Flooding your caption box with # will not drive traffic to your social media pages. Writing clear, thoughtful and focused descriptions with SEO heavy keywords will. Top it off with a 3-5 # that are geared towards art collectors. Often times, (I write from experience), the # we use and the content we publish ends up landing in front of other artists. This is not necessarily bad, however you really want to gain the attention of art collectors, interior designers, art enthusiasts, and investors.

Here are several of my favorite #: 

#contemporaryartforsale #originalpaintings #limitededitionprints #abstractart  #emergingartists 

I struggled for a long time on whether or not to pursue this path as an artist and educator. The duplexity of my feelings is something I still grapple with- on the one hand my art should elevate my following and presence as an artist- the work does the work and capitulating to the social media game, the age of algorithms, is presenting myself as a sell out, a phony in a way. The other side of that coin is that I am also running a business, and in today's world, I do consider that breaking through the mass of artists out there is nearly impossible. In being a "content creator" artist, am I not just providing my own press- getting my voice out there without having to wait for the opportunity to be “discovered”? organically growing the chain of “greatness” by those who have established themselves in the Industry the old fashioned way. Is it still possible to establish oneself the old fashioned way? I started down the digital marketing rabbit hole by asking, "How do you get the representation?" in the galleries? Are they not also being swayed by the popularity contest of artists on social media? So now I am going to be really honest, watching what the social platforms have created, what they have done eventually got in my head like an earworm causing me to consider these things: 

•  "I won’t make it unless I do this. As much as I want to be the true artist and not sell myself,  I am also on the side of, ok this is what I what my life to look like, and this is how I get there, while doing what I love."
• I did not like that there was a code to be cracked, something everyone else seemed to know that I didn't. How are these artists growing like mad? gaining a following? selling 6 figures? 
• I was getting hung up on the social media/sales relationship- whether it preserves the integrity of the work or not- great artists are spending more time trying to figure it out.

My conclusion became, I can provide other artists with the same information I felt I needed to know, (and now know) so that they can spend more time creating (like we all prefer to do) and less time obsessing over social media. "In the Business of Art" unfortunately will not free you from the social media game, it cuts the BS and gives you the meat and potatoes of how it works. I do charge $3.00 per blueprint package as it does take a considerable amount of time to consolidate the information into a readable document. So let us begin with content creation. This is not a marketing plan, it is 1 small part that will make up your marketing plan. The first step is to create content. This is showcasing yourself and your work. I urge you to be authentic, to write with true meaning about your work, tell your story, be your own press release. 

The "January Blueprint: Create Art, Create Content" is a how to guide on creating content that will grow your social media following organically, generate leads which will ultimately drive sales. Creating content is so important, it helps brand you, telling your story, process, technique, where and how to style and hang your work and most importantly, connects you to your audience. The "January Blueprint" is part 1 of 12. The 12 steps process helps build your art business into a sales machine. Visit this link to purchase. Once you purchase, the PDF will be emailed to you. 

"January Blueprint: Create Art, Create Content"

A lead refers to an individual with a keen interest in the products or services your company provides. Lead generation involves attracting potential prospects and transforming them into prospective customers intrigued by your company's offerings. To discover leads that enhance marketing ROI and boost sales, employ refined marketing techniques leveraging tools, software, and social media platforms to gain a competitive edge. Lead generation involves transitioning prospects from casually observing your social media content to actively following you. A lead voluntarily provides contact information, signifying their initiative. The objective of lead generation is to identify potential customers, nurturing them until they reach the point of readiness to make a purchase. At that juncture, a highly qualified lead is handed over to the sales team.

Lead generation is a marketing method focused on eliciting and capturing interest in a product or service. The aim of the lead generation process is to steer potential customers through the sales funnel and along the sales pipeline, bringing them to a point where they are prepared to make a purchase. Prospects progress through various qualification stages until they reach the category of "hot leads." Lead generation is a multifaceted procedure that boosts brand recognition, fosters community connections, produces top-notch leads, and ultimately closes a sale. While your specific lead generation marketing approach will be tailored to your company's requirements, it typically encompasses four crucial phases: lead awareness, lead education, lead sampling, and lead conversion. Generating leads stands as a pivotal element in a thriving business. A reliable lead generation process enhances the credibility of your marketing endeavors, showcasing tangible results and illustrating a return on investment (ROI). Conversely, a drawback emerges if your lead generation efforts fail to yield positive outcomes, risking lost sales, potential budget reductions, staff cuts, and even job insecurity. However, emphasizing the advantages of lead generation enables consumers to naturally evolve along your marketing journey, resulting in contented customers, satisfied sales representatives, heightened sales, and acknowledgment for your marketing team's expertise.

How to Generate Leads?

Email Marketing

How does the automation of potential leads function? Imagine a parent comes across your Tweet, which presents a free SAT study plan for students. Upon clicking the link in the Tweet, they land on a page featuring a straightforward form. The information is then automatically incorporated into your database by Mailchimp. Upon providing their email address, the parent instantly obtains a PDF of the study plan and a comprehensive welcome package featuring pricing details, service menu, success stories, and a coupon urging action. Clicking the coupon link directs the parent to your booking calendar. The calendar notifies the tutor and verifies the appointment seamlessly, all through automated processes. The beauty of this system lies in its transparency to the customer; although configuring the automation chain requires initial effort, it subsequently streamlines tasks, preventing missed calls, calendar checks, and appointment confirmations, ultimately saving valuable hours.

Landing Pages

Effective lead generation relies on well-crafted landing pages, and there's a variety to choose from. Mailchimp provides two main categories of landing page templates. The basic template facilitates easy customization through a drag-and-drop editor and allows space for your company logo. Both template types are mobile-responsive, ensuring a professional appearance on smartphones, computers, and tablets. Themed landing pages, also featuring drag-and-drop functionality and mobile responsiveness, offer additional customization with options for background images and response buttons.

Social Media

Social media provides marketers unprecedented opportunities to engage with consumers. Establishing a presence on various platforms simplifies customer discovery through hashtag following and keyword searches. Social media companies actively foster engagement, offering a foundation for marketers to enhance brand awareness and convey a consistent marketing message. Zapier's Facebook Lead Ads streamlines lead generation by facilitating user sign-ups for ad campaigns. Clicking on the lead ad automatically loads the potential customer's contact information on Facebook, which is then saved and seamlessly transferred to your Mailchimp list. Within your Mailchimp list, you can align new subscribers with relevant marketing campaigns and even conduct polls to gauge the most useful content for your audience. This data-driven approach enables audience segmentation, allowing for micro-targeted campaigns and special offers. Zapier is just one of over 250 platforms compatible with Mailchimp for data-driven marketing campaigns. Consider Mailchimp for LinkedIn lead gen forms, where these forms synchronize your LinkedIn contacts with your Mailchimp audience. When a user interacts with a call to action, LinkedIn populates her user information, transferring it to your Mailchimp list. You can categorize leads using predefined fields, hidden fields, custom questions, and consent fields, and manage Mailchimp for LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms in the Mailchimp integration directory.

Blog

Utilizing blog content serves as a well-established approach to directing users to your landing page. Through the blog, users access free, commitment-free information related to a problem they aim to solve. Offering relevant and valuable content contributes to building authority and trust. This approach enables visitors to self-select, determining if they wish to progress into the sales funnel. Calls to action strategically placed within the blog can seamlessly connect visitors to your landing page, transforming them into information-qualified leads.

Don’t Do It. Paying for social media ads and followers seems harmless. You can pay $5 and have your posts presented to 1000 people. When you pay for social media ads, you are telling Instagram and Facebook that you have money you are will to spend on getting your posts featured. If you have money you are willing to spend on this, they do not need to feature you organically. You do not even have to post 3x a day. One solid post per day, with a legit description, 2-3 relevant #hashtags and it will happen. Not overnight. But it will happen. Instagram and Facebook look for keywords in your captions/descriptions that are relevant and contain information that other users find interesting. The longer you can captivate your audience, keep a person on your post, the more plugged your content will become. If you pay for followers, Instagram recognizes that they are bots, and they then think you are a bot. Don’t pay for ads or followers.