The Artist’s No-Excuse Weekly Self-Promotion Routine is printed on the inside cover of the 2011 edition of my book, I’d Rather Be in the Studio.
Still in diapers back then?
No worries! Here’s some info to get you started.
A Sample Weekly Self-Promotion Routine
There is such a thing as a promotional campaign, but mostly I want you to think about your promotions as ongoing. You’re consistently sharing your art with the world. It’s a routine you commit to.
Perhaps it would be helpful to see what a self-promotion routine could look like. But before we get into it, I have a note of caution.
Don’t take this literally. This is just an example.
I don’t mean to imply that you should do these tasks on the day of the week that I assigned them to. Obviously, you should move things around to work with your schedule and goals.
Nor do I want you to think that you need to do all of these tasks every week. You might select one or two under each day for the current week.
Make it work for you!
As you work on your self-promotion routine, remember that your time in the studio is always your most important priority. Add it to your schedule before anything else. Without the art, you have nothing to promote.
Monday
Focus: Clarity
Review your calendar for the week and month.
Look for networking opportunities in the weeks ahead.
Review any leads or opportunities that have come your way. How can you follow up?
Tuesday
Focus: Venues
Review all of the venues and VIPs you want to keep your art in front of and leave meaningful comments on their Facebook pages.
Research grants, residencies, and show opportunities. Make time to apply to those that look like a good fit.
Check in with the venues and galleries you haven’t heard from in awhile.
Wednesday
Focus: Connection
Send three handwritten thank-you notes to people who have purchased your art, taken a class, or done something nice for you.
Send three postcards with your art on them – to galleries, venues, or anyone who might be interested in your art.
Thursday
Focus: Writing
Write a draft of your next newsletter or blog post. If you don’t publish weekly, review the ideas you have for future articles.
Friday
Focus: Winding Down & Preparing for Next Week
Schedule anticipated social media posts.
Acknowledge your accomplishments for the week and celebrate all that you have done.
Review your calendar for next week.
Every Weekday
Journal about your art because you’re a word-collector. You need words for your marketing.
Post your art to Facebook and Instagram. Tweet, if that’s your thing.
Write your gratitudes. Who are you grateful for? What are you grateful for? You will never receive more abundance until you are grateful for what you already have.
Recite your affirmations. It sounds super woo but I swear by it. Use affirmations to get yourself into a positive frame of mind and envision your beautiful future.
Saturday – Sunday
Play! Enjoy the down time that feeds your creativity.
Run errands. Carry a portable portfolio and a stash of business cards, flyers, or postcards wherever you go. You never know who you’ll run into that needs to know about your art.
Rest. Play some more.
Look over your upcoming week before heading to bed on Sunday night. Sleep soundly.
21 thoughts on “Weekly Self-Promotion Routine for Artists”
You will like christie Marie Sheldon”s work she talks about celebrating ourselves every day to manifest more abundance. I have had excellent results this year following her programmes
Sounds perfect, Joanne. What kind of results have you found?
Alyson, thank you so much for the update, and reminder of self promotion. It is very timely.
I am grateful to you and the Staff for all your hard work and help.
with gratitude,
Karen Leso Hegglin
Thank you, Karen. That means a lot to me.
I know I will find this very useful. Though I cannot make my art my first priority because my husband is facing cancer therapy and must make his support my main focus. However, your guides will help me to retain some of my passion and focus on my art. Thanks.
Fran: I am sorry to hear about your husband. He is blessed to have you by his side.
"I have a question about whites vs. non-Hispanic whites. Why do you (non-Hispanic) white Race Realists stress this difference so much?"Ever heard of culture, or religion, or ethnic history?Why do Englishmen "stress their difference" from Spaniards?I'm thinking, you know, like, because they are… different. It's not a matter of &quns;stretsiog" anything, its just a recognition of reality. Its called White ethnic groups. Not all Whites are the same. Duh.
Thank you Alyson!
It’s so helpful to have a list of the things that can be done (and then to remember to check it!) to promote our art. Without it, some of the smaller things seem to fall through the cracks. And we all know that it’s the little things that can have the biggest impact.
Even with a schedule that changes weekly (teaching and exhibiting on site on different days of the week), I’m sure it would help to have a “theme” for each day of the week the way you’ve laid it out.
Mahalo nui loa! Patrice
Patrice: Let me know if it works for you.
Dear Alyson Stanfield, Most beneficial article. I also am grateful to you and your staff for what you do. I am a life long career sculptor about to make another grateful for what I have learned from you! Blessings and love to you and yours. Raymond D. Hunter, Sculptor
Thank you, Raymond. I appreciate being appreciated. 😉
Thank you so much for this list. I get overwhelmed by these tasks sometimes and then just don’t do any of them . This breakdown will help me fit this into my routine. Thank you again for all of your resources. I try to send artists your way whenever I can.
Sara Drescher-painter
I so appreciate the referrals, Sara. They mean a lot to me. Take care out there in West Texas.
Great roadmap! Adaptable depending on how heavy your workload is. Some weeks I am spot on with promotion and other weeks I do it but perhaps without as much vengeance. Marketing and promotion are like creating art — you need to be mindful and with it 5 (or even 7) days of the week. They go hand in hand.
Thanks to you and all the great people on your team for helping us!
Krys: Try not to do your promotion with a vengeance. Do it with heart. 🙂
First, Thank You for including my artwork in your post!
When you put down in black and white the potential activities for the week, it becomes so much easier to do. Thanks for adding clarity to a sometimes overwhelming job!
Patty: We so appreciate your allowing us to feature your art. Looks great here!
Thanks Alyson,
This is a great.
I have fallen in love with templates and scheduling – (like formatting a template of the schedule in a gorgeous composition with beautiful fonts and boxes to populate – then print out a months worth)
I cant wait to have a go at this one.
Thank you for the update, Alyson! I’ve been implementing them more regularly recently and have seen a great increase in following AND most importantly, getting them to my website.
Interesting that this post made me rethink some decisions I had taken 2 yrs ago. I decided to retire -not as an artist- but retire from marketing my art. IT was exhausting…so I took a well deserved break. However I found that without marketing, no shows upcoming , no exhibits planned, I had no deadline nor goals to reach so my art fell to the wayside. I produced very little and with not much gusto. Now I read your post and though i cannot do as much as I did, I’ve made 4 notes to myself to do in the coming weeks. So here I go again!! I already feel the energy to produce coming back…thank you for a kick you know where!
Oh and I forgot: I already have a brand new website refurbished, that I haven’t even announced yet…so that’s a good start;
I schedule posts with links to my etsy store for daily twitter chats