In order to market and promote your art online it goes without saying that you’ll be spending time on a computer. I’ve put together this list of 10 tools that will help that time be better spent. They’ll help your computer to run faster, smoother, and more secure. When your computer is faster you can spend less time on it because you’ll get more done in a less amount of time.

Everything on this list is free though a few have premium upgrade options.

1. CCleaner – “CCleaner is the number-one tool for cleaning your Windows PC. It protects your privacy online and makes your computer faster and more secure. Easy to use and a small, fast download.”
2. AVG Free – “Free protection against viruses and spyware, fast, effective security that is kind on resources, compatible with Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.”
3. Dropbox – “Dropbox allows you to sync your files online and across your computers automatically.”
4. CrashPlan – “CrashPlan automatically backs up (your computer) to multiple destinations for free.
5. FireFox Web Browser – “The Firefox browser is created by Mozilla, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote openness, innovation and opportunity on the Web.” (You’re not still using Internet Explorer are you?)
6. VLC Media Player – “a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVD, Audio CD, VCD, and various streaming protocols.”
7. Google Chrome – “Google Chrome runs web pages and applications with lightning speed.”
8. f.lux – “Makes the color of your computer’s display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day.
9. LastPass -  “A password manager that makes web browsing easier and more secure.”
10. Pandora – “Pandora has a single mission: To play only music you’ll love.”

Now it is your turn to tell me what I missed. There are many tools out there, which ones are you  using?

Ten Tools for a Happier Computer and a Happier You is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

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Even though social media gets a lot of attention these days and people love to talk about what is new and what is next I believe good old fashioned email is the best way to keep in touch with your collectors and your fans.

AN EMAIL LIST IS TANGIBLE

Let’s look at two lists, a Facebook fan page list and an email list.

You decide to focus all of your attention on Facebook and build up your fans on there. Over time you get 1000 people to click your “like” button. You can now communicate with 1000 people via Facebook. Yeah! Great way to use the power of social media to promote you and your artwork.

Another artist you know decides to focus on building up an email list in order to keep in touch with folks who have shown interest in her work. Over time she build up a list of 1000 email subscribers and can now send messages directly to her fan’s in-box.

Who has the more valuable list?

You guessed it right, the email list.

Why is that?

There are many reasons. First and foremost the email list is an actual tangible list that you can download and keep on a spreadsheet and move to other email services if you need to. There is no way to do that with the fans of your Facebook page.

Email is also more valuable because anyone who connects to the internet has an email account. It is the very basic reason people use the internet. I know people who do zip on the web except check their email once a week or so. Despite Facebook’s high user number email’s use will always be higher.

And email will still be around long after Facebook is gone.

Email the right way

I could keep going but hopefully you get my point and have decided that you are going to work on building your email list. To do that you are going to need an email service. Plugging a bunch of email addresses into your Gmail’s “To:” and “CC:” field is the wrong way to use your list. Don’t do it!

Sign up for Mailchimp and set up a legitimate professional email list system. The people on your list will thank you for it. Mailchimp is FREE so you have no excuse. There are other such email services such as Constant Contact, aWeber, and iContact, but Mailchimp is the only one I know of that is free to use.

Okay well it is free up until you reach 1000 subscribers on your list and or you send out over 6,000 total emails a month. That is a great deal. They don’t even ask for a credit card on the free plan. Once you are over 1000 names on your list hopefully you are in a place where you can afford the $30 a month for the service.

Having a service like Mailchimp is a great way to manage your email list. It keeps it clean by weeding out old email addresses, it lets you know how many people opened the email and what they clicked on. It also keep you in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act.

So there you have it! Free internet tool #1 Mailchimp.

If you have any questions about Mailchimp ask them. If you have any questions about email marketing ask me or better yet ask in the comments.

You can also download this free email marketing guide offered by Mailchimp.

Mailchimp Email Marketing and List Manager is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

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Though the service started slow and was used mostly by those in the tech and computer fields it quickly grew once celebrities like Ashton Kutcher and Oprah jumped on board. It is now one of the most popular websites on the internet.

But can Twitter be effective in promoting and selling your art work? You bet it can!

Twitter is another avenue that can get your work in front of eyeballs around the world, eyeballs you would have trouble reaching in any other way. Twitter after all is about connecting with people. And it is a great tool for building trust with those connections. Trust is what leads to sales. Right?

But how do you make this happen?

This free webinar will go over effective methods and practical steps an artist can apply to Twitter in order to build a following that leads to more sales. It will also cover powerful tools and resources you can use to get the most out of Twitter.

Every week ArtPalaver.com host’s a free webinar covering a topic to help you sell more art. Each webinar is about 20 to 30 minutes long and includes live Q & A so you can get specific questions answered about art marketing challenges you are facing. Find the details of feature webinars and archives of past webinars right here.

This webinar has already happened but you can find the audio, video, and slides below:

Twitter for Artists

Using Twitter To Sell Art | Free Webinar is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

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This free online seminar will discuss various ways social media can be used to sell more art. We are going to focus more on methods and strategies, not just the tools of social media. Because if you do not have a sound strategy in place chances are you’ll just be wasting you time.

Each free Art Palaver webinar is no longer than 30 minutes long and includes plenty of time for live questions and answers.

The live event has already happened but you can find the audio, video, and slides below:

Social Media for Artists

Promote And Market Art Using Social Media | Free Online Seminar is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

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But I do know that it can be intimidating or maybe you can’t yet see the value in how they can help you sell more art. And that is exactly why I am excited to introduce the next FREE Art Palaver webinar…

“Using Video to Promote and Sell Your Art Online”

In this webinar I will go over the all important question “why would an artist use video?” As well as the many ways to approach and produce vids. This webinar will also be packed with information on the tools needed to make, edit, and publish those magic moving pictures.

Even if you are not sure it is right for you I recommend you sign up for this webinar to maybe learn about something your missing. Video can be such a powerful tool yet many artists do not take advantage of it and it can be a good way to set yourself apart and get noticed on the web.

The live event has already happened but below you can find the archived audio, video, and slides:

Video Art Marketing

Using Video To Promote You And Your Art | Free Webinar is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

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In this free webinar we are going to talk about specific strategies you can begin applying immediately to get even more value out of your promotional efforts. We’ll cover key points like:

• Identifying top priorities
• Reducing time wasters
• Smart planning
• How your marketing can never fail
• Additional resources that can help

If you are not familiar with webinars think of them as a seminar or classroom online. These free webinars run about 20 to 30 minutes and start with a presentation that includes informative slides. During the presentation you can ask questions via text chat at anytime. And when I wrap up the main content I always leave time for questions. If you are not able to connect via the internet you can call in with any phone and listen to the audio. Your microphone is muted during the call so you don’t have to worry about anything where you are interrupting the webinar.

If you are not able to make the live event I make the audio, video, slides available within 24 hours after the webinar.

This free webinar on maximizing your art marketing schedule took place on April 21, 2010. Below is the archive of the audio, video, and slides.

Click to play audio:
Maximize Your Art Marketing Time

Maximize Your Time Spent On Marketing Your Art | Free Webinar is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

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The most visited URL on the internet is www.google.com, the second most visited is www.facebook.com. What started as a way for students of Havard University to stay connected has grown into the second most popular site on the whole world wide web.

Facebook currently has more than 400 million active users, 50% of those users log on to Facebook in any given day, more than 35 million users update their status daily, and an average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on Facebook. (Find more stats here.) What this means for the modern day artist is that there is a community of Facebook waiting to get to know you and your art. It means when we talk about marketing and promoting your work through social media Facebook is the one place that can not be ignored. Which is why I am excited to offer a free webinar on Facebook for artists.

This webinar will cover:

• Profiles vs. Pages
• Protecting your privacy
• Setting up your page to promote you and your work
• Finding fans
• Converting Fans into Sales
• Everything in between!

There will also be time for Q&A to answer your specific question.

If you are not able to make the live broadcast the audio will be available for download shortly after the event. I’ll be making separate posts that include this download. Please drop me a note or leave a comment on what day/times would work better for your schedule. Also let me know what topics you would like to see in future webinars. I plan on doing at least one webinar a week.

The live event has already happened. See what webinars are coming next here: http://www.artpalaver.com/category/marketing-selling-art-online/art-marketing-webinars/

Here is the audio recording of the webinar:

Facebook for Artists Webinar Audio

And this is the video which includes audio and slides:

Facebook For Artists | Free Art Marketing Webinar is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

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Don’t see a video? Click here.

Win A Copy Of Crush It By Gary Vaynerchuk | AP240S Video 005 is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

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