The internet continues to provide new ways to better communicate with your customers and prospects. The recent interest in web logs, or "blogs" for short, is one of those new ways that has grown rapidly in popularity. Essentially a 'blog' is an online and interactive diary, which can post images, links and feedback from readers. MyArtClub.Com is delighted to announce the Artist Blog feature is now available for our artist website users. Your blog page allows you to express your comments and include your images in context with your diary comments or to post other 'object files' (see the MyArtClub.Com webmaster blog for details on objects). Your blog page shows your comments for the current month and archives your past entries by month. The blog page allows readers to send their comments or responses to the artist blogger. The artist receives all the comments privately and can decide whether or not to post the comments on their site. The artist's blog is linked from the artist site and MyArtClub.Com features links to artist's blog pages with current entries from the right hand column on the MyArtClub.Com main home page. Several artists' entries have sprung up quickly, so please have a look and post your comments back to the artist or dive in and create your own "blog" page. Recently artist Robert Genn (who has been offering a weblog for years) gathered feedback from many mostly positive artists about their experiences and comments on blogging. Here is a paraphrased sampling, much more detailed comments can be read at www.painterskeys.com/clickbacks/blog.asp: Artist blogs help artists to: "share human experiences; evoke responses; be creative; get it all out; connect with a brotherhood of artists and art lovers; make a difference; let art buyers, collectors and appreciators know how and why artists feel about their work; join a forum to meet, discuss, argue, critique work and support each other; get feedback and better understand clients and others; answer the many questions collectors have and make that artist-to-collector connection; be more available to followers and gain support while isolated". To start your own blog, log in to your member pages, use the right-hand box titled "Artist Options" and click on the word "Blog". On the next screen, titled Update Artist Page Options, set the second option to "1" and press the update button at the bottom of the page. Now on your main menu page a new option appears titled "Maintain your Artist Blog Pages." We look forward to seeing you online!First published in the My Art News Letter #16 (June 2006). read more ...

Artists do art marketing on Facebook and Twitter because customers are there. Facebook statistics shows today 800 million active users of which over 50% active on any given day. As of June 2011, users on Twitter are now averaging 200 million tweets per day. Click here to see wonderful detail on 2010 Facebook and Twitter user statistics and demographics. Your customers can easily interact with your posts on Facebook and twitter so you are more likely to get a reaction, to engage with them. Clients often post encouraging comments, and better still these comments can be seen by others. Even more powerful is sharing on Facebook and re-tweeting on Twitter. What happens is the person on your list is so engaged by your post that they share or re-tweet your post to let their own list of people see your post, usually with their own introductory remarks. Do a little calculation: since the average person has 130 contacts on Facebook, your message can go quite far with just a few of your friends sharing your posting. If say 5% were to share your posting, you could be seen by almost 1,000 people! As with any form of advertising, you do need repetition - not by sending the same thing over and over - but by sending out new content again and again. You must not raise this to the level of annoyance. For best results, try to not always focus on yourself, or sound to sound too overtly commercial. Think of posts to Facebook like having a conversation at a party. You would be left alone if all you talked about was yourself and your business. Share what you enjoy and what you think others would enjoy I have found some great tips are available for how to increase your engagement factor for your posts. The more you are shared, the more you can be seen. Here are a couple excellent examples: First, consider these great Twitter tips and Blog, Facebook and Twitter sharing ideas to improve your chances of more exposure when you write. This list is invaluable, providing insights into what works and what does not for your posts to be shared by others Second, think about our content. Artists have an advantage when it comes to creating content, as you have lots of original images, which is always a plus in any posting. And your readers want to know all about your creative genius! The MyArtClub.Com art marketing customer survey Canadian Fine Art Market Report found that 48% of fine art customers buy from artists they know, and that 58% want to buy directly to get to know the about you as an artist, and your art. Content is marketing, and marketing is all about stories. If you are stuck what to write about, this link to 6 Ways to Tell a Story With Your Content to help get you going. To save time for artists and keep all this promotional effort from being repetitive work, MyArtClub.Com has just launched a novel approach on MyArtClub.Com artists websites. Artists can now post art work to their website, and at the same time with very little added work promote the art by email, Facebook, and or Twitter as they choose. Click here for more Facebook or Twitter details. Would you please share this post with others? read more ...

One aspect of writing an art related blog, or any blog, is to find something original to contribute. Finding your voice as they say. Originality can be a daunting thought because the internet is so vast, we can expect someone has already written your very thought. But how to know you are not basically saying what everyone else is saying? Well firstly if you have written a blog without researching, in other words straight off the top, it may be an original perspective for sure. No plagiarism can possibly apply here, as you have put the words together yourself. Not a bad way to start, but what about the meat, the content you have provided, what if you are just babbling away with the same views many have expressed, even if it is in your own words? Searching a specific subject can be a good way. There is the obvious way, searching in Google, for your planned blog topics key words. That will turn up a lot of info. But it will be internet wide, not necessarily related to your field. This is where a Web Reader can come in handy. First - About Setting up Readers Readers abound on the web, here is a list and comparison of the top 10 I use the Google Reader, and have found it very useful. Once you select a reader, and set it up, you need to subscribe to some RSS feeds (Really Simple Syndication) available from almost all sites. When you subscribe to a site RSS, the site will update your reader. This is a great way to consolidate the places on the internet you find interesting. One trip to your reader, and you have an update from all the sites you have subscribed to. Readers help you keep track of all the sites and blogs you have come across that relate to your interests. Yes, I hear you say, but who has time to read all this? Make Readers work for you Here is where it gets interesting. When I am writing a blog, say like this one, I identify the key words, in this case: using search engines, using readers and originality of blogs. You can see just by looking at these keywords, that in Google, the returned leads will be quite widely varied, to the extent that much would be irrelevant. But do the same search list within the various art marketing, social media sites I subscribe to, and it narrows down the search dramatically. The results are very relevant, and show me some of the current thoughts on the topic. Narrow your search using the readers filters When you set up your reader, you can group the RSS feeds by subject area. I mentioned art marketing, and social media for example. So if it helps narrow my search, I can select just one group of RSS feeds to find if the subjects I am writing about, are there or not. In my case, todays subject was not covered, so I can conclude with at least the confidence that many widely followed sites are not already talking about this. Yea! Sites to follow via your Reader Would you like to know some of the art marketing related sites I subscribe to? Email me and I will send you a list! [email protected] read more ...