by Rebecca Sciullo | Jan 25, 2020 | Events
I’m looking forward to presenting a talk at the Upper St. Clair League for the Arts on Tuesday, February 18, 2020. Read more about this event below.
Building a Strategic Web Presence for Your Visual Art Business
Upper St. Clair League for the Arts
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
7:00 pm
Upper St. Clair Municipal Building
1821 McLaughlin Run Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15241
Learn how a simple blog-based website can serve as the marketing hub for a visual art business. The goal of this talk is to show artists how to use this type site to present and promote their work effectively online. And it’s not as hard as it looks!
Some things that we will talk about include the following:
– How and why the blog works as a presentation and promotional tool for any artist, no matter the medium they are working in or the state of their art career.
– Misconceptions about blogging and websites.
– Different options for building your blog and website.
– Examples of information you can share on a blog.
-How to cultivate an audience through blogging.
-Examples of artist blogs.
There will be time for Q&A at the end.
I look forward to presenting and hope to see you there!
by Rebecca Sciullo | Jan 25, 2020 | Learning
How Artisan Advantage Started
If you’ve visited my About page, you know that Artisan Advantage started as a result of my work with my artist father, Robert Yonke. What you might not realize is that turning my father’s hobby into a business started with an experiment. I thought it would be fun to share the details over a few blog posts. My hope is to give you insight into how experimentation and stepping out of a comfort zone can take you to unexpected places. Also, to illustrate the importance of building a solid strategic web presence for your visual art business.
Part 1: A Little Background
On October 31, 2002, in the 16th week of a high-risk pregnancy, some very good doctors told me that I needed surgery or was going to risk losing my baby. I had the surgery the next morning, followed by five months of strict bed rest – meaning I stayed in bed for 99% of the day and only left the house for doctor’s appointments.
The baby was born early, but healthy, so the bed rest was worth it. But lying in bed for five months is not as delightful as it might sound. It was a challenge to pass the time. After reading, watching reruns of favorite sitcoms, and learning to knit, I turned my attention to the internet.
The Golden Age of the Internet
With time on my hands and a computer at my bed, I became fascinated with the new craze of internet blogging (and online shopping). I learned that you could find things online that you liked, buy them, and they would magically show up on your doorstep! You could play endless Pacman without a quarter! Reading and following political pundits was a thing! The early 2000s were an exciting time on the internet.
My background in advertising and communications made it particularly interesting. Graduating as an Advertising major in 1990, I just missed the advent of technology in the classroom. My class in the Penn State School of Communications was probably one of the last to use real paper storyboards for our senior projects. In my work at the time, we were using the internet for email and some basic sales programs, but that was it. “Surfing the web” rightly fascinated me. It interested me not only as a consumer but also as a communicator.
Once I found the internet on bed rest, I was hooked. I was reading everything from baby advice to political blogs to watching how-to knit videos using the internet. Then, our daughter was born, and I had little time to “surf”. But the seed had been planted.
I knew in the back of my mind that there was something to this, and I’d like to participate in it, although I was not sure exactly how…
Read on for Part Two: An Idea and an Online Course
by Rebecca Sciullo | Jan 10, 2020 | Artisan Advantage Book Club, Learning
Next up for the Artisan Advantage Book Club is Find Your Artistic Voice: The Essential Guide to Working Your Creative Magic by Lisa Congdon.
Find Your Artistic Voice helps artists and creatives identify and nurture their own visual identity.
This one-of-a-kind book helps artists navigate the influence of creators they admire, while simultaneously appreciating the value of their personal journey.
• Features down-to-earth and encouraging advice from Congdon herself
• Filled with interviews with established artists, illustrators, and creatives
• Answers the question “how do I develop a unique artistic style?“
It’s easy. All you have to do is get your copy and start reading! Stay connected to the Artisan Advantage blog for posts about how you might apply principles from the book to your visual art business, as well as for opportunities to share your comments about the book with others.
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
by Rebecca Sciullo | Jan 8, 2020 | Blogging, Learning
Happy New Year
It’s a new year and a new decade! With all this newness, I’m excited to announce a new focus for Artisan Advantage. Effective immediately, my content will be devoted to teaching artists and creatives how to use blogging to build a visual art business.
Why the change?
As I posted about in My Latest Project, I recently revamped my father’s website and blog. Before starting that project, I felt I needed more focus in my business. I enjoyed sharing information on topics such as creating a vision, constructing an art business plan, planning, time management, pricing, and social media marketing. But the subject matter was too broad, and I was having trouble delivering consistent content. My mind was all over the place.
So with this in the back of my mind, I started the work on my father’s site. Through this work, I decided it was time to focus on building an art business through blogging. It’s an area where I would like to help artists for the following reasons.
1 – I love to blog.
I’ve had experience blogging in a couple of different industries, and I have always enjoyed that work. It was the primary marketing tool that launched my father’s art business in 2007. Blogging is my nerdy passion, and I want to share it.
2 – Most artists overlook the value of blogging in their business.
They either consider it a waste of time, or something they are not equipped or know enough about to do. I firmly believe that both of these things are false and want to help change minds about this.
3 – Blogging is something that every artist can use to further the, no matter the medium, project, or career stage.
4 – Focusing on blogging will help me to deliver more consistent content.
As mentioned earlier, the broad topics of “art marketing” and “visual art business”, I often struggled with what kind of information to provide in my blog posts. This focus will allow me to deliver you consistent, useful content.
So, effective immediately, you will be learning everything I can tell you about how to build a blog and use it for your art business.
What if you don’t want to blog for your art business?
Even if I can’t convince you to blog about your art, you should have a web presence for your art business. I assure you that much information provided will also be useful for any artist with a website.
But what about other art business topics?
You still need knowledge on essential art topics such as licensing work, working with galleries, or selling prints. I will refer you to experts and information that I have found in the course of my business. Look for me to share at least one new resource with you a week in an area outside of blogging. And, the Artisan Advantage Book Club will continue, so stay tuned for reading suggestions and a chance to win a book.
Follow and Share
I hope you will continue to follow my work and share this website with any artists that you think could benefit from my information.
Here’s to a great 2020! Let’s go get it.
by Rebecca Sciullo | Dec 19, 2019 | Artist Websites, Learning, Resources, Tools
What’s Going On…
Earlier this year, I decided it was time to refresh my father’s website. I built his first site with the now discontinued Microsoft FrontPage back in 2007. About five years later, I had a new site built on Squarespace. At that time, it was a solid reflection of his work. But web design trends change quickly. The website looked outdated, and as I’m more familiar with WordPress, it was not the easiest for me to maintain. After a round of art marketing round tables this fall, I took some time off from this blog to update his web presence.
It took some time, however, to decide how we wanted things to look. The Squarespace site provided a complete gallery of his artwork, which was becoming unnecessary, as we now use Artwork Archive to keep all of the work up to date online. We decided to use the WordPress.com platform to build a blog based website, and then link it to Artwork Archive. Once a decision was made on how to proceed, the website came together in about a week.
Above is a snapshot of the site before the refresh.
Below is a preview of the new look. Click here for a full view.
Back to Blogging
Quick success with his first website was a direct result of using a blog to promote his work. It was time to recommit to this tool and set his blog as his home page on the new site. We plan on using the blog to reconnect our network, promote his art, and get back to giving his audience more of the story behind his work.
Artwork Archive Component
Artwork Archive is an integral part of his web presence. We’ve been using it for several years to inventory work and keep track of sales. We are now using all features of this system, including the ability to build an online portfolio for different audiences. So, instead of creating an extensive gallery on WordPress, his website links directly to his Artwork Archive profile. Visitors are always viewing the most current work along with relevant information, such as whether or not the piece is still available.
As I move forward with this project, I look forward to posting more things I’ve learned while revamping his web presence as well as the transitioning of his brand from Appalachian Studio to Robert Yonke Art.
Are You Updating Your Website in 2020?
Do you have plans for building or updating your website in 2020? Stay tuned to Artisan Advantage for more content focused on building your web presence.
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
