Have you been wondering how other artists are actually marketing their work? Like, how do they really feel about Instagram and TikTok? What strategies are working for them right now?

Well, don’t I have a VERY special episode to share with you!

We did something totally different and SO exciting! For the very first time ever, Brand Your Passion went LIVE and in-person, and it was absolutely incredible!

I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with two incredible artists - the amazing Pepper Raccoon and Emma Smith (you might know her as Steer Illustrations) for our very first live podcast recording. The atmosphere was electric - a room full of creative energy, real conversations, and that buzzing excitement that only happens when creative souls come together!

In this extra special episode, we’re diving into their real, honest thoughts about different marketing platforms, the actual strategies they use to get their work out there, and their favourite ways to connect with their audience.

This episode is your behind-the-scenes peek into their real, honest thoughts about different marketing platforms, the actual strategies they use to get their work out there, and their favourite ways to connect with their audience. Plus, you'll get to feel like you were right there with us!

I want to introduce to you our amazing guest speakers and share with you the highlights of this super special LIVE podcast episode!

Pepper Raccoon

Pepper Raccoon is a New Zealand artist, a creative powerhouse, and a maker of magic. She designs her own artwork and merch in studio, with an emphasis on accessible pricing and sustainable processes.

Bringing her love of nature, internet culture, and esoteric vibes to the table, she’s known for her attention to linework, intricate detail, and just a touch of magic.

With eight years in business selling her products around the world via her online store, she had shown and sold work at the NZ Art Show Zealandia Eco-Sanctuary, her own solo shows, and a myriad of events across the motu, as well as providing creative services to authors, hackers, and other interesting clients!

Emma Smith from Steer Illustrations

Emma Smith AKA Steer Illustrations, is an Wellington based artist who you might know for her BTS videos showing the creation of the window installations she created for the super fun and creative local business Iko Iko. 

When Emma’s not avoiding hot glue burns while making larger than life ice cream sundaes to adorn the windows with, you’ll find her as part of lots of exciting projects, from art markets to painted murals, to large scale creative installations around the beautiful city of Pōneke.

She’s built an amazing community around her creative work (just check out her 33.1K strong TikTok following!) and does such an incredible job sharing her final work and the process behind it, and showing all of the different kinds of work she does.

Let get into it…

Hollie: So straight off the bat, what do you think is the most successful way that you have connected with your potential customers, clients and built your following from them?

Emma: I found over the last year, I just went hard on markets and that was the one way that I found was really successful in meeting people, getting instant feedback on if they liked my prints, if they wanted to buy, and get to figure out what they like in their homes, on their walls, etc. It was really nice to get that instant feedback from them. It’s a cool little community and going to markets every weekend was a good way to meet people and just see what people like.

Pepper: I think it’s been being myself online. Going to markets is definitely good customer research but I burned out on them really badly because I had done way too many for five years. And they’re still great and fantastic, and I recommend them to everybody.

But the most successful thing I ever did was being on Twitter. Being myself online has always been the best way to find the audience that most relates to the things that I make, so I don’t have to make things that are for other people. I can make things that I’m passionate about.

I definitely think that you should leverage those platforms that let you be yourself and feel the most comfortable.

Hollie: How do you decide what platforms to market your business on? Like, how do you make that decision and decide on what platform and also the content that you’re going to create?

Pepper: I have a very low tolerance for things I don’t like so I’m only on the platforms that I can tolerate. I think that’s a really healthy choice for me. I also don’t love creating content so platforms where I can just be myself and post random thoughts, my art and my process, tends to be the places that I do the best because I like being on them.

So when looking at the different platforms, which ones make you feel happy? Which ones make you feel stressed or give you a sense of imposter syndrome? Maybe you focus a little less on those ones that don’t make you feel good.

I spend a lot of my time on Bluesky which is the Twitter replacement that’s suddenly become the biggest platform for that kind of thing and that’s been great for me. I feel like I can sell things there without feeling inauthentic which is really nice.

Hollie: That’s definitely one of the pieces of advice that I always give people is…

“You want your marketing to be sustainable, you want it to be something that you enjoy doing. Otherwise, you’re going to get burnt out and you’re not going to want to do it.”

So by finding platforms that you actually enjoy and are good at is so important. For example, if you suck at video then maybe focus on newsletters or something that you write. You gotta play to your strengths.

What about you Emma?

Emma: I’m still super new to social media I just upload whatever I want. I try not to think about it too much and just upload my thoughts or stupid memes. It’s just very back and forth of my own life and what I enjoy doing.

I find making videos really fun but then you have to edit it for 3 hours but I do love to see peoples reactions and feedback.

Hollie: You both mentioned sharing what you feel like you want to share and finding a place where you can be yourself. How long did it take you to get to a point where you felt comfortable doing that? Because I feel like a lot of people posting on social media think that they need to be following a trend, or I need to be posting what someone else is posting, or whatever it might be.

Emma: It took me a very long time to feel confident in posting. Even the window displays that I was doing, I didn’t see them as my creations or my work because I was obviously just at work doing my job, putting products in a window, and finding a creative way of displaying them.

It took me a long time to realise that this IS a source of creativity that people do enjoy. So, it was that kind of imposture syndrome where I was thinking “Oh, this isn’t real art.”

It was awhile before I built the confidence to upload photos of full art show installations or a full window because I myself didn’t see it as real art. It’s people feedback that helped with my confidence and now I just share whatever I want.

Pepper: I felt pretty confident about my art because I had a fine art background so I was pretty okay posting what I was making because I felt like I was good at it. When I started drawing, I felt comfortable posting because it wasn’t a business at the time and I was just messing around.

And then I made one enamel pin and I knew that I needed to sell it so I figures that I had to post it so people would buy, and they did! That validation builds over time and you start trying new things to see what happens.

The biggest thing that have me the boost to being confident talking online and posting things online was actually streaming on Twitch for three years. That was a HUGE thing that got me over the hurdle of being on camera.

Hollie: Pepper, you have many things going on like client work and your own work, how do you communicate to your audience all the things that you do when you’re a multi-passionate, multi-hyphenate person?

Pepper: I’m pretty careful about what I show people. So I don’t love doing client work, so I don’t show people client work. I know it sounds a bit ridiculous but you get the work that you put out there and so people will associate you with whatever you show them. So if you show people work you’re not proud of that you maybe did just because you needed money rather than because you’re passionate about it, then you end up with more of that.

I don’t worry too much about separating these things because my brand has a whole bunch of different videos going on anyway. I mash them all into one basket because I’m excited about all of them! One social media account is enough for me, and people can either except ALL of me, or none of me.

You gotta find the people that you are for.

Hollie: Can you share an example of where you feel like marketing pushed you out of your comfort zone and helped you grow?

Emma: I think I’m always being pushed out of my comfort zone with social media but I think it’s the validation thing when you upload something and someone says something nice to you and you’re like, “Oh, okay! I’m doing a good job”. It makes it worth it when you see a community being happy with that you’re uploading and it bringing joy to someone’s life, even if only for 30 seconds.

Pepper: Sharing your work and marketing yourself in a positive way and that's probably the hardest thing I've had to do as an artist. Both with other artists in the community doing the tall poppy thing and also with random commenters online saying completely uninformed things that were wrong, but really hateful and stuff like that, and you just have to learn to eat that for breakfast, not respond angrily, move on, and keep being yourself. That's definitely that was one of the biggest hurdles I had to overcome, for sure.

Hollie: How do you measure quote-unquote “success” for your business? Is it numbers? Is it how you feel?

Emma: I’m a workaholic so when I have jobs backed up, when I feel like I'm on the end of my tether, when I'm coming home from my day job and then going home and doing some more work for the next six hours… it’s full on!

But I do love the grind and I love the chaos of it all. So when there's back to back jobs, I feel like that's when I'm doing the right thing, and I'm reaching the right amount of people.

Pepper: I’m a basic bitch and I base it on sales. I think a lot of people get hung up on followers, likes and comment but it does not matter. Reaching your audience and converting to sales is hard, but if you creating something that you are proud of, you’re putting it out there and people buy it, that’s a metric that makes me feel good.

On the workload side of things, I feel most successful when I've got money in the bank and I don't have to work as hard. If I can’t pay my bills, I’m not relaxed. Regardless of how you feel about money, you will be stressed and uncomfortable if you have bills to pay with not money in the bank.

“Also, don’t worry about the numbers. Worry about how you feel.”

Hollie: Are there metrics that you do measure as an Artist when it comes to marketing your business that you think are important or helpful?

Pepper: Conversion rate demographics have been great to learn what my audience looks like. Those kinds of numbers are important. I get enough volume through my store now so I get a decent amount of data that I can actually look at where before the numbers weren’t bug enough to be meaningful.

Emma: Art is my side hustle to my full time job so it’s my luxury money. I use it towards travel, dinners or doing things on the weekend. I haven’t gone too much into metrics because my website is mainly a place where people look at the projects I do. I do more project work rather than selling stock, so it’s different for me.

But for me, if I have a decent amount of projects lined up, that’s the metric of how successful I am that I pay attention to.

Hollie: I would love to know, what is the most valuable piece of marketing advice that you have ever received from other creative or from the creative community?

Pepper: I think the best piece of advice I’ve ever received from people is just don’t worry about all you engagement numbers. Just dump it. You can take notes and see what’s going on and what’s doing well and learn from that, but if you’re getting in your own head about some other Artist has more followers than you, that’s a bad place and you shouldn’t hang out there.

People forget that you can filter what you see online. Just simply unfollow, block or mute if someone else's content makes you feel stressed.

Hollie: It’s rapid fire question time! What do you think is the most overrated marking strategy?

Pepper: Trends, memes and feeling pressured into doing something that’s not for you.

Emma: Instagram ads

Hollie: Okay, opposite to that. What do you think is the most underrated marketing strategy?

Emma: Chatting to your community and including them.

Hollie: What is one marketing task you wish you could delegate to someone else?

Pepper: Shooting videos - it takes me out of the part of the creative process I enjoy the most.

Emma: Budgeting and numbers. The finance side of things isn’t for me.

Hollie: What is the best time saving marketing hack or tip that you have?

Pepper: Post multiple times! Take five different photos of the same thing you made and post one every week for five weeks. The Instagram algorithm is screwing you over anyway, might as well overload it.

Hollie: It’s time for some audience asked questions! Do you ever doubt making your art into a career is the right direction? If so, how do you feal with that doubt?

Pepper: Hell yeah. I’m not good at anything else, so I don’t have a choice in the matter. I tried having a regular job and it wasn’t for me. Like I said, I’m a menace. I’m neurodivergent and ADHD is hard. I don’t like regular work hours, and I don’t like authority.

Emma: I love doing my 9-5. I’m very lucky that I have a place that is fun and being part of a local business is great, they look after me. So my art is part time. I wouldn’t say it’s a hobby but side hustle is a perfectly legitimate thing to say. I don’t think I could do it full time as there is so much pressure. 

Hollie: What have you found to be the best ways to share your work in person?

Emma: Show them your Instagram! Sure, it’s embarrassing but it’s the best way to get networking and conversation happing.

Hollie: Are there any particular in-person things, other than markets, that you have found helpful?

Pepper: Events like this are good! Networking is really important. I do a lot of client work for hackers at security conferences and hand out some cheap stuff like stickers. They love it! You just show up to places where people are that you want to work with and try to work up the courage to talk to them.

Emma: I’m constantly meeting people in the shop and reminding them of my work. Do they want a mural done or some design work. It’s using what you have in your area.

Hollie: Last question, what are the reflections you have had and the biggest learning in your journey to making art or creating your business?

Pepper: You have to find a balance between what you make for them, what you make for you, and if you want to make this a business. And that’s really tough because if you don’t feel passionate about what you’re making, it’s not going to be sustainable. You’ll burn out. So you have to find a way to make a design that you know will appeal to people and then you make one that you know you like - and see how they go.

Emma: When you get lots of client work, when they’re telling you what they want, and you try to put your spin on it and they’re like “No”, and you’re like, okay, cool. It sucks, so it’s that hard balance.

Hollie: Thank you so much for joining me today! I hope you enjoyed learning from Pepper and Emma and hearing all about how they market their creative business. As you might have heard us mention a couple of times, community can be a huge part of marketing your creative business. So if you want to join a community of creatives who are all working to turn the thing they love the most into the thing people know and love them for, then you want to join the Brand Your Passion Collective.

This is the membership for artists, makers, and creators who want to build a creatively fulfilling, community building, financially stable, creative business through the power of branding and do it together. Within the collective, we are working to. Craft you a custom brand strategy. That's going to bring in floods of raving fans turned customers to your creative business. So come and check it out!

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You can find Pepper and Emma’s details below and go and follow them, work with them and connect.

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Emma Smith:

Instagram: @steerillustrations

Website: steerillustrations.com

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Pepper Raccoon:

Instagram: @pepperraccoon

Website: pepperraccoon.com‍