I just retired and want to start selling my art, but my friends say social media is a waste of time because posts get no engagement or sales. Should I avoid it?

That refrain is frustrating because it misses the point entirely. You don’t need to be social media sophisticated or post what you had for lunch or be a Kardashian. But you do need to be real. The problem is that most artists hide behind their canvas and photographers hide behind their lens—we know what you create, but we know very little about who you are. Social media isn’t really about the platform itself; it’s about reaching people where they spend most of their time, which is on their phones. Think of it like meeting someone at a coffee shop. If you sat down and only talked about your art over and over—‘I’m an artist, buy my art, I have art for sale, next week I’m discounting my art’—that would be a bizarre, one-dimensional conversation. You’d never do that in person, so why do it online? Post 90% about who you are, what makes you tick, your story, and let people bang on the door to get that last 10% about your work.

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Asked by a newly retired artist hesitant about social media · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2026-02-09