How to advertise your art business with little or no money

If you're interested in making a pages (we call them 'lenses'), on Squidoo, you can start here! You can make lenses about just about anything - it doesn't have to be art...and you can make money for yourself or for charity. Better yet, it's 100% FREE to do this!

Using an email signature line is a free way to promote your business. An email signature is a way to have your contact information and links...more

If you choose to pay for print advertising, make sure you get a proof of what the ad will look like. If your art doesn't look amazing in the ad, then don't run the ad. Some publications, especially those on newsprint, will give you very...more

Have you ever bartered your art? Possibly you have traded your art with another artist, or traded on a one-on-one basis. Besides bartering with... more

Advertising can be a major expense. Whenever I have paid for advertising, it has been (to me) a considerable amount of money. Most paid print ads...more

Donating a beautiful oil portrait of philanthropists Richard and Judy Eckburg in 2008 has been a successful venture for Savannah area portrait artist...more

ArtCalendar Magazine recommends in the February 2008 issue that artists upload their artwork to Snapfish.com and create bound books of their art to have for shows and to carry everywhere we go. The books range in price from $4.99 to $49.95 and have an extremely professional appearance.

Be sure to check out my other page which has advice on the use of promotional materials for your pencil portrait art business.

Also see this page I created about how to promote your art online.

Although it may seem obvious, this is one that many artists overlook...or perhaps we don't overlook it consciously so much as we feel shy to talk to people about our artwork - but that is something we have to overcome in order to be successful. It is sometimes difficult to do. I can talk to people well one-on-one or in groups of two or three, but I have very real problems speaking in front of a group! I often feel afraid people will think I'm bragging. So maybe you can ask a good friend to talk up your art too!

Make a list of everyone you know. Not just family, but everyone you can remember! Contact those people and let them know what you are doing. Chances are, they will know someone who might be interested in a portrait.

Offering a fundraising opportunity is another way to drive some business to you without spending money (other than some printing expense.)

Here's how it's done. Create postcards that show an example of your portrait art (hopefully you have already done this). Tell the organization that needs to raise money that they will get "x" amount of money for each portrait sold - the client just needs to tell you that they are purchasing to help their organization when they order a portrait. You will send a check each month or quarterly - decide which works best for you and the organization. I feel that a monthly payment works best, because then the fund raising organization sees results more often and it motivates them to do more to promote their fund raiser (and YOU!)

I am currently offering $25 for each portrait sold through the efforts of a local church sponsored preschool. The preschool director is thrilled, and is putting my postcards in each child's weekly folder. I made sure the preschool director saw an actual original artwork I've done, so she can see (and tell the parents) about the quality of the portraits.

Who needs fund raisers? Churches, preschools, clubs, etc. Think about your art and how it relates to clubs. What clubs would be the most interested in what you offer? If you do a lot of pet portraits then you'd want to think about dog rescue groups for example.

What makes this even better is that the amount of money you send to the group or charity is often an eligible charitable contribution write-off on your taxes.

BONUS:
If you take the portion from each portrait that is to be sent to the charity as each portrait is done, and invest in an online bank like INGdirect.com, you will ensure that you will have the money when it comes time to send to the fund raiser, and you can earn interest on the money until it's time to send it to the organization.

One idea that a lot of artists have that won't cost them any money is having a raffle or giveaway of a free pencil portrait.

I want to advise you against doing this. People who might otherwise go ahead and order will wait to see if they win - and their sense of urgency to order is lost.

I feel it's better to offer an artwork of something you have already completed, that is general and will be attractive to many people.

Contests can also attract the freebie seeker element of the Internet - these people are not going to be part of your target market. Most people with income to hire a portrait artist will not search online for freebies. (No disrespect meant to freebie searchers, I love a free sample or freebie myself!) It's a good marketing idea for many business, but just not the right marketing strategy for a fine artist.

TIP:
There are usually local and state laws regarding any games of chance. Make sure you are aware of your local laws before proceeding with any kind of raffle, contest, or giveaway.

If you decide to do a raffle or any kind of contest, check with your state to make sure you are following the laws and regulations for your area!

Here is a neat way of marketing your art. Fort Worth TX artist Randy Bacon creates house portraits that are given to homeowners who participate in a home show/tour in Dallas. His portraits are an additional motivator for people to open their homes to the tour and serves as a special commemoration of their participation in the show. You can read more about this from the Dallas Morning News.

Doing a direct mail campaign costs money, so you should do the research to make sure it's a good option for you. Take some time to determine if it...more

Writing a press release to announce your new portrait business is a great free way to get some press coverage, ie: free advertising!

If your business isn't new, you can write about something new you are offering. Local news departments are always looking for interesting people in their community and positive stories, so they are very glad to hear from you!

I have been featured in the newspaper a few times this way. It's really not as hard as you would think to write it up. Websites like PRWeb can give you some guidance in writing press releases.

Here are some free places I've found to post a business ad:

• Backpage
• Biz Journals Directory
• Craigslist
• DomesticSale
  
• Google Base
• Kijiji
• Kudzu
• Merchant Circle
  
• MojoPages
  
• Squidoo (make an informational page that links to your site)
• The Gathering Guide (events)
• Yellow Pages Online

In the past, I had to remove the Guestbook feature from this page due to spam.

Spam is a turn off. Spam does not get you business. Spam makes you look desperate.

Always stop and think and ask yourself if what you are doing is spamming. Do not send your advertising to someone just because they have emailed you at some time.

Just because someone has emailed you doesn't mean they have given you permission to put them on your mailing list.

Always ask!

I know you need the business and may even need it desperately, but there are better ways to get the word out about your art.

You can set up a newsletter system that allows people to opt in and out at their convenience. You can also add a subscription feature to your art blog.

Copyright 2007-2011 Darla Dixon
All rights reserved. No part of this page's text may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photographic, or otherwise, without express written permission from the publisher, except for inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Disclaimer:
Every effort has been made to make this page as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warrant of fitness is implied. The information is provided on an 'as-is' basis. The author and publisher will have neither liability or responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage arising from information contained on this page.

This Squidoo lens was written by Darla Dixon, a professional pencil portrait artist in Snellville Ga.