As much as you might like to think so, a successful art career involves much more than creating your work and moving onto the next one. If you wish to treat your art like a business, and there are artists that do not, you have to spend time cultivating an audience through marketing efforts that expand your reach to the largest number of interested people.

All business ventures experience slow periods and the current global health pandemic is making it even tougher to drum up customers for your artwork. The times when business is down, and you have extra time on your hands present great opportunities to work on other areas to help boost your exposure online and elsewhere when things pick up again.

Things Artists Can Do When Business is Down

You haven’t made a sale in a while and it may still be a while before galleries and showing return in full force. When was the last time you updated your website or posted on Facebook or your other social media properties? How long has it been since you’ve thoroughly cleaned and organized your art studio or workspace? Have you looked at your finances lately?

In fact, there is a wide range of things you can do when business is slow. Here are some of them that will keep you busy and help to increase your chances for short- and long-term success.

Cultivate, Organize, Manage Contacts

Much of the art business world involves networking and meeting the right people at the right time. If you go through your contact list in your email accounts and social media pages, you will find important connections to reach out to. Clean up your addresses and distribution lists. Let people know you are still around, what you have done recently, and the exciting things that are ahead for your future.

If your digital communications are getting cluttered, there are a number of organizational apps and websites that keep all of your contacts together and create lists and clusters of associates organized and updated.

Deliver Valuable Newsletter Information

Now that you have all of your art business contacts organized and separated, it is the ideal time to send out a newsletter. Make a connection with people on your distribution list by sharing your personal experiences during these strange times. Open up about your artistic process and where your journey might take you next. Provide special offers for your past or future work. Keep the newsletter content short with the main purpose of putting your name and work in front of former, existing, and future customers.

Experiment with Your Art and Process

Instead of pulling away from your artistic process while business is slow, go the other way and get your creative uses flowing. Go outside your normal comfort zone into other areas of art or reach higher in your current specialty. Use this rare free time to grow as an artist and see where your creative vision will take you and your art.

Review and Update Financial Status

This may be a good time to address one of the worst things about being an artist. The money. But it is an important aspect of your career if you want to actually make money and fund future efforts. Even if you need the help of an accountant or other financial counsel, going through your books will let you know where you stand and how much your budget allows for things as supplies, updated equipment, and marketing efforts.

Clean and Organize Your Art Studio

There are some artists that like to keep a dirty, cluttered, and disorganized artistic workspace. However, cleaning up your art studio and organizing all of your materials and equipment may clear your mind. Let the process or the end result inspire you and drive you to your next artistic adventures.

Update Your Website, Social Media Properties, Other Digital Properties

Your website is the most powerful tool you have and serves as the foundation of effective digital marketing efforts designed to get more people to notice you and make purchases. If you do not have a website dedicated to your artwork or you have not updated the look and functionality, a site redesign can go a long way to increasing your visibility and ability to reach the most people. 

Your Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram account can be the key to success in your art career. Literally billions of people are active users in these massive digital communities throughout the world. Each social media network offers its own functions and features to tap into their large groups of people that log on and check their timelines and feeds multiple times throughout the day.

Other techniques that can increase your online presence and brand awareness across the internet include:

  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  • Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
  • Paid Online Advertising

Intrackt Can Help with Your Marketing Efforts

Intrackt has an impressive staff of digital marketing professionals specializing in working with artists like you to help you expand your business through multiple channels and platforms. Contact Intrackt for complete information and get started today.