From SashaW on Flickr
Last week Mashable put out a post on how businesses can learn about Twitter from the San Francisco street vendors. Taking it one step further, those street vendors can teach artists a thing or two about using the Internet to further your art career.
1. Find your market.
You don’t need to have a huge following to be a successful artist. If you know who likes your art and you build a list and community around them, they will follow you around and ask you to create art for them.
Follow people who say they are interested in art. Use http://search.twitter.com to find conversations about art on Twitter and then follow the people who are having those conversations.
2. Create Demand
Painters & crafters might sell a limited edition run of their works only to their Twitter followers. Actors, singers, and dancers can use Twitter to organize special ’secret shows’ just for their followers.
Let people know where you are at in your process. If you are working on a new project share your excitement on Twitter and people will be excited with you when you release it.
3. Be human
Don’t be that aloof artist, and don’t use Twitter (or any social network) to just shill your stuff. Share some personal stories, have some personality, and enjoy the social interaction that comes with Twitter.
Indie rock musician Amanda Palmer had an impromptu party on a lonely Friday night by connecting with her fans & friends on Twitter. She shared what she and her friends were doing, and in response to what her friends were saying, created t-shirts and other materials. She grossed over $19,000 in a single evening.
Granted, she already had a huge following, but this is the power that the real time web grants to artists.
4. Share news & updates
Just signed a record deal? Taking a trip to a certain city? Going on sabbatical? Your fans want to know, and when they are connected with you, they will be more likely to buy from you. We all like to do business with those we know, right?
5. Gather feedback.
Want to know what people think of an ongoing project? Twitter acts as a sort of instantaneous focus group. Post a video, share an image, or link to a piece of writing. People will share their opinions in real time, especially if you demonstrate that you will make changes according to their feedback.
6. Run promotions.
Need to fill a few seats for your show? Run a Twitter special 2 for 1 discount to anyone who shows up and mentions a secret password. Give away a free print to anyone who retweets your latest blog post. Offer to sing at a birthday party for one random follower who has the best reason you should.
7. Create a sense of community.
I’m waiting for some really awesome theater company in Portland, Oregon to catch on to this new way of using Twitter. I’ve heard of musicians announcing impromptu shows on Twitter and having hundreds of people show up. Are you doing a promotional spot or a rehearsal? Send it out on twitter and invite people to show up. If you’re a painter, invite a few fans to join you in your studio for a group project. Be social, be fun, and invite others!
8. Integrate your efforts.
Have a blog, Facebook page, Youtube channel, Twitter page and more? Cross promote! Tweet about your latest video. Make a video mashup of Facebook and Twitter comments, then post that on your blog & Youtube page. Also integrate with your peers! Make a mashup of all the Facebook & Twitter comments on the local theater scene and then show the video at a jointly sponsored party organized by several different theater companies.
As you can see, the list goes on for all the different ways artists can use Twitter & the social web to create content, build buzz, and sell their art.
What other ideas do you have on how artists can use Twitter?
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