Can You See Me Now?

Is your artwork mostly seen by other artists?  This is a dilemma - you want your work seen, but preferably by an audience beyond your fellow artists.

Often times we join cooperatives and arts councils for the opportunity to exhibit our work.  For the most part though, the audience at those facilities are other artists.  I'm not saying you won't have sales, because artists buy art too. But unless you are represented by a gallery, paying a commission for them to do your sales for you, you most likely need to find buyers yourself.  Bottom line - to expand your buying audience you need to think outside the box. 

I kept thinking since I paint mostly still life with fruits and vegetables I needed to find a cooking blog or organic food website which would be willing to place an ad for me. You know like the ever-so popular Cooking Magazine.  Not that I have given up on that -  what I found in the meantime, through the Blog and Sponsor Connection Team, was a couple of really wonderful "lifestyle" blogs that were looking for advertisers.  They also refer to it as "sponsoring their blog." 

In June, I worked with April Starr, The Flourishing Abode, to place an ad on her blog.  I was pleased with the results.  For June the fee of $35 was half-price, and April designed four "clickable" buttons to my Etsy shop for $5.  When I checked my Etsy Stats for the month of June, The Flourishing Abode was number three on my sources of traffic right after Etsy and Direct Traffic.  It far out-numbered hits from my blogs, or the daily painting sites I belong to.  I don't think I can directly attribute any sales to the ad as yet, but fresh eyes looking at my work is a good thing in the long run.  I'm rerunning my ad for July at full price of $35.  My ad is on the right side bar.

I decided to try a second "lifestyle" blog, My So-Called Chaos for July.  Here are the particulars for advertising.  I'll report in the end of the month on how this one fares.  However, for right now my browser is having trouble with showing my ad.  I've had her check it, and it seems to be working just fine.  If you don't see my add in the upper right corner (big yellow pepper painting) hit refresh.

These kinds of exposure sites are all new to me and I'm not suggesting that this is a route you need to take. Just sharin'.  At some point I may try this approach (sponsorship) for this blog.


Today's Nitty-Gritty Nugget:

     Think outside the box for exposure sites - sites that provide backlinks to your gallery.

Ad for My So-Called Chaos

Ad for The Flourishing Abode