Many artists wonder if marketing art on Facebook is a viable strategy. Oregon artist Robert MacGinnis, who describes himself as “old school,” was reluctant to sign up for Facebook when a collector encouraged him to join in 2015, but he quickly discovered that Facebook was an extremely effective way for him to sell his work and connect with collectors. Facebook sales now account for over 50% of MacGinnis’ annual sales. In this episode, you’ll hear the artist’s simple approach to Facebook marketing.
View MacGinnis’ work on his website at www.macginnisstudio.blogspot.com
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Other Posts in This Series
The Benefits and Challenges of Marketing Your Art Through Social Media
Podcast | Finding Success Selling Art on Facebook – An Interview with Robert MacGinnis
The blogspot link was dated 2015 so there is no up-to-date info. Wish there was a link to his Facebook page or profile. I am a little confused. Is he selling from his friend profile? I thought Facebook didn’t allow business sales from a friend profile. I thought Facebook required one to set up a business page. But, of course, reach is greatly reduced when using a business page because they want you to purchase ads. The danger of building a sales platform on Facebook is that if they shut you down(like, if they find out you are selling from a friend account), you are out of business.
Nevertheless, lots of good tips as long as you understand the risks and pitfalls.
Hi Charlene,
This is a link to his Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/your.RobertMacGinnisPhotography
One question, since this was primarily involving Facebook, does Robert coordinate his posts with Instagram? Usually when I post on IG, they always ask if I want it to show up on FB because, of course, you can have them linked. So I just wondered if he only used Facebook or does he coordinate with Instagram. Very interesting interview with lots of good tips.
Two questions or comments. One is that I have had a personal Facebook page for years and currently have 491 “friends”. I post information about my photography and the shows I am in but also post photos of my trips, holiday events etc. I haven’t sought or gotten any sales via my page directly but of course friends have bought things over the years informally. I would be afraid that if I started posting my photographs with prices and dimensions it would turn off my real friends. It didn’t sound like Robert has two pages, one personal, one professional, so I would be curious if people have two and how they keep them separate. I also wouldn’t want people interested in my art to necessarily see all my posts regarding my personal life.
Secondly, in the past when I have put a post on my Facebook page that has a price of any kind or mentioned the word “sale”, my post has gotten flagged and I am told you can’t sell items on your personal page, you need to use their Marketplace section. So I don’t see how you can sell art on your personal page, so again do you need a second business FB page?
I’ve got a free business page where I post photos of my art, list price and whether they’ve sold or not. I’m not very active with it or up to date on it.
Hello. This does not seem possible to me. I have tried selling my paintings on FineArtAmerica.com and artpal.com and nothing has sold although I have had over 1500 people look at my work. Here is my Facebook link that I just started using in order to sell and promote my artwork.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086067769149
Is this the Facebook selling page you are talking about?