Copyright: nagib
Getting a good online presence and reputation isn’t easy. Even if your admirers can find your work online, the chances are they won’t buy anything unless they feel some sort of connection to you – the artist. So here are our top 4 tips how to keep sharing and connecting with your potential customers.
1) Create a virtual ‘home’.
People want to buy a bit of you. They are looking for a connection, a story. They buy from people they trust, and from people they like.
So the first task is to create an online home – a blog and/or website – where your potential friends and fans can stop by and get to know you better. You need to interact with these visitors, and share something of value with them.
Continually adding and updating your content is key to retaining interest, as is building a community and encouraging interaction through forums, polls and invitations to comment. This blog has a lot of interesting tips and shares 49 blogs from excellent role models for tons of ideas.
Finally, this infographic from www.clinkandchat.com brilliantly sums up why we should all get blogging:
2) Share your story
Share your story and try to set yourself apart from other artists. Share the good, but also a bit of the bad. People want to know you’re a real person – warts and all! Keep it real, and be yourself.
It’s also really important to share other people’s stuff. What goes around, comes around, and sharing others’ great work and ideas shows you are not only current and up to date, but also confident and comfortable in your own skin.
3) Network to get work
Sharing is caring – and never more so than in the online world. So get actively involved in the online artist community to connect with other artists. There are dozens of great online forums out there, so start signing up and get involved.
Top 6 Social Media Sites you should be using:
Just as important of course, are specific artist communities such as Behance, DeviantArt and Dribble. Lateral Action provides more detail about each of these (and more) with some excellent insight how they can help sell art.
4) Support others
It’s not just you who needs comments and links to your blog or online art gallery / website. Everyone is in the same boat and you need to give in order to receive. Set yourself a target how many comments, likes, shares, and links you can give in a day and it won’t be long before you start reaping the benefits yourself.
I hope you’ve been inspired to get yourself online.
How have you managed to build an online presence? Let us know your tips to building a good online reputation.