Social Media

My suggestion would be facebook. but, I'm not talking about just using your personal pg, but rather setting up a "business" pg as well. That way, you can also use FAA's widget, and have a tab on your business pg where your fans can go right there to buy prints of your work.
I don't use twitter, or the rest, but I'm sure all exposure is good!

In my experience, Facebook has brought me the most sales because it's more personal than the others. Twitter just seems to be lots of clipped voices shouting at one another for attention. I have more Twitter followers than I do Facebook fans, and yet I get almost zero engagement from my Twitter followers, whereas my Facebook fans will actually click on the links I post and respond. And I have yet to figure out Pinterest.

Thank you both for your thoughtful replies! I am already on FB, so I think setting up a business page sounds appropriate and easier to maintain than another form of social media!

Karen the link below is a great place for views to your site, Free and Easy,


http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=1817533

I'd suggest using multiple forms of social media, but if you're more comfortable on Facebook, then start there.

As for me, Flickr is by far brought most sales, contacts and unexpected exposures than all others combine.

Thanks everyone for such great advice. I started a FB page today https://www.facebook.com/pages/Karen-Cook-Fine-Art-Photography/842666395764326?ref=bookmarks and will start working that angle. I will check in About Me (never heard of it!) and see what that is all about. I haven't had a sale but I have met some really helpful people and learned a lot since joining FAA!

Karen, I can only comment on what works for me and that would be facebook. Most of my custom work requests come through there and they often recommend their contacts to my page after they receive their prints. As well, if you have a target audience, or a cause that you support, it's great to donate some of your prints to help with their fund raising. It supports a cause you're passionate about and opens up so many more opportunities for exposure, it's a win-win situation, I have met some incredible contacts that way that I now also consider friends :)

@ Alfred ... really!!!! Flickr!!!! Wow, I am still there, have had an account for a lot of years, but my stuff kept getting stolen from there so I put everything on private. Maybe if I watermark and add a link back to here?? Something to think about!!

Thank you so much Sue for that wonderful suggestion! Will look into that. I have made greeting cards for a financial advisor to hand out to her clients (birthday and sympathy cards) and have given framed prints as gifts...it is all about social networking for sure. Thank you again for taking the time to give me a suggestion.

No doubt in my mind, google + for sales!

Thanks Karen...something else for me to check into!

Thank you Karen for asking this as I have wondered myself! Thank you everyone for the info!

I definitely think that having a fb page , the business one is number one priority !

Well I started my FB FAA Fan page yesterday....invited family/friends to 'like'. I have already seen a share from one person...I do like the FAA is managing it..from the point of view that each new image is uploaded automatically without me doing anything :) and today there was a little ad reminding folks that they can buy framed prints, etc. very attractively displayed. I am not a techie...so I couldn't develop an ad that looked as good as theirs did. Time will tell. It certainly didn't hurt to start a FB page!

".I do like the FAA is managing it."

That is a double edge sword. The post made directly from FAA ALSO give the prosptctive buyers a about a hundred back doors out of your presence on FAA the mother ship.

You need to turn that off and post you individual images directly to FB with links back ONLY to you Artistwebiste so you have a captivate audience and they see only YOUR artwork and it is much more difficult for them to get out of your AW and lost to the over 7 million images on the mother ship.

Karen..shared one of your images on Facebook. Good luck.

You also need to pick one, maybe two of the Social Media's and stick with them.

Some of the different FB pages don't allow you to do certain things. So you need to learn which ones to promote and which ones are limited. I do not use a fan page at all. I have two but I do nothing with them because they limitations I don't want. The other thing you don't want to do is worrying about being friends or following every artist in the world. The do not buy artwork. You need to friend and follow as many Middle aged women with money. That is who buys most of the artwork world.

I don't agree with the idea of being on all of them or even more then 2 or 3. Keep in mind you have to learn to use them, build a fallowing and then manage them.

I use Facebook and Twitter in combination because they are the easiest to use and offer the most potential. I have sold thousands of dollars worth of prints using this method. I am on G+, LinkedIn and all of the rest but I do nothing with them because it just spreads me too thin.

Others seem to disagree what that. I guess it has to do with how much time you have manage them all.

I have developed four FB groups and one FAA group, all of them with the purpose of helping FAA members, and myself, of course, get more exposure and expand their reach across Facebook.

I am going to start a thread and list them all with the links for people that want to consider joining the nearly 1000 people that are using the different groups.

"Karen..shared one of your images on Facebook. Good luck."

THAT is what I am talking about! That is what you want.... get seen off FAA and on OPP: Other People's Pages!! lol

Very nice Amanda!

Floyd, I'll be marketing on social media as soon as i reach 100 uploaded photos, and after I've also replaced a few of them, plus I need to redo my biography. I really appreciate all of the information you have provided.

You're welcome Carol!

Here is the link to the FB and FAA groups I started hope they help member sell more art.

Fasgallery Tool's For Selling Faa Art http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=2108354

Floyd thank you for your in depth response. You have given me lots to think about. Amanda I had noticed you had shared Mist of the Morning and I was just thrilled! Thank you. I am off to check out your galleries.

On a personal note, this has been very enlightening. I am gathering by some of the responses...others have wondered the same thing!

Thanks to all!

I've had better luck with Twitter. I dumped Facebook as it was not of much use and overly intrusive.

Just be aware that whichever social site you choose you may need to pay to promote" because they limit your posts after you reach a certain point,.. I think the magic number is 3000,, Now that I reached 3000 on google+ and twitter.. I can't seem to advance further...They quit circulating your profile to encourage new followers,,,,Facebook pages limits your posts too unless you pay to promote...what makes it worse is that they show the stats of your limited views publicly! to shame you into advertising,

PS I don't think twitter limits growth if you engage in a app that is designed to increase followers because they gain revenue from that app!