Dare to Share Tip #3

Tip #3 Dare To Promote Yourself

This, by far has been one of my biggest giants!! As an artist who is creating authentically, promoting yourself just feels YUCKY!! To me it feels like "here's my heart, go ahead and pick it apart". And people do and always will. If your an artist, of any kind...writer, musician, actor, expect this and save your self lots of time spent in the corner curled up in the fetal position. Some people are gonna love ya, some are gonna Not love ya! And thank God, that allows us all the opportunity to be artist.

As you all have probably seen by now, my motto is work smarter not harder. Same holds true for marketing and promoting. Early on I killed myself and my spirit by trying to be everywhere, all the time. This didn't work for me and I had to get in touch with my priorities:

GOD, FAMILY (which includes maintaining my household), FRIENDS, and if there is anything left, MY ART WORK. At first it was really hard to stay focused on those things, then it became my freedom.

Here is what I do to market my artwork. PLEASE if you know of an easier way(sure you do)tell us!! Make all our lives easier. I do not have all the answers, just what I'm doing to simplify my life. We all want to take the path of least resistance and in this case we should. Allows us more time in the studio, playing outside with the kids, holding hands with our honeys, and living life in the moment.

My Website

http://www.bludomain.com/

I found BLUdomain through a friend who is a photographer. We were both starting out in our business and felt like we needed a website to be successful. I found and bought a terrible template from a company that had no customer service and you literally had to be a graphic designer to figure out how to use this template. I spent weeks trying to learn about mega tags and nonsense just to build this generic looking site that offered very little. I also spent $700!! Meanwhile my girlfriend found a host and template that allowed her to build her site in about 6 hours and she was live in 24hrs. She spent $100! Ok, definitely a dare to learn moment for me. Do you need a website to be a successful artist? No. But for me it has really taken my business to a new level. Without even trying, I have been featured in varies publications, invited to different art shows, and given myself a home base for my business. Even with the few pieces I have for sale on there right now, I still have a portfolio for clients to see. This has helped me get into several shows that I was supposed to be juried into through ZAPP applications https://www.zapplication.org/index.php without being a member of ZAPP. For several reasons I refuse to do ZAPP, call me a snob but I'm a girl with boundaries.

My Marketing Printer

http://http://www.vistaprint.com/

How I love me some VISTA PRINTS!! Good quality, good prices, good turnaround time, and good customer service. Maybe I've been lucky , but they have been great for my business. They have come along way since I started with them in 2007 and at the rate they are going I expect them to only get better.

My blog

http://www.shabbyblogs.com/

There are MANY free websites to help you decorate your blog. I really like this one because they have a great selection and it's an easy site to navigate.

And as you already know, I use blogger for my host. They make my life easy, love that!

Networking Groups

Again, there are a ton. Personally I network in groups that i enjoy. I participate, when I can, in varies on line groups that include Facebook, The Incrowd (an Indiana Etsy group), Create by Faith, and Fishers Handmade (another local Etsy group). I have found that Etsy forums are a great way to learn more about how to grow your business and gain awesome feedback.I also network with some of you, my blog family. I really don't care for the word network, I think of it more as connecting. So connect with people you WANT to connect with otherwise it becomes a chore.

Host workshops

I currently work with my city to give workshops in Mixed Media/Collage. Connecting with your Chamber of Commerce is a great place to start if you are looking to do the same. Also, I would recommend networking with local art galleries and boutiques to see if they are interested in offering workshops in your medium. I enjoy workshops because it allows me the pleasure of seeing beautiful people create beautiful art!!

Moving forward in my business, I'm in the process of adding three things that I believe will promote my work and grow my business.

• Adding Prints to my line

(said I never would! eating my words)

• Learning Photoshop

(yes, still trying to find the time to learn this software!! Anya...HELP)

• Adding a wholesale line

( this will be a huge step for me, but I believe, today anyway, that this is the direction God is leading me)

Unfortunately marketing and self promotion is just a huge part of selling our work. Not the fun part, but key to growing your business. If you don't think your worth promoting neither will anyone else! So let your freak flag wave and sell it baby!

I hope you have a blessed weekend.

I look forward next week to sharing a final and most benefical tip for growing my business.

xo