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As an artist, whether you dance, draw, sing or knit, the goal is to share your art with as many people as possible. Social media provides artists a great platform to showcase their skills to thousands, if not millions, of people daily. Additionally, sites such as Facebook and Instagram provide artists with various avenues to monetize their art and convert their passion into a fruitful career. In this article by The Knitting Times, we’ll explore the best ways knitting artists can get their art discovered online and monetize their hard work.

Learn From the Best

As a first step, take the time to research the best existing accounts. A simple way to find these is to search through prominent hashtags in the niche, such as #knitting, #knittinginspiration, #knittinglove, etc., and clicking on posts with the most likes. Study these accounts in terms of the type of content they post, uploading frequency, style, and follower interactions.

Do not try to copy their style, rather, take inspiration and come up with a unique look for your account. This can include using a select combination of colors, knitting certain types of products, and more. Additionally, mention your personal account in the bio as it will help give a face to your brand and develop credibility among followers.

Create Video-Based Content

As a new artist on the social media scene, creating video-based content will help garner higher views and reach a larger audience. This is reflected in research published by Back Linko, which states that time spent by users watching video-based content on Instagram has increased by 80%. Additionally, 68% of users actively view stories, which is a strong indication that they should be included in your posting schedule. 

Types of video-based content you can make include:

1. Recording yourself knitting a product from scratch
2. Hosting live Q & A sessions with followers
3. Short videos covering the various pieces you’ve knit
4. Videos of customers wearing/using your products

Design Aesthetic Feed Posts

While video-based content has better penetration, image-based posts garner twice the number of engagements (likes, comments, shares). To get your art noticed, you’ll need to create a collection of content as targeted ads on a popular social media platform like Facebook. This process can be made easy by using a Facebook ad template. There are free tools that provide an array of customizable templates to choose from. Additionally, you can upload custom images and edit them in an instant to create aesthetic-looking ads which are bound to catch the attention of viewers. 

Establish a Business

Once your handles have developed a strong following, it’s time to start monetizing your art. Creating a business plan should be the first task on your checklist and should include the following:

1. Avenues for Monetization: This can include opening an Instagram store, creating a website, and adding a form link in your bio to receive commission requests.

2. Pricing: Create a pricing list for all your products. Custom requests should be priced higher than generic products.

3. Goals: Goals will serve as a crucial metric to help you track performance and constantly grow. Set revenue goals for the first 3-6 months and post content accordingly to reach your targets.

Remember to establish your business as a Limited Liability Company (LLC), to protect personal finances and assets from business-related liabilities as reported by the SBA. Please not this only applies to USA business people. We will be witting an article soon about how to go self employed with knitting in the UK.

Utilize Your Network

Collaborating with fellow artists in your network is a great way to grow and develop credibility. Whether they’re friends who participate in performing arts or ex-colleagues having their own social media business, look for ways you can promote products to their audience and vice-versa. 

If you don’t have their contact details, don’t fret, as a simple google search with their name and certain identifiers such as school name or city will bring up their socials which are bound to include the information you need. 

When working towards growing an online presence, remember to avoid mimicking others and stay true to your style. This will automatically set you apart from the rest and get noticed. The other side will be to portray your art in the best possible way, which can be done via using tools such as an ad template tool and video editors.

Consider Selling on Etsy

Etsy is great marketplace to set up a knitting business. We have a link that you can use to set up a new Etsy shop and you will get 40 free listings to set you off on your way! Please click here to find out more about setting up an Etsy shop with free listings.