How to promote yourself as an artist
Don't panic - advice on marketing your art online.
Create an online portfolio to showcase your work
The most important thing that you have to remember about a portfolio is that you can change it, add to it and edit it. You are changing, and your creativity is changing as well.
Do not be too absorbed by the process. One of the most important rules of creating a portfolio is “less, but better”. Even if at the beginning it seems that you have a small portfolio, do not be discouraged. Over time you will collect more works that can be shown to the public.
.ART offers four simple steps to create a portfolio: select the best works, select a catchy web address, create your website and share it everywhere. “Everywhere” being the key word!
Your marketing plan
It’s not enough to just collect photos of your work. To make your portfolio work and promote your art correctly, you need a clear marketing plan. But does one market their art if they are not a marketing manager?
Clearly define what your product is about. What do you want to say to the world and what is your main message? It should sound as simple as possible and fit in one sentence. A clear understanding of the concept of your product will help you with the rest of the exercise.
The second question to answer is what your target audience is. Who could be interested in your product? If you draw children’s illustrations, your main client is publishing houses that specialize in books for children. If you talk about art or lecture, your main audience is students and young people who want to develop their skills.
The next question is – where can you meet your audience? Your educational videos will be best distributed on Youtube. If you blog, you want to have a website built on WordPress or Wix. Newsletters are also a great way of reaching out.
Last but not least – creating quality content. You can make incredible jewelry that looks like a real masterpiece. But if you have a poor-quality image on the website, no one will be able to appreciate it and be willing to purchase it. The same will happen if you upload a lot of similar photos all the time. Your product will quickly get boring and will no longer be interesting to potential customers.
Where to start your marketing campaign?
Do not ignore social networks to promote your product. Needless to say, there is a lot of copyright on social networks and your product is not protected from plagiarism. In that sense social networks have many drawbacks. Some even say that they should be avoided at all costs. Nevertheless, social networks should not be dismissed as an additional PR tool.
The main advantage of social networks are their incredible dynamics. They are constantly updated, and, most importantly, people are constantly watching them, like our parents used to watch TV before going to bed or read the newspaper in the morning. It was a mandatory daily ritual of getting information. And now social networks have become an important source of up-to-date information.
How .ART Domains Are Taking Artists Online Read More How to register a business email on .ART Read More Portfolio on .ART: How to showcase your creative work in 4 simple steps Read More
Moreover, social networks create an incredible effect of presence and intimacy. You can talk about your art with someone you have never seen, and they, in turn, have never seen your art in flesh. When the magic of digital communication takes place, your customer gets a feeling of being involved in your creative process – and that is priceless.
Copyright your artwork
Let’s not forget about your vulnerability to plagiarism. When it comes to social networks, everything that is posted to your profile automatically ceases to belong to you, from that moment onwards it belongs to Facebook or Instagram. There are various websites that offer copyright services for your artworks and products, like copyright.gov in the US or copyrightservices.co.uk in the UK. However, the best way to avoid seeing nightmares about your artwork being printed on milk cartons is to have your own website. Your website is your home where you set your own rules. You can protect your art from copyright infringement and create a mixture of creative formats that is tailored to your creative profile.
