A like is not just a like when it comes to Facebook

 This morning I woke up to find my Facebook page had hit a lovely new milestone: 300 “likes” within a year of opening the page! I’m thrilled to bits, most of all because I know a lot of these people genuinely like my page – they’re not paid likes and the only like-for-likes are from other artists who’s work I enjoy anyway. The thing about statistics like these is that one can quickly become a wee bit obsessive about checking them day in day out, and I know a lot of page-owners can, in a moment of desperation, try to boost their follower-count by dishing out money to companies who claim to earn you thousands of likes quickly. Tempting though the idea of your work being seen by all those people can be, it doesn’t quite work like that - please please please don't waste your money on these schemes!
As many bloggers have pointed out before me, these paid likers aren’t actually real people but accounts made for the sole purpose of liking millions of pages, and therefore wont help your business in any way at all – the only thing they’ll do is raise that little number at the top of your screen. The way Facebook works is this: if your posts are getting lots of clicks, likes, shares, and comments from a good percentage of your likers, then it’ll deem them important and will show them to your followers and through them their friends. To encourage that kind of engagement, the likers obviously have to be interested in what you’re posting. See what I’m getting at here? The real fans are FAR more valuable in the long run, even if you’ve only got a handful, because if you’ve got 50 likes and say 30 people actively comment, like and share your posts, Facebook will think you’re more relevant than a page with 1000 and only a few active likers! :)

This can of course be a bit frustrating for page owners, I know I sometimes get seriously annoyed my new art posts aren’t being shown to all my followers, but there is a way to organically boost your post’s relevance: share them yourself! Not just on your personal page, but in groups devoted to whatever it is you’re posting. When I share a dog illustration from my page to all the various animal art groups I’m in, that post will get up to five times the amount of engagement it would get without sharing – and may, with a little luck, draw new real fans to my page! The groups are a natural way to show your posts to the people who are really interested, so use them as much as you can to get your work seen. The same principle works with groups as well as pages too, join the ones with say 1000 members or less, and your post will probably be seen by more people since they'll be more likely to be active members in the group. Also there are lots of massive generic art groups on Facebook, with hundreds of thousands of members, and you can bet your work will get buried under a million posts from all those other artists within minutes, which leads to nobody really taking any time to look at any of the posts on the page - there's simply too much!

To sum up:

• Your like count is just a number.
• The valuable likes are the genuine ones that engage with your posts, and really love your work!
• Facebook works in mysterious ways, so just focus on posting really good content and sharing it organically - it's the best you can do!
• Groups can be a real helping hand in getting your work seen by the right people, use them wisely!

Online networking for the artsy type

If there’s one thing that unites all artists, it’s this; we all hate blatant self promotion. You feel awkward and pushy and dreadful, and lots of artists decide not to promote at all. They sit in their own little corner of the internet, perhaps an art blog or personal webpage, and post their pictures happily, with just one or two people ever seeing any of it.
I did that too not too long ago.
However, there are ways around that sleazy sensation you get if you go around saying “look at my art and buy stuff”. Firstly, don’t say that, silly! The best marketing you can get is through peers and people who really love your work saying so publicly. “But I don’t know anybody who likes my stuff!” you might say. Of course you don’t if you’ve never told anybody that you do all that wonderful artwork, so get networking! There are lots of ways to do this…

Twitter:

• As I briefly mentioned in a previous post, I participate in a pet business networking hour hosted by @woofwoofwednesday. It works like this; at 8 o’clock (UK time) you start tweeting about your lovely work (include photos and links!) using the hashtag #woofwoofwednesday in each of your tweets. Then search for that tag and see what everybody else is posting, and retweet the things you like the look of! You can find heaps of talented, friendly people to follow this way as well, and they in turn will probably follow you. The community for this particular networking hour is very welcoming, and always up for a bit of a chat between tweets – I follow most of the people I meet on twitter and facebook if they’re on both sites.
• Notable networking hours (in UK time) that I’ve come across are: 
• #crafthour from 7-8pm on Sundays 
• #womaninbizhour from 7-8pm on Sundays 
• #geekhour from 7-9pm on Mondays 
• #creativebizhour from 8-9pm on Mondays 
• #woofwoofwednesday from 8-9pm on Wednesdays
• #twittersisters from 8.30-9.30pm on Thursdays 

• There are also lots of regional networking hours for local businesses, such as #somersethour , #yorkshirehour , #sussexhour … You get the drift!

Pinterest:

• It can be a bit difficult to figure out how Pinterest works, but once you get pinning you’ll find it hard to stop! Amidst all the recipes, fitness tips, fashion photos and cute puppies you’ll also find a LOT of Etsy shops. Shoppers pin things they like, which can sometimes spread like wildfire if a popular user picks up on it! But to make sure your artwork gets on there in the first place, you should also get pinning yourself. Remember to always link back to the items your pinning so people can find them easily (wouldn’t it be terrible to loose buyers because you’d forgotten to show them where to find the lovely painting, print or card you’ve pinned?), and as with all other social media include your page link on your profile. I pin items from my Etsy shop on a dedicated board, but I’ve also seen some fantastic boards which mix and match stuff from the seller with things that would go well with it in terms of home décor. I try to pin a few of my items each day, to spread them out and avoid flooding my followers feed with my pins in one lump.

Tumblr:

• It can be easy to get sucked into the hamster-wheel of reblogging other people’s posts on tumblr, which can play in your favour. Start a blog showcasing your work, and again make sure to get the most out of your tags by using ones people are likely to be scrolling through (#artists on tumblr is particularly popular), and also more specialised ones for those looking for something specific (if you post dog art like me make sure to use tags for the breeds!). It takes time to build up a tumblr following as there’s so much content posted every second, but using appropriate tags will be a big step forward. It’s also easy for a post to go viral, gaining you heaps of views and followers completely by surprise! I’ve had this happen twice, and am still in shock.

Facebook:

• First things first, set up a dedicated page for your artwork. Facebook doesn’t allow personal accounts to be used for this purpose, and it’s much easier to reach potential buyers if you LOOK like a professional with your page. Once you’ve done the mandatory chore of inviting everybody on your friends list to like it (inevitably a good chunk of them wont, but hey ho life goes on), you’ve got to find other ways of spreading your work about. The most efficient way to do this is by joining art groups. A quick search will find you heaps for art in general, but these aren’t necessarily the best way to connect with other artists. Look for groups of around 1000 members or less dedicated to a medium or subject you work with, these are usually nice little communities bursting with supportive members and a good atmosphere (with some luck there wont even be spammers!). I’m in several dog and animal art groups which are great for this purpose, including:
• Animal Artists Unlimited (I’m an admin for this one!) 
• Dog Art 
• Pet Portraits 
• Canine Art and Artists 
• Networking for Pet portrait artists! 
• Canine portraits

•  Lots of these groups also host various kinds of challenges (ours most certainly does), which all members are invited to participate in. These are fun ways to practice new topics and mediums, and also help boost your visibility within the group. A good way to post to groups is by sharing your work straight from your own facebook page, giving it a straight link back without faffing about with urls. Remember to spend some time perusing other artists work too, often it’s incredibly inspiring and you might make a new friend or two! :)