by Becky Sciullo | May 3, 2021 | Artist Websites, Blogging, Learning, Social Media, Tools
Here are some marketing ideas for your Monday Morning.
Seven Art Marketing Ideas
1 – Set up an art loan program where people can make arrangements to rotate art and refresh their walls for a set monthly fee.
2 – Feature up to ten pieces of work in a collection in an Instagram carousel post.
3 – We spring clean our homes. Why not spring clean your business, ultimately making you more effective at marketing and selling your work. Step back and take care of some of those things that may have become cluttered or that you don’t deal with very often.
4 – Take your audience behind the scenes by sharing an insight into your process. Still images are great, but short videos are even better.
5 – Invite followers and readers to “ask me anything”. It’s an engaging way to open up a conversation with them and get insight into what your audience wants to hear from you.
6 – Use a mind-mapping tool like Mindmeister to help brainstorm ideas for anything from blog post ideas to finding an audience.
7 – A downside of Instagram is the inability to share links other than in your bio. Here is an excellent idea on how to get more out of that one link.
Learn More
Monday Morning Marketing Ideas is a weekly blog post series to offer ideas that you might use in your business. Thoughts provided cover a wide variety of medium and marketing methods. Some may seem a little crazy. Others, you might say, now why didn’t I think of that? These are simply ideas that pop into my head or come across my desk as I work through the week. I don’t always have time to write an entire blog post on the subject, but I thought they might be worth sharing.
For even more ideas and information, join my weekly newsletter here.
by Becky Sciullo | Apr 28, 2021 | Consultations, Learning, Resources
You may have seen or heard me mention my Office Hours service for artists, and you might be wondering, what does she mean by that?
What are Office Hours?
Office Hours are consulting sessions divided into two-hour blocks of time that I spend working for and with artists who hire me to help them with their business. I have found that organizing these units this way works well from both a time and payment standpoint. Suppose you want to build out a complete marketing system for your art business. In that case, I recommend that you consider the Artisan Advantage Interactive Toolbox, which includes one-on-one consulting time. But, if you are looking for more targeted help in one specific area, Office Hours might be your best option.
How Do Office Hours Work?
The first thing you do is to purchase the block of time here. A confirmation page then provides a short form that tells me about your work and your business. Once I receive and review this form, we will set up a short fifteen to twenty-minute Zoom call to set goals for our time working together. As each artist may have different goals, we will also develop a course of action for the Office Hours block. Some of the time may be allotted to me putting a plan together for you and then coming back together or working together the entire two-hour time. It will just depend upon your situation.
Here are some examples of what an Office Hours block can accomplish.
Review your current website and determine updates and changes that you can make to strengthen your web presence.
Help you get your artist blog started with a content plan.
Help you figure out who is your target audience and where to find them.
Work on a publicity strategy.
These are just a few examples, and it ultimately depends upon your individual business needs. If you have an idea or questions about Office Hours, get in touch at becky@artisan-advantage.com.
How to Purchase Office Hours
A block currently costs $150 for two hours. The two-hour time does not include our initial fifteen-minute Zoom introduction.
Effective June 1st, Office Hours will increase to $200 per two-hour block. Purchase before June 1st to lock in the price of $150.
More Information
If you’re not ready for Office Hours but would like to stay posted with free information to help your art business, please join my email newsletter here.
Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash
by Becky Sciullo | Apr 26, 2021 | Artist Websites, Learning, Resources, Tools
Here are some marketing ideas for your Monday morning.
Six Art Marketing Ideas
1 – When listing images of your work on e-commerce sites such as Etsy or even your own website, make sure that your lighting and the way you photograph them are consistent. There are apps such as Vsco to help you with this.
2 – If you are actively seeking commission work, dedicate a page on your website for these projects. Include terms of working with you and images and stories about commission work that you have done in the past with testimonials.
3 – Sometimes people get home and a piece doesn’t work in the space they thought it would. Let your clients know that if they change their minds about a purchase, they can return the artwork for a full refund minus the cost of shipping and handling. Robert Yonke offers this for his work. In the history of working with him, we’ve had two return art. In both cases, they exchanged the work rather than asking for a refund. As a result, people may be more comfortable making a large purchase, knowing that if they get it home and have a change of heart, they can return it.
4 – Be familiar with the places you can market your art in your region. What spaces exist for you to show and sell your art? The spaces can include public spaces like museums and libraries, commercial galleries, and other businesses that feature artists. Keep track of these places and ones that might be a fit for your work. Meet the people who run them. Then, stay in touch so that you stay on top of opportunities that might be a fit for your work.
5 – Don’t forget to use tagging in your marketing. Tags are the search keywords that people use to find your art. You can tag your work in many places, including social media, your blog, and e-commerce sites. Tagging your work helps bring it to the top of search results on the platforms you are using and search engines.
6 – Are you stuck? Sometimes, taking a break from marketing isn’t a bad thing either. Consider a creativity vacation.
Learn More
Monday Morning Marketing Ideas is a weekly blog post series to offer ideas that you might use in your business. Thoughts provided cover a wide variety of medium and marketing methods. Some may seem a little crazy. Others, you might say, now why didn’t I think of that? These are simply ideas that pop into my head or come across my desk as I work through the week. I don’t always have time to write an entire blog post on the subject, but I thought they might be worth sharing.
For even more ideas and information, join my weekly newsletter here.
by Becky Sciullo | Apr 23, 2021 | Audience
If You’re Selling to Everyone, You’re Selling to No One.
If you’ve ever worked in sales, you might have heard the adage, “If you’re selling to everyone, you’re selling to no one.” This is true with just about every product, including your art. In Build a Dynamic Web Presence, I stress the importance of making sure you are identifying a target audience for your artwork. This step is critical in setting up your art marketing system.
Helping The Bluegrass Painter was pretty easy as far as an audience goes. But, that is not always the case. Finding an audience comes easier to some artists than others. This is one of my favorite things to help artists figure out. While there are many different tactics and strategies that you can do to find your audience, here is an overview of the process that we go through.
How to Find an Audience For Your Art
Step 1 – Assess Where You Are
Take an honest review of your current situation. This assessment includes everything from the kind of art you create to who has purchased work in the past. Other things to consider would be what people have told you about your work. Does it elicit emotion? Does it speak to them? What does it say? All of these things are part of the assessment.
Step 2 – Do Your Research
Once you take an assessment, you start to consider who might be attracted to your work based on this information. Then, you do some research which can be as easy as doing a Google search.
Step 3 – Experiment with a purpose.
Based upon what you’ve learned in Steps One and Two, start to take action. Try something. Experiment with a purpose means that you are taking action based upon what you’ve learned. But, you’re not quite sure what the results will be. It’s okay to try, and it’s okay if it doesn’t work. Guaranteed, you will learn something in the process.
Step 4 – Build upon what you learn.
Did the experiment work? Great, do more of it. If it didn’t work – why not? What can you do differently next time?
Do this process repeatedly until you start to identify the places that might fit to show you work and the people who might love it.
Get Help Finding Your Audience
If you’d like more information about finding your audience, join my email newsletter here.
by Becky Sciullo | Apr 19, 2021 | Learning
Here are some marketing ideas for your Monday Morning.
Five Art Marketing Ideas
1 – Block out one hour a week for brainstorming ideas to market your art.
2 – If you’re holding or exhibiting at a live event, encourage visitors and purchases by announcing in advance that you are offering a discount or a giveaway to attendees.
3 – Increase social media engagement by asking questions.
4 – Gumroad is another option for fan funding.
5 – In a world where people receive everything electronically, don’t give up on sending real handwritten notes to say thank you and relay other messages of appreciation.
Monday Morning Marketing Ideas is a weekly blog post series to offer ideas that you might use in your business. Thoughts provided cover a wide variety of medium and marketing methods. Some may seem a little crazy. Others, you might say, now why didn’t I think of that? These are simply ideas that pop into my head or come across my desk as I work through the week. I don’t always have time to write an entire blog post on the subject, but I thought they might be worth sharing.
For even more ideas and information, join my weekly newsletter here.
