Thursday, April 30, 2009

Social Media for Artists: Twitter

Next up in our series on how to use social media to grow your business is Twitter. Now, Twitter seems like it is of little consequence until you start to notice the big buzz around this little micro-blogging service. Part of the appeal of Twitter, as you'll see, is the small amount of effort required to stay connected to your hand-picked audience of followers.

Twitter is a micro-blogging service which allows you to send quick, frequent updates to the question "What are you doing?" You can update by using the Twitter site or your cell phone. When you send an update all of your friends, or followers, see what you're doing at that very moment. In turn, you get an often-updated stream of your friend's answers on your homepage.


The real usefulness of Twitter lies in the ability to quickly scan many of the replies and find that which interests you. Also, your audience of followers will hopefully find your updates equally as interesting.


Your updates on Twitter are called 'Tweets'. Here are some things that are good to Tweet about:


1. New Blog posts on your website

2. Specials and coupons

3. Interesting travel updates

4. Anything!


Yes, anything. But - you should keep in mind that your audience is following you because they are interested in your work and Twitter will be most effective for you if you stick to talking business with a little bit of personal information thrown in (not your Social Security card or anything - perhaps a morsel about your favorite movie!) Twitter works to connect you with an audience of potential customers and helps keep you fresh in their mind.


You can find Twitter users interested in specific crafts or arts by using the Twitter search engine:


http://search.twitter.com and type in a keyword to see Tweets about any topic!


So go ahead and get Tweeting - and add ABI while you're at it, okay?


You can follow us here: http://twitter.com/artzbusiness


Coming soon - Facebook and Linked-In!




Monday, April 27, 2009

Social Media for Artists




Social Media is a term that is all the rage these days. Social media includes services such as Twitter, Facebook, and blogging.  For artists,  it may not be immediately apparent how social media can assist a business. However, by leveraging the power of social media artists can reach new audiences and new customers online.  



This series of posts will explore which tools are the most relevant for artists and how to use them. 


First up - we'll talk blogging


Blogs are places where artists can showcase their latest work and day to day activities by posting updates. Popular free blogging platforms include: 


Wordpress

Blogger


1.) Sign up for a blog with a name that reflects your artistic brand. For example, our blog name is artsbusinessinstitute.blogger.com - which is easy to remember and reflects who we are. 


2.) Make the blog look like your brand. 


Your blog should look and feel like your brand. For example, if you use trees and the color green on your product cards - then your blog should also contain trees in the header image and the color green should be prominent. 


3.) Writing your blog posts 


You want to gain an audience for your blog and connect with people who want to buy your products. Blog posts can be about many different things depending on your personal style. Blogs can be personal, funny, informative and show the human side of your business. Also, blogs are great places to hold contests or give coupons so your readers feel an incentive to read about your daily adventures. Blogs can also assist in telling your story and building a stronger brand which leads to better recognition and ultimately more sales. 


Here are some examples of effective artist and artist-related blogs which you can use as a guide to setting up your own blog:


Imogene

Jane Wynn 

Modish 


Next up - Twitter!