Ready to conquer the digital world, my friends? This episode dives headfirst into that pivotal moment all artists face: sharing your work online for the first time. It’s a wild ride of emotions, right? I mean, the fear of judgment can feel like a monster lurking under your bed—totally terrifying! But here’s the scoop: it’s less about being “ready” and more about being brave. We’ll spill some juicy tips on picking the right platforms, building your confidence through consistency, and flipping that vulnerability into your secret weapon. So, buckle up, grab your courage, and let’s show the world what you’ve got!

1. The Emotional Leap: Overcoming Fear and Doubt

• Talk about the inner critic. It’s totally normal to feel vulnerable when you share creative work. Remind listeners that fear is part of growth.
• Use exposure as strength. Emphasize that every artist starts somewhere—sharing is a courageous act that inspires others.

2. Choosing the Right Platform

• Pick one to start. Whether it's Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or a personal blog—focus on where your audience hangs out.
• Consider your format. Visual artists might thrive on Instagram, writers on Substack or Medium, musicians on SoundCloud or Bandcamp.

3. What to Share and How

• Don’t aim for perfection. A work-in-progress or a behind-the-scenes look is often more engaging than a polished final product.
• Add a short story. Share why the piece matters to you—it builds emotional connection and gets people invested.

4. Handling Feedback and Silence

• Prepare for crickets. Sometimes no likes, no comments—it’s okay. Algorithms and timing play a big role.
• Build resilience. Negative comments may sting, but they don’t define your art. Curate your space and block trolls if needed.

5. Creating Consistency, Not Perfection

• Small and regular beats big and rare. Try posting once a week to build rhythm.
• Make it fun. Don’t turn it into another job. If you're not enjoying it, scale back.

Topics covered in this series

Sharing Your Work Online for the First Time

Dealing With Criticism and Rejection

Finding (or Building) an Artistic Community

Collaboration as a Creative Catalyst

Staying Motivated Long-Term

Art Challenges & Social Media Trends

Mental Health & Creativity

Art Challenges & Social Media Trends

Setting Up a Creative Workspace

Creative Constraints & Prompts

Measuring Growth as an Artist

Why Do You Create?

When to Call Yourself an Artist

Lessons From a Year of Creating

Setting Creative Goals Without Killing the Joy

We break down how to choose the right platforms for your art. Instagram? TikTok? Maybe even your grandma’s Facebook? Each platform has its vibe and audience, and finding your digital home is crucial. Plus, we discuss the importance of consistency—because let’s face it, nobody likes a ghost artist. You’ve got to show up regularly, just like your favorite TV show, so your fans know when to tune in. We’re all about creating visibility here!

Takeaways:

• Sharing your work online for the first time is all about bravery, not perfection; dive in!
• Overcoming the fear of judgment is crucial to your creative journey; let's embrace vulnerability together!
• Consistency in sharing your art builds confidence and keeps your audience engaged; be their regular source of inspiration!
• Choosing the right platform for your art is essential; find where your audience hangs out and meet them there!
• Storytelling is a powerful tool in sharing your artistic process; let your audience in on the journey, warts and all!
• Engaging with your audience is key; respond to comments and emails to foster a genuine connection with them!

Links referenced in this episode:

• timothycreateartpodcast.com
• findapodcastabout.xyz
• tkbpodcaststudio.com

How do I get such great guests?

PodMatch I use Podmatch to get the best guests on the show. Check out PodMatch if you want to guest on other podcasts or if you have a podcast and need guests for your show. Guests from Podmatch

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Use Podcast Beacon for the best NFS products to share your podcast while out and about or at conferences.

Reach Out To The Podcast

To reach out to me, email timothy@createartpodcast.com I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and let's start that conversation.

• Email: timothy@createartpodcast.com
• YouTube Channel: Create Art Podcast YT Channel
• IG: @createartpodcast
• Twitter: @createartpod

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Speaking about sharing with a friend, check out my other podcast Find A Podcast About where I help you outsmart the algorithm and find your next binge-worthy podcast. You can find that podcast at findapodcastabout.xyz.

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Hey, friend.

This is Timothy Keemo Bryan Create Art podcast.

You know who I am.

And this is the next installment of our new Artist Compass series.

And today we're going to be talking about that big moment in everyone's creative journey.

Sharing your work online for the very first time.

You're going to love this.

Some great ideas.

Let's dive in.

Alright, so I know the feeling can be intimidating about sharing your work online for the first time because guess what, the whole world is going to be seeing it, you know, so this can be scary for some of you.

I know it was scary for me when I first did it.

The first thought that comes through my mind is, hey, what if people don't like it?

You know, what if nobody notices because the World Wide web is huge.

It's mind bogglingly huge.

I don't know if mind bogglingly is a word, but we're going to go with it.

But here's the truth.

Putting your art out in the world is less about being ready and more about being brave.

You got to put it out there.

You really need to, because that's where, you know, people kind of live in our digital worlds.

So today I'm going to share some tips with you about choosing the right platforms, you know, building confidence through consistency and turning vulnerability into your strengths.

Because your work deserves to be seen and the world is out there waiting for you to show your work.

So let's dive into that, shall we?

And let's be brave together.

So my first point in this whole episode is to overcome your fear of judgment.

I know that's huge, guys, that's huge.

You know, it's a real fear that we all have and we're going to help you break away from that a little bit.

First, let's understand that vulnerability is part of the creative process.

We're sharing our souls, we're sharing our innermost ideas.

People have access to the deep dark reaches in our head, which is, you know, kind of way back here.

And we're exposing ourselves.

And who likes to expose themselves?

Well, I mean, maybe there's one or two of you out there that is a little bit, you know, sick in the head.

But normally, you know, we don't like to expose ourselves.

We don't like to let everyone know what those deep dark ideas and thoughts that we have in our head are all about.

But here's the thing.

Art is about bringing those ideas to the forefront and going, hey, listen, this is how I see the world.

And I approach it like this.

This is how I See the world?

How do you see the world?

You know, is it same?

Is it similar?

Is it different?

I want to know.

So that's, you know, one of the reasons why I do art.

Then, of course, we're, you know, fearful of, well, it's not perfect, it's not ready to go.

Well, it's never going to be ready to go.

Okay, you got to put it out there, and then you can fix the errors and mistakes, whatever they are, the happy accidents is Bob Ross likes to say, you can fix that later, but you got to put something out there in order to know that it's not perfect.

Because you don't know in your head, it may be perfect, but you put it out there and it's like, oh, you know what?

I can tweak this and I can tweak that, and you can always do another edition of it or another version of it.

Oh, my gosh.

If you're struggling for ideas, well, put one out and then update it and change it and do different iterations.

That's something I've learned from project management is, you know, these different iterations that we can do.

So, you know, we have 1.0 out there, and then we have 2.0 out there, and then 3.0 out there, and then 4.0, and.

And we go on ad infinitum.

But if you never put it out there, you're never going to know.

And while we're doing these iterations, we're going to focus on our growth and connection rather than, you know, likes and comments on our social media channels and all that kind of stuff.

We're going to focus on putting it out there, getting out of our head onto the page, onto the canvas, onto the stage, and let's see what our audience is thinking, because they may be able to help you out.

I know.

Kind of weird thought.

Your audience can help you out.

Absolutely.

They can help you out, but they can't help you if they don't know about it.

All right, now you're thinking, okay, I'll put my stuff out there, Tim, I'll put it out there.

But where do I put it?

What should I go with?

Should I go with this social media?

Should I go with that social media?

Should I go with YouTube?

Should I go with Venmo?

Should I just put it on a website?

Different audiences are going to use different platforms.

If you can find a way to find out where your audience is, where they consume their stuff, and sometimes you're gonna have to try out a few things.

That's where you want to be.

Now, if we think about it, you know, TikTok short, you know, less than three minutes.

If we do Instagram, that's great for just images.

If you do YouTube, which is, you know, one of the things that I use that's great for longer stuff or even YouTube shorts, you know, how I do my podcast is, you know, a few days before the episode comes out, I'm going to put something out on all the socials, you know, just a short little minute to three minute video telling you what I'm going to talk about.

So that way you can get excited about it and go, oh, I've got to listen to that.

You know, I've got to listen to that episode.

But whatever it is, find out where your audience is.

Now, I know that a lot of people listen to me on my podcast.

There's some people that want to know more about what I'm doing on the different social medias.

Guess what?

I'm not a master of all social medias.

There's stuff out there that I'm like, I, I don't know, you know, like Snapchat.

I don't get Snapchat.

Reddit.

I hear a lot of people talking about, Tim, you need to be on Reddit.

You need to, you know, get all this great information.

Well, I.

No.

Or a Slack channel.

What am I going to do with slack?

I don't, I don't want to be a slacker.

I'm Generation X guy.

You know, you say slack to me, I'm like, oh, well, you know, that person doesn't really care about what happens.

They're a slacker.

So don't try to master all of them.

Don't be a jack of all trades, master of none.

Be a master of one and find out where your audience is so that way you can continually communicate with them and then, you know, make your content, whatever it is, fit.

So if you're a painter, you might want to be on Instagram.

I see a lot of, you know, photographers and painters on Instagram.

If you do movement, probably want to be on YouTube and TikTok.

If, you know, you just are really social or you're a writer.

Twitter or X and blue sky, that might be more your speed.

But whatever it is, make sure your content fits.

Whatever social media you're out there now, I'm, you know, I'm guilty of this.

I'm gonna put a square peg in a round hole all the time because I'm like, you know, I've got people listening to me over Here, over there.

Most people listen to me on a podcast, some people watch me on YouTube.

And that's where I am at.

That's that, that's the two areas that I'm trying to master.

The other stuff, it's just like, hey, I've got something coming out.

Enjoy it is what it's all about.

But my main content is podcast and YouTube and that's where I want to be.

You might want to be someplace else, but wherever you want to be, make sure that you're mastering it and then you put your content towards that.

You can use the other ones just to announce stuff, but I would say just tailor whatever you're doing to what you're using.

The next thing I want you to think about is building confidence through consistency.

If you're there, you know, every day, every week, once a month, every other week, whatever it is, commit to putting something out there and engaging with your audience on a consistent basis.

That way they know, hey, he's going to come out with another episode at 4:00 clock on Sunday morning.

I don't know how he does it.

Guy never sleeps.

But you know that with this show, I put out episodes Sundays at 4am Eastern Time.

What does that do?

Well, it creates visibility.

People will know when to find you, they'll know where to find you.

And if you just do, you know, little things, it's better than put something out and then maybe a year later you put something else out and then maybe six months later you put something else out.

And there's no consistency with it.

So if you're always putting something out just a little bit, doesn't have to be super long, but just put something out there, a thumbnail out there, a short video, whatever it is, constantly communicate with your audience.

It could even be just a simple newsletter that comes out, you know, twice, twice a month.

So that way they know, hey, it keeps them in the front.

It keeps you in the front of your audience mindset.

They know, hey, Tim's coming out with something on Sunday, so I'm gonna, you know, clear my schedule and see what he's got out there.

They know it's like, you know, back in the day, the newspaper, you know, it would come at certain time in the morning or if you're subscribed to like a literary journal, like, I'm subscribed to a couple of them.

And I know, you know, this week I'm gonna have this coming in the mail.

I'm gonna have that coming in the mail.

And it, it keeps me focused on what they're doing.

Because I'm a consumer too, you know, I listen to stuff, I look at stuff all the time, podcasts that I listen to.

I expect, you know, Dave Jackson of school of podcasting and to be out Monday morning with an episode every Monday and every Saturday he does a video.

I expect that to be out every Saturday.

And you know, I'll plan my, plan my world around that, plan my life around that.

And that's what keeps me interested in what he's doing.

So think of yourself also as a consumer, Think about what you subscribe to.

If it doesn't come out, are you going to miss it?

For me, yeah, I'll definitely miss it.

So be that person.

Consistently come out and think to yourself, if they didn't hear anything from me for about two weeks or three weeks or whatever it is, would they miss me?

Make your art a part of their life and their schedule.

The next thing I want you to think about is building confidence through consist, consistency.

If you're there, you know, every day, every week, once a month, every other week, whatever it is, commit to putting something out out there and engaging with your audience on a consistent basis.

That way they know, hey, he's going to come out with another episode at 4:00 clock on Sunday morning.

I don't know how he does it.

Guy never sleeps.

But you know that with this show I put out episodes Sundays at 4am Eastern Time.

What does that do?

Well, it creates visibility.

People will know when to find you, they'll know where to find you.

And if you just do, you know, little things, it's better than put something out and then maybe a year later you put something else out and then maybe six months later or you put something else out and there's no consistency with it.

So if you're always putting something out just a little bit, doesn't have to be super long, but just put something out there, a thumbnail out there, a short video, whatever it is, constantly communicate with your audience.

It could even be just a simple newsletter that comes out, you know, twice, twice a month.

So that way they know, hey, it keeps them in the front.

It keeps you in the front of your audience mindset.

They know, hey, Tim's coming out with something on Sunday, so I'm gonna, you know, clear my schedule and see what he's got out there.

They know it's like, you know, back in the day, the newspaper, you know, it would come at certain time in the morning or if you're subscribed to like a literary journal, like I'M subscribed to a couple of them.

And I know, you know, this week I'm gonna have this coming in the mail.

I'm gonna have that coming in the mail.

And it keeps me focused on what they're doing because I'm a consumer, too.

You know, I. I listen to stuff.

I look at stuff all the time.

The podcasts that I listen to.

I expect, you know, Dave Jackson of School of Podcasting and to be out Monday morning with an episode every Monday and every Saturday he does a video.

I expect that to be out every Saturday.

And, you know, I'll plan my.

Plan my world around that, plan my life around that.

And that's what keeps me interested in what he's doing.

So think of yourself also as a consumer.

Think about what you subscribe to.

If it doesn't come out, are you going to miss it?

For me, yeah, I'll definitely miss it.

So be that person.

Consistently come out and think to yourself, if they didn't hear anything from me for about two weeks or three weeks or whatever it is, would they miss me?

Make your art a part of their life and their schedule.

All right, so we've put our work out there.

We've chosen our platform.

We're consistently putting out there, you know, what we're doing now.

Let's talk about storytelling with that work, you know, with the stuff that you're putting out there, tell a story with it, you know, make it.

It's.

It's a never ending story.

The never ending story.

I'm sorry I went there, you know, again, 80s kids here, but you want to share an idea is, you know, share the mistakes.

Share the process.

Not just the work, not just the final output there, but share the mistakes.

Share how you made it.

And that might inspire somebody to, you know, do it with you.

Or somebody might say, oh, yeah, no, I see why you screwed that up.

You did it this way when you probably should have done it that way.

Something else that people like is they want to know the background.

They want to know how you got to that point.

A lot of DVDs or VHS tapes, you know, they show the director's cut or they show interviews with actors and stuff like that, and people eat that up.

That's like bonus content.

You can use that bonus content to tell the story of.

Okay, you know, I got this painting done here.

This is all the stuff that inspired it.

This is the process that I used.

This is the paints that I used.

Yeah, I had to start it over five times because my dog took a dump on it, whatever it is that is content for you, that is, you know, part of your creative process.

Not just the final product, but.

But how you got there.

That is what a lot of people are interested in.

And, you know, you show your warts and all, people would rather people will connect with that better than if you're always picture perfect like me.

I've got, you know, a little five o' clock shadow going on right now.

It's as I'm recording this Saturday morning.

I'm in a T shirt.

I'm doing laundry while I'm doing this and watching my kids.

So, you know, people want to know these things.

People want to be into your world because they wanted to understand what you're seeing and what's going on in your head.

And, you know, that final product may be a little obtuse if they don't know the backstory behind it.

So let them know the backstory behind it.

Sometimes, you know, I remember on VH1 or one of the music video channels, MTV or VH1, they would tell the backstories behind these bands, and it was really popular because people wanted to know, how did they, you know, how did that happen?

That's why biographies and autobiographies are so popular, is people want to know, you know, I. I idolize this person, but let me find out a little bit more about them because it makes them feel closer to that person when they know more things about it.

Do that for your.

Do that for your audience and let them know, hey, this is how I got here, warts and all.

All right, so you've done all these other steps.

You've done these four steps.

Now the fifth step is engaging with the audience.

They've left a comment.

They've shot you an email.

Engage with them.

Let them know that, hey, I see that you saw me do whatever it is I did.

And thanks for your input on that.

Am I the best with it?

I try to be.

I just recently got a.

A message from my good buddy York Campbell of the welcome to Earth stories, also, you know, from the Poetic Earthling podcast.

And he really, you know, dug one of my previous episodes.

And I took.

It was an interview with, uh, Robert Bside Cardillo Jr. And York sent in a message, and I actually was like, hey, thanks, York, for that.

Do you mind if I pass that on to my guest?

And he was like, yeah, go for it.

Passed on to my guest.

My guest was like, hey, that really made my day.

Thanks for sharing that with me.

And I helped somebody else discover somebody that I really enjoyed.

So you can do that for your listeners, for your audience, whoever that is.

I say listeners because I'm a podcaster and that's what we do.

We have listeners.

But respond to those comments.

Respond to all of them, even if they're negative.

Acknowledge them, respond them.

And your social media shouldn't just be a portfolio of all the stuff you've done.

You should be communicating with your audience, just like I like to communicate with you and I give you my email address so that way you can communicate with me.

So feel free to do that.

Feel free to email me and I'll respond back to you.

So make sure you're engaging with your audience.

Be social with them on social media.

I know, crazy concept, but do it.

And that way you don't hear the crickets anymore.

That way people will go, hey, you know, he, he is a real person.

Trust me, I'm a real person.

I've got the bills to show it to you.

But yeah, you email me and I will definitely respond back to you.

Positive or negative, whatever it is.

Feedback is feedback.

There's no such thing as bad publicity.

There's just, you know, responding with crickets to your audience.

Foreign.

Well, I want to thank you for taking a listen and watching the video on YouTube and for taking a listen to this on your podcast app of choice.

And if you got something out of it, make sure you're passing along to a friend.

You know they're going to get something out of it too.

Share that.

Be generous with other people, just like I'm being generous with you.

That's the cost.

Be generous with somebody else.

And if you have comments on the show, if you have critique of the show, feel free to email me.

Timothyreateartpodcast.com you can tell people, email me.

I respond back.

Sometimes I will respond in an email, sometimes I will respond in an episode.

If you want to be on the show, that's the way to do it as well.

Email me.

Timothy, create our podcast dot com.

Now, I do want to remind you of a couple of things here.

First and foremost, I have another podcast.

Speaking about sharing, I have another podcast called Find a Podcast about.

You can find that at Find a Podcast about dot xyz.

And that's where I help my listeners over there tame, not tame, their inner critic.

I help them outsmart the algorithm.

I'm going to leave that in because it's a, you know, that's what I do.

I mess up on occasion, but I help them outsmart the algorithm and find their next binge worthy podcast, and a lot of times I'll have the podcast or on to talk about their process.

See, I practice what I preach.

And that's where I help my clients over there create podcasts so that way they can lead through the noise through quiet professionalism.

Go over to tkbpodcaststudio.com to find out more information.

All right, that's all I got for you.

Thank you so much for joining me here today.

Now go out there, be brave, put your stuff online, tame that inner critic, create more than you consume, and make some art for somebody you love yourself.

I'll speak with you next time.

Sam.