by Rebecca Sciullo | Aug 10, 2020 | Artist Websites, Blogging
Make a lemon drop martini!
Seriously, we’ve all had a bunch of lemons dropped into our laps, haven’t we?
The important thing, though, is what you are making with those lemons.
Many artists are feeling the pain of canceled exhibitions, festivals and other opportunities due to Covid-19. One disappointment for me was the cancellation of the annual studio tour that my father participates in every year. It is always his best selling weekend of the year. While he moves a decent amount of work online, the studio tour is where the larger pieces sell. Missing this opportunity makes a significant impact on his business.
Here’s What We Are Doing
With the absence of the Studio Tour, we’ve made adjustments and improvements to his website and added a few other features to his marketing mix. I couldn’t allow the annual event to go by without doing something and came up with the following ideas:
Created a “Virtual Tour” page on his website, inviting people to view some specialized galleries that we organized – one which included new and featured work and one with a collection of art offered at a special “virtual tour” discount through August.
Made his first “artist talk” video. Using video has been daunting to me, but with the help of a tech-savvy nephew, we pulled it off. I think our first attempt was pretty good, and we plan on making more.
Sent a personalized direct mail piece to a targeted audience of people we identified who could be in the market for original artwork. It’s a trade secret…but if you hire me or take one of my upcoming courses, I’ll share how I found them.
Outcomes and takeaways
Thanks to his blog, mailing list, and client base, sales have been decent during the pandemic. The Virtual Tour recently launched, so I’ll have to report back on how the sales went. At the very least, it has forced me to get creative about putting new content out on his blog, and we made it over the video hurdle.
It’s a Process
Remember, if you’re looking to start something new in your business, it’s a process. Don’t get discouraged. Just keep moving forward little bit every day, and eventually, you will see results.
Would you like to share a story of how you’re making lemons out of lemonade? Please share with becky@artisan-advantage.com.
Photo by Myfanwy Owen on Unsplash
by Rebecca Sciullo | Jun 15, 2020 | Artist Websites, Blogging
Did the pandemic catch you off guard? It sure got me! I think it did most of us in many areas of life. In business, some were prepared better than others to weather the storm. While most of my business is online, I was still not adequately prepared to pivot everything to an online model.
Art Sales During a Pandemic? Yes!
For my artist father’s business, however, we were prepared. He enjoyed consistent sales during the pandemic and he sold several pieces of original art while people were under stay at home orders. Many people were redecorating and shopping online while stuck at home – artists who were in a position to get in front of people online benefited from this trend. As you may have read in my prior posts, the crux of his marketing efforts stems from his blogging system. Thankfully, this system did its job during this time.
Get Serious about Putting Your Art Business Online
If you’re serious about selling your work, you should have a heightened sense of urgency to beef up your online presence. Being “online” is not a silver bullet for success. You still have to do the work.
My recommendation is to set up your artist blog to be the focal point of your marketing efforts.
In addition to setting up your artist blog, here are three other immediate actions that you can take to beef up your web presence.
Make Sure Your Website is Up To Date
What do people find if they look for you online? Will they find up to date information or a neglected website with blog posts dating back to 2012? If you currently have a website, then make sure that all of your information is up to date, including the best way to contact you and pricing.
Start an Email Newsletter.
Get in the habit of sending an email newsletter at least once a month to your fans and followers.
Get Active on Social Media.
Promote the same message and theme as your blog with the ultimate goal of driving people back to your site. Start with one channel and stick with it.
This post isn’t to make you feel bad, because it’s never too late to start! It’s a reminder and encouragement not to put off working on your online presence any longer. Artists can no longer afford to ignore this area of their business.
For more information on blogging for your artist business and other marketing ideas, please subscribe to my newsletter. For help with your artist blog, read more about my Artist Blogging Services.
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
by Rebecca Sciullo | Apr 29, 2020 | Blogging, Writing
If you are trying to produce content regularly for your artist blog, it’s essential to have a productive writing space. You need an area where you are comfortable and able to focus on brainstorming, writing, and editing your posts.
You may need a place that is separate from your studio. My writing space has been taken over by my daughter, thanks to at-home pandemic learning, so I’ve been relegated to a couch. It’s working, but I’m looking forward to the day I can reclaim my space!
Tips for Finding or Creating the Perfect Writing Space
NY Book Editors offer practical advice like uncluttering your space and adding a little inspiration.
How to foster creativity and inspiration from The Writing Cooperative.
Grammarly put up a post about unconventional writing spaces. You may find that something like this works for you.
The Bottom Line
The best space is the one that you will use. It may take some trial and error, but work to find the place where you are comfortable and able to focus for periods on writing content for your artist blog. The more you write about your art, the easier it will get.
Do you have a writing space that you love? Send me a photo, I’d love to see it.
Interested in starting a blog for your visual art business, visit Artist Blogging 101.
Photo by Arnel Hasanovic on Unsplash
Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase an item from Grammarly I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.
by Rebecca Sciullo | Mar 5, 2020 | Artist Blogging 101, Blogging, Learning
It’s time to expand on last week’s post The What and Why of Blogging for your art business. I often compare this system of using a blog in your art marketing efforts to a wheel.
Think of your art marketing system as a wheel.
Your blog is the hub of the wheel – the central location for your art marketing and promotion. It contains all of the content about your art business. Every message that you want to share about your work is documented and stored on your blog. This content can include everything from the story behind a piece of art, information about your process, or details for an upcoming event. There is no limit to what you can share on your blog. You control the message, and this is the best place to craft and present all of your content. This is your home base.
The outside of the wheel, or rim, is your audience. These are all of the people that you want to reach with your message about your art.
The spokes are all of the different channels you use to get your message to the world. These channels are not limited to but can include things like social media, press releases, and direct mail. You write your message first on your blog, and then send it out to your audience through the spokes or channels.
These channels, in turn, direct people back to the your blog.
This back and forth activity gets the wheel into motion and moves your business forward.
Why this strategy?
But why worry about a blog, why not just pick some channels and post your work? Here are three good reasons why.
First, every spoke has its limits. You can only post so much text on Facebook before people tune out. You can send a press release out to your media contacts, but there is no guarantee that they will print or share the entire message. In both of these instances, you can share a link to your blog. On Facebook, you control the link. For a press release, most outlets will share our When people are interested, they will follow the link. Then, you have your opportunity to share the whole story. Every channel has a limit. Your blog is limitless. You can put any message you want there.
Second, you will be more organized.
Do you ever feel scattered when it comes to marketing your work? Where should you post what? I know I did until I implemented this system. Use your blog as your home base for your messages. Then, you can then systematically share information with your audience through whichever channels you want. Implementing this system for your art marketing efforts should reduce that overwhelmed feeling.
Last, but not least – Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a topic that warrants more discussion, but let’s start with the basics. SEO means that you optimize a website so that more people find it through organic or unpaid traffic when they use search engines such as Google. There are many things that you can do to optimize SEO. One thing that helps is to have a site with higher quality and frequently updated information. We will delve more into SEO later, but for now understand that If you are posting regularly on a blog, then you will naturally achieve this first benefit of providing high quality and fresh content
How do I get my wheel in motion?
Hopefully, you’re starting to see the importance of placing your blog based website at the center of your marketing efforts. Next up, we’ll cover some things to consider as you prepare to set up your blog.
Want to get into motion quickly? Consider my Artist Blogging Services.
by Rebecca Sciullo | Mar 2, 2020 | Blogging, Learning
Recently I started a series of blog posts about how Artisan Advantage got started. If you missed the first two posts, please start here.
Part Three: The Experiment
Next, we wrote a press release that announced his new series of bluegrass themed artwork. In the release we included links to both his website and blog. In the announcement, we explained that he was a bluegrass musician himself. It outlined how the work in the series was inspired by the time he spent picking with friends. We had no idea if anyone would be interested, but figured it was worth a shot.
I emailed the press release to the leading blogs in the bluegrass music industry – Cybergrass, The Bluegrass Blog and Mandolin Cafe. The publishers of each blog quickly posted the information. Within a day, we had over 1,000 hits to his website and blog. From that moment on, we started selling and shipping original art and prints to customers all over the world.
That was pretty exciting. Then, something even more exciting happened. I received a call from a representative of the International Bluegrass Music Association. They noticed his work thanks to the blog coverage and wanted to know if they could commission him to do artwork for the World of Bluegrass. We quickly worked out a deal for him to provide the art and plunged headfirst into marketing his work in this industry.
Nashville!
This relationship resulted in us attending and exhibiting at the World of Bluegrass trade show and awards event in Nashville for two consecutive years. Other commission work followed for both organizations in the industry, such as DelFest, Red White and Bluegrass festival and other private commissions.
The Wall Street Journal then wrote about our success using this strategy in an article about blogging.
Again, to reiterate, this was an experiment. I had no idea what would happen if anything. Thankfully, it did happen and it allowed me to see the power of using this tool to promote your work.
Since that time, we have used the blog a variety of ways to gain exposure for his work and grow his audience.
Next Up: Where we are now.
Snapshot from our trip to Nashville.
by Rebecca Sciullo | Feb 25, 2020 | Artist Blogging 101, Blogging, Learning
It’s time to talk about the what and why of blogging for a visual art business.
What is a blog?
The word blog is short for “web” and “log”. It is simply a website updated with new content regularly. Typically written in an informal or conversational style, a blog is an excellent way to share the story of your work. By doing this, you can build a relationship with an audience of fans and collectors.
Who should start a blog?
Every artist, no matter their medium or stage of career, can benefit from setting up a blog. It is by far one of the easiest ways to get exposure for your work and to build an audience for your work.
Here’s the good news.
You don’t have to be an expert or a professional writer to start a blog. As an artist, images of your work will be the focal point of your blog. You can then communicate with readers and write about your work in an authentic style and voice. In other words, you can be you. Your readers are looking to get to know about you, the artist, and the stories behind the work.
What if I already have a website?
Most web building platforms offer a blogging feature, and it should not be too difficult to activate it. If your website is very outdated or, for some reason, does not offer this feature, I’ll be sharing ways that you can get one up and running over the coming weeks.
How long will it take to build a successful blog?
I’m not going to lie to you, but blogging takes time and can be frustrating. It isn’t enough to set up a blog, write a couple of posts, and think your business will change overnight. And in the beginning, you might be doubtful because you don’t get much traffic. You will probably get a little frustrated at how much time it can take to do a simple task. You may get overwhelmed or lose your motivation. I think many artists quit blogging because they don’t stick with it long enough. If you want to start a blog that drives sales for your art business, you need to work at it consistently for at least 12-18 months.
So, how do you decide what to write about on your blog?
Start with the art. If you have quality images of your artwork, then you already have plenty of content that you can use. Eventually, I will recommend you put together a content strategy. For now, take ten to fifteen minutes a day to get in the habit of writing. Write about the stories behind your work, or show them what you are doing in the studio. Write about whatever it is that you think your readers might want to know. The important thing is to get into motion. You don’t have to spend a ton of time at it, but if you make it a consistent daily practice, it will become effortless.
You can access a list of starter blog posts ideas for artists here on my Resources page.
Assignment:
Take one image of your work every day for the next five days and write something about it. Please write it down in whatever format you prefer. I want you to get into the practice of writing about your work. If you want to share it with me, send it to becky@artisan-advantage.com.
If you want to be sure to receive all of the Artist Blogging 101 posts, please sign up for my email newsletter, and you’ll be sure not to miss a post.
Next Up
I’ll explain how blogging can drive all of your marketing efforts.
