Tips for Promoting Your Art on Instagram

Carolyn Edlund

Have you joined Instagram? It's the fastest growing social media platform, and offers plenty of opportunities for artists. Use these tips to get started and build your audience!

Plan your strategy. Want to sell your art? Gain followers? Drive traffic to your website? Sign up subscribers? Decide on a strategy and let it guide your regular activities. If you are serious about using Instagram for business, keep it business-related. Create another account for personal reasons if you like.

Share your best images. What stands out on an Instagram feed? Wonderful photos that catch the eye. Do yourself a favor and use images that show your art beautifully - no glare, overexposed or blurry photos (ouch!)

Post shots of yourself working in the studio or en plein air, paintings on the easel, or your most recent show.

Embellish images with words and your logo - Want your image to carry your name, logo or URL with it? Download the WordSwag app on your smartphone to add words, quotes, a logo and more to dress up your images and brand them. Adding words directly on to an image adds another dimension to your posts, and draws attention.

Use the image caption to tell a story about your art. Here's where you give insight into your life as an artist. Write about what inspires you, a fascinating technique that you use, or a piece of art as it develops. Share your successes, mistakes and your dreams. Use this space to be authentic, and to gain emotional resonance with your audience.

8 Tips for Setting Boundaries

Alyson B. Stanfield

Are you blaming someone else or something else for getting in the way of your success? Maybe the problem is that you haven't set boundaries. I know because I've had to do it recently. In order to accomplish my BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), I have had to limit my work with individual clients and schedule them only two days of the week. This means saying "no" to a lot of people. It's hard. It's work. It's money out of my pocket. But it's absolutely necessary if I want to move forward.

Here are my tips for setting boundaries and saying "no":

1. Know what your goals are and how you're going to reach them. Post them and talk about them often. You have to keep them in the fore if you are serious about making them a priority.

SWOT Analysis for Event Planning

Himanshu Sharma

Products/Services Research

If you are organizing a corporate event then it is necessary for you as an event manager to do research of the products/ services promoted and sold by your corporate client.

• Find out how the company promotes its products
• How the company wants to build/enhance the image associated with its product (also known as the brand image)?
• What is the market value and market share of the company and its products?
• Who are the customers of the product?
• What are the features of the product?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of the product in comparison to competitors' products?

All this research will later help you in making an effecting promotional campaign for your corporate event.

SWOT Analysis

In SWOT Analysis:

'S' stands for Strengths
'W' stands for Weaknesses
'O' stands for Opportunities
'T' stands for Threats

Read more here!

9 Reasons Why Every Artist Should Have Their Own Art Blog

Dan Duhrkoop

Blogs have really come a long way since they first began as online journals or diaries. Now they're often used as a means of self-publishing, and are a very practical way of getting information online to reach a large number of people.

Many artists have been successfully blogging for years, whether by writing articles like I do or publishing images of their own artwork on a daily or weekly basis. In fact, I've found so many benefits to blogging that if you're an artist and you don't have a blog, I believe you're missing out.

So take a moment and consider these 9 reasons why every artist should have their own art blog. They just might convince you to start an art blog of your own.

1. Having an art blog can increase online art sales

Want to know the main reason why many artists end up blogging? Because internet search engines don't understand pictures-they only understands words.

That means that if you want to sell your art online and just put up a portfolio site with mostly images of your work, no one will ever find your art through the search engines. But, if you start a blog and spend a few hours each week blogging about your art, people will eventually begin to find you through Google and other search engines.

Then just sign up for an online gallery and you can easily direct visitors to the correct place to buy your art.

2. Art blogging will help you grow as an artist.

If you dive into blogging, you'll soon find yourself interacting and learning from other art bloggers in the ever growing community of art blogs online. By reading other blogs and getting to know other artists bloggers, you'll constantly be exposed to art and opinions that you'd never have come across otherwise.

Personally I've met hundreds of other artists through EmptyEasel, which is absolutely incredible. And even though I started EE to help others, I know I've gained a lot from doing it as well.

A Successful Food Stand Business Starts with Soul Searching

Barb Fitzgerald

The personal benefits of running a concession business including spare time, cash income, and independence are well known. However, the most important, and the least recognized advantage of the business is the ability to design the enterprise to suit the individual's desired level of earnings and involvement. When planning a concession business one must understand how each step in the start-up process largely determines one's ultimate earnings and level of involvement. Therefore a food concessionaire's business and personal goals should be considered when deciding what menu to serve, the type and design of the booth, and the types of events and venues to schedule.

The first step in planning your concession start-up should be serious and in-depth "soul searching". Start by asking yourself these questions:

1. What is your purpose for starting a concession business? Do you need extra money to help ends meet? Is your job at risk? Is your nest egg inadequate for your rapidly approaching retirement? Are you semi retired and want to stay active while supplementing your fixed income? Maybe your teenage kids need to raise money for college. Do you want a business in which the whole family can work together? Maybe you are hard to employ, or are a free spirit who wants to be responsible for your own employment.

2. What do you ultimately expect to achieve from you concession? In other words, how much money is enough? Will an extra ten thousand dollars provide you a more satisfying retirement, or is fifty or one hundred thousand dollars required to replace your current job?

Read more here!

Could You Teach Guitar?

Imagine going through week after week earning more than enough money to maintain a fun lifestyle, but not even noticing that you have done any work. That's what being a guitar teacher means to me. I enjoy the work so much and find it so rewarding, that I don't really experience it as work at all!

The popularity of the guitar continues to increase, so the demand for good guitar teachers remains strong. The question is, are you the right sort of person for the job?

Part of my activity over the last several years has involved the recruitment and training of a great many music tutors. I can say with certainty that the four items uppermost on peoples' minds when they apply for a job as a music tutor are:

Read more here!

What Every Vendor Should Know About Events

Chris of stitchesndishes.com

Mobile food festivals, food truck round-ups, food truck fairs, food truck throw downs.. they go by many different names, but at the end of the day, they're all the same. It's a fact that when multiple food trucks, carts and stands congregate in a single location,

They draw masses of hungry customers, curious and excited about the food options before them. Are they really all the same, though?

All too often do we hear that event goers leave events feeling cheated, and mobile food operators drive away in the red. What makes one event successful and another a virtual food truck graveyard?

There is a very simple golden rule in operating a mobile food business that most operators tend to overlook. Hope is for the weary; confidence in knowledge is the key to success.

Before you say 'yes' to that next tempting food truck extravaganza, arm yourself with knowledge to make an informed decision. This is your business, after all, and the event organizer holds your livelihood in his hands.

1. Does the organizer come with a track record? Too many inconsistencies means the organizer doesn't possess the knowledge and experience to produce successful events. Ask the organizer to account for low turn-out events, previous complaints, etc. If the organizer has little or no track record, be skeptical at best.

2. Is the event a 'pop up' or regularly scheduled event? Regularly scheduled events which occur at the same location on a regular frequency are much easier to judge. They typically come with a reputation. Pop up style events rely entirely on the experience and reputation of the event organizer.

3. How many people and vendors are expected to attend the event? If the organizer can't give you a solid estimate, how can you plan your inventory for the day? Ask the organizer for the estimated attendance, then ask how he derived these numbers. If the organizer has a solid track record, you can more than likely feel confident in his answer.

Pay very close attention to how the organizer is promoting the event, and remember the golden rule of advertising - only 1%-2% of the people reached will buy a product. Targeted advertising increases the odds of higher attendance.

Read more here!

How to Sell Items at Festivals in 7 Steps

Jackie DeVore

Ready to take your arts and crafts to the next level? In this article, we'll go over how to set up your products at a craftshow in a profitable way.

Step 1. Create Your Product

Before you get started on finding a festival, you'll want to determine which of your products you can make easily and quickly, and can set up at a craft show. It's a good idea to choose items that are unique to your style and that you can mass produce when needed. Keep in mind you'll be traveling with this product, displaying it, and will be creating a lot of the product at any given time. You'll want enough items to fill a large (10' x 10') display without running out of items. If a customer is forced to wait for the product until after a craft show, they'll likely lose interest.

Step 2. Find Your Festival

A good way to decide what kind of festival is best for you is simply to go to festivals. Take a look at the vendors that are currently booked at certain shows in your area, and what the attendees are looking for. Keep in mind that you don't want too much competition for your own product, but you do still want to stay relevant to the theme of the festival. Talk to the vendors at the show to see what their experience is. Be sure to do your homework.

Read more!

When Does a Band Need a Manager?

Lately, I've been caught up in an online music industry group regarding when the best time is for an act to join forces with a manager to further their career opportunities. There were a multitude of opinions about this topic from a variety of industry managers and marketing people. It's a great topic, worthy of discussion.

Something to think about when you read further, is the level and type of management. Management companies have exploded onto the scene in the last 10 years, but not all are the same. Just like music artists, there are both indie and major league managers. Some manage everything, others focus on specific career objectives.

The music industry continues to change rapidly. These changes are beginning to usher in a new dynamic involving manager/artist relationships and the services they offer.

So, let's get started. The two primary schools of thought on the right time for a manager.

Read more here!

How to Promote a Local Event

Elmer Thomas

This post takes a look a both the strategy and the tactics for promoting local events: First I discuss some general conventions regarding promoting events, then I elaborate on specific tactics and tools. The goal of this post is to serve as a checklist for anyone that needs to promote a local event.

Strategy

Who, What, When, Why?

Visualize what the final result of the event should look like, clarify the purpose of the event, then determine the actual tasks need to realize that vision. Remember that the actual tasks are secondary to the desired result. With that frame of mind you can maintain flexibility while keeping focused.

Research

Use Google and the "websites where you can post your event" (listed below) to investigate events similar to yours. Google the titles of those events to determine what online marketing channels they used. Search through old emails to examine marketing copy used for other similar successful events.

Read more here!

Using Technology to Stay Competitive

by U.S. Small Business Administration

As a business owner, it is vital that you understand and use advanced technologies. Technology can help increase business efficiency and even expand operations.

Accounting Software

4 Simple Steps for Your Music Marketing Budget

One of the most important things you can do to prepare for the year ahead is to create a budget for your musical activities. Having a budget will give you a much clearer look at where you want to go financially, how you'll get there, and what your progress is along the way.

We've broken down the process into 4 simple steps to help you create a budget:

1. Ask Questions

To help determine what your financial goals for the year will be, first ask yourself some questions:

- Will you be releasing new music this year?

- How will you raise money to pay for the production?

- How will you distribute your music to digital stores?

- How will you promote your music?

- Do you need new promotional photos?

- Are you creating any merch?

- Are you going to buy any new equipment?

- Do you need a new website?

Try to get as clear as you can about everything you would like to do this year, and be sure to write it all down. Writing down your goals will help give you some direction and focus.

2. Determine Expenses

Once you know your goals, write down all of the expenses that you'll need to keep track of:

Cost of Music & Merch

Recording/Mixing/Mastering: Many musicians now record at home rather than go into a studio, so expenses with recording can vary greatly depending on your approach.

CD Duplication / Vinyl pressing / Download Cards: Research how much it will cost to manufacture any physical versions of your album.

Digital distribution: Although minimal, depending on which service you use, there is either an upfront cost or annual recurring cost to distribute your music to iTunes, Amazon, etc.

Merch: How much will it cost to make t-shirts and other merch items?

Read more here!

Practical and Frequently Asked Questions About Art Shows

Maria Arango

"I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's." - William Blake


When I first started the art festival guide I had a somewhat clear organization and, once I decided on the main points to cover, I kept to my outline more or less faithfully. During the course of art festivals, I would think of bits and pieces and almost all of them fit neatly into my chapters...almost. Another phenomenon that occurs in art festivals is that some of us get a lot of visits from artists that want to entertain the idea of embarking upon the art festival adventure. Most of them ask the obvious questions but some pose a few practical and sometimes not so obvious questions. There is so much more to know!

On an average year, whatever that may be, I figure I spend about 30% of my time making art, 30% selling art, 30% on the various business tasks and 30% taking care of the home front. If you notice, that adds up to 120%, not counting sleeping and eating, which is the appropriate amount of time to dedicate to making a living as an artist. Seriously, I have never worked so hard or so long on anything, although the rewards of making a living as a living artist are without question worth every minute of every day and the minutes in between. Nobody said it was going to be easy!

While you are starting out and still not knowing who to ask, I will just answer the most frequent questions that came pouring to my booth and my website and that logically made me fashion this last chapter as a summary of Frequently Asked Questions. They are arranged in no particular order; I simply jotted them down as people asked both in person and online although I guess I tried to address them in order of importance or at least relevance to the business. You might call them tricks of the trade, nuts and bolts, tips from the experienced or frequently asked questions. I will also try to answer them succinctly since I have already explained most points in the previous chapters. Well, I might throw in a story or two, but that's to be expected by now. So here are my loose ends, whatever didn't neatly fit into the previous chapters, I kept for this last one. Now you can't say nobody told you!

Do I need a business license?
Everywhere you go! As a business you will undoubtedly need a business license to operate a business in your own state. Every state is different so the best course of action is to head on over to the website of the Department of Taxation or Department of Revenue for your own state and find out what the licensing requirements are for your particular situation. I know that sounds scary and complicated but most states will simply not let you conduct business without a license and really, aside from paying a fee and the initial application, it's not so bad.

Doing business outside of your own state will often if not always also require a temporary permit or a temporary vendor's license, often for the state, county and/or city. Many of us carry out of state business licenses for every state we work in and renew them yearly. Some are free, some require a nominal yearly fee. The bottom line is that you cannot do business anywhere without a license or permit and playing around with tax authorities is not my idea of fun.

The promoter of the show is usually the best source of information for the required licensing and tax requirements of each show. Many promoters will require a state license number with applications, some will include the county/city license fee with the application, others do not. Ultimately it may be up to you to investigate and obtain the proper permits and pay the proper taxes, which neatly leads me to the next question.

Read more!

How to Get Your Event Noticed

Julie Cochrane

Adding your event for free in the FestivalNet.com database is a great first step! You're on your way to getting noticed in a big way as we get over 750,000+ monthly visitors! Be sure your listing has a great description and your event details are accurate and complete. Here are some additional ways to increase your exposure.

Co-Promote with FestivalNet

We offer some sweet co-promotion opportunities! You scratch our back, we scratch yours! You get free Featured Event exposure for your event in exchange for promoting FestivalNet! Learn more here.

Featured Events

Place your event at the top of the general search results and on the FestivalNet.com Featured Events Map. Top Position Exposure to 750,000+ visitors and 20+ million page views per month! Up to 11 months of exposure for one low price (no reoccurring monthly fees). Your featured event also gains exposure on highly trafficked pages via this button ad on the left throughout our site. Learn more here.

Advertising

You can also buy advertising like Banner, Button, or Newsletter ads. View our very reasonable rates and learn more here.

Social Media

Also, enjoy the benefit of our ever-growing Facebook presence. Feel free to shout out your show's website there: http://www.facebook.com/festivalnet - keep it conversational and personal and be sure to say hey! On Twitter? We will also retweet you if you include us in your tweet! Find us there as @_festivalnet

Newsletter Content

Maybe someone on your festival staff is a good writer and can contribute an article for one of our monthly newsletters! Peruse our archives to see what topics we publish: https://festivalnet.com/articles/index.html Your author's byline can include links to your website! It's a great way to increase your SEO too.

Read more here!

8 Simple Ways to Cook Up New Customers On Facebook & Twitter

Chris Ford

It's no denying that social media has become a massive tool of leverage for tech savvy entrepreneurs hungry to reach new and current customers.

What started out as a tool for Ivy League college kids looking to connect, hook-up and build community has grown into a multi-billion network of fans, friends and followers translating to billions of dollars in sales for small business owners around the globe.

So in today's article I want to give you some quick marketing tips for connecting with your fans and attracting more customers to your mobile food truck or concession stand using two of the most powerful social networks on the internet today. Facebook and Twitter.

4 Ways To Get The Most Out Of Facebook:

1. Set up albums to store your images within your Facebook account. You can share photos of your menu items, playful images of your family, friends, co-workers, even customers at the booth or waiting in line etc.

2. Provide links to your website and/or blog. In addition post links to any articles or reviews written about you as well as media/press coverage you receive. You can also post daily menu specials and coupons that you offer.

3. Find, "like" and invite your friends to "like' your Facebook page. By doing a simple search within Facebook you'll uncover dozens if not hundreds of special interest groups (now referred to as "pages" that you can join and network directly with other like-minded or like interested individuals. Check out these examples:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/LEMONADE-MOREINC-FRESH-DOUGH-PIZZA
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pences-Carmel-Corn-Shoppe

4. Consider registering a custom URL (web address) for your Facebook page, think of it like a personalized license plate. You or your web designer can set this up fairly quickly through a domain registration service like Godaddy.com. The reason why may want to consider this option? Branding capability for your business. In addition it makes easier for new visitors to find you. See an example in action and if you like what you see: "Like Us" at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stitches-n-Dishes.

These are just four ways to you can use Facebook to create connection and grow your fan base. But let's not forget about Twitter.

Twitter is another powerful social networking platform that admittedly can take a little while to build traction, but once you do - the results can be explosive. If you're not familer with Twitter it's basically a "micro blog" all this means is that you're only allowed to publish tight, concise tidbits of information, limited to 140 characters.

Now I realize that 140 characters doesn't seem like much, but think of this way, when you're limited to how much you can share, you're forced to get to the point quickly.

When you publish a 'Tweet' to your followers your primary goal should be to engage the reader about your current activities. For example: you can tweet your schedule, your location, daily specials etc. If you've recently received a favorable review or press mention you can publish it to your blog and then tweet about it by including the link to the direct location where the content is stored on your blog or website. Finally if the URL is too long consider using a shortener service like: http://tinyurl.com or http://bitly.com for example.

Below is an example of a tweet that a mobile food vendor would do on a typical day:

@grlldcheesetruk: Menu suggestion: New brie melt! double cream brie, smoked pork loin, peach preserves and fresh thyme on black peppercorn potato bread!

Imagine the power of posting something like this to your followers. Now imagine how many customers would show up at your booth or truck to try this sandwich.

Read more here!

How to Deal with those Dreaded Shipping Costs

Carolyn Edlund

We know that the wait can feel like forever after you've submitted your application to a prospective event. And not hearing back at all can feel very discouraging. But fear not! We've compiled some trade-secrets to help you get ahead of the pack, improve your response rate, and get accepted to more events! Do you hate the thought of paying for shipping? If so, join a group that includes everyone you know. Overcome these charges by thinking a bit differently and taking a new approach.

 

Here's how to work around those issues.

 

A few years back, when I was working as a sales rep for art publishers and giftware manufacturers, I assisted a young business owner in her booth at the New York Gift Show. She set up her display of handmade journals and leather goods, and placed a large sign announcing a special offer of "10% discount on all orders placed at the show." As the day progressed, response to her special was lukewarm at best.

How to NOT get Screwed while Working as a Freelance Artist

Alex Soare for emptyeasel.com

Read more!

10 Social Media Mistakes Bands Make

1) Your Call To Actions Are Too Frequent

2) You Are TOO Humble

3) You Say What You Think People Want To Hear

4) You Aren't Asking Questions

Read more here!

Liability Insurance for Food Vendors: What to Know

the writing team of FLIP Insurance

If you own a mobile food vending truck, mobile barbeque stand, ice cream cart, small snack bar in a park, sell at a farmers market or participate in shows/festivals/ special events as a food vendor, then you are in food vending industry.

When doing research on the internet about food liability insurance or food vendor liability insurance you can find a lot of important information on forums, with questions and answers written by people like you. Let's then take a look into the most important details so that your food vending business brings you only profit and peace of mind.

First of all, let's establish what food liability insurance means. There are many types of insurance you may need for your food business, but as a vendor you will need liability insurance for sure! Even if you don't feel you are a huge liability factor, it's important to be prepared for any incident.

Read more here!