It’s ready! It’s ready!

If you’re ready to join an online community of artist entrepreneurs, then please visit the Abundant Artist Community and sign up. I can’t wait to see you on the inside!

The link to sign up is here: http://theabundantartist.com/community

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then take a moment and read More Community, Please and My Big Audacious Goal. You’ll get the idea.

UPDATE: Just so that you know, when you sign up, there are TWO confirmation emails – one after you pay, and one after you register your username. You’ll need to click on the link in the second email to access the rest of the site. It mentions it during the registration process, but a few people have missed it.

Lots of questions, and the easiest way to answer them is to show you this video.

The Abundant Artist Community combines the following elements to help you turn your art into a business:

Recorded audio lessons focusing on building your art business. These lessons will cover the following topics:

• Identifying your ideal collector and where they hang out online, as well as learning to differentiate yourself from all the other artists. Also, a sample business plan for you to fill out.
• The elements of a successful website. What does your website really need to be successful?
• Email marketing – building a mailing list is the most crucial element of a successful art business. We’ll spend a whole week just on email marketing.
• SEO for artists – learn how you can leverage search engines like Google to get more traffic to your website.
• Social Media – Broken up into several modules, we’ll cover Facebook, Twitter, and several other popular social media pages that can help your business.
• Paid advertising that actually works. We’ll talk about Adwords, Facebook ads, and other really effective ways to sell art.

A members-only forum. Discuss the lessons, ask questions, and get advice from myself and from other dedicated artists.

Groups & Friendships. It wouldn’t be a community without the ability to find other artists like yourself who are dedicated to building a business, and learning how to form partnerships with these artists to promote your work.

Monthly Q&A Calls. Each month members of the Community will have an opportunity to jump on a conference call with me and other successful artists, where we’ll talk about how to build your business.

Tell your friends – the Community opens this week!

Serenity by Lesley Atlansky

Yesterday I posted that my Big Audacious Goal was to have 100 Artists Build Business That Support the Lifestyle They Want. Some of you shared some of your awesome B.A.G.’s.

So, here’s the power of sharing your goals, and here’s the power of communities. Lesley Atlansky (her website is here) shared that one of her goals was to be featured in the Oregon Art Beat, a local news segment produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting. It’s a great example of a goal that is measurable, doable, and …

something the community can help with.

Here’s Where the Rubber Meets the Road

The real power of gathering people around you is not only in motivating yourself to do more & do better, but also that the people you gather can help you accomplish your goals. So here’s a crazy idea.

Let’s get Lesley on Oregon Art Beat!

There’s no instructions for how they evaluate who should get covered, but you can submit a story idea here:

http://www.opb.org/programs/artbeat/contact/storyidea

They say that they get an average of 2 – 3 story ideas per day, which is a fair amount, but that’s nothing if those of you reading this all go after it at once and decide to help Lesley out.

If you like Lesley’s art, visit the story idea submission page and submit why you think Lesley’s art should be covered by Art Beat. If she makes it in, you’ll have done a good deed and helped out a fellow artist.

Lesley’s website: http://www.lesleyatlansky.com

Lesley’s Facebook Fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lesley-Atlansky-Art/110741355625541?ref=search&v=wall

Some ideas for the submission form:

I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with Lesley a couple of times online and she’s just a really nice person. She takes learning her craft seriously, and she has even taken the initiative to start her own gallery cooperative in Estacada, Oregon. She is one artist that is dedicated and passionate about her work.

Oregon Art Beat has a Facebook page - post Lesley’s story there too! Just tell them that you “want to see Lesley Atlansky featured on Oregon Art Beat, because her work is full of beautiful accidents, and isn’t that what Art is all about?”

Can we do this?

When I started The Abundant Artist, it was an exploration of the idea that the starving artist is nothing more than a myth that artists self-perpetuate. It’s easier to believe that being an artist inherently means being poor, or bad at business.

Since then, however, I’ve met a lot of artists who are pretty good at business. They’re artists who have turned their passion into their work and have left the day job far behind. They have invaluable information to share.

One of the things that has been amazing to me is that there are thousands of artists online desperately seeking to connect with the information that these artists have, and yet only a handful of people who are sharing that information in any sort of useful, studied way.

There are various art forums around the Web, many of them with a marketing section attached, like some sort of afterthought – but where are the places that artists can go to really study and get feedback on their business? Where’s the community of business-minded creatives?

Can I Bring Together A Stronger Community?

For the past year (plus a little), I’ve been bringing business savvy artists to the Abundant Artist blog through interviews. They’ve shared their information, but because of the limited nature of blogging, there can’t be a lot of discussion back and forth on the ideas discussed there. Blog comments only go so far as a discussion and learning forum.

Ever since I had a discussion with Carol from one  of my first group coaching programs I’ve wanted to bring an online community together for artists that would enable artists to get the training that they need to succeed online, as well as create a place where those who are really serious about learning how to sell art online can gather to discuss what works and what doesn’t.

I’m nearly done with the bare bones of this new part of The Abundant Artist and I can’t wait to show it to all of you. I just have a few questions:

If you were going to be a part of a community of artists focused on learning to sell art online, what kinds of things would you expect from the site? What would you want to learn right away? What would you want to learn down the road?

Yesterday a new acquaintance of mine mentioned that he visited this website. The conversation went something like this:

Him: I visited your website.

Me: Oh?

Him: Yeah, it was pretty cool!

Me: (thinking to myself) Why are you visiting my site? You’re not an artist… (Out loud) Did you like it?

Him: Yeah…(awkward pause). It was pretty cool!

The End.

Are Your Website Visitors Art Collectors?

Later as I was walking away from that conversation, I realized why it was so awkward. My new friend had visited my website because he knew me and was curious, but he isn’t the person that this site is intended for, so he felt awkward about engaging further.

Is this happening to you?

I see a lot of artists falling into this online trap. They jump on Facebook, Twitter, or other places online and start following other artists. Other artists follow them back. Soon everyone is caught up in ‘engagement,’ which feels good because you feel like you’re doing something, getting responses.

The problem, of course, is that if you are only reaching other artists and you’re not selling any art, then you’re mostly just spinning your wheels.

How to Tell If You Are Getting the Right Kind of Website Visitors.

As a general rule, social media visitors don’t buy much (though you can get them on your newsletter, where they’ll buy later), referrals from other websites are a little better, search engine visitors are better still (someone doing a Google search for Bronze Buffaloes for Sale is probably going to buy them if you have them for sale), and people who visit from your newsletter are most likely to buy.

The following are some key indicators that will tell you about your visitors and whether they’re the right people.

Low Sales. The primary indicator, of course. If the right collector is looking at your art, but you’re never selling anything, then perhaps you need to figure out where they’re all coming from, and go find them somewhere else.

Newsletter subscribers. You do have an artist newsletter, right? If nobody is signing up for your newsletter, but you have website traffic, then you either aren’t getting the right visitors, or you haven’t done a very good job of making your newsletter easy to sign up for.

Bounce Rates & Time On Page. If you’re using tracking software like Google Analytics, then you can see how much time people are spending on your website.

If the average time per page is less than one minute, it might mean that the people visiting your site aren’t the right market (it could also mean that your art isn’t very interesting – but that’s another discussion entirely). The Bounce Rate is the percentage of people who click back on their browser within 30 seconds (they realize right away that they don’t like your stuff).

Ask them. Sounds simplistic, but it’s so easy to do. Put up a survey on your website, asking people what kind of art they buy, whether they buy art regularly, whether they are artists themselves. SurveyMonkey.com allows you easily create an embedded survey form

Monet’s Vader with a Parasol from Limpfish

Who says Art has to be serious? I love silly, whimsical things like this. It made me smile.

I found this piece while goofing around the Internet on Stumbleupon. If you’re a Stumbleupon user, you should add me as a friend. If you notice in the comments on his site, Limpfish’s readers are all saying they’d love to buy a print of this image, so he’s obviously doing something right.

Have a happy Friday and enjoy selling your art!

Also, check out the tools & resources page that I just put up yesterday. There’s tons of useful links for learning how to sell art, both offline and online. If you know of a resource that should be there that isn’t, let me know and I may add it.

image by courtneyBolton

I’ve had some truly gratifying experiences since beginning this blog back in May of last year with a post on Housing Projects for Artists. I’ve met a lot of really brilliant artists. Smart, funny, talented people who are making a real go of using the Internet to make their careers the way that they want them.

As I launch into the second year of the site, I would like to make an invitation to all of you:

Become More Engaged.

By leaving comments you help grow the conversation around the Arts, selling art online, and other important topics. The more you share your insights and experiences, the more other artists can learn. I can share a lot of information, but each of you have rich experiences to share that are valuable.

Also, when you leave comments, it’s good for your SEO. I long ago removed the NoFollow attribute from my comments. If you leave a comment with a link back to your site then you get full credit from the search engines. In other words, for you non-SEO savvy artists, if you leave a comment here, it makes it easier for Google to find you. This is good, yes? (warning: I still kill SPAM comments. no one likes SPAM)

Share blog posts. How many times have you read something on TheAbundantArtist.com and thought, “Hey, so and so would really like this?” Did you share it with that person? I’ve made it easy to share links from TheAbundantArtist with the Facebook Like button, the share on Twitter button, and a host of social media sharing buttons across the bottom of each blog post and page. You could share this post now!

Ask for what you need. Trying to figure out how to put your stuff online? Want to know how to leverage Facebook? Want to find the best website solution for you? Let me know by contacting me.

Write a guest post. Did I miss an important point in a post? Would you do something completely differently? Have a way of selling art or living an abundant lifestyle that you want to share? Write a guest post and I may publish it. Ideas are always welcome. Use the contact me page to get in touch.

Get a Free Website.

I want to celebrate my one-year anniversary. So, I’m giving away a website to one artist (painter, sculptor, performer, or similar artist). This website will be completely yours. You’ll own it, be able to make changes to it. You’ll even be able to upload your art and sell it. I’ll walk you through how to do everything on your site once it’s up and running. No cost at all!

Whoa, cool! How do I get this website?

It’s easy. Just two steps.

Leave a comment on any post on this site. It could be useful insight or witty repartee, I don’t care. Just leave a comment.

Share the site somewhere. It could be on Twitter, Facebook, or somewhere else. If you share it on Facebook or email, you’ll need to let me know in your comment, because I won’t be able to see it. If you share it anywhere else online, I’ll see it.

Hey, I already have a website! Where’s the love for me?

Don’t worry. I’ve got something for you as well. If you already have a website but you’re not happy with it, you can still enter the contest. If you’re happy with your website, then I’m offering two other gifts:

Free website evaluation. Perhaps you’re happy with your site, but you’d like to see how you can improve it. I’ll do a free evaluation of your site. You get a written report telling you how you can improve your site. I do this kind of thing regularly for corporate clients and charge more than $1500 – but I’m giving one away for free.

A 30 minute strategy session. We’ll sit down by phone for 30 minutes and talk about your art business. Get clarity and learn the best strategies for selling online. When I choose to do these strategy sessions, I often charge $100, but I’m giving one away for free.

I’ll pick the winners by Friday, May 21st. Happy commenting!

Where Should I Leave Comments?

You can leave comments on any existing post or on any new post between now and next Friday. Here’s a list of some of the best content from the last year.

15 Ways to Sell Art Online – A solid list of 15 websites that artists have had success selling art online.

Imagekind Power Selling Tips – Artist Tim Aldridge shares his tips for successfully using Imagekind.com to sell his art. You should also check out How to Sell Art on Flickr.

Business Plans for Artists – Download an example business plan for your art business.

Artists Marketing Directly to Fans - These artists are doing an end-run around the gallery and music label system to sell their work directly to fans, and they’re having a ton of success.

Google Wave for Artists Part 1 and Part 2. – In Part one I gave away a bunch of invitations to Google Wave and explained what it was. In Part 2 I showed how some artists were using Google Wave to collaborate, and showed a (really low quality) video of me and another artist drawing using Google Docs.

How to Price Art Prints – a breakdown of how to arrive at a price for your art prints. Very useful resource.

How Artists Should Pitch Interviews – If you want to get interviewed by the press, here’s a guide on how to do it. Includes tips for how to get in front of journalists, news organizations, and bloggers.

Newsletters: So Easy An Artist Could Do It – Artists know that their mailing list is their most valuable asset, but many artists also tell me that they have no idea what to put in their newsletter. Here’s a few ideas.

Ever heard the adage, “you go to art school for the connections”? Well, it’s true. An academicized art program can help you identify peers with whom you share like interests and ambitions and complimentary skill sets, people that can be your allies in this hot mess of an art world. But what if you’re one of the many, many working artists who haven’t had the need, means, or interest in going (back) to school? Frankly, connections are even more important.

This blog is all about becoming more marketable as an artist by cutting out the middleman of dealers, gallerists, curators, and publishers, a process that becomes so much easier when you assemble a team (or loose confederation, whatever you prefer) for mutual benefit and moral support. The great thing about artists is that they almost always have day jobs. Whether accounting or graphic design, public relations or construction, screen-printing or fundraising, you’d be surprised at how a much more ground a little teamwork can cover.

So what can many artists do together, exactly, that’s better than one? With their pooled knowledge and resources, plenty! Rent and share a larger and nicer studio space. Re-purpose a site for an independent exhibition. Reach out to get publicity and get in-kind donations from friends and contacts. Self publish and produce books, music, crafts, and objets d’art. Hold lectures, teach classes and share skills, hold critiques and promote one another. The list goes on and on.

But how does one seek out and form a community, especially if you happen to be the new kid in town? There are tons of resources available to suss out connections and find compatriots! Here’s some advice for finding and forming a productive art collective:

1. Understand your value.

In all professional relationships it is important to maintain balance. Before attempting to get out there and network, take a minute to get a “cocktail party line” down about who you are and what you have to offer, so that you can put a good first foot forward with your potential new community. Don’t feel the need to brag about accomplishments, but sum up three or so things that characterize your skill set, like “I’m a watercolor painter who also codes websites and dabbles in graphic design”. Of course, there’s no substitute for demonstrating value through strength of character! If you’re less experienced, make up for it in enthusiasm, attitude, and worth ethic.

2. Exercise multiple options.

I read somewhere that it often takes two years after a big move to feel completely comfortable in a new place. As someone who’s moved a bit, I think it’s really true! With that in mind, widen your networking net and try and meet as many people as possible. Go outside your comfort zone, both through Internet channels like LinkedIn Groups, Craigslist.org, and Meetup.com, and by attending a wide range of art-related programming in your city or town (or the next town over, if you can)! Social media networking and good old-fashioned meet-and-greeting both have their merits. If it takes a while to locate your niche, keep an open mind. And if after all that time, you still can’t seem to find anyone you could see collaborating with, consider locations that might be a better fit for you.

3. Think outside the box.

Don’t discount your virtual connections! Forming relationships in more than one place can connect disparate art communities while keeping your dance card full of projects and wish lists. Through blogs, Google Groups, Skype, and email, you can have meetings, share drafts, budgets, and schedules, and refine your plot for world domination. For example, the administration of the Museum of Pocket Art lives in Oregon, California, Texas, and Illinois, we are able to use Skype and email to host four traveling exhibitions per year and self-publish detailed catalogs. My point is anything is possible. If nothing else, put together a “dream team” list of artist peers from over the years who you respect the most, and start a private critique blog to keep each other focused and engaged in a dynamic practice. Just like with most art-related things, the more eyes and ears that are (constructively) involved, the better.

When artists work together, amazing things can happen. See the links below to get inspired, and happy collaborating!

http://craftmafia.com/

http://canopycanopycanopy.com/

http://www.oregonpaintingsociety.org/

http://itspland.wordpress.com/

In the spirit of #followfriday and link-sharing, I offer this assorted collection -

ThirdTribeMarketing – just in case you didn’t know about it already (though with Chris Brogan, Darren Rowse, Sonia Simone and others behind it, I don’t know how you couldn’t know about it yet), Third Tribe is a membership site that is most decidedly helpful for creatives, artists, and other people who want to be in business, but don’t want to be perceived like used car salespeople. Tons of good information about being in business, marketing, building websites – it seriously gets better as time goes on.

Kiersi – because her stuff is just absolutely adorable. I love cartoons and children’s books, so Kiersi’s work just makes me smile. Follow her on Twitter and check out her work at Kiersi.com

#2amt – The #2amt Twitter hashtag is an important movement in the theatre community. Important enough that started a website so that theatre professionals could talk about it in more depth. The theatre business model is so tired, so strained, that many artists are finally starting to do something about it – whether it’s self producing, making existing companies more lean and responsive, or doing something wildly different altogether.

Eyjafjallajokull – that volcano that caused a little problem in Europe this week? I found this blog with the most amazing volcano photography I’ve ever seen. Seriously. In. Love. With. These. Pictures. Found using Stumbleupon (add me as a friend if you use SU).

Michelle from The Miracle in July has done some pretty fun stuff to promote her self-published novel. One of the things that I like most is her Social Media Press Release. If you are an artist and you want to promote yourself to bloggers and journalists, a well-crafted press release is important.

Michelle goes by the moniker @MediaChick because she knows media – both online and off. Her press release is unique, fun and it gets attention. Here it is.

Social Media Press Release

Let’s take a look at some of the elements that make Michele’s Social Media Press Release so powerful.

Powerful opening image and title

The big black and white image is high impact. On top of that, people like love stories and to the right people, guerilla publishing is a new and interesting phenomonon.

Twitter Pitch

More artists should be doing this. If someone, a blogger or a journalist, wanted to write about The Miracle in July, what would they write on Twitter? Michelle gives them example sentences (by the way, they work -they’ve been retweeted a lot).

The short burst of information up front gives people easily digestible bits of information that they can use to figure out whether they want to read more. If they do choose to read more, the meatier paragraphs are on the second page of the press release. These paragraphs are more like a traditional press release.

The Word of the Street

Sharing testimonials is important. Influential bloggers and journalists get hundreds of pitches. If they see that other people are already talking about you in a positive way, then they may decide it’s worth a look as well.

Links and Contact Information

Absolutely vital! Different media outlets prefer to get in contact in different ways, and they’ll send their readers to the places that they like most. If you have a website, a Twitter account, and a Facebook fan page, then you should include all of that contact information on your press release.

What do you think of the Social Media Press Release? Have you ever done anything like this?