging them all the time and they
didn't block me but they blocked me from
tagging them somehow and so I remember
one day going in to tag them in my
progress photo which I was posting
progress photos every day and tagging
them every day
I could not tag them and I was like
that's weird and I realized what was
happening and so don't overdo it it is
obnoxious maybe for a finished piece of
art you can go ahead and like tag these
big companies that you're like proud to
use and like support or with businesses
that's something that I've started to do
that has again resulted in
collaborations or other shout outs from
people because I shout at them out I
have a coladas cup or I'm drinking my
coffee and it's coladas I'll tag those
companies in my photos and then if
somebody clicks on the photo then
they'll see all those tags pop up if
you're from Alaska you know what coladas
Brothers is it's a fun way an easy way
to kind of like give back to these other
small businesses or brands that you
really love to use if you are very
consistent they're like oh it's just
like artist who really loves us and
she's tapped us in several photos then
they might want to work with you or even
send you a promotional item or shout you
out which is awesome I have found a huge
increase in like engagement and people
feeling connected to me when I started
to post more photos of myself and it's
because psychologically people relate to
people and so if they're seeing you a
human face and figure in a photo then
they're more likely to feel connected to
that and especially with your artwork
because this is you you're the artist
and this is the art you're creating then
it gives me this sense of like insights
and arts mysterious to people so this
was hard for me just because I wanted my
account to be about my artwork I didn't
want it to be about me and all of us
ladies know if you post a selfie or a
photo of yourself then you ends up
getting a lot of unwanted messages and
maybe they're not dirty or anything but
you just get a lot of like hey very
beautiful and it's annoying and it's
stupid so get used to blocking people
don't be ashamed of blocking people
there's nothing wrong with it if you
don't want that attention block them the
post photos of yourself and kind of talk
about your experience creating the
artwork because art isn't a serious to
people and if you can get a little bit
of light to that then they feel again
more connected and intimate with your
work because they've seen it kind of
come to life and they've kind of gotten
an insight into how it was created
people will feel a lot more connected
with
if they can see you actually working on
your art or just you as the artist
people want to know you especially on
social media if somebody does leave you
a comment I always always always always
respond to them and instagrams changed
it a little bit where they won't notify
you of older photos that people comment
or like they only notify you of like the
most recent ones maybe from that week I
haven't figured out the timeline so I
try and say on Instagram for 20 to 30
minutes after I post the photo replying
to everyone who leaves me a comment and
when I reply if I don't recognize the
username I'll click on their profile
photo go to their profile look at their
first name and then go back and respond
to them using their first name because
it just feels a lot more intentional and
personal and it helps you as this artist
he's kind of like alone in your studio
get to know the people who are following
and supporting you and try and be more
engaging with those instead of just like
thanks thank you thank you thanks if
they say like oh I love these colors or
oh this is so happy then be like thank
you like I wanted this to be happy or I
was nervous about this color combination
but it really did work out and like your
comment means a lot to me
just try and respond to people like
their people yeah if you leave me like a
heart emoji as a comment I'll still
reply back with like a thank you emoji
it keeps them from becoming a number and
keeps you from getting caught up and
stressed out about I don't have enough
followers because the followers you have
are invested in you and you're invested
in them
when you're posting your photos and
you're writing your captions that can be
really difficult as an artist trying to
write out a caption for my art I don't
always know what to say about it because
I feel something about it and I'm
creating it because of this feeling I
have or this like idea but actually
articulating that can be hard however it
is really important to share some of
these behind the scenes so if you're
really excited about a piece in the
beginning let people know like a lot of
people who follow me know that if I'm
excited in the beginning and I'm like oh
my gosh this is so cool I'm so excited
to share this piece then I'm also
following that up with and I hope I
don't ruin it or if you do something
very personal just share that you don't
have to bury your soul and don't do
anything that makes you feel like
uncomfortable or too vulnerable but
share it little by little and kind of
get your feet wet because of you over
share that hurts you but if you don't
share enough then you can't actually
connect the people and they're just like
oh yeah art because they see art and
target and home goods and art is
everywhere and so for you to connect
with them you have to share what this
art is that was something that was
tricky for me because I wanted people to
see my art and interpret it in a way
that was meaningful to them I didn't
want to interrupt or change their
interpretation but I found if I see
piece of art and I really resonate with
it and I feel something from it and then
the artist is like oh that's why I
painted it and it's totally not what I
was thinking or feeling that doesn't
change my perspective
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I couldn't really afford to do this in
the very beginning just because I wasn't
taking in any money really and then the
money I was making off Instagram is
going into art supply its art supplies
are super expensive so once I started to
get a little bit more money than I was
contacting just like sending messages to
these accounts and I was just like oh my
gosh I love your account can I send you
an art print for you to feature and tag
me on and it's cool because then they're
sharing your art with their followers
who you probably wouldn't be able to get
in front of very easily on your own or
maybe ever try and find counts that have
kind of a similar aesthetic to your
artwork so don't pick an account that
maybe has like I don't know bright
colors if your arts very like dark and
moody I feel like I've said this a few
times throughout this video but I think
it is hard for an artist to really
promote themselves
that's just so hard for us and it's just
something yet to get over you have to in
some way or on some level not be
emotional about your work and know that
not everyone's gonna like it be ok with
that
also you don't wanna come across like
you're just trying to get people's money
so you don't want to always be like
pushing our sales right you don't want
to be like buy my art buy my art buy and
I are all the time or people will get up
annoyed with you what I generally like
to feel out is to do 70 percent like
selfless sharing so just posting
progress photos giving in sides doing
Instagram stories and then 30% selling
so you don't want to not sell and you
don't want to not tell people that
you're arts for sale but you don't only
want to be doing that most of what
you're doing on Instagram because it is
a social media site it's not your
website and it's not your shop is to
share behind the scenes and to connect
with people so then when you do have a
piece for sale don't feel bad about
putting that this piece is for sale in
the caption after you've posted the
photo and giving the price and being
like hey my website is linked above in
my profile and I go to your profile and
make sure that your website is linked
and make sure in your profile bio it
says it's a link to shop my art and also
I'll use Instagram stories to be like
this prints for sale swipe up to shop
and if that just feels like so much like
oh I'm posting a photo and I'm saying
buy my art and then my bio is like buy
my art and my Instagram story's like buy
my art it's too much it's not too much
because I will do that and I will still
get DM on this group of people asking me
like oh is your art for sale how can i
buy your art can i get a print where can
i shop and i'm like and if you're
exclusively on instagram right now you
haven't built a website or gotten on any
of these other platforms like Etsy or
build something off Shopify or
Squarespace then to sell your art
through Instagram all you need is PayPal
and once that invoice is paid then I
ship out their artwork and I always I'm
up front with them and tell them like
I'm not gonna ship your art until you've
finished paying off this invoice and I
don't think everyone's trying to like
steal from you and like once they get
your art in their home they're like I'm
not gonna finish me in that invoice I
think sometimes they just forget just
like when they have that invoice
sometimes you do with the sender in mind
you're like hey don't forget to make
your payment or hey you still want this
art it just protects you gives you a
peace of mind selling your art on
Instagram because again there's really
no buyer/seller protection when you're
doing it this way so the PayPal
invoicing is really wonderful and just
being upfront with people and saying hey
you can make payments if you need to but
I won't send out your artwork until
you've paid off the invoice so take as
long as you need and I'll hold the art
for you really that's all I do and it's
a lot this video is getting kind of long
but when you do all of it or it's become
kind of a habit it's not as much it's
just like little little bits that you
need to remember to do consistently and
then doing all of these things in
conjunction with posting regularly will
really start to build up your engagement
which means your actual followers will
like and comment more which will push
your post to more people if you need to
actually see it all kind of written out
and articulate it better than it is when
I speak you can go click the blog post
link below and check that out and it's
all laid out a lot better I'm a much
better writer than speaker so it's a lot
more organized and articulate on my blog
hit the like button comment
subscribe and hit the bell if you want
notification I mostly just post my
process videos but I am trying to do
more videos like this so yeah I will see
you guys next week bye try not to make a
stupid faces I'll be too annoying oh it
is a huge feat
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