An Artist's Guide to Digital Networking

March 23, 2021 Kyle Wege

Whether you’re a musician, a photographer, a chef, a sculptor, a writer, or a purveyor of any other “fine craft,” you wear a lot of hats.

A musician can’t just be good at their instrument, they have to play well with others (literally!), understand the power — and limitations — of their equipment, know how to work the phones to book those gigs… the list goes on and on.

A photographer can’t just take awe-inspiring photos, they also have to mind their gear, master Lightroom, find gigs to pay the bills until the museums and galleries come a’calling.

All that fun stuff.

If you work in a fine-art of any kind, or even a somewhat-less-than-fine art, there’s a lot on your plate. But technical aspects aside, along with being a master of your craft, you must also find a way to build, engage and excite a following online, day in and day out, if you hope to ever sell your albums, or prints, or chainsawed dragons that no front yard is complete without.

Social media is a blessing — there are so many people there!

But of course, it can also be a massive chore. And a time vacuum. And, if we’re honest, kind of an abyss, where your words, songs, or images go to die.

Alas, that need not be the case. Social media can bestow its bounty upon you, but first, you have to step back and ensure you are investing your time and energy into a social media program that has the potential to succeed.

Answer me the following question: Out of your last 50 posts, how many of them were “selling” something to your audience?

And by selling I don’t just mean literally selling (although literally selling is of course included). What I mean is how many were asking something from your audience?

Out of those 50 posts, how many were trying to get people to watch your video, follow you on another channel, subscribe to your newsletter, visit your website… or of course to buy your product?

If your audience is your mom, or your aunts, or your significant other then feel free to ask away over and over and over again.

Your mom will never say no to you.
Your aunts love seeing your work - you’re just so talented!
Your significant other remembers the time they didn’t “like” your post fast enough — they’re not making that mistake again!

If your goal on social is to “sell” to the people who already love you, then it doesn’t matter if all 50 of your last 50 posts were geared towards selling.

But if you actually want to bring new people into the conversation, engage them, and keep them engaged, endlessly selling ain’t gonna cut it.

You have to stop asking your audience for things and start adding value to their feed.

Rethinking Social Media

It’s so easy to think of social media as a place to sell your stuff.

But when you’re not on social media to sell your stuff - when you’re just aimlessly thumbing your way through your Instagram feed or checking out those 🔥 memes on Twitter - how likely are you to “buy” whatever the person you’re following is selling?

If your answer is VERY LIKELY, then please head over to Instagram or Twitter RIGHT NOW and FOLLOW ME @jlemonsk. 🤓

For everyone else, picture social media as a networking event. You get just the right amount of dressed up. You check to be sure your stash of business cards is flush. Your phone is north of 80% charged. You’re good to go.

You walk in and see peers, friends, and lots of people you don’t know.

Do you:

A) find the highest surface in the room, climb on up and ask for everyone’s attention before informing these friends, peers, and colleagues alike that you have new prints for sale in your online store.

Or do you:

B) Say hey to your friends. Introduce yourself to some folks whose work you admire. Strike up conversations with strangers based on their awesome hat, or your love of the same band, or the fact that they have the coolest accent you’ve heard all night!

If you answered A, then all I can say is good luck and godspeed. I hope you do great in life and that your ongoing successes match your very impressive level of confidence.

For everyone else, you sound like good people. I’d love to connect on social for real (you can find my handle above). So long as you follow the same ethos on social as you do in that imaginary networking event, I think we can be friends.

Okay, You Get It. Social Media Is A Place For Networking. Now What?

I asked you earlier of your last 50 posts, how many were selling something. The “correct” answer should have been 10 (or less).

There’s a concept on social media called the 80/20 rule. 20% of your content can be geared towards that sale (in whatever form that means for you and your brand). The rest — that remaining 80% — should all be about adding value directly to your audience.

How might you add value as an artist on social media?

I can think of loads of ways!

Here are just a few:

1. Promote artists you love

Let’s say you’re a sculptor. Your ideal audience is people who love sculptors. Well guess what, you probably know more about sculpting that even the above-average lover of sculpting (I mean, you are a freaking sculptor!).

Where do you find inspiration? Tell me about your favorite sculptors from history. Better yet, tell me about other sculptors in town I should be following.

Art is not zero-sum. The more people excited about your craft, the better. Celebrate each other. You’ll all win together.

2. Pull back the curtain on your own process

A magician never reveals his tricks. But you know what? I’ve found most art is more impressive the more deeply I understand what I’m actually looking at.

At first listen, that new album is fun. It’s got a few catchy lines and a nice melodic-sense running throughout. But help me understand that it actually took over 80 instruments (and three well-trained dogs) to make that signature sound and I’m probably going to have a deeper appreciation the next time I tune in.

What can you show me that will help me better appreciate your craft? Do that!

3. Make me feel smarter about your craft

Teach me about your field, and do it in a way that’s exciting and makes me want to learn more. Not in a way that confuses me and makes me want to block you on social.

There’s an important maxim for writing (and talking and really just being a person): don’t try to make yourself sound smart; try to make your audience feel smart.

TLAs (three-letter acronyms), official Latin terminology and industry-specific words might make you extremely popular at a grad school happy hour, but at a community networking event, they aren’t likely to make you a lot of friends.

Teach me about the history of your instrument, the evolution of charcoal pencils, the strange and surprising roots of… whatever… but do it in a way that makes me feel smarter. I’ll be way more likely to check out your future content. I promise.

4. Engage, engage, engage

If you were at our imagined networking event, and a person you didn’t know walked up to you and told you they were a fan of your work, you’d probably be excited to talk to them.

What if they came up and asked you a question about your industry. You’d probably answer it.

Maybe they know nothing about you, but they’re friendly because, you know, it’s a networking event. You’d take at least a few minutes to make small talk, because, you know, #networking.

The next time someone writes a comment, asks a question, leaves a review, or tags you in a post on social media, ask yourself what you would do if you were at a networking event. Needless to say, you probably wouldn’t leave them hanging.

You might talk for a moment, or you might become best friends. But there’s likely no version of you that gives them a moment to speak, then turns around and walks away without a word.

Social media is a digital networking event. It’s happening all the time. Everyone is invited. But it’s still nothing more than a massive networking event!

The least you can do is “like” their comment/review/post. To keep our now long-overused metaphor going just a little bit longer, liking a comment or post would be the equivalent of a head nod and a little wave as you continue talking to someone else. It might not make you any new friends, but no one’s going home thinking about what a jerk you are either.

If they ask a question, answer it.

If they leave a review, thank them.

If they tag you in a post, engage with it.

Engagement might take more time, but if you don’t want to chat with people, what are you doing at a networking event?!

When you stop trying to sell to people and instead focus on adding value, you will find social media a much more hospitable place.

So get out there, engage, make some friends, put on your educator or historian hat and make a lot of people feel smarter about a topic you already love. You’ll likely sell more products in the process.

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Have any tips I missed? Or questions about something we covered here?

Let’s talk! I ALWAYS engage!