Should Artists Bother with Twitter?
Opinions are running rampant with this question. You’ll find people who love it and can’t seem to live without it and those who claim Twitter is nothing but a big time eater. Many artists I talk to don’t even want to know what it is. “Just let me do my art!”
And yes, for artists, doing art is your number one priority. But then, there is the marketing side of your business.
Since you are here, reading this, than you have some interest in marketing your art via the Internet. Twitter is a tool to help you do that. Like everything else in your web presence, it’s up to you if you want to use this tool. So….
What is Twitter?
Twitter has to be the fastest growing site on the web today. There are well over ten thousand new users signing up everyday. Twitter is best described as a micro blogging platform. Some people even use it as instant real time email.
You are limited to 140 characters each time you write an update. I know that seems terribly small, but if you decide to dive in and give this a try, you’ll be amazed at what you can fit into those 140 characters.
Twitter, like all social media sites, is whatever you make it to be for you and your goals. It can be like one huge global chat room, but it doesn’t have to be. It depends on how many people you choose to follow. It’s a great way to meet new people online, particularly those with similar interests to you.
How Does This Apply to my Art?
Connections, networking, and letting the world know you and your art exists. This is another tool to help make that happen. Every art magazine is on Twitter. Art galleries and organizations are joining Twitter by the groves.
Let me be perfectly honest with you right now about this tool. If you get on Twitter without a goal or purpose, you’ll be among those who claim it’s just a time eater and you’ll be lucky if you last a month.
Make a Plan for Using Twitter
Collect followers who have interests in the type of art you do. What do you paint? Fish, motorcycles, landscape, western scenes, etc, etc.? Use the Twitter search tools to find people with those interests. Follow them so they can follow you back.
You can add links to your Twitter messages that open pages of your website or blog. People love to click on links in Twitter and see where it’s going to take them. You collect the followers that you want and then lead them to the places you want them to see.
Budget Your Time
Marketing your art takes time. Any social media method you use can turn into a major time eater. You decide how much time you are going to give to your online art marketing. It takes a bit more time to set things up, but then you should create a schedule.
If you can give an hour a day to your online marketing, you’ll be miles ahead most of the artists in the world. But it needs to be planned time. There needs to be purpose and method. Think it through and have goals.
There are tools that you can use to speed up and even automate some of your Twitter labors. You can learn more about Twitter, these tools and how to use them through this set of Twitter Tutorial Videos. Don’t waste time floundering when it’s available to learn these things quickly and inexpensively.
When you are up and running, be sure to send me a note @dee_overly and say ‘hi.”
