How to become a Sketchfab Rockstar: Engage with the Community

This is the fourth post in the Sketchfab Rockstar series which focuses on how to reach a larger audience for your work on Sketchfab.

In this post, we’re looking at how to build stronger relationships with communities.

Don’t forget to check out the other articles in the series too:

If you just published your first work here you may wonder when the traffic will come pouring in. Well, probably it won’t. You have to work on getting noticed and building up a relationship with your fans. Today I’m sharing some basics tips on how to ‘be a good community member,’ which will help your work rank higher on Sketchfab.

First of all: be active within the Sketchfab and other communities; don’t just focus on your own work, but engage with other artists as well. You can find them by browsing our galleries, following related work or digging into related tags and categories.

Now that you’ve found work that you like, don’t be shy and enter into the conversation! Leave a compliment or a question. Pay attention to the tone of voice and to the artist’s style. Are they asking for feedback? Then it’s fine to leave some well-balanced critique.

Next, follow your favorite artists to receive updates whenever they post new work. As a bonus, following someone will notify that person, too, and there’s a good chance they’ll follow you back!

When people start posting comments on your models, be sure to respond to them. Maybe you’ve asked for critiques? Then you will know that writing good feedback takes a considerable amount of time. Be polite and thoughtful of their effort.

We also just introduced a new Forum into our community. Until now conversations were usually tied to a specific model, which sometimes limited their depth. Now you can also discuss other more general topics, like how you’re using Sketchfab for your work, if your art has been featured somewhere, or if you’re looking for help with a particular 3D application. Becoming an active and visible participant on the Forum can definitely help you increase your status in the community!

Check out the conversations on the models I embedded in this post and think about this: every time someone posts a comment, people will receive a notification. This brings your work back to their attention.

Of course, working on a new project may take a considerable amount of time. If you want to keep your followers engaged and solicit their feedback, consider publishing ‘work in progress’ models. Use the re-upload feature to update your work, leave a comment to explain what’s new and keep the conversation going.

So far I’ve only been talking about engaging the Sketchfab community, but of course, you can publish your Sketchfab models on other sites too! Numerous art communities and portfolio sites are now offering Sketchfab embedding. Posting your work there may help you connect to a ‘niche’ community of fellow artists that share your interests. See an overview of Web Platforms and Forums where we’re already available.

If you’d like to post on a forum that does not support Sketchfab yet, try to talk to the website owner, and connect them to us—we’re happy to help them add Sketchfab to their site.

Pro tip: sometimes a conversation needs a trigger. Start it off by posting a question, like ‘what is your favorite part of this model?’ or ‘how do you think I can further improve this?’.

That’s it for this week! Next week I’ll be looking at how to get your work picked up by the press.

– Bart

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