You want more followers? Me too! More followers means more exposure means more chance of us getting the fuck out of our day jobs right?
Social media platforms are the way to gain fast access to big audiences. There's so many different ways to use the platforms to your advantage. Some good, some bad, some utterly useless. As they grow in popularity, these platforms also attract like minded business men and woman looking to make some money from your dreams. Not everyone can paint though, so what can they offer you? They can offer to help you grow your social media audience in return for a small fee. Sounds like a good deal ay? (London geezer accent)
After a few days pondering on the idea and a few fights with my anxiety telling me I'm a worthless piece of shit and whats the point, I decided to give it a go. I signed up for a 3 day free trial with a company whom you give access to your account and they gain followers for you by following other accounts who follow people related to the industry your page is invloved in.
Within an hour, I had 40 new followers, within 5 hours I had 200. It was working! I was buzzing. This was the missing link for me. This is what I was doing wrong the whole time. This is the secret. This is, oh....wait...hold on....I have 300 new followers but I'm now following 500 new accounts. No big deal, but I'm just gonna have a quick look at what accounts they are following for me to make sure that the quality is....ah! Fuck!
When I looked into what type of accounts they were following for me it was a mess. Just a random selection of people who dont follow any artists themselves and whom have no connection to the art industry whatsoever. It literally felt like there was someone logged into my account from their laptop clicking follow on any random account that came up while he or she sat and watched countdown from their living room sofa. The quality of followers being generated for me was weaker than a pensioners bladder. How am I supposed to get noticed in the industry by following Juan, 17, from Peru who likes Motorcross and Lizards?? I cancelled the trial and had a sulk for half an hour before moving on from it.
I put it down as another bitter lesson in the road to success. I always do my best to treat every set back or failure as a lesson learned.
So what did I learn? I learned that there is no such thing as shortcuts to a true organic following and appreciation for my work. That will grow with time and I need to learn to be patient and keep doing what I'm doing and continue to learn and grow along the way. And have the confidence to know that my work is good and I am truly happy doing it.
There's no such thing as a healthy shortcut!
If you're thinking of using a quick fix to bump up your following, I hope this post has steered you in the right direction or helped you out in some way.
As always thanks for reading. Your appreciation for my utter jibber jabber never ceases to amaze me!
Chat soon!
Art is for everyone. Sully ❤