We were lucky to catch up with Liesl Walsh recently and have shared our conversation below.

Liesl, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I work full time as a fine art photographer and make a living with it now, but it was a frustrating start. Years ago as an amateur I dreamed of going pro and selling prints, but it took time to learn how to do it. In college I learned how to create art, but was not taught the business side of marketing my art, so I had to figure that out on my own.

I started working full time with my photography in 2012 improving my skills, and by 2014 started my first website using Zenfolio. It was a huge step to put my images online for the world to see, but I didn’t know how to drive traffic to my site, so I floundered. A year later I discovered Fine Art America, a print on demand site where you can sell your prints worldwide, so I set up my site. Sales came slow because I got lost in the crowd of over 500,000 other artists.

But in 2019 everything clicked for me: I found my niche, I created stronger images that stood out from the crowd, and became more active on social media.

In 2019 I moved to Venice, Florida and built a portfolio of local images capturing the beauty of this area as well as historic landmarks. By this point I had earned my master of photography, and my portfolio was much stronger. My images stood out locally so people started to notice my work, and I started getting published.

I realized I needed to drive people to my Fine Art America website to get sales, instead of relying on the search. So I became more active on social media and found people who liked my niche: my local area of Florida and historic preservation, and my audience grew quickly. I connected my art and message with the right people, and sales came much easier and faster, doubling each year. Now locals are collecting my art, I sell regularly, and I am getting more clients.

There are over a million artists on Fine Art America now, so I learned how to get my images higher in the search to get sales easier without promoting my art.

I could have grown much faster if I knew all of this earlier. I would have saved years of frustration!

Liesl, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I began as an art teacher in Pennsylvania, teaching elementary and middle school students for nine years, but didn’t get into photography full time until I moved to Florida. I dreamed of selling prints of my art, and was determined to figure it out. So I studied to improve my portfolio and increase my skills. I had taken a film photography class in college, but needed to learn about digital.

So I studied online from renowned photographers like Serge Ramelli, Scott Kelby, and Matt Kloskowski. I joined Serge Ramelli’s Academy and graduated from his Institute of Photography earning a Masters of Photography. I became an ambassador in his academy assisting him teaching thousands of students worldwide. I became a much stronger artist, and my print sales tripled.

Most of my images are landscapes and cityscapes from Florida, Michigan, and Europe and are high resolution. I sell museum quality prints on paper, canvas, acrylic, and metal and on other home decor products that can be shipped worldwide. Clients can purchase a license to use my images. You can see my portfolio at https://www.lieslwalsh.com and order prints here: https://liesl-walsh.pixels.com

After seeing my success selling prints, other photographers asked me to share how I did it, so I created an online course: “Selling Photos Online: How I Broke The Code”. I teach how to build a website on Fine Art America, how to customize it for maximum impact, and how to drive traffic to your site to boost sales. The course also includes live zoom video coaching. It has been a huge success! My students are having an easier start and are selling faster than I did. One student sold his first three prints a few days after starting his site!
You can see my course here:
https://www.lieslwalshphotos.com/selling-photos-online-how-i-broke-the-code

I will be creating more online courses about photography and art.

It’s getting more exciting each year, and some proud moments came as a result of having my art discovered on Fine Art America. Three of my Giverny, France images hung at a Roy Lichtenstein art exhibit about Claude Monet’s Garden at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. Lichtenstein is a pop artist who was a contemporary of Andy Warhol, so this was a huge honor.

I also won the billboard contest on Fine Art America two years in a row. In 2021 my photo “The Most Amazing Sunset at the Pier in Venice, Florida” placed in the top 20 out of 24,341 images and 9,226 artists from around the world. This image hung on a billboard near Orlando, Florida for a month in November 2021. Then the next year in 2022 my photo “Liquid Light” placed in the top 20 of 17,456 images and 6,652 artists worldwide, and hung on a billboard in Clearwater, Florida in November and December 2022.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I remember how frustrating it was in the beginning, trying to build my audience on social media. I had a small group of followers who were mostly friends and family. I would post my images hoping for some sales, but not much happened. I didn’t realize I had to find ways to connect with people who were in my niche, to link my art to them. Once I learned how to find those people and put my art in front of their eyes, then things started to happen and it got exciting! It grew much faster.

I connected with more people in my area and became more known locally. I shared the beauty of my area, wrote inspiring and educational posts about landmarks of the area, learned what locals appreciated and loved so I could show more of that, and created art that meant something to them while also sharing the message of my heart. After following me, people got to know me over time, became fans of my work, and started to collect my art. Now I have thousands of followers.

When starting on social media think about how you can write a post to fulfill a need for someone and start a meaningful conversation. Write something of value to someone reading it. It will draw people to you and they will look forward to each new post that you write and will remember you the next time they need some art. Use video as well as photos to share about your art.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Last year I was going to record my new online course about how to sell art on Fine Art America. But Hurricane Ian hit my town really bad, and there was a lot of damage. We were without power for a week and then had to find a new place to live. I was unable to work online or use the computer to create new images. It was rough not being able to communicate with my audience or clients. A large percentage of my audience was also negatively affected by the storm which took a toll on my print sales. Thankfully Fine Art America fulfills my print orders for me, so my website could still run itself without me until I could get back online and in a new home. Now that I have my office back, it has been a huge milestone to finish recording my online course after five months of putting it together.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lieslwalshphotos.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lieslwalshphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LieslWalshPhotography/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LieslWalsh
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpt_D6_VaPNerZ9xnCkMvbA?
• Other: Prints: https://liesl-walsh.pixels.com Portfolio Website: https://www.lieslwalsh.com

Image Credits
Liesl Walsh