HEALTHY social media tips for artists (let's avoid art burnout, shall we?)

i think one of the most overwhelming

parts of realizing that i wanted to

become an artist full-time was realizing

that i had to start taking my social

media presence so much more seriously it

was horrible i felt like i was being

pulled in a million different directions

and it was sapping away at my creative

energy was like physically draining me

of my desire to make art and that's like

the reason that i wanted to get my work

out there in the first place was so that

i could make a living to support my work

and make even more art as a result so in

this video i'm new walking you through

how i've been able to build a healthier

relationship with social media so that i

can post more consistently and start

building a career for myself all while

still being really creatively fulfilled

and not burning out

but the first thing that i did to start

having a healthier relationship with

social media as an artist was i started

to post on youtube and i know i know

that sounds weird okay because i know

what you're thinking youtube is just

like it's so much work it requires a

fancy camera you have to learn how to

set up a shot how to light a scene how

to edit how to come up with a script and

talking points and like how to actually

build a strategy and i get that it's

really super intimidating and i was

terrible at youtube at first okay i was

just

i was the worst i was filming on my

phone and i was living in alaska and it

was the winter and the lighting wasn't

great and i didn't know how to talk on

camera i was super nervous and i still

have to edit out all of my ums and likes

and pauses etc but i started my art

career posting on instagram

and

at first it can really seem like

instagram is less work than youtube

but

i was obsessed with the metrics on

instagram i was constantly researching

how to grow my account and that metric

was just it was in my mind constantly i

couldn't stop thinking about it it was

just it was haunting me wherever i went

and i was just constantly worried about

getting to that next benchmark 1 000

followers 5 000 followers 10 000

followers that elusive 100k

and i was so busy researching and

thinking about and stressing over my

instagram growth that i stopped making

art and like i said earlier i started

catering the art that i was making to

something that i knew would drive

engagement and likes and comments and i

ended up really selling myself short on

my creative journey because i wasn't

experimenting as much i wasn't pushing

myself further

and so when i started posting on youtube

yes it was like a significantly more

work to put in i had to get a nice

camera but

the beautiful thing about youtube is

that it's just so much more sustainable

than instagram because youtube is at its

core a search engine and so all of the

content that you make is actually part

of a portfolio and because it's a

portfolio because youtube as a platform

is a search engine the content that you

make has a much longer life span posting

on instagram at least for me didn't feel

like i was building anything do you know

what i mean it felt like i was

constantly grinding constantly trying to

grow while never getting the engagement

never getting my posts actually out

people who followed me and never growing

on the platform and i was really

frustrated at that that really makes a

difference when you're thinking about

making more videos when you are like

actually in the thick of it in the

beginning and you're churning out

content and trying to build an audience

because you know this video might not

take off right now but who knows what

it'll do in six months or three months

or a year and it could take off at any

point and i could see a return on this

investment in the future and you don't

have that same mindset when it comes to

instagram content on instagram has a

shorter life span

this is also true for even like things

like tick tock and

like the short form video content that's

being pushed out on platforms like

instagram and tick tock it feels much

shallower than it does here on youtube

like long-form content

as a person as an oil painter is just so

much more well-suited to

the style of art that i make my process

and how i like think about the world i

guess i don't know i i really enjoy

being able to branch out creatively and

do lots of work in post with editing and

i know that my audience will appreciate

the effort that i'm putting in

in a way that they might not notice or

care on instagram or tick tock and again

because all of the content that i make

here is a portfolio

it just feels

like a much more worthy investment of my

time to make content here on youtube and

i've actually started to do a really

interesting thing with my content where

i make it surrounding the goals that i

have as an artist and a person so i've

really been wanting to finish a

sketchbook for the very first time

lately so i've been making lots of

videos where i work in my sketchbook and

it doesn't have to be like a draw with

me video it can be like a voice over or

like a week in my life or a day in my

life vlog but

i'm able to incorporate my sketchbook

into those pieces of content and make

the art that i want to make and fulfill

that artistic goal because i've never

finished a sketchbook before and just

that one idea generates so many pieces

of content and it's so much more

sustainable and fulfilling for me as an

artist to be able to

make the kind of content that actually

fulfills my artistic goals and also

entertains my audience also provides

content for them to watch also

continues to contribute to this

overarching portfolio of content that i

have here on my channel

so i guess what i'm saying is that

i would really recommend that you

post and focus on these social media

platforms that are best suited to you it

doesn't have to be youtube like me

though i really recommend it i think

it's a great place for artists just

focus on the platforms that give you

energy that you like the most or at the

very least dislike the least for me

focusing on the platform that actually

gave me energy that i actually enjoyed

contributing to that i was really

fascinated by that i just i love making

videos and i love editing i'm actually

taking on a few freelance clients as a

video editor because i just i love it so

much and

for me like

realizing that i could actually enjoy

posting on social media as an artist

that i could actually

leverage my content as a means of

fulfilling my artistic goals that was

that was a game changer that was

it was just completely groundbreaking

for me and my strategy and my artistic

process in my journey

so in any way that you possibly can i

just really really recommend that you

only post on the social media platforms

that give you energy because as artists

it is so easy for us to just sync time

into things that aren't creating art be

it answering emails developing a social

media strategy posting online worrying

about the numbers um looking for more

means to grow our income streams and

it's so easy to sync time into all of

that stuff and never actually make art

and that's who we are we're artists

we're not professional email answers

we're not professional social media

managers

we do all of that stuff to facilitate

us making more art and that's the whole

purpose behind it i think that posting

on every single social media platform

imaginable is just a waste of time

because your audience is going to be

able to tell that you aren't into it and

if you're not into it if you don't show

up with passion if you don't show up

with excitement and if you're not ready

to deliver value for the people that

follow you

then i mean like you're not gonna grow

you know what i mean you're not gonna

build that authentic sense of connection

and that's what really matters because

people can tell if you're not into it ah

yeah

just follow your passion and only post

social media platforms that you dislike

the least or that you like the most

just the ones that

are easiest for you and for me that was

youtube and it took me a long time to

level up my skills on youtube to be able

to make videos the way that i do now but

now that i've sunk enough time into it

now that i'm monetized and i'm getting

sponsorship so that i'm having people

reach out to me and want me to make

guest videos for their own channels want

me to star on their podcasts like it's

such a more fulfilling experience for me

and i just love being on this platform i

really love youtube and i really

recommend that if you are an artist the

best way to have a healthier

relationship with social media is just

to like it more yeah i think the best

way to have a healthier relationship

with social media is just to enjoy it

more to focus less on the numbers and

more about how you feel if your artistic

goals your monetary goals are being

fulfilled by your strategy and if they

aren't consider switching platforms to

one that actually provides more like

long-term return on investment and in my

mind that's youtube and if you haven't

seen my video on instagram versus

youtube check that out right here and i

hope you have a great rest your day and

i will see you in the next one bye guys