Art Palaver Artist Marketing Resource » internet

Cost Effective Email Marketing For Artists

Daryle Dickens — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:30:00 +0000

The email newsletter is probably one of the oldest internet tools available for an artist to promote their art. They have been around since the invention of email. Many artists send out “email blasts” through their email client like Gmail or Hotmail. Cutting and pasting a list of emails into the “To:” box and hitting send. This is the easiest method and it is free. It is also illegal.

Yes I said illegal. You see when you send out an email like that 9 out of 10 times it does not conform to the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. The biggest reason for non compliance is there is no easy way to opt out of the emailings. To comply with the CAN-SPAM act the professional artist will turn to an email service to handle their mass mailings.

There are a few to choose from but only 1 that I know of that lets you run a list of under 500 addresses for free, that service is MailChimp. I’ve been using MailChimp for six months now and I highly recommend it to any artist looking to have an easy to use professional email service.

That’s really all I got for you today. If you’ve been thinking about using email to market your work start with MailChimp.

Cost Effective Email Marketing For Artists is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

Being A Guest Blogger Or A Host Blogger Will Boost Your Traffic

Daryle Dickens — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:39:40 +0000

If you are an artist who has a blog have you written any guest posts on other blogs? Have you hosted any guests on your blog? If you have not I highly recommend you try it. It is one of the easiest ways to see a boost in traffic and gain more fans of your blog and your art.

It’s all about the networks

When you write a guest post for someone else you are tapping into their readership, their fan base. And you allow them to tap into your reader’s eye balls. It is what they call “win-win.” And “win-win” is something you should always be after. But how do you make this happen? I am glad you asked.

One of the best ways is to already be involved in another blog as a reader and also as a frequent commenter. If you’ve been making comments chances are the publisher is familiar with your name and would give your pitch to write a post more merit. And when you’ve been reading a blog for a while you know the topic well and can understand how to write relevant content. You also might come across an issue that your words would be perfect for. Let’s say you read a post an artist does about prepping a canvas but you notice the author is not doing one thing you’ve found to be very helpful. Write that author and say how much you liked the article but you would like to add to its value by offering some advice that has worked for you. That is just one small example of how you might ask to be a guest poster on another blog.

You can also just ask. As a blog author myself I can tell you that I am always on the look out for guest bloggers. I know when someone writes a guest post on Art Palaver they are going to mention it to their network. “Hey check out the post that was just published over at…” which will gain me more readers. But it also gives me a break from posting, a mini vacation if you will. One more added benefit is the writing style is usually a bit different and ads a new flavor to my blog.

I have a past post on Art Palaver that gets found almost everyday through search engine traffic, it is very popular, and it was written by a guest. I continue to get traffic from the words someone else wrote and all I had to do was cut and paste. The writer also continues to get traffic because when you guest post you usually include links to your stuff in the beginning and in the footer of the post. You got to have those links.

Street cred

The more you write on other blogs the more bloggers will want you to write for them. With this in mind start with smaller blogs and work you way up to larger and more popular blogs. As you move up the food chain you will be able to demonstrate through links to your other posts that you are a quality guest writer who can deliver the goods. You’d be surprised how many offers I get for guest writers that I accept but the person does not follow through.

I really suggest you give this a try. Commit to guest posting once a month for three months and pay attention to your site’s stats, you will see an increase in traffic. It is a way to come together and support others, a way to build community. And a strong community means support and sustainability. Along those lines also seek to be a host once a month for three months and see how that works out for you.

My policy

I am always on the look out for guest writers. And I am open to almost any topic if it relates to artists and the artist life. I like to have people pitch an idea for approval then write the article. And we will negotiate a deadline to help make sure it happens. I also want original content, something that has not been seen on your blog before. I am okay with rewrites but I do not want duplicate content.

I am also always looking for other blogs to write for. My schedule allows for one of those a week and I have most weeks available. If you publish a blog and are looking for a post ask me, I’ll probably do it no matter the topic or focus of your blog.

Your policy

If you are going to do this (and you really really should) it is smart to make yourself some personal ground rules. How many will you do? How often? What topics are okay? What topics are not okay? This reduces the stress of having to decide when opportunities arise.

Now get out there!

Being A Guest Blogger Or A Host Blogger Will Boost Your Traffic is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

One Of The Most Under Used Internet Tools

Daryle Dickens — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:00:52 +0000

An RSS Feed Reader is one of the most under used internet tools out there. In my experience many people have never heard of a reader or do not understand what it does. Learning those two things can be very useful to you, your art, and the marketing of your art.

Basically an RSS Reader is software that allows information on the internet to come to you instead of you having to constantly go out and find it. Almost all blogs and some websites have some form of an RSS feed that allows you to subscribe to the blog or website with your RSS reader. Just look for the orange RSS symbol. After you have subscribed any new content published on the blog will be sent directly to your reader. And since a reader allows you to subscribe to as many RSS feeds as you’d like you can simply open your reader and see any new content your favorite blogs or website have published. This saves you a lot of time because you don’t have to visit individual sites each day to stay informed.

This little video by Common Craft does a good job of explaining RSS:

Most, if not all, major email clients offer RSS Readers. And all internet browsers also have built in RSS Readers. Chances are you already have a reader and you just don’t know it. I use Google Reader which is built into my Gmail account.

Your mission: Find a blog that relates to your art and subscribe to the feed.

One Of The Most Under Used Internet Tools is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.