This is an good example of nowadays thought of commercial entrepreneurship, with some comments from • • • • • petermertens
No comments yet; Although they clearly have a commercial point of view, real entrepreneurs, it seems honest to me.
http://www.agora-gallery.com/advice/blog/2015/01/19/promote-your-art/
6 Things You Can Do To Promote Your Art – Agora Advice Blog
As a working artist, it’s not enough to produce art: you need to promote your art as well. While your path to becoming an artist may be more about your inherent need to create, communicate your ideas, and leave your mark on the world, this won’t help introduce your work to the art community. Making sure that your work reaches the right audience, and continuing to expand that circle of potential buyers, is crucial to achieving success as a professional artist. If you don’t make an effort to get your work out there, no one will be able to tell you how much they love it – or purchase a piece.
Promoting your art should not feel overwhelming. You don’t have to do everything at once. In fact, one of the important things about successful promotion is that it is targeted to the specific aims you have in mind. This means that the very first step in promoting your art effectively is to decide what you want to achieve.
If you have only just begun your art career, then you may want to concentrate on building up a reputation and a collector base in your local area. On the other hand, you may be ready to move on a national or international scale. Perhaps you want to make your mark within the community connected to your medium, or to develop the interest felt by people interested in the theme you specialise in – horse lovers have a natural connection to equine art, for example. Evaluate your current position in terms of your art career and connections, and decide on the goals that you would like to achieve. Promote your art accordingly.
At Agora Gallery we understand that promotion is an aspect of an artist’s career that should develop all the time, just as the art itself does. Here are some tips from the experts at Agora Gallery on the best strategies to promote your art effectively.
#1 – Use Your Portfolio to Promote your Art
In developing a strong artist portfolio, your goal should be twofold. You can both develop your brand and package your art in a way that will be easy to submit to competitions, post on your website, and use to develop printed marketing material (such as flyers, brochures, and business cards). One of the most important elements here is the visual reproduction of your art, as this will be what attracts the viewer and what he or she is most likely to be moved by.
Here are some general guidelines for portfolio development:
Each high exposure photograph should be well executed and visually compelling. Remember, in marketing art it’s the visual that will count the most.
Each image should be accompanied by succinct and captivating text. Details such as size, media, and title should be included, as well as a brief description of the work. One of the best ways to catch a potential buyer’s interest is to tell the story behind the creation of a piece.
A strong bio should accompany the work. When you get people interested in you, they will almost always take a new interest in your work as well. Don’t be afraid to share your story: your background, how your art developed, what inspires you the most, and what you hope your art can give to the world.
Read Why We Love A Professional Portfolio (And You Should, Too!)
#2 – Promote Your Art with a Strong Internet Presence
In every industry, digital marketing is becoming more and more relevant, and this is no different in the art world. online Digital marketing can take several different forms:
Online galleries like Agora’s ARTmine are becoming the norm and provide a great venue for promoting your art by attracting the attention of new collectors and art enthusiasts.
An art website or artist page on a popular website is a must-have to promote your art. It provides an easy and convenient way for fans to find you online and view your latest work. Include the website’s address on your business cards, and in emails you send out to your mailing list.
Social media has become a powerful tool for both reaching new fans and staying in touch with established ones. Setting up business accounts/pages on such sites as Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest is a great way to generate and maintain interest around you and your work as it evolves.
Read 5 Steps to Marketing Your Art on Facebook and How to Create a Facebook Business Page for your Art
#3 – Art Competitions can Promote your Art
For the emerging artist, art competitions provide one of the most effective ways to gain exposure in the art world. In fact, art competitions are renowned for discovering and showcasing noteworthy emerging artists and even, sometimes, launching their careers. Here are some of the main benefits of art competitions:
Art competitions enable you to display your work among your peers, which experts agree is one of the best ways to push yourself as an artist. Any feedback you receive will give you new insight into your art and enable you to grow as an artist.
Art competitions get your work in front of gallerists, curators, and editors, who can in turn positively impact your career. In fact, winners of art competitions almost always benefit from extensive promotion efforts from the hosting gallery or organisation.
Art competitions give your work invaluable visibility. Even if you don’t win, participating in the competition can yield dividends in terms of getting your work out there. In fact, this is considered one of the most cost-effective ways for beginning artists to gain valuable experience and build their resumes.
Choose which competitions to enter based on which would best aid your current career goals. If you are working on making a name for yourself in your medium and want to impress your fellow watercolour artists (for instance) then watercolour competitions might suit you best. Equally, if you are interested in taking your career to the national or international level, competitions with awards which will help you do that are the most sensible to enter. The Chelsea International Fine Art Competition, which Agora Gallery sponsors every year, is a great example of a competition with awards which are designed to help artists to increase their exposure and develop their career.
#4 – Network, Network, Network
Building a robust network in the art world is one of the most effective ways to promote your art. In addition, a network can expose you to new art opportunities that you might not have otherwise known existed.
The most effective strategies for networking for artists include:
Joining art organisations: Remember that your art is a business, and just like any business, networking is an important part of making your work relevant within the art community. One of the best ways to network on the professional level is to join and become an active participant in art organisations, both in your local area as well as statewide, nationally, and globally. Not only will you be able to make friends who in themselves can become enthusiastic promoters of your art (and you for theirs), but these organisations offer a wide range of resources that can help strengthen your business model and give you support in promoting your work and building your brand as an artist.
Participating in community events: Locally hosted art fairs, street shows, and open studio events provide a unique opportunity for you to connect with other artists in your area. In addition, as you become a fixture at these types of events, you will build more of a presence in your community and start to be recognised as a local artist. Don’t forget to bring print materials like business cards and flyers to these events so you can pass them out, and don’t underestimate the power of word of mouth – chat to people, engage them in conversation and if they are interested in your work, respond warmly.
Don’t ignore the benefits of networking with artists, or putting time and effort into friendships with art professionals. The value of these relationships is obvious, from providing support and inspiration to introductions to key members of the art scene. At Agora Gallery, we frequently hear our artists talking enthusiastically about how the influence of the other artists they met at their opening receptions at Agora has impacted their work and their ideas.
#5 – Getting Active in the Community can Help Promote Your Art
When you volunteer to use your artistic abilities to benefit your community, you build your reputation as an artist and can gain unexpected opportunities to promote your work. community
Some of the best types of community outreach include:
Charity events: Donate your work to a local charity auction, or volunteer your services at the event yourself. Depending on your skills, you may be able to help with anything from decorations to entertainment.
Local schools: Volunteer your time to go into classrooms and teach students about your particular method of creating art. Teachers love to host visiting artists, and this is a great opportunity to build your reputation in the community.
Community projects: Many towns and cities are taking art to the streets via community mural projects. Volunteer your skills and expertise and you will leave a visual reminder of your presence in the community for all to see for years to come.
Remember, a critical part of promoting your art is about taking advantage of unexpected opportunities as they come up. If you are painting as part of a charity event or working en plein air in the local park and someone approaches you and inquires about your art, take that opportunity to give them your business card and perhaps even add them to your mailing list.
#6 – Finding the Help to Promote your Art
If all this seems a bit overwhelming to you, know that there is help out there. At Agora Gallery, we are able to tackle a number of the promotional and marketing tasks that artists prefer not to deal with. Promotional galleries like Agora are attractive to artists for precisely this reason, and working with us can be an efficient and effective way to strengthen those areas of your marketing plan that you feel less confident about.
Here are some of the services we offer our represented artists:
Producing press releases and developing artist statements: We have a staff of professional writers who are able to develop compelling content focusing on your work and on you as an artist. We can also promote your art in our biannual publication ARTisSpectrum Magazine.
Digital representation: We have two well-established gallery websites Agora Gallery.com and ARTmine.com where we can feature your work in a sales-oriented forum. You will have your own URL connected with our site that you can link to on your website and on any social media forums you are active in.
Advertising exhibitions: Promotional representation includes participation in a collective exhibition with an opening reception. We will help with the development and distribution of online exhibit announcements and other promotional media surrounding this event.
Remember, it’s not enough for you to know yourself that your art is fabulous. You want the rest of the world to know too. By focusing on promoting your art, you can get your art out there and reach those audiences who will most benefit from getting to know you as an artist.
