Tired of depending on galleries for sales?
Fed up with no results from sending out your portfolio?
Wasting resources on advertising?
It’s time to get serious about using the Internet more effectively.
Expanding your online presence is always (ALWAYS!) a good idea, but now might be a good time to devote even more of your energy to doing so. The face of the art world is changing. You need to be well positioned to adapt and take care of yourself when the traditional venues fail. Consider the following three areas.
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| Claudia Cohen, Visions of Velasquez. Bronze, 18 x 15 x 15 inches. ©The Artist |
1. Your Website and/or Blog
Many artists today are using a blog in place of a website, which is perfectly acceptable as long as the blog can have the same elements and ease of navigation as a Web site. At the same time, if you don’t have a blog, now is the time to start. For either a Web site or a blog:
–Update content regularly, depending on your creative output and any news coming out of your studio.
–Use only the best photographs.
–Write! Use words to describe your art and tell stories. Words are how the search engines find you. If you don’t have a regular writing schedule, start one now. You can use The Relatively Pain-Free Artist Statement journaling process to get you started.
2. Email
Be a more conscious email user.
–Use your domain name in your email address. Rather than providing free advertising for Gmail, Hotmail, Comcast, or similar services, you advertise your own Web site every time you use your email. Moreover, you look like a person running a business and building a career.
–Create a personalized email signature block that attaches to all outgoing messages.
–Don’t ever send an email with multiple people in the To line. This shares your entire list with everyone else–thus violating any privacy policy you have (or should have!) in place. Always use the BCC line for sending to multiple email addresses.
–Sign on with a distribution service to send announcements and newsletters to your mailing list. Try Vertical Response or Emma
3. Social Networking
Create a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. If you’re not yet on these sites, don’t waste another moment. Just trust me on this one. No whining! No complaining! No excuses! I’m adamant about this because of the social nature of these sites. Because they’re about building relationships, people connect in ways that aren’t possible elsewhere in the virtual world. Artists consistently find me on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter who have never before visited ArtBizCoach.com or ArtBizBlog.com. Once you have accounts on these sites, add them to your Contact or About page, your email signature, and post them prominently on your blog.
While you’re at it, I invite you to do the following (and please write a personal note telling me how we know each other when you request the connection):
Follow me on Twitter
Friend me on Facebook
Connect with me on LinkedIn
KNOW THIS———-~> Online marketing strategies are multiplying each day.
THINK ABOUT THIS—~> Are you taking advantage of all the online marketing tools?
DO THIS————~>Expand your online marketing. Begin by evaluating everything you’re doing right now. Take the three areas mentioned above and create a list of marketing strategies in each area. Where are you doing a good job? What needs a little of your attention? And what have you been neglecting?
We’re getting more in-depth and creating a plan for our connections, which includes online marketing, in the Cultivate Your Connections class, which begins on Wednesday. (No longer available.)
