Athena Mantle has a Twitter success story. Actually, she has two of them.
I just joined Twitter a few weeks ago after learning about it in an art marketing workshop.
I started following the editor of Southwest Art magazine and she posted something saying she was looking for figurative artists.
I replied to her tweet with info on two friends of mine that are figurative artists and she is now featuring both of them in the January issue!
On top of that I saw a repost from a gallery looking for new artists to show and I landed myself a solo show! Not bad for a few weeks on twitter. Twitter is a powerful tool!
Notice that this isn’t magic. Nor is it rocket science.
Athena didn’t just sign up for Twitter. She participated in the conversation.
She was helpful to a magazine editor and she responded when someone put a call out.
Remember that social media is about being social. It’s about being helpful, kind, and generous.
Do you have a good Twitter-to-riches story?
13 thoughts on “Proof that Twitter Can Help Your Art Career”
Wow! What a powerful story. I have not been keeping up with my Twitter account & was just thinking of deleting it. (It’s been months!) This has made me re-evaluate that thought. Thanks for sharing
How amazing is that! I must admit, I definitely take twitter for granted and only use it to send out facebook updates.
Does anyone know of any other art galleries/organisations that tweet? I’d love to add some and even talk with other artists.
Vanessa: Look up galleries and organizations in your area. I do a Google search: “Translation Gallery Twitter” in order to find a gallery on Twitter. It’s usually easier than trying to find their Twitter account on their sites.
Great info. I am not yet a twitter user, preferring to work person to person — old fashioned, I guess! But looking at the new technology is critical in the art biz.
Twitter has led to sales for me as I use it to promote my art auctions. Also, it is good networking, I once got retweeted by one of my favorite Celebs. follow me @ZacharyBrown
I’m the mystery woman who posted that comment about Twitter. Before that marketing workshop I used to roll my eyes when someone would mention Twitter…it sounded like a completely ridiculous waste of time. However, once I understood how it worked and how to make it work for me I decided to give it a try. Twitter gives you a direct line with people whom you would probably never meet or get a chance to talk to otherwise.
One tip I learned in the workshop was to follow people or type of people that you want to follow you. So if you paint pet portraits, follow pet lovers, pet experts, dog trainers, etc. Galleries and Magazines are good too. Vanessa you can do a search on Twitter to find Galleries or anything you are looking for and start following them. And like Zach said….follow me on Twitter @AthenaMantle I promise to repost cool stuff that comes across my feed. 🙂
Thanks Athena, that’s a great idea, “follow people who you want to follow you”. Will definitely do a search on twitter. Thanks for the advice.
I wouldn’t go that far but I have had a positive experience with one of the jewelry suppliers I follow. They announced a new product and offered suggestion for its use. I then opined a suggestion for bead weaving with the product and within a few exchanges I was offered a few pieces to try out my suggestion. Thus were born my latest line of hand made bead woven art jewelry, Bubbe Pins™.
I still must do some research to find the right people to follow. For me it does not seem to be as easy (or as straightforward) as it sounds.
I run in winter & kept tearing tendons…I asked @Jerell on Twitter, who owns Salus Natural Body Care in Colorado, & he told me a little tequila with red meat…Which healed up my tendon…My mother who owns a wine & spirit agency now represents a tequila company (Cofradia) from Mexico, & their cactus bottles were in stores this Christmas…(I have been drinking a little tequila after a run for two years now)…
I have an almost-success story and fully successful story.
I was following Ben @Templesmith who posted someone he knew needed a colorist. I applied and made it as a semi-finalist for the job before someone else got it.
My success story comes from @AmandaPalmer retweeting that an artist was looking for an intern. I applied and ended up as Cynthia von Buhler’s (@cynthvonbuhler) intern on the @EvelynEvelyn graphic novel (filling in the black/dark areas.) I ended up getting invited to the comic release party in NY, networked with very cool people, and my name will be in the comic when it’s published by @DarkHorseComics later this year.
@whatakuriosgirl on Twitter.
Meghann: Great story! Thanks for sharing. And congrats on your success.
Your blog is one of the most helpful blogs I’ve ever followed- and I do not follow many to be honest!
I live in Saudi Arabia, and it’s really interesting how within a couple of years, everyone is online. However, few people have the ‘know-how’ when it comes to networking. Unfortunately not a lot of people are helpful, kind and generous, and they have no idea how much they’re missing! Unfortunately, it’s all about ‘Number One’ for most, which is not exactly the kind of mentality that will move us forward.
I kind of feel like an alienated because few have the same passion I have for getting inspired AND inspiring, but I believe in ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’, and that is why I do what I do 🙂
Thank you so much for your great posts. Your blog is under ‘Juicy Blogs’ on my blog 🙂
Soraya: Thank you for your kind comment. I love being listed as a “juicy” blog!
I enjoyed looking at your blog and seeing the photos of the art opening. Other than the clothing, looks very much like one of our own. We just have weirder clothing and hairdos at openings.