Another month comes to a close and I just finished looking at ”how that went” compared to the "soft" goals I started setting at the beginning of the year.
Artists Setting Goals...???
It might sound a bit counterintuitive for something as fluid and "right brained" as art to be viewed in the context of something as "left brained" as goal setting and benchmarking. However, one of the things I've learned over the years is that unless you take something somewhat seriously it's unlikely you will ”succeed” at it to any degree, and if you want to develop any kind of commercial viability as an artist — as opposed to purely being a hobbyist — you need to take what you're doing somewhat seriously.
For me, that means I have to set measurable goals, or at least create an outline to follow... rather than purely "flying by feel."
Of course, the approach probably varies considerably, from person to person.
Anyway, I did fairly well with the ongoing process of getting all my finished work listed for sale online. It's a huge process, because I do want to have decent photographs and a good presentation... so it takes time. At this point I am cautiously hopeful that everything will be current and uploaded by the end of March.
In the meantime, I fell a little bit behind on my painting goals because I just haven't been feeling very creative.
Well, that's not actually the entire truth; some of it is also purely the time factor — it is ”tax season” for the self-employed, and I've been spending a lot of time doing bookkeeping and accounting… time I would normally have available to spend on more creative endeavors.
Alas, there are only so many hours in the day! Sadly, there's currently more work that need to be crammed into those available hours and there are hours. Thus, the painting efforts have been somewhat pushed in the background.
Besides, I don't really do good work when my mind is partially elsewhere, thinking about other things.
Social Media...
My efforts to get more involved with social media marketing have been going somewhat well.
I've actually started using my Twitter account again on a more regular basis, and that's a good thing in the sense that I'm starting to pick up a few new followers. Of course building a social media following is a long slow process, and I don't expect there to be any overnight miracles here.
I also managed to keep a little more active on my Facebook Alchemy Stones page.
What I am discovering, however, They said it is all but impossible to get people to actually go and even look at some of the work online.
That is to say, I'm developing some really nice numbers who are looking at my tweets and who are looking at my Facebook posts, but if the Etsy and eBay page view counters are anything to go by, nobody actually clicks through to see the actual work where it's available.
I even tried running a special promotion from the beginning of February to Valentine's Day, and that made absolutely no difference whatsoever. In a word: it was a giant flop.
As a counterpoint, even our moderate success at the Valentine’s Day Weekend show — which was a face-to-face event — served as a reminder of the vast difference between selling Alchemy Stones in person, and online. It’s a challenge that’s proving extremely difficult to overcome.
More and more, I see so-called "successful" artists online making their not by selling their art, but by talking about their art. Weird...
If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
Because I am trying to make some semblance of income — a part time living, even — I now add this footer to all my posts, in the hope that someone, somewhere, might decide to take a further look at my work, and perhaps consider supporting independent art.
Thank you, in advance, for your consideration and support!
My Alchemy Stones Patreon appeal
Alchemy Stones web site and blog
Regardless, your upvotes and comments are always appreciated!
Thank you for supporting independent art!
2023.03.01 AS-TXT-147/115
Your Alchemy Stones are beautiful and I can see that you are passionate about the designs. It is so difficult to market oneself and drive traffic to your website. I did it for years and found that since 2020 people don't seem that interested. I sold crystals and stones for years and finally had to close up my shop last month and I had a huge customer base. Times are difficult right now and people are not spending their $$$ to readily.
It is a great challenge, to be sure. I'm sad to hear you had to end your shop...
Perhaps it would feel easier if it were just a universal reality that people don't care about painted stones... but we can take these to an arts & crafts fair or a creative festival and sell upwards of 100 stones for a couple of thousand dollars; so it's clearly not the "product" that's the issue...
This year I am determined to learn how to use Instagram more effectively... a number of artist colleagues swear by it.