How to Use AI Tools to Boost Your Art Business

In this blog post, we’ll explore various ways to leverage AI tools to enhance your art business. However, we will not be discussing the topic of creating and selling AI art, which is a separate subject altogether. If you’re curious about using AI to boost your art business, spark your creativity, and increase your productivity, then keep reading!

AI has been a hot topic in the art world lately, and for good reason. But it’s not going away anytime soon, so why not embrace it? By using AI as an assistant for your art business, you can supercharge your productivity and take your business to the next level. With a bit of creativity, there are numerous ways you can use AI to your advantage.

What is AI?

Artificial Intelligence, or AI for short, is a branch of computer science that focuses on the development of intelligent machines that can perform tasks which traditionally required human intelligence, such as answering questions, conducting research, and problem-solving.

Recently, AI has become increasingly prevalent in various fields, including the arts, and has opened up new opportunities for creative business owners. Through machine learning and other AI-powered tools, artists can now generate personalized content, analyse data, and conduct market research with greater ease and efficiency. AI can be used in a number of different ways in your art business, from automating simple tasks to helping you out of a creative rut.

How can you use AI in your art business?

There are many ways to use AI to boost your art business. Here are some examples:

Writing a business plan

Creating a business plan is essential to the success of any business, including an art business. By using AI you can create a comprehensive business plan that outlines your goals, objectives, and strategies for success. Feed the AI as much data as you can about your business and ask it to create a business plan for you. You can then tweak and revise it as needed and go from there.

Conducting market research

To grow your art business, you need to understand your target market. AI can help you conduct market research to identify your target audience and their preferences. With AI-powered tools, you can analyse data on your customers’ demographics, interests, and behaviours to gain insights into what they may want. By understanding your target market, you can tailor your artwork and marketing messages to better meet their needs and preferences.

Generating ideas for new artwork

One of the biggest challenges for artists is coming up with new and innovative ideas for artwork. AI can help generate new ideas for artwork that will appeal to your target market. These tools use algorithms to analyse data on your target audience’s preferences and suggest customized artwork that is tailored to their interests. By using AI to generate ideas for new artwork, you can save time while creating pieces that resonate with your audience.

Writing marketing copy

Marketing is crucial for any art business. However, writing effective marketing copy can be challenging. With AI tools, you can create compelling social media posts, blogs, and product descriptions that resonate with your target audience.

When it comes to using AI for your art business, the output is only as good as the input. To learn more about how to use AI properly, and structure your prompts to get the best results possible, I highly recommend this Skillshare class: Chat GPT for Creatives by Peggy Dean

Using AI to improve your own artwork

One of the great things about AI-powered tools like CF Spark is that it can be used to generate new and unique artwork. Consider this: instead of looking at other artist’s work for inspiration, use AI instead! These tools are also great for getting out of a creative rut and help you find inspiration even when you’re feeling stuck. So, don’t be afraid to use AI to explore new ideas and push the boundaries of your own creativity.

AI can also help you with things like art market research and identifying trends. This information can be incredibly valuable for artists who want to create pieces that are more likely to sell, as it can help them understand what their target audience is looking for and what kinds of pieces are likely to be most successful in the current market. By using AI to stay on top of trends and market demands, artists can ensure that their work remains relevant and appealing to buyers, and can maximize their chances of success in the competitive world of art sales.

AI Tools for Your Art Business

Ready to get started using AI for your art business? Below is a list of some awesome AI tools that can help streamline your workflow, gather market insights, and even generate new artwork ideas. Of course, there are plenty of other AI tools out there too – new ones are popping up all the time! But these are a great place to start.

Chat GPT – a language model which can be used for generating ideas, writing content, and answering questions.
CF Spark – generate new and unique artworks to inspire your own work.
Notion AI – to streamline your workflow and help you with writing.
Canva AI – uses AI to suggest design layouts and color schemes for social media and marketing graphics.
Adobe Sensei – Provides AI-powered features in Adobe Creative Cloud

a woman thinking about using AI for her business

Considerations When Using AI for Your Art Business

There’s no one answer for how to incorporate AI into your art business. It’s going to vary depending on what you’re selling, who your audience is, and your art business goals. But, there are some general guidelines you can follow to make sure you’re using AI in a way that aligns with your business and values.

Supplement, don’t replace, human interaction. Your art business is built on human relationships. Whether you’re selling to collectors or working with galleries, you need to be able to build and maintain personal relationships. Use AI to supplement your relationships, not replace them.

Automate tasks, but don’t allow it to make decisions for you. AI can be a great tool for automating tasks like customer follow-up or marketing emails. But it’s important to remember that AI can’t make decisions for you. When it comes to important decisions like pricing or what art to sell, you need to rely on your own judgment.

Use AI to enhance your artwork, not replace it. AI has the potential to be a powerful tool for artists, but it’s important to remember that it should be used to enhance your artwork, not replace it. While AI can help generate new ideas, identify trends, and speed up certain processes, it can’t replicate the unique creativity and vision of a human artist.

Keep an eye on the future. AI is always changing, and new tools and applications are being developed all the time. It’s important to keep an eye on the future and be prepared to adopt new AI tools as they become available. This will help you stay ahead of the competition and make sure you’re using the best AI tools for your business.

Conclusion

AI can be a powerful tool for artists and art businesses, but it is important to use it wisely. With AI, you can manage your marketing, track trends, find inspiration for new artwork, and conduct market research. But you need to be careful not to over automate or you could lose the human touch that makes your business special. The possibilities are endless, and with a bit of creativity, you can take your art business to the next level with AI tools.

What are your thoughts on AI and using it for your art business? Let me know in the comments below!

Cheers,

Promoting Your Art Online: The Top Five Ways

~ Julie ~ 2 Comments

When it comes to promoting your art online, there are a number of different strategies you can use. In this post, I will discuss the most effective methods to help you find your audience, and for your audience to find you!

With the ease of access to the internet, more and more people are turning to online platforms to showcase their work. This is especially true for artists, who can use the internet to reach a global audience.

There are a number of ways to promote your art online. In this article, we will take a look at five of the most effective methods. These include using social media, setting up a website, taking advantage of search engine optimization, experimenting with video, and using online marketplaces to sell and showcase your work.

Top 5 Tips for Promoting Your Art Online

1. Create a strong social media presence

For any business that wants to be successful online, it helps to have a strong social media presence. This is especially true for art businesses, which are usually highly visual.

person holding smartphone taking picture of bridge during daytime

There are a few key things to remember when creating a social media presence for promoting your art online. The first is to focus on quality over quantity. It’s better to have a small number of high-quality pieces than a large number of low-quality ones. This means that you should focus on creating work that is visually stunning and engaging, rather than churning out a large quantity of content that is quickly forgotten.

The second key is to be active and engaged with your audience. Social media is all about interaction, so make sure to post content that encourages comments, questions, and shares. Don’t just post your art and expect people to engage with it; start a conversation and get people talking.

And finally, the third key is to be consistent. Posting irregularly will only serve to frustrate your audience, confuse the algorithm, and potentially damage your chances of success. Make sure to post regularly, and to maintain a consistent voice and tone across all of your social media channels. By following these three key tips, you’ll be well on your way to creating a strong social media presence that will help promote your art to a wider audience.

2. Develop an art blog or website

There are many ways to promote your art online, but one of the most effective is to develop your own blog or website. By having a dedicated space for your art, you can control the narrative around your work and ensure that your target audience is seeing the message you want to send.

photo of person using laptop for graphic designs

Here are a few tips for getting started:

Choose a focus for your blog or website. Whether you want to showcase your own art, write about art news, or highlight other artists you admire, it’s important to have a clear focus for your site. This will help you attract the right audience and create content that is interesting and engaging.
Make sure your site is visually appealing. People are visual creatures, so it’s important to make sure your site is visually appealing. This means using high-quality images, an eye-catching layout, and easy-to-navigate pages.
Write compelling content. Even if your site looks great, it won’t be successful unless you have compelling content to share. Write blog posts that are interesting and informative, and be sure to update your site regularly with new content.
Spread the word. Once your site is up and running, be sure to promote it through social media, Pinterest, and other relevant channels. The more people who know about your site, the more traffic you’ll generate.
Monitor your progress. Keep an eye on your website’s traffic and analytics to see how your site is performing. This information can help you fine-tune your content and marketing strategies over time to further improve your results.

By following these tips, you can develop an art blog or website that is both successful and enjoyable to maintain.

3. Use search engine optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization, or “SEO” for short, is a technique that can be used to help promote your art online. By optimizing the content using key phrases related to the artwork, an artist can make their content more visible to potential customers who use search engines like Google.

One way to optimize your content is to ensure that all images and videos are given descriptive file names, titles and alt tags. This allows search engines to index the content properly and help people find it when they search for specific keywords.

Another way to optimize content is to use key phrases on your artist website that are related to the artwork you want to promote. Think descriptive phrases such as “landscape paintings” or “custom pet portraits”. By including these key phrases in titles, tags, and descriptions, artists can improve their chances of being found by potential customers who are searching for those phrases.

In addition to optimizing website content, artists can also use SEO to improve the visibility of their social media posts. By including key words and phrases in the file name, post description, and alt tags (where available) artists can make it easier for potential customers to find their work on social media sites like Instagram and Tiktok, which are moving towards more SEO based search algorithms in place of hashtags.

By using these basic SEO techniques, artists can reach a larger audience and promote their artwork more effectively.

4. Create short videos of your art

There are many ways to promote art online, but one of the most effective is through creating short videos of your art or art process. Art videos can be used to give potential buyers a tour of your studio, a closer look at your work, or even just to provide some educational information about your process or medium.

Here are five tips for creating great art videos:

Keep it short and sweet. Ideally your video should be between 15 -60 seconds long, which is what most short form video apps accept. Check out my post on how to use TikTok for artists for more short video ideas. If you want to post long format videos of your art, YouTube is a better place for that.
Start with a bang. The first few seconds of your video are crucial in hooking the viewer, so make sure you start with an attention-grabbing image or scene.
Use professional-quality footage and audio. This doesn’t mean you need to hire a Hollywood film crew, but your video should be well-lit and have clear, high-quality audio.
Edit for maximum impact. A good edit can make all the difference in a video, so don’t be afraid to cut out any sections that aren’t essential. I recommend the InShot app for editing videos on your phone.
Include a call to action. At the end of your video, make sure to include a call to action, such as asking viewers to like and share your video, or visit your website to learn more about your art.

If you want step by step instructions on how to create short videos of your art for Reels, TikTok etc. check out my Skillshare class!

5. Sell your art online

When it comes to selling art online, there are a few different avenues that artists can take.

Here are five of the most popular methods:

Set up your own online shop: One of the best ways to sell art online is to set up your own online shop on your artist website. This gives you complete control over the prices, shipping, and promotion of your work. You’ll need to invest some time and money into setting up your shop, but once it’s up and running, it can be a great way to make sales. You can use a storefront app like Shopify (paid) or Woocommerce (free) to set up your store.
Use an online marketplace or Print on Demand: If you’re not ready to set up your own shop, there are plenty of online marketplaces that you can use to sell your art. These platforms make it easy to list and sell your work, and they handle all the payments and shipping for you. Some of the most popular art marketplaces include Etsy, Saatchi Art, and Fine Art America.
Sell through social media: Social media is a great way to connect with potential customers and sell your art. You can use platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to promote your work and drive traffic to your shop, or sell directly through DM (direct messaging). Just make sure you’re using high-quality images and engaging copy to grab people’s attention.
Take commissions: If you’re not interested in selling your existing artwork, another option is to take commissions. This involves working directly with clients to create custom artwork to their specifications. You can find clients for commissions through social media, by posting the type of artwork you want to take commissions for, and then taking requests via DM.
Participate in art fairs: Another option for selling your artwork is to participate in art fairs and other in person events. This is a more traditional approach, but it can still be effective. Art fairs can be a great way to meet potential customers and build up a rapport with them, even if they don’t buy anything. You can hand out business cards with your social media links so they can follow you, and then potentially make a purchase through your website later on.

All of these methods can be effective ways to sell your art online. Just choose the approach that makes the most sense for you and your business.

Conclusion

When it comes to promoting your art online, there are a number of different ways to go about it. By utilizing the five promotion strategies I’ve outlined above, you can give yourself the best chance for success. Let me know in the comments below, what’s your favourite method for promoting your art online?

Cheers,

25+ Instagram Post Ideas for Artists

~ Julie ~ 3 Comments

Are you an artist struggling to come up with ideas on what to post on Instagram? Whether you use your feed, reels, or stories, there are so many ways to share your art on Instagram!

In this post I’m sharing over 25 Instagram post ideas for artists.

A few things to consider: Create value for your audience. Whether it’s something pretty to look at, sharing information, or a relatable story in the captions. Interact with your audience. Ask a question. Get people excited and engaged with your content!

Instagram Feed Posts Ideas:

1. Finished artwork

2. Works in progress

3. Photos of yourself with or holding your artwork

4. Introduction posts. Share a photo of yourself in your studio with a quick introduction for new followers

5. Close ups of your artwork, either a WIP or tease of a final piece

6. Mockups of your artwork on products (download from your POD stores, make your own, or use a mock up generator service like Place It)

7. Real life photos of your artwork on products

8. Join trending hashtags and art challenges like #artvsartist or #dtiys (draw this in your style)

9. Art supplies – review or showcase the tools you use to create your art

10. Studio shots/ behind the scenes

11. Shareable quotes (created by you, using your own artwork)

12. Celebrate an occasion or holiday with a related artwork or design

Instagram Reels Ideas:

13. Timelapse videos of yourself creating an art piece

14. Tutorials demonstrating your process, how to use a specific tool or product

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Julie Erin Designs | Artist (@julieerindesigns)

15. Trending video memes with an art or art business spin on it

17. “Day in the life” (of an artist)

18. Still images along to the beat of a song

19. Using trending filters on your artwork

20. Animated artwork (can be really simple)

21. “Satisfying” art process

Instagram Story Post Ideas:

Anything goes on stories, they are less formal and go away in 24 hours.

22. Behind the scenes – going for a walk to gather inspiration, your art studio etc.

23. Teasers for new artwork or content (tutorials, blog posts etc)

24. This or that, showing 2 of your artworks and ask your audience which one they like more

25. Announce a sale and use a link sticker to link to your shop(s)

26. Ask your audience a question (poll)

27. Share a new blog post or video on Youtube or another platform (link with sticker)

28. Share a new (or old) post or reel from your feed to your Stories

29. Celebrate an occasion or holiday, sometimes there are stickers for this so you can share with a wider audience

Looking for more Instagram tips for artists? Check out this blog post!

You can also check out my own Instagram feed for even more post inspiration.

I hope you’ve found this list of Instagram post ideas for artists helpful!

Cheers,

How to Make Short Videos of Your Art for Social Media: Reels, Tiktok, Shorts, Pinterest and more

how to make short videos of art for social media

~ Julie ~ 1 Comment

how to make short videos of your art for tiktok instagram reels

Do you want to learn how to make short videos of your art for social media like Instagram Reels and Tiktok? Then this class is for you!

Join me as I teach you how to make 2 quick and easy videos of your art and post them to several social media sites to help you expand your audience and reach!

And no – you won’t have to dance, lip sync, or even talk. The videos we will create in this class are perfect for shy artist types who aren’t quite comfortable showing their face on camera.

Watch the intro below:

In this class, I will guide you through the following steps:

Putting together your set.
Filming 2 short videos of your art.
Editing the videos using free apps.
Posting your videos to a variety of social media platforms including Instagram Reels, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube Shorts and Facebook.

This class is great for beginners, or already established artists who are looking to expand their marketing to include short video!

For the class project, you can share a link to the short video you created from this class, and/or include a screenshot from your video or a photo of your filming set up.

You will need:

At least one finished piece of artwork.
A background texture and some props (optional).
Your smartphone and some free apps.

Oh and the class is only 20 minutes long, so you can jump right in! Does that sound interesting to you?

Watch How to Make Short Videos of Your Art for Social Media for free with a 1 month trial membership of Skillshare!

How to Set up an Instagram Shop with Print on Demand Products

~ Julie ~ 2 Comments

how to set up instagram shop print on demand

Today I’m going to explain how to set up an Instagram shop with Print on Demand products from websites like Redbubble, Society6 and Zazzle.

Did you know that you can add your print on demand products to a shop on your Instagram page? Since I did this I’ve seen an increase in traffic to my stores from Instagram.

The main thing you need to know is that you have to set it up through Facebook.

First of all you need to make sure your Instagram account is a Business or Creator account. You also need to have business Facebook page for your brand connected to it.

Then you can create a store through the Facebook Commerce Manager (click on Add Shop).

If you’re selling Print on Demand products through your own website using Shopify (or similar) you can use their partner connect option. This is more simple, but today I’m discussing adding third party print on demand products from websites you don’t own like Redbubble and Society6.

Once you’ve created the store on Facebook, go back into your Instagram account and apply for Instagram Shopping under the Settings section of your profile. There should a Business or Creator section under which you should see Shopping. Apply for Shopping and wait for your account to be approved.

Once you’ve been approved (it may take a few days) head back over to the shop you created on your Facebook page. Now you can start adding products!

For this to work you have to add products manually (click on Add Items). Now obviously this will take time since you may have THOUSANDS of products across multiple retailers. So I recommend highlighting a few best sellers from each of your stores. This will at least drive people to those stores where they can browse the rest of your offerings from there.

It will take about 30 minutes to an hour for products to process but then you will start to see them showing up in your Instagram and Facebook stores.

Tips for Setting up Your Instagram Store

Be patient.
Take the time to familiarize yourself with the Commerce Manager and how it works.
Create “sets” to organize your products by product type.
You can only use ONE currency in your store. I had an issue with products not showing up and realized it was because I had multiple currencies.
Add a few of your best selling designs and products from your different stores.
You won’t be able to “tag” these products in your Instagram photos unfortunately. This only works for products from a domain you own (such as a Shopify store).
Products are shareable to Instagram Stories or direct message.
Check the Insights section for analytics to see how many people are clicking on your products and visiting your stores!

I hope this post has been helpful to explain how you can set up an Instagram shop with your print on demand products.

I’d love to hear what you think about this and if you will be using it for your own products!

Happy selling!

Cheers,

6 Tips to Increase Your Sales on Society6

~ Julie ~ 7 Comments

Hey guys, today I’m sharing my top 6 tips to help you increase sales on the print on demand website Society6.

I’ve been selling on Society6 since 2014 and have made some decent passive income with it alongside my other Print on Demand shops.

Also read: How to Sell Your Art Online – The Definitive Guide

Watch the video below for my tips, or scroll down to read them.

6 Tips to Increase your Society6 Sales

1. Create more Designs (Increase volume)

To make more sales, you need to make more artwork. I recommend having at least 100 designs in your shop. This will take time. Try not to get discouraged or overwhelmed by this number. Find ways to speed up your design process if you can.

If you already have 100 designs, then make more of what is already selling for you. This includes re-colours of the same design, but be strategic.

Don’t just throw everything on there and hope for the best. You don’t want to waste your time uploading sub-par designs that won’t sell anyway. Quality is always better than quantity.

2. Sign up for the Society6 Blog and especially the Creative Brief

Take a look at the Society6 blog and read the advice they provide. I also like to get the Creative Brief in my e-mail. This quarterly brief includes valuable information such as trending topics, design styles, keywords people are searching for, product types to promote and upcoming holidays to hit with your promotions.

3. Use proper keywords and tags for your designs

I can’t stress this enough, to get found on Society6 you must use good titles and tags.

Use the search bar on the Society6 homepage to research keywords for your design.

They recommend using single words rather than phrases, and if you do use multiple words put a dash in between them (ex. pineapple-pattern).

4. Have all your assets ready before you upload new designs

I create 3-4 different assets per design. One for t-shirts and stickers with a transparent background, one that looks good as a print, and sometimes a pattern to cover furniture and larger items. 10,000 x 10,000 pixels is what I use for the larger sized items.

The yoga mat has a special size so I usually make one specifically for that product.

I like to have all 3 or 4 images ready to go before I start uploading so it can go as quickly as possible.

5. Promote your products on Pinterest

Marketing can be difficult for artists. The simplest way I’ve found is to use Pinterest. You can pin your products straight from the product page by clicking on Pinterest sharing icon.

You can also use a mockup generating service like Place It to create fun and unique mockups of your designs to share on Pinterest and other social media.

Read more about my Pinterest marketing strategy here.

6. Experiment with different storefront layouts

You can change the layout of your Society6 shop to showcase different things like your latest designs, specific product types etc.

I recommend experimenting with the different store front layouts and give it a month or so to see if it helps with your sales, then switch it up to see if anything changes.

Bonus

Conclusion

I hope you’ve found these tips helpful and learned something new.

Make sure to follow my blog so you never miss my latest print on demand tips and tricks! I’m always sharing new strategies I learn along my journey of making an income from my art with print on demand websites like Society6.

Let me know what you thought of this post by leaving a comment below!

Cheers,

5 Tips to Increase Your Zazzle Sales

~ Julie ~ 2 Comments

Are you an artist on Zazzle looking to increase your sales? Well then you’re in the right place because today I’m sharing 5 tips to help you improve your Zazzle store. I’ve seen an increase in sales and also my “zRank” went up by 2 points after implementing these tips.

Also read: How to Sell Your Art Online – The Definitive Guide

You can either watch the video below or scroll down to read my 5 tips to help increase your sales on Zazzle.

5 Tips to Increase your Zazzle Sales

1. Fill out your Store and Profile to 100% Completion

When you are logged in to your Zazzle store you will see a section on the right that shows your zRank and store completion. Follow the prompts there until it reaches 100% with tasks including adding media images and creating collections.

This will also help increase your zRank.

2. Set up Categories for your Products

Categories are very important because it helps keep your store organized, but also helps your customers sort through your products.

“Home Decor” is an example of a category. You can also create subcategories, such as: “Home Decor > Pillows”. I suggest creating hierarchical categories like this. Think about it like a department store, if that helps you visualize how your products could be organized.

If you haven’t done this yet in your existing store, it is possible to set the categories later. It does take some more work, so try to organize your store well from the beginning or when you add a new product type to your shop.

3. Add Categories to your Home Page

Create some custom images for the categories you’ve created, and then they will display on your store’s home page (you must enable this in the store settings).

You can switch these out to showcase different categories depending on the season, or what’s trending. Don’t go overboard with this, you don’t want to overwhelm your customer so keep it under 10 categories at a time.

Here is an example of the categories on my own home page:

4. Create Collections and add them to your Home page

Similar to categories, collections are another way to group products together. Collections sometimes show up on the product page of a product that is in that collection, so you want to take advantage of this.

Make collections of either the same design or the same product type. You could also make collections of products that go together like bathroom or bedroom sets.

Like categories, your collections can be also showcased on your home page and switched up depending on the season or trends.

5. Create Customizable Products

Quite often people come to Zazzle to find unique, customize-able products. Products like business cards, invitations, and greeting cards sell very well on there.

But, people also like other types of personalized items like shirts or cell phone cases with their (or someone else’s) name on it, to make it extra special for themselves or a gift.

So consider creating more customize-able products for Zazzle like the example below. Make sure to set the text as a template and test it out before publishing the product to make sure it works and fits both long and short names.

Bonus Pro Tip

Add custom mockups to your listings. This is a new feature that Zazzle has introduced which allows you to add a custom mockup or “cover photo” to make your design really stand out in the marketplace! Read more about this feature here.

You can use a mockup generating service like Place It to create fun and unique mockups of your designs to take advantage of this feature.

Conclusion

I hope some of these tips are new and helpful for you. Try implementing them next time you upload to Zazzle and see what happens! Nothing is guaranteed but it never hurts to try and always be improving your store and organization.

I’ve also got a trick to help you upload to Zazzle quicker, since I know it can be a tedious process. I demonstrate it in this video:

I hope you found this post useful. Please share any other Zazzle tips you have in the comments below!

Cheers,

5 Tips to Increase your Redbubble Sales

~ Julie ~ 2 Comments

Are you an artist looking to increase your sales on Rebubble? Well then you’re in the right place because today I’m sharing 5 tips I’ve recently learned to help increase your sales. I’ve seen a 3x increase in sales since implementing these tips.

Also read: How to Sell Your Art Online – The Definitive Guide

You can either watch the video below or scroll down further to read my 5 tips to help increase your sales on Redbubble.

How to Increase your Redbubble Sales

1. Create Trending Designs

You can click in the search bar on Redbubble and “trending searches” comes up. You can also type in a letter or multiple letters and trending searches come up for those too.

Create designs inspired by these trending searches and make sure to use it in the tags. Don’t create copyright designs though unless it’s part of the Fan Art program.

2. Add Your Store Name or Social Media Handle in Tags

People may search Redbubble for your name or Instagram name rather than typing in your store link. This is especially important if your name is different on social media vs. Redbubble. For example, my name is slightly different due to the character limit, so while I’m julieerindesigns in most places, my username is julieerindesign for my Redbubble store. I put both names in my tags to cover everything.

3. Add Your Store Link to the Description

This may help increase multiple sales, if someone likes your design and sees the link in the description it is easy for them to copy and paste it into the browser bar and come to your shop. I’ve seen an increase in sales of multiple products such as stickers since implementing this strategy.

4. Make Sure Every Product Looks Nice

You want your store to look professional, so make sure every single product looks good with your design. If it doesn’t you should either modify the design, or disable that product. For example, use a clear background for stickers and t-shirts. Make sure the image covers the entire product and there is no white space surrounding it.

Having a nice, professional looking store front will increase the customer’s trust in you which increases the likelihood that they will purchase from you.

5. Share your Products to Pinterest

After you’ve submitted your design there is an option to share your products to a few social media channels. I recommend using this feature to Pin your product to Pinterest.

You can also go to the product page and share from there for additional mock up options, or use a mockup service like Place It to create fun and unique mockups to share across all social media.

Or watch my video below explaining my Pinterest strategy for Redbubble and other POD sites.

Conclusion

I hope some of these tips are new and helpful to you. Try implementing them next time you upload to Redbubble and see what happens! Nothing is guaranteed but it never hurts to try. Always be thinking about how you can optimize your products, designs, tags, etc.

I’m always sharing new strategies I learn along my journey of making an income from my art with print on demand websites like Redbubble. Check out my Resources page for more information!

And make sure to follow my blog so you never miss my latest print on demand tips and tricks.

I hope you found this post useful. Please share any other Redbubble tips you have in the comments below!

Cheers,

How to Find Keywords for your Zazzle Products

~ Julie ~ 3 Comments

Hello! Today I’m sharing a quick tutorial on how to find the right keywords for your Zazzle products and improve SEO within Zazzle’s website.

I recently crossed the mark of becoming a Bronze Pro seller on Zazzle which means I’ve made over $1000 USD! Most of this happened recently as I finally figured out how to use tags and keywords properly.

To increase your sales on Zazzle you really must pay attention to SEO.

When I first started selling my art online over 6 years ago I had no idea what I was doing. After revising some of my old products and implementing this strategy I’ve seen a big increase in sales and traffic to my Zazzle shop.

Watch the video below to see a demonstration of my keywords strategy.

Of course there are other websites and tools for finding keywords and trends like Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends. The strategy I’ve shown you today is specific to the Zazzle website and their internal search engine.

How to find Keywords for your Zazzle products

Come up with 1 to 3 generic keywords to describe your design as a starting point.
Use the search function with the Zazzle website to search for that keyword or phrase. (I used “pink elephant” in my demonstration)
You will see some keywords and phrases come up on the top of the page. Pick a few that work for your design.
Click on a few top selling designs which look similar or have a similar theme to your design.
Scroll down on the page until you see the “Tags” section. Pick a few relevant tags from there as well.
Use only the tags that are highlighted in blue on either line. Black ones are being ignored by Zazzle’s search function (such as product descriptors like “blanket”).
Choose wisely as you only get 10 tags (or phrases) to work with.
Use a couple of the same keywords in your title and description as well.

I hope these tips with help you find better keywords for your Zazzle products and get you more sales!

Let me know what other tips you have for keyword research in the comments below.

Cheers,

How to Use TikTok for Artists

~ Julie ~ 9 Comments

By now you’ve probably heard of TikTok. It’s an app where you can make short videos along with music, filters and other effects to share with your followers and others using hashtags, similar to Instagram. I’ve been experimenting with growing a following on there so I wanted to share some tips for how artists can use TikTok to expand their audience.

You may think the app is only for teenagers, but now you can find Millennials and even Grandmas amassing huge followings on TikTok, and having a great time doing it.

How to use TikTok for Artists

Create an account and simply observe. Watch videos that come up on your “for you” page. At first there will be a lot of different subjects but as you “like” and interact, the algorithm will begin to show you more videos attuned to your interests.

As an artist, you will want to follow other artists to get inspiration for the kinds of videos you can make on TikTok. You can find them with hashtags or by connecting with people from your other social media channels.

Start experimenting. It takes time to learn how to use the different tools, filters, add music and so on. You can create videos and save them as a draft, then go back and decide which ones to post. Don’t be too concerned with perfection. People like to see “real” and “unfiltered” life on TikTok.

There are some great tutorials on Youtube for how to use the various tools.

Once you’ve figured out how to use the app, check the Discover page for trending hashtags. Many are tied to a particular song or video style. You can work these trends into your videos, like the “wipe it down challenge”. Don’t feel obligated to do this but it might give you some ideas for videos and help you get more views.

ALWAYS attach a song to your video. Use “Trending” songs where possible.

Add a couple of hashtags, but don’t go overboard. If you did a challenge or trend, make sure to include the hashtag for that trend, plus a couple of other relevant ones. 3-4 hashtags per video is enough.

@julieerindesigns
little intro plus my latest artwork! #tiktokartists #mandalaart #drawing #viralart #artistsoftiktok
♬ Good Thing – Zedd & Kehlani

Cross Share your TikTok Videos to Other Platforms

You can download your TikTok videos to your phone to share them other platforms. For example, Pinterest. You can add a link to your TikTok profile, or your website. I’ve seen a huge increase in my Pinterest stats since posting short drawing or painting clips I created in TikTok.

You can also share your videos to Instagram Stories directly from the app, and more recently Instagram Reels! My Instagram followers love to watch my process videos. Instagram Stories can also be shared to your Facebook Stories as well with one click.

@julieerindesigns
What do you think? #newart #arttok #summersend #sol #mandala
♬ Believe Me – Navos

TikTok Video Ideas for Artists

Below is a list of video ideas to get you started sharing your artwork on TikTok.

Want a step by step tutorial on how to make short videos of your art?

Then check out my Skillshare class! How to Make Short Videos of your art for Social Media.

Keep in mind, optimal video length is around 15-30 seconds long.

Process videos. Share how you create your art. This could be in real time or time lapse format (I usually create time lapse videos outside of the app , then edit in Tiktok after).
Close ups of yourself creating in real time, again sharing your process.
Finished artwork reveals. Start with your phone on the artwork and slowly pull out until it comes into focus. Or, place multiple art pieces on a table along to music. You can also stand holding one of your art pieces and slowly turn it around to reveal the piece (like my video above).
Real life, behind the scenes. Show yourself and your personality. People love to see who you are and connect with you personally. You could have your artwork in the background and use text on the screen to talk about something like your struggles as an artist, the inspiration behind your art, or even something totally unrelated to your art. It doesn’t have to be all art all the time.
An art spin on trending videos. As mentioned above, use the trends on the Discover page to inspire your own videos, and put an artsy spin on them.
Tutorials. Share your knowledge. Simple drawing or painting videos for beginners. Or a tutorial on how you started selling stickers, or something business related.
Duets and challenges. You can duet with other artists or people who create challenges to increase your audience or try something new!

I hope this has given you some ideas for how to use TikTok as an artist. Feel free to follow me on there for more inspiration, I’d love to connect with you! It really is a fun app and you can spend hours on it watching all kinds of videos.

Let me know what you think about TikTok in the comments below! Have you used it yet?

Cheers,

Tag: marketing

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