Recently I started a series of blog posts about how Artisan Advantage got started. If you missed the first two posts, please start here.
Part Three: The Experiment
Next, we wrote a press release that announced his new series of bluegrass themed artwork. In the release we included links to both his website and blog. In the announcement, we explained that he was a bluegrass musician himself. It outlined how the work in the series was inspired by the time he spent picking with friends. We had no idea if anyone would be interested, but figured it was worth a shot.
I emailed the press release to the leading blogs in the bluegrass music industry – Cybergrass, The Bluegrass Blog and Mandolin Cafe. The publishers of each blog quickly posted the information. Within a day, we had over 1,000 hits to his website and blog. From that moment on, we started selling and shipping original art and prints to customers all over the world.
That was pretty exciting. Then, something even more exciting happened. I received a call from a representative of the International Bluegrass Music Association. They noticed his work thanks to the blog coverage and wanted to know if they could commission him to do artwork for the World of Bluegrass. We quickly worked out a deal for him to provide the art and plunged headfirst into marketing his work in this industry.
Nashville!
This relationship resulted in us attending and exhibiting at the World of Bluegrass trade show and awards event in Nashville for two consecutive years. Other commission work followed for both organizations in the industry, such as DelFest, Red White and Bluegrass festival and other private commissions.
The Wall Street Journal then wrote about our success using this strategy in an article about blogging.
Again, to reiterate, this was an experiment. I had no idea what would happen if anything. Thankfully, it did happen and it allowed me to see the power of using this tool to promote your work.
Since that time, we have used the blog a variety of ways to gain exposure for his work and grow his audience.
Next Up: Where we are now.
Snapshot from our trip to Nashville.
