Facebook has become more and more of a bother and hindrance for promoting my art or any small business for that matter.  Oh I know the big companies may do well and hire social marketing staff simply to post on all the social media sites – but when you are a small person out in the world, you are just trying to get your voice heard in the drone of noise from the big boys.

I’m a one-man show and I don’t have the budget to reach out to a larger audience.  Facebook has an algorithm that works against me.  If people don’t comment, like or share any of my posts, then I fall further and further down the drain and I won’t show up on anybody’s newsfeeds, even if they are fans of the page.  Oh, a few may see the posts, but pass on by without doing anything and the slippery slope continues and I eventually fall off their newsfeeds.  If that continues to happen, even my posting fabulous paintings for all my fans to view and pass on, goes unnoticed and noone will see it.

Facebook wants me to “Promote” these posts – all for a fee, in the hopes that I will gain a bigger audience.  Then again, once prom0ted and if I do gain a few “Likes” because of this promotion, this audience will eventually ‘disappear’ down the newsfeed if I don’t continue to “Promote”.

But as an artist, do these posts convert to sales or get noticed by collectors, gallery owners or art connoisseurs?  Somehow I don’t think so.  My latest post requesting, pleading, and begging my fans to “Like” and “Share” my latest paintings resulted in 9 Likes and 8 Shares which gained a viewing audience of 373 people reached.  Out of this I gained 2 new fans (and an additional 4 who happened to be friends or acquaintances of mine).  But who are these fans?  They are not the collectors or buyers that I am trying to reach (no offense to my current facebook fans).  They are just admirers of my work.

So is Facebook worth all the buzz?  I’m seriously beginning to doubt it.  I do prefer my Google+ Page more but it doesn’t have the large market share that Facebook enjoys.  On my Google+ Page I have lots of artists in my personal circles and because it is Google, everything shows up on Google Search, unlike Facebook.

So what to do – I guess I have no choice but to continue to pound away and struggle with getting noticed on Facebook.  Sorry Facebook you don’t get my money.  BUT I will also continue on my Google+ Page as well as Twitter (which is a bit automated) and most importantly, I will continue to use my Blog to have a greater (more expanded) voice.

I will be heard – whether Facebook “Likes” it or not!