Optimizing time spent on digital marketing by working with online galleries 

As we saw in the above section, artists are spending much of their time outside of  art creation on social media and website management. As an artist today, it’s  essential to know how to efficiently and effectively utilize social media and other  digital marketing approaches to build your audience, brand, and reputation. Working with an online gallery can help, as their curators and marketing professionals can help boost your work through social media, paid advertising, email, and, for more established galleries, through website and search ranking, more advertising spend, and better PR. This can give artists back time to create. 

Utilize both physical and online galleries 

Working with physical and online galleries shouldn’t be an either/or, but a both/and,  as brick-and-mortar and online sales complement, not cannibalize, each other.  Artists should consider using both channels to sell their work, giving them more  options and opportunities to grow their reputation, reach a much larger, more global  audience, and increase the ability to make a living from their art. Many online  galleries also have real world components to them, such as art fairs, that can  contribute to an artist’s overall exposure. 

Price your work consistently and accurately 

One of the biggest challenges to artists is pricing your artwork accurately — and  pricing it inaccurately could cost sales and needed income. As you look to price your work, consider its medium, size, the collector demand, your reputation, whether the work is unique or editioned, and other unique aspects. Always factor in the time and  labor that went into making your artwork, too. If you’re unsure where to start, or have  had challenges pricing in the past, a curator or art advisor can also help guide you on the best pricing for your works as well. 

Find an audience by telling your story 

As you begin to leverage digital marketing and online tools to promote your work  and find your audience, you will need to learn how to write and talk about your work.  Collectors want to connect not only with the artwork, but also with the artist behind  that work. That means sharing your artistic process and inspiration, and learning  how to tell your story authentically. Mastering this will make self-promotion on social  media much easier — whether it be through writing posts, sharing videos, or going  live through IG stories, Twitter Spaces, Discord, and other interactive platforms —  and can help you build confidence in your art to combat feelings of insecurity. 

Creating NFTs to diversify income and audience 

Finally, artists can find new audiences and income by being open to new mediums  and means of expression, especially in the realm of digital art. Creating NFTs could  be a valuable way to build your career, even if you’re not a digital artist — many  artists working with a physical medium like sculpture or photography, or something  more intangible like performance art, can also partake. NFTs hold the promise of  new income streams and royalties, and might expose you to audiences you never  thought you’d have.