Why Do You Want Followers?

I see a lot of posts on social media from artists about how to get more followers. Unfortunately, we’re all at the mercy of the algorithm. Sometimes it loves you, sometimes it’s like you don’t exist.

But the first question you should ask is, “Why do I want followers?” While there are a few things you can do to move the algorithm in your favor, the “why” you want followers is extremely important. Because let’s say you get a big boost and a flood of new people looking at your work. What do you want from them?

Is it bragging rights to have a ton of followers? Nothing wrong with that, if that’s what you want. Or do you want to cultivate a group of people who might spend money, like buying your prints or originals or commissioning you to do work for them?

If it’s the latter, then you’re better off producing work that appeals to the “normies,” or regular people, instead of other artists.

The truth is that artists typically don’t support other artists. Hell, we’re too broke from buying art supplies!

So, if your art style is drawing an NSFW anime and you want to make money, well, that might be tough. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there’s a market out there for that, but I’m going to bet it’s fairly niche. And the normies (most of them, anyway) aren’t into that and won’t buy a drawing of NSFW anime (or any anime) to hang in the living room.

As an aside, I have nothing against anime; I’m picking on it because I see a lot of artists on social media doing it, and most of them want more followers.

Which brings us around to the point of this post. Why do you want those followers?

If it’s for the clout of having thousands of people like your work, that’s great.

But if it’s to make money, you might either have to rethink your subject matter or figure out a way to get those followers who are into that kind of art a way to part with their cash.

Again, I’m not saying you can’t make money working in a particular niche; some do very well at it, but it’s a tough go. Making money with art is tough, regardless of what you do.

Making money with art is a numbers game and the more people you can get—people who are willing to spend cash—liking your work and following your channel, the better your chances.

Call it selling out, call it selling your soul, but I’d rather paint “boring” buildings, towns, landscapes, etc. than work in an office or retail. I did both, and hated it.