Artist Studio Day September 25th, 2013

ARTIST STUDIO DAY #2 -SEPTEMBER 25th  2013

Wednesday is Artist Studio Day Here at The Smartest Artist

Share a photo of what's going on in your studio every Wednesday. What you're working on, your mess, your decorating, your cool storage ideas. This is the day to share your space with other artist, come on don't be shy we won't judge you! 

This is a great opportunity to "meet the artist."  And see their working environment. 

Don't forget to follow or subscribe to The Smartest Artist to get your special tips, suggestions.and ideas on how to market and sell your art.  

How do you share?  Post a photo to your blog of your studio, easel, desk, storage ideas etc. and show us the space in which you create.  Then come here to the Smartest Artist and post a link on Mr. Linky after that check out the list of wonderful artist and their spaces just click and visit!

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ARTIST STUDIO DAY WEDNESDAY,SEPT 18TH, 2013

ARTIST STUDIO DAY #2 -SEPTEMBER 18TH, 2013

Wednesday is Artist Studio Day Here at The Smartest Artist

Share a photo of what's going on in your studio every Wednesday. What you're working on, your mess, your decorating, your cool storage ideas. This is the day to share your space with other artist, come on don't be shy we won't judge you! 

This is a great opportunity to "meet the artist."  And see their working environment. 

Don't forget to follow or subscribe to The Smartest Artist to get your special tips, suggestions.and ideas on how to market and sell your art.  

How do you share?  Post a photo to your blog of your studio, easel, desk, storage ideas etc. and show us the space in which you create.  Then come here to the Smartest Artist and post a link on Mr. Linky after that check out the list of wonderful artist and their spaces just click and visit!

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10 Ways To Sell Your Art Right NOW

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BRANDED

Brand is the "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's product distinct from those of other sellers"...A brand – an intangible asset  ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand)

Do you need to have a a brand?  
As an artist, maybe you think your distinctive style is your brand and in a way it is.  What I want to discuss today is consistency in your marketing material and believe me when I tell you I'm not there yet either.  It's been an evolving process for me as I identify how I want to present my artistic image to the world.  
  
The answer is yes, you do need a brand as an artist, a consistent image that defines you to present to the world.  This will help search engines find you and more importantly will give you presence and make you easily identifiable to an audience. 

What is a Brand?

Defined at the start of the post by wikipedia, a brand is the "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's product distinct from those of other sellers"...A brand – an intangible asset. 

An artist's brand in not just a visual image, or a logo, or even your signature all those hopefully you have all of those things and they are distinctive but a brand is an immediate identifier, usually a phrase.  Here's are a few and I bet I don't have to tell you which companies they belong to:

"It gives you wings"

"Just Do It'

"Got Milk"

"Have it your Way"

Obviously these are huge corporations with huge product lines so why do you need to have a phrase or a visual or both that identifies you?  Because you are seeking consistent recognition for your art:

Recognition = Greater Audience
Greater Audience = More Sales

It's a simple as that and when someone forgets your name and they are trying to describe your art to another person you want the other person to "Get" that it's yours.  For example if someone was talking about my art and they said to another person:

"Have you seen those dog portraits made out of paper that artist did...can't remember her name, did?"  If the person was interested, they might go Google "Paper Dog Portraits" well I checked and I show up only once on the first page of that search. Fortunately for me, every time I post about my work, speak about my work or show my work I consistently reference my art as Hand Torn Paper Pet Portraits again, and again and again.  Guess what, when you Google "Hand Torn Paper Pet Portraits"  I own the first page of that search and if you switch to "images" I have the first 4 rows of images that Google shows and  that search and much of the entire page. 

"Hand Torn Paper Pet Portraits" for all intents and purposes is my brand.  It's not fancy, it's quite matter of fact.  Your brand should say something about your art that is defines it as distinctive, it doesn't necessarily have to be as staid as mine. I use what I do because there are very few artist that create with Hand Torn Paper and it defines my unique niche.  

How Do I Create my Brand?

1. Define what is unique about you and your art
 - The caveat to this is that art is ever evolving.  So you will need to define something that isn't going to change when you go through your next "artistic phase."  You don't want to say "The Blue Artist" because you paint everything in blue, unless you always plan to paint in blue.  Being called The Blue Artist can seem a bit strange if you decided your are in your orange period.   If you are unsure then start asking friends, family and fellow artist how they describe your work and listen for what is most oft repeated, what is the consistent message?


2. Create a phrase and then an visual image that supports that uniqueness or that consistent message.  

3. Put it on all of your marketing material.  Use these words when talking about your art, get sick to death of hearing them because you want something that will stick in people's minds when they think of you and or your art.  It should be part of your email signature, your business cards, your postcards, every page of your blog or website. 

I wish I could tell you be humble, don't talk or brag about your art, it will stand on it's own merit. Realistically though, it is just as true in our field  as any other, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease."  You have to be noticed. You have to be seen (by a lot of people) and you have to stick in people's minds.  There is an overwhelming amount of wonderful art and artist out there.  You have to work to stand out in a the enormous crowd.  

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TAKE ACTION POST --- TIME MANAGEMENT

********TAKE ACTION POST********

The subject today is Time Management 

For 1 day keep track of how you spend your time.
  

If you can stand it, do this for one week instead of one day.  You don't need to write down super specific information, this is just for you.  Seeing how you spend your time will allow you to admit to yourself where your self-sabotaging behaviors lie.   This exercise is NOT to make you feel guilty, you should have down time and fun time, but if you have goals for selling your art you need to make time for both creating art and marketing your art and the best way to make time is to understand how you are spending time.  How much time you need to create your art is a personal marker but you should set aside at least 30 minutes a day to market your art.  Yes, you can spend longer but as a minimum to 15 minute sessions is a must!

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Think About the Numbers

Good Morning Wonderful, Talented Artist! I really enjoyed seeing all of your fantastic art Friday for Studio Day.

I want to give you something to think about today and explore a little bit if you haven't already and that's statistics. Specifically marketing statistics.....okay don't run away screaming with your hands in the air or hide behind your easel....I promise not to make you do any math. 

We all know that to sell our art, especially online, people need to see our art. The more people that see your art and connect with it, the more opportunities you have to sell your art.   

Start by paying attention to your numbers. The beauty of having a Facebook Studio/Business Page and a blog is they give you these statistics for free, all you have to do is pay attention to them enough to know if what you are doing is working. For Example, yesterday I know that I had 563 pageviews on my two blogs and I had 21 new likes/fans on my Facebook business page. I know over the last couple of weeks my art posts have been clicked on 1015 times. I even can see which days my pages were the busiest. This information helps me make decisions about content I post and let's me know how well a particular piece of art is being received.

The reason you want to start paying attention to these numbers is as you begin to learn how to use different tools and ideas to market your art, you need to know which ones are working. The goal is to spend less time marketing and more time creating, so if you know what works successfully you can eschew what isn't performing and not waste your creative energy on the "work" part. 

So your mission is to go to your various pages/blogs/websites and look around for your statistical information and get comfortable looking at it. Notice perhaps that because your artist friends here shared your art yesterday whether or not that increased your traffic. Notice if you have certain days of the week where more people visit, then you know those are the days to share what you have to sell...etc. 

Next week on  Tuesday I'll be sharing a Blog Post on how to begin to brand yourself and your art. This will be about establishing a consistent presence as an artist and why you'd want to do that. 

I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful weekend. 

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Artist Showcase Friday

It's Friday and Friday is Artist Showcase Day over at the Smartest Artist.

You will be thrilled with the fantastic art shared right from the artist studio every Friday.  See the list below and hop on over and check out art hot off the easel!

Artist please show us what you've been creating this week!  Share a link to your Friday Artist Showcase on Mr. Linky.  Please Link the specific post and not the general link to your blog so those stopping by later in the week will find your Showcase.




It's been a busy week working on a secret hand torn paper pet portrait commission.  I can't post pictures of this one until it's complete and been given as a gift at the end of September but oh is this pup ever so cute and sitting on a tractor!

In the interim I'll share the piece I delivered last week, this one went to Kansas City, Missouri.  This is Maddie's fine art pet portrait completely from hand torn paper.  Sadly, this piece is a memorial as sweet little Maddie passed.

If you are an artist or crafts person looking to increase your art sales, please come join our group on Facebook  The Smartest Artist Collaborative Group    this group is a place for artist to collaborate and help each other succeed!  This group is all about positive interaction and sharing ideas, thoughts suggestions toward becoming successful, selling artist! This is an open group invite your friends!

Thanks so much for stopping by I love to hear from you in my comments! 

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Artist Studio Day

Today is Wednesday and Wednesday is Artist Studio Day Here at The Smartest Artist

Share a photo of what's going on in your studio every Wednesday. What you're working on, your mess, your decorating, your cool storage ideas. This is the day to share your space with other artist, come on don't be shy we won't judge you! 

This is a great opportunity to "meet the artist."  

Don't forget to follow or subscribe to The Smartest Artist to get your special tickets, tips, suggestions. 

How do you share?  Post a photo to your blog of your studio, easel, desk, storage ideas etc. and show us the space in which you create.  Then come here to the Smartest Artist and post a link on Mr. Linky after that check out the list of wonderful artist and their spaces just click and visit!

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10 Ways To Sell Your Art Right NOW

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How To Write a Winning "About" Page

HOW TO WRITE A WINNING "ABOUT" PAGE 

Part Artist Statement, part Artist Bio your "About" about page is an important part of your website or blog that lets people know who you are as an artist.

To be clear, here are some defining terms:

Artist Statement - Informs about your art and the current direction your art is taking.  It's not about you as a person or your history or references.  It's a dynamic, ever evolving couple of sentences that sum up your work in the here and now. Stay tuned to a more detailed post in the near future on how to write a winning artist statement.

Artist Bio - This is your art resume written in paragraph form.  This contains your schooling, influences, your history, exhibitions, bodies of work, accolades, awards, commissions Etc.  Stay tuned to a more detailed post in the near future on how to write a winning artist Bio.

About Page -  Part Artist Statement, part Artist Bio, this is a page you create for your web site or blog that introduces you as an artist to your online audience.


To begin creating your "About" page let's start with your goal for having an about page and that goal is:

To compel your reader to view your art! 

About your About Page:

* Short and Sweet

* Introduces you, find a key part of your personality to let shine through but don't go on ad nauseum about yourself. 

*Use a photo of yourself, preferably with your art 

*Compel your reader to view your art! 

So how do you create an “About” page that compels people to look at you art? 

You can start by teaching them how to look at your art, how to appreciate what goes into your art, remember that often your viewing public are not art or visually educated and need to be taught how to look at your art (be careful not to accidentally sound superior or condescending.)  You can draw your audience into looking at your art more deeply with just a few phrases that help them have a deeper appreciation or  a curiosity about what you have created.

For example from my "About" page 

If you take a close look through my portfolio of hand torn paper pet portraits you will see why I am known for hand torn paper eyes that are so realistic they capture the souls of the animals I create.   My Clients  are often amazed by the incredible texture that the handmade papers impart to their portraits giving the appearance and texture of fur and feathers.

Ways to compel readers to view your art:

• ·         Educate them on your process
• ·         Spark their curiosity with a description
• ·         Tell them about unusual tools you use to create certain effects in your art
• ·         Talk about your dynamic use of color

 View my entire "About" Page Here.

Before you begin your "About" page take the time to research the "About" pages of your favorite artist for inspiration! When you are finished stop by "The Smartest Artist Colloborative Group" on Facebook and share your "About" page and also a link to the about page of another artist that you loved!

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The Smartest Artist?

The Smartest Artist

This is your journey, how can you become the smartest artist you can be?  It's a journey we  follow as we take our artistic passion and move it from inside our hearts and out through our hands and eventually out into the world as a business.  This blog explores, suggests, and ruminates about ways we as artist can be more successful! 

I spent 25 successful years of my life in the sales and marketing field.  I officially retired as President of a private technology college in 2010 to pursue my heart's passion, art. 

It wasn't long before I began to use my sales and marketing knowledge to sell my art and have subsequently become a very successfully commissioned artist (I'm typically booked a year to a year and a half in advance.)   I am often asked by other artist how I managed to to take my art from $100 pieces to $5000 in such a short period of time and with such demand?  Is it that my art talent is leagues above other artist? No, hardly that, there are many more talented artist than I, but what I did have was an excellent, quality product and a solid plan (don't cringe fellow artist, the plan is easier than it seems.)

In this blog I will begin to share, ideas, thoughts and strategies for marketing your art.  Guerilla Art Marketing, if you will, because it's a bit bananas and a bit of chest pounding and not very traditional, and hey it's free advice, you can take it or leave it as it suits your needs right? 

I will have special tips and secret strategies for my email subscribers and I will never share your information so don't miss out!

If you haven't seen it yet check out my first blog post 10 Art - I - Facts to becoming an Artist. 

Subscribe via email, my next post will be "Brand Yourself, becoming a household name."

Come join The Smartist Artist collobaritive group on Facebook,

  

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