Art Print Issues by Barney Davey

Art Marketing: Why Word-of-mouth Trumps Social Media and Strafrangers

It would be wonderful to have you participate in the 2012 smARTist Telesummit. It starts next week. I've watched its growth over the past six years, and presented at the last three. This year has the best speaker lineup ever, IMHO.

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Modern Art Marketing: A Blessing and a Curse

Visual artists have the blessing of easy access to the most powerful set of art marketing tools every developed for solo practices and small businesses. They come in the form of free or affordable websites, blogs, e-commerce, email blast software, social media platforms, online press releases and more. 

 Google+ Races to 90 Million Users

There is an unending stream of new social media outlets. Google+ has just broken the 90 million mark in what surely is record time to reach that many users. Pinterest is still in the invitation stage, and appears to be gaining awareness and interest in its photo and image sharing platform. It is an addictive, fun, and potential time suck. 

Putney Week at Scottsdale Artists' School

When talking about this last Saturday to group of artists assembled for Putney Painters Week at the Scottsdale Artists' School,  I was asked which social media is best for artists. I replied it is not practical for a visual artist, who is handling their own marketing, to robustly and effectively participate in more than two social media outlets at one time.

Nearly Any Social Media Platform Can Produce Results...

Moreover, I believe there is no clear social media winner. In my opinion, any of them will work if you take the time to study how to get value from them and then diligently apply your new found knowledge to create positive results. I went on further to say if one blocks out a day and seriously assesses all available time for everything, including sleeping, eating and relaxing, it becomes obvious there are precious few hours in a week to work on marketing.  

Don't get me wrong. I like and use social media, but admit to not coming close to meeting the potential from it. That is mostly due to looking at my own blocked schedule. Mine starts with a full-time day job, so I compress writing this blog, updating and writing new books, and working on presentations such as the one for the Scottsdale Artists' School.

Come Hear Me at the smARTist Telesummit

Another example is working on the the upcoming 2012 smARTist Telesummit. My presentation there is titled Handout for "Boost Your Art Career: Using Publicity, Promotion & Power of Self-Belief ." When I look my schedule, I realize have a compressed amount of time to get truly important things done, much less effectively multi-tasking on multiple social media platforms.

What Is the True Value of a Strafranger?

The more I think about it, when it comes to how visual artists find new buyers, I believe developing a referral and word-of-mouth program will be far more productive for time spent that whiling away on social media. With that approach, Facebook can truly be a friend connection instead of a "strafranger" connection. Strafranger is a new word I coined to describe all those anonymous new friends you have on your social media platforms who offer hard-to-measure quality as potential customers.

Word-of-Mouth Trumps Social Media

I contend the value of one recommended friend is worth the value of 100 social media friends, or followers. That ratio is an admitted wild ass guess, but it supports my contention that word-of-mouth (WOM) trumps social media. If you believe I'm right, I recommend to dial back the time you spend on social media and look for ways to build your WOM marketing. 

Here are some useful links to help you get started on your own WOM marketng program:

• The Art of Self-promotion for Visual Artists
• Six Degrees of You
• Word-of-mouth Marketing 101 - get the PDF download on the right sidebar
• 5 Tips on Growing Your Business Through Word-of-Mouth Marketing

WOM Is About Referrals

Do you have a formalized referral program? Do you routinely and politely ask for referrals? Do you try to help others in your local community or larger community by offering their services to others who might need them?

The world's largest business network is BNI, it has thousands of local chapters of small businesses working to help build the members' businesses. It's motto is simple, "Give to Get." Start working on helping others, and watch who reciprocates, and how your results improve.

 

Marketing Art Online Using Twitter

In the Art Business, Social Media Simply Is an Effective Marketing Tool to Sell More Art.

Regular readers know I am a proponent of artists using social media to grow awareness for their work and sell more art.

While I have a solid understanding of Twitter, I've always known there was more to it, if I just had the right information and tools.

Recently, I found a jewel of an e-book, The Art of Marketing Art Online, by Icelandic visual artist, Heidi Bjork.

At Only $7.99, This Affordable Art Marketing Online E-book Is a Steal!

You can order for your Kindle, or as a digital download e-book from the Payloadz site.You will find it offers great value as it is loaded with deep insight and practical advice for visual artists on how to effectively use Twitter to promote themselves and sell their work.

It is obvious Heidi has given lots of thought on how artists can use Twitter in their art marketing efforts. That she is a successful professional artist herself who has used the same steps she outlines in the book helps to validate her credentials and solid marketing art online advice.

Readers Will Learn the Key Elements to Creating a Powerful Art Marketing Brand Using Twitter

1. Username
2. Profile Picture
3. Professional Background
4. Follower count

You will learn new ways get more from Twitter by effectively using TwitPic, #hashtags and ReTweets, and how to turn "power searches" into a powerful art marketing tool. Building traffic is a key component of achieving success on Twitter, and you will find useful ideas on how to make that happen for you.

When it comes to social media, you can see from the YouTube video below that Heidi walks the talk in using available tools to promote her book.

 

Facebook Has a Click Through Rate of 287%. Twitter's Click Through Rate is a Staggering 1904%.

That head turning statistic alone ought to be enough to help you move towards fully incorporating Twitter into your art marketing arsenal. Here are some other key items that will help you use Twitter to maket your art marketing more robust:

• Why choosing to use the right URL shortener is marketing genius
• How to grow your followers and why you need a large group of followers
• Learn about Twitter Karma and how to use it to your advantage
• How employing automated Twitter marketing tools can make your job easier and your results more dramatic
• How to stay on top of your Twitter marketing by using the TweetDeck platform
• Learn what is the best tool to streamline your Twitter account management, so you can track and easily know who to follow and how to safely unfollow in the right way to avoid account suspension
• The best way to make use of promotional tweets
• How to effectively get the best results and not over do it, which can lead to a reputation for spamming
• How to use RSS to syndicate your Twitter feed

The book is an easy quick read, well worth every penny you pay for it. It will give you a whole new perspective on how using Twitter can be a most effective online art marketing tool for visual artists. Learn from Heidi's practical advice, which is born from her personal experience, and you are sure to find new succes marketing your art online.

You follow Heidi on her blog at: http://heidibjork.com/ or on Twitter @Heidi_Art.

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Art Marketing - Art Business Twitter Roundup - June 2011

Art Marketing is challenging, as is succeeding in the art business.

Visual artists can use Twitter to learn how to sell art and get art business and Internet marketing ideas.

While there are abundant resources for artists in the Twitter stream, effectively capturing them is tricky. For your benefit, I've collected a sampling of recent Twitter relating to the business of art. They are categorized for you, and I trust you will find useful tips among them.

Art Marketing - Art Business

• The Myth of Print Advertising: What Works? by Jack White http://ht.ly/5fG6y ~ great comments & dialog @Fasobuzz
• Hey - Was That A Door You Just Slammed in My Face? http://ht.ly/5fGef ~ lively reply to Jack White on print advertising http://ht.ly/5fG6y
• Have you seen the new Art.com Visual Search program? It's really cool and a great marketing tool! http://ht.ly/4KT54
• RT @abstanfield: Plan to get out and meet someone new. Take someone to coffee, visit a studio. You'll be fired up and full of inspiration.
• How To Write Press Releases for Visual Artists http://ht.ly/4TDpt ~ new ebook from @ArtistTaraReed
• RT @fasobuzz: Discuss on BrushBuzz: Should Your Gallery Control Your Content? - http://faso.com/brushbuzz/discussion/?id=3666
• How to Sell Art, Make Money and Be Happy http://ht.ly/4YT1l
• RT @mariabrophy: This is the topic that brings out the FEISTY in me! Why Artists Should (Not) Be Paid for Their Artwork http://ht.ly/4YT8a
• Sell less art, make more money is totally possible with POD and Web 2.0 http://ht.ly/51mVv
• RT @abstanfield Great idea! Add your url in a hyperlink to all of the descriptions w/ your FB images @BMcElhaneyArt on Art Biz Blog comment
• Visual Artists Rock How Your Art Is Defined http://bit.ly/iB9kQp
• Get 'How to Profit from the Art Print Market - Creating Cash Flow from Original Art' on your Kindle http://amzn.to/iCTYyw
• RT @mariabrophy: Three Reasons Artists Would Need to use A Contract http://bit.ly/9ghhtj #Business of #Art
• I hope you believe visual artists have the means to define themselves and their as never before, because I do! http://bit.ly/iB9kQp

Social Media – Blogging – Internet Marketing

• RT @Heidi_Art Learn How to Market Your Art on Twitter, my new Ebook is out :) http://t.co/QSqEzHW. I've read it and recommend it.!
• The Right Way to Publish Your Blog to Facebook by Clint Watson http://ht.ly/4KxIH
• RT @lorimcneeartist: Facebook Bible: Everything You Need to Know About #Facebook http://ht.ly/5fDIB
• 5 YouTube tips you should be using http://ht.ly/5aH7I
• 10 Takeaways From TED 2011 http://ht.ly/5dCOC ~ great stuff here!
• RT @2cre8: How Brands And Consumers Use Social Media To Build A Better World: http://so-kt.tw/AyY [Great video!!] RT @MariSmith @socialkaty
• 8 Time-Saving Tips for Your Inbox @abstanfield http://ht.ly/5dDCR
• 5 New Ways Smart People Use Twitter http://ht.ly/5dDH0
• 6 Ways Social Media Helps Home-Based Businesses http://ht.ly/5exZy
• 10 Ways to Use Social Media for Day-to-Day Business http://ht.ly/5exXI\
• Five Steps to Effective Keyword Research http://ht.ly/5fmsq ~ very useful for marketing art on the Web
• RT @smashingmag: Finding a Designer: a Practical Guide - http://bit.ly/k2GSZx - Great resources and info.

 Smart Business Advice

• 7 Ways to Improve Your Luck as an Artist @lorimcneeartist http://ht.ly/4KLT6
• RT @garaughty: #marketing 5 branding secrets you can learn from #Google http://bit.ly/mH57xg
• Dreamcatcher and the art of free-form promotion http://ht.ly/5970W
• How the Square Is Disrupting The Entire Payments Industry http://ht.ly/5aaoX Artists making direct sales need this
• Pittura Magazine online for decorative artists.. very nice http://ht.ly/5aHEx
• Postcardly turns digital pics into real postcards http://ht.ly/5aHaI
• Art reproduction incongruencies ~ interesting look at the tech side of art prints http://ht.ly/4TDlw

 News  - Profiles

• New blog post: Digital Arts Studio - Giclee Printer profile ~ check out the post, then check the company out. chttp://bit.ly/j85fJn
• Phoenix Collage Artist Katia Von Kral - Art Print Career on a High Note http://bit.ly/j85fJn
• Art Market Shakes Off the Blues With Christie's Sizzling $301.6 Million Contemporary Sale http://ht.ly/4TDn4
• Artmedia to Be the ‘Amazon’ of Art http://ht.ly/4YTht ~ that's a tall order, we'll see, but it has some bigwigs and funding
• RT @dooneystudio: The Final Curtain: After almost five years and 830 posts, this will be the last post to Self Vs. Self http://bit.ly/jNR62V
• Spoke Art arranged battle-royal style art show featuring over 100 world class artists from the new contemporary art scene http://ht.ly/595Pj
• DeviantArt makes artists, looks to expand http://ht.ly/596S1

 Inspiration

• As human beings, our greatness lies not in remaking the world - as is the atomic age myth - but in being able to remake ourselves ~ Gandhi
• RT @katecourageous: "As soon as your dream becomes stronger than your doubts and fears, your dream begins to manifest." - @MarcAllen
• You and I are incredibly lucky! ~ could not agree more http://ht.ly/586kh
• 100 Greatest Sculptures Ever http://ht.ly/5dCHm
• Some very interesting art here: http://museumofdigitalfineart.com

Facebook Is the One

It's Official, Facebook Is the One!

Facebook Got More Visitors Than Google Search In 2010.

Here is a quote from a story on the BusinessInsider.com website:

"New statistics from Experian Hitwise show that Facebook.com was the most-visited Web page in the U.S. from January to November 2010, passing Google's search page for the first time"

This latest report should be of no real surprise to anyone paying attention to how social media is in the vanguard of our changing communication preferences. And, Facebook has become the behemoth now approaching 600 million users. The latest US Census data shows the US population at 330 million. As such, Facebook is close to twice the size and certain to exceed it on its current growth trend pattern.

Another Fearless Forecast from Yours Truly Pans Out

I gave this this post its title in reference to the post about Facebook I wrote more than three years ago in November 2007. It's title is, "Bet on Facebook, It Could Be the One." At that time, Facebook only had about 40 million users. So, it was a prescient call, if I say so myself. The prediction is the latest in a string of others made here that all were accurate. I won't derail you with the details, but they can be found among the nearly 400 posts on Art Print Issues.

What Are You Doing to Capitalize on Social Media?

The question for visual artists today is how do they take advantage of being active on Facebook, and other social media, too. It can be daunting and time consuming to participate in it. However, if you analyze the time you spent in the past on traditional media, I believe you will find there is more of a correlation than you might have reckoned. Certainly, the attendees at the 2011 smARTist Telesummit, which starts on January13, will hear many of the keynote speakers, including me, providing insight and information about the impact of and using social media.

Get the Goods on 2011 Giclee Market from Me

I will be presenting for a second year. My all-new topic is titled Successful Sales in the 2011 Giclee Print Market. You will hear me advising on social media and, of course, Facebook in my talk. Lori McNee, a highly successful fine artist, will be giving the definitive presentation on social media, and the low down on Facebook.

Learn Firsthand How a Top Selling Artist Is Leveraging Social Media

Lori has done a great job of tapping into social media. She been featured in the Huffington Post, named in the “Top 10 Up and Coming Women Bloggers,” ranked as~one of the ”Most Influential Artists” on Twitter and one of “The Top 100 Most Powerful Women on Twitter.” I suggest you pay close attention when she tells you how to Sell Yourself, Sell Your Art: With a Social Media Blueprint for Artists.

I received very good feedback from artists I know who took part in the smARTist Telesummit last year. The lineup put together by founder, Ariane Goodwin, is the strongest ever and perfect for the art market right now. Please join us. It will do wonders for your business and your attitude about it. See you there!

Happy New Year!

Does Social Media Work for Visual Artists?

There is undeniable demonstrable value in social media for artists and other entrepreneurs.

Social media is not some flash in the pan phenomenon that soon will be replaced by the next "Big Thing." It is a pervasive transformative form of communication that continues to take larger share of time and interest for participants.

Social media is far more than the ubiquitous Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn mentions. It includes blogging, publishing. networking, commenting, photo sharing, and more.

Is Social Media An Asset to You?

The question visual artists have to ask themselves is are they getting a return on the investment of time from their social media involvement. While I do not have any hard facts or research to answer this question, I believe the answer is a mixed bag of results. That is, there obviously are some artists who are  making great use of social media, and there are many more who are struggling to figure out if it is working and what to do if it is not.

Last year, I wrote a post titled Can Visual Artists Succeed Without Using Twitter and Facebook? The answer for those who don't care to read the post is, YES! That said, it is obvious there are some artists making great use for career advancement using social media.

Working smarter is far more effective than working harder

Working hard to become really good at a few things is going to pay off better than working hard at a bunch of things and not doing any particularly well. What makes the difference in social media success for artists equates to what separates successful artists whose career's follow a steadily improving trajectory from those who are flat-lined or failing. The ones on top have found a formula that works and they work at refining and honing the formula to continue to get better results from it. They typically are not afraid to try new things and are just as quick to move away from those which do not pan out for them.

If you study the art career's of successful visual artists you will find similar traits. As an aside, for those seeking to improve their own art business model, there is hardly a better way to help plot a strategy than to reverse engineer what took the best to the top. Just as you would study to learn how to make your art better from the best in the field, you can do the same with your career.

You learn the most effective and creative techniques from the best -- do the same with your art business

When you study the career's of succesful artists, you find they have learned to build a following by consistently working at those things that give them the best results. Of course, it includes being a source of art people want to buy. But, it also includes finding the most effective way of communicating with their best prospects for new and repeat business.

If you are not getting the results you want from social media, then you need to examine what you are doing. It is not that social media programs don't work, or that some artists are luckier than others. Honestly assess your activities to learn what is going on with your social media marketing efforts. If you are participating in social media for any other reasons than to improve your career, then you have to consider it a pleasant pasttime rather than a business activity. There is nothing wrong with that, but don't complain if the time spent is not helping you sell more art.

Who are you following? Who is following you?

If you don't know the answer to the above questions, you are leaning more to a pastime than a marketing model for your social media activity. Anecdotally, it looks to me on Facebook and LinkedIn that many artists have built up large groups of other artists as friends and followers.

While there is safety in numbers and certainly great affirmation possibilities that come from such associations, helping to build a group of potential collectors is far down list of the good to come from being involved with a bunch of other artists. The bottom line is if you are going to spend time in social media, use most of your time in it to work on enhancing your career.

Here are a few art marketing / social media suggestions

Consciously, actively choose who you are following. I personally review every profile of Twitter and Facebook followers and only choose to follow back those who I think can either help my art business, increase my knowledge of useful technology tools or are just compelling in their personality and message.

Look for groups and people where you might find potential collectors. Being in a bunch of groups with other artists may help you gain career or business insights, but not collectors. Limit the amount of time you spend posting to family, friends and old high school chums. When you do, find creative ways to remind them your art is for sale.

Get a tool like Hootsuite or Tweetdeck that will allow you to write a bunch posts that are set to publish at different times. Limit the amount of time you spend on social media. Don't sit there with it on all day long. It will suck your time and deplete your energy.

If you have an important project, ratchet your activity down to buy yourself more time. I have a couple of big things I am working on now. As a result, my activity is greatly reduced on Facebook and Twitter. I've seen others such as Clint Watson, owner of the websites for artists business, FASO artist websites, take several weeks off so he could devote 100% of his time to getting major upgrade coded and ready for his customers.

Bigger is not better

Don't try to work too many social media venues at one time. You can easily get worn out trying to keep up with too many ways to get your name out there. I don't do much active following these days as nearly all follower/friends growth come from requests. When I was building a following, I was very selective about those I chose to follow or friend. Social media is not a contest to see who has the most followers or friends. It is a tool to help you grow awareness for your work and for you. It should be viewed as a means to market your business.

Email marketing is not dead

Make sure you do everything you can to get the email address of every potential collector you encounter. All social media is a stream, some running faster than others, but all are constantly moving. Email marketing potentially offers you the best return on your investment in time, expense and effort. Make sure you are doing everything you can to gather email addresses.

Newsletter Marketing for Fine Artists

These days, when it comes to art marketing, social media dominates the conversation. It is with good reason, many visual artists are finding new and creative ways to use tools such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media platforms to find new customers and sell art. Besides being a novel way to approach getting one's art to market, social media is appealing because other than the time it takes to play, which is not trivial, there is no cost.

Your newsletter is a powerful art marketing tool

Despite the attention to social media by visual artists, many traditional forms of marketing offer significant help to sell fine art.  It wasn't long ago in the art business that email newsletter marketing was a new way to get and keep customers. Although using newsletters has now past the novel stage, it is still a powerful tool to artists build and maintain momentum in the art market.

Get started building your mailing list now!

If you have not started a formal program of collecting both snail mail and email addresses, you should get started today. There are numerous email marketing services such as iContact, AWeber, Mail Chimp and many more. Each of them will provide you with links and sign up apps to place on your website, blog and anywhere you have a presence. You should do your research and get started today!

A newsletter will help you tell your story better than anything you can do besides having a personal conversation with someone to let them know about your art and you. Artist, Ione Citrin, has been sending her newsletter for years. Her latest one, with an appealing and unique updated style, is a great example of how to do it right. Click here or on the thumbnail image above to see a full .pdf of her entire newsletter.

Many thanks to Ione who graciously accepted my request to show her newsletter to benefit you, my readers. I found it inspiring, I trust you will too.

Visual Artist’s Challenge: Should I Work with Galleries, Go Direct to Collectors or Both?

 In the art business, if you hang out online with your kind or tribe as Seth Godin calls them, it does not take long to find lots of interesting folks whose work you admire. Such is the case with fine artist and prolific blogger Lori McNee and me.

Through mutual requests, we decided instead of guest blogging for each other that it would be a fun experiment to collaborate conversation style keeping to a single art marketing topic. It was an easy choice to first tackle whether visual artists should work on getting into galleries, seek to build their own direct-to-collector distribution, or do both.

Barney:  Although it arguably is contradictory, I am in the “do both” camp. While I believe artists will enjoy many benefits by working with galleries, working exclusively makes artists too reliant on things out of their control. In year’s past, there were no options and the gallery system was stronger.

I do not advocate abandoning art galleries. However, in today's art market, well established art galleries can get blindly buzz sawed by circumstances beyond their control and wreak havoc to the detriment of its artists in the process. And, now visual artists have tools to sell direct as never before. In their own interest, I believe they should pursue them alongside galleries.  As entrepreneurs, artists must tend their art careers and art businesses. That means being aware of changes and making the most of them for their own sake.

Lori:  This is one of the most heated topics being debated by artists right now. In fact, this very subject has been the focus of conversation during the past two weekends on my visits and paint-outs with some very influential professional artists. This is what I learned:
•    Surprisingly, some nationally recognized artists have begun to abandon the gallery route in favor of studio shows, self promoted exhibitions and direct marketing sales.
•    The majority of artists, including myself, believe in a healthy combination of gallery representation and self promotional sales.
•    The minority believe in relying on galleries for their sole promotion and sales.

Here is the synopsis: Direct marketing is the trend for 2010-2011. Gone are the days when galleries could hang art and easily sell it off the walls.  In light of the challenging economic times, the art market has suffered and galleries have been struggling. Most prospective collectors do not have the disposable income they once enjoyed. Now when a buyer does decide to invest their hard earned money in art, the collector wants a personal connection or better understanding of the artist. Galleries and artists can now tap into the ‘direct marketing’ approach with the use of Social Media, blogs, websites, YouTube as well as artists’ receptions, arts/crafts fairs, etc. This new form of direct marketing is the wave of the future.

Barney:  Today, society’s quick acceptance of change affects every business large and small. For example, could Google have imagined a closed social network platform launched to find the best looking freshmen on campus would evolve into the most serious threat it has known?

Facebook, other social media and ecommerce have changed consumer habits affecting the business model of brick & mortar galleries. Another factor is the Darwinian effects caused by the collapsing housing market that pummeled all businesses providing anything for homes, including art galleries.  

Changing times require artists learn to be self-reliant. Fortunately with the available tools, this is the best time ever for visual artists to control their destiny and to sell direct. That said, I believe galleries serve an important role, are here to stay and should be treated with respect.  

There is a term called coopetition where companies compete on some fronts and cooperate on others. I believe this is the future for artists and galleries. On one side galleries need to recognize and accept artists will compete with them without accepting suicidal head on direct sales battles. On the other, artists have to bring more to the table than art that sells, i.e., a personal brand, a loyal following, a killer mailing list, media contacts and so forth. Creative concerned coopetition should be the key to growth and survival for artists and galleries.

Lori:  I really like the idea of coopetition.  Some galleries might be hesitant to warm up to this mutually beneficial new idea.  Therefore, artists need to be proactive in building trust with their galleries through open communication.  I see this as the natural evolution of the artist/gallery relationship.

Barney: Despite that we both agree a combination of working with galleries and direct sales is the best. I believe we also agree there is no perfect answer. Artists can still be very successful being exclusively with galleries only program, or vice-versa handling all sales direct to collectors. Obviously, social media can play a huge part in marketing an art career no matter what path an artist chooses to follow.  

Stay tuned. This conversation will get into social media and art marketing in our next installment, to be announced.

You can find the second installment, Visual Artist’s Challenge II – Balancing Self Promotion & Gallery Representation, on Lori's Fine Art Tips blog.

Popular Tweets from Barney Davey - March & April

Without keeping to a regular schedule, I do try to repost my most recent popular tweets now and then. Here they are for March and April. I trust you will find a few worth reading, keeping and using.

• How to Sell Art with No Fear     http://ht.ly/1kT9Z
• 8 Reasons Your Art Isn't Selling and You Can't Lose Weight     http://ht.ly/17j0l
• 7 Tips for Successful Art Marketing in 2010     http://ht.ly/UtbH
• Time to Build Your Art Career on Defensive Opportunistic Optimism    http://bit.ly/bpvj1H
• Top Twenty-six Marketing Checklist for Fine Artists     http://ht.ly/SVP7
• Getting Work into the Art Print Market    http://bit.ly/b2rcQI
• 10 Ways to Get Serious About Social Media     http://ht.ly/VkJZ
• The Business of Art: Who do you paint for?      http://bit.ly/9zzj9Hr
• Robert Genn's art price list, you can't find an easier more transparent model to follow     http://ht.ly/12Lix
• 1,000 True Fans = Success as a solo artist     http://ht.ly/1LRTy
• Are You Reading the Great Advice for Artists on ArtBusiness.com?    http://bit.ly/a3spbG
• 15 Things an Artist Should Never Say      http://ht.ly/1lh1z
• Twitter, As We Knew It, Is Dead: The 7 New Dependable Ways to Use Twitter      http://ht.ly/1pc4x
• Ten Steps for Creating a FANtastic Facebook Fan Page      http://ht.ly/Y3Xq
•  Digital Art Revolution - a new book on visual arts     http://bit.ly/d8KpfQ
• Three-tiered Approach to Art Marketing Works Out    http://bit.ly/d2ZhvJ

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Thoughts on How New Media Shapes Trends

Kate Harper is a busy, smart, ambitious and creative person. She has made a great art career for herself as a well-known greeting card designer, which makes her way savvy when it comes to the art licensing business. She is also a consummate blogger at Kate Harper's Blog for Artists and Writers. She describes it this way:

This blog is where I post information about the card business I find interesting. For over a decade I published my own line of cards and serviced over 2,000 accounts and then went into licensing where I now have over 200 product designs in Target, Walgreen's and Michael's, and independent stores.

Kate designated March as Social Media Month. Since social media is quickly growing in importance as a tool for art marketing and art licensing, it was a brilliant idea. To act on her idea, Kate invited a list of guest bloggers, including me, to contribute articles for her idea.

My piece is titled How New Media Shapes Trends. I trust you will find some useful nuggets upon reading it and the other fine contributions to Kate's splendid idea. She is to be commended for having the vision to conceive the Social Media Month idea and the energy to make it happen. I learned something about the art business or art licensing from each article in the series, I am sure you will too!

If you have taken the "How Do You Get Your Art to Market?" survey, thank you! If not, kindly take 2 minutes to complete the 10 multiple choice questions. I will share the result here with you. 

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Barney Davey's Top Ten Tweets & Retweets for February 2010

Last month, on my @barneydavey Twitter.com account, there were some great tweets and retweets with an informative mix of useful helpful art business, art marketing and online marketing links to choose from. These were February's best and most clicked:

1. 8 Reasons Your Art Isn't Selling and You Can't Lose Weight 
2. What Is the Secondary Art Market?
3. 10 Ways to Get Serious About Social Media
4. Using SlideShare to Promote Your Fine Art
5. 1,000 True Fans = Success as a solo artist
6. Michelangelo Sidewalk Chalk Art of Sistine Chapel ~ 3 day time lapse vid ~ love the energy & creativity
7. Are Trade Shows a Waste of Time? Jay Goltz offers insight & analysis and tells it like it is!
8. Do You Really Need a Gallery?
9. All in a Name ~ @Fasobuzz  Artists and SEO - What are the keywords people are using?
10. Robert Genn's art price list, you can't find an easier more transparent model to follow

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