Selling art online is the new norm.
I remember when I started selling art on eBay over fifteen years ago.
The competition was small, so making an online presence was reasonably easy.
Today it is much more challenging to make an online presence.
The good news with some hard work and dedication, creating an online presence, is very doable.
Blogging is the new
Blogging Tips For New Art Bloggers
Thousands and thousands of artists share their art online, networking, and promoting, hoping to be noticed and make a sale.
It becomes very challenging to be noticed with so much competition.
Here is the good news. There are over 4 billion active internet users around the world.
Out of those 4 billion active users, many people are interested in your message and the art that you create.
You have to find a way to grab their attention and drive them to your site.
7 Must Read Blogging Tips for New Art Bloggers
A successful business has a solid foundation. I want to share with you seven blogging fundamentals that will help you to build your art blog.
Know What You Want
To start, you need to know what you are working for.
You can not develop a plan or strategy if you do not know what you are trying to accomplish.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Why am I starting a blog?
- What am I trying to accomplish with my blog?
- What message do I want people to take away after they leave my blog?
- How do I see my blog in five years?
This is the most critical first step you will have to take for you to have a thriving art blog is to have a clear vision of what you want.
Once you know what you want, you will be able to take action.
Here are some helpful articles that will help you to define your vision.
Write Goals
Now that you have a clear vision for your blog, it is time to take action and set goals.
I know that most of you are going to skim past this section, but please don’t.
Setting goals is vital for your business.
You can not achieve anything if you do not have a plan or goals.
You do not want to look back in a few years, saying, “I wish that I have…”
When you are writing your goals, makes sure that they are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Realistic
- Timely
You might have already heard the acronym S.M.A.R.T goals. Use them. They work.
Develop A Plan
After you have finished writing out your goals, you will want to take some time to develop a plan that will help you to achieve those goals.
You will not accomplish your goals if you do not create a strategy.
This is the point when most people get stuck.
Many people do not understand how to create a strategy, or they are simply afraid to fail.
That is why they do not set goals in the first place. Let’s face it, who likes to feel like they have failed?
Planning is easier than you think.
I want to start by saying, there is no such thing as a perfect plan.
You will have to adjust your actions as time goes by.
The artists that assess and adjust their strategy are the ones that you see all over the internet.
Starting a plan will be the most natural part of the planning process.
All you have to do is write down some tasks on the calendar that relate to your goals. The next step is to complete the tasks.
After you have accomplished the tasks, you will want to assess the outcome.
This is when you adjust the plan to see better results.
Here is an example of what a plan might look like.
Vision – To build brand awareness and grow an audience of loyal art collectors. Sell art.
Goals – Build an audience and sell ten pieces of art in six months.
Plan – Upload art, and provide a way for people to make a purchase, write 10 blog posts, share blog posts on social media.
The outcome after one month:
Very little traffic. (This is expected.) The solution, write more blog posts, and promote more on social media.
No Sales. The solution, make it clear to people you are selling your art and what art is available to be purchased. Create a special for a piece of art. Write a blog post featuring the art you are selling. Promote on social media sites.
There you have it, a plan that was written and accomplished. The outcome was assessed, and a new plan was developed. This cycle will be repeated over and over for as long as you are selling art online.
Understand The Process
Most artists quit blogging way too early.
Today, we expect instant results. We do not want to wait for anything.
How often do you become impatient when something is taking too long to upload on your mobile device?
We want to see results now. Unfortunately, digital marketing does not give you instant results. It takes time to build a following online.
Here is an example of how digital marketing works.
You write and publish a post.
Millions of other blog posts are being published the same day.
Google has to crawl all of the posts, rank, and index the value of the content.
Posts written from blogs that have a lot of high-quality content and have been around for a while will be indexed higher because they are seen as an authority in Google’s eyes.
Your post might be excellent, but you will have to write more content that backs up your vision before Google starts to rank your post higher in the search results.
It takes time for blogs to generate traffic. Once they start, they build momentum fast.
You can expect it to take between two and three years of consistent work before you start to see real results.
So before you get frustrated and give up, understand that the work you are doing now will significantly affect your online art business in the next couple of years.
During that time, you will have to share your posts with everyone you know.
Be Yourself
Have you heard the term “branding” for businesses?
Entrepreneur.com defines branding as:
The marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products . An effective brand strategy gives you a major edge in increasingly competitive markets.
Developing brand awareness as an artist is much different from a product or cooperation.
You are branding yourself as an artist.
Everything you do on your blog, including the content that you write, the look, the feel, the colors, and the verbiage you use will all reflect you as an artist.
This is your brand.
This is you as an artist, and it is what will separate you from everyone else.
It might seem scary at first, but once you dive in, it will become much easier.
If you have been following me for some time, you have already heard me talk about my writing struggles.
I knew that if I continued to write regularly that it would become more relaxed, and it did. The same will happen to you.
The only advice I can give you is to write on a regular basis. It doesn’t have to be for long periods, but fifteen minutes a day can show great results.
Another tip I have is just to be yourself. Write as if you were talking to your best friend over a cup of coffee.
The truth is that buyers want to get to know you as an artist. The more connected they are to you, the more they will talk about you and help you spread your message.
I have heard some artists claim that people do not buy art because they know something personable about the artist.
The first purchase this might be true, but I would like to argue that for an artist to build an online presence in today’s world, they better let people get to know them.
How often have you talked to a friend about a favorite book you read or your favorite band?
Did you ever talk to anyone about your favorite actor or actress?
We all have and do. It is easier to share our thoughts on social media for thousands of people to see.
If you can get one person to feel connected to you and have them share something about your art, you are building brand awareness.
Be true to yourself and your message and let people know who you are as an artist.
You want people to see your art online and know who the artist is.
Promote Your Art Blog
After you have hit publish for your blog post, you will want to share it with everyone.
This is important in the beginning stage.
I jump-started my blog by spending the same amount of time writing my posts as I did share and promoting them.
I knew that it would take a long time to generate organic traffic (search traffic), so I had to let people know what I have been up to.
How I promoted my blog posts:
- Sending out the blog posts to my email list (I still do this today).
- Publishing the posts on social media sites (I still do this today).
- Visiting forums and helping artists with struggles they might be having (I still do this today).
- Creating videos about key points of the post I have written ( I still do this today).
- Creating internal links (I still do this today).
- I make it easy for people to share my blog posts on their favorite social media sites (I use a WordPress plugin called Social Warfare ).
- I talk about my blog to people in person (I still do this today).
Continue To Learn
The last tip that I would like to cover is the importance of keeping up-to-date with all digital marketing changes.
I have seen so many changes over the past fifteen years it could make a person’s head spin.
For example, I can remember the days before Facebook had business pages.
I can remember when MySpace was the top social media site.
I remember having to spend a great deal of money to have a website built for my first art website.
I remember when YouTube was first launched.
If I didn’t keep up with all of the changes, I would have been left behind.
I do not want this to happen to you. That is why I send out three newsletters a week and provide courses to help you build your art business.
So start by signing up for my newsletter. It is free, and I will provide you with valuable marketing tips I have learned over the years.
Final Thoughts On Blogging Tips For New Art Bloggers
Your art blog is going to be the engine of your digital marketing strategy.
All of the posts you write will drive traffic to your artist website for as long as they are posted.
It is essential to get the fundamentals down before moving on to more advanced strategies.
Try these blogging tips for new art bloggers to see which ones give you the best results.
- The Ultimate Roadmap to Gallery Representation for Emerging Artists
- How to Get Your Art in Front of Your Ideal Audience
- The Benefits Of Using Print-On-Demand For Your Art Business
- Show Your Love for Wildlife with a Fine Art Print of a Cardinal Pastel Painting
- How To Sell Your Art At Craft Fairs Like A Pro
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Popular Art Marketing And Sales Tutorials
Below are some of the most famous art marketing courses that will grow your online art business:
Most Popular – How to Make a Living Selling What You Make by Megan Auman
Most Popular – Build a Successful Creative Blog by April Bowles-Olin
How to Build a Business While Learning Your Craft by Megan Auman
Pinterest Marketing for Makers & Designers by Megan Auman
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