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.”
by Rebecca Sciullo | Nov 12, 2019 | Learning, Tools, Writing
This Photo Was Me Before Grammarly Grammar Checker
Before I found Grammarly Grammar Checker, this is how I felt before posting an article or publishing a newsletter. I was afraid to hit “publish” or “send” for fear of typos. Because let’s face it, spell checkers do not catch everything. Finding Grammarly has reduced my time spent editing and stressing before putting a post, email, or product out into the world.
Grammarly is an online proofreader and grammar checking tool. It checks for errors with spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Choose from a free or premium paid version. The free version is an excellent place to start to get an idea of how the program works. The premium version has more bells and whistles, giving style and vocabulary recommendations along with a plagiarism checker.
Cool Features
The paid premium version also allows you to set goals for your writing, such as whether or not you want to write in a formal or informal tone, or whether or not you want to excite or persuade someone.
Did I mention It’s Free?
I started with the free version and immediately found myself saving time in the editing process. Finding it easy to use, after a few months, I decided to try the premium version. I am now hooked on this tool and run everything I write, from lengthy emails to blog posts and writing presentations and products such as my cheat sheets through this tool. It is effortless to use, and the editing tool is remarkable. Not only does it point out errors, but it offers suggestions on how to correct mistakes or improve readability.
In the past, I would worry that I missed something before publishing and spent hours going over and over the text. Yet, I would still miss errors! I no longer worry about this, as Grammarly catches everything. I can edit and finalize copy much faster than I can on my own. So, in addition to helping me reduce errors, it is a time saver.
If you are writing anything that you will share publicly, whether it is your artist statement, bio, or copy for your website, give Grammarly a try. There is no time limit on the free version, and you can upgrade at any time.
Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash
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.”
by Rebecca Sciullo | Nov 11, 2019 | Artisan Advantage Book Club
Next up for the Artisan Advantage Book Club is Everybody Writes by Ann Handley.
Writing is essential to your visual art business. You have a message to share, and at times you need to communicate that message in writing. The more you do this, the better you will be at speaking about it, and the more people can learn about it. So, I’m here to encourage you to write! As a first step, let’s read this book.
This is a book that’s helpful for anyone wanting to boost their writing skills, including for an art business. Handley breaks down the writing process in a clear manner. She gives great tips on making catchy headlines, writing blog posts, and content for social media updates. Whether you’re an avid writer or just starting to write for your business, this book has something for everyone. Handley’s focus on keeping it real and understanding your audience makes it easy to learn and apply.
Stay connected to Art Is An Advantage through our weekly newsletter. 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 | Nov 11, 2019 | Artist Websites, Learning, Tools
Are you missing out on timely information?
If you are a subscriber of Artisan Advantage, you should be receiving a newsletter once a month from me.
In talking with a few artists recently that I work with, it seems some of you are not receiving my messages. I’ve also been surprised that winners of my Artisan Advantage Book Club giveaway are not responding to claim their free books! Then it dawned on me that my emails are probably ending up in junk or spam folders.
It is not uncommon for an ISP (Internet Service Provider) to use filters to send an email newsletter to junk or spam folders. It happens to me too. Even my daughter’s school’s emails go to my spam box. And it’s a little embarrassing to not respond to the teacher!
Let’s fix this problem.
