I have a business page and a shop on that FB page. However, I have yet to sell any prints from it. I admit, I have nearly 200 followers, so I am probably a long way from building a huge following or contact list. Is it a given that we need to pay for a service to help us build the list? It seems very overwhelming to try and tackle yet another huge obstacle. It seems there isn't enough time in my day already, after creating, processing, posting to social media, printing, matting, framing(if needed), applying to call for entry, updating my website..well you follow me :):) I am grateful for any positive feedback or nudge in the right direction.
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Wow, Tina ... lots of work. Right? Our parent never said it was easy. I'm very intrigued that you've been able to leverage Pinterest to increase your sales. And, yes, sometimes you have to hire someone to help. What you can't afford it? My strong belief is you devote your time to what you do best (create art) because that is what people are paying you for and then hire someone who can do what you don't do. Would you rather be repairing your car or creating art? Which one is the best use of your time and money?
I'm a newbie, so take this with a grain of salt. I work an average of 12 - 16 hrs per day, 7 days a week with my husband on our new endeavor (since late 2017). We have a website, FB page, Instagram page, Pinterest and Etsy shop. We will be in 30 - 40 shows this year, plus gallery and solo shows. I find that the Etsy shop floats us in between and we get 70+ percent of our business from Pinterest (I monitor the stats of where our business comes from closely). Despite FB ads, I don't seem to get business from it and building a following has been really slow. Pinterest seems to be the #1 source of our online business. You're right - there aren't enough hours a day - I had to hire a full time personal assistant (she's the one being paid - LOL) just to manage all the paperwork, accounting, prepping us for all our shows, while I manage the business (apply for shows/galleries/etc - and not to mention manage my own household) and create new designs for my husband to build. I could not imagine doing everything by myself that we need to, in order to succeed. It's been tough, but in only a year and a half, we are looking towards profitability (after huge investing in our tent, trailer, equipment - $35K laser machine +++) supplies, etc. etc. So, I hear you on "overwhelming", but I think it's the price of trying to do art as a full time business. I'm just trying to glean as much info from all the wonderful full time artists on this site (and my personal business background) towards being successful. Hard work does pay off - because, trust me, when I started this a year + ago, I thought - "am I nuts?" - but every time we get the "WOW!"'s at a show, it just feels so incredibly awesome! Took me 40 years to get to do what I love, but am so glad that I am finally here. Best of luck to you - keep plugging away. I'm sure other artists will weigh in as well.
Appreciate your situation. We have found it really difficult to find one of those services that really delivers what they say.