Artist Entrepreneur: P for Print Promotional Tools— The Artist’s Alphabet Guide to Writing About Your Art by Aletta de Wal

Welcome to Artist Entrepreneur Fridays, where we talk about the fun, wild and scary ride of succeeding as an artist entrepreneur of all stripes and types and mediums.

Welcome back guest columnist, Aletta de Wal. She specializes in helping visual artists succeed in their fine art careers. She posts regularly on “The Artist’s Alphabet Guide to Writing About Your Art” and other success tips for fine artists on the topic of writing. This week it’s P for Print Promotional Tools, tips on crafting your message in preparation for marketing your work — essential keys to business and artistic success. Enjoy!

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Even though you send out your promotion pieces one at a time, in various places and contexts, you need a way to pull these visual fragments together into a memorable whole.  (I’ll write about writing to prepare for in-person promotion and Internet communication in future posts.)

Step one is to design an identity for your marketing materials.

Start with your business name in a logo and a word mark accompanied by an image of your art. Here’s mine as an example:

Every piece you produce should make it easy for people to find you and contact you. Always include:

• Your Name
• Your Company Name
• Your Logo
• Images of Your Work
• Web Site Address
• E-Mail Address
• Telephone Number(s)
• Surface Mail Address

Don’t confuse your identity with your brand.

Think of your ”brand” in marketing as the equivalent of the response to your body of signature work by loyal fans and collectors. Your brand exists in the minds of your audience, and comes from the way they feel when they experience you and your work in person or via promotional communications.

Step two is to decide the purpose of your promotion.

You usually want to do one of three things:

• Introduce yourself to people who are not familiar with your art. Write about who you are, why you do what you do and who likes your work. Include iconic images that represent your signature art.
• Give information about your art or events to people who have expressed interest. Write about what viewers and collectors saw or said and where the interaction took place. Include images of work they liked.
• Stay in touch with people who know you and like your work. Write about new work, awards and interviews in the press and magazines. Include images of you at the events and links to media coverage and videos. 

Step three is to choose the print promotion piece.

You can use most of these tools for more than one reason. Some of them just naturally suit one purpose better than another.

InfoGraphic: Use the Right Promotional Tool for the Right Purpose © Aletta de Wal, Artist Career Training. All Rights Reserved.

(If you need more information on designing and writing each of these promotional pieces, please send me an e-mail to Aletta@ArtistCareerTraining.com.)

Of course, creating and sending any of these printed promotions out is just the beginning.  You’ll need to follow-up more than once to keep your audience interested enough to make a sale.

Next time, Q for Questions.

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Aletta de Wal, Artist Career Training

Aletta de Wal inspires fine artists to make a better living making art in any economy.

Aletta works with part-time, emerging and full-time visual artists who are serious about a career in fine arts. Aletta makes make art marketing easier and the business of art simpler.

More information at: http://www.artistcareertraining.com/artmatters-newsletter/