I find all the stuff on the internet overwhelming. But I know a lot of artists are promoting and selling online these days. If I did just one thing online what should it be?

This question came out of a conversation we were having about the many avenues available to market and promote you and your work online. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, DeviantArt, Etsy, as well as the countless art sites that offer free profile pages for you to display your work.

I believe if you had to pick just one spot for your online artistic presence it should be your own website. And I further believe that the best option for your artist website is a self hosted WordPress site. This is the WordPress software that is found at WordPress.org, not the blogging service found at WordPress.com. A tad confusing I know.

The difference between those other internet services and your own website is similar to the difference between owning a car or having to depending on public transportation to get you around. Yes buses and trains can be cheap and even free sometimes but you’re at the mercy of their routes and schedules. The same is true of free sites and services online. You’re at the mercy of how they want things done. But your own site gives you the freedom to do what you need to do exactly how you choose. And these days webhosting has gotten quite affordable.

The WordPress.org software is free but you have to get a web host in order to use it. These days you can find a host in the range of $5.00 to $10.00 a month that will be there for all your needs. You’ll also need a domain name as well. Those run about $10.00 a year. Most hosts offer the ability to register domains as well.

This site and most of the sites I work with is hosted by Site5 and I can not say enough nice things about them. Customer service is the #1 thing I look for in a host and Site5 has never let me down. But there are many solid hosting companies out there. The best bet is to do a little research and find out what hosting people you trust use.

Most webhosting companies these days offer “1 click install” of WordPress and many other web tools. Back before 1 click install WordPress needed to be uploaded via an FTP client. Which can be a bit confusing if you’ve never used one before. Now you just log into your site control panel and look for “3rd Party Scripts” or “Fantistico” to upload WordPress. This route also offers the support of your webhost. If you have trouble give them a call and they’ll walk you through it. If they are unwilling you might want to keep shopping for a host provider.

Now that you’ve uploaded WordPress you’ve taken your first step into a larger world. A magical world filled with unlimited possibilities and unicorns. Okay not quite but WordPress does offer some amazing things for an artist who is making their site DIY. Through the use of themes you have the ability to change the over all look and function of the site. And through the use of plugins you have many more options when it comes to function that you can add to your site. 95% of themes and plugins are free. The best part is the support community that is out there to help you when you have questions. I am not saying there is like a WordPress hotline you can call when your in a jam but if you do a search for your WordPress problem you are going to find an answer.

That is my short answer to the question of the one thing you should do as an artist to promote yourself online. There is a lot more I could say about artists using WordPress so I am going to start a new category that features regular tips and advice for artists who are using WordPress. Thinking of “Wordpress Wednesday,” because it is hard to go wrong with a double consonant.

What Is The One Thing I Should Do Online As An Artist? is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

No related posts.

Brenda started off the discussion with an interesting thought:

“I think that there could be more promotion and education aimed at the general public regarding the benefits of owning original art. The more people who can appreciate art the more potential customers.”

This is a great idea and those of us who already appreciate art and know its value probably take it for granted that everyone knows the benefit of owning original art. But when you think about it you know that is not the case. One way I’ve thought of to help address this issue is to create a brochure that briefly explains the benefits and value of original art. I could make this brochure simple and in PDF form, release it under creative commons and have it available for anyone to download and make their own. This would allow an artist to be able to have the brochure available to hand out when they felt it was needed. I’ll be sure to let you know when that is available.

But that is just one tiny thing. What can we all being doing to educate people on the value of art? If you have an idea please do comment.

The next comment is from April Quast who states:

“I need exposure. I’m a mom, a teacher and artist. I’m confident that I have something unique to offer the art world but I don’t even know how to get the world to see what I have to offer.”

I hear you April. Exposure is something every artist needs in order to build a fan base that will lead to sales. I believe it is important for an artist to seek as many avenues of exposure as possible but through a focused and planned effort. It is up to the artist to explore all the possibilities the area they live in has to offer. This can include coffee shop, restaurants, galleries, or any public venue that their community offers in which art can be displayed. The internet also offers a lot of opportunity for exposure. And it is my goal to continual develop Art Palaver to help artists navigate the web in an effort to sell art.

TheRichAnt comment touches on a very common thing I hear from artists:

“To be honest I haven’t a clue what I need. I have often thought having my own solo showing. However funding for that is non-existent. So I thought social media would be the key. I have a Myspace, Facebook, twitter, youtube, blogspot, my own website, etsy, and I network in Ning communities.”

I know that social media can be helpful because I personally know artists who have created a career in art by selling through those outlets. It helps to know your market and find out where they hang out when it comes to social media. Knowing your market is basically knowing why type of person buys your art. What they do for a living, how old are they, how much money do they make, what part of the country do they live in, you basically have to paint a picture of your most common buyer and go find them. The other thing to be careful of with social media is spreading yourself too thin. A little market research can help you identify what networks to invest in.

Sandra Reid says:

“I have been thinking about your question and personally, even though financing my art is a very large problem at the moment, what would help the most is an art mentor/coach. Like a business coach/mentor but this would be someone who has experience in the art world that would be willing to share their experience and who I could bounce ideas off when I was stuck or had a problem.”

Sandra I find it interesting that your comment is the only one to bring up lack of money as a problem, but you realize it is not the biggest challenge you are facing. A business coach can be very helpful for an artist. I’ve been doing that locally for sometime now and I am currently looking into ways to do that via the internet. One concept I am looking at is group coaching via conference call. Having 6 to 10 artists in on a conference call so we can trouble shoot where everyone is at. The group format would allow it to be affordable.

I’d also recommend finding anyone that you can talk out loud to about the issues you are facing. It doesn’t always take consulting with an “expert” to work through your challenges. Other artists can be a great resource for this, especially ones who may be further down the path than you.

Over on Facebook Lisa Skyheart Marshall said this:

“It is really good to associate yourself with some kind of community if you are feeling discouraged, or if you are just starting out. There are also communities of artists that share studio space, and you can get to know them. Because making art is sometimes a solitary pursuit, making friends with other artists is incredibly helpful. It is supportive, uplifting and is also a form of networking.”

That is sound advice. And the key with that is finding a supportive community.

And Scott sent me an email that I have nothing to add to:

“This is an extremely difficult question to answer, probably because there is no one solution or no answer at all. I have always believed that one must start with the work. If the work has no merit whatsoever, no amount or marketing or advice is going to turn its creator into a self supporting, successful artist. If the work has merit, the first task for the artist is to identify his or her audience, because the art world spectrum goes from black to white, from A to Z. So the artist must find his or her niche in that spectrum. When pursuing a marketing strategy, once you have identified your audience, I advise pick and choose where you put your energies very very carefully. 99 percent of everything you do will bring very little in return, usually, nothing! So you don’t want to waste your valuable time when you should be creating. It’s not a matter of quantity; it’s a matter of selectivity. Choose to pursue things which you believe have a chance at some return. Survival strategies evolve and change over time. Never give up!”

*****

I am still looking for feedback to this question. My mission is to find out what artists need and then how can I get it for them. Either by providing it for them or pointing them in the direction they will find it. Currently I am working on things that will help continue dialogue like this. A new podcast is in the works, more free e-books, more guest posts, video tutorials for social media (let me know what you’d like to see), as well as a series of affordable webinars (less than $10). I am also researching something that would help artists get exposure and generate revenue to fund artist’s grants. But it has never been done before so the research is taking time.

It is my goal with posts of this style to help generate more dialogue which will generate community and through community people survive and grow. Are you with me?

Follow Up To My Best Way To Help Artists Question is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

No related posts.