So you’ve opened a Twitter account and have followed exactly 4 people…and have those same 4 people following you.

One of them is your cat.

At this point, Twitter is not an effective networking and promotional tool for you.  So how do you change that?

Find people to follow…and find people to follow you.

Twitter has excellent “Find People”  tools right on their main website.  When you click on it, you get this screen:

Notice the 4 tabs.  Here’s what they can do for you:

Find on Twitter — to find people using their Twitter account name and/or their real name…type a name in the box and see if you can find them.  Great for finding specific people.

Find on other networks — If you use Gmail, Yahoo Mail or AOL, you can find your current contacts on Twitter using this tool.  Sign in to your existing mail account and Twitter will show you a list of your contacts that are currently on Twitter.

Invite by email — This allows you to invite people to join Twitter who haven’t joined already.

Suggested Users — Primarily a list of celebrities and corporations.

Other Ways to Find Followers:

1)  Look at your friends Followers and Following lists.  Chances are you’ll find people there that you’re interested in Following.  And because they get a message telling them that you’re following them, there’s a good chance they will follow you in return.

2) Put a Twitter button on your website or blog and list a link to your Twitter account in your email signature.  These provide an easy way for people to follow you.

3) List your Twitter name on your business card and other promotional materials.  On anything that people pick up to find out more about you.

4)  Find a Twitter recommender that works for you.  I suggest Mr. Tweet, a service that looks through your list of followers and makes valuable recommendations based on who you already follow.  It also gives you an opportunity to tell people WHY you would recommend others follow a specific person…and in return, others can recommend you.  Here’s what a typical recommendation page looks like:

Using Twitter can seem like you’re sending messages out into a black hole, until you have people out there “listening” to what you have to say.  Don’t wait till they come to you.  Finding people to follow and to follow you will slowly build the strong network you need to make Twitter a valuable tool for you.

Grant writing can be daunting, but the requirements for this one are tools every artist should have available at all times:  a strong artist’s statement, great images of their work and an up-to-date CV or resume.  All essential parts of your portfolio.

Here are a few things you should think about when getting your materials ready for an Emerging Artist grant:

• Include the best images you have of your work. Your images are the most important part of your grant.  Your work is VISUAL, so it’s important that the visual representation of your work be the best you can provide.  Make sure they accurately represent your work, and show the colour, texture, shape and detail one would see if the work was directly in front of them.

• Write clearly and plainly. Your artist’s statement and other written materials should be easy to read and to understand.  Use plain language and avoid “artspeak”.  A jury wants to know what you and your art are about.  So tell them.

• Quantity is not important. When you’re at the beginning of your career, it’s not the number of exhibitions you’ve had that’s important.  Juries want to see that you’ve made an effort to have your work exhibited, and have done so consistently.  So list everything at first.  Show at a local cafe?  Put it in.  Group show at a downtown gallery?  Put it in.  Student show at your art college.  Yes, it counts.  Your CV will grow.  Every show you do gives you experience.  It’s how you grow a career.

Not sure you’ve got it all right and want another eye to look things over?  We have grant review and portfolio review services.  Email me for details:  ksmcbrienATgmail.com

Read this article about Matt McDermott in today’s Haliburton Echo

Twitter is an online, interactive tool that was originally created to ask the question “What are you doing?”  Now it really goes beyond that.  Yes, you can still use it to tell the world what you’re doing:

“I’m hungry.  I want cheese.”

“I’m walking to my fridge now.”

“I’m taking the cheese out and will now eat it.”

…but you can also use it to make announcements…

“New blog post on using Twitter: http://wp.me/pGXEH-f “

“Tickets still left for tonight’s performance!  Call: 705-555-1212″

…ask questions…

“Has anyone used product XYZ?  How did you like it?”

…and in some cases, get direct customer service from a major corporation when all other levels of person-to-person communication have failed. (yes Stephannie, I’m talking about you)

Here’s what my Twitter page looks like:

It’s simple to use.  Just type something into the big blank box just under where it says “What are you doing?” and you’re done.  You have 140 characters.  Which forces you to be brief and to the point.  And there’s a certain satisfaction in being able to get to 140 characters, dead-on, without trying.  Do it 3 times in a row, and you’ve got a Twitter hattrick! (Thanks Denny!)

The people who want to read your Tweets (those 140 character messages you’ve written), are called Followers.  And the people you want to read?  Those are people you’re Following. If you look at the purple column at the right of the photo, you can see that I am following 112 people and have 136 followers.

How do you get Followers and/or find people to Follow?

Click on the “Find People” link at the top of the page.  A page that looks like this, should come up:

Type in some names of people you hope to find on Twitter, click on their names and click the “Follow” button beside it.  If you use Gmail, Yahoo Mail or AOL, you can click on the “Find on Other Networks” to have Twitter search through your address book and add people you already know.  And you can also use the “Invite by email” tab to invite people to Twitter.

Go.  Add people (don’t forget me!)  Tweet.

I believe both are right.  In order to be successful, you need to have your feet in both worlds.

You need to build a strong audience for your work in the place you choose to live.  Be creative and seek out places and spaces where your work will be welcomed.  Engage your audience and ask them to participate in your growth by spreading the word about your work.  Build a community to support your work.

And you need to reach out beyond where you live in order to expand and grow.  No matter where you are and how large and diverse the population is, at some point you will reach a saturation point.  You may continue to sell work, or to fill halls, but sometimes you’re expected to repeat the same work over and over again.  Which can stunt your creative growth and make your career feel like just another job.

One way to do that, to reach out beyond your front door and test the market elsewhere, is to use social media as a marketing tool and as a tool for testing the creative waters.  There are hundreds of tools out there that are free to use.  Why not give them a try?

Over the course of this blog, I will be talking a lot about social media and encouraging you to give it a try. We’ll start with the very basics and take small steps.  One or two techniques for you to try at a time.  And tips for how to use the time you put into social media marketing effectively.

Step 1?  If you haven’t done so, sign up for a Facebook account and a Twitter account.  Facebook has 250 million active users worldwide.  And while it’s nearly impossible to get accurate numbers from Twitter, it is growing faster than any  other social media outlet.  These two will give you the most widespread and diverse audience for the work that you do.

OK.  Go.  I’ll check with you tomorrow.

One of my favourite pieces of jewellery is a ring by Shelly Purdy.  Why did I buy the ring?  Because it had a history and a story to go along with it, told to me by her husband.  Totally sold me.  And the other artwork in my house — every piece has a personality to go with it…a story…a history.   That jug on the shelf? That’s April.  That painting on the wall?  Noelia.  The bowls we eat soup out of?  Grahame and Debbie. The sweater I’m wearing?  Norah’s pattern…Sundara’s yarn.  Did you know that she has a new dog? I have a dog…and Norah lives in New Hampshire, a place I used to live…  And so the connections and familiarities start to come together so that it’s not just art that’s being purchased, but also a little piece of you.

Which is why the most important person to sell your work to the world is you.

(In very rare cases, you can find someone who knows you as well as you do…that works too, but they are very difficult to find, and can be difficult to train!)

Holly Carr is a Nova Scotia artist who excels at this.  Her paintings are full of personality.  (Go look.  I’ll wait.)  But she also has stories that go with each one.  She can tell you all about every character…who they are…what they’re thinking.  It’s entertaining and it draws you in, so that within moments, they’re no longer paintings.  They’re old friends.

So great, but what about the art that doesn’t sit on your walls or on your table?  Still works.  Several years ago, I worked with a performing arts group that had a very strong following.  If you asked anyone in their audience why they kept coming back, they would tell you that it was how the music made them feel.  And how the musicians made them feel.  In trying to market this group, there was really no pattern to the “type” of person that would be become a rabid fan…the kind that would buy CD’s for everyone they knew or who would buy blocks of tickets to “share” the concert experience.  They came from all walks of life, all ages, all races, all careers…you really couldn’t nail it down…all mixed up in the audience.  The one thing they had in common?  The community of THIS music, and specifically the musicians who perform it and how they interact with their audience.

So how do you market something like that?  Get the converted to spread the word for you.

Directly connected to this phenomenon is Andy Barrie, host of Metro Morning on CBC Radio in Toronto.  Andy became one of those “rabid fans” after his first concert.  (No mean feat, as Andy’s early morning schedule means that he’d really rather NOT go to those late night concerts)  From that day on, if this group had a performance coming up and Andy knew about it, he talked about it on the radio and told people that they needed to go.  Andy’s fans?  Also kind of rabid.  They listen to him and feel like he’s a friend that talks to them every morning, so when Andy says go, you GO.  You really have no choice.  He’d be very disappointed in you.

I didn’t have the skills.

I’d spent decades honing my creative skills, but like many artists of my generation, learning how to actually make a living with my art was not a skill taught in music school.  Or art school.  Or theatre school…  are you getting the picture?

Ironically, almost all of my time since has been spent learning how to market the arts effectively.  And so I decided to start this blog to share what I’ve learned and to help others market their art and become strong, creative entrepreneurs.

Care to join me?