to the artists stuck between Instagram and Cara…

[@SamiKelsh]

Some perspective I’ve seen on Cara is that it’s likely also to be attracting industry folks looking to hire artists, since it has the handy portfolio feature, but that’s really only helpful for the kind of artists looking to work in… industry kind of ways, like concept art etc. I’m on there for the inspiration/mutual support, but every time I start a new social medium and have to try to build an audience from scratch again, it’s so discouraging - and just like you, I don’t want to abandon or lose my little community of non-artists who for some reason like my work. So yeah, as a neurospicy artist who’s feeling very much in their flop era despite producing what I reckon is some of my best work ever, feel this all super deeply. I have no solutions, only solidarity x

[@pyxn420]

Meanwhile I'm there as an amateur hobbyist only xd But now that you've said that Cara is like linkedin for artists I can't completely disagree

[@weirdoneontheblock]

Ya, I can see putting more stuff on there for if you're interested in doing illustration, concept, background, or animation work. It's probably best to use it as a portfolio for those hiring artists and only putting stuff on there that you would want to be hired for.

[@leahdrook5161]

I feel horrible I totally agree as a small artist I can completely agree with you. Heck, I’m terrified of doing commissions because of this

[@Foxen209]

Can you make a cara account that cant get messages from others?

[@peripoffle]

For me I’m in a state of just waiting to c what happens, so for now I’m still posting to insta except I’ll be using all those ai-preventing-filter things and also avoiding posting on Mondays (it’s sorta like a boycotting movement but not as severe as completely moving platforms)

[@__madskillz]

so real gale -- i've been struggling with the same thing. i don't have anywhere as near of a big following as you do, but i'm struggling knowing where i'm supposed to put my art too. ugh generative AI can go have a heart attack tbh

[@__madskillz]

also let's do a collab soon just because :)

[@Moxalotl12]

Nice video. I feel you, everyone on Instagram is moving to Cara, which is good, but I also feel like Cara might fail like other projects or become pay-to-use. Btw, I like how you did the light details on the berry things at 1:47, you're a good artist 👍

[@abigaillynnarts]

Thank you!! and yeah, I don’t think Cara is a bad platform, I just don’t think it serves my work or my business the way I need :/

[@ygrekproject8038]

KZbin just recommended You to me, and I really need to thank the algorithm for that

[@abigaillynnarts]

welcome to the channel! I swear I’m not always this pessimistic lol

[@ygrekproject8038]

@@abigaillynnarts yhmm... Yea right 😝 can't wait for future updates

[@melissalam7968]

Randomly found this video at the top of my recommendations today and I think KZbin did a good job today! I love the transparency and the determined spirit you show. I've never really gotten into the whole social media thing and it's a hit or miss on whether or not you get good feedback or not. I think you keeping all of your platforms up and running can only help you grow even if it's more tedious to take care of. To each artist their own, if they don't want to join Cara that's okay. AI is inevitable but it can't really recreate cute unique styles like yours without having extra limbs or weird unintentional blended lines. You're doing great and I hope you stay positive!

[@abigaillynnarts]

Thank you!! I’m usually not this pessimistic in my videos, and yeah I agree, there’s no way to escape ai entirely, unless you’re not putting your work on social media at all, which as a business owner is kind of impossible lol. Yeah posting on all platforms I can is a job in itself, but that’s just a part of the job of having a small business lolll

[@Rammakela]

Instagram algorithm is horrible. But I don't want to leave because most of my followers are there :/ I feel like my YT channel gets way more interactions compared to IG. I'm happy that I stumbled across your channel, your art is so cute!!

[@abigaillynnarts]

Thank you!! And yeah same! My KZbin channel is way better in terms of engagement even though I’ve had Instagram longer, i feel like people are able to connect way more to videos of the person, their life, and the process behind making the art than they do photos of any of that on Instagram. I checked out your ig acc and you style is super cute too! Your digital circus art is super cool, really love the way you drew pomni

[@solarydays]

people watch art youtubers for 1. the skill level and career they wished they had 2. the lifestyle and money they wished to they had not including jazza and the likes, I consider those more of entertainment than art centered channels

[@weirdoneontheblock]

Do you do commissions? KZbin recommended you to me on my front page so it looks like KZbin is liking this kind of video of yours. I do art and I'm trying to get some stuff more ironed out on how to make money from it while doing all the taxes stuff right- which is really nerve racking for me. I've had some people I know buy my work, but it's only really going to do anything money-wise if I get stuff set up online. 😑 I HATE having to deal with government shit, but unfortunately that's the world we live in. Going to try to see if I can talk to someone at H and R Block to see if they can keep track of Nexus for me and that kind of crap, because it's a headache and a half.

[@abigaillynnarts]

I do a lot of different types of paid work - I do art and illustration commissions all the time, they’re usually pet portraits and landscape paintings, and I usually get those through connections with people I know. Usually those commissions pay cash, so unless I deposit that cash into my business bank account, then I don’t have to record it at all. But if it’s done through check, Venmo, or PayPal then I do have to record it for tax purposes. I also do graphic design work which is always paid with check or through Venmo/paypal, which again is always recorded. And I recently started doing smaller custom sticker orders which I handle through my Etsy shop. I also do paid content creation work for an art box company, and that’s paid via direct deposit into my business bank account, I keep track of all my business income and expenses in a spreadsheet that tracks my totals of both over the year. Anything you spend on your business, materials, technology, equipment, decor for a booth, branding, etc, even the subscriptions to software you use all can be used as deductible income so you have to track it so you eventually end up paying much less for your taxes The amount of money you can make through self employment in each state before paying taxes varies, for Oregon I think it’s $400 or $600 a year, so keeping that spreadsheet is very important for me. It is a lot of extra work to make yourself official - you have to register your business in your state and sometimes your town (I had to register my business in the town where I live). You also have to pay taxes quarterly (at least in Oregon.) Etsy itself is actually very easy to use once you have your business registered, but the rest is all a lot of work that unfortunately is just part of the job. No one likes doing it but it’s just a thing you have to do to maintain your business

[@weirdoneontheblock]

@@abigaillynnarts Thank you so much for the reply! I have my business licenses (state and city). I live in WA state. It's mostly making it where I'm no longer in the red from re-doing my licenses every year, but making no money to show for it. I've been thinking of Etsy- I actually have an account set up. It's just figuring out how I'm going to go about keeping track of taxes with Nexus coming into play😅.

[@abigaillynnarts]

@@weirdoneontheblock I’m pretty sure with Etsy sales tax is calculated on their end within their system as you set up your listings since each state has different sales tax amounts. Oregon doesn’t have sales tax so that’s not something that I have to deal with which is great, but I’m sure Etsy has information somewhere on where the sales tax that your customers pay goes. For me since Oregon doesn’t have sales tax, whenever someone orders from outside Oregon it just goes directly to Etsy, not me

[@SnoopaSchnozler]

Neurospicy is CRAZY

[@t0mat05]

I have a problem No matter how many times i change pfp on cara, thé originál c logo stays someone knows how to fix that? Its beek a week of trying

[@weirdoneontheblock]

I think I saw something that they recommend doing profile pics on the website because of a glitch on the app they're trying to fix.

[@Hatefultable]

Sometimes i forget that not every youtuber is super well known :(

[@Savicurlly]

Why not just have it an post on it when you think about it? Having several somewhat okay places for getting reach is better than hoping you'll get reach on one or two apps in general. imo

[@abigaillynnarts]

I’m sorry I don’t understand this comment

[@Savicurlly]

@@abigaillynnarts oh, I mean that having a bunch of platforms under your name, regardless if you're frequently on them or not, is better than only having a few imo. Posting here and there on other platforms like CARA or X. I got the impression that you were making the case for switching apps, leaving one behind in its entirety, instead of having both and linking all of them to your main channels. That's just how I think about it though, idk.

[@abigaillynnarts]

@@Savicurlly oh yeah that’s not what I meant, I just meant that I don’t personally want to download and post on social media apps that I myself am not really using, otherwise true interaction isn’t really there, because I wouldn’t be giving back to the app or its other users, because I wouldn’t be interacting with them. That’s why I mentioned threads, sure I post on there but because I do nothing else on the app I don’t really have any interaction on there aside from maybe 3 people liking my posts. For me personally I just don’t want to commit to another app that I don’t have the time or desire to actually spend time on

[@Vor567tez]

But what about YT? Has it opted for AI feeding too?

[@abigaillynnarts]

if it has I haven’t heard about it? not saying KZbin is safe or anything, but right now it and tiktok seem to be the only platforms that are somewhat creator friendly at this point t

[@You-dm2eh]

things to consider: define your audience. Is it everyone, is it people like you? are you doing something different? Better than the competition? why should I buy your art now rather than later?