"My Website Didn't Sell Anything."—Here's What was Missing.
Why your artist newsletter matters more than social media applause
“Art is the method of levitation, in order to separate one’s self from enslavement by the earth.” — Anaïs Nin
❤️ Please click the Like button—the little heart icon at the top and bottom—if you want to stick it to big tech’s Darth Vader algorithms which make you beg for permission to reach the people who already love your work. Your click helps this message escape the endless scroll and find more artists trade social-media junk food for honest stories, real relationships, and newsletters that nourish.
The modern world has a form of “dark arts” that steals attention for engagement.
I don’t mean anything supernatural. I mean the deliberate development of addictive technology that slowly pulls you away from the truth of your work and “enspells” you with “false” drives: Chasing algorithms, posting only for applause, copying what seems to get attention, turning you studio life into “content,” measuring the value of your art by likes, views, comments, or whatever the platform decides to reward this week.
Social media can be useful. I’m not saying artists should ignore it. But the algorithm is a dangerous master because it trains artists to ask the wrong question.
Instead of asking, “What am I called to make?” the artist begins asking, “What will get engagement?”
😊 We built FASO to push back against a world that treats art like content and artists like algorithms. Your work is more important than that. The world needs beauty more than ever. If our mission appeals to you, then you need a serious, beautiful home for your art, the details are below, after the essay.
—Clint
Instead of asking, “What do I want collectors to understand about this work?” the artist begins asking, “What will stop the scroll?”
Good marketing should do the opposite.
Good marketing should not pull you away from the truth of your art. It should help you reveal that truth more clearly.
That is why your email newsletter matters. And, sadly, no area is more neglected by artists than this one. You could catapult your art marketing past most artists simply by doing this one thing.
When artists say, “my website never sells anything” they almost universally also admit, “I never sent any newsletters.”
So, why not repurpose those hours of social media frustration into something that works?
An email newsletter is not as flashy as social media. It does not provide the same immediate dopamine rush. It may not make you feel publicly popular. And, if we’re honest, this is the real reason newsletters are ignored. We like the dopamine rush we get from social media. Junk food isn’t nourishing but it tastes good in the moment.
Email marketing is like real food. It does something important and nourishing: It gives you a direct line to people who have asked to hear from you. And that is sacred territory.
When someone joins your mailing list, they are saying, “Please keep me connected to your work.” Subscribing to your email list is a far more relevant signal of interest than the low-commitment, high-dopamine signal of yet another “follower.”
The “FASO Way” is very different from shouting into a feed and hoping the algorithm is kind today.
Your newsletter lets you tell the story behind each new painting. It lets you share what you are working on. It lets you explain what inspired a piece. It lets you invite people back into your world again and again. And, importantly, is tells these stories to the people who actually care.
Most art is not sold in one dramatic moment. It is sold through attention, memory, trust, timing, conversations and a regular cadence of contact. I once followed up with a potential collector for three years before he made his first of many purchases.
The journey is winding: Someone sees your work, they feel something,they leave, they come back, they read your story, they see another piece, they begin to understand what you are about, they see THE piece, they email you, you reply, and finally, they purchase it.
Your newsletter helps make that journey possible in a way that impossible on social media. Leaving the critical points of that journey in the hands of a soulless tech-company algorithm is practically guaranteed to fail most of the time. Facebook promised to show your posts to your hard-won followers. And then, like Darth Vader, they altered the deal, pray they don’t alter it further. They will, because social media is their money machine.
“What does the money machine eat? It eats youth, spontaneity, life, beauty, and, above all, it eats creativity. It eats quality and sh!ts quantity.” — William S. Burroughs
This mismatch between their goals and yours is one of the reasons FASO includes a full email campaign system as part of your artist website account. No extra fee. You don’t need Mailchimp, or Kit, or ConstantContact. You don’t need anything but FASO for this to work.
Your website should not just sit there waiting for people to visit. It should help you stay in relationship with the people who care about your work. When you let it just sit there, waiting, you’ll join those who say, “my website never sold anything.” That is really just a way to avoid saying, “I never sold anything.”
With FASO, you can build your artist mailing list, create email campaigns, send newsletters, feature your artwork, and invite collectors back to your site — all from the same place where your art already lives.
Your art should not have to beg for attention. But it does need a way to reach the people who are waiting to hear from you.
So today, ask yourself:
Do I have a direct way to reach the people who care about my work?
If not, start building one.
Begin using your email campaign tools today: Import a previous list. Invite people to join your email list. If they have, send a simple note. Share one piece. Tell one true story. Invite people back. If you’re with FASO, the email tools work even during the trial period. If you’re not with FASO, there are lots of tools these days, or you can give us a try.
Your newsletter does not need to be fancy. In fact, it’s better if it’s not.
Don’t even think of it as a newsletter. Think of it as a simple way to update people about one thing at a time.
It just needs to be honest and from the heart. Just like your art.
Join FASO
If our philosophy resonates with you, please join us. This is about more than just where you host your website. In a world of growing AI, this is about joining with others who wish to protect the ecosystem of human artists. It’s about working with people who view the importance of human art the same way you do. If we don’t band together in this time, we risk losing something important to the all-consuming beast of the algorithm.
As always, let us know what you think and how you use email in your own art marketing in the comments:
Creatively,
—Clint
This is such an important post. I've had a bad case of social media burn out lately. It's more than the fact that only a handful of people (mostly artists) give my work a Like. Seeing so much other work in a short period of time gets overwhelming. Some days, if I'm already tired, perceiving that other artists are "rocking" their careers and I'm not, actually makes me think, "Why bother?"
Comparison is the thief of joy. Beyond that, spending too much time online cuts deeply into my studio time (which is limited because of life). If I'm spending time whiling away the hours on social media, I am not growing or producing my artwork - which is essentially making it impossible for me to offer new work.
Second: being online and seeing too much artwork confuses my goals. I think, "I could do that!" That give me ideas - alas I end up with too many ideas and end up with analysis paralysis. I begin thinking more about what I could do that will sell than pondering my personal vision. In other words, I'm spending entirely too much time in my left brain, and that never leads to growth or pleasure while painting.
A few months back, I made myself a promise to spend more time in the studio than online while eliminating, as much as possible, all the visual clutter of what everyone else is doing. Focus on my own vision, good or bad, is where I need to be.
And relating back to the message of this post, the resulting work will be fodder for my newsletter, which I've fallen behind on because I haven't had anything new to show. It's time to get back to being an artist instead of vying for attention through social media where attention spans are short.
This is excellent advice. My newsletter is a crucial pillar of my painting career, at times it has been the backbone of my career. FASO makes it easy to send my newsletters, and it was on the advice Clint published in Fine Art Views (years ago) that encouraged me to get started with a newsletter.
I use my newsletter to connect with people who love my art. Most of the time, I am just simply telling stories about my paintings, where I painted them, why, etc, and sharing any good news. I don’t make them “salesy” but I do put the price on any paintings that are shown. I am sending it every two weeks currently. This regular contact with people who are enthusiastic about my work means when I have something exciting to promote I get good uptake, whether it is a class or a series of paintings.