Pictured: Imbeccable Images' booth at the RAW Artists: Denver show in 2019. Photograph by Esteban Raza & Suzanne Simone
Hello, everyone!
I've been reflecting on the amount of support and love I have received from family, friends, and clients.
Everyone in my life has been so amazing at supporting my photography and pushing me to keep going even when I am feeling lost.
THANK YOU to everyone who has been there for me!
That being said, I have also met other artists that do not have the support system that I am blessed to have, and so I wanted to give a quick list on ways everyone can support local artists!
Social Media Platforms
Share their posts from their business page to your personal page/your business page (both!). If you don't see one on your feed, ensure that you are "following" their page as well as "liked" it. The more you take the time to actually go view their page, the more likely it is that you will see their posts on your feed - Especially if you are interacting with their posts. Comments, shares, and reactions all help boost the local artist's page!
The Instagram algorithm is wild. You will most likely see more ads than pages you follow. However, if you start blocking the ads, and interacting with the posts by your favorite local artists, your feed will eventually adapt to show you the pages you are interacting with more. You can share posts on Instagram by clicking on the paper airplane icon underneath the image. It is best if you share it to your story, as that gets the most views! You can also share the post as a direct message to your friends on Instagram to encourage them to follow the local artist as well.
twitter // x
This one is pretty simple - retweet their post!
tiktok
Tiktok gives you a lot of options for interacting and helping your favorite local artist on the app. You can react (heart) the post, you can comment on the post, you can save/favorite the post (banner image), and, the best one of all, if you click on the arrow button it allows you to repost, add to story, or share with friends. All are great things to do to show support for the artist!
Social Media Actions
Sharing
While local artists do try their best to get the biggest reach possible, sharing a post increases their reach exponentially. For example, let's say I post an image to Facebook. Let's say 100 people like my Facebook page and 20 people see the post. That's only a 20% reach. Now, if all 20 of those people shared the post, each one of their followers/friends would have a chance to see it, increasing the reach drastically.
Seriously, share the crap out of their posts.
commenting
Even if you just comment an emoji, the interaction boosts the post and the probability of it being seen by more people, which increases the reach of the artist, which in turn increases their chance of making a sale or earning a new client!
Of COURSE we LOVE it when we receive comments about how much people like our art. All artists have self-doubt to an extent, and any words of encouragement are greatly appreciated.
REacting
Just clicking that reaction button can boost the post according to the platform's algorithm and increase its chances of being seen by more people.
Word of Mouth
This is probably the most complex one to ask of people, because some of us are not social butterflies and don't like to spend our energy talking to strangers. However, it is extremely helpful if you do! I'm not saying go up to everyone you know and basically be a walking advertisement telling every stranger "Hey, you should go check out my friend's art!" (I mean, if you want to do that.... we won't stop you. Just saying).
But let's say you have a friend who just bought a house and is looking to decorate. If you know a local artist, you could just mention that you love their work and that your friend should take a look as they might find something that they love for their new home! Or, let's say you are sitting at your local coffee shop, and you overhear someone wanting, let's say, homemade soap, and you happen to know someone who makes soap? Tell them about that local business!
It may get less awkward over time :)
Money, Money, Money
As artists, we completely understand that not everyone can or will want to support what we create. One, everyone has different tastes, and two, everyone has different budgets, and that's totally okay!
If you can, even the smallest purchase can help your local artist. If not, please refer to the other steps!
