A MINI INSTAGRAM LESSON
I get questions allll the time regarding how I show up on Instagram. I think the key is figuring out your voice and then consistently show up. I wouldn’t consider myself an expert, but I have gone through a lot of trial and error and have a lot of experience from my own journey.
FIND YOUR AUTHENTIC VOICE, GIRL.
Who are you? What makes you special? What makes your art special? What gives your art its purpose? Ask yourself these things. Figure out why you want to share something with the world. How do you want people to respond to your work? How do you want them to feel? What type of emotional response are you really looking for?
I found my voice through practice. I wrote and wrote and wrote different caption ideas. I kept a list of questions I might ask my followers in my notes. I kept brainstorming and focused on building the confidence to share it. It didn’t happen overnight, but I took baby steps. After pushing myself out of my shy comfort zone, I began to see a pattern. I saw a pattern in the content I got excited about sharing. I saw a pattern in how people responded to it. I told myself I was not going to do things because other people on Instagram were, I was only going to do things that gave me purpose and aligned with my own values, personality, and lifestyle. I wanted to remain true to myself.
Who are the types of people that you want to connect with? Think about the type of person that would look at your art and truly feel something. They would stop scrolling, pause in awe, and feel inclined to actually spend their money on you. You need to constantly be envisioning this type of person when crafting up your posts. Ask questions they would want to answer. Give them exciting information that they would fangirl over. You cannot expect to find your authentic voice or get anywhere interesting if you are trying to appeal to everyone. That is like whispering in an overly crowded room and expecting everyone to hear you. It just doesn’t work like that!
OKAY SO when I first started attempting abstract painting, I was drawn to the brighter colors (obvi like I still am now). My mom was always asking me if anyone would actually be interested in my work because it was so…PINK. It was bold, vibrant, and different than what you usually see in stores. She was concerned for a good reason, because I was equally as terrified that my love of color would stay a fun hobby and could never grow into profit. However, I stuck with it because it made me happy. I found that I was living out my true authentic self, and I could talk more confidently about my work because of it. I didn’t care about the sales. And guess what, other people caught on to my true passion for bold colors and saw that I was doing my own authentic thing regardless. I began to find my audience of people that loved color like I did. And since then, I haven’t looked back. I haven’t tried to change my voice to gain even more sales or profit or followers. BECAUSE I KNOW THAT IF SOMEONE IS DRAWN TO MY WORK, THEY ARE HERE FOR ME AND WHAT I TRULY LOVE. They are here for my authentic voice. They care what I have to say. And I want the exact same thing for you!
So now you need to SHOW UP. On Instagram, consistency is key. I make sure that I am posting every day around the exact same time. If you have a business profile, your insights should tell you what time of day has the highest traffic from your followers. That is how I found the best time to post every day! The algorithm loves consistency, so dedicate yourself to that schedule. If you need to, set a timer on your phone that reminds you every day when it is time to post! From my own experience, I have seen that my engagement drops and gets messed up when I slack from staying consistent. Just remember, if you are showing up with your authentic voice and speaking directly to your target audience, your followers will fall in love with your content and will look forward to that daily post. Don’t dread it, get EXCITED about it!