by Becky Sciullo | Apr 16, 2021 | Blogging, I Heart Blogs
Blogs I 
is a series focused on artist blogs worth loving.
Gurney Journey is a blog by James Gurney, the creator of the illustrated book series Dinotopia.
Why you will this blog.
It is consistent with daily posts. That is a huge feat and a personal goal I am far from achieving.
Full of highly detailed and useful information to help readers, particularly for his audience of illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students and writers. .
He provides engaging content for those who are not artists but consider themselves to be art appreciators. You will find interesting posts, giving a unique perspective as in John Singer Sargent at San Vigilio.
This sidebar makes it easy to find what interests you.
He produces great videos.
Go check it out. I think you’ll like it.
Do you have a blog that you’d like me to consider for I Heart Blogs? Drop me a line at becky@artisan-advantage.com.
by Becky Sciullo | Apr 12, 2021 | Artist Blogging 101, Artist Websites, Learning
Here are some marketing ideas for your Monday Morning
Six Art Marketing Ideas
1 – Write a blog post about your past year. How did the pandemic affect your art and your business? Have you learned or gained anything during this time? Is it something you feel comfortable sharing? Several artists that I follow have shared this through a blog post or email newsletter, and I appreciated hearing from them on this. Do the same if you feel moved to do so for your audience.
2 – If you use WordPress, install the free plug-in Yoast SEO to help you optimize your site and posts for search with the best keywords. I use the free version and LOVE this tool.
3 – Also, on the subject of search, if you have a presence on Etsy, drive traffic to your shop by using the keywords feature in your product profiles.
4 – Mother’s Day is coming up and it’s one of the biggest gifting holidays. Can you market your art around this holiday?
5 – Consider planning your marketing content six to twelve months in advance. Think about the seasonal opportunities and events that will be coming up over the coming year and add them to your plan. This activity will make the process of creating content easier as your year progresses.
6 – Avoid “art speak” in your communications. Readers want to understand all about you and your work. The best way to do that for the largest audience is to present it in simple terms.
Get More Art Marketing Help
Would you like weekly updates with information like this to help your art business? Sign up for my mailing list here.
by Becky Sciullo | Apr 9, 2021 | Artisan Advantage Book Club, Learning
The best laid plans sometimes get off track. The good news is that you can always get back on track. In this case, it’s with the Artisan Advantage Book Club.
The Artisan Advantage Book Club
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while or a long term subscriber to my newsletter, you might remember the Artisan Advantage Book Club. You might also remember that I posted in one of my weekly newsletters about how I had a very difficult time reading in 2020. With that struggle, I stopped reading my book club selection, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.
I finally re-started this book, and am so glad that I did. It has really helped me to get focused.
This is not a new book, but it was on my reading list forever.
the War of Art
Here is an overview of the book taken from Goodreads.
Internationally bestselling author of Last of the Amazons, Gates of Fire, and Tides of War, Steven Pressfield delivers a guide to inspire and support those who struggle to express their creativity. Pressfield believes that “resistance” is the greatest enemy, and he offers many unique and helpful ways to overcome it.
Join the Book Club
Joining “the Club” just means that you commit to reading this book and seeing if you can find something useful to help you with your art business.
You could win a free book!
There have been some changes to the Book Club. Instead of randomly selecting a winner from my email list, I am going to offer a trivia contest in one of my weekly emails every month. The last book selection will be the source of the question. This gives you another reason to follow along with the Club!
If you’re not already subscribed, join my email newsletter here.
Do you have an idea for the book club? Share book suggestions with becky@artisan-advantage.com.
by Becky Sciullo | Apr 7, 2021 | Artist Websites, Learning
A few weeks ago, I asked you to commit to art marketing and building a web presence for fifteen minutes every day. If you need ideas on how to spend this time, here are fifteen specific things that you could do during those fifteen-minute time blocks.
Fifteen Things an Artist Can do Consistently To Build a Web Presence
1 – Brainstorm ideas for future blog posts.
2 – Work on rough outlines and edits for blog posts.
3 – Check in on your social media accounts and interact with followers.
4 – Add links and drop images into your blog posts.
5 – Make a list of keywords for your blog posts.
6 – Publish a blog post and share it on all of your social media platforms.
7 – Review your online gallery and make sure that all of your work is up to date.
8 – Organize information for your email newsletter.
9 – Work on a rough draft of your email newsletter.
10 – Optimize and drop images and links into your email newsletter.
11 – Do a final edit and send your email newsletter out.
12 – Brainstorm ideas for press releases.
13 – Start creating a list of potential media contacts for your press release.
14 – Write your press release.
15 – Send your press release out to relevant media contacts.
This list is just a snapshot of different tasks you can work on in fifteen minutes a day. It is not comprehensive, and you will undoubtedly have ideas about moving things forward that are unique to your business.
You need a system.
Of course, you can’t do all fifteen every day. The key is to have a system that allows you to work progressively through these tasks as appropriate to meet your business goals. One way I like to explain how an efficient art marketing system can work is to use the analogy of a wheel.
Get Tips Weekly
Join my free email newsletter for a weekly round-up with articles and ideas for marketing your visual art business. As a thank you, I’ll send you a list of ideas that you can use for posting about your art business.
by Becky Sciullo | Apr 5, 2021 | Artist Blogging 101, Artist Websites, Learning, Social Media
Here are some marketing ideas for your Monday morning.
Five Art Marketing Ideas
1 – When strategizing about press releases – consider your college alumni magazine. Whether or not you went to the school for a fine arts degree, the information is still newsworthy, and your life experience has informed your work.
2 – Claim your social media handle before you start posting on the platform. Here is how and why to do this.
3 – If you’re getting ready to open your studio, you should read this from Artists Network.
4 – Authority is something that may cause someone to purchase your work over that of another artist. Build your authority by making sure you don’t leave out important information on your website. Authority building information includes:
- Your education.
- Any awards you’ve received.
- Classes you’ve taught.
- Exhibitions that you’ve won.ar
Don’t worry if you are starting out and don’t have much to add to the list. Blogging regularly about your practice is another way to garner authority.
5 – Yes, artists are on TikTok. If you want to jump in, go here.
Get More Art Marketing Help
Would you like weekly updates with information like this to help your art business? Sign up for my mailing list here.
