Hanging around by yourself
If you are an artist who wants to promote your work on the internet you might find the suggestion that a blog is a good place to start a little odd.
Why not just put images up there and sell ’em?
Read on to find out why I think a blog is the best starting point for an artist.
An Online Presence
If you think that showing your work online will immediately result in sales – think again. How will people find it? How will anyone know it’s there?
The truth is, they won’t – unless you tell them about it or you are very famous already.
The problem:
A website for your art should be carefully planned so that:
- It is easy to navigate
- You have good photos of your work
- The artworks are fully described.
- There is an easy system in place for people to buy your work.
- People can know who you are and why you do what you do.
And more..
There are a great many things you can do to make your website one that people will visit and – importantly, keep coming back.
You want a website that will show your work, a website that people will find, and a place for people to easily know how to buy your work, but do you know how to do that well? How quickly can you have it ready?
The unfortunate fact is, with the best of intentions it could take a long time. Not only do you want an appealing and effective design, you need good photographs of the artwork. Whether you sell directly or through Galleries you must be able to keep records of sales, and there are bound to be changes to make to the design along the way. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
But don’t be put off by all that…
A Solution. Enter the Blog!
A blog is easy to start, and grows one post (or article) at a time.
It is easy to change the look and the organisation of it’s contents.
You can start a blog right away.
What you can do with a blog
You can afford to play around in a blog and try different ideas. A blog provides a place to experiment with subjects and find out what is most interesting to your audience. It can be a vehicle for interacting with people and for them to get to know how you work and why you do what you do.
You can introduce artworks you have created and talk about the process or the inspiration for the work. You can mention books you are reading, performances or films you have seen. In fact you can write about anything you like!
The beauty of it is, you can edit everything both at the time of publication or at any time later on.
Most important of all, your blog can allow people to get to know you and your work.
Conclusion
There are many factors and ingredients that go into bringing attention to your artwork online, but having a blog is a great place to start and makes a central point from which to tie everything together.
Even if you already have a portfolio website, the addition of a blog can help to bring people to your see your work.
Next time I will tell you more about why an Artist’s Blog is useful and how you can benefit from blogging.
For now, if you are not yet online – what is holding you back from starting your own website? I would love to know.
So do leave a comment now.
And if you would like to know more about setting up your first blog, subscribe to my newsletter here.
Next – The Benefits of an Artist’s Blog.
