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Posts tagged marketing
Want Some Publicity? How Artists can Finesse the Press
Jan 30th
By Carolyn Edlund
Media outlets are hungry for stories, and artists make for good stories.
The general public is curious about the life and work of artists. After all, you’re an incredibly creative individual doing something they could only dream about. So you are in a strong position to be noticed fairly easily and get your story in print. How you go about doing it makes the difference in getting significant publicity for yourself and your art.
My advice to artists who want to get publicity (or sell their work, for that matter) is:
Remove barriers to the process and make it easy to say “Yes.”
Let’s explore how you can do this effectively to get media attention. Lots of it, in regular doses.
Know your story. You could write a press release that you are showing your work in such-and-such exhibition, which is the 14th Annual blah blah blah . . . and you may or may not get a mention in various publications. But that isn’t your story. Your story is real and authentic and it appeals to other people.
When you understand how to tell a compelling story about yourself and your work, you can use it to reach readers emotionally. What is fascinating about your work and your subject matter? What experiences have you had, and what inspires you? What huge, devastating mistakes have you made? How did you triumph over them? What do you passionately care about? Give your story careful thought and hone it thoroughly before you submit anything to anybody.
Become the story. When you really pursue press attention, you don’t just want a passing mention. You want to become the subject of a news story, to be interviewed by a reporter, and have great images of yourself and your work included to make it even more exciting and readable.
- When you submit a press release of a compelling story to suitable publications, and follow up promptly, you make it easy for them to say “Yes.”
- When you invite the reporter to your studio, or offer additional materials about your work, you remove barriers to their process.
- When you send them gorgeous professionally-shot photos of your work, and of you working in the studio, they will be thrilled that you made it so easy.
Submit to the right publications. What is your specialty? What themes do you work in? You could pursue local or national press, a niche publication, or even a trade journal. Where would you like to see your story published? Make a list, and continue to email press releases to them on a regular basis. Then, follow up consistently.
Kick it up a notch. Submit your images and information for other stories that will appear in publications by checking out their editorial calendar, and finding upcoming articles which relate to your work. Why should they include you? Because you did your homework, and you’re just the perfect fit for their article.
Become a source. You could hire a publicist, or subscribe to HARO and pitch your own story to the press when you find a request that’s right up your alley. Find an angle to relate your art, your passion and your story to their needs.
Write your own articles. Become a guest blogger to get exposure and create backlinks to your own website. Many artists trade posts with each other. Check out MyBlogGuest to connect to opportunities. And be sure to visit Jon Morrow’s GuestBlogging.com for great tips on using this technique to grow your visibility.
Persistence is key to getting results. They don’t happen overnight. Make your efforts to get publicity for your work and your art career a regular part of your schedule, and don’t give up. You will end up with a number of press mentions and articles that will enhance your reputation and your business.
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Want to Rock Your Art Business This Year? Start with Your Collection
Jan 2nd
By Carolyn Edlund
Artists need a cohesive, signature body of work. Create a great collection for your targeted audience.
Artists often look for ways to increase business, such as better marketing techniques, creating more income streams, or licensing their work. Another major factor that can affect your bottom line is your product line – and thoughtful development of it.
As you consider how to grow your body of work, take a look at the big picture. Are you selling one-of-a-kind pieces only? Is your price spread limited, restricting your market? Do you want to break out this year, or even explode your business by tapping into ways of selling you haven’t tried before?
Courtesy Shawn Messenger
Many readers have their illustrations and artwork on products such as greeting cards, prints, handpainted clothing, and other retail items which can be produced in volume. If you can produce in multiples, such as pottery, jewelry, clothing or other handcrafted line, prints of your work, or using your art on self-produced products, you open yourself to the world of wholesaling. If this is your choice, make sure to crunch the numbers and price your work for profit at wholesale.
Selling wholesale not only creates a huge boost in volume, but helps stabilize your business as well. There is nothing like having orders from a repeat customer base of retailers to keep regular income flowing through the door of your studio year round.
In my own experience running a production ceramic studio for twenty years, I had about 150 retail stores at any given time as active wholesale customers. Although each account was different in the frequency and volume of their orders (and there was an expected turnover of about 20% each year), it brought enormous stability, which allowed me to hire assistants and make projections each year based on a known quantity.
An added bonus is that as you develop your own book of business, you will be able to show receivables and gain the credibility to successfully apply for a business loan to expand your operation if you wish. Bankers love hard numbers, and most businesses have this kind of data. You will too.
Back to focusing on developing your product line. Plan carefully so that as you ramp up to create a new, cohesive and exciting line for your business, you will be able to:
- Open new and broader markets for your work
- Spread your price points to appeal to more customers’ budgets
- Enhance your brand
- Increase repeat sales
- Put yourself in a position to cross-sell more of your line
- Rejuvenate your business by adding lots of exciting new items
As you consider new directions for your line, make sure you are designing what you enjoy doing and would be happy to stay with. After you come up with a core look for a collection, start branching off into more related products. Necklaces need earrings and bracelets to match – and pins, hair ornaments, even ankle bracelets. Tabletop items look great in groupings. Pottery is a natural for a collection. Working in themes offers endless opportunities for collections.
If you design more than one collection, you may want to make one higher-end and one with lower prices, to catch a wider audience. Name your collections. Give them life, make them memorable. Go into your design process knowing who your target customer is, what they buy and why your work will appeal to them.
Courtesy Shawn Messenger
Now, let’s increase the ticket. Think pairs or sets. If you can sell several of a product rather than one because they are in a set, each sale jumps immensely. Artwork in themes should be created in series to be displayed together for a bigger ticket price. Why would you sell one kitchen-related print when you can create a set of four to be hung together? You can stress this point by not offering them as singles. And if you license your images, all the better. Art publishers love artwork in a tightly cohesive series. They know and value the power of collections.
Collections make a statement. They look good when displayed. They create a buzz. Rockstar designers know this. Start looking at the websites of artists and craftspeople you know who are successful. They all started with good ideas and expanded on their signature styles.
What designers do you know with a well-made, popular collection? What inspires you to create your own?
See more of Shawn Messenger's glass art by visiting her website at www.shawnmessenger.com
Top 10 Articles on Artsy Shark for 2011
Dec 21st
By Carolyn Edlund
This year’s countdown of the ten most read and shared articles on Artsy Shark.
10. Making Art and Making a Living - Do you have to support yourself through your art to be an “artist?” Or does the financial pressure hurt your creative growth and your sanity?
9. “You’ll Never Make a Living as an Artist” - Are you surrounding yourself with supporters, or naysayers? Who is holding you back? Your family, your friends? Or is it you?
8. Matching Artists with Corporate Buyers - Joyce Creighton’s fascinating story of how she is connecting artists whose work is appropriate for corporate settings with clients looking for their work.
7. How to Make Your Customers Fall in Love with You - Want more business and repeat customers? That’s right – spread the love.
6. Do You Want to be a Childrens Book Illustrator? - Cherish Flieder discusses the steps in childrens book illustration, and how to get started in the business.
5. Creative Marketing for Artists - Think outside the box when it comes to promoting your work. Here’s some examples of how other artists did it.
4. 6 Ways to Improve Your Greeting Card Sales - Is your line balanced? Is it big enough? How often should you update? The basics on what you must do to have a successful greeting card business.
3. What’s Wrong with Your Art Website? – Artsy Shark asked the experts for their pet peeves when visiting art websites. Are you guilty of any of these sins?
2. A Guide to Pricing Your Artwork – Professor, TED speaker and entrepreneur Karen Atkinson gives great advice for artists on this perplexing but essential topic.
1. Are Your Prices Unrealistic? – Are your prices too high? Too low? How your competition affects your perspective. Lots of comments and opinions about pricing.
Storytelling for Artists
Dec 13th
By Carolyn Edlund
As a tiny kitten, Lorenzo was tossed in a garbage can at birth and left for dead. Joann Biondi rescued him and brought him to her Florida home.
By the time Lorenzo was three months old, he was sitting up on command and jumping through hoops. When he heard her shout, “Hooray Lorenzo,” he preened like a proud lion. Although eager to please, he was also a self-contained spirit with plenty of spunk—he loved to sink his teeth into a bare ankle as it passed him by.
He had another bad habit as well, and that was stealing panties from the dirty laundry basket. One day Biondi got mad at him for this and decided to get even. She put a spandex tank top over his head and onto his body. Lorenzo was unfazed. He adjusted his shoulders, threw out his chest, and looked at her with an expression that said, “You think this bothers me? Well it doesn’t. In fact, I like it.” He walked around wearing that tank top for days.
These days, Lorenzo is an international online sensation, dressed in clothes for every occasion with a rockstar feline attitude. Biondi’s photos of him have become so popular that he has his own Facebook page, Twitter account and website.
That is Joann Biondi’s story. She clearly understands the power of storytelling as part of her photography and how it creates the appeal that Lorenzo has for his many fans. In fact, each photo of Lorenzo has a quirky caption expressing his personality as a proud metrosexual male with a clothes fetish and a very hip character.
Storytelling is crucial to an artist’s work as either an integral part of the piece itself, or as a way to understand the artist’s history, methods or inspiration. The creative process itself imbues each piece with a part of the artist’s creative soul. By sharing stories, artists add greater value to the purchase and ownership of their work. Collectors in turn share these stories with others; they become permanently linked in the mind of the owner along with the physical work, and add to the pleasure of ownership.
Right Brain/Left Brain
The written or oral story appeals to our left brains as explanation or clarification of the artist’s intent, and to define the art. Viewers search for meaning in art – witness how many people at a gallery will look for the title of an abstract painting. What is the artist portraying? The title alone can have a profound effect on the perception of the gallery visitor.
A recent article on the Real Clear Arts blog analyzes a study done by London’s Daily Mail at the Tate Britain, seeking to find out whether classical or contemporary art held the interest of visitors longer. The classics won, hands down. Author Judith H. Dobrzynski explains, “To me it says something about aesthetics and narrative. People are more engaged when they see something that is ‘beautiful’ and something that contains a discernable story. If an art work has both, all the better.”
Does your work tell a story? Or do you have a story to tell about yourself and your art? Think carefully about how you will tell your personal story of becoming an artist and developing your own style. Perhaps you have a fascinating story to tell about the process or materials you use. Does your subject matter have a deep meaning, or is it controversial? Sharing this with your potential collectors enhances the experience and the opportunity to sell your work.
Boost Your Business – Get Some Press!
Dec 5th
By Carolyn Edlund
Courtesy Barbara Jean Lloyd
One of the best ways for artists to gain visibility is to get the media to help promote them. Put together an attention-getting press release, perfect your pitch, and get ready for some great results. Here’s how to get started:
Tell Your Story – People are always interested in fascinating stories, and as an artist, you can give them one. Put lots of thought into writing a well-composed, succinct but compelling story about your work, your background, your inspiration, your philosophy, etc. Use your best images to make the story irresistible. The purpose here is to create a buzz. Keep the story short and to the point (300-500 words at most), making sure there are no grammatical or spelling errors.
Create your press release – Press releases should be written in third-person with an understanding that the reporter needs a hook to write a great headline. Check this article for tips on writing one, plus a press release format you can also use.
Interviews are even better! Although you’ll want to send out press releases, getting interviewed by a reporter or blogger is even better. Do your networking on LinkedIn, Facebook or Google+ to connect with bloggers, writers, reporters and other media people. Make connections both nationally and in your hometown, because you will want to appeal to both. To find local media people, do a city search on Twitter, and follow them. As you communicate and build rapport, you are in a better position to get those interviews.
Become a source – Subscribe to HARO, where you can pitch to any reporter needing a source for your particular expertise. Customize your pitches when you respond for a higher chance of getting some press exposure.
Looking to guest blog? Target popular blogs which cater to the audience you want to reach. It’s best if you break the ice by being a subscriber, commenting on and sharing their blog content on social media. Rather than starting a long conversation to ascertain whether you can submit an article, send the blogger an email with an article which is ready to go. You may be surprised, but many times bloggers need material and are willing to use your story. Just make sure it’s not “me, me, me” but an entertaining, useful or compelling read of real interest to their audience.
Want to get your product featured on national TV? If you are ready to take your story and your product to a national level, check out this article on Preneur.net about pitching your work. You will have to have a very professional website, and be able to deal with a huge traffic surge when your work goes on air. Good luck!
Have you gotten great press? Please share your techniques, and link to the article!
Find out more about Barbara Jean Lloyd's artwork by visiting her website.
Featured Artist Leah Jay
