Laying The Groundwork

This past week, I made a YouTube channel for CarsonArtMusic and a channel for MeAndDMusicCT. Every few days I post on FaceBook for both CarsonArtMusic and MeandDMusic. It is the same for Instagram. In addition to this, I post the dates for my art and music shows in the Events Calendar on my website at Events. I use Canva and Adobe Photoshop to create graphics for these posts. Next, I try to write something unique for each post such as “Come out!”, “Join us!” or “We’d Love to See You!”. I copy, paste, crop and resize photos, find fonts and choose colors. It’s fun sometimes, and can be rewarding when someone engages with a “yes” or by sharing my post. A comment such as “Hope we can come” can go pretty far in motivating me to continue with this routine. It is a time-consuming and thankless, yet necessary (I think) aspect of trying to build an audience for my art and music.

The Struggle is Real

I really only have one friend that regularly comments on my blogposts and social media posts. I’m not even sure my family has ever looked at my website. Occasionally, I get a comment on YouTube from someone I don’t know who somehow fell into one of my basement recordings. It has been a struggle to figure out how to structure all of this. Social media is not my expertise. I have a day job reconciling big invoices for an energy company. Playing guitar, singing and painting – that is what I do. I have no background in html, photoshop, SEO, writing, advertising, or the “algorithm.” So, this is a constant challenge. Or struggle. I appreciate any help or input thrown my way.

Have Any Tips?

Are you or anyone you know trying to navigate managing 2 or more avenues of a creative life? It is a lot of work, and although most of the time the social media aspect feels pointless (I may be the only one visiting my website and blog posts most days) I do believe you need to build it before they come. There needs to be some sort of address to which I can point a prospective venue or patron. But is this working? Is there a better way? If you know some tips or have suggestions, let me know. I try to keep in mind the goal is to grow my audience, engage, and ultimately sell more art and book better gigs. However, it is easy to get lost in the routine and lose sight of the goal.

In the meantime, if you would be so kind, check out my CarsonArtMusic website, YouTube, FaceBook and Instagram, and Me & D Youtube, Me & D Facebook, Me & D Instagram.

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