So I don't start getting all dark and dreary again, I'm going to lead with an artist joke...(if you liked my dark side you can still see it at my other blog,
"The Starving Artists Rant". No... Seriously.)
Joke:
An artist asked the gallery owner if there had been any interest in his paintings on display at that time.
"I have good news and bad news," the owner replied. "The good news is that a gentleman enquired about your work and wondered if it would appreciate in value after your death. When I told him it would, he bought all 15 of your paintings."
(The punch-line is at the bottom of the page. You can scroll down if you'd like but don't forget to come back and read my blog...)
In my last entry I mentioned a couple of things that I should elaborate on:
I mentioned free advertising. I put an ad on my local 'Patch', a small online publication that provides local news in a lot of different places, but I left out 'Craigslist'. Craigslist has increased traffic on both my blog, and
my online store just by putting an ad on with a few links to my pages. (Links also help in your "Google-ability") Don't over do it. Depending on your area, the number of times you need to post it will vary depending on the number of posts. Although, I posted an ad in Providence ( R.I.) over a week ago and it is still generating a fair amount of traffic so I'm going to coast a bit there. There are so few ads on craigslist by artists on the Cape, I wait to see where I am on the page before I repost. In larger cities you may want to do it every few days, or each time you update your blog, website, or online store.
I also talked about increasing traffic to your online store by adding pictures either one at a time or in small groups. Since I've been doing this, it has not only increased my traffic but has lead to two sales and a commission.
One more thing that I've decided to do is to start a painting a day project. In just over a month I will be showing in the HyArts Artist Shanties. The weekends of May 20th through May 22nd, and Memorial Day Weekend, May 27th through May 30th, I will be in the yellow shanty on the waterfront in Hyannis from 11am to 5pm each day. (Sorry, I'm not going to be able to make it to your cookout.) My daily painting will be posted on my blog with a link to my online store (in case you just have to own it). I will also put these paintings on my Website and make references on Facebook with links to my blog, my website, and my online store. This sounds like a little too much linking and what not, however by doing these types of links, especially using social media like Facebook and popular sites like Craigslist, it enhances your online presence. The more links you have, the more hits you'll get. You need to make them easy to find AND easy to use. No "Cut and Paste"-ing things into browser windows should have to be done. everything should be easily navigable and just one click away. Increased traffic from, and links between major sites catches the eye of search engines, which in turn increases your overall visibility, and a snowball effect occurs. (and so on, and so on, and so on....) Don't forget to use lots of meta-tags on any photos you post, again adding to your "google-ability". If you have video capability and a YouTube account even better. Make a video of yourself working on each painting you do. Place the video on YouTube, link it to any and all of your sites. Most people are too lazy to read, make it easy for them.(Obviously, present company is excluded)
Keep and eye out for my 'Painting a Day'... and if you'll be on the Cape for Memorial Day stop by the Hyannis waterfront and say ,"Hello."
(That's the biggest picture that I could find of the Shanties, even after e-mailing HyArts to get one... Remember Have a file for publicity photos just in case some one wants to add YOU to their site...)
Click on it to go to HyArts
Punch-line:
"That's wonderful," the artist exclaimed. "What's the bad news?"
"The guy was your doctor..."
If you'd like to help support a starving artist:
