Subscribing to an Art Magazine

Recently, my partner purchased a magazine subscription for me. The magazine is called "Art Calender, the business magazine for visual artists". It is a monthly magazine that contains articles for artists who sell their wares online, galleries and the like. It features artists who have successful careers and those just starting out.
Some of the articles include but are not limited to:

• Developing a Pricing Strategy
• Making Use of Multiple Markets
• Marketing on the Internet
• The Advantages of Blogging

and many more worth your while. In the back of the magazine are listings of galleries and nonprofit spaces reviewing portfolios, grants and fellowships, juried show callings for artists (fees and no fees).

I was particularly interested in the article "The Advantages of Blogging". I found this article to be helpful since I'm a new blogger and not blogging savvy.

Elise Tomlinson is an artist living in a remote area of Alaska, who has been blogging for approximately six years. In the article Tomlinson states that , "Now by traditional standards I haven't 'arrived' yet as an artist. I don't have gallery representation, and I sell paintings for less than they're probably worth. Even so, I'm doing significantly better than six years ago, BB...
Before Blog." Tomlinson attributes her increasing number of sales to the fact that she has a blog and is therefore able to reach more people than she would have had she not had this tool. Hmmm...I'm listening.

Tomlinson states that personal connections with the artist create a comfort level for buyers interested in purchasing art online. She stated, "Last year I sold more paintings (commission free) through my blog than I did through my opening at a popular local gallery." I found this to be true for me also. I participated in a solo show in Des Moines last year and it did generate a sale...yea!!! The person had taken one of my business cards from the show and then purchased the item from me online at Etsy.com! My work through Etsy.com reaches more people throughout the world than I could ever imagine and my sales are increasing as a result and that is where I learned the importance of blogging.

I kept hearing blog, blog, blog...I thought to myself, that is so not like me to journal and pour my heart and soul out to people I don't know and probably will never know. I resisted...and then eventually I caved. Someone told me to only blog a couple of times a week, and that I didn't have to get personal, that I could pass on information or do whatever I wanted in it. So I thought, maybe I'll try it.

Tomlinson goes on to share tips to consider when blogging. She suggests the following:

• Post often
• Write something interesting (decide who you're writing for, your audience)
• Be very selective about the things you share about yourself
• Use your real identity
• Keep posts short
  
• Ask a question at the end of the post to generate comments
• Add other blogs to a "blogroll" and go to these sites often, leave comments for the blogger and more often than not they will visit your blog and contribute.

Tomlinson states that people WILL find you and your work. I am discovering this to be true! I have had my blog since the very end of March and already I have had well over 200 hits. The average length of time the visitor spends on this blog is 4.52 minutes.

Maybe there will be and article that will help in keeping the visitor's interest longer?
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If you would like more information about the Art Calendar Magazine and the article discussed in this blog, go to http://www.artcalendar.com

Has this article been helpful to you in any way? Agree/disagree with the information posted here? What did you like about the article? Care to share any personal experience with this topic? Please let me know in the comments section of this blog, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!

All credits go to Elise Tomlinson for her article "The Advantages of Blogging" copyright remains with her and Art Calender magazine.