By Rodney Laws, Guest Blogger - Every industry was affected heavily by the outbreak of COVID-19, and art is certainly no exception. So much of the art world has typically revolved around in-person demonstrations and sales. Museums and galleries have always worked through bringing in foot traffic, with money made through selling entrance tickets, refreshments, and gift-shop items. Then there are street performers (caricaturists, for instance) who have always made money through tips.
At the moment, the continued need for social distancing (along with the lingering fears concerning travel) means that even those places that can afford to open are finding it hard to attract interest. The artists, though, do have options, and they have drawn upon them (no pun intended) to keep afloat during the past year. By operating online, they can still make money doing what they love.
Trying to succeed exclusively online as an artist presents a very different challenge, though. The tactics required for reaching the right people (and ultimately prospective clients) are largely distinct. In this post, we’re going to look at four solid strategies an artist can use to grow their brand and attract some interest online. Let’s get started.
Use a combination portfolio and store
Taking client work is often the typical way of making a living as an artist, since you have clear creative direction and set terms. It is simply a matter of receiving and fulfilling a brief: you don’t need to worry about the commercial viability of what you are producing. But that doesn’t mean that should be the only way in which you make money. The more routes you have to profit, the more stable your financial situation can become.
Due to this, it is a great idea to build an ecommerce store that’s also your portfolio. You don’t even need web-design skills to create such a store these days. If you already have an art blog in WordPress (the platform that dominates blogging), you can install a free plugin called WooCommerce (take a look at this WooCommerce review) and start selling products.
Whenever you make a sale, promote it through the blog side of the store: this will reinforce your value as an artist in the eyes of prospective clients. In addition, whenever you pick up a notable client, add their testimonial to your store homepage: this will reassure potential buyers that you’re truly as good as they think you are. It’s a win-win situation.
Get into the habit of asking for referrals
You can’t add testimonials to your store if you don’t have any testimonials, and they don’t tend to appear spontaneously. If you don’t ask for them, you won’t get them — so get into the habit of asking for them. Do this carefully, of course: don’t bug people, come across as desperate, or push them to shower you with more praise than they think you deserve. Just ask politely.
It is a good idea to fold the feedback-collection process into your general client-handling sequence. When you’re wrapping up a project and ensuring that all the details have been handled, you can have an automated email go out to provide a survey (HubSpot has some good tips on this process). You can even throw in some kind of basic incentive to prompt a reply: 10% off their next commission and/or purchase, for instance.
Share your process on social media
People who don’t understand what goes into art can easily end up undervaluing it. You are likely familiar with the common effort to “pay” artists in “exposure”. It is commonplace to joke about at times, but it is a sad indication of how little people understand the difficulty of producing high-quality art. They assume (for some reason) that most artists live frivolous lives of luxury — and those who don’t, well, they should just be grateful to get some attention, right?
To help people accept the complexities of what you do, and show just how good you are, you should combine your blogging efforts with social media comments concerning your process. You don’t need to engage with social media in general, just offer some commentary on how long certain pieces of art take you, sharing progress on art you are currently working on, the decisions you need to make along the way, the obstacles you need to overcome, etc.
In addition, when you have a piece you are particularly proud of, you should enter it into some online competitions, both through social media and other sites. It won’t cost much, and the risk is minimal: if you don’t win, it won’t matter, but it will give you something you can talk about it through social media and get even more attention.
Join a forum of like-minded artists
The best artists tend to support one another because they know that great art should be appreciated and supported and the internet is full of fantastic communities that can help you promote your services. This is something that can go unnoticed due to the assumption that artists will all be hyper-competitive, eager to undermine one another. Not so.
In truth, there is plenty of demand for art, and those who produce it often end up spending some of their money on commissioning it as well. Artists can collaborate on pieces through which they can all profit, and expand their audiences through building professional associations. You also need to remember that great artists never stop learning. However much you’ll learn from your new community, the existing members will learn just as much from you.
And when someone out there expresses interest for art in the exact style that you’ve mastered, you’ll find that other artists will often point them in the right direction, knowing that you’ll do the same for them in return. Put your trust in community spirit. You won’t regret it.
Rodney Laws is an ecommerce expert with over a decade of experience in building online businesses. Check out his reviews on EcommercePlatforms.io and you’ll find practical tips that you can use to build the best online store for your business. Connect with him on Twitter @EcomPlatformsio.
The New Year is a time for artists to look ahead to how they can grow and advance their art careers. Although 2020 is technically behind us, there are still some challenges to overcome as the world continues to work its way out of a terrible pandemic. This has been enormously difficult for everyone but artists and the arts community has been hit particularly hard. However, with the release of vaccines, there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel and it is time for artists to look forward.
At the beginning of every New Year, we post an article with ideas and suggestions for how artists can to make plans for how to kick-start and best to tackle your art career goals in 2020.
Have you set up your art marketing goals for the New Year? If not, the following are 5 things you can do to kick start 2021 and improve your chances of success.
Many of these ideas have been offered up in previous “kick-start” posts but they are elementary and consistently implementing them is not. They are critical for artists if they are to market themselves and their art successfully.
Evaluate & Update Your Website
While the past year has given some artists the time and opportunity to either create or update their websites, for many it has been difficult to concentrate amid the worry of the ongoing pandemic. However, in today’s art world, particularly with all its changes, in order to be taken seriously, it is essential for artists to have a modern, professional, up-to-date website to display their art.
The annual cost to purchase or renew a website domain is typically less than $20. The cost of basic website hosting can be as low as $3-$4 per month. A website is an investment artists need to make a priority in order to be taken seriously.
For those of you who already have websites, if you haven’t reviewed it in a while, now is the time. When was the last time that you went page by page and link by link through it? We all need to do this to find broken links, pages that do not load quickly, graphics, images and other items that have moved, along with pages with misspelled words and similar issues.
The presentation of your art is as important as creating it. Take some time to review your site and make any necessary changes and corrections. Make sure all of the images on your website are sized properly and have a low resolution (a resolution of 72 helps your site load more quickly and protects your art from being copied by unscrupulous people). The images should also be color corrected if necessary, as some cameras and lighting do no always capture an artwork’s true colors. There are many free programs on the internet for this.
Also, do you have better images or graphics to replace what now exists on your website? Do you have new artwork that you just have not had time to photograph and add to your website? Do it.
While checking your images, make sure that they are labeled and tagged properly with good image descriptions. Search engines will only index your images if they have descriptions. By doing this, your images will show up in the image search results and when the images are viewed, viewers will be directed to your art website.
Rewrite/ Update your Artists Bio and Statement
A well-written biography and/or artist statement is also essential for artists and now is the time to review and update them. An artist does not have to be an accomplished writer to create a well-written biography and artist statement, but it is necessary for an artist to have at least one. It is also important to know the difference between a biography and artist statement as many artists mistake one for the other. Please read our article “Comparing an Artist’s Biography to an Artist’s Statement” for clarification.
Also, update your CV by adding any exhibitions, new publications or other pertinent information that has taken place since the last time it was updated.
Use Social Media
Social media has become a part of our everyday lives and is an important platform for all artists to employ in order to help market themselves and their art. Why is this? In our opinion, it is easy to identify and connect with the art community when using social media.
It is also an effective medium because it is a visual and simple way in which to present your art. Particularly now, Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin, Instagram and even Twitter provide artists with opportunities (if targeted properly) to reach viewers who were previously unreachable.
Read our articles “Top 10 Reasons Why Artists Fail with Social Media”, “Using the 70-20-10 Rule to Succeed at Social Media Marketing” by guest blogger James Baxter, and “How to Write Social Media Posts That Sell Art” by guest blogger Frank Hamilton, along with various other social media articles on the LST website, for further advice and instruction on how best to use social media to grow your audience reach.
Press Release Marketing
Press release marketing is a low-cost way artists can market their artwork to a wider range of potential viewers. There are many “Free” press release websites, which take, publish and market an artist’s press release copy. One such site is PRLog.org. PRLog’s free press release submission includes a PDF version to send to your mailing list, a search engine optimized page, hyperlinks in the content, and the option to select location/industry and tag listings. In addition, companies like Star One Public Relations offers press release distribution services for as low as $10.00 for distribution to 70+ press outlets. Read our article “Successful Press Release Marketing for Artists” and 6 Benefits for Press Releases for Artists to help guide you in these efforts. Also check out our article “5 Ways Artists Can Promote Their Art Online” for more ideas.
Start a Blog
Artists should seriously consider starting an art blog as a way to attract and direct additional interested viewers to their art websites. An art blog is a great way to expand an artist’s target audience. It is also an effective platform to help artists market their art.
Read our articles “Top 3 Reasons Why You Should Have an Art Blog” and “How Artists Can Attract Readers to an Art Blog” in order to fully understand the power of a well-executed art blog.
In 2021, we hope you will make at least some, if not all, of these suggestions part of your art marketing efforts. By implementing these recommendations, artists can experience increased traffic to their websites, find more people interested in their art and ultimately, sell more of their work.
However, as with any marketing program, it is important to focus your efforts. All artists should view the marketing of their art to be as important as the creation of it and an art-marketing plan needs to be well planned and performed consistently in order to be successful. Check out our article “5 Tips for Creating an Effective Art Marketing Strategy” by guest blogger Wendy Dessler, for more suggestions.
Good luck and have a creative, successful and prosperous 2021!
By James Baxter, Guest Blogger - Social media marketing for artists includes a specific set of online actions, which provides their fans and followers with the necessary information about the artists, as well as promoting their creativity using the same resources. Such actions can significantly enlarge the target audience due to the popularity and convenience of social networks.
Art and social media can be combined. Thanks to the current development of the Internet and computer technology, an artist can be promoted using Social Media Marketing (SMM) on various social networks. SMM makes it possible to determine which social networks are the most effective for this promotion. However, you should use these online platforms wisely to achieve the desired result.
Today, a sufficient number of different marketing tools are used on social media. The most popular among them are branding, reputation strengthening, and label creation. Obviously, the more widespread a social network is, the easier it is to promote an artist and his or her work. Every artist knows that creativity can be further shared. So, posting of relevant material is one of the most useful formats of communication with the target audience.
Some painters, photographers, and sculptors are trying to sell their works of art by simply advertising themselves using social networks. However, it is not the only way to attract the attention of their admirers and potential collectors. The opposite situation can happen when artists are reluctant to promote their creativity and only the most curious fans can find out something about their recently created masterpieces.
In the both cases, the artist’s profit and potential can be dramatically affected. Earning money is essential for art development, and this is the main task of promotion in social networks. So, how to market your art? It is necessary to find a balance between sales, self-promotion, and honest communication with the target audience. Let’s consider the 70-20-10 SMM rule that can help you become a successful artist.
70% of Content Should Build and Maintain Your Brand
The vast majority of your posts should tell your story and build your recognizable brand. In this way, you can show your personality from another angle. Imagine what you would like to know about your favorite artist: this can give you some useful ideas. Perhaps you have a great sense of humor in addition to your artistic talent. For instance, you can upload an amazing video about what has inspired you to create a perfect artwork.
You can also post photos as you paint a picture or create a sculpture. If you travel from time to time, you can create an album of journey sketches. Likewise, an experienced writer can share an informative article about their amazing life experience. In short, tell people what you feel before, during and after finishing your creation. The main point is that sharing this information can create a special relationship between you and your followers and fans.
Share Information about Others in 20% of Content
This part of the content is not that voluminous, but it means a lot for building your social network and forming valuable relations. You sometimes may want to collaborate with other artists. Use that 20 percent to establish new connections with relevant people and promising artists in related fields.
If a painter or sculptor you know has organized an exhibition, tell people about it. You can also familiarize fans with a side project of your agent or promoter. If you visited a significant art event in your city, tell your followers what you think about it from your personal and professional point of view.
Everything you share with your audience should not be random and accidental. You have to sincerely believe in what you are talking about with your audience. Remember that this is not an advertisement, but a real desire to share something good and needful for your fans and to help your fellow artists gain exposure for their work. Pay it forward by helping others, and goodness will surely return to you.
10% of Content Is For Self-Advertisement
Ads on your social media pages should not take more than ten percent of your total content. Some artists start to shout out about a new work of art seven days a week using social networks. But it is hardly imaginable that somebody will pay attention to it since social media is primarily a communication place, not an advertising platform.
Of course, if you managed to create something special, be sure to announce it. But instead of asking your audience to buy a piece of your artwork, inquire of your fans and followers what they liked the most about it and why. Use this feedback to grow as an artist and to target potential collectors and buyers. Also, use social media to direct fans to your website to see more of your art and hopefully buy a piece of your artwork.
Conclusion
You should try to use social media for promoting your art in a meticulous way to reach your target audience. More so, if you want to use such online opportunities effectively, you need to be a sincere, engaging, and understanding professional in your field. Your target audience will see your personality and feel a much greater connection with you. Finally, do not forget to thank your fans for all their support of you and your art career.
James Baxter is professional ghostwriter and editor at write my essay, who loves sharing his experience and knowledge with readers. He has been working as a SMM specialist at the art gallery for a year. He is especially interested in marketing, blogging and IT. James is always happy to visit different places and meet new people there.
by Frank Hamilton, Guest Blogger - Over the years, the popularity of social media has skyrocketed, and the influence it has on shaping perceptions and habits can no longer be denied.
Social media marketing for artists has become an essential aspect of their online marketing strategy, which they use to reach a wider audience and generate more sales.
In this article, we will be showing you how to write social media posts that will help sell your art.
1. Use The 3 W’s In Drafting Your Post
You have probably heard that content is king, but content without a substantial purpose is just a waste of time. To create excellent content, you must first ask the following questions:
These questions are called the three W’s. Your social posts should have a clear objective, and that objective should be clearly stated. This is because when your intended audience sees the content, it has to be something they will find beneficial.
2. Apply the KISS Principle
Another tip on how to use social media to sell art is to use the KISS principle. KISS stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. Keeping it simple is not all about the post being short. While you may hear people say that the shorter the content, the better, a recent BBC Study debunked this claim as a myth. Instead, we advise that you keep your social post simple to understand.
3. Tell A Story With Your Post
Storytelling is a very effective social media marketing tool for promoting artists and their work. Creating social posts that tell stories is a fun and engaging way to sell artwork. Studies show that storytelling as a marketing tool can boost your post-conversion rate.
Here are some tips in using storytelling in social media marketing for artists:
4. Use Words that Evoke Emotions in Your Potential Buyers
The best salesmen know that making sales is not only about selling a product; it is about selling a feeling/emotion. This knowledge is even more critical in sales of art. Therefore, when creating social posts to sell your art, infuse strong emotional words in your copy that will resonate with your target buyer.
5. Understand The Difference Between "Active" and "Passive" Voice
In thinking of how to use social media to sell art, you need to think of engagement and nothing is more engaging than using active voice in your social posts. For example, use “Tom painted the entire portrait …” as opposed to “The entire portrait was painted by Tom”.
There are several advantages of using an active voice over a passive voice, and they include:
6. Always Use CTA
If you are new to social media marketing, CTA, which stands for Call To Action is an action trigger that you infuse into your post, which will ask, tell, and remind your readers to take a specific action. For example, for a post with the main focus of selling one of your artworks, your CTA could be “click the link in our bio to purchase this piece.’
7. Make Use Of Hashtags
Using hashtags ensures that your post gets a broader reach. This is vital because when you spend a lot of time creating a post, you want to ensure it reaches a broader audience. Therefore, using hashtags will help give you this result. Think of hashtags as keywords for social media. They help people searching for what you are offering to find you easily.
A few tips on using hashtags:
Conclusion
Implementing these few tips in your next social post should give you your desired result of reach, engagement, and sales conversion on your artwork. However, if you need assistance there are several websites such as Online Writers Rating, which provide custom writing services. These types of sites are perfect for finding professionals who have experience in writing social media posts that sell.
Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.
The Coronavirus pandemic is affecting all of us. For artists, like everyone, it has led to the loss of income and cancellation of events and opportunities. No one’s lives have gone untouched by this pandemic but there are many things that we, as artists, can do while we are self-isolating. Below are 10 things artists can do to remain creative, positive and inspired during this time:
1. Continue Creating Art
This is the most important thing an artist can do. Although being stuck at home can be challenging, all that extra time can be an opportunity. Use it to jump-start your creativity. Start a new piece of art or try to finish one that has been giving you trouble. Just continue to create!
2. Evaluate and Update Your Website
At the beginning of every year, we always recommend that artists evaluate and update their websites. For those that have not had the time to do so, this is the perfect opportunity. Keeping your website current, with your current work highlighted, is essential for artists, now more than ever as people will have more time on their hands to surf the internet looking for positive things to view.
3. Evaluate and Update Your Portfolio
Similarly, like evaluating and updating your website, we also recommend artists evaluate and update their portfolios.
4. Review and Update Your Biography & Artist Statements
Life is ever changing and it is important for artists to keep their biographies and artist statements up to date. Also, update your CV by adding any exhibitions, new publications or other pertinent information that has taken place since the last time they were updated.
5. Maintain and/or Grow Your Social Media Presence
Just because you are confined to the house doesn’t mean you can’t show your art to others. Keeping active on social media is a good way to connect with other artists as well as collectors. Keep your art in the forefront of their minds so that when this is over, or even before, you might be able to generate some sales.
6. Take a Virtual Museum Tour
It is important to remain inspired and active during this time of self-imposed (and for some forced) isolation. Museums from around the world are now offering online virtual tours. Visit these museums and be inspired to create more art.
7. Reach out to Friends and Family for Support & Ideas
Physical isolation does not need to also be social isolation. Keeping in touch with others is what is going to get us through this. We need to stay positive and we need the support of friends and family to do so. Reach out and run idea for a new painting by a friend or family member. Get feedback on a piece you’re currently working on and share it once it is completed. This will not only keep you inspired to keep working but will give your family and friends something to look forward to.
8. Take an Online Art Class
Many universities, art teachers and websites are offering free online art classes right now. From Art History to painting, drawing and photography classes, there is something for everyone to get inspired, continue creating and maybe even learn something new.
9. Reach out to Your Collectors
If for no other reason, just to touch base and wish them well. Perhaps send an email and invite them to see your new work on your newly updated website (see point #2 above). They are already fans of your work and perhaps it might inspire them to purchase a new piece, particularly if you decide to offer a discount or limited-time sale.
10. Research & Apply for Art’s Grants & Small Business Relief Programs
Many organizations are now offering grants for artists and small business relief programs. There are many that are geared specifically for artists and the arts community. Apply for any and all that you think you might qualify for. The worst that can happen is they can say no.
We at the Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery are also affected by this pandemic. Like so many others, our lives and livelihoods are being drastically affected by this global crisis. Our income is dependent on entry fees and during a time of financial crisis, disposable income is reduced. Thus, the gallery’s income is exponentially reduced. Nevertheless, we are committed to continuing our work of helping artists to continue to market their art to a worldwide audience.
How are we doing this? We are continuing to host our online art competitions and exhibitions. We are continuing our marketing and promotion efforts for artists. We are continuing to support and encourage our artists to keep positive and keep creating. And we will continue to be here for all of you as an outlet to share your talent with each other and the world because we must all stick together and support each other in this time of crisis.
In that spirit, although LST was scheduled to increase entry fees by $1 starting with the 10th Annual “Landscapes” Art Competition (opening for entries on April 10th), due to the Coronavirus pandemic - we have postponed the increase in entry fees until June 2020.
While LST continues to have one of the lowest entry fees around, we still recognize that artists have a choice of art competitions and exhibitions to enter and that money is tight for all of us right now. We value and are humbled by the loyalty of our artists and we are committed to maintaining our loyalty and support of them.
Thank you again to all of our artists for being such an important part of our gallery! Stay safe and healthy!
Promoting themselves and their art is an important element of an artist’s marketing strategy. Digital marketing has become more and more relevant in every industry and this is no different in the art world. Online and social media promotion can reach a large audience of potential buyers and collectors and artists should use all avenues at their disposal to promote and publicize their art events and art career success.
Below are five of the most effective ways for an artist to digitally promote and leverage their art career success:
1. Post an Article on Your Website
These days all artists should have a website. A website is an investment artists should make a priority in order to be taken seriously. A web domain costs less than $20 per year and basic monthly web hosting costs as low as $5 per month.
Creating and posting an article on your website detailing information about your art news and/or event can help artists drive more traffic to their websites. Research has shown that artists with art blogs on their websites, where they post articles about news, events and exhibitions, receive more traffic to their websites.
2. Send an Announcement to Your Mailing List
Hopefully, you have been acquiring names and email addresses for people and visitors to your website and social media networks. Send these people a newsletter notice, a copy of a press release or a copy of your website article post.
Invite them to view your art or the event online as well as in person. Provide dates, times, addresses, telephone numbers, and links. Use your winning art as a graphic for the email, newsletter, article post and the press release to generate interest.
3. Create a YouTube Video and Promote It
Create a YouTube Video (Slide Show) about the art, the art exhibition, the opening of the show, etc. There are many free or inexpensive programs you can use to create these videos.
Create a YouTube channel and upload and promote the video to your contacts, networks, and friends. You have the ability to share and distribute the video directly from YouTube.
4. Post Your Event and/or News on Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool for both reaching new fans and staying in touch with established ones. In order to announce your news, event or exhibition, post your article post, press release or YouTube Video on your social media networks multiple times at varying times of the day. Ask your friends to “share” these social media posts too. Be sure the post contains active links back to your website as well as to the art exhibition or event.
5. Create and Distribute a Press Release
Create a professional press release announcing your exhibition success in the third person (as if someone other than yourself had written about this event). Then research online press release distribution companies and select someone to distribute the release for you.
As we have posted in previous articles, there are companies that will distribute a press release for as little as $10.00, depending on the type and amount of distribution that you want. Make sure that the press release targets the art industry and contains active links back to your website as well as to the art exhibition.
In terms of expense, except for the professional press release distribution, the steps above are free, requiring only the artist’s time. In that spirit, starting with the 10th Annual “Botanicals” online art exhibition, the gallery will be providing a new award. We will be gifting our top winning artists, including special merit award winning artists, with a complimentary VIP Membership to Art.base.co. Art.Base produces 100,000 page views per month, 35,000 monthly unique visitors and has 10,000+ newsletter subscribers. With this complimentary account, artists can post their art news and events for free.
Also starting with the 10th Annual “Landscapes” art competition, entry fees will increase by $1, to $15 and $25 respectively. Early registration and the "Solo Art Series" entry fees will also increase $1, as we increase our awards, marketing and promotion efforts on behalf of our artists.
In the coming weeks we will be posting new and updated articles with helpful hints and suggestions for creating professional art press releases. If you are not already on the LST mailing list, please subscribe to receive our newsletter and announcements of new articles and competitions.
There are certainly additional ways in which artists can promote and market themselves and their art. However, we believe the above suggestions are the most effective ways in which artists can digitally promote their art career success.
At the beginning of every New Year, we post an article with ideas and suggestions for how artists can to kick start the new year. Now that the year 2020 has begun, it is time to review the past 12 months and make plans for how best to tackle your art career goals in 2020.
Have you set up your art marketing goals for the New Year? If not, the following are 5 things you can do to kick start 2020 and improve your chances of success.
Many of these ideas are elementary, but consistently implementing them is not. They are critical for artists if they are to market themselves and their art successfully.
1. Evaluate & Update Your Website
In today’s art world, in order to be taken seriously, it is essential for artists to have a modern, professional, up-to-date website to display their art. The annual cost of a domain is typically less than $20. The cost of basic website hosting can be as low as $3 per month. A website is an investment artists should make a priority in order to be taken seriously.
For those of you who already have websites, when was the last time that you went page by page and link by link through it? If you are like most people it has probably been a very long time! I think that if you were to do this with your website you would find broken links, pages that do not load quickly, graphics, images and other items that have moved, along with pages with misspelled words and similar issues.
Is this how you want your website visitors to see your art? Take some time to make these corrections. Also, if you have pages that do not load quickly due to large image files or due to flash and music features, these items should be corrected or removed as people do not have the time to wait on your pages to load. Otherwise, if not corrected you will be losing these valuable visitors to your site.
Make sure all of the images on your website are sized properly and have a low resolution (a resolution of 72 helps your site load more quickly and protects your art from being copied by unscrupulous people). The images should also be color corrected. (There are many free programs on the internet for this.)
Do you have better images or graphics to replace what now exists on your website? Do you have new artwork that you just have not had time to photograph and add to your website? Do it.
Also, while checking your images, make sure that they are labeled and tagged properly with good image descriptions. Search engines will only index your images if they have descriptions. By doing this, your images will show up in the image search results. When the images are viewed, viewers will be directed to your art website.
2. Rewrite/ Update your Artists Bio and Statement
Review and update your Artist Statement and Artist Biography. An artist does not have to be an accomplished writer to create a well-written Biography and Artist’s Statement, but it is essential for an artist to have at least one. It is important to know the difference between a biography and artist statement. Please read our article “Comparing an Artist’s Biography to an Artist’s Statement” for clarification.
Also, update your CV by adding any exhibitions, new publications or other pertinent information that has taken place since the last time they were updated.
3. Use Social Media
Social media is the perfect platform for artists to employ in order to help market themselves and their art. Why is this? In our opinion, it is easy to identify and connect with the art community when using social media.
We also think it is an effective medium because it is a visual and simple way in which to present your art. Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin, Instagram and even Twitter provide an artist with opportunities (if targeted properly) to reach viewers who were previously unreachable.
Read our article “Top 10 Reasons Why Artists Fail with Social Media” along with various other social media articles on the LST website.
4. Press Release Marketing
Press release marketing is a low-cost way artists can market their artwork to a wide range of potential viewers. There are many “Free” press release websites, which take, publish and market an artist’s press release copy. One such site is PRLog.org. PRLog’s free press release submission includes a PDF version to send to your mailing list, a search engine optimized page, hyperlinks in the content, and the option to select location/industry and tag listings. In addition, companies like Star One Public Relations offers press release distribution services for as low as $10.00 for distribution to 70+ press outlets. Read our article “Successful Press Release Marketing for Artists” and 6 Benefits for Press Releases for Artists to help guide you in these efforts.
5. Have Your Art Portfolio Reviewed Professionally
A professional Portfolio Review provides an artist with an evaluation of their art and a critique of how the art is being presented to others. Usually, during a portfolio review, the reviewers provide artists with additional ideas on how they can effectively market their art.
Much like art competitions, a Portfolio Review is an additional way in which artists can have their artwork evaluated and measured against other artists.
6. Start a Blog
Artists should consider starting an art blog as a way to attract and direct additional interested viewers to their art websites. An art blog is a great way to expand an artist’s target audience. It is also an effective platform to help artists market their art.
Read our articles “Top 3 Reasons Why You Should Have an Art Blog” and “How Artists Can Attract Readers to an Art Blog” in order to fully understand the power of a well-executed art blog.
In 2020 we hope you will make these suggestions part of your art marketing efforts. By implementing these recommendations, we believe artists will increase traffic to their websites, find more people interested in their art and ultimately, sell more of their work.
However, as with any marketing program, it is important to focus your efforts and they need to be well executed and performed consistently in order to be successful.
Good luck and have a creative and successful 2020!
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery (LST) is pleased to announce the unveiling of a new logo in honor of our 10th anniversary. The gallery’s website underwent a complete redesign in 2018, refreshing and upgrading the overall look and feel of the website. However, the main logo was not updated at that time.
Founded in 2010, the year 2020 marks the gallery’s 10th year in existence. To celebrate this milestone, we are unveiling a new logo and developing a refreshed and modern brand identity tied to LST’s mission of identifying and “helping today’s artists market their art” to a worldwide audience.
According to Gallery Director, C. David Hoffman, “It was time for the LST logo to get a new look. We have kept the well-known elements of the gradient blue background but have upgraded the color scheme and incorporated the ‘LST’ acronym into the logo. The result is a sleeker and more contemporary logo relevant to the direction we are taking the gallery.”
As one of the longest running online art galleries and the first to offer “themed” online art competitions and exhibitions, LST already stands apart from its competitors in terms of the benefits of the marketing and promotion provided to its winning artists, the value of its pricing and the quality of its exhibitions.
As we embark on a new decade, updating and refreshing the LST logo and brand supports the Gallery’s commitment to providing quality and cost effective competition and exhibition opportunities to new and emerging international artists and its mission of finding new and innovative ways of identifying talented artists and helping them to successfully market their works to the art world.
Throughout 2020, the gallery will be continuing to celebrate this milestone anniversary with new and exciting opportunities, promotion and helpful marketing articles for its artists, including a very special anniversary exhibition in June, which is the month the gallery launched.
We would like to take this time to say thank you to all our artists for being such an important part of our online art gallery. We are only as successful as our artists are and we look forward to the continued success of all our LST gallery artists in 2020 and beyond.
By Wendy Dessler, Guest Blogger - Creating art is a personal experience, which can make it a challenge when you have to sell it. While this is true, there are a large number of artists who want to earn a living from their creative endeavors. There is nothing wrong with that and making art your full-time job is a good strategy.
However, building a business based on any kind of art is not easy or quick. You have to learn how to create an effective art marketing strategy. Instapainting suggests patience when you start marketing your art as you have to allow enough time to build a following to generate a livable income.
You can also use the tips here to help you achieve your art selling goals faster.
1. Create a Schedule
If you are like most artists, you have a process. You follow this process to create the best art possible. If you don’t have a schedule for creating art, you need to set aside time each day (if possible) and at a minimum each week. Creating your art on a regular basis is a good idea.
You will also want to outline time for working on marketing efforts, and create boundaries between this time, and your creative time. Use efficiency strategies like time blocking and the Pomodoro technique to commit to getting things done.
2. Understand Your Art
If you already have a set schedule for making your art, take some time to hone your skills. Be willing to learn new skills and find new ways to improve your art, too. The more you create, the more you will discover the type of art that you like creating the most.
By knowing your favorite style and subject for art, you can effectively market it. After all, if you want other people to love what you create, you have to love it first. You have to remain passionate about what you are creating and willing to commit long hours and hard work to your projects before you see any success.
This is all easier to do when you enjoy what you are making. When you have a passion for what you create, this is going to translate to collectors and buyers, too.
3. Stay Consistent
It takes time to build an engaged audience who takes an active interest in your work. For many artists, the slow build up can be discouraging and make them feel as though social media is a waste of time.
What you should understand is that social media (or any type of marketing, for that matter) is not a magical tool that is going to help you generate sales immediately. Marketing, regardless if you are doing it through social media or another method requires persistent, sustained effort to find success.
Remember, marketing is considered a numbers game. You have to expose your work to as many possible buyers, repeatedly, during the course of not only days or weeks, but also months and years.
4. Find Your Target Market
While this step is a bit more difficult, it is still important. You need to figure out who would be interested in buying the type of art you create.
One of the easiest ways for you to do this is by imagining that all possible collectors and clients are represented by a series of concentric circles. People who are like you are in the middle. For example, if you like drawing realistic pictures of animals, then people who like realistic art and animals are going to be the focal point of your target market.
However, you don’t have to limit yourself to only those people, but they are the best place to begin. The next circle are people who share some (but not all) of your interests. For example, they like animals but not realistic art, or the other way around. You need to market your art to them, as well, even though they are not considered your “core market.”
You can continue adding layers, but remember, the further out someone is from your core market, the less likely they will be to purchase your art.
5. Begin Selling Locally
You need to begin your efforts to market and sell your art locally. This is where people who know you are. Take the time to find and make satisfied customers in your local area. Rather than waiting to have your online marketing strategy sorted out to start building awareness, partake in a few local events to get your name out there. By doing this, you will start to generate interest and word-of-mouth marketing that will benefit your overall marketing efforts. By doing this, you should be able to sell more than only online marketing efforts are going to provide.
Sell Your Art with These Tips
If you are looking for tips and tricks for marketing your art, this list should help you get started. Remember, persistence and patience are your keys to success.
Wendy Dessler is a super-connector who helps businesses find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. She frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing and focuses her efforts on developing customized blogger outreach plans depending on the industry and competition.
by Frank Hamilton, Guest Blogger - As an artist, you want to be able to promote your art with all the tools available at your disposal. The smartest and most cost-effective method is through the use of social media.
Pinterest is a visual social media network that allows users to discover, engage, and share new interests. It is one of the best social media platforms for artists because of its visual nature.
Below are six (6) tips for promoting your work on Pinterest.
1. Make your Pinterest account a Business page
Creating a business account on Pinterest is one of the first ways to promote your art on the platform. This gives you access to indispensable features that the regular account does not have, such as the option to advertise, and analytics.
Being able to advertise your artwork enables your art to reach a broad audience. Analytics is vital because it helps you get proper feedback and gauge what art lovers or Pinterest users find interesting. With this feature, you can view your daily & monthly viewers, daily impressions, and monthly engaged followers.
To create your business account on Pinterest, go to your account where you will see the option to convert your account to a business account if however, you do not have a Pinterest account go to “business.pinterest.com.”
2. Pin your Artwork
Your pins are an essential part of your Pinterest account. You must utilize all the functionalities available to you, which includes a proper title and description.
Getting a lot of views, re-pins, and comments are vital if you intend to reach a broad audience. Reaching a wide audience is paramount to getting more traffic on your website.
A helpful tip when pinning your artwork is your Pin should be tall, not wide, this enables your art to be fully visible at a glance. The recommended ratio for the art you pin should be 2:3.
3. Use Appropriate keywords in your title or description
Pay attention to the keywords you use in the title and description of your Pin. This goes a long way to make sure your work is displayed when Pinterest users are searching for your kind of content. It is important to note that when you use keywords, make sure you do not use spammy keywords.
Before you use any keyword, do your research. It is crucial to decide on the appropriate keyword(s) before you create any content.
An excellent way to decide on the best keyword is to type "art" or other relative words in the Pinterest search bar. Pinterest will bring up a lot of alternative keyword suggestions that are commonly used when people type the word art. This way, you will know the best keywords to use.
4. Add a Call to Action on your Pin
This is a direction/instruction you give to Pinterest users to help decide the next step or action. It is essential to include a call to action when creating your Pin. You can add a call to action either on the image or on the description.
Depending on your goal, your call to action should be structured in a way that users can easily understand and follow. For example, if you want users to get redirected to your website to view your art, you need to add a call to action button that redirects users to your website.
5. Engage with your community and other Pinterest users
Building and engaging with a community on Pinterest is one of the best ways for users to view your art. To build a community, you need to follow other users and lovers of art; this will encourage other users to follow you back. Also, comment and engage with users that re-pinned your art, ask for customers' thoughts, suggestions, and feedback on your art.
6. Pin consistently and at peak times
Consistency is critical if you want to promote your art on Pinterest. Pinning your art or repining other users' images daily drives views to your page. This also helps your board rank high in your desired category on Pinterest.
Pin also at peak times, which for U.S based pinners is in the evening and weekends. You can also pin in different languages by making use of tools such as The Word Point or Google translate. This makes sure your art reaches a broader audience.
Conclusion
Pinterest is a smart way for anyone serious about promoting their art to utilize. It is a very visual social media platform and provides a lot of functionality, which helps with promoting your art.
Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.
This article is the first of several “Guides to Promoting” on social media platforms the we will be posting. In the coming weeks, look for additional articles for promoting your art on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Join our mailing list to be informed of new helpful art marketing articles and our online art competitions.
Instagram has become a very popular social networking site. Today, they have more than 700+ million active monthly users. Think of Instagram as Facebook for pictures. www.instagram.com
With its emphasis on visual communications, Instagram is the perfect medium for artists and art related professionals to market and brand their art. Instagram is an easy platform for an artist to learn and to use to market their art or art-related service.
Posting is done through a mobile device (though you can access your account through a desktop computer).
Here are some helpful tips and hacks to enhance the power of Instagram:
Download the app and choose an account name that gets you close to your art website name or art website URL. Have separate Instagram accounts for personal posting and business posting (much like you would for Facebook personal pages and business pages).
Make sure that you fill out the Bio section completely. You only have 150 characters in which to do this. Also, you are allowed to have an active link back to your art website. Make sure that your art website is included.
Try to post on a daily basis, or at least every other day. Ideas to post would include:
Interact with your growing base of followers and future followers by commenting on and liking their art and posts. You can also direct message people who you want to follow or with whom you want to make contact.
Make sure that you set-up your posts on your Instagram account to automatically post to your Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter accounts.
Instagram allows users to immediately get going and connecting with people by making is easy to have all of your Facebook friends and Facebook followers to become followers on Instagram.
You are allowed to use #hashtags (Keywords) with any of your posts. By using art-related #hashtags, you are helping others to find you and your art more quickly.
You are allowed to use up to 30 #hashtags per post. It is much more effective to use 5 to 10 thoughtful #hashtags related to your post than an overload of tags. (LST will soon have a follow-up article post on the most popular art #hashtags for Instagram).
There are many other beneficial features on Instagram that you will discover over time. The easiest way to get familiar with Instagram is to go to their Help Section https://help.instagram.com where the platform’s features and the working of their dashboard are explained. Also, please read our article post “#Art Hashtags for Artists to Use on Instagram” as a guide for artists who may happen to be new to Instagram.
Follow us on Instagram at www.instagram.com/LightSpaceTime.Art.
The following are some thoughts on what an artist can do to improve their chances of success in the coming New Year. Contained in these ideas are links to additional articles and posts which will explain and detail these concepts more fully for the reader;
1. Check all of the pages of your website to see if they working properly and loading quickly. If you can speed up the loading of your Home Page, this should be done. Besides being annoying to some viewers, slow loading speeds can negatively impact whether your website gets a higher page rank or not. Also, make sure that your website links (internal and external links) are working and that the format of each page is the way in which it was intended to be viewed (for whatever reason, things move, stop working, disappear, images and graphics can suddenly not be viewed).
2. Make sure that all of the images on your website are sized properly, with a low resolution (A Resolution of 72 will help your site to loader more quickly too) and the images should be color corrected as well.
Are there better images or graphics that can be substituted for what now exists on the website? . This should be done in order to get the search engines to index your images (Without image descriptions the images will not be indexed). By doing this, they will ultimately get your images to show up in the search results and when the images are viewed, they will also direct the viewer to your art website as well.
3. Review all written text and images within your art portfolio. Whatever parts of the portfolio can be improved upon should also be done. Are there any new images that you can display? Are there better images that can replace present ones in your portfolio? Try to upgrade and update wherever possible within your art portfolio. Make sure all have titles, sizes and pricing information.
4. Review and rewrite your Artist Statement and Biography. Update your CV adding any exhibitions, new publications and any other pertinent information that has taken place since the last time that it was posted on your website or printed in your portfolio.
5. Review any of your social media accounts, update or complete your profiles. If any of your social media profile images can be improved or upgraded, then they should be done and also add any other new information to those social media profiles as well. Just make sure that whatever is written or is shown on the profiles is spelled correctly and with proper sentence structure.
Remember, a social media profile is almost like having an online resume’ for the whole world to see. The idea of a Social Media Profile is to get people to want more information about you by going to your art website. This is accomplished with a completed, well written and attractive Social Media Profile.
Here are a few other ideas for an artist to try and to follow in the New Year; In order to drive more traffic to your website, an artist should consider starting an Art Blog for the New Year. An art blog helps to brand you as an expert, expands your target audience and ultimately will provide more visitors to your website.
Also, an artist should try to join and set up with as many Artist Registries and Directory Websites as possible in order to also create and direct additional traffic back to their art website.
There are many free Art Portfolio Websites where an artist can join and also expose their art to many more viewers. Whether it is an Artistry Registry, Directory or an Art Portfolio website, any of these platforms will help to direct traffic back to the artist’s website and should be freely employed by the artist.
An artist should start an ongoing online public relations campaign for all important art-related occasions, events, and functions that they are involved in throughout the year. Here is an article that we posted with some ideas to follow; Top 10 Events for Artists to Send Out Press Releases.
If the artist is totally happy with their marketing efforts and with the volume of sales of their art, then all of the suggestions above are totally unnecessary. However, if the artist is disappointed with their results, then we believe that some of these ideas may help the artist to be more successful in 2014.
Happy New Year to all art professionals from the Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery
I often hear this phrase from artists or some variation thereof such as, “If I could Get Discovered, Then My Art Will Sell!” or “If I Could Only Get Discovered, Then I Will Become a Successful Artist”. I am sorry but I am here to tell you that this type of thinking could not be further from the truth and that waiting to be discovered is a sure road to discouragement, ruin, and starvation! Staying in your studio and creating your art does not help you to get discovered, nor does it help you to sell your art.
Today, more than ever, in order for an artist to get “discovered” an artist needs to use every marketing and promotional resource available to them. In addition to the numerous media and marketing platforms, a concentrated and consistent effort needs to be employed by the artist to “get their art out there”. The competition is fierce for any artist who is trying to become successful and instead of waiting for people to come to you, the artist needs to go out and find them. They (Gallery Owners & Directors, Art Reps, Art Buyers & Collectors), are just not going to come and find (discover) you. Artists being discovered this way only happens in books, on television, and in movies. If the artist is not prepared to put in the time and effort to market their art, then they should be resigned to the fact that their art will just become a fun hobby.
Several years ago I wrote an article post titled “Follow the 80/20 Rule to Succeed in the Art Business”. The premise of the article was that in order for an artist to become successful that they should devote 80% of their time marketing and promoting their art and the other 20% of their time creating art. The article assumed that their art was good but that the artist had been unsuccessful in selling and marketing their art.
This article was quickly and severally panned by the “Art Establishment” as being absolutely unrealistic and an unworkable blueprint on how an artist can become successful. If your art is good and it is NOT selling then there must be a problem! I am the first to admit that unless you are some sort of “marketing junky” then the prospect of devoting 80% of your time marketing, promoting and selling is not very appealing or is it fun! But I am afraid that something close to what I just described or some sort of drastic action must be taken by the artist in order to become a successful and established artist.
I have a few questions to ask you about your present marketing efforts. Have you identified who your target audience is and analyzed how to reach them effectively? Do you have a website that is designed properly, displays and showcases your art correctly? Do you have an art Blog or an online art newsletter that helps to drive traffic to your website? Are you currently taking advantage of and using Social Media to make contacts, promote your art and building your brand? Do you have an email marketing campaign that exposes your work to your target audience? Are you using PR sites to promote your events, shows, and sales? Are you promoting your work on Document sites, Bookmarking sites, related Blog sites, as well as on YouTube? Is your work designed to be found on Smart Phones and on iPads? None of this technology is expensive and most of it is free. It is only the artist investing their time, creativity and their effort in order to take advantage of these different media in order to promote their artwork.
Yes, the effort that I described above does take time, hard work and persistence. The question is do you want to become a successful artist or are you just waiting to be discovered? If your answer is the former, rather than the later, then it is time to try spending the majority of your time marketing and branding your art. Over time, I believe that the artist will begin to see good results, more sales and that they will be on their way to becoming a “discovered” and a successful artist.
Every day I hear from artists who have an art website, are entering and placing in art competitions and are active in several social media networks, Despite this, these artists are not making sales and they are now discouraged at the dismal marketing results.
At this point-in-time some artists begin to feel overwhelmed, are unsure what to do next and some artists even begin thinking of stopping what they doing altogether! Without feeling totally discouraged and paralyzed, here are some things that artists can do to get back on track and going again.
Do not feel like you have to do everything on this list. Just attempt the easy ones first until you achieve some successes and then only tackle some of the more difficult or time-consuming tasks. In this manner, you will not begin to feel overwhelmed and discouraged.
Here are some ideas for an artist to get unstuck;
1. Start or finish that important painting or artistic project.
2. Call an art gallery owner/director in order to discuss showing there.
3. Put together and send entry materials to enter an important art competition.
4. Update, print and publish your artist biography and art resume.
5. Add new artworks to your website and art portfolio.
6. Write and publish a press release on your latest art news.
7. Outline and write a new post for your art blog.
8. Upload any of your new art to your social media networks.
9. Post positive comments in any social network art groups.
10. Contact prominent art bloggers to see if you can guest post.
I think that all of us get overwhelmed with the large number of choices that we have to make each day in terms of marketing and promoting our art, to the point that we may begin to procrastinate and eventually become paralyzed in our efforts.
To get unstuck, tackle the easy chores first. Do not try to complete do all of the projects at once. Consistently try to complete at least one task each day. With each completed task and with each success you will begin to feel better about your art marketing efforts and you will soon become unstuck.
Please read a related article on this subject titled "5 Quick Ways That an Artist Can Kick Start 2014".
Today, it is essential for artists to expose their art to their target audience. At the least, artists need to be marketing their art on Facebook, Google Plus, Pinterest and LinkedIn. Other effective social media outlets for artists to use to market their art would also be YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.
For this article, I will focus on Facebook as I believe that it is the easiest platform to set up, the easiest to maintain and to promote art from.
We will assume that you are already a regular Facebook user and that you have an active Facebook Personal Profile page. From your Personal Profile page to create a Business page, follow these directions;
At the bottom of your Personal Profile page, in the right-hand sidebar, click the More tab and then click the Create a Page and from there;
• You will be prompted to choose a Page Category.
• You will then be prompted to choose a Subcategory and enter the required information.
• Finally, you will then be prompted to agree to Facebook Pages Terms and then click Get Started.
The Business page that you are creating will be representing you and your art, (Your Brand) therefore, complete the Profile page thoroughly, by providing all of the information that this section asks for. There is also room for information on your art, media, exhibitions, news and more. Make sure that you have spelled everything correctly. Have a friend or family member check your Business page for you, for accuracy, completeness, and spelling.
Here are some ideas and thoughts on how to have and maintain an effective Facebook Business page;
1. The Name of this Page is Important in Order to be Found in Searches.
You are able to name this page to whatever you want as long as you use alphanumeric characters and that the name is at least 5 characters long. Make sure that the page name contains your name and some keywords related to your art such as;
“YourNameArtGallery” or “YourNamePhotography” or “YourNamePastelArtist” etc. When you do this, people will be able to find you with the Facebook search function, as well as by your art specialty.
2. Your Cover Photo and Profile Image Are Extremely Important.
Your cover photo is one of the most important elements on your Business page (it is the most dominant visual feature on the page) and this image should be related to your art in some manner. The size that you are allowed to work with is 851 x 315 pixels and should be resized and planned prior to uploading and displaying.
The page’s Profile image will block a certain area and the overall size of the Cover photo is an odd size. There are several free image editing programs that you can use to resize and crop your images (1) http://www.sumopaint.com/ (2) http://www.gimp.org/ (3) Microsoft’s Paint – This is the program that comes with Windows and can be found in the Accessories tab, under Programs.
Some ideas for the Cover photo would be some of your best art, any new art, information about a new exhibition, photos from an opening etc. Be creative and change the images as much as possible to dovetail and highlight your current art or art experience.
3. Create Albums to Show Your Portfolio on Facebook.
Prepare your images (crop and color correct) before you upload to Facebook from your computer. Through the Facebook upload function create your Albums by subject matter or by media or by years. If you do not have a large portfolio it would be okay for the time being to keep all of your images together in one Album.
After the images are uploaded, make sure that they all have individual titles, descriptions, and prices. If you have a website, put a link back to your website in your description as well. This should also be done and can be part of your Profile too.
4. Create External Links Back to the Facebook Business Page.
Any emails, newsletters, blogs, and websites that you maintain should have links inviting people to view and “Like” your Facebook Business page. You are trying to build as many followers and fans as possible to see your art. Let everyone know about this Business page.
Here is a link to the Facebook Help page that will answer most of your questions and concerns about the Business Page setup and its functions, https://www.facebook.com/help. If you have a question that cannot be answered with their help, try a Google search and the answer should come up by someone else, who is outside of Facebook.
Remember that you are building and maintaining a “Brand”. It will take a while to achieve this, but it will be well worth it if you consistently stay with it. You are building relationships, therefore contribute and post related articles to your art, about the art world or about the creative process. Always acknowledge people when they comment or post. Also, be active and comment constructively and positively on other posts that are related to your art too.
If you have a limited amount of time to devote to this effort, try at least once a day to post and maintain your Facebook Business page. By consistently maintaining and updating this page your marketing goals will ultimately be successful.
In future articles, we will detail and write about other important features for a Facebook Business page for artists.
You entered an art competition and were accepted into a group exhibition, now what should you do to leverage that achievement? At every chance, an artist should try to promote and market this success.
Hopefully, this article will provide an exhibiting artist with a plan of action to take advantage of this news and below are some ideas on what an artist can do to leverage this accomplishment through social media, traditional marketing, online marketing and press release promotions.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is becoming the fastest way for an artist to expose, market and brand their artwork. This is a relatively new marketing tool whereby an artist can make an impact and will be able to see and measure results immediately.
An artist should have the ability through their art website to be able to post articles, news, and press releases. This ability to post is very important as these posts will then create individual URL’s that can also be posted all over the web in order to promote the artist’s event, create traffic to their website and to help generate backlinks to the artist’s website (more on that later).
Today, an artist should have free accounts for at least Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, MySpace and Google+ in order to take advantage of social media networks. Caution: Create separate accounts for your art promotion as you do not want to co-mingle your personal life with your business life! There are a lot of other free networking accounts that you can also join, but for now, this will provide the coverage that you need.
If you belong to any of these accounts/groups, upload your posts to your social media pages in order to spread the word of your success. This is the easiest way for you to promote your art and to increase interest in and traffic to your own personal art website. This same post or page can also be emailed or posted to others who are in the art industry. Ask and have your (good) friends and followers to forward any posts on to their followers/networks as well (also offer to do the same for them too).
Recently, Google has provided what is known as the +1 feature, which is the equivalent of the Facebook “Like” icon. Whenever you press the +1 button on any post, page, website or Google search page, you are alerting your friends, networks, and others that you are “endorsing or interested” in that page or post. People will be curious to see what you recommend and they usually will look too, as they do not want to be left out of something that may be important. Since I mentioned the Facebook “Like” feature, always encourage your followers, friend, and networks to “Like” your post, page etc. as this will also increase interest in that post. The more “Likes” and more “+1” that you acquire, the more interest, more traffic and more exposure and promotion there will be for your website and your art.
Offline & Traditional Marketing
Offline and traditional marketing may take more time compared to other electronic promotions, but this method can be worth the effort for an artist to avail themselves of this type of marketing. Offline and traditional marketing still does very well for local and regional target audiences. If you have the time, the ability and the wherewithal to promote your work further, here is a link to some posts that we wrote about offline (traditional forms) of marketing and branding for successful artists: Offline Marketing and Promotion for Successful Artists, 10 Ways an Artist Can Market Their Brand and 10 More Ways an Artist Can Market Their Brand. Artists should use a combination of online and offline marketing in order to create an impact and to target their audience with their message.
Social Bookmarking
A social bookmark is a very important tool for artists to take advantage of in their overall marketing program. A social bookmark is a way in which an artist can alert their followers, friends and networks about a post, web page or a website. Think of a social bookmark as “someone’s own individual +1 or Like button”, as you are alerting everyone that this post or page is important and that they should also take a look.
More importantly, when employed properly, social bookmarks can create better page ranks and more traffic for the artist’s website. How is this done? There are literally hundreds of social bookmarking websites. When you join these sites, upload content to them (in the form of your art, posts, press releases, pages etc.) based on the information that you are required to place, when you post there, you are creating a “backlink” to your website. Why is a backlink important? When search engines index and grade your website, they base a large part of their page ranking on the amount of and the quality of the links back to your website. The higher amount and the better the quality of the links, the better they will rank and place your website higher on their search engine, which results in more traffic to your site.
There are many services and programs that can perform this task for you, but I do not suggest that you do that, as you want good quality and industry-specific (the art industry) backlinks and only you can determine what are worthy websites to link to. Here is a page that explains (in simple terms) what social bookmarks can do for you, along with many suggested social bookmarking websites to join and post to. http://caroline-middlebrook.com/blog/do-follow-social-bookmarking-sites.
Press Release Marketing
Press releases provide the same type of importance and effectiveness as a social bookmark. Why is this? A press release provides the artist with a very cheap and a quick way to promote themselves and their art to an extremely large and targeted audience. In addition to the press release’s effectiveness, a press release creates an automatic backlink to the artist’s website and for whatever reason, the major search engines rank backlinks from press release sites very high, thus helping again, to boost your websites page rank. The Light Space & Time website contains several related articles about this tool; Press Release Marketing for Today’s Artists and How to Write a Press Release for Art Events.
Artists should also belong to as many art websites as possible, like Fine Art America, Artspan, Artid etc. as they usually have a community section where you can post in a blog, post in a newsletter and are able to submit a press release or post an exhibition event in their Forums. Most of these sites also allow you to post an image with the post too. Take advantage of that feature, as people will tend to look at a post if it contains a picture.
We also recommend using PRLog and Press Release Point for distribution of free press releases and Star One PR for distribution of paid press releases ($10.00 to $15.00, depending on the distribution size). All of these sources provide the artist with the ability to be indexed quickly by all of the major search engines. By using these press release services, the artist is able to take advantage of their ability to spread the word of your artwork, success and/or events and to quickly drive additional traffic to the artist’s website.
Also, remember that any advertising, marketing, and promotion has a cumulative effect and consistency and repetition of the message is necessary to see any results. Don’t be like most artists and do a little marketing, see no real results and then give up! It just does not work that way nor is it meant to be that easy. It takes time and you will see results if you “stay the course”.
We hope that these suggestions are helpful to your art marketing efforts. In today’s hugely competitive marketplace, just entering and placing in an art competition is not enough to attract a lot of interest to the artist’s website and their art. Successful artists market, promote and leverage their accomplishments whenever they can and you should too. Congratulations on your success, now tell the whole world and Good luck!
