Social Media/Website/Portfolio Question
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I am in the process of assembling pieces for my portfolio to then publish to a website I am going to build for illustrating. My projected timeline to have my site up and running with my work is July/August. As of right now I have now social media accounts aside from this forum. Should I get my social media up and running right now and have people be apart of my building process or is that a bad call for possible future clients? Should I wait and step into social media when my portfolio is strong and website is up and running? I want to get started but part of me thinks better to wait till all my ducks are in a row. Any advice?
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This is hard. But I would get social media going right now. It takes a long time to get it going, and I think people like to see others' growth. Being real and upfront with people goes a long way. Like posting what you are learning about. But I am no expert and not great at being consistent with social media either. But social media is not just about what you are posting, it is about following others and engaging with them too. A lot of people will follow you back just because you follow them.
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@holleywilliamson thank you, I appreciate your input. The business world of illustration is new to me in many ways and extremely exciting. Your outlook helps give me better insight and is very useful. Hope I can offer the same somewhere down the road on this forum for you as well. It's great to be apart of a community of artists. Thanks again.
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Personally when I started my Instagram it was a mess! Now I'm almost on a schedule. I think if you just start now, you can start learning how it feels being on social media. Then in time you will master it. So start now, in the beginning you don't have a lot of people to be embarrassed by anyway. There is also a class on SVS. About getting your first 10,000 followers. If your not into getting followers that's fine, I've gotten book deals that are in progress now from my social media after I listened to the advice. Figure out now rather than later what works for you. If you want to see my Instagram I'm currently working on a illustration project called SpaceCraft52. It my way to try and master Instagram as well as push creative boundaries. I wish you the best of luck!
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What are the goals you have for the website, social media, etc?
In my opinion too many jump into all the various social media sites without a clear purpose other than everyone else is doing it.
How will it make you money?
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YEEHAW ! Thank you,
@Ben-Migliore -
@jimsz my goals in social media are to have a professional presentation of my art, get as many people to see whatever I create as possible and to get work. I'm not diving in just yet do to my focus on assembling my portfolio and website. My hope is to learn and grow in this trade allot over the period of this year by August have my website up with my portfolio, contact info, and growing contacts with friends, artists and business in the realm of social media. I am itching to do everything but being patient in the midst of a severe addiction to coffee
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Personally, I have a specific way I use each social media site. I use Facebook for personal connections (people I've actually met in person, family and friends), Twitter for publishing/illustration connections (people I have met or hope to meet through SCBWI or similar organizations), Instagram for sharing sketches and finished pieces and following artists I admire, Pinterest for gathering and sharing inspiration.
I think it helps me to say "THIS is how I am using this platform, it is not for these other things." You don't have to use every social media platform (awhile ago I realized tumblr just wasn't for me... though maybe I'll pick it up again down the road, we'll see) but I think it helps to have an "agena" for those you do use.
