A FREE GUIDE FOR ARTISTS SERIOUS ABOUT SELLING THEIR WORK

The reason you're attracting artists on Instagram?

You're talking like one.

You don't need to post more, and you don't need to start from scratch. You just need to change what your captions are telling Instagram about your work – and these five shifts show you how artists who sell do it differently.

  • Why your work gets so much love... and so few sales
  • The caption mistake nearly every professional artist is making (and odds are, so are you)
  • What your bio says to a buyer who's never heard of you (brace yourself)
  • Why your art – whose entire job is to be looked at – still gets scrolled straight past
  • Why none of the advice has worked so far – and no, it's not because you did it wrong

A FREE GUIDE FOR ARTISTS SERIOUS ABOUT SELLING THEIR WORK

The reason you're attracting artists on Instagram? You're talking like one.

You don't need to post more, and you don't need to start from scratch. You just need to change what your captions are telling Instagram about your work – and these five shifts show you how artists who sell do it differently.

  • Why your work gets so much love... and so few sales
  • The caption mistake nearly every professional artist is making (and odds are, so are you)
  • What your bio says to a buyer who's never heard of you (brace yourself)
  • Why your art – whose entire job is to be looked at – still gets scrolled straight past
  • Why none of the advice has worked so far – and no, it's not because you did it wrong

You're a professional artist. You sell your work – though if you were relying on Instagram to do it, you'd be living on toast.

And it's not like you haven't given Instagram every chance. You've done the hashtags. The trending audio. Posting on a Tuesday at 7pm because someone said so. You've made reels you hated making, hated posting, and hated watching back.

And the response is lovely. Warm comments, real engagement – from an audience that's somehow almost entirely other artists.

Some posts do well. Some sink without trace. None of them bring you buyers.

Which is usually the point where you start thinking: "Maybe I just need more followers..."

You don't.

YOU NEED DIFFERENT ONES.

More followers like the ones you've got is just a bigger room full of artists. Lovelier comments. Not a penny more in sales.

 Because the buyers you actually want? They're not on Instagram looking for art. They're looking for themselves – their interests, their preoccupations, the things they care about. And Instagram's job is to serve them exactly that.

 So it reads the words around your work to figure out who should see it. And when your captions talk about glazing, underpainting, and what's currently on the easel, Instagram draws the obvious conclusion:  this is content about art, for people who make it – and delivers it to yet more artists.

 Every warm comment from another artist confirms it made the right call. The better your posts do with the audience you've got, the harder Instagram works to find you more of the same.

THAT'S THE ARTIST FOLLOWER TRAP. Instagram's not ignoring you. It's doing exactly what your words asked.

You're a professional artist. You sell your work – though if you were relying on Instagram to do it, you'd be living on toast.

And it's not like you haven't given Instagram every chance. You've done the hashtags. The trending audio. Posting on a Tuesday at 7pm because someone said so. You've made reels you hated making, hated posting, and hated watching back.

And the response is lovely. Warm comments, real engagement – from an audience that's somehow almost entirely other artists.

Some posts do well. Some sink without trace. None of them bring you buyers.

Which is usually the point where you start thinking: "Maybe I just need more followers..."

You don't.

YOU NEED DIFFERENT ONES.

More followers like the ones you've got is just a bigger room full of artists. Lovelier comments. Not a penny more in sales.

 Because the buyers you actually want? They're not on Instagram looking for art. They're looking for themselves – their interests, their preoccupations, the things they care about. And Instagram's job is to serve them exactly that.

 So it reads the words around your work to figure out who should see it. And when your captions talk about glazing, underpainting, and what's currently on the easel, Instagram draws the obvious conclusion:  this is content about art, for people who make it – and delivers it to yet more artists.

 Every warm comment from another artist confirms it made the right call. The better your posts do with the audience you've got, the harder Instagram works to find you more of the same.

THAT'S THE ARTIST FOLLOWER TRAP. Instagram's not ignoring you. It's doing exactly what your words asked.

SO WHY'S NOBODY TOLD YOU THIS?

Because the advice you've been reading comes from two camps,

and neither of them can see the whole picture.

The Instagram experts understand the algorithm – but they've never sold a painting in their lives. Their advice works beautifully if you're flogging candles or life coaching. Apply it to a work about grief and it falls apart, because they have no idea what art is for, or why anyone buys it.

And the artist advice? Written by people who understand art but treat Instagram like a gallery wall: post beautiful work, be consistent, share your process, and the right people will somehow find you. They won't. That's not how the algorithm decides anything.

What you've never been given is both halves at once: someone who understands how the algorithm actually chooses an audience and what makes a person fall in love with a work of art.

THAT GAP IS WHAT DITCH THE ARTIST FOLLOWER TRAP FILLS.

SO WHY'S NOBODY TOLD YOU THIS?

Because the advice you've been reading comes from two camps, and neither of them can see the whole picture.

The Instagram experts understand the algorithm – but they've never sold a painting in their lives.

Their advice works beautifully if you're flogging candles or life coaching. Apply it to a work about grief and it falls apart, because they have no idea what art is for, or why anyone buys it.

And the artist advice? Written by people who understand art but treat Instagram like a gallery wall: post beautiful work, be consistent, share your process, and the right people will somehow find you.

They won't. That's not how the algorithm decides anything.

What you've never been given is both halves at once: someone who understands how the algorithm actually chooses an audience and what makes a person fall in love with a work of art.

THAT GAP IS WHAT DITCH THE ARTIST FOLLOWER TRAP FILLS.

WHAT'S INSIDE?

Five shifts. One short read. Here's what's covered:

1

The shift everything else depends on. The art world has a standard way of working this one out – age, profession, budget – and it's nonsense. Where you should actually be looking is where the guide starts.

2

What Instagram is actually reading when it decides who sees your post. It's not your hashtags, and it was never your posting schedule. Once you see it, you can't unsee it – and your reach will suddenly make a horrible kind of sense.

3

The line artists everywhere put at the top of their bio – and why it's quietly working against you. Yours is probably a version of it. I'll show you what buyers need to find there instead.

4

The three seconds that decide whether a stranger stops or scrolls. There's a reason they're not stopping, and it isn't the quality of your work – it's what’s missing around it.

5

The quickest route to your buyers, and it isn't on your own feed at all. Most artists never think to use it – which is handy, because it means you'll have it largely to yourself.

WHAT'S INSIDE?

Five shifts. One short read. Here's what's covered:

1

The shift everything else depends on. The art world has a standard way of working this one out – age, profession, budget – and it's nonsense. Where you should actually be looking is where the guide starts.

2

What Instagram is actually reading when it decides who sees your post. It's not your hashtags, and it was never your posting schedule. Once you see it, you can't unsee it – and your reach will suddenly make a horrible kind of sense.

3

The line artists everywhere put at the top of their bio – and why it's quietly working against you. Yours is probably a version of it. I'll show you what buyers need to find there instead.

4

The three seconds that decide whether a stranger stops or scrolls. There's a reason they're not stopping, and it isn't the quality of your work – it's what's missing around it.

5

The quickest route to your buyers, and it isn't on your own feed at all. Most artists never think to use it – which is handy, because it means you'll have it largely to yourself.

By the time you've read it you'll...

  • Finally understand why your account is wall-to-wall artists – because they didn't all wander in by accident

  • Know which of your captions have been making things worse – even the ones you sweated over. Especially the ones you sweated over

  • Read your own bio back and wince – then know how to fix it

  • Know why hardly anyone new ever finds you – and stop wondering whether Instagram even works for artists

  • Have one thing you can start doing this week that puts you in front of actual buyers – and it's got nothing to do with posting

By the time you've read it you'll...

  • Finally understand why your account is wall-to-wall artists – because they didn't all wander in by accident

  • Know which of your captions have been making things worse – even the ones you sweated over. Especially the ones you sweated over

  • Read your own bio back and wince – then know how to fix it

  • Know why hardly anyone new ever finds you – and stop wondering whether Instagram even works for artists

  • Have one thing you can start doing this week that puts you in front of actual buyers – and it's got nothing to do with posting

But why listen to me?

I'm Karen Turner. A few years ago I was starting from nothing as an artist in my mid 40s – no gallery, no connections, no training, and no clue how the art world worked.

 

Now I'm a recurring artist on BBC One's Extraordinary Portraits.

 

And the BBC didn't find me through a gallery or an agent. They found me on Instagram – the same place I'd already found my collectors and built my sales. All of it came from the same thing: getting clear on what my work was actually about, who it was for, and how to talk about it so those people could find me.

 

Alongside my own practice, I now help thousands of artists do the same. Which is why I can give you both halves of the picture: I know how the algorithm decides who sees your work, because I've used it to find my own buyers. And I know why someone falls in love with a painting, because I sell them for a living.

 

THE FIVE SHIFTS IN THE GUIDE ARE EXACTLY WHAT I DID. NONE OF IT'S THEORY.

But why listen to me?

I'm Karen Turner. A few years ago I was starting from nothing as an artist in my mid 40s – no gallery, no connections, no training, and no clue how the art world worked.

 

Now I'm a recurring artist on BBC One's Extraordinary Portraits.

 

And the BBC didn't find me through a gallery or an agent. They found me on Instagram – the same place I'd already found my collectors and built my sales. All of it came from the same thing: getting clear on what my work was actually about, who it was for, and how to talk about it so those people could find me.

 

Alongside my own practice, I now help thousands of artists do the same. Which is why I can give you both halves of the picture: I know how the algorithm decides who sees your work, because I've used it to find my own buyers. And I know why someone falls in love with a painting, because I sell them for a living.

 

THE FIVE SHIFTS IN THE GUIDE ARE EXACTLY WHAT I DID. NONE OF IT'S THEORY.

Ditch the trap before you post again

Drop your email and it'll be straight in your inbox. And I wouldn't leave it there unread – because every caption you post in the language of art makes the algorithm more certain your content is for artists.

And the more certain it gets, the more of them it brings you.

THESE FIVE SHIFTS ARE AT THE CORE OF EVERYTHING I TEACH – GRAB THE GUIDE TO GET THEM FOR FREE.

Ditch the trap before you post again

Drop your email and it'll be straight in your inbox. And I wouldn't leave it there unread – because every caption you post in the language of art makes the algorithm more certain your content is for artists.

And the more certain it gets, the more of them it brings you.

THESE FIVE SHIFTS ARE AT THE CORE OF EVERYTHING I TEACH – GRAB THE GUIDE TO GET THEM FOR FREE.