Hello creative one! I'm very excited to talk about this because Facebook is where I've found the most joy in selling my artwork and I want to pass this valuable info to you. Especially if you're an artist struggling to sell your artwork.
I started gaining a presence on Facebook and organically growing my business in August 2018. Within the first 3 months I made $10,000 and in the first year gained 700 art collectors!!
What I did was...
*Set up a business page
*Set up a shopping group
*Posted examples of my work on my personal profile
Use attraction marketing on your personal profile. This is NOT posting a photo of your art with a price on it and sharing it everywhere and telling others to do the same. What I did for example was post a photo of a scenic painting I created and said something like... "Check out this beautiful sunrise!! I hope you all have a wonderful day"! Keep it simple. You do NOT want to be a pushy salesperson.
Facebook LIVE is very important. It's the fastest way to reach people. If you haven't tried it before you should give it a go. Make sure to set your live to "public" so other people can find you. I do a lot of live videos actually creating my artwork so my viewers can get a demonstration of how each piece is created.
If you've done arts & craft shows in the past, or even just walked around at some, which vendors attract the most people? I've found the ones that are actually working on their "craft". So why not do that on Facebook live. That's what I do.
*Tip for stagefright:
If you don't want your face on camera, we as artist can get around this. Just point your camera at your easel and draw or paint. I've gotten a lot of business this way!
So how do you get business doing Facebook live demonstrations on your personal profile? You're friends and family will "like" it, "share" it, comment on it & eventually, sometimes sooner than later, you will get "private messages" about it. Inquiries on price & other aspects of your business!! You will definitely get recognition and people will know you & what it is that you do.
Setting up a Facebook business page is important. Think of it as a business card. This is where people can get your contact information (what you provide anyway) learn what your business is about etc. You are allowed to sell on your business page!
You are allowed to share your content from your business page to your profile. I wouldn't suggest sharing every post but one here or there is good. Remember you don't want to overwhelm your friends and followers on your profile with salesy type posts but you can go crazy on your Facebook business page.
A shopping group is basically a "group" you can set up on facebook and this is for your community. Set one up because this is where I make 90% of my sales & you can too by adding members to your shopping group that are interested in "your" artwork. Everyone that messages me or comments on my art posts I ask them if they would like to join my group.
Before you set up your business page and shopping group think about a business name. I would suggest using your own "name" within whatever you come up with you would like to name your art business. We are artists and collectors want to know who the artist is. You can even just call it your name as it is.
For example my Facebook business page, group & website is called the same thing... Amy Parker Art. By the way, you do NOT need to have a website. You can organically grow your art business just with Facebook alone.
You do not need to pay for advertising on Facebook! You can gain numerous collectors just by organic marketing. For the first 2 years of my art business on Facebook I gained all of my collectors myself, organically, with the exception of trying to boost a couple posts. I literally spent less than $20 on this and you don't even need to do this.
There is something called Facebook ad campaigns which in some instances can work out well but... it can get pricey and the interface is tricky / techy. Once again you do not have to do this. I'm living proof you can gain collectors without spending any money, or next to none.
If you would like more help on how to grow your art business I have some goodies for you!!
*I've created a course called "Sell your art on Facebook organically" on sale now for $99. Learn more about it here.
*Free workbook for you on the business tools you need to sell your art from home! Get it here.
*Free video mini series on how to sell your art online! Get it here.
"Keep on Creating"!!!
~Amy~