![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.pikaland.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/jonKlassen.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
One of my friends recently asked me: how was I not on Instagram<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and Facebook<\/a> more often spreading the word about my blog, classes and zines? I just told her that I was a very low-key person, and that posting about myself and my work wasn\u2019t something I was comfortable\u00a0doing. I have all the respect in the world for people who choose to do so, but personally for me, it would make me exhausted, because in reality, I’m\u00a0a little shy.<\/p>\n I was lucky that when Pikaland first started 9 years ago, I just hopped onto the bandwagon because these apps were shiny and new. I registered an account at Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest just to see what the fuss was all about, and to connect with blogging buddies and online friends. I never thought that when I first signed up that these channels would become the social media behemoth they are today. I\u2019m lucky \u2013\u00a0I\u2019ve skipped so many others \u2013\u00a0Snapchat, Periscope, Vine, etc., because keeping up with what little social media channels I had on hand was frankly, already more than I could handle. I didn\u2019t find the need to go into apps that I didn\u2019t have an interest in (and most of them are long gone by now as well). Yes, there were the occasional pangs of FOMO (fear of missing out), but whatever urges I had to register for a new account for the new app of the day was overtaken by the need to keep myself sane, first and foremost.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re an artist\/illustrator\/designer\/maker, there\u2019s so much pressure from everyone to do everything you can for your work. Start up a blog! Email marketing! SEO! Master flat lay for Instagram! Share process videos! Pin, pin, pin! Again, if that\u2019s what you want to do, that\u2019s perfectly fine\u00a0too. I can understand how marketing can be seen as an evil necessity; it\u2019s the job that you have to do to get out there to get people to notice you (unless you really like it, of course!) But from my personal experience, I can tell you that it doesn\u2019t have to be the only way, especially if like me, you\u2019re uncomfortable with bombarding your readers, fans and family with updates about your work. I mainly promote what I\u2019m doing through email, and only then will it trickle down to social media by way of auto-pilot. Pikaland is like a secret club where my readers get first dibs on everything.<\/p>\n I suppose one can say that I\u2019m selfish. Everything I did was to further my self-education into the realm of illustration: I started up this blog to keep track of amazing artists and illustrators. I dug deep to learn about their thinking process and trained my eye to recognise what worked and what could be improved on. I enjoyed going to illustration conferences, learning from generous teachers and meeting like-minded friends. I discovered I love teaching more than being an illustrator. Heck, even my online classes were selfish endeavours \u2013\u00a0they were based on topics that I was curious about, and were summaries of what I\u2019ve learnt throughout the years. Putting the class together in a cohesive fashion was a way for me to remember what I\u2019ve learnt along the way so that I wouldn\u2019t forget them myself.<\/p>\n I haven\u2019t gone down the whole social media route because I\u00a0preferred\u00a0my work\u00a0to speak for itself. I am of sound mind \u2013 of course\u00a0I know that having this mindset will keep me from growing. But here\u2019s the catch \u2013 I don\u2019t want to grow big. Not yet anyway. I like being small. I like interacting with my readers one-on-one. I love teaching in a small group. I don\u2019t want to oversell and overestimate myself. I\u2019m not in search of \u201clikes\u201d, and I don\u2019t keep score. I want my students to walk away from my class with a clear purpose and a plan they\u2019re excited about. And if that doesn\u2019t happen, I\u2019m happy to go back to the drawing board to do it all over again until I get it right.<\/p>\n It has to be a bit of a balance, I suppose.<\/p>\n If you like being on social media, good for you. For others, it\u2019s okay if it\u2019s not your cup of tea. Some people like sharing stuff. Others just like to see what others are sharing. And there are those who use social media as a self-promotion tool. Yes, there are people who were discovered through social media, but let\u2019s not discount the fact that there are also others who get discovered the old fashioned way: blogs, newspapers, magazines, competitions, word of mouth, etc. There isn\u2019t a one-route-fits-all solution.<\/p>\n Personally, I\u2019m a very private person, and I like to process a lot of what I\u2019m doing on my own. I find that I rarely talk to my family about my work, and instead I talk to my friends who have the same interests, or my community. I prefer to keep things private and close to my heart, so it\u2019s not hard to understand why I usually prefer doing my communications via email. This is then followed by Facebook, and trailing far behind is Instagram and Twitter.<\/p>\n However you feel about self-promotion through social media, I\u2019ve listed down 3 recommendations on how you can choose what works for you:<\/p>\n Be consistent.<\/strong> Take some time to think about what you\u2019ll be comfortable doing for the long run. Spreading yourself thin trying to be everywhere at once will knock the wind out of your sails before you even get going. There are no hard and fast rules about using outlets like Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Sure, there\u2019s lots of things you can do to help it along \u2013 hash tagging, commenting, posting at a certain time of day, etc \u2013\u00a0among hundreds of tips out there that will hopefully help bring you the fame you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n Just don\u2019t forget to do the work first and foremost \u2013\u00a0you\u2019ll realise that it\u2019s the one thing that won\u2019t go away ever, even if those platforms disappear one day.<\/p>\n This topic has made me think a lot in terms of how differently people approach self-promotion these days. But I\u2019m also keenly aware of how a lot of things still stay the same. In spite of the popularity of social media, I think that emailing is still a very important form of self-promotion. I deal with email a lot, even before I started this blog. I used to work in publishing, and as an editor you get a lot of emails and letters, pitching an event, new work, or a launch. I know that even with the rise of social media, email itself has not changed much.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a pity that this form of communication hasn\u2019t gotten a lot of attention because it\u2019s one of the best ways to get your work out there. When done right, it can open doors, make people notice you and bring you opportunities you might not even know of. So it would stand to reason that emailing blogs, magazines, news portals, etc., should be a piece of cake right? Turns out, not really. I\u2019ve met many artists who were uncertain about the best ways to write an email, and it\u2019s a nail biting affair. When\u2019s the best time to write? How should I sound? What should I do if they don\u2019t reply?<\/em> ARGH! I\u2019d roll up my sleeves and listen so that I can help them formulate a plan.<\/p>\n A friend came to me about this problem recently,\u00a0and I\u2019ve come to realise that my advice is pretty much the same each time, and that I should probably start to just compile my thoughts in a proper manner. So if you\u2019re shy, introverted and unsure of how to\u00a0write in a way that\u00a0will allow your personality\u00a0(and work) to shine, I’ll be writing a guide that on how to pitch yourself via email.\u00a0It\u2019ll be ready within the next couple of weeks, but if you\u2019re interested to know when it comes out, just click the button below and enter your details when prompted so that I can send you a note to let you know when it\u2019s ready!<\/p>\n What about you?<\/p>\n Do you have a particular preferred channel or method when it comes to promoting your work? I’d love to hear from you \u2013 leave me a note in the comments or send me an email<\/a>\u00a0to share!<\/p>\nI chose to be quiet<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Do all the things!<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not just doing this for you\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Everyone\u2019s different<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nBe selfish.<\/strong> Do what you want to do, not what people expect of you. That way, you can have some fun, colour outside the lines, play a little and let people see the real you, and what you stand for.
\nDo great work.<\/strong> I cannot overemphasis this enough \u2013\u00a0if people put in more effort into doing great work as opposed to the time they spend on social media, then perhaps they wouldn\u2019t need to use it so much. I may be wrong, and some people may genuinely love being on social media \u2013\u00a0but hey, there\u2019s no harm in doing great work too, is there?<\/p>\nA guide to email pitches (for shy artists)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
[Illustration: Jon Klassen<\/a>]<\/h6>\n
\n