Art Marketing After the Holidays {art marketing vlog}

Hi friends! For many of us tomorrow is the first day back to work or school after the holiday break. It can be tempting to take some more time off while business is slow but I don’t recommend it. You can use this time for professional development  such as: learn a new type of art, take a business class or begin a large project. This is the time of year I plan summer classes and workshops and undertake large freelance projects. I also like to use my slow time to build my content inventory reserve by filming extra videos and writing extra blog articles that I can publish quickly if things get hectic. That is what I am talking about in today’s Art Marketing vlog! *I filmed this in October by the way… 😀

Video!

This video is sponsored by Rich Mom Business, they have a free handmade training course that can help you design a product line that will sell. Now is the time to be designing products for spring and summer fairs and festivals. Remember that thing I said about “professional development”…

So, you might be wondering how making videos or writing blog articles will really help your bottom line when people are not spending much on art and craft items this time of year. Well, this is where YOU give back to your customers. It is nice to sell a painting or necklace but that should not be the only reason you want people coming to your website. Give people a reason to stop by even if they are not looking to buy. You should be giving value WAY more than asking for a sale. People won’t come to your blog just to be sold to. You want people coming to your blog and pining your posts to Pinterest and sharing them in Facebook because those back links are powerful. Search engines see that, and rank websites based on the amount of traffic and high quality websites linking back to them. You will not get this to happen without offering valuable content to your audience.

What do I write about?

1. Share your process.
2. Show photos of your studio or where you create.
3. Explain why you choose certain paints, beads, paper etc. This could be a weekly series called “My Favorites”
4. Show them how to make your art. You may think it will cost sales but it will really make them respect you more and make customer realize all the work that goes into your craft.
5. Haul video: Show people the supplies you bought for your projects and why you chose those particular pieces.
6. Storage ideas as pertains to your work.
7. Review a product you just tried.
8. Collaborate with other artists who may share similar customers (consider crafters who compliment your work instead of competing with it, like a framer and a painter)
9. Share artwork done by students (if you teach) it will encourage your readers to give it a try, and if you do workshops you may get a boost in enrollment.
10. Share “behind the scenes” anecdotes, I always looked up to designers in magazines before I started getting published, I thought it was so weird how I had to have Christmas projects done in May to meet the printing deadlines. What quirky stories could you share?
11. Show how you photograph your art or film your videos.
12. Write about the difference in quality of the supplies available for your craft.
13. Share pics from trade shows or craft fairs you attend or snap reference photos to share with your viewers.
14. Try a different craft and see how you do, if it’s not a success it will be good for a laugh LOL!

There are 2 types of content you should be thinking about writing:

Evergreen: These are not seasonal and can publish any time of year.

Seasonal: These are holiday projects that should run 2 weeks before a holiday or within a certain time frame. Also you can make content inspired by a current trend or cultural phenomenon like I did with my Katniss Wrap free crochet pattern when the second hunger Games Movie came out. When the Great Gatsby movie came out there were lots of jewelry project published on that theme. Did you notice any YouTubers making DIY Star Wars projects lately? There were.

Make sure you post the seasonal content leading up to the events they are tied too and the evergreen content can publish any old time you need something new on your blog. I typically blog daily but if you are new try once or twice a week. You can even write up posts when you have the time and schedule them so you can space them out. You don’t want to post 9 articles in one day and then nothing for 2 months. You want a steady stream of traffic so that when you have something new to sell people will still be looking. The art marketing game is a marathon, not a sprint. There is no “overnight success” and the best way to succeed is to keep showing up!

Hey, if anything else it will force you to be creative everyday instead of binge watching Netflix in your free time.

PS, another quick tip is to share photos! I was working on a deadline tonight and snapped a quick pic of my desk to share on instagram and I can recycle it here too! I am working on an upcoming class, this opportunity came to me because an editor saw one of my videos (do you see what I am getting at here?)and if I hadn’t posted that particular video I would not have gotten this project. Don’t be afraid to share your crafty knowledge because you think people will not buy your work if they know how you did it, it s the opposite, it builds a connection and opens the doors to so many more opportunities! Ant that is what I call Happy crafting!