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Hey Beats,
Appreciate all the work that you have done helping upcoming NSFW artists. You’re a great inspiration for folks who want to make a name for themselves, much love!
I’d like to figure out some of the business/social media parts of making a NSFW Art page, but if there are any art critiques that are holding me back from growing my social media presence, then I’ll be glad to accept those as well.
I’ve been semi-active on social media for 2 years now, and I’ve been wanting to put myself out there more and build a stronger social media presence.
But I feel overwhelmed with how to engage as a NSFW Artist. All I really do is post finished art and respond to any comments people give me; that is the length of my engagement with the people who follow me. It feels like there is some greater potential that I’m just not using.
The main issue for me is: that there seems to be a lot going on in all of this, a lot of factors to think about, and it all feels pretty confusing. And I’m not sure where to focus.
I’m trying to figure out: What do artists do on social media besides posting art? Art raffles? Repost? And I’m trying to figure out: “what do people want to see from me?”
I’m still new to this, and I’m sure I’ll get better with experience and time, but in the meantime, I’m wondering: “is there anything that I can know now instead of later when it comes to making something with my art page.”
MY ART PLATFORMS
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Yo_ZeeNSFW
Furaffinity: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/zoon5017
—Yo-Zee
Hey Yo-Zee,
Great question. There is definitely a lot to building a following, though that feeling of overwhelm gets easier to manage with time and experience. But honestly, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed now as I try to collect my thoughts on the matter haha.
So first, with all the factors, what do we focus on? Since our goal with social media is 1) to connect with our current audience and 2) reach people who might like our art, then our focus should be getting our content in front of those two groups.
In other words, social media is a way to connect with people.
I find the simplification helpful. Gone are the metrics and the algorithm-pleasing. Instead we can focus on reaching out and actively building relationships with communities and people. That might be what you’re thinking of when you mention “some great potential”, which I touch on in ‘active social media use‘. I’ve found that thinking of fans as friends helps: I enjoy talking to them about their own OCs + what they like seeing in my and others’ art, and I think it’s telling that most people I’ve connected with have stayed with me through the years, commissioning me when I pop back onto social media.
Our email right here is another example of the connection focus! By making the effort to reach out and be proactive, you’ve opened up your network and gotten your stuff in front of more people than before. Growth is just doing that many, many times (and ideally in fun and creative ways). That’s why I’m such a fan of specialty NSFW subreddits and Discord servers. You’re sharing your stuff and interacting with people who already have that common thread, making it much easier to connect.
In your case, it looks like you draw a lot of OC and furry content. I think that’s a prime opportunity for building a following and interacting with other content creators and enjoyers. That said, it’s nothing fancy. Scrolling through your feed, taking time to comment on art you enjoy, and complimenting mutual’s OCs. The goal is to get people aware that you exist outside of art posting, so that when you do post art, there’s more potential for sharing and views.
Events like art raffles and giveaways can accelerate that growth, but you also need to ask if you’re an artist people would want to follow. Without that foundation, your social media efforts might not bloom.
Hope that helps. Cheers, Beats