Selling My Art Through Social Mediaby Laura Barbosa
"Being connected to social media is one of the keys to my art success. I believe it is essential for any artist to use it, especially in today's art world. "If you are an artist who is starting out for the first time, you must establish connections with art collectors, museums, galleries, agents, etc.
Although it took me many years to achieve international recognition, I believe portals to art worlds involving facebook, friendfeed, twitter, linkedin, and flickr helped to introduce my artwork to thousands of viewers over time. This is especially true for self taught artists, like myself, who have little money for advertising. Your most important tool is social media.
Among my success stories are two of my favorite places to acquire new clients and viewers: Facebook & Twitter.FACEBOOK FAN PAGE
It's very important to start a facebook fan page and upload your photos so clients, agencies and more can view your work right away and at their convenience.
Currently my facebook fan page has 1,344 fans and counting. Each day I acquire from 2 to 10 more.
My faithful admirers also lend support and comments, and I also use my fan page to list special coupons, events, art news and more.
TWITTER
My second favorite social media tool is twitter. I tweet my art news and new work every day and up to 5 to 10 times throughout the day so my followers can see what I am up to.
If you are posting to twitter be sure to add a link to your art gallery, etsy shop or personal website so your twitter followers can view your work in one simple step.
Remember to connect your twitter to your face book pages so you can post to one and have it post automatically to the other. Very helpful if you are juggling social media and daily painting.
TIPS FOR ARTISTS
1. Make a List
Create a list or spreadsheet of all your social media links and pages, so you can refer to it as time goes on. Believe me, I failed to do this step and I am sorry now. I am still compiling my list and have realized that I am a member of over 300 websites from free art listings to social networks.
2. Bulletin Board
Buy or make a bulletin board to put next to your PC so you can write down who you are targeting daily. For example: Monday - Post to twitter 4 times, upload new work to face book, post a blog to your ning network, order art supplies Tuesday - Write a blog post, contact 2 licensing agencies, Post to twitter 3 times, list coupon code on fan page, etc.
3. EducationEducate yourself on new media resources. Buy good books about the art market: such as "How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist: selling Yourself Without Selling Your Soul" by Carol Michels and "Artists & Graphic Designer's Market" which has over 1000 listings for art galleries, greeting card companies, print publishers, and more.
LOOKING AHEAD
I see the art industry changing for the better and for sales to pick up in 2010. I believe that the public is starting to realize how important creativity and original art is, and why we should educate our children to include the arts in their lives. What is the world without music or beautiful artwork to view? What would become of us without the arts? We need the arts to talk to our souls, enrich our lives and move forward.
Remember: It is very hard to climb to the top of any mountain but in the end it is worth the struggle if it is what you truly want!
Keep pushing forward and making new contacts. With each day there is new hope. Faith in yourself that you will succeed is crucial to your success.
Learn More About Laura Barbosa
Become a Fan on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Art-of-LauraBarbosa/151263531144
Follow on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/barbosaart
Laura's Website
http://laurabarbosaart.com
Laura's Blog
http://laurabarbosa.wordpress.com/
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13 comments:
Great post! I am off to tweet this & also post on my FB wall. Laura I love the cold hard numbers you list, and I am sure they are also an understatement of all of the many opportunities that have come your way from your ability to work the web.
This is a really informative article. I've tried to do all these things. I'm hoping that it will eventually pay off. I'm bookmarking this article. Thank you!
What an inspirational post! Laura, you are the perfect example of an artist who thinks outside the box & learns what can work for her. I'm really happy for your success (plus, I am blown away by your artwork!)
Completely agree with you. As to your recommendation of Caroll Michels book, Chapter 1 alone is so outstanding it's worth the price of the book. Good suggestions!
Hello Rebecca and thank you for your wonderful comment! The numbers are only what I know I gained through only facebook and twitter. Possibly more that I do not know and as a whole on the web..it has been thankfully hundreds.. BEST OF LUCK IN ALL THAT YOU DO ~Laura
Tiffany...Keep going and don't give up. BEST OF LUCK ~Laura
Thank you so much Deb!!
All The Best Carolyn!
Laura, Caroll Michels book is a must! I have it along with Alyson Stanfield's book, "I'd Rather be in the Studio" I keep these books close by at all working times.
After reading your article, boy do I feel cyberspace lazy. I too like your "hard numbers" you list. I have just moved out of my home studio to one completely for creating. Now at least I can separate the two..social and book work vs. creating and teaching.
Thanks for our information!
Laura K Aiken
Hi Laura, I am so glad you can benefit from this article. I am going to buy "I'd Rather be in The Studio" Thanks for helping and listing another great book for artists :0)) ALL THE BEST
Laura
What impresses me most about Laura is she talks about the results of her marketing. So many "experts" in social media only talk about marketing ideas, but Laura talks about which one of those ideas really "worked!" Everybody has ideas, but few say which ones really work.
Laura, Thanks for all this info. I am trying to make money from my art. I have great sales locally, but have not been able to get sales off my website. I read your article on Monday and I now have a Face book fan page and a Blog. I am linking everything and appreciate your info and Kate as well. Thanks, Barbara Ansley-Vensas www.AnsleyArt.com
Hi Kate, Thanks for the great advice. I just bought "I'd rather be in the studio" and I am reading "The artists way" how to unblock your creativity. I have been blocked creatively due to working in a uncreative job just to make money. I can't stand it any more, I want to break free and just paint and teach. With the help of having good web presence, I think I can do it. I have a Facebook Fan page, a blog and Twitter. So far my Facebook page seem to be the best. It's called "Pure Colour" check it out.
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