The following is from the Stop The Starving Artist newsletter - "heART and Business."
Every week you'll get a little bit of "H.E.A.R.T." to help you grow your art business.
Highlight đź’ˇ
(A key creative business insight I'm currently seeing.)
I got a slew of comments recently, and wanted to touch on one of the TOP things I'm seeing you all ask about.
"Why am I not making SALES?" or "Why is my social media not growing?"
I took the time to look at some of your accounts, and I'm going to give you the top 5 reasons why those of you reading likely aren't making sales or growing online, and then I'm going to give you a quiz that you can take yourself to see where you stand.
Some of this might sting, but please know that it's all in love. I have done ALL of the things mentioned below. All of them. So, if it seems direct, it's because it is - and it's direct because I want to see you win.
Reasons Your Socials Aren't Growing / You're Not Making Sales
- You're not consistent. If you're doing less than 100 posts a year, I'm sorry... but you're not consistent. 3 posts a week is 156 posts for the year. To be honest, that's minimum if you want to LEARN what it takes to grow. (And yes... before you get good, you have to learn what good is for you.)
- You're not changing anything. You post, but you don't change your approach when something works (or doesn't). Or - you change it for 5-10 posts and you say that it didn't work, so you give up on it. Real change takes TIME and TESTING... and 10 posts isn't enough. I look for 50+ with short-form content before I decide whether something is working or not. And for some of you, it might be as simple as posting on other social sites as well (since you're already posting in one spot) and see if it gets more reach.
- You're only showing your art. People need to see YOU.... AND your art. We should see YOU, and hear about YOU as a person at LEAST 50% of the time. When I only see your art, I don't see you as a professional. Think of it like this... If I see a local coffee shop account, and all they show is cups of coffee, a.) Do you think I'll keep following them? No. b.) Do you think I see them as a professional, high-quality establishment? No. Why? Because a coffee shop (and an art business) is more than just coffee (or art).
- You're not consistently selling. People will not just click on your link to buy your art. People don't even read your captions over half of the time. (YES - THAT'S A REAL STAT.) So, if you're not CONSISTENTLY and STRATEGICALLY telling people that your art is for sale (and yes, I mean videos talking about how proud you are of your work and how they can buy it) then you're not consistently selling.
- You don't have feedback or a system. One study showed that learners without consistent external feedback overpredict their performance by up to 40% compared to actual results. This means that when you watch a video or listen to a podcast and go take action on it, you THINK it's better than it actually is, because your brain thinks it understands, but you don't have feedback... and then when it doesn't work, your brain flips out and says things like - "I've been online for years, but it doesn't work! It's not action that's the problem!" But the truth is, for many of you, you don't have a system in place that allows you to save time making marketing materials, you don't have a system that tracks what's working or what's not, and you don't have feedback to help you when things aren't clicking... and if you do get feedback one or two times, and things don't change immediately, you give up.
Here's the thing I want you to take away from this.
Sales is not about content, and content is not about sales. Content can help you get sales, but improvement in content and improvement in sales are both DIFFERENT skills.
I know very well that someone out there is reading this and they're mad at me because they feel like they've "been at this for a long time." Yes... You've likely been doing something for a long time, but I want to share with you a set of questions that changed my life and the way I think about doing business as a creative.
When it comes to ANYTHING - content... sales... etc... ask yourself:
Am I doing the thing I should be?
Am I doing the thing I should be consistently?
Am I doing the thing I should be doing consistently well?
You won't know if you're doing the things you should be without feedback.
You can't do something consistently, or consistently well, if you're not tracking things that matter in your art business.
Execute âś…
(Your action items...)
Quiz yourself to see where you stand:
Score yourself 1-10 on each question. Be honest. No one's watching.
1 = "I'm basically not doing this at all" | 10 = "I'm doing this consistently and well"
CONSISTENCY
On a scale of 1-10, how consistent are you with posting content? (Remember: 3x/week = 156 posts/year. That's minimum. Don't just guess, go to your socials and count.)
Score: ___/10
TESTING & ADAPTATION
On a scale of 1-10, how good are you at testing new approaches for long enough to actually know if they work? (Hint: 5-10 posts isn't long enough. 50+ is.)
Score: ___/10
VISIBILITY
On a scale of 1-10, how much do people actually see YOU as a person, not just your art? (Go check your last 10 posts. Give yourself one point if the first thing we see is you... do NOT give yourself a point if the first thing we see is your art... or the only thing we see is your art.)
Score: ___/10
SALES
On a scale of 1-10, how consistently and strategically are you TELLING people your art is for sale? (Not just having a link in bio. Actually talking about it in your content. Again... check your account. Don't guess.)
Score: ___/10
SYSTEMS & FEEDBACK
On a scale of 1-10, how solid are your systems for tracking what works, getting feedback, and actually implementing changes? (If you're just posting and hoping, that's a 1 out of 10.)
Score: ___/10
YOUR TOTAL SCORE: ___/50
40-50: You're putting in real work. Keep going.
30-39: You're doing some things right, but there are gaps.
20-29: You're inconsistent. Pick ONE thing and go all in.
10-19: You're not really doing this yet. And that's okay—now you know.
0-9: Time to get brutally honest about what you actually want.
Now answer the 3 questions that matter:
Pick something you want to focus on and improve in 2026, and then pick the thing you KNOW you need to improve on, or do more of. Likely, it's the thing that makes you uncomfortable to do, then ask yourself...
Am I doing the thing I should be? ___/10
Am I doing it consistently? ___/10
Am I doing it consistently well? ___/10
If any of these scores are below a 7... that's where you start.
Awareness đź‘€
(The current things you need to know about social media, the creator economy, and running an online business.)
This artist created Nightmare Market for "alternative" artists (taxidermy, macabre paintings, oddities) and it's CRUSHING. Vendors are selling 80% of their inventory, no bathroom breaks, pure insanity.
Her secret? Two things most artists miss: accessible pricing + heavy marketing to guarantee crowds. She refuses to make "joy unaffordable" but she also does the work to pack the room.
But here's what I really want you to see: She built this entire event around making alternative artists feel "just as respected as any mainstream gallery." She knew her people felt unseen by traditional venues, so she created a space where weird is welcome.
That's mission-driven business. That's knowing your people so deeply you build exactly what they need. That's what happens when you stop trying to fit into spaces that weren't built for you and start building your own ecosystem.
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Reflect 🤔
(Question to sit with this week.)
Look at your lowest score from the quiz above. Now ask yourself... What story am I telling myself about why I can't do this thing consistently and well?
(Be specific. "I don't have time" isn't a story... it's an excuse. Dig deeper. What are you actually afraid will happen if you do it? What are you protecting yourself from?)
Thrive 🔥
(This week in this community.)
Artist Kevin Bethel, a member of the Stop The Starving Artist community just got to do an interview with the awesome Sergio Gomez!
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Talk soon!
Lennon
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