Earlier this week I attended an “Art Marketing for Artists” seminar that was held in Sperryville at River District Arts Center, a wonderful co-op center there. It was sponsored by the Lord Fairfax Small Business Development Center. Marc Willson was the presenter and he provided a great deal of information that is helpful for a new artist starting out in selling their work. Much emphasis was placed on using social media – a website, a blog, Facebook, etc.
I try to attend seminars like this from time to time to learn new ways to market my work. As a full-time artist most people think that I spend all day painting or creating and how much fun it must be! Reality is that I probably only spend about 20% of my time painting while the rest is spent in marketing my art and/or skills. I spend time blogging, teaching, selling, packaging, mailing, working at Delilah’s, taking photos, editing photos, framing art, etc. There is so much more to the business of being an artist than just painting. And learning better ways to promote your art is just one more to add to the list. The Small Business Development Center at Lord Fairfax Community College is a great resource for small businesses. They have staff that have expertise in a variety of subjects that will help your business. And the best part is they are free!
The Studio 