Blog Post 3- Action Post

Hello everyone! My action is raising money through art commissions for mental health organizations, such as “My Art Corner” (an art center for people with mental health issues and people seeking wellbeing).

1.) Where are you with your action? (e.g. what involvement have you had so far? Describe with examples)

So far for my action, I have created an Instagram account with information about my cause and some art that is available to buy, sold four commissions, made a flyer to hang up in local centers, and messaged student-led, health-related Instagram accounts asking for them to spread the word. So far this has accumulated to $55. Also, I have two commissions that I am currently working on. From those, I can estimate that I will make an additional $25, getting me to $80. I’m setting my goal at $200; hopefully, it’s achievable!

The flyer I made ^

2.) What are some successes that you have had? Provide specific examples.

My successes are the four commissions that I completed and collected the money for and the two pending ones that I am working on. I was able to properly advertise to these people and talked to them to figure out what type of art they enjoy. In addition, I offered different surfaces or materials that would match the price they were willing to pay. I understand that an oil painting may be too expensive for some people to afford; therefore, I suggested my $2 drawings as a way to support a good cause and receive something they would enjoy.

Past commission examples^

3.) What are some challenges that you have faced? Have you been able to overcome them? If so, how? Provide specific examples. If not, can you problem-solve some ideas that might work for next time or if a similar situation arises? Again, provide specific examples.

My challenges mostly come from my difficulty advertising my cause. I haven’t gotten any offers from people who I don’t know and that feels sort of limiting because once I run out of people I know, I won’t have any more donations. While it is great that people I know are supporting me, I want to expand my customers. Although I’m not sure how to advertise to people without annoying them in person. One solution I thought of was to talk to my mom’s co-workers and see if they would like anything made for them. She is a psych nurse so I feel like her co-workers would care about a cause like mine. Moreover, the problem with the Instagram account is that I don’t know how to get many followers. Most of the people who follow my account are people I know. My account is public but I don’t know how to get more exposure to it. I’ve thought of adding hashtags and following more accounts but I’m not convinced it’ll be enough. Although I’m not sure, it’s worth a try!

4.) What are you doing next and why?

Next, I will be hanging up my flyers. I was thinking about hanging them up in some coffee shops like Starbucks that have boards meant for events and local businesses. I will also be trying to boost my Instagram account by following more organizations and using hashtags on my posts. In addition, I will talk to my mom about spreading the word to her co-workers. Hopefully, these attempts will fix my advertising problem and will diversify my customers! Lastly, I will work on the two commissions I have to complete.

Thank you for reading and feel free to comment if you’re interested in a commission or on advertising ideas/ ways to boost my Instagram:)

PERSONALIZED ART FOR SALE

Above is the link to the flyer because when I uploaded it on the post, it was a bit blurry.