Gear Up for the Holidays

Retail is gearing up for the holidays, and so should you.  Now the stores are filled with candy and orange-colored decorations, but lurking in the wings is the green and red lights, sparkling tinsel and the obligatory fruitcake.  Radio, TV, and online advertising is cranking up, trying to get the nation up off the couch and into stores this fall.

Hey, if they can get us off the couch, maybe we can shake up a few art enthusiasts enough to buy some art during the holidays. Here are a few suggestions for promoting your art without even getting out of the house:

Join an online group — Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn  and POST YOUR WORK. Use these networks to increase the number of people looking at your art. Your long lost grammar school friends could be your next buyers.
Use social bookmarking to promote your art business e.g. del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit.
Write an Article — Increase exposure and establish yourself as an expert in your field by writing an article about your niche of art. There are a variety of e-zines available for submission, e.g. About.com, Wikihow.com, Howto.com. Also consider creating a “lens” on Squidoo. 
Ebay — it works for lots of artists and it’s worth testing your art on it too.
CraigsList  — a local classified listing that may be worth testing out with your art.  Beware of copyright infringers so be sure to watermark every image you post there.
Use print-on-demand sites like RedBubble, Zazzle, and Cafepress to promote your art via T-shirts, greeting cards and various sundry items.

These are just a few of the online opportunities available.  I’d love to hear what you’ve tried and what level success you’ve had with any online promotions. 

Next post: some promotional activities artists can do in person.

Have You Sent Your Thank You Cards Yet?

To those of you who sold artwork at this year’s open studios, congratulations! Not only did you sell your work, make some money, and create a little space in your studio, you’ve just started a new relationship. So nurture it like you would a new friendship. Reach out and contact them with a simple thank you note.

But, you say, they only bought a small print! Hey, we’re all on a budget this year, but they enjoyed your art enough to take home a piece. The point is if you collected their addresses and emails in your guest book, you can send them a note to thank them and foster a relationship.

As a rule of thumb, it takes 7 times the effort to find a new customer as it does to sell again to an existing customer. Your guest list is a veritable seed packet of potential customers waiting to be cultivated. But most of all, don’t underestimate those new buyers. With the right TLC, they may grow to be your biggest collector.

What’s in the card? Keep it simple. The only elements needed are
• an image of your art and
• a personally handwritten note

Don’t worry that you don’t have some interesting new project, series, or exhibit to tell them about. Think long term and save that for your next email or card. For now, we can be thankful that we’ve got new beginnings with new art lovers.