Why Covid-19 affected my Instagram business?

Why Covid-19 affected my Instagram business?

Why Covid-19 Affected My Instagram Business

Hi there,

Today I thought I should share some important and secret briefs that do not reflect on my Instagram Page. Yes we’re gonna talk about finances today. On my previous blog I’ve covered basically all the important notes that you must know before you start selling your artworks online on different marketplaces.There’s a reason why I am focusing on building a strong connection with my audience these days.

I have a pretty good audience on Instagram and you already know that my videos get a good amount of reach too but let me make it very clear ~ Number of views or Number of followers is not equal to the number of money you’re earning. Yes you’re not new in this, I too understood this fact after getting involved in this. The whole game of views and followers only helps you to reach more audience, to make it more clear let me share an example with you – Imagine a dancer is performing on streets expecting some money from the viewers, While he was performing everyone at the street enjoys his performance but only few at the front line may be 5-6 people had paid him and the rest enjoyed, clapped and left. The number of audience that left will be way too high than the number of audience who actually paid. Performing on the Internet technically works in the same way, the number of viewers is always way too high than actual customers. In today’s time when earning is too complicated people think ten times before spending their money especially when it comes to Arts (already a complicated subject).

Before Covid started I was doing pretty good earnings through my Instagram, If I honestly share my figures with you then it’s approx $1000 per month on an average, This may sound very great to you but it’s not. I’ve made mistakes. If you plan to depend only on your “Enjoyed, Clapped & Left” audience, then “YOU’RE AT HIGHER RISK”. I have terminated my contracts with 3 brands because they planned to hold the payments till the lockdown last. I have 4 brands who want to collaborate with me but due to locked borders neither they can send their products nor I can promote them, Hence can’t get paid. Can you Imagine how much is the pressure to handle all your expenses when you are not getting paid? I know some of you might understand the situation here. But I am happy that I have my startups which are holding me up against this fall but this surely is a lesson to me and to you too.

 

WHAT MISTAKES I’VE MADE ?

While I had time to focus on pitching efficient clients I spent my valuable time pitching brands to promote “their” products keeping my own product aside. HUGE MISTAKE

It is always fascinating to see bigshot artists on Instagram having their studio full of art supplies and other materials which is quite influencing when it comes to having your own studio. I think having a studio is great but if you notice all the artists you get influenced with always try to focus on promoting their own product which is much much more important but what we see is everything else. It’s never about the materials they’re using, It’s always about the art they’re doing, and the techniques of business they are doing. And if anyone get’s associated with a brand, sadly there are many people who ask for free products from the brands. Imagine if you’ve invested your valuable time in improving your own skills, promoting your own product and pitching the right clients. You’ll be at a much nicer place now. (no offence but it’s true)

While I should have focused more on generating passive income from websites like Society6, Patternbank, Freepik, etc I’ve spent hours watching my instagram grow and reading all those nice comments and refreshing the page in every 2 seconds. HUGE MISTAKE.

Yes I know I always said fan base is important when it comes to start selling your artworks online but hold on! There are websites where fan base means nothing, literally nothing. Few examples are Creative Market, Freepik, Patternbank, etc. Yes these websites have nothing to do with your fan base.In fact I can count Etsy also because there are many businesses there that do not have a big fan base on their Instagram page or any kind of social media but they are making sales on Etsy. Yes these websites have nothing to do with your fan base. These marketplaces have their own strategies to promote your products with effective hashtags. That’s it. The more quality your resource has, the more chances of it to get sold / downloaded. Things would be different if I’d focused on these websites other than getting influenced on Instagram. Harsh but true. Thankfully I had overcome my mistake and focused back on licensing my artworks and using such great websites again.

I should have designed my website back in 2017 with an attractive portfolio in it when I got my first pattern design project.

I know this may sound stupid but I own my domain since 2010 almost 10 years now and I recently managed to complete my website with still few things left to add on. I know now I am jeopardizing my virtual image here but I have readers who believe in me and I want to be as transparent as I can. Also I think by sharing my mistakes will help you widen your goals and visions on long and short terms. One thing I did great was I made my Behance portfolio long back ago which is still helping me to get some graphic design projects. If you wanna have a look here’s the link – https://www.behance.net/nikhatillustrations

I should have started building my email list around 1 year ago.

I realized I should have started my email list way back before I started with just one follower. Yes, Email lists are very important and the only way to pitch your product to the customer with the customer’s own will. Yes, It’s the way where the potential customer allows you to market your product directly to them in their emails. The chances of converting a potential customer to your paid customer is way too high in email marketings. In some cases email lists can be your biggest source of income too. People open your emails, click on links and you can track the whole thing and plan your next campaign accordingly. I hope now you know where we’re heading.

I hope mistakes that I made years ago which took me so many years to test, try and fail again and again will help you save some of your valuable time and will help you to get into the right direction. Getting influenced from Instagram or any social media is good but depending on only one platform can be risky. Do let me know if you have any questions or any suggestions would be appreciated.

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