We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erin Donahue Tice. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Erin below.

Hi Erin, thanks for joining us today. Do you manage your own social media?

Currently I manage my own social media accounts (Instagram and Tik Tok). I have used a (very) part-time intern over the past six months or so to help me with some Canva images, but I am also pretty well-versed in Canva, so sometimes I do that part myself as well. I have handled my own social media since day 1 (2018), and I find that it has served me well. At this point in my career, I need to spend about 2-3 hours a day on it, creating and uploading content, interacting with my followers, and commenting on others’ accounts. I find that my followers like to know there’s a real person behind the account, especially since I am an artist and my art is a vessel for connection. I also enjoy having that direct line of communication to my followers and collectors. It helps me understand what they are looking for, what trends are happening, and to be able to openly and honestly get feedback. Maybe at some point if my brand continues to grow it will become harder for me to manage my day-to-day social media channels, but for now it’s a massively important part of my business and my responsibilities on a daily basis.

Erin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started painting in 2018 as a form of therapy after my second son was born. I had two sons under two and had recently left my job in corporate PR to focus on being a full-time mom. It was rewarding but very debilitating at the same time. I started to really love painting. Actually, I started to really NEED to paint. Every night I would sneak out to my home studio in our back guest house and get to work. Eventually I decided to give it a go at selling my work and soon enough I was selling my paintings in Texas and beyond. This year I expanded my business to include textiles, wallpaper, plates, pillows and more home decor items.

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

My audience on Instagram has been a work in progress since I launched it in 2018! I joined Instagram after the algorithm had drastically changed, and it was REALLY hard to gain followers. I remember doing such a happy dance when I got to 1,000 followers. And then 10,000 was such a turning point. But the way I built my audience was this:

1. Consistency. I show up. I have rarely gone a day without posting. I show my face. People know me. Or feel like they do. I share not only what I sell, but what I’m doing, my POV on things in the world, and I try to be a little tongue in cheek. If you aren’t showing up consistently, you can’t expect to grow.

2. Try new things. Whenever IG launches new tools – i.e. Reels, I try to go all in. Now reels are a huge part of my strategy and I’m doing one or two a day. I have studied what works and what doesn’t and I follow a lot of social media experts to glean advice. Sometimes I’m throwing spaghetti at the wall, but I’m always wanting to try new things to see what works.

3. Be REAL. I think followers appreciate that I am a real person. I share thoughts and feelings and points of view. Sometimes I lose followers because of it. But I don’t apologize for being who I am. I try to own it. I try to be real and raw. Sometimes life is hard and I share that with my followers, because everyone is going through SOMETHING, and I think it feels nice to connect with an honest person who isn’t always trying to sell you something (although that’s important too!).

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I have a VIP email list where I send out regular updates to my clients. I also have a blog I’ve been writing for the past 18 months or so. I try to update it with relevant content – tastemaker interviews, what I’m cooking during the week, trips I’ve been on. I also try to engage and interact directly through DM with clients. I don’t hide behind my handle – I’m vocal and engaging on a daily basis. I also send VIP clients special discounts, and have even sent them hand-written notes for the holidays. I try to treat my most loyal customers like GOLD. As they say ” make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other’s gold.” Your most loyal clients should be treated with care. They are the ones who will keep coming back.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.erindonahuetice.com
• Instagram: @erindonahueticeart