Artists - Make Yourself Available to Grow Your Fanbase

I recently had an email from a concerned woman. Her husband, a self taught artist, had tried several ways of marketing his artwork, all to no avail. He took part in several art-shows and even has a personal art website, all with little success. The woman ended off by asking me if I knew of a list of art buyers. I replied and told her that such a list probably doesn't exist (except for the government and some museums and galleries), and even if it did, it wouldn't be very beneficial. Art buyers have diverse tastes, and have their own sets of likes and dislikes. It may be very difficult selling pottery to someone who prefers abstract painting. What an artist needs is to find people with an interest in their personal style. It's usually best not to seek out these people. That may be like searching for a needle in a haystack, unless you produce art that is quite popular. Let your customers come to you. Make yourself available to them! I have used some strategies for making myself available to people. Have an art show at a local gallery, or coffee shop. Be sure and invite all your friends and family, and most importantly all your previous buyers. Maintaining a good relationship with them is essential. Inform the local news media, such as newspapers, radio, and television stations. At the showing, be open to questions, comments, and critiques. You may even want to have a short talk on the works. Focus on building relationships with people who show an interest in your artwork, and many will turn into buyers. Build an online presence. There are many ways you can do this. You can start by getting a good domain name and building your own art website to display your artworks, but to get online faster it can be much easier to start a profile on social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook. I recommend doing this first and starting the web page later. That way, you can build your relationships with people and later on when you are ready to start on your site, get help from them. Send an invite to all your friends in these and other groups, and in no time at all you will be building a fan base. Take part in art forums. Go to Google and type in art forums. Find one with a large membership, and sign up. After you have read the terms of use, you are ready to start posting. Before you do, be sure and include your website address in your signature file. Most online forums will allow this. Then go to one of the main categories, usually the general tab and introduce yourself. Ask for help with something or just ask for opinions on your work. You'll be surprised at the amount of responses you will get. As you may have already realized, I have only touched the tip of the iceberg on things you can do to market your art. Just remember, if you make yourself available, your audience will find you. About the Author Graham Matthews is a professional artist living in a small community in Newfoundland, Canada. His works are in private collections throughout the world. He has had showings of his [[[:6:]]] the Arts and Culture Center and Eastern Edge Gallery, among others. He is a writer and motivator for artists to get their work seen and become successful. Visit http://www.artsspot.com to see his artwork and articles. Source: http://www.articlecircle.com/ - Free Articles Directory