Artist Betsy Mae

In this artist interview, Patrick chats with the talented Gen Z artist, Betsy Mueller (Betsy Mae), who has transformed her painting hobby into a booming business. Betsy shares her journey from discovering painting during the COVID-19 pandemic as a high school freshman to cultivating a strong social media following and developing a successful art business on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Etsy. Learn about her unique style, business strategies, and how she balances her art career with her college studies in finance at the University of Miami. Gain insights into her marketing tactics, the importance of connecting with her audience, and future plans for her growing enterprise.

Podcast Transcribe

Betsy Mae: I think it must be something with the algorithm or maybe this is just what people liked, but the ones that were selling really well were not the ones I expected to sell well. A year before that, I had tried to sell originals on Etsy, and that was just going nowhere. But selling prints started to take off— 30, 30,20 prints were selling. So, it was more about finding more customers.

PatrickShanahan: Alright, guys, Patrick from Art Storefronts back with you for another artist interview, and I’ve got Betsy Mueller today. I want to call her Betsy Mae because that’s her Instagram handle. It’s totally not right to ask women their age, so what generation are you from?

Betsy Mae: Gen Z.

Patrick Shanahan: I have the extremely talented Gen Z artist Betsy Mae on today. So excited for this interview! I want to start at the top—the origin story. When did you get started in art, and when did you turn it into a business? Secretly, I looked at all your orders, how many emails you brought in, and everything else because I want to have a good, constructive conversation. You’ve managed to hit the ground running immediately, both in terms of sales and your email list. You have 28,000 followers on Instagram already, so you’re clearly cooking with gas, which is not normally the case for artists your age. I’m very curious—give me the origin story. When did this all start, and when did you turn it into a business?

Betsy Mae: I started painting—I never really took art classes. I mean, I took the basic one everyone had to take, but I never took any serious art classes. Then, during COVID, when I had nothing to do, I started painting just for fun. I would look on Pinterest and copy paintings I saw. I ended up really liking it, and it was a good way to pass the time because I needed something to do. I didn’t tell anybody about it because I wanted to wait until I had something to show for it. Maybe two or three years later, people started to like the stuff I was making, so I made an Etsy maybe a year or two ago. I didn’t really do much with it—I didn’t promote it anywhere, and I didn’t make a ton of sales. Then, this summer, I was working as a waitress, but I didn’t have a ton of other stuff going on. I kind of woke up one morning and thought, “I have time right now; I might as well put it towards making art a more serious thing.” So, I did a little research, found Art Storefronts, and it just kind of started from there.

Patrick Shanahan: Wow. And I did a lot of thinking about who my target audience was, how I wanted to promote it, and how I wanted to find my people. You know, people are going to be so jealous right now. I mean, you’re not even out of high school, are you?

Betsy Mae: Oh no, I’m a sophomore in college.

Patrick Shanahan: Okay, so you’re a sophomore in college, and you’ve already nailed your niche. I mean, I saw you’ve got a healthy clip of sales on Etsy. There are a lot of artists who struggle to get to that point. How would you describe your style, and do you think you have a niche?

Betsy Mae: I don’t really know what to say when people ask me what my style is. I kind of give a different answer every time. Sometimes I say it’s fun, silly, a lot of pink—I don’t know. It’s different every time.

Patrick Shanahan: Yeah, I mean, it’s so new for you. You’re still figuring it out. It’s crazy that you’ve already gotten to the level you have on Instagram. I scrolled all the way back through your posts—did you have this account active doing something else before switching it to art?

Betsy Mae: No, it’s honestly kind of crazy how it blew up. I started it in May or June, and I had a TikTok account with about 6,000 followers. I started posting art there, and what really blew it up was posting reels. I started revealing my art every day—just all the backlogged stuff I had. It was easy because I could film them all at once, and since they’re short videos, they just did really well and took off.

Patrick Shanahan: That’s amazing. So, you had TikTok and Instagram—do you prefer one over the other? Because your generation is all about TikTok.

Betsy Mae: I mean, I spend more time on TikTok. I assumed it would be easier to grow on TikTok, but it’s been about the same speed on both platforms.

Patrick Shanahan: Which platform do you think is responsible for more of your sales?

Betsy Mae: I think Instagram is responsible for more sales, but TikTok has a bigger reach. I look at my analytics, and it seems like I get the biggest chunk of views on my website from TikTok, but it also has the highest bounce rate.

Patrick Shanahan: Got it. It’s generational—people on Instagram have more money. Younger people, especially in today’s economy, aren’t ready to start contemplating art on their walls, and that’s mostly the TikTok generation. In the past, I’ve been critical of TikTok, not because I don’t think it’s an incredible platform, but because I want artists to fish where the fish are. There are just more buyers on Instagram. I’m curious—what was your thought process when you found Art Storefronts and signed up with us? When did you realize, “I need to turn this into a business”?

Betsy Mae: I started selling on Etsy, and I felt like there were people who would want to buy my art, but Etsy alone wasn’t the way to find them because it’s such a big marketplace. I hated my job and thought, “I really wish I was spending more time doing this.” So, I started Googling how to start an art business. I didn’t love the quality of the prints I was using before, so I wanted to think about what else I could do. That’s when I stumbled across Art Storefronts.

Patrick Shanahan: Amazing. So, how are you balancing creating art at the rate you are while also being a student, having a social life, and being in college? You’re supposed to be having the best fun of your life, yet you’re dedicated to your art business. How are you balancing that?

Betsy Mae: This summer, I wanted to make sure I got as much done as possible so I’d be set up to not be as focused on it during the school year. I was painting almost every day and posting almost every day. Now, I’m probably going to take it back a little bit because classes have just started, and I need to get into my rhythm.

Patrick Shanahan: One thing I found really interesting is that you started on Etsy and made about 160 or 170 sales. What did that teach you about what items you should be selling and what price points?

Betsy Mae: On Etsy, the ones that were selling really well were not the ones I expected to sell well. A year before that, I had tried to sell originals on Etsy, and that was just going nowhere. But selling prints started to take off— 30, 30,20 prints were selling. So, it was more about finding more customers.

Patrick Shanahan: When you got onto Art Storefronts, what does your lineup look like? What items are you choosing to sell, and what is your range of pricing?

Betsy Mae: I’m still only doing prints and merchandise. The prints start at around $20, depending on the quality of the paper and size.

Patrick Shanahan: What’s your decision for not selling the originals?

Betsy Mae: Part of it is that I wanted to focus on getting a more automated system up and running before dedicating time to selling originals. Also, I spend the year in Miami, and all my originals are at home in New Jersey, so it’s a bit more complicated to sell them.

Patrick Shanahan: That’s really interesting. So, you’re just selling reproductions, and the originals are all parked at home. The more prints you sell, the more value you’re going to drive for the originals. Just out of curiosity, how many originals do you have?

Betsy Mae: Hundreds. My whole room at home is just canvases everywhere.

Patrick Shanahan: Wow. You know, earlier I said, “Do you have any idea how excited I am?” and you were like, “Why?” It’s because when you’re able to build the right practices into an art business at your age, by the time you’re 30 or 40, you’re going to have a massive business on your hands. I love that you’ve already nailed your niche. What’s your college major, by the way?

Betsy Mae: It’s actually finance, but I added entrepreneurship as a minor this summer because I thought it would be helpful for this.

Patrick Shanahan: Amazing. I definitely want to help you adjust your pricing because I think it’s important to have a range—things in the 0 to100 bucket, 100 to 100to1,000, and then your originals should be over $1,000. I think you should get a couple of them in there, even if you don’t intend to sell them right now, because having higher-priced items can help you raise your print prices. I want to dig more into your marketing. How often are you emailing your list, and what size is your list up to now?

Betsy Mae: I think it’s around 200 people, but I honestly focus more on social media because I’m not as well-versed with Mailchimp. I did a sale about a month ago and used it for that, but that’s pretty much it.

Patrick Shanahan: You need to start communicating with the list more. Your generation is past email—it’s all about TikTok and Instagram DMs. Is that a big sales channel for you?

Betsy Mae: I definitely get a lot of DMs about customs and originals. I haven’t made a ton of sales that way yet, but there’s definitely interest.

Patrick Shanahan: How have you approached commissions so far?

Betsy Mae: I’ve done a few for people I know because it’s easier to give it to them instead of dealing with shipping. I need to figure out how to price commissions, though.

Patrick Shanahan: Everyone is like, “How is she this successful already?” You’re breaking all the rules. I’m also curious—how are you approaching your social media marketing in terms of frequency? How often are you posting, and are you doing stories, reels, posts, or all of the above?

Betsy Mae: When I started, I was posting a reveal every day, and sometimes two a day because I had a lot of free time this summer. I can’t keep that up anymore, but I post on my story a lot and use it almost like a Finsta—just posting silly stuff or what I’m thinking about to build a connection with my followers.

Patrick Shanahan: That’s amazing. How do you approach comments? Are you trying to respond to them?

Betsy Mae: I try to respond to them, but sometimes it’s hard when they’re just like, “I love this.” It feels weird writing “thank you” over and over, but I try to respond when I can.

Patrick Shanahan: It’s crazy to think you still have two years of school left. I’m just perplexed because you’ve got this level of success so early. I think there are some things we need to work on, like emailing your list more. Have you ever gone live on Instagram?

Betsy Mae: I’ve experimented with it on TikTok. Sometimes if I’m just painting, I’ll go live because it’s easy, and people kind of like it. I’ll play music, and it doesn’t take a lot of extra effort.

Patrick Shanahan: We need to get you doing more of that. Is the goal to have a job waiting for you as a full-time artist the minute you get out of college?

Betsy Mae: Honestly, when I started, I just wanted to see where it goes. I didn’t have a set plan, but now that stuff is doing well, I’m like, “Maybe I won’t need to work in finance ever.”

Patrick Shanahan: That’s amazing. I think we need to work on some things in the meantime, like adjusting your pricing and letting some of the originals go to see what they’ll sell for. Who is your demographic? Is it mostly women?

Betsy Mae: Yeah, a lot of them are younger, like teenage girls. I get emails like, “My daughter showed me this, and I bought it for her room.” I’ve kept the pricing low because it’s a lot of younger girls.

Patrick Shanahan: That’s a huge demographic. Have you had any commercial outfits or licensing deals reach out to you yet?

Betsy Mae: No, but I would like to look into that. I think it would be really cool.

Patrick Shanahan: I think you should put up a licensing page because your art is whimsical and fun, and it could appeal to purse companies, makeup companies, and other products targeted to that age demographic. What do your parents say about all this?

Betsy Mae: They’re so happy. They always wanted me to take art classes, and now they’re happy that I’m accepting that it’s serious.

Patrick Shanahan: That’s amazing. Were either of your parents artists?

Betsy Mae: My mom does pottery. She used to do it in high school and then stopped, but now she’s doing it all the time. Their taste in art definitely influenced me—they like fun, joking stuff.

Patrick Shanahan: That’s clear across your social profile. What would you say is your biggest struggle?

Betsy Mae: I think it’s just figuring out the next step. I get caught up in checking if my Instagram is growing every day or if I’m making sales every day. I need to stop looking at the day-to-day changes and think bigger picture.

Patrick Shanahan: It’s wild that you have an automated business already while in college. You’ve got this stuff on the website, and the orders come in, get shipped, and you don’t have to touch anything. I think you need to email your list more and regularly be in contact with them. I also think you should hire one of your besties who’s really good at social media to help with posting. What’s your best-selling merch item so far?

Betsy Mae: Phone cases, mostly iPhone cases.

Patrick Shanahan: That’s amazing. If you can build a bond with these little girls, they’re going to grow up with you and keep buying your art. I think you should start aligning yourself with some funny mommy bloggers and do print giveaways to their audience. That’s a good idea.

Betsy Mae: Yeah, I think that would be really cool.

Patrick Shanahan: I want to see more of your personality in the feed. Start posting more about yourself—what you’re into, what you’re doing in college. I think you should also get a couple of originals in the shop and consider using Art Storefronts’ email tools. Do you use anything inside Art Storefronts, like the office hours?

Betsy Mae: I’ve been wanting to, but I just forget every day. I think I need to look at my schedule to see if it conflicts with office hours, but I do want to start using it more.

Patrick Shanahan: Part of me wants you to, and part of me is like, “Just keep doing what you’re doing because you’re plugged into your demo.” But really, you’re inspirational for the next young generation. I’m going to put links to your website, Instagram, and TikTok in the show notes. Where else should I link to?

Betsy Mae: That’s it—Instagram, TikTok, and maybe Pinterest, but I don’t know if that’s necessary.

Patrick Shanahan: I’ll throw your website in the show notes. You guys should follow her—very inspirational. A college-age kid getting it done with a really interesting niche. I’ll check in and make sure you’re following all the rules. In the meantime, if you can graduate college with a huge email list and Instagram following, you’re going to be great.

Betsy Mae: Thank you so much. You gave a lot of good advice.

Patrick Shanahan: Oh, don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of that. I generally don’t shut up. You’re now all over my radar—you’re going to end up regretting this. Thanks, everybody, for listening. Make sure to give Betsy a follow, and we’ll see where she goes. Go Hurricanes!

Betsy Mae: Yeah, Go Hurricanes!

Patrick Shanahan: Thanks, everybody.