When setting up an art marketing system using blogging, there are undeniably some technical components that you must include.
Did you know they are some less tangible but equally important elements that are critical to your success? I like to boil them down to three key ingredients you should strive to include in your blogging efforts.
Three Important Ingredients for Your Artist Blog
These three things impact how useful your artist blog will be in marketing your business.
Show up.
With a traditional artist website or even artist blogs, the prevailing thought is that all you have to do is create it, and it will bring you business. Many artists build websites with the expectation that people will either find you by you giving them the link in some form of marketing or through an internet search. The reality is that you need to offer people a compelling reason to visit your site, whether it is a traditional site or a blog. Now, a blog is going to entice them, even more, to view your work as the content is likely more exciting and dynamic. However, this is not all that you need. You need to show up with your blog in the places where your audience hangs out.
When I worked with my artist father, Robert Yonke, to develop inroads in the bluegrass music industry, I went out and found an interested audience and presented him to them. I didn’t wait for them to discover him. Showing up means you find and present yourself to an audience, rather than waiting for them to find you.
Make a connection.
The best way to connect with an audience is to find common ground. Strive to build relationships with people that have an interest in some level with your work. It could be that you’ve met them at a prior event. You may share a mutual hobby. They may be interested in learning more about something that you are doing.
Work to find an audience that naturally connects with your work. Use stories, thoughts, and images to grow the connection. Artist Cory Bonnet instantly makes a connection with people who have a love for his hometown of Pittsburgh, as he weaves his knowledge and love of the town’s heritage into his work.
Once you identify your connection with your audience, make sure that it shows up in your blogging.
Be authentic.
Your work is authentic to you because you have created it. Write and present yourself in an accurate manner on your blog. Post content that is true to your work and your vision. Write in an authentic voice. Rather than worrying about writing a literary masterpiece, write as if you have a one on one conversation with your reader. Your audience can sense whether you are authentic or not.
Read Mara Carlini’s Mara’s Mandalas Blog, and you instantly understand that each piece is unique and authentic.
Make sure that your blog has all three ingredients to give yourself the best chance of moving your business forward.
Would you like to create a dynamic blog for your art business in thirty days? Join my new program, 30 Days to a Dynamic Web Presence, starting October 1, 2020. We go into all three of these elements with specific actions that you can take to make sure your blog has them!
Photo by Calum Lewis on Unsplash
