5 Things I Would Do If I Was Starting Over My Art Account in 2024
I realized today this week, that the end of April means that the year is one-third of the way through! Is it just me or does it feel like 2024 just started?
I’m starting to re-evaluate some of the things that are working for my art and Enneagram business. And, I’m also considering what’s not working and how I could change that.
If you too are evaluating your creative business, then this post is for you! I have built a community of over 175k on Instagram. It’s changed my business and even my life. There are so many things I wish I had done a little differently as I grew that community. And,I’ve made a ton of mistakes, but each one has taught me so much.
If I was building on online community again, starting today, here are 5 things I’d do:
1. GET CLEAR ON MY NICHE
Instead of just posting my art, from the beginning, I’d nail down who I serve. My art now helps create understanding and positivity for artists, creatives, and women who want to grow! I use the Enneagram as a framework to help do all of those things.
Sticking within this niche has helped my account grow exponetially. When I first started my account, I was just posting any random quote I liked, using my hand-lettered art. There was no intention behind which quotes I posted. By being so general, I was actually not speaking to anyone in particular.
Once I got more intentional about my niche, that’s when my account started to really grow.
2. LET GO OF PERFECTION
I wish I had started posting even sooner than I did. Instead of letting my inexperience hold me back, I’d take the opportunity to practice and experiment. Like many other artists, in the begining, I struggleed with posting art becuase I didn’t think it’s good or perfect enough. So many new artists never put their art out into the work because of their perfectionism.
I still struggle with imposter syndrome, comparing myself to the many artists who are WAY more talented. And, there so many artist that have much more talent than I do. But talent doesn’t always mean success. Actually sharing or promoting your art and being consistent in your messaging is just as important talent!
3. STOP TRYING TO GO VIRAL
We are constantly told that if you could just go viral on Instagram, then you’ll have overnight success. That may be possible for some people, but its very rare! Not to mention that even people who do go viral don’t always have the systems in place to capitalize on that virality.
Trying to go viral left me burned out and focused on only on the numbers. Instead, I started seeing consistent growth, week-after-week, when I focused on art that served my audience!
Instead trying to create a viral post, I asked myself what I could create that would resonate and serve with people so much that they wanted to share it on their Story. Creating shareable posts and resources helped my account grow.
4. FOCUS ON COMMUNITY
Not only is IG more fun when you build a community, but being authentic is way easier and less stressful. It also helped me build deeper connections and made more people excited to engage and buy my art and offers.
A great way to build community is to engage with your community by answering comments and DMs. Also, create ways for your community to engage with you, like asking questions in posts and Stories, or adding polls to your Story.
5. KEEP LEARNING
Finally, for probably the first year, I focused only on improving my art skills, without giving much thought to how to monetize this account. If I had to start over, I would nt wait to build my business and monetization skills.
I believe that if I could just grow my IG account to over 100k, then that money would just happen. Unfortuntately, that was not what happened for me. In order to actually monetize the account and my art, I needed a plan. I wish I had started from the very beginning with a plan to do that.
NOW WHAT?
If you are growing an art or creative account in 2024 or beyond and are looking for a more detailed plan, I created a resource just for you – The Artist’s Passive Income Plan! It addresses these five topics to help you grow consistently and intentionally. It will help you set up systems that support you and help you begin to monetize your account starting in the new couple of weeks.
Learn more about the Artist’s Passive Income Plan, here!
What are you waiting for?
I’d love to hear what advice you’d give yourself if you were starting over, too. Share it below if you’d like🤩
