The Instagram Challenge starts now.
Today’s challenge: create an Instagram profile.
This is pretty easy. Simply download the app to your smartphone.
iPhone users click here.
Android users click here.
It should only take about 10 – 15 minutes to create your profile.
Here’s a few pointers on how to create a profile that is optimized for maximum marketing and discoverability.
Make Sure Your Profile is Public. If you want people to discover and see your art, you need a public profile. To ensure your profile is public: Open “Options” (the gear button on iOS, or three dots on Android) and make sure “Private Account” is turned off.
Make Your Username Easy. Your username name should be something like @FirstNameLastName. If your name is already taken, then add art or artwork at the end, like @FirstNameLastNameArt. If your art business is branded, like Fine Art for Small Spaces, make that your username. @FineArtSmallSpaces – try to get rid of connection words like “for,” or “the.”
To edit your @username: Go to your profile page and click the “Edit Profile” button to the right of your profile photo.
Easily Searchable Personal/Business Name. In addition to your username, you can also add a first and last name. Doing this will allow people to search by your name, which is a good thing.
Great Profile Photo. Your profile photo should include your face. If its you posing in front of your art, that’s great.
Interesting, Compelling Bio. Like your profile photo, your “bio” (i.e., the description at the top of your profile) is one of the first things visitors to your profile will see.
You have a max of 150 characters: Use them to let people know what kind of art you make and what they should expect to see.
Examples:
Alex Pardee (@alexpardee) – I draw things that don’t exist because I wish they did. Morsels of art and hugs here: alexpardee.com
Melissa McKinnon (@melissamckinnonart) ART CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN LANDSCAPE ARTIST I love creating large scale paintings with bold COLOR and thick TEXTURE
Meghan Oona Clifford (@meghan_oona_clifford) multimedia art to gladden your soul!
Add a Link in Your Bio – Point people not just to your website home page, but to a great blog post, or a particularly compelling piece of art.
Add 2 – 3 great images of your art as a starting place.
Tomorrow we’ll talk about photographing and editing art for Instagram.
Hi Cory, so I stumbled across this post…and to let you know, Instagram and I had a heck of a time agreeing my account was a business account. If I change my handle I may run into an unsolveable problem. It took a great deal of effort to convince them this was a business account and it was approved because my handle matched my website. Any thoughts on this? Helena of Fine Art For Small Spaces