Day 1 | The Granny Stopper
Which one thing can help you be more successful as an artist online?
My partner went on one of those frightening looking outward bounds courses where you have to climb round a vertiginously high assault course suspended from the tops of trees [he did this for fun!] The first challenge was an awesomely long rope swing from one tree to the next and the staff at the course had nicknamed it THE GRANNY STOPPER.
The purpose of having this terrifying rope swing right at the beginning of the course was to sort out the men from the boys, or the grannies from the others {although personally I think this is unfair on grannies who seem to be the most daredevil of the lot of us!}
The point was that if you couldn’t get past the Granny Stopper you had no chance of completing the course.
Unsurprisingly the same applies when you are setting up a creative business or trying to sell your art work online. The Granny Stopper here comes in a surprising form that is ignored or given little consideration by a surprisingly large amount of artists who underestimate just how important it is.
It is your Personal Brand, or your image as an artist and it is a major thing that separates those artists who do well selling their art online from those who waste a lot of time trying and ultimately fail.
If you don’t look like you have spent time to look professional and present your work well, why would people want to spend their hard earned cash on it, especially in a recession? Why would people want to buy your work if it is badly photographed or presented?
It is also important to create an image that stands out amidst the many millions of other artists all competing for attention.You need to STAND OUT in the crowd in order to be seen and show potential buyers what makes you and your art different from everyone else.
Many artists leap straight into setting up a shop or site without getting their image right first and, as they don’t stand out, their voice gets lost amidst the roaring noise of the internet. Getting this wrong means they can invest so much energy into blogging, tweeting, promoting and trying to sell online but will be sadly wasting their efforts. They have been defeated by the Granny Stopper right at the start.
But now you know about this particular Granny Stopper, that isn’t going to be you right?
Todays Mini-Task
Take 5 minutes to consider how you present yourself as an artist currently. Do you present a consistent professional image which communicates to buyers that it is worth investing their hard earned cash in your work? Does your image stand out in a crowd?
- Are the photos of your work high quality and show it to it’s best advantage?
- Do you have a business card to give to people at your exhibitions and events?
- Do you have a recognisable and consistent logo that you can use on different sites, to promote your exhibitions, etc?
- Do you have an Avatar? A consistent image to represent you online?
- What could you improve about your current image as an artist?
Tomorrow we are going to look at lessons from orbiting celestial bodies!
Until next time, keep creating.
Helen
If you have come to this post from an external link, why not sign up for the rest of my mini email course.
This 5 day primer gives you tips and advice for getting to grips with the internet to sell or promote your creative work.
I will also send you a monthly email with a roundup of the best information about art marketing and business from across the web.
…and I promise I wont sell your email to the “little blue pill”gnomes.
Comments on this entry are closed.