Examine your Expectations
as an Artist promoting online
as an Artist promoting online
Presented by
The ePlan
Your Online Presence and Identity Assistant
https://onlinepresenceassistant.blogspot.fr/
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When you embark on your online journey make sure to examine your expectations of what you think you may achieve in raising your profile online, before you begin. Doing this helps to make it clear to you where you should place your emphasis of time online. It helps you to decide what you spend the most time promoting, and where you spend the most time promoting. Keep your expectations practical and realistic.
Remember that the internet is just another tool in your business and marketing armory. If you expect to become rich overnight, then take another look at your expectations. Sales will naturally follow after sensible planning and consistent hard work.
You need to put in the hours and find your own way to stand out from the crowd.
Perhaps consider the following as some of your expectations and then add your own to the list:
Remember that the internet is just another tool in your business and marketing armory. If you expect to become rich overnight, then take another look at your expectations. Sales will naturally follow after sensible planning and consistent hard work.
You need to put in the hours and find your own way to stand out from the crowd.
Perhaps consider the following as some of your expectations and then add your own to the list:
* To raise your profile specifically in countries in which you would like to sell your work
* To raise your profile
internationally
* To find inspiration and to learn
from the artists/business people whose work is already visible on
the Internet
* To research and learn which
virtual galleries are worthwhile working with, and
which galleries you will simply be lost in. (In this regard look at how they present the work and how they promote their site. Will your work be able to be seen for its fair share of time? Or will it be lost, without a good airing, in amongst the load of other work on the site?)
* To interact and network with other artists, possibly with a view to exhibiting with them at some stage
* To interact and network with other artists, possibly with a view to exhibiting with them at some stage
* To participate in secondary
markets (T-shirts, greeting cards, mugs, prints, posters, etc)
* To enter competitions and win awards
* To research and consider licensing
your work for formal publication
* To network with potential clients – networking is
vitally important and you never know who’s going to be the next
purchaser of your art!
Take Responsibility for Your
Decisions and Your Actions – Plan and Think It Out First
Do take full responsibility for any
actions you decide to take in your online participation, especially if it
involves shipping artwork to real galleries you have identified. Know the possible repercussions of your decision to participate and lessen them as much as you can.
The reality is that there are
millions of artists out there and thousands of galleries out there.
All of them, both artists and galleries, are in business to make
money. All of them place different levels of importance on different
aspects of the art business and they work with their chosen level of
professionalism. This is where you need to consider carefully
the realities of the level of professionalism at which you are able
to enter the art market. Don't expect others to have the same expectations of professionalism as you do.
And ... it really is true that it costs money to make money.
At the same time realise that you can only do what you can do. Pack well (tips below); ship safely; consider insurance; communicate well with the gallery; know before you ship your work what the arrangements will be for getting it back again and how you are going to pay for it; never assume anything (including methods and timing of payments), clarify it all in writing before you send your artwork; and lastly, accept that things are very likely to go wrong somewhere sometime in your active career. It's impossible to control things which are out of your control. So a level of acceptance, before things go wrong, will help to keep you sane.
And ... it really is true that it costs money to make money.
At the same time realise that you can only do what you can do. Pack well (tips below); ship safely; consider insurance; communicate well with the gallery; know before you ship your work what the arrangements will be for getting it back again and how you are going to pay for it; never assume anything (including methods and timing of payments), clarify it all in writing before you send your artwork; and lastly, accept that things are very likely to go wrong somewhere sometime in your active career. It's impossible to control things which are out of your control. So a level of acceptance, before things go wrong, will help to keep you sane.
Some galleries treat their artists
and their artwork with great care and respect. Many, sadly, don't. Just swallow hard if you experience a loss or damage, and : "Cry for a day or two; rant and rave (to yourself) for another day; then pick up your brushes and simply start again". Been there, done that!
Aim for fame, but at all times be realistic.
Packing your work
A light and relatively inexpensive method for packing paintings is to createn custom-made polystyrene containers.
A light and relatively inexpensive method for packing paintings is to createn custom-made polystyrene containers.
Look in your local hardware store for three-quarter inch thick polystyrene sheets. These are easy to cut to size around your paintings, remembering to leave the top and bottom sheets three-quarters of an inch wider on each of the four sides so that you can fit lengths of polystyrene into the sides to complete the box.
Tape the seams of the box with another cross-over of tape all around the sides and all around from top to bottom. A further protective layer of cling-wrap / cling-film / shrink-wrap around the entire parcel will do the trick.
These images illustrate the packing method. In these photographs my polystyrene had been covered with layers of brown tape for another use before they were used for this shipping job:
I hope you have found some useful tips in this article and I wish you the very best in raising your profile online!
Lynda Cookson
March 2018
Tape the seams of the box with another cross-over of tape all around the sides and all around from top to bottom. A further protective layer of cling-wrap / cling-film / shrink-wrap around the entire parcel will do the trick.
These images illustrate the packing method. In these photographs my polystyrene had been covered with layers of brown tape for another use before they were used for this shipping job:
Lynda Cookson
March 2018