So, How Do You Find Your People?
Last week we talked about how to figure out who your people are. This is great to know, the crucial first step and necessary. But not sufficient.
Next, you need to know: how do I find these people?
To me, the easiest place for finding your people (the ones who want your art) is Instagram. I can also go to art shows or open studios. But Instagram is the easiest because I can sit at home and follow 100 people at a time. It’s okay to strike up conversations with people there as long as you aren’t super-salesy. You can do the same on Facebook, LinkedIn, Vimeo, YouTube, or other social media sites depending on whether you like to write, make photographs, or do videos.
The funny thing is that it almost doesn’t matter where you start. Starting (and keeping going) are more important.
In a perfect world, you have a website and you use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or YouTube to point people there. I’ll talk about that in subsequent newsletters. But for now, choose one method for finding your people and stick with it.
Here are 12 subjects you can talk about:
- Your process.
- Your latest work.
- What brings you joy?
- What brings you sorrow?
- What inspires you?
- Compare your later work to earlier work and show the differences.
- Showcase other people you love inside and outside your medium.
- Talk about how you got started.
- What are your biggest obstacles and how did you overcome them, or not.
- A typical day.
- Setting goals and not setting goals.
- Your favorite: color, book, weather, work, person in history, movie, poem, memory, clothing, shoes, room, house, art object you own, flower, etc.
This list can keep you going with posts for six months. As you’re following grows, make sure you interact with them directly.
Here are some great examples of people talking to their people:
Good Instagram Lauren Lee, Lori Johnson
Good blogger: Seth Godin (also an excellent podcaster).
Good Twitter: Anne Lamont
Good newsletter: Austin Kleon.
You only need 1,000 enthusiastic followers to make a living. That is very doable.
If you missed last week's post, it helps you nail down WHO your people are. Once you do that, finding your people will be possible. What's one thing you'll do to make that happen? Let me know in the comments.