What to post on Instagram?

Patrice Lemée

Patrice Lemée

Joined
Aug 13, 2002
Messages
5,703
What are you guys interested in seeing?

Started an Instagram account a couple months ago after realizing that it was a good way to let people see what you are doing and more and more even surpassing a static website. Not a lot on there for now but I planned on going full time next year and will have a lot more to post then. Thing is, I read that it was not a good idea to post unfinished work. But I like posting in progress stuff as well as shop work or other projects I have going on.

So back to my question, what do you guys want to see? Just knives? Just finished ones? Are you interested or annoyed by let's say shop (machining, welding, the shop itself...) work. How about things loosely related to the craft, like jewelry making or sculptures (metal)?

I personally would love to be able to share everything that happens in the shop as I find it the best way to get a glimpse into the creative process of an artist. (Wow did I really call myself an artist. Getting a big head there Patrice. :o) Plus working long hours alone in the shop, it is nice to be able to bring you guys in with me now and again. But for it to be sharing, people first have to be interested.

Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
 
I would love seeing the process of knives being made! There are a lot of knife makers out there on instagram who also post pictures and videos of the process of which their custom knives are made
 
I'm not a knife maker but I'm an artist and have had relative success on Instagram. I have over 2,300 followers and the last video I posted of my work got over 350 likes. It might not sound like much to some people but that's actually kind of hard to do on Instagram these days.
Here are my suggestions:
-absolutely post in progress shop photos and videos of your work. That's what Instagram is for, it makes people feel like they are involved and part of your process and they start to feel connected with you and your work.

-keep a relative focus on a subject that you post, I.e. If you are a knife maker post knife making related content. There are knife makers out there who post way to much personal stuff no one cares about like pictures of food, damage done to their inlaws house by contractors, their dogs, babies, Birthday cards their wife made them, etc... To put it bluntly no one cares about that stuff but them. If people view your feed and see all that random personal crap they don't care about they won't follow you. People want to know that if they follow you when ever you pop up on their feed its going to be something they are interested in, not some dumb stuff only you care about

- when people make comments and ask questions it is good to respond to them. (Unless it's something stupid or annoying) to do this write your response and @ their name to notify you responded , otherwise it seems like you are ignoring the people who are interested in your work
- if you have a friend or like a product or company @ them in a post and say something about them, that will drive traffic to their Instagram and they will hopefully want to repay you and do the same which will drive traffic to you... It's a great networking tool

- don't be afraid to like other people's posts and pictures a lot, this endears them to you and you start getting a lot of love back and more followers etc... Which means you will show up on more feeds ...

That's the science as I see it, it's taken me 3 years to learn that and I hope that info helps you out ... Instagram is far superior to Facebook or websites as far as networking , getting yourself out there, and keeping people up to date on your work ... Which can turn into sales and exposure.
 
Patrice Lemée;15524649 said:
What are you guys interested in seeing?

Started an Instagram account a couple months ago after realizing that it was a good way to let people see what you are doing and more and more even surpassing a static website. Not a lot on there for now but I planned on going full time next year and will have a lot more to post then. Thing is, I read that it was not a good idea to post unfinished work. But I like posting in progress stuff as well as shop work or other projects I have going on.

So back to my question, what do you guys want to see? Just knives? Just finished ones? Are you interested or annoyed by let's say shop (machining, welding, the shop itself...) work. How about things loosely related to the craft, like jewelry making or sculptures (metal)?

I personally would love to be able to share everything that happens in the shop as I find it the best way to get a glimpse into the creative process of an artist. (Wow did I really call myself an artist. Getting a big head there Patrice. :o) Plus working long hours alone in the shop, it is nice to be able to bring you guys in with me now and again. But for it to be sharing, people first have to be interested.

Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
Click to expand...

I most like to see the process of making , from pieces of steel to the finished knife .In this way I find out more about the quality of product and knifemaker
 
I think people like to see WIP shots, I post both in progress and finished. I think its a good thing people see what all goes into making them, plus its good networking with other makers.
 
Buckberg said:
I'm not a knife maker but I'm an artist and have had relative success on Instagram. I have over 2,300 followers and the last video I posted of my work got over 350 likes. It might not sound like much to some people but that's actually kind of hard to do on Instagram these days.
Here are my suggestions:
-absolutely post in progress shop photos and videos of your work. That's what Instagram is for, it makes people feel like they are involved and part of your process and they start to feel connected with you and your work.

-keep a relative focus on a subject that you post, I.e. If you are a knife maker post knife making related content. There are knife makers out there who post way to much personal stuff no one cares about like pictures of food, damage done to their inlaws house by contractors, their dogs, babies, Birthday cards their wife made them, etc... To put it bluntly no one cares about that stuff but them. If people view your feed and see all that random personal crap they don't care about they won't follow you. People want to know that if they follow you when ever you pop up on their feed its going to be something they are interested in, not some dumb stuff only you care about

- when people make comments and ask questions it is good to respond to them. (Unless it's something stupid or annoying) to do this write your response and @ their name to notify you responded , otherwise it seems like you are ignoring the people who are interested in your work
- if you have a friend or like a product or company @ them in a post and say something about them, that will drive traffic to their Instagram and they will hopefully want to repay you and do the same which will drive traffic to you... It's a great networking tool

- don't be afraid to like other people's posts and pictures a lot, this endears them to you and you start getting a lot of love back and more followers etc... Which means you will show up on more feeds ...

That's the science as I see it, it's taken me 3 years to learn that and I hope that info helps you out ... Instagram is far superior to Facebook or websites as far as networking , getting yourself out there, and keeping people up to date on your work ... Which can turn into sales and exposure.
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Very well stated
 
People love WIP stuff. A lot of stuff I build gets spoken for when they see it in process.
Instagram is an awesome tool for the modern knife maker and collector alike.

I get some people don't do social media (collectors in particular), that's cool. Instagram is different, follow only who you like and keep your profile private. You get to see what your favorite makers are working on and their processes. And sometimes have the chance to snatch up something cool. I highly recommend it.
 
I have noticed if your life is full of tragedy and hopeless bad luck you do tend to get a lot of followers watching the drama lol

I like to post and see knives, wip and pretty much anything shop related.

I will give you a follow I am @vigilcustomknives on instagram

Look forward to seeing your stuff.
 
I post lots of WIP pictures as well as finished knives. If you see something that is completely unrelated to knife making but it's still cool, post it! I like to use the app where you can put more than one picture in a post, I think Instagram owns it, it's called Layout. I'm rougemont_forge btw, I'm definitely looking forward to see more of your work!
 
Photos of your knives being used in the field are great!

People like to see the human side of the makers, but it's easy to accidentally make it boring as others have said. Avoid too much mundane, but do post pictures of your products after dressing game for example.
Or help out in the kitchen on day if there's something particularly delicious to slice up.

The instagram: knifefanatics is one of the few users I've seen so far, check out what they're doing.

Good luck!
 
finally got an iphone and am able to get in and check instagram out. It's really cool, way less bs floating around in there than facebook. The interface makes it easy to put whatever you like in there, except for those stupid, ignorant memes that get passed around facebook.
There's another thread up in here that talks about admirable human qualities, especially as they pertain to knife makers, and instagram provides a good platform for people to express who they are by what they do, without getting all caught up in politics, religion etc. To my way of thinking, Patrice, anything goes. Instagram's a good opportunity to get an insight into who you are to your followers, without going too deep.
That said, I like seeing a little video of your knives, the work in progress stuff, and your shop and tools. But if you like sharing videos and photos of your pets, your lunch, your family outings and whathaveyou, that's good stuff, too.
 
I have yet to determine the usefulness of Instagram.
I registered so I could link to Facebook with quick little videos and pictures of life at Andersen Forge.
I watched as my followers #s increased - they were nearly all knife makers, so I'm preaching to the choir right now.
I'm stuck living about 24 miles from town, and when I haven't made it to the store for a while, the only place to get food is about 5 miles away at a truck stop.
I do add this for humor - when I posted up my truck stop lunch photos three days in a row - my followers # went DOWN!!
I got a kick out of that.
 
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BenR.T. said:
People love WIP stuff. A lot of stuff I build gets spoken for when they see it in process.
Instagram is an awesome tool for the modern knife maker and collector alike.

I get some people don't do social media (collectors in particular), that's cool. Instagram is different, follow only who you like and keep your profile private. You get to see what your favorite makers are working on and their processes. And sometimes have the chance to snatch up something cool. I highly recommend it.
Click to expand...

Listen to this guy and check out his instagram - he knows what he's talking about.

I'm not making knives professionally right now but I have an Instagram for my woodworking business, and I get a decent amount of customers through instagram. In progress shots are great, as long as they are pretty in line with an overall theme. It's not super important to restrict yourself to an aesthetic right away, I think you can settle into one when you get used to posting regularly, but it is important that your photos are clear, tasteful, not too busy, etc.
if you don't care about speaking to your customers and potential customers then none of the above matters, you can just follow people whose work you are interested in and use it for inspiration.
 
Karl B. Andersen said:
I do add this for humor - when I posted up my truck stop lunch photos three days in a row - my followers # went DOWN!!
I got a kick out of that.
Click to expand...

I follow instagram for photography and too many food pictures would make me lose interest. It's the same way for a lot of people who use instagram for something more than "another facebook/twitter"
On the flipside you'll find people who want to see food pictures, and dogs/cats, friends, family, etc.

People choose who to follow by catagory. I can pretty easily identify each person i follow under a catagory.
Something like:
Friends/Family - 20%
Technology/Space/Military - 25%
/NationalForest/Nature - 25%
Photography/Travel - 30%

I think people here would enjoy the Government accounts like usinterior (national parks service) usfws (us forest and wildlife service) knifefanatics (duh) usgs, deptofdefense
 
Work of any kind gets a lot of likes folks really like seeing my damascus pics put I just try and have fun if folks see your having fun with your post they will want to see more I throw hawks in the shop at my anvil stump. short videos of forging steel and the knives I am working on. have fun I will follow .
 
I think Instagram is a great way to show the process of knifemaking!
You can take pics in the workshop and show W.I.P.s or user pics.
I show on my account (fetting_messer) ideas, wip's, finished products and thanks to #keywords you can reach loads of people.

Instagram is a good way to keep your webpage updated, as there are modules that will show your latest pics on your website.

Regards
surfer
 
I like instagram a lot. I like it because its not like Facebook with nonsense that comes with it. I show off a cool blades I collect or one I have made . Some fools buy likes I have noticed but if that is what they have to do to feel important than have at it. Keep it short and sweet .... I don't want hear about your whole day but a 10 second video or a few pics and I will give you a follow.
 
definitely don't "buy" likes or followers by any other means than being discovered by people who are actually interested...bought followers will water down your % engagement which can affect the way instagram suggests your account and images to new people...keep it real, keep it legit!

instagram.com/islandblacksmith
 
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