by Becky Sciullo | Mar 15, 2021 | Learning, Productivity, Resources, Social Media
Here are some marketing ideas for your Monday morning.
Six Art Marketing Ideas
1 – When crafting your PR strategy, don’t overlook radio stations, particularly your local public stations like this one in my hometown. Many times they interview visual artists. And, the stations have websites where they will be able to share images of your work and the recording.
2 – If you have a strong presence on Etsy or another e-commerce site, edit your Facebook header button for followers to take action by creating a “Shop” button that goes directly to your online store.
3 – If you’re new to Etsy, you will not have any feedback or testimonials, which can put some buyers off. Work on nurturing testimonials to build credibility so people will trust purchasing from you. If friends and family typically purchase directly from you, ask them to make their next purchase through the platform so they can leave reviews for you. Or, start with a product at a lower price point so buyers can take a chance on you, allowing an opportunity for your to build their trust.
4 – Interior designers are always on the lookout for on-trend artwork, and if you have it, you can make multiple sales by targeting this group. Be proactive. Connect with interior designers in your local market and send them a message. Don’t spam them or try to sell right off the bat. Just make a connection. You will get rejections and not everyone will respond. Don’t take it personally; stick with it. Eventually you should find one who clicks with your work.
5 – Are you frustrated that you don’t have enough time in your day for marketing? Take time to evaluate how you spend your time. You can do this by keeping a simple list of what you do every day. After a week or two, see if you can identify activities that you can streamline or eliminate to open up time in your schedule.
6 – Whenever a magazine or other publication features your work, make sure you are referencing and linking back, giving props to that media outlet through tagging on social media or sharing their site on your blog.
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by Becky Sciullo | Feb 15, 2021 | Learning, Social Media, Tools
Here are some marketing ideas for your Monday Morning
Five Art Marketing Ideas (and suggestions:))
1 – Dig into Pinterest with Pinterest Presents, a free virtual summit.
2 – Speaking of Pinterest. Convert your personal profile to a business profile. Business profiles offer better data and you won’t lose any of your pins by switching over.
3 – Gain exposure and revenue with Patreon. Allow fans to support your work. Build yourself a profile and get paid for things you might already be creating.
4 – Consider live-streaming your process.
5 – Don’t overlook LinkedIn. I recently read that posts with images get 94% more views. Your work can easily stand out on this platform.
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by Rebecca Sciullo | Mar 20, 2019 | Artist Websites, Learning, Social Media
Did you have trouble with Facebook last week? I was frustrated when attempting to log in at my desktop I saw this screen. It was a good reminder of why in addition to a social media presence, you need your own artist website.
You Should Be in Control of Your Online Presence
Social media is a necessary tool for your visual art business, but you need a home base that you control. Building a website can be a lot of work, but it can be done. I built my first artist website in 2006 with the Microsoft FrontPage program without any prior training or knowledge. Things have gotten easier since then and there are different ways that you can approach building your artist website.
How to Build an Artist Website
Hire Someone to Build it For You
Hiring a professional to build your artist website means that your website will be exactly what you want, to your specifications and can include functionality such as a shopping cart and email marketing system. You will also have someone to help with updates and fixes, at most likely on an hourly or fixed fee basis. Your cost will be higher than if you build it yourself. You will still spend time on the site, as you will have to communicate your needs to your web developer. Also, you will likely be responsible for hosting, upkeep and protecting it, which means you will have an ongoing expense to pay the developer to do these things for you.
Build Your Own From “Scratch”
You can build your own artist website using open source software like WordPress.org. I learned how to build Artisan Advantage this way by taking Christina Hills’ Website Creation Workshop. I don’t know that I would have been able to do it without taking her course. It was a worthwhile investment for me because so far I’ve been able to take care of the site on my own. Using WordPress.org is free, but there are costs involved if you are want to use a premium theme and certain plug-ins. Also, you will have the expenses of hosting, a domain name, upkeep and protecting the site in this scenario as well.
Do it Yourself with a Website Builder Tool
Building your own artist website using an all in one website builder platform is probably the easiest way to build your first site. With little technological know how you can literally build a website on some platforms in a few hours. This method is also more cost-effective as prices are often spread out with a low monthly fee. You can choose from pre-built professional designs and will have access to mobile templates and responsive designs that display well on different screens. Update content instantly, so when that new piece is ready to go, you can get it on the site without asking someone to do it for you. You can witch designs easily without having to make requests of a developer. The platform will typically handle hosting, security and software updates.
While it is possible to get a “free” website, you should eventually opt for a paid plan. It will be ad-free and you can use your own domain address. These platforms can be limiting and packages often come with pre-determined features, but for most visual art businesses these platforms will be sufficient.
Most will allow you to try before you buy. Take advantage of trial offers or free plans to see if you like the tool before you upgrade.
Some platforms to consider are Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, and WordPress.com.
No Matter How You Build Your Site, Always Do This
Map out your web pages and the content before you start building.
Use a custom domain name for your artist website, rather than using a generic address provided by the web platform.
Use quality images of your work. Learn how to take and edit high-quality photos of your work or find someone to help you.
Provide your contact information on the site.
Capture email addresses for future communications.
Just Do It!
Building your own site might seem like a big job, but it will be worth it in the long run.
by Rebecca Sciullo | Dec 3, 2018 | Learning, Social Media
Social media for artists is a very effective marketing tool, but it must be used in the right way. Avoid these mistakes and you’ll be on your way to creating a large fan base for your work.
Social media usage has become a part of modern culture, and much of it is visual, so it only makes sense that the art world shines there. It’s a powerful tool that allows artists to connect with potential buyers. As the number of social media platforms has has grown, it’s also becoming more complex to navigate. The large possibilities for connection help to increase the possibility for art business sales and opportunities, but there are some mistakes that can hinder your results.
Avoid the following practices on social media to avoid wasting your time and your fans tuning you out.
1. Not Interacting With Your Followers
Social media gives artists the opportunity to interact directly with current and prospective buyers. So, if people are commenting on an artist’s work and the artist is not responding, followers may become disinterested and turn their attention elsewhere. Try to respond to comments, shares, and likes on your posts. Even something as simple as “thank you so much for commenting” can go a long way toward building relationships with people on social media.
2. Inconsistent Visuals
A good strategy is to start with one platform at a time. Expand as you can and work to be on the sites that make the most sense for you. When appearing on more than one platform, it’s important to keep personal branding consistent. For an artist, this simply means try to keep your images consistent across platforms. So, if you are using a head shot – try to use the same one on each platform. If you have a header image of your work, keep it consistent. When people see your work consistently o multiple platforms, it gives your work a larger presence in their minds. This doesn’t mean, however that content has to be the same. Try to post different content on each site.
3. Going Off-topic
If your social media profile is for your art business, try to stay on-topic. That is, stick to posting your own artwork, perhaps art from other artists that you admire or work with, businesses and organizations that you work with, or information about the art world or specific to your medium. Steer clear of random personal notes that don’t relate to your work or making social/political commentary. An exception to this rule would be when your work is related to a specific issue or cause. Then, your followers will be expecting to hear your thoughts. People are visiting your page to interact and learn about your work. Keep the personal stuff to personal profiles.
4. Only Posting Your Artwork
The fastest way to lose followers is to be all about you all the time. If an artist posts nothing but their own work with no engagement-focused posts to inspire conversations, the audience will become bored and click away. It is vital when marketing on social media not to appear to be spam. Art lovers are on social media for more than just viewing art and as such, they follow a lot of pages.
Try posting two images of your work per week filling the rest of your feed with probing questions and valuable content that addresses something related to your art community, your medium or your niche.
Do you have any other “do’s or don’t” that you’ve learned working on social media for your art business? Share them with me at becky@artisan-advantage.com and I’ll include them in a future post.
Photo by William Iven on Unsplash
by Rebecca Sciullo | Nov 8, 2017 | Events, Learning, Social Media
Last week, another round of Art Marketing Roundtables were held at Gilberti Fine Art in Coraopolis. These events are a great opportunity for artists to learn about and hear from other artists on a topic related to selling art. If you couldn’t be there with us, here are five takeaways from the latest sessions on social media strategies.
Have a Plan. You should have a plan for your art business and your social media strategy should follow that plan. There are many platforms and many different ways you can present yourself via social media. Make sure whatever you’re posting is working toward your goals.
Have a System. Schedule regular time on your calendar to manage your social media. You can check your sites quickly on a daily basis, but have at least one solid chunk of time a week where you schedule posts and manage your accounts. Make a list in advance of the types of content that you want to post. Consider mapping out a content calendar to guide your messages.
Share. When using Facebook, share your business page posts to your personal account. Encourage comments. Your posts will be viewed by more people if you consciously do this. Also, share relevant content from other pages and people who you follow.
Focus. When starting out, focus on mastering and building one platform before you move on to others. Maintain profiles on other platforms in case someone is looking for you, but master one platform at a time.
Hashtags. Use them! Not only in your posts, but for your own use when researching a topic. When using hashtags, think broad and specific. You want a mix of both in your post, but don’t overdo it. Consider posting hashtags in a comment rather than the main post. I really liked the idea of keeping a list of hashtags that you frequently use. You won’t have to recreate the wheel every time you go to post.
Thank you to everyone who attended! If you’d like to be notified about other events like this art marketing roundtable, sign up for my newsletter here
by Rebecca Sciullo | Oct 20, 2017 | Events, Social Media
Would you like to learn strategies to use social media to promote your art business?
Pittsburgh and surrounding area artists are invited to participate in an Art Marketing Round Table Discussion, hosted by Gilberti Fine Art Studio and Gallery in Coraopolis, PA. Art marketing consultant Becky Sciullo and artist/gallery owner Cindy Gilberti will lead a discussion focused on social media strategies for visual artists. There are two different opportunities to attend in order to accommodate schedules.
The roundtables will start with a short 15-minute overview of the topic, followed by group discussion with an opportunity for artists to ask questions, share ideas and listen to what other artists have to say about the topic.
The events are free of charge. Size is limited to 15 participants per session and pre-registration is required. Please register at one of the links below.
If you have an artist statement that you’d like to share or review, bring it along. If not, that’s fine too! Just come prepared to take notes.
Sign up for one of the sessions below!
Thursday, November 2nd
10 am – 12 pm
Saturday, November 4th
10 am – 12 pm
