Insider Tips for Artists: REAL Social Media Mistakes To Avoid

So I'll probably get some people that think I'm an idiot for saying this, but I think the algorithms and tactics of social media are complete bs. Now, this doesn't come, like, from theory. I know I only have a couple hundred subscribers on this channel, but for three years I worked for a company called Video Creators that was acquired now by Vidiq, where I was one of the lead strategists. And we would work with YouTubers to help them grow their channels. And we help people grow their channels by millions of subscribers and billions of views, all organically. And, you know, there's just some things that I took away from that job that I want to talk about today that nobody talks about because it's not a tactic or like an algorithm hack. But I personally think these are the most important things that we can do as creatives. So I'm dealing with a lot of light issues here today. So the clouds are coming in and out, so forgive me. And I also want to say, if you're, like looking for the Mr. Beast style cuts and the Alex Hermosi edits, like, this is not going to be the video for you, but if you want to connect on things that might actually mean something and be helpful, then I hope you'll stick around. So in my opinion, there are three huge mistakes that are leaving artists feeling burned out, leaving them looking like everybody else online, and leaving them frustrated AF that they're not actually enjoying the process of, like, making stuff and putting it, putting it online. These three mistakes are exactly what I want to talk about today. And the first one is just getting lost in tactics.

I made a few notes here, so forgive me, but when you get lost in tactics, there's three things that happen. One, there's a lack of depth. Quick tips and tricks can fail to provide context or background that's necessary for sustainable success for artists. So when you use these quick tips as an artist to grow your social media, like, it's not really giving the context of why that's working. So you miss out and it doesn't actually work. Second thing here is that there's no customization. These tactics usually present a one size fits all approach, which neglects the fact that every artist or individual has unique needs, unique target audiences and different goals. So what works for one person will not work for another. Like, just like I said, I'm not Mr. Beast. I'm not Alex Dramozi here, right? I love both of those creators. I love Peter McKinnon, you know, I love Wheezy Waiter. All these People. But I cannot come on here and like just try to adopt their tactics and expect them to work for me. And the third thing that happens when we get lost in tactics is shallow engagement. We get a lot of surface level tactics on the Internet. You know, a lot of, like use hashtags or make sure it's this length for the video or you know, you got to start with blah, blah, blah, I don't know what you know, you're hearing all kinds of crap. And these may get you some short lived engagement or some views or whatever, but it's often very surface level. The real goal here, if you want to make a living as an artist and use the Internet to help with that, is deeper connection.

The second mistake that I see us make as artists is that we're constantly fighting the algorithm. We feel like we need to understand it inside and out. I'm here to tell you again from experience that is not true. What you need to understand is people. Who are you talking to? Who is your person? So TechCrunch did this article and they were talking to Mr. Beast and employee at YouTube. And the employee at YouTube said ultimately all this stuff is trying to figure out what's the video that you're going to be most interested in watching. He said YouTube's goal is to make people excited to come back and keep watching YouTube videos tomorrow. And I saw this over and over at video creators. You know, your niche, like what you do might not warrant a million subscribers, right? It might not warrant a million followers on TikTok. Does that mean you can't make a living from it? Like, no, not at all. Like, go back to this thousand True Fans article that we've all talked about ad nauseam, right? Like that's so important in these moments. The algorithm is about people. It's about putting the right thing in front of the right person at the right time. So rather than worrying about the algorithm, think about your person on the other side of the screen.

And the third mistake that we make all the time as artists and creative people is that we don't have realistic goals. One of the main reasons that as people we don't keep our goals is because A, we have perfectionism, B, our goals are too outcome based, you know, meaning we're relying on things like subscriber counts, stuff like that. Or C, we romanticize other people's goals over our own. I know I've done this in the past where I'll get so tied up in seeing somebody else's video and think, oh, that sounds great. You know, like, I want that. And then I have to ask myself, like, do I actually want that? Because if I want that, I also have to trade the fact that I wouldn't have kids anymore, or I probably wouldn't have a wife, or I wouldn't get to play Flippin Zelda in the evenings. You know, like, is that really what I want? We've romanticized big audiences. This idea of seeing people with hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands of subscribers and feeling like that's the minimum. Like, if we don't have that, then we're not actually successful again. Such bs. Like that is a conversation that should be had more often. It's time that we figure out what success really looks like for us. For you, it may be like, If I made $30,000 a year for my art, you would be freaking blasted excited. And that's all you need. And you can do that with the right plan and of course, the right people, the right followers, the right subscribers, not the biggest. So start with the foundations of what you want from this whole journey. Think about your person. What do they need from you? What do they want from you? How can you deliver that to them in a way that is exciting and fulfilling for you? To create a business around it as an artist, then learn and implement a few tactics, but not all of them, just a few. Just get better at like one. And then get feedback from professionals, from friends, from your audience. Like, see how you can improve. And then go back, remind yourself of the foundation, implement the tactic. You know, get feedback and improve. Remind yourself of the foundation, implement the tactic, get feedback and improve over and over and over. And if we had this mindset and as creative people, instead of feeling like we had to do it all, it would change everything. Because we could show up in a way that was heartfelt and authentic and real, and we could become better communicators. And we could make the art that we want to make, and we could do it from a place that feels like us, and we could find our tribe and our people. And if you are thinking about how you can reach your people, I do have a PDF that's absolutely free. It's called the Connection blueprint. Go to stopthestarvingartist.com and you can download it there. It's going to give you the three things that every artist needs to stand out that you already have. So go check it out and I'll see you in the next video.