There are a lot of people who have blogs, especially now. Everyone has their own editorial commentary. Everyone is an expert. So, as you can imagine there are art blogs everywhere! I am sure you have even asked yourself “why would I need one?” There are actually quite a few reasons that you would need to have your own art blog, there are a few reasons that I have one. There are practical reasons and there are some reasons that we do this stuff that is all just for show. I am going to explore those reasons in my post today.
The first reason that I need to have an art blog, and maybe the least glamorous reason is that I need to give people a reason to find me in a Google search. Blogs help me to highlight certain buzzwords and even hashtag them so that they are more easily found when someone asks a question like “How do I get help with my art business?” or they may ask something like “Are there any women who paint or women who draw?” If you have so many of those words that they pick up, the search will be more likely to turn up with your content. People will then come to my site and they will hopefully stay for a bit and look through the pages. The blog is essentially marketing for you…but for free.
Second, having a blog forces you to be consistent and post regularly. People this day and age will forget you exist if you aren’t metaphorically rammed down their throats. These are principles that are true for most businesses because that’s how marketing works. The worst part is that I hear a lot more about the people who say things like “I had a blog once”…but of course they never posted, and they never do. Not following through is fairly common for most people because blogging isn’t really an easy task. It actually requires a lot of research, vision, and some writing skills…not to mention the time management that you have to exercise in order to make sure that you still engage in the other aspects of your business.
If you want to grow your business and have some level of exposure in this technology driven world you have to have something like a blog in order to ever get any of your work seen. Blogging is different than being a feature in someone else’s blog or publication. This is a place where you choose your subject matter, you decide how to feature it, and you make the decisions about which parts of your own art you share. As an artist I like to have control over all of these things, I like to know that I am the one either doing a great job promoting my art or I tanked it….either way, all me.
Third reason is something that a lot of people don’t think of. Lots of artists will post on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram and hope that it gets seen. Some of them do, and some don’t. It really depends on what day and time you are posting and where you are posting it. If you have a large following on social media then a lot of people may see your post, but when you blog there becomes a backlog of things that you have talked about and advised on….all with your artwork and info attached. So, you can have all of your artwork scrolled past or you can have it as a searchable database of awesomeness for many years to come. I think that the way you should obviously go is the more permanent one….but that’s just me.
The blog allows for some other things as well. You get to collect info about the readers (which is handy for marketing initiatives), you can engage in some heavy branding of your work and you as a brand, you can create newsletters to highlight great things you are doing, and you can add helpful info and links to monetized content. I can’t think of too many downsides to this…can you?
Fifth us the fact that you get to really talk about your art, your process, and you. The more info and inside tips you give on your blog the better. People want to see that you know what you are talking about, but they also want to like you as a person. The same principle is shown when people want to follow famous people by reading magazine stories, on Instagram, and many other ways. The readers WANT to humanize you, they want to relate to YOU. Once they like you, they WANT to see you as the expert. After all, they found you while asking a specific question…and if you don’t totally suck you answered their questions in a way that they will remember as kind, helpful, and innovative. They will like your flow and your quirks…and they will stick with you.
I know these reasons seem to be very technical in nature…and they really aren’t very glamorous. They show that regardless of how much we yearn for others to like us and our work, we also have to recognize that we are a business entity. Yes, we are a creative business…but we are still a business. It is also simple psychology; people that like you will pass the sentiment along. They will share your posts with their friends and family, those people can share with others…then it just keeps going. So be consistent, post often, and meaningfully….your readers will return the same.
#arti_st_gallery #artblog #artnews #artrules #artelite #isitart #arts_promote #paintanyway #paintingfromlife #artistbusiness #womenwhodraw #arttips #whydidistartblogging #mystory #creativelife #worldofartists #supporthandmade #supportlivingartists #creativehappylife #inthestudio #creativeminds #mycreativebiz #artbusinessbasics #artistwebsite #artbusinesshelp
Comments