Graphs depict the cost per view of a thousand postcards, a full page ad in a large national art magazine,
and a 1,000,000 impression Facebook campaign.
Cost of postcard is $500 including design and postage, cost per view… $.50
Magazine Ad cost of $5000 based on published rates and includes design services cost per view… $.10
Facebook costs of $130 based on sample CPM rate of $.13/1000 impressions. Cost per view … $.00013

With the growing importance of the Internet for marketing and sales, it's crucial that any representation of your work be as accurate and positive as possible. 5 or 6 years ago, one could rightly say, "It's just for the Internet" and not worry at all about the quality. After all screens varied widely in quality, age and condition. There even were a few monochrome screens around! Today however, the Web is viewed on far better screens, on tablets and phones with amazing clarity, fidelity, and resolution, and on laptops with screens that rival the best desktop monitors. The Internet is potentially, your biggest marketing asset. The small file size is not an excuse to provide a poor quality reproduction, in fact they require and deserve far closer attention . If you do it right, the Internet can and will provide thousands of potential customers their only chance to view your work.

It’s not hard to get great photography for Web use. In fact it’s more a factor of planning and choosing the right photographer. You should be getting every piece of artwork photographed in the first place. Even if you don’t plan on doing prints immediately (or ever!), you’ll need accurate , high quality scans for submissions to galleries, promotional pieces ( postcards, brochures, gallery guides and ads) and for use on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and of course your blog and website. A good photographer will provide you with properly optimized versions of your scans to fill these needs. They should be willing and able to work with you if you have a special need, too. If you wait until your painting is sold, you miss out on much of the potential value of a properly captured image, namely it’s ability to help you sell the work faster by expanding fan base.

So don’t skimp on your photography. Your best chance for a sale might be spoiled by uneven lighting or a bad exposure!

“Why is it so hard to sell artwork?”

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves…”

WINGS

The Gresham Art Committee is presenting “Wings”

Artists Reception
December 11, 2012
5:30 - 7:00p.m.
Gresham Visual Arts Gallery
Public Safety & Schools Bldg
1333 NW Eastman Parkway
Gresham, Oregon

Occasionally we hear about opportunities for Photographers, Painters, and other Fine Artists to display (and sell!) the fruits of their labors. We like to pass those along to you. To that end, we have created a blog page just for these notifications. Be sure to check it out and sign up for the RSS feed! Call to Artists

Printing artwork on canvas is not new - we've been doing it for more than a decade. What has changed is what's being printed! In the past, it was thought to only be appropriate for oil and acrylic paintings, but thanks largely to some innovative photographers, the benefits of canvas are being explored by watercolorists, illustrators, collage artists, photographers, encaustic artists, and crafters. Not only can the work be conveniently framed using a Gallery Wrap stretching, but the sealed surface can have supplemental materials added to personalize and individualize the work. This can be the addition of paint, a texturizing gel, metal leaf, opalescent powder, encaustic wax, tinted varnish, collage items… virtually anything you imagination can think of! We will help by providing advice based on the experience of ourselves and others, and even provide sample canvas to "play" with if available. If you've been looking for a new direction to go or just something different to get the creative juices flowing again, come see us for some ideas on how to incorporate canvas, and all it's possibilities, into your artwork!

If you haven't noticed, Pinterest is storming the online world!

What the heck is Pinterest?

How does it work?

So, what should I be doing?

So go explore Pinterest, see where it takes you and your art!

Wouldn’t it be great…

Yeah, wouldn’t that be terrific?

QR Code

1) Always, always, always provide clickable links!!! And test them before sharing. Why make such a big deal of this? Because 50-75% of your potential followers will pass you over if they have to do more than click. You are asking them to do you a favor, not giving them some special opportunity follow you! Remember, these are some of the most important individuals you can connect with. They are interested in the same thing you are, they may may be able to supply something you need or vice versa. They may be able to answer your questions, or in answering theirs, bring a new client to your doorstep. They are a window to your field of interest, and deserve respect and a little reverence.


2) Twitter has difficulty resolving the /#! character combination as in https://twitter.com/#!/jimdittmer This URL will often take your potential follower to a Page Not Found screen. This is worse than having them skip over you for being too lazy to put a clickable link… Now they may think you’re a phony account. The proper syntax is as follows: https://twitter.com/jimdittmer or http://twitter.com/jimdittmer. (the difference is that one is https and the other is http) both will take them quickly to your page.


3) Unless you have a great number of Likes, Friends, or contacts, Facebook and LinkedIn addresses can be quite long. I suggest using a URL shortener like bitly (http://bitly.com/) to create short links.

4) If you are sending an email or sharing in a blog post or comment, use Anchor Text if you can. Anchor Text is a clickable link to a URL. That can be a website, email address (using the mailto: syntax), or a social media address. For example my email header has them for twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and email


5) Remember, you are in a conversation thread where everyone is looking for more followers. You are asking them to follow you. It is the height of arrogance and rudeness not to follow back those that have graciously chosen to follow you.


6) Never, never, never SPAM this group. You shouldn’t be spamming anyway, but it can really do you damage here. Save it for twitter DMs… nobody reads those anyway.



7) Finally, if you are really serious about using Social Media in your marketing efforts (and you should be!), Don’t restricted access to your account. Why make people jump thru hoops to follow you? Restricting who can see your posts and who can follow you (either thru twitter privacy selections or by using one of the third party twitter screening services) is fine for a personal account that you wish to just use to talk to close friends, but when I see these features on a business oriented account, I always wonder just how professional the account holder is. Face it, if you are doing business on the web, your information will be out there. If you hold back information like an email address, website URL, your physical address, phone number, and your real name, people wonder if you have some reason to hide it. You wouldn’t open a shop and not put the name on the door. Or paint the display windows of your dress shop black. You wouldn’t put a listing in the Yellow pages that didn’t include your phone# and address. It’s OK to be paranoid about usernames and passwords… in fact you should be, but any business oriented information you would put in print or openly give to an interested stranger on the street, should be shared online. Make your customers lives easier not harder.

OK, that’s it. If you follow these simple guidelines, your twitter followers will grow and people will love you in your groups. Good Luck!!

Art scams usually work something like this:

• Google the person’s name. If it’s a scam, it will probably show up in a scam alert site like Kathleen’s.
• Be wary of any order from outside of your country. Foreign orders are exciting and can be very lucrative, but most of the scams rely on our unfamiliarity in dealing across borders.
• If the client wants you to use an unknown shipper, check that shipper out online. A simple Google search should provide authenticating information.
• If the shipper is located in one of the more suspect areas of the world… Nigeria, Russia, Malaysia, for example… be very wary.
• If the client insists that you handle dealing with the unknown shipper. Try telling your potential client that you have an established account with UPS or FedEx, have shipped to their country numerous times without any problems, and that you prefer to work with that shipper. Sit back and watch what happens. If they say, “Fine, we can do it that way.” Or tell them that you normally insist that overseas clients handle the shipping arrangements, but you’ll be happy to do so for a handling fee of $800. If they don’t balk at that, they are definitely a scammer!
• If an order is cancelled after it’s been paid for with a check but before you have a chance to ship it, hold off on sending a refund check until the original check has actually cleared the bank. It might even be a good idea to check with the bank to see if it’s been reported stolen.
• If a credit card client requests a refund, always do so with a credit to the card. Never issue a check as a refund toward a credit card purchase in these situations. Scammers have all kinds of sob stories about how they need the money right away (their cat needs a tumor removed, they’ve been robbed and need money to get home, or…)
• Wire transfers are necessary in some countries (China, for example) and often convenient in others, but the barriers against using them for fraudulent purposes are low. If you are sending money to someone using Western Union on behalf of a client purchasing something from you… there’s a high probability that you are the victim of a scam.
• If you read this and realize that you are the victim of a scam, don’t send them any more money! There is nothing you can do to get your money back. There is no one you can call that will force or negotiate its return. No amount of additional money to anyone will get you the original funds back.

• Talk about it in your blog, twitter tweets, Facebook and LinkedIn posts. Sunlight cures scams.
• If you are approached by a scammer, contact your local law enforcement organization. Many have a scam abatement task force.
• Here’s a tip from Kathleen- If you are sure that you are being scammed, report the credit card as stolen to the bank, but tell the scammer it was declined (they expect that it will be eventually) and ask for another. Keep doing that until they give up on you. This actually hurts them as they have paid money for these numbers and you’ve just crunched a bunch of them!

So what's the takeaway?

1. Not only do you need to start a social media program for your company, you need to make it part of the company's DNA.
2. You need to learn to recognize and react to the little trends of today, because they will be the rules of the game tomorrow, and finally:
3. Your operation needs to reveal the humanity within. It needs to tear down the curtains and install glass walls. Make more connections, make more friends, sell more lemonade!

Words, words, words, words, words.

So what’s the plan?

• Design your website as if each page is a complete website unto itself.
• Use Google’s free Keyword tool to choose Keywords that both describe what your message is and are commonly searched for. You should limit each page to 1 or 2 primary Keywords- preferably Long Tail Keywords.
• Use Long Tail Keywords whenever possible. Long Tail Keywords are very specific search phrases (see my previous post for a description). Find one that speaks to exactly what you are talking about, and use it 2- 3 times on your page. Note: no more than 2-3 times! Google sees an excess of a single keyword as an indication that the page or entire site is simply SPAM and that’s a VERY bad thing!
• Make a list of (!!GEEKY TERMINOLOGY ALERT!!) Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords and work them into your copy. Essentially we are talking about synonyms. LSI keywords are those that are directly related to your main long tail keyword. I know, it sounds complex, but it isn’t really and there are tools available to help. Here’s an example. Let’s say you want to build a page around a group of paintings of Oregon Coastal Seascapes. If you used oregon coast seascape for your keyword, some related LSI keywords and phrases might be image, painting, explosion waves, beach tides, ocean drawings, coast seascape scene, framed ocean prints, etc. In this particular case they simply add color to the descriptions on your page, but if your keyword is something like “Bar” you would want to make sure to use LSI words that would clarify to the search engine whether you meant a place that served drinks, a long metal rod, or the exam you take to become a lawyer. Here’s a short little video that explains it pretty well…
• Finally, get under the hood and add a few things to the HTML code. If you’re using a program like Wordpress, there are several free and paid SEO plugins you can instal on your site that will do the grunt work for you. Just fill out the form, update, and it will add the code. So what needs to be done? Well, remember, were talking to something that can read but not see, so wherever there is a graphic element, we need to tell Google what it is. We do that with Alt Text. Again, a program like WordPress will give you an opportunity to add alternative text (alt text) when adding a photo or other graphic element. If you are working directly in the HTML code, look for a line of code that looks like this: Where url is the address of the picture on your site. You may have to add the alt=”blah blah blah” part. The “blah blah blah” part is where you put your text. Let’s say it’s a picture of a flying seagull. You could just replace the blah blah blah with Seagull, but it’s much better to write “Seagull flying over the bright sand of an Oregon beach.” A great place to learn HTML and other web languages for free is W3schools It features full, interactive, and easy lessons for just about anything you could want to do on your site and it doesn’t cost a dime!

• You should be on at least the three cornerstone services - twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
• Video is becoming an essential element in Internet Marketing - Make friends with YouTube!
• Share your work where ever you can. Exposure is everything.
• Register your work with the US Copyright Office.
• Start and maintain a Blog.
• Spend time everyday visiting other peoples blogs that are in your field, and leave comments! Make sure you provide your website address where they ask for it, and when appropriate, provide a link to something you’ve written on your blog.
• Connect with other bloggers to share ideas, cross promote your sites, even become guest contributors on each others blogs.
• If you can’t or don’t know how to update your website yourself, it’s like not having the keys to the door of your shop. There are lots of programs that are easy to learn and maintain- RapidWeaver and iWeb for the Mac are good examples, and of course, the darling of SEO gurus everywhere, Wordpress. Creating your own site isn’t that hard, take a little time to learn!
• It is relatively easy to get a large following on twitter. It just takes some daily tending. Use that time to make new friends and explore some of the other opportunities we’ve discussed.
• Write articles describing what you do for some of the article syndication services. These can actually make you some money as well as help people find you.
• Content is the new coin of the realm. You don’t have to be a great writer or film maker just share something valuable.

• Create a version of your website that is Flash- free
• Remember smartphones have very small screens, make sure you optimize your message for the format.
• Consider making an App or having one made for you.
• Think about using location sensitive advertising on Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Facebook. All of these services will only display your add to people who are within a certain distance of your shop, gallery, or show. Great little reminder, don’t you think?

• Getting people to you site is much more important than how it looks when they get there.
• Getting involved with and developing your own online communities is crucial to your success. Period.
• You are going to need to adjust your lifestyle, but the good news is that it can be a lot more fun than watching TV.

What:

When:

A

Art Adventure Gallery 
185 S.E. 5th Street
Madras, OR Phone: (541)475-7701

Take a look at Jeanie’s Artist Page (right here in our Artists section) to see more of her dynamic new work that will be at the show.

Cards of the Tarot re-imagined by Portland artists
The Tarot deck dates back to the 15th century and has been used since then as a map of mental and spiritual pathways. The meanings of the cards in the Tarot deck can vary from person to person, but the basic symbolism and elements remain the same.

You are invited to create an artistic representation of a tarot card based on your own interpretation of its meaning and symbolism. We welcome all 2-D and 3-D art – even the quirky, absurd, campy and beyond. This is not your grandma’s traditional tarot art.

If you are interested in participating as an artist, please fill out the information below and email the application form to portlandtarot2010@gmail.co

m. This is a juried show and acceptance emails will be received by August 10.

Participating artists will be invited to select a card randomly from a deck at a get together event on Friday, August 13. Final artwork will be due the third week of October. The opening reception will take place November 5 and will feature live performances, refreshments and tarot readers. Artwork will be on display at Splendorporium throughout the month of November. Gallery commission is 30%.

Please contact portlandtarot2010@gmail.co

m with any questions.

Please note: this is a showcase of art inspired by the tarot deck and will not be printed as an actual deck of cards.

Portland Tarot Art Show is brought to you by Jenn Feeney, Erika Lee Sears, Joanne Licardo and Anna Magruder in partnership with Splendorporium. We look forward to this being a fun and inspiring art event!

(Feel free to forward this call for artists.)


Name: __________________________

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Business Name (optional): __________________________

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Email Address: __________________________

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Phone Number: __________________________

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Website where we can view samples of your work: __________________________

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If you do not have a website with samples of your work, please email up to 3 jpeg samples with this application to portlandtarot2010@gmail.co

m
Application deadline August 6.

“The opening of the first annual Troy Laundry Building group art show. 27 artist from the building will be represented in this show and will be on view for a month. It will be a great opportunity to see a diverse body of work from so many local artist.”

This is a great group of artists - Lots of friends, clients and great art this…

Friday - 08/06/10 - at the

Troy Laundry Building

Bryan Potter Design Studios
221 SE 11th Ave
Portland, OR 97214

The blog is for and about you!

We'll be featuring news about our clients, the art world - both locally and farther afield, local openings, and some news from us! We intend this to become a community resource and we need your help and input to be successful! Please send us your news to share.

• Artists: Opening somewhere new? Having an closing party? Teaching a class? New entry in your personal artist blog? Let us know.
• Galleries: let us know your openings and closings. Tell us about your featured artists.
• Art Fans and Patrons: Found a new gallery? Been to an especially impressive show? We'd love to know about it!
• Everyone: If you find a artist's great blog entry or article, let us know. We'd love to help them get some exposure!

Questions? Send them to us! We’ll answer them all and feature the best in the blog.

What are we going to discuss?

Here are a few of the topics we’ll talk about here:

• Important art world news. Especially that which is focused on the Pacific Northwest
• Client accomplishments and milestones. New work, opening and closing events, awards and kudos
• Practical information about Archiving your artwork, creating reproductions (Giclée, Digital Atelier Prints, Posters, and more)
• Marketing tips.
• Web and Social Media promotion ideas

But primarily, we’d like to talk about what you want to know!

So stay in in touch and informed! Add our RSS feed, sign up for our newsletter, follow us on twitter and Facebook! And most of all, help us get started by telling us what you want us to include!

Talk soon!