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And if you prefer to watch a video of the answers, see video below on my YouTube Channel :
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The Q&A in text format
Is it true that “when you’re starting as an artist, you should be charging minimal to get commissions”?
Not true.
It is shit advice given by those who didn’t make money when they started & are trying to maintain that shit status quo by giving younger artists bad advice.
You’re not going to get commissions because you are cheap. Calculate your CODB, research the market, get on a consulting call with an art consultant & ask them for advice. Stop listening to those who don’t know their elbow from their ass.
Best online portal to learn Photoshop for photography in your opinion.
I don’t know! It’s been many years since I’ve seen a Photoshop tutorial. I mainly used Lightroom for 90% of my photography work. I use Photoshop for re-touching : things like cleaning up skin, removing dirt, removing objects etc., which is rare. Mostly, I’d say that it’s a lot of self practice within Photoshop. If you have specific questions, best to do an Internet search. Photoshop is an insanely detailed work of software art. You can imagine how extensive the tutorials must be!
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How are you so quirky & fantastic?
Yaar. I love compliments. Thank you. And the answer is that I don’t know how I am who I am. I don’t even know who I am. I know I’m a little bit crazy, a little bit nice, a little paranoid, a little horny, a little enthu-cutlet, a little old-aunty advice giver, a little art, a little photography, thoda pyaar, thoda gussa etc. etc. etc. Gaadi chal rahi hai, hum phikr ko dhuein mein uda rahey hain. Next!?
Do you know of any PR Agencies / Companies to help new influencers grow and build social media presence?
Sorry I don’t. I imagine that most PR agencies should be able to do this though. I’ll tag a few that I’ve interacted with when they approached me on behalf of brands. @WordsWorkPR @MirabilisInc @PRPundit
Can you suggest a good art consultant & how much do they charge?
I can only refer you to the one I’ve spoken with. My conversation with him was helpful when I got in touch with him. I think I’m going to need another conversation soon. Alan Bamberger. He’s based out of the USA & his rates are mentioned on his website. His website is also a gold mine of information. This time around, I’ll try talking with a few art consultants & then deciding a course of action.
When are you coming back?
Haha. Abhi ek hangover toh utra nahin, doosre ka plan ban raha hai. If the situation remains stable (borders / air travel etc), then before end of August, I shall be back ♥️
How do you maintain such a beautiful & aesthetically pleasing feed?
Why thank you! It’s a function of having 800-900 images to choose from. I have a massive Google Drive folder where I store some of my own favorite photographs & I use them where there isn’t anything exciting happening currently. And of course if I post something today & hate it tomorrow, I simply archive it. Did you know that I’ve manually deleted over 12,000 Instagram posts from my feed? Hah.
Do you think PR Agencies & Influencer Connects can help fashion labels grow right now?
Absolutely yes. The level consumption for some products / services has gone down, whereas for others, it has gone up. PR Agencies & Influencers were always supposed to assist in the brand awareness process, which they can still do now during this pandemic. No matter what the world is going through, one has to be clear about what role different marketing & brand-building channels play. Do not confuse sales with likes and magazine articles. What does growth look like for a fashion brand right now? Sales ARE happening but not as much.
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What is #NAINAMAMA? : “Naina’s Monday Ask Me Anything”.
Having used the “Ask Me Anything” questions box on Instagram Stories over the last few years, I’ve considered doing it in a more structured way and I’ve observed that a lot of the questions are repeated. The repetitiveness is understandable because of the nature of Instagram. Stories are gone after 24 hours and not everyone gets to see them. This is not only a waste of my time, but also a loss of information that someone might find useful. I have, indeed, considered saving these stories as “Story Highlights” on my Instagram profile but I do not like how they eat up valuable real estate. Someone visiting my Instagram profile for the first time, sees my profile photo, my statistics, my bio and then an entire row of Story Highlights and THEN they get to the real reason they are likely to engage with me : my work. Without the Story Highlights, they can see six posts and 1/5th of another three. With the Story Highlights they can only see the first three posts in their entirety, which, to me, is unacceptable.
Every Monday, I will put up the Q&A box on my Instagram Stories and attempt to answer about 5-10 questions. I will also document those questions on my blog, similar to today’s blog post.