Robert P. Britton Jr. said
4 months, 2 weeks ago: HI friends:
My name is Robert P. Britton, Jr. I’m a painter from just outside of Buffalo, NY in a small town called Elma. I’ve been painting a big part of my life, but never decided to make income from my art until this year.
You see, my father passed away earlier in the year, and I quit my job to help him with his end of life journey. As a part of this experience, it made me realize that death comes to us all, and that life is short. You should never give up on your dreams, and it is up to you to make your own dreams come true. There’s no guarantee that they WILL come true. But the definitely are guaranteed to NOT come true if you don’t pursue them.
So this past year, 2012, I resolved to try to earn some income from my painting talent…a true gift and talent from God. I have been blogging on blogger for over a year, and just set up a facebook fan site.
I’m trying to figure out how to use online social media to build up a base of followers who enjoy and appreciate art. More than that, I’m trying to figure out how to target art lovers and art buyers.
it’s not been easy.
I don’t know if it’s appropriate, because i’m brand new here, but I just setup my first facebook fan page (here). I had been using my personal friends and family facebook account for the past year, but want to separate my real friends and family from acquaintences and followers who might like my art. I’d love some feedback on it.
But basically, I was researching the use of social media for artists and stumbled across this site. I’m hoping that I can participate in learning and in discussions that help understand how to maximize the use of social media.
I’m not interested in making a bazillion “friends” or “likes” from people who have no interest in my art. I mean…what’s the purposes of ‘likes’ really? Many of my artist friends have many likes, but don’t seem to be able to get sales out of Facebook.
So that’s why I’m here. I’m trying to learn if FB can result in measureable gains in marketplace awareness to potential customers, and increase my name recognition in ways that ultimately lead to sales of my original paintings in oil.
I also have a blog I have been using. I get about 300-700 views a month, mostly from fellow artists. So my difficulty is figuring out how to use social media to find and target purchasers and appreciators of art.
Not sure if it’s possible. But I’m a sponge and I’m learning so much!
Thank you!
