APLACEFORSAINTS.
Do you know what an Archive Page consists of? Have you ever heard of the Archive community? A new digital way to build an audience and captivate the attention of people who are into the same type of art that you are into; let’s dive into it…
I had the pleasure of speaking with St.Cntrl (Saint Central) all about the archive community and how she uses it to build a community of like-minded people, through short-term content & podcasting.
St.Cntrl has been creative her entire life, as she recalls. She has always had an interest in the arts and loves to connect with like-minded people who share the same drive. Her interest in the archive community kind of just happened without conscious choice.
Saint mentions, “When I was 19, I kind of wanted some resource to let my creative spark find an outlet because I didn’t have much time or money to do anything. Then, I kind of found this page @444topia and saw what he was doing. I thought to myself, ‘Self, I kind of want to do something similar,’ and it kind of just opened up a whole new doorway for me.”
Within the past three years of creating art through her archive page, St.Cntrl has found that her page has been constantly growing and changing as she grows as an individual.
When you are starting out as an artist, it can be hard with no money or resources coming in. Allowing yourself to get innovative and using social media as an asset to create the visions that you have in your head and using it as a gallery to inspire others is a beautiful way to get your foot in the door with the creative community around the world.
During our conversation, St.Cntrl and I got into the misunderstandings that one may have when it comes to creating an archive page on social media.
What people don’t realize is that it DOES take time, energy, and effort to build. Saint mentions, “From a consumer’s point of view, I get that it may look easy, but it’s not. There is a lot of data and analytics involved, as well as reading the algorithm. At the same time, you are trying to find content that adheres to it but still aligns with your aesthetic. You are using your archive page as a tool, but it needs to align with the algorithm.” says Saint.
So, it sounds like there has to be a balance between what you envision and what people consume every day on the internet. This can be hard and start to feel like a job. Content creation takes a lot of mental effort and requires understanding the cultural trends and what people are engaging with.
For someone wanting to dive deeper into building an archive page, what would be your advice to them?
“DON’T HAVE YOUR ARCHIVE PAGE JUST A MOODBOARD.” Saint mentions, “If you do succeed and the algorithm picks your page up, that is cool. But with no personal touch to your page, you will more than likely be that ‘one-hit celebrity,’ 15 minutes of fame type of deal. You’re not going to build that loyal community toward you and your page. Instead, you will have people engaging and feeding off of others’ creativity that you post on your page.”
Sounds that it is so important when building out your archive page to have your own personal touch and knowledge that you feed to your audience. This way, people can get to know you and build trust with the person that is running the page. This will allow room for an opportunity to transition into building a brand out of your archive page if that is what you desire to do. “You have to personalize your Instagram page somehow,” says Saint.
She gave us some successful archive pages that we can all look at and gain some understanding and inspiration to building out a personalized page.
Give your audience knowledge based content to build trust and a loyal community.
With your personal Archive Page, where are you wanting to take it within the next year?
St.Cntrl explains that at first she really just wanted to find an aesthetic that was already in her head, while reaching others that could relate to the creativity she was presenting. While doing this, it grew into Saint dreaming about building a brand out of her page, selling clothing, accessories, and so much more. And then that grew into her realizing how much potential her platform actually has with endless ideas. Saint is currently working on building St.Cntrl as this well-known entity that has multiple projects and is very community-based. One of her main goals is to be able to build a successful community where she can have a position in the creative world. She hopes to be able to sell her own art one day through her platform. Endless possibilities. :]
As a creative what inspires you to keep going?
“I don’t think I really have a choice in it,” Saint tried not to create for a year and later found out how much misery that brought to her life, while not creating. She is really focusing on being able to monetize her platforms so that she can create even more. “In order to do that, I have to build the proper foundation,” Saint states. “It’s the journey that keeps me motivated.”
So we find, archive pages are an intriguing way to build a platform and name for yourself.
Click to give St.Cntrl a follow on Instagram
CREATETHEWORLDAROUNDYOU. <3
Creative writing through experience, passion, and vision.
co-founder @wakebtb
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