Career, She Seeks Joy

I offered to Illustrate People. 300+ People Said Yes.

1 April

“This is the power of social media. Of knowing your product and pitching yourself at the right time in the right place to the right people.”

It’s been 1 month since an oh-so-innocent post in a Facebook group.

I didn’t expect to receive 200+ comments with photos, stories, and requests. I didn’t expect the first Venmo payment sent as a friendly “thank you.” I certainly didn’t expect other artists in the group to piggyback off the demand I’d unwittingly generated.

Encouraged by the HUGE response, I started an Instagram account to share my new digital artwork.

And because I’m an analytics nerd, I wanted that first 100 followers ASAP. So I offered a giveaway when I reached that first milestone (it happened in 2 weeks).

A second post in another Facebook group — this time for paid commissions, no more freebies — combined with the DMs to my new Instagram, and I had 30 potential new orders in a matter of days.

Digital illustrations by Morgan Pashen for She Seeks Joy Shop

This is the power of social media. Of knowing your product and pitching yourself at the right time in the right place to the right people.

Of course, this meant I had a month’s worth of art projects roll in all at once, and I was ill-equipped to handle the workflow. But I got right to work, attempting 2–3 illustrations a night.

What had begun as stretching some atrophied artistic muscles during COVID quarantine had turned into a full-blown side hustle.

Working out the kinks in those creative muscles, I realized I had some repair work to do on my social media muscles, too.

And maybe that’s just what I needed. A refresh.