Both age and maturity have led me to know the  question was really not about  motivation or how. The question was really “WHY?” and it was really not about me. The question was aimed at finding a point of connection a genuine reason for wanting to take home one of my photographs. Answers based on motivation or how ignore the personal reasons that can make a real connection.

“WHY?” Why are you doing what you’re doing?

An easy answer to that question could be:

 

• “I just like to create”
• “I want to stay home with my kids”
• “I want to fund my hobby”
• “It is time for me”

There is nothing wrong with the answers above, and more often than not those answers end up driving us in a direction we really were not expecting or prepared for.

Often that direction leads to “starting a business” to pay for your passion without really answering that all important “WHY?”. The real problem with answering the “WHY?” question with the passionate  answers exemplified above is they are YOUR answers.

Your answer to “WHY?” only includes the reasons you have for making what you make; your answer does not include the more important part of “why should I as a potential buyer buy your work over the person in the booth next to you?”

The truth of the matter is I’m not going to buy what you make unless your “why you do what you do” connects to my “why I buy what I buy” otherwise you’re just another person trying to sell me something.

The answers above only address your motivation for doing what you do; they do not recognize my motivation for wanting what you are offering. Moreover, because I’m buying something you make, something that comes from inside of you, I am looking for more than a trinket whipped up to pay for your hobby.

I want something that shows me your soul, your spirit the real driving force behind your life; I want to see your vision who you are, what is important to you.

Only then will I be able to make my own “Why?” decision.

 

As I mentioned previously, the new breed of artist emerging onto the scene, has already begun the adaptation phase I just mentioned, by coming equipped with a basic knowledge of technology and its’ promise as a tool for their growth and sustainability. However, despite their head start, the new breed, is also a captive of the transition period of change because the pace of change quickly adds more need for learning as time progresses. Consequently, there is not a strong sense of direction as to how to actually use the continually evolving new tools nor a clear idea of where to begin. That is why I call this the Age of Confusion.

Confusion

We know that the shift from traditional advertising and marketing to a more personable pace of engagement and relationship is upon us. The key problems with engagement are, first, by definition it is two way and second, it assumes certain level of selectivity. Two way engagement means we need to be open to feedback and we are willing to learn from it. The new breed of artist gets that engagement and selectivity are important to her ability to sustain herself with her work. However,  our current concept of  two way engagement is based on comfort, an acceptance of where we are instead of where we want to be. We tend to engage people living in the same comfort level as us, because we haven’t first taken the challenge of understanding who we are and what we want. Instead we end up repeating the steps over and over while expecting different outcomes with each iteration, and after while we find feel as if we are spinning in circles.

To stop the spinning  we need to accept that our sole purpose as artists and business people is to first understand that our values and our vision are what matter ( something we carry over from that hippie-dippy business model). The way we sustain our business and brand is by making our values and vision stand out…making them visible to the right people.

Visibility was not something the hippie-dippy artists understood, nor more importantly, did they have the tools to help them understand. Their model of showing up was primarily based on rejection of the dominant alternative…spending massive amounts of money in the hope someone will chose what you have to offer.

Now that we have the tools to help us become visible, we can begin to calm the confusion by learning what the tools are and how best to use them. Most importantly, how we can combine them with the values of community, engagement and connection or as I like to call them the Honestly Nice Quotient.

Decisions, decisions…

Before deciding to be visible, however, we really need to step back and take a long look at what we want visibility to do for us and just how visible we want to be. Jumping in Willy-nilly and signing up for anything and everything that looks like it might shine a light on us can really take us on down a rabbit hole, distracting us from acting on our goals.

Of course all of this visibility stuff assumes we already have a decent idea of who we want to be visible to and where those folks hang out. Just being visible is not good enough, we need to be highly visible for those people our stuff is designed for, which assumes we already know who those people are. If we don’t know our buyers inside and out we really are flying blind in any attempts to be visible. So, let’s take a quick look at two important questions that need asking very early on.

Why be visible?

Well…duh?? But it isn’t as simple as the question seems. Sure we want to be seen so we can sell our stuff, but that alone is not going to get us very far. First take a look at yourself…your personality, behaviors and preferences. So, if you are really, really shy then the thought of stepping out into the limelight could very well make your hair stand on end. Knowing your personality and your preferences for engagement will help you figure out your first steps and whatever you need to be comfortable in the process. Then using your comfort level as a base line you begin, at your own pace, to test new ways of engagement that bring out the best of who you are, which will in turn lead to more of the folks your work is meant for finding you.

What’s the return?

OK..we’ve decided to stand out, and once again we need to ask and answer a question, what do we expect from becoming more visible? Particularly, what is the return we want? Obviously, we want people  who might like our stuff to find us and buy some of it, but beyond that is it a one time purchase, repeat sales, a network of word of mouth that we ultimately want?

So we need to get handle on what a satisfactory return would look like for us, not someone else and not a generic one either. Admittedly, our highest priority is to be visible to our ideal buyer,  those we’ve identified as the most accessible. However, we also need to  consider our work preferences, because the more visible we become the higher the likelihood that more people will find us causing us to work ever harder. If we don’t understand and accept our work life preferences we could easily end up hating what we do because we’ve lost our work/life balance.

What a good general return might look like:

• You’ll learn about who likes what because your interaction with them  will help you learn. Your use of that information for the benefit of your buyer is what will eventually turn into word of mouth.
• You’ll increase your connections and those connections will be visible through the growing network you create. You become an interesting person worth knowing and buying from.
• Your trust quotient will grow in direct proportion with your visibility, reinforced by the quality of your network. The result is what we call social proof or validation of your experience and authenticity.

The return illustrated above is only one form of return, one that is based on a desire to learn about buyers and in so doing begin building community which in this case, implies strong connections and a visible network. The final return is driven by the need for visible authenticity, that others see who you are and agree to let others know how much they like you.

This series is about visibility, why it is important, what our self imposed barriers are and how to become as visible as your business model permits. You can stay up to date by clicking on the links below:

• The Summer of Love and the rise and fall of the hippie-dippy business model

 

Our story is the keystone that holds everything  in our artistic foundation together. Regardless of our skill levels or experience each of our stories is the one important factor we can rely on to attract our right buyers and separate us from our competition.

Evidence of what happens when we ignore our story is often seen among emerging artists who naively focus on price. As a result they often find themselves  lumped together by price point, which eventually leads to much higher than anticipated competition and little ability to stand out and be seen as the source of value and origination of their work.

In the absence of story, creative growth often stagnates as creative energy turns to production where the end result is seen separate from us…the result of our work becomes a thing, an object separate from us. On the other hand, our story can be the one factor that will help us stand out and grow. There are several ways we can use story to our advantage:

• Story can be the organizing element of your work — Here we use story to illustrate both the growth of our vision and our technical skills in embodying that vision. Organizing our work around our developmental story illustrates our journey towards mastery and provides validation of our passion for that journey.

• Story can illustrate our artistic journey- Our journey as  artists is a story of growth and experimentation aimed at clarifying and refining our vision by way of our chosen medium. Illustrating that journey is a way of uniting us with what we produce and most importantly exposing our commitment to a never ending journey of growth. Our story of growth can provide an inspirational motive and added value for buyers to own our work.

• Story can be used as a way to build engagement–Our story is a strong motive for potential buyers  to investigate our work further, the extent to which our  story authentically reflects who we are by showing up in our work  the more meaningful  for the right people. The more authentic and engaging our story is the more likely the right potential buyers will identify with it.

• Story unites us with our work by inserting our humanness into the equation, thereby letting us  move beyond commodity and price and attract those buyers who resonate with our vision and passion. The more we tell a story of growth and evolution the more likely our buyers will become  collectors eager to be part of it.

The many ways your story shows up

Story shows up in our work regardless of our intentions, however it shows up it says a lot about our art, our passion, our commitment, our growth and our artistic maturity. However, it shows up it can have a positive or negative effect on potential buyers and their decisions to learn more about us. Here are just a few ways it appears:

Story shows our artistic development and maturity

Regardless of our stage of technical development our story shows our  maturity as artists through the ways we treat, display and price our work. If we fail to display our work  in ways that exemplify its importance to us and our vision we cannot expect potential buyers to value it as well. Moreover, because our work comes from us, our creative soul, how we treat our work can also communicate how we value ourselves as artists and in turn effect how we are perceived by potential buyers.

Our stories can show a willingness to grow artistically and build that growth into a theme that creates anticipation of new and exciting work or it can show stagnation. Because of the effect our development and maturity has on our work and subsequent sales it is very important to mindfully ensure they represent our true attitude towards our work and artistic growth.

Story shows our depth as artists–

Our story shows our ability to move through each stage of technical mastery and how successfully we can use that mastery to convey our vision. The journey to master is an important one but it is only part of our story because mastery does not rest only on technique it also rests on our ability to continually sharpen our voice and vision.

The story of our depth can be complex or simple, it can reflect creative exploration or it can reflect a creative plateau, whatever reflects will be seen and interpreted by potential buyers, consequently it is important for us to be aware of the story we tell about our artistic depth and what we want it to say.

Story preserves the mystery

Whether we want to admit it or not most people see us as magicians able to conjure up forms from an unknown world. Our wiliness to journey into that unknown world and risk failure is the fundamental theme that brings potential buyers to us and makes them want to join us on our journey and live their dreams through us.  While venturing into a creative journey is not out of reach for must people, their vicarious accompaniment of us is what will keep them coming back to us.

Our willingness to not only move into unknown territory but also use the experience to reach a new level of expression is a key factor in sustaining interest in our  artistic journey. Sharing that journey through our story,complete with it’s ups and downs makes us more human and in the end more attractive to buyers seeking our style of work. It can also inspire others, giving them the impetus to realiz

 

The ubiquitous nature of the Internet has produced an ever increasing sense of urgency by artists to understand and adapt to the constantly changing opportunities offered on line. In less than two years, social media has evolved from adolescent hang out to an important business tool able to connect buyers and sellers directly and in doing so offering artists opportunities that are perfect for their scale of business.

Social media and the Internet offer more tools to give artists more control over their future than ever before. Artists can now create the virtual equivalent of a brick and mortar storefront able to reach potential buyers regardless of geography, most importantly they can do so in a highly selective manner that gives them the power to significantly reduce random sales. Connections made on-line are stronger and farther reaching than any word of mouth efforts just a few years back.

Interestingly enough, the availability of more effective on-line tools has drastically changed the use and usefulness of off-line visibility tools for the better. Artists can also continue to build off-line networks and in the process increase their value as business tools. Similar to on line strategies, the primary purpose of off-line efforts is to guide the right potential buyers to your hub. Now more than ever before design and story consistency is important in reinforcing your position in the minds of your buyers.

Both on-line and off-line tools work very naturally together and depending on your business strategy can be interchanged. Let’s take a look at how story and design consistency work to unite and support your on-line and off-line efforts.

Joined by the meme

If you choose to develop a presence both on and off line, the foundation upon which that joint presence exists is the strength of your story. Your story is the connecting point, and as such it must reflect your voice and your vision in a way that can be immediately understood through your choice and use of design elements. The colors and typography of your web site must mirror that of your business cards and other off line material, a simple logo doesn’t work on its own if it isn’t supported by other unifying design elements. In its simplest form your artistic story cannot be understood if your web presence does not immediately shout it out when a visitor stops by. Likewise, it cannot be understood if your business cards don’t convey your artistic story, both need to reinforce the other  for your story to be clearly understood.

A potential buyer navigating to your web site via the address on your business card needs to feel your identity through the way your business card and web site communicate your story. Imagine your potential buyer, wandering down a street or mall corridor with only a business card and address to go by. If she can’t recognize your store by its design elements and their connection to your business card, there’s a pretty good chance she’ll not find you or if she does she may be confused and miss the strength of your story altogether.

The basics

We’ve established the role of design consistency as the thread that holds your overall story together, the question now remains as to how to pull it off, what do we need to make it happen? While there are some basic elements, their usefulness relies heavily on the clarity of your voice, your story and their role in unifying and supporting your business.

Assuming you are clear about your voice,story and business goals let’s have a look at the elements needed to turn them into  something memorable that immediately positions your story in the top position of your ideal buyer’s mind.

Colors

Your business should be represented visually by a color pallet that instantly communicates the basic theme of your story. So, for example if your story is about bold bright colors and informal expression then using black and white as your only color scheme won’t necessarily work, nor would subtle pastel colors.

The color pallet must also work well for typographic choices since typography is a key design element. For example, black type can work over a wide range of colors, whereas colored type can be more difficult.

Typography

Everything from your choice of fonts to the way those fonts work as headlines and body text, effects your design consistency. Your choice of type should not only express and reinforce your story it should also be readable over all media. Current changes in font use using through the underlying code that drives your site’s design offer increasing typographic flexibility and will only get better.

As design elements fonts joined as words work together to form positive and negative space on a page, the more those blocks of space work together with the other design elements the better your story is communicated.

When making font choices never use more than three different font families together and use them based on:

• the strength of the element they are to occur
• their role in the hierarchy of information flow you

So your business name might be represented by one font in a specific weight while your tag line is shown in another.

General graphic style

This seems simple enough but is shockingly absent for many artists. Simply put your graphic style is they way all of the visual pieces work together to convey your story. It includes not only color and typography but also your choice of material to be included as representative of your voice. For example, there are many really ugly web sites owned by artists and there are just as many business cards, postcards and brochures that destroy an artists credibility based on on incongruent design.

Make your content choices reinforce your story not detract from it, leave the blinking lights off your site and don’t use generic business cards.

Remember:
Your identity and voice as an artist must be immediately obvious to potential buyers through out all points of contact. Furthermore, the link between you and your voice must be so obvious and strong that it cannot be missed, the strength of this link will reinforce the unity of you with your work, reducing or eliminating the perception of your work as separate from you.

In order to realize success in your visibility efforts your story and your work must fit together so well as to eliminate any perception that you are a commodity. Moreover, that perception must work on-line and off-line.

 

“is the communication link between sellers and buyers for the purpose of influencing, informing, or persuading a potential buyer’s purchasing decision.”

Today, however, I would say that promotion is more about connecting than influencing and helping than persuading. It is everything you do to proactivly find and engage potential buyers instead of passively hoping they’ll see an add at the local bus stop.

In essence, promotion requires you to pro-actively engage with potential buyers all along their path to buying your work. It requires you to take the lead in developing your identity as an artist with a particularly unique voice that solves a general problem in a uniquely personal way, a way that ties you directly to your work.

Whether it is related to off –line or on-line visibility, the final objective is the same…create a well marked path that attracts and guides the right people to your hub. The paths are blazed with markers that give the potential buyer information to help them gain further insight into how well you can or cannot solve their current problem. Those trail markers are your promotion points.

There are many ways to go about promoting yourself and your brand, unfortunately the most important ingredient is often overlooked, that ingredient is consistency. The purpose of promoting your brand is to give potential buyers enough information to help them move further along the path to your hub. Consistency is the one ingredient that helps position you in your potential buyers’ mind by continually reminding them of you when other brands fall short. With this in mind let’s take a look at ways to build and maintain consistency.

In order to maintain the best consistency everything you say or do that should:

• Give potential buyers specific information
• Insure that the benefit of the information is obvious
• Be understandable and simple to retain
• Create a presence in the minds of potential buyers

Remember:
Visibility is not just about being physically visible, but rather a continual presence in the minds of potential buyers. That presence needs to reinforce your ability to help them.

Thoroughly knowing what you and your work does and who is most likely to recognize your unique solution is so important that no promotional or visibility strategy will be successful without it. Knowing how to articulate your message is vastly important to consistently representing yourself regardless of the level of interaction with potential buyers. With that in mind let’s look at two categories you’ll need to be able to adapt your message for:

It’s about the story

This is one of the most important off-line opportunities to reinforce yourself as a brand in a potential buyer’s mind,  in person contact can put a human face on what would otherwise be a rather abstract existence. Whether at a networking event, a party, a gallery or your art fair booth the image you present will become how you are remembered, so you’ll want to make sure that you have a way to initiate, respond or just engage people that reflects and positions you at the top of their minds.

The easiest way to do this is to have worked out a problem/solution based story or meme that can be adapted easily to any type of conversation. This story is your description of how you solve a particular problem and who that solution works best for. It has been my experience that a good flexible story framed as problem/solution  will make developing consistently message focused promotional material a lot easier and more effective.

Building out the story

Once developed, your positional story/meme can easily be applied to any type of promotional material and can be the strongest source for design inspiration. The result of that design inspiration is a visual representation of your story that instantly and unforgettably  communicates you across all points of contact with potential buyers.

As an artist, visual consistency across all promotional channels will determine how seriously potential buyers take you and more importantly whether they see  credible evidence of your compatibility with them and the immediate problems they seek to resolve. Everything, from your business card to your shopping cart should evoke your positional story, each and every graphic element should be chosen and used to strengthen your story and produce almost immediate understanding of its’ message.

Strong and consistent design provides the visual cues or bread crumbs, that give action oriented power to every part of your promotional efforts as they work to move a potential buyer closer to your hub. Inconsistent design weakens your story and its’ ability to guide in the same way that suddenly switching from evenly spaced and placed bread crumbs to unevenly placed stones confuses and ultimately fails to guide us to a destination. Inconsistent design, confuses the potential buyer making it difficult for her to navigate the path you have asked her to follow and ultimately  leading to her complete abandonment of the path altogether.

Next we’ll look at how your story can be the lynch pin that joins your on-line and off line efforts and in the process reinforces your credibility as an artist while attracting more buyers attracted to what only you make.

 

If you were born after 1985 you probably never had the chance to attend your local Chamber meet ‘n greet where you got to wear that ubiquitous red and white stick on name tag. While chamber meetings were certainly one way to network they seldom produced customers for small businesses. There were and still are many useful ways to build connections and strong networks that can work well even in today’s plugged in world.

The funny thing is, the ways that worked best, pre-Internet, really depended on the same concepts as  today…building connections with people who are or might be representative of the kind of customer most likely to seek what you have to offer. Although, the pre-Internet days were dominated by “hope” marketing, small businesses operated by intuitive shop keepers found real success by getting to know the folks in their community.

Whether they knew it or not, membership organizations like the Toastmaster, Kiwanis and Lions club were the real predecessors to Facebook. Although the reach offered through these networks was often limited geographically, they did produce results.

Remember, the purpose of a visibility strategy is to help the right potential buyers find us, learn to like, trust  and experience us so they can learn that we have the solution to their particular problem. Many of the most timeless methods for achieving this have been around for centuries.Newsletters, postcards, teaching workshops, speaking at events and writing articles have worked well before the rise of the machine.

Visibility efforts off line are driven by the same factors as their online counterparts with the added purpose of finding and guiding those folks who “get us” to our hub:

• Develop engagement
• Drive potential buyers to central location whether brick and mortar or virtual
• Increase our position in potential buyer’s minds through face to face contact
• Reinforce our authority, trust and authenticity by in person connection
• Now let’s take a closer look at the major parts of an off line visibility strategy:

Mailing list

If you don’t have a snail mail list of buyers or interested potential buyers this is one tactic that can go a long way towards reinforcing your image in the eyes of buyers and potential buyers. Asking for personal information requires a willingness to engage, to show interest in your buyers, and to be successful you’ll need to do so in a manner that encourages trust and shows a genuine desire for helping your buyers.

Contrary to popular mythology buyers who really like and understand your work really want to stay in touch with you simply because they like what you do and when the time is right, collect more of your work. They also want to be able to tell their friends about your work, so they too can benefit from what you offer.

Finally, recent trends are indicating an increased effectiveness of snail mail promotions simply because the volume of “valuable” mail has been decreasing. This decrease in volume of shear junk means you have a better chance of being noticed by your buyers. Couple that with valuable content in your mailings and you stand an excellent chance of drawing people to your sales venues.

The most effective use of mail is to create a regular newsletter that updates your buyers  about new work, planned shows and events and sharing ways others use your work. In essence a snail mail newsletter is no different than an on line one, the sole purpose being to stay in touch, share your growth and let your buyers know they are part of a wider community, your community.

Talks, demonstrations and workshops

Nothing reinforces who you are more than actually showing up in person and connecting with potential buyers. Physical presence gives you a chance to let people experience you and in the process connect you with your work, which moves their focus from the commodity you produce to you as the only one who can make that work. It reinforces the value you imbue in your work.

One of the most valuable effects of giving a talk, demonstration or workshop as an artist, drives from the popular belief that creating art is magical. In the eyes of most non-artists the act of creation is very mysterious, giving people the chance to associate the mystery of what you create with who you are reinforces the position of your role in creating your work.

Articles

Similar to talks and workshops, writing articles about your work, how it is used or can be used also reinforces your image and gives people who may not ordinarily find you, a chance to learn about you and your value as a creative.

While authoring articles will go a long way, not everyone has the desire to do so, an interview in a popular magazine or newspaper will work just as effective. Find a publication that focuses on your preferred buyers and contact them more often than not they’ll be interested in helping you, especially if you’re able to help their readers.

Promotional material

This category includes a wide range of tools that can increase your visibility in the same way as in person connection, in fact it can substantially strengthen your presence by adding to a potential buyer’s knowledge of you. As with everything in your visibility strategy your primary goal is to reinforce the importance of your role in creating your work.

Promotional material can include everything from cards to information attached to your work. Most importantly your promotional material should expose your passion and vision evoking a similar emotional response in your potential buyers. It is the strength of that connection that lets them know they have found what they have been seeking. Potential buyers will buy your work if it evokes that connection, if it arouses the same strength of emotion you imbued it with. Potential buyers decisions are rarely based on the specifics of technique alone, it is how you use that technique to communicate your vision that potential buyers respond to.

Off line visibility strategies are just as important as they are on-line and used together both can play a strong role in increasing your visibility. Next we’ll see how both fit together to give you a strong position in the minds of potential buyers.

 

Now we’ll use those tools to begin building an online visibility strategy.

Plotting a strategy

A visibility strategy is simply a guide that includes a road map, packing guidelines based on your destination and a general timeline for your journey.

In the overall scheme of things, a visibility strategy is an integral part of your overall business planning. How your strategy is built and what it includes is dependent on and driven by your business goals. There are five key factors that underlie your visibility strategy, they are:

Your personality and style

Everything about your strategy should be infused with you, your personality, your values and your vision. This fusion is what gives the brightness or glow to your visibility efforts and what catches the attention of those unique buyers seeking the solution your vision provides.

Business goals

Your business goals are the mortar that hold the bricks of your business together, so those bricks must be made from materials that will support the rest of the structure. If any of the bricks are weak, no amount of mortar will be able to hold the structure together. Your business goals must be consistently solid to be effective.

Built to attract

The overarching purpose of your visibility efforts is to be seen by those people who share your vision and value your artistic voice.

Widen the field of view

Just as a wide angle lens captures a larger view than a powerful telephoto, having a wide network  works in a similar fashion. The wider your network the greater opportunity to find and be found be those who would be drawn to work.

Four steps to your strategy

For simplicity sake I’ve boiled down the strategy building process to the following four steps:

1. Assess your current situation

Take a look at who is buying your work, determine how many are finding you randomly and how many come directly to you because they know or know of you and your work. Figure out the extent any of your proactive efforts play in bringing potential buyers to you and your hub.

Use your sales, especially repeat and referred sales, as indicators of the effectiveness of those pro-active efforts. The percentage those sales are of your overall sales give you a general estimate of number of potential buyers  purposefully coming to buy your work whether through owning other pieces or the result of a recommendation.

Knowing this information can give you a good idea as to the effectiveness of what ever you are doing to draw the right people to you. Getting a handle on this level of detail will also help you realistically know the basis of your sales and more importantly help you with the next steps in constructing your visibility strategy.

2. Set your visibility goals

Begin setting your goals by using a time line to help you determine where you want to be at a certain point in time. Make sure that the time line fits with your overall business goals.

Next establish the steps needed to reach your end goal followed by whatever tasks are needed to complete each step. Once established, you’ll have a more complete of what you need to do to reach each goal.

Having goals and steps towards their achievement are meaningless without a way of knowing if and when you reach a goal. You’ll need to have some measure of assessing your efforts e.g. sales at a given price point or percent of random sales vs. Overall sales.

Finally, when setting your goals don’t over commit yourself, set your goals realistically in a way that reflects your time priorities and your commitment level. Over stretching your goals will lead to disappointment and frustration. Also, realize that goals are simply guidelines, they need to be flexible because they are linked to an unknown future. The process can be made easier by describing outcomes produced by successfully reaching a goal, doing so can give you a point of measurement that show you if you reached your goal and how realistic the goal was.

3. Define the tools you’ll use

After your goals and  the tasks necessary to achieve them  are established, we need to turn our attention to determining the right tools for the job. Examine the tools available in light of your intended goals and chose according to their ability to help you meet your goals. In the context of visibility look for the most useful tools for building your Hub and network while reinforcing your business goals.

For example, you’ll need to determine whether Facebook or Twitter will work best for you, likewise if search engine optimization will be a better choice.

4. Build the framework of your visibility strategy

Your framework  is the guiding structure of your strategy, it defines your focus and direction. In our case it is made up of the paths or channels used by potential buyers who fit your profile to find you. Your visibility strategy is only as effective as your efforts to know who is searching for you and the path or paths they may take to find you. Claiming  those paths or at least key points along the paths are necessary to helping your buyers find you.

Examine the buyer profiles, you have developed as part of your early planning,  in light of your visibility goals. See if you can identify the paths most commonly used by your ideal buyers to find and buy the products that fit best. For example, is she likely to use a search engine or ask a friend?

Having  determined who your ideal buyer is and the way she is likely to find what you make, you are now able to construct and  claim your spot on the path if not the path itself. How your path and or way point looks and works is determined by you buyer’s behavior patterns. If she is savvy to the internet and likes social networks then Facebook might be a place to start. If instead she relies more on Google then emphasizing search engine optimization may be a more effective approach.

Timeless

While these steps are not all inclusive they have been forged over time and are considered best practices for building any strategy.

 

What does this have to do with art? A lot…think of what art does, it is a tool for extending our vision of the world and thereby challenging the status quo. We can reinforce an empathic view of humanity by doing what we do…think about it!

What do you think of Rifkin’s proposal? Do you see how you as an artist/creative can contribute? Leave a comment and share your thoughts…

Evidence of the Shift

The talk above was based on Rifkin’s talk at RSA, in it he goes into detail about the major shifts that our civilization has already experienced and what they mean for our future. His research has strongly indicated that recent events from the fall of the financial institutions two years ago to the earthquake in Haiti are presenting challenges to us to think differently about how we conduct our lives. The largest of those challenges are based on how we conduct business, our collective model for commerce.

It is my premise that artists are uniquely situated to lead us in new and creative ways to build a new model for commerce, one based on connection and caring for those we conduct business with. As artists we have an opportunity to demonstrate this simply by virtue of how we do business, most if not all of our business is conducted face to face with our buyers and in the process model a more personal non-transaction based way of sustaining ourselves by what we create.

The full talk below is rather long but well worth taking the time to watch and think about. Let’s talk … what are your thoughts?

 

While many of the applications are exclusively geared to smart phone ( iP0d touch included for this article) users, that fact should not deter their use by artists. Every indication is that Location Based Services (LBS) can become extremely useful tools for small businesses especially around their social media and connection strategies.

So, with special emphasis on usable features for artists I’m going to start with what these apps do and how their use potential can be adapted for artists. I’ll also dive into their limitations and finally strategies for using them effectively.

Smart phones started it all

As with most innovations, these apps sprang from another innovation that set the stage, they are all based on GPS technology but, and this is an important but, GPS in and of itself was not enough. The technology was based on finding a location or destination relative to your present location, it wasn’t until Smart Phones adopted the technology that  it became feasible for  businesses and people to use GPS as a way to communicate with others by letting them know they were very close by. You might say it enabled a sort of reverse use of GPS.

Initially launched as scavenger hunt styled social games and means for friends to find each other, it wasn’t long before savvy businesses realized how effective the smart phone tools could be for bringing customers to their doors. The really savvy businesses created connections with their followers from direct involvement at a personal level, the games were simply a visibility tool.

GPS enabled smart phones and LBS apps  are  perfect tool for artists’ visibility… until now it has been hard for artists to promote themselves through  links to  off-line venues. We’ve generally had to rely on old school methods using post cards, listing on web sites and word of mouth. Now, we have the ability to connect ourselves with a venue and use that relationship to bring people to us instead of hoping for a chance discovery.

So, with this in mind let’s take a look at the services, with attention to their use by artists who may or may not have access to a smart phone. While each LBS relies on users who posses smart phones, setting up your listing and using it to connect with your buyers,  does not universally require a smart phone.

Before we start…

While these services offer some very real opportunities, remember whether and how you decide to use them should originate from your business goals. More importantly, your visibility goals and specifically how LBS fit into your visibility strategy. I’ll cover goals and strategy after we get a look at the services and their potential uses for artists.

Even though these applications depend on users with GPS equipped smart phones or (iPod touch) one of my  prime considerations in reviewing them is their over all usefulness for artists especially for non-smart owners.

Yelp

Think of Yelp as an on line version of the yellow pages that includes, event listings, and much more detailed business listings. Businesses can list themselves if they have a base as in a store front or multiple locations and the listings offer users the hance to connect with businesses/events by leaving comments and ratings on the listing page.

Features

• Social Media connections are limited to customer reviews and rankings;
• Mobile apps for both iPhone and Android based smart phones;
• Search by key words and categories;
• Invite friends via e-mail;
• listings in other locations;
• Locations/venues linked via Google maps;
• Businesses/events can provide extensive information about themselves by way of their profile, and can be found by way of searches.

Artists Usefulness

• Review feature gives artists an opportunity to connect directly with their buyers;
• Business listing can increase search engines potential;
• Non-smart phone access via browser;
• Advance listing of sales venues;
• Extensive business description/profile;
• Photo upload;
• Wide visibility because of Yelp’s local focus.

Brightkite

As an LBS Brightkite does more than simply provide a way for people to check-in at a specific location, through its web site it also offers easy account set up and association with a specific geographic location. Users wishing to check in at a particular destination that matches your current location will see your listing among their check-in choices.

Features

• Create posts when you check-in or to share info, in the case of artists share info about your venue;
• Add favorite places or friends;
• Find friends at the same location;
• Mentions, very similar to Twitter re-tweets;
• Group texting, allows a group to carry on a conversation or simply notify each other of their location;
• Event set up and broadcast;
• Connection to social media.

Artist useabilabilty

• Browser set up and location association at any time;
• Access through web site at anytime to update your status;
• Photo upload at anytime for any location;
• Invite friends and associate them with your locations;
• Create events and associate them with your location and friends.

Foursquare

This application has become a highly popular “check-in” service that has also grown into a virtual “loyalty” card similar to the punch cards used by coffee shops. Starbucks is the most noted user offering discounts to customers who regularly check in.

Unlike Yelp and Brightkite businesses not automatically discovered via GPS need to submit their information to the folks at Foursquare in advance and await for approval before it is listed.

Features

• Add  and locate friends nearby;
• Wide array of add-on applications that help locate everything from friends to restrooms;
• Add tips about a place;
• Connects to Facebook and Twitter.

Artist friendliness

• Social media connection allows for friends to locate artists if their venue is listed;
• Not easy to have a venue listed if it is not found by GPS (which is the case for most art fairs);
• Primarily limited to smart phone users;
• Check in via web browser not possible;

Gowalla

Gowalla is similar in many ways to Foursquare differeing only in its ability to be used by businesses and event producers to set up tours or “trips”. Using this feature an art fair promoter could link promotions to attending artists by highlighting artists by medium, location etc. Many communities and non-profit arts organizations currently use Gowalla as a way to guide visitors to historic locations or artist studios.

Features

• Check-in via places;
• Place badges;
• Social media links;
• Photo uploads;
• Place claiming limited to actual checkin at the location;
• Place can be requested by contacting Gowalla’s customer support;
• Place lisitngs include Google map and web site links.

Artist friendliness

Because of the difficulty associated with listing a place Gowalla ranks low in usefulness to artists especially art fair artists. There is one exception, if an art fair promoter has listed their event a participating artist can then check-in, however, check-in is limited to smart phone users.

Loopt

This service/application is sort of a mashup of other services features, it allows you to set up places in advance, connect your frieinds to those places through invitation as well as providing a wide range of privacy features.

Features

• Link friends to your places;
• Add e-mail addresses of friends;
• Create a journal around your places and include maps, photos etc.
• Connect to social media;
• RSS feed;
• Widget available for use on blog or web site;

Artist Usability

• Advance set up of places via browser;
• Journal provides a means to provide information about your experience at an art fair for example as well upload photos. The journal also offers a way to build anticipation similar to a small social network.
• An easy way for artists to list their sales venues through Google maps and GPS all in advance of their attendance.
• The available widget gives artists a chance to link to their Loopt places from their blog or web site and in the process widen the scope of their visibility.

Facebook places

When Facebook launched its Places app it placed itself not only in the widening collection of LBSs it also set itself up in direct competition with Foursquare. However, despite its surface appearance as just another “check-in” toy, the simple fact that it links directly to your facebook account gives users  a big advantage.

That said there are limitations to its usefulness for artists mostly because of the application’s infancy. There are many rumors about pending feature releases that include link ups with other complimentary applications. At this point the primary limitation for artists is the absence of easy non-smart phone set up and check in. Currently, non-smartphone check-ins can be made via Facebook’s “touch” application, however, my own testing found that avenue not exactly user friendly.

At this point, I’ll hold off review of Facebook Places for the future, when it hopefully becomes more friendly.

 

While this segment is intended for practical use it is important to remember that SEO is fundamentally more art than science, because in reality very few actually know the inner workings of search engine operation.

Now, is the time for the practical side, some basic, things you can do to help your work show up in search results.

1. Attract search crawlers

As I mentioned earlier, crawlers highly favor new content when indexing, so the more your content changes the more likely you will continue to be indexed. This doesn’t mean you need to ditch your static gallery site, it does mean if you want to significantly raise your visibility to search engines you will need to start using a blog.

Keep your blog as your hub and simply link to your static gallery from your blog by way of your navigation menu.

2. Create quality, original content

If you are a handmade jeweler and you are competing with all other jewelers (including big boxes) the more your content emphasizes your uniqueness the better your chances of being found. That original content also needs to be interesting enough to attract attention in order to improve ranking.

For example, include regular posts on your blog that refer to your work, your sales venues and post monthly discussions of new work. another example, is to feature people who own your work. show and describe how they use it.

3. Relate Content to your brand

Your content should be related to what you do, and how you want to be perceived, it should provide an insight into  your uniqueness. This means you’ll the more you share about your vision and your work it be easier to include the words and phrases you want searchers to use when looking for what you have. This tactic goes a long way in solidifying the connection between you, your vision and what you make and the position of you as a brand in the minds of potential buyers.

As an artist you are your brand for the simple reason your work comes from who you are, it projects your vision into the world. The more you emphasize those elements the better position you’ll have in potential buyer’s minds.

4. Make your site easy to index

When using images always, always title the image using key words relevant to the content it is found in. Search engines don’t “see” images they only see text, so if your image has a title of “DSC124.jpg” the search engine hasn’t a clue what to do with it, so it moves on. On the other hand if you label the image “ blue cloisonné pendent necklace with gold chain” and the article it is in is all about that necklace or cloisonné necklaces you make, the image will be linked to the text, increasing the page’s index status.

In addition to renaming the image you can further enhance the value of that image by placing the new name or slightly different but relevant name in the “alt tag” of the image. This tag is often available in SEO oriented WordPress plug-ins, it was originally intended for use by early browsers to indicate the presence of an image in case the computer being used was not capable of rendering the image.

The same goes for embedded video, so when you title a video do so with key words that connect the video to the content it relates to.

When labeling images and videos increase the label’s power by beginning the title with a key word or phrase. The closer that key word is to the beginning of the title the more it will contribute to your ranking. Using the example above, label the cloisonne’ pendent by making “cloisonne” the first word and “gold” the second followed by “necklace”

5. Create accessible content

This refers to content the search engines actually “see” as opposed to what human readers see. Making your site accessible means increasing its’ crawlability by using HTML tags, page titles,headers etc. So, using a hierarchy of content headings will help, those headings are read as HTML title tags, your primary headline is an H1 tag and subsequent sub heads are h2,h3,h4 etc. Search engines read and rank them in that order of importance, they’re also more likely to rank a page higher if it has good subtitle structure. If you limit your post or content to only a headline, your page will likely be ranked lower than if it contains many subject relevant sub-heads.

Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean you need to do any coding, just know that good subject header hierarchy helps recognize original quality content. The code takes care of itself all you need to do is write to include headings.

6. Focus each page on one subject

Everything on a page from heading hierarchy to images should reference and support one subject. If you’re talking about Altered serving bowls then the title should read “Altered serving bowls.…” and the main focus of the page should concentrate on the subject of altered serving bowls.

This doesn’t mean you can’t talk about altered pitchers but try to relate the two around the primary subject of altering pots.

7. Use internal links

Include links ( called internal links) on the page to related parts in your site, maybe links to your artists statement, your about page or your home page. They can also be links to pages that relate in some way to the subject of your current post. Word Press handles this task easily through any one of several plug-ins that find and insert these internal links automatically.

An example of “automatic” internal links is  the “related posts” listing below this post, which was generated using a WordPress plug in.

8. Pay attention to and use permalinks

These are the actual page titles as they appear in your browser and are used by blogging platforms, they can be fine tuned very easily in WordPress and many other frameworks. Don’t change the relationship of that title to your site’s URL because it will make finding that page more difficult.

A best practice is to use the following sequence:

http://www.your site.com/page-title/date

The sequence above helps readers identify the page they are on and makes page indexing easier because the page title comes after the URL. Another important reason for this is that this format insures that you page title will most always show up in the browser address bar.

9. Make your links count

As mentioned before, not only are links important their quality also plays a key role in your ranking. They represent votes of confidence by the linking site, the link shows that the link originator trusts your content and wants to share it with others.

But…just any old link doesn’t do much, what matters is the authority or importance of the linking site in the universe of what you’re subject is. Popularity is indicated by the number of links and trust indicated by the quality of the link.  A link to your pottery site from your Uncle Joe’s site about cigars doesn’t help you, but if your Uncle Joe was a professor of Ceramics at Yale or Harvard, the link would swell in importance.

Uncle Joe’s status as a renowned professor at a prestigious university  helps because his link could possibly generate links from other renowned potters back to your site, thereby adding to your popularity and trust. Links from a highly trustworthy site hold more weight  because  trustworthy sites tend to be linked to other trustworthy sites.

Also,  Uncle Joe’s renown in the clay community may often carry more weight than just a link from Harvard or Yale.

Finally, links having the most value happen organically they come from relevant and high quality content and given freely by the linking site/domain. Together with the other factors above organic links can contribute more to ranking and find ability than those created intentionally by you.

Stay up to date with this series follow the links below:

• The Summer of Love and the hippie-dippy business model
• The Age of Confusion
• What I learned from Alice, a Cruciverbalist and Sputnik
• Your visibility Tool Kit
• The Heart of Your Business
• A social graph for artists
• SEO for Artists