My blog has been on auto pilot for far too long. It is time to take control and give it some direction. Welcome to anyone who is still around. I would love to hear from you. I have several things going that I want to share with you. I am documenting the process to keep track of the challenges, difficulties and successes that will certainly be a part of making a living as an artist.
Blog/Site Management
Like I said it has been a while since I have made many changes to my site and yesterday I discovered just how out of date I had become. After spending a chunk of time on the phone with technical support I was able to reset passwords and gain the necessary access to make updates to my site. WordPress has a new format called Gutenberg that is completely new to me and required some remediation on my part. So I went to my safety net, Lynda.com, and began WordPress 5 Essentials Training. It feels like I am starting all over again.
Store Launch
I launched a shop where I will be selling my artwork, pins and other stuff. It is a store with one product on the shelf with more coming soon. Scott E Franson Store is where you will go to buy my work. I am currently using GumRoad as my shopping cart. For now it seems to be working just fine.
Enamel Pin Design for Sale
Pig Pin is my first enamel pin and is currently available in my store.
Social Media Development
Instagram Pins
I started a new Instagram account for Pins. I have a few followers that came from using hashtags, but most of them are pin manufactures. I am considering starting another instagram for my artwork that is for sale. The pins and artwork are not an obvious match and it may make it difficult to get a good following. Here are some of the things I am going to try to get a good targeted Instagram following:
- Comment on posts of people that are interested in pigs. My hope is that I can sale some pins beyond my current friends.
- Watch some courses on social media management on Lynda.com
ArtBasics.online
I am working on two courses for ArtBasics.online. One is Design & Color Basics and the other is Digital Illustration Basics. The courses are targeted to serious beginning professional artists. You can sign up right now at ArtBasics.com. I am working on developing a large enough following to launch the School. The classes that are listed are free right now.
In Conclusion
I have a lot of different things going on and I am trying to figure out how to get them up and running. I hope that this is beneficial to others that are trying to make a career as an artist. I would be interested in hearing what things you have done to pursue your career as an artist.
Make something today.