How have you used Google Alerts?

Today’s Art Marketing Action newsletter tells you how to use Google Alerts to keep tabs on your art career. How have you used them and what have you found out as a result?

Comments

[Maria Peagler]

Alyson -
I would love to read this topic, but the link doesn't work. Can you try it again? Thanks.

[Lisa Call]

Yep - I use google alerts. In addition to my name and a few other things you listed in your newsletter I also have alerts set for my website urls and my email address.

[Cynthia Morris]

Okay, thanks for the Monday morning freak-out. I always knew there were a handful of Cynthia Morrises out there, but I had never thought of looking at the images. Wacky! There is one who is a talented artist, another who is a singer, several secretaries and a doctor.
I've recovered from this Twilight Zone moment and added a few Google alerts. Thanks for the great tip!

[Alyson B. Stanfield]

Love freaking out my coach!

[Rebecca Finch]

I was very excited to see that if someone wants to find me, they can. The majority of the links on the page point to me at my little blogspot. There is one Rebecca Finch that is also an artist, but thankfully, I don't think she has attended an art marketing workshop, yet. (sad for her, good for me). ~Sorry, that sounded mean. I didn't mean it that way.

If she does become more prominent on the art scene, should I consider adding my middle initial to create some distinction, especially because she's in my field? Or should I go to "Becky" - what all my friends call me?

Thanks
~Rebecca

[Jennie Rosenbaum]

I use google alerts to monitor my name and the genre my art falls in but also to find source material for my blog - it keeps me abreast of the news headlines I'm interested in and also keeps me in touch with the things other bloggers are writing about. I couldn't live without my google alerts!

[Paula]

I have been using google alerts for some time now. I have found people selling some of my older prints on ebay and had to email them to set them straight. They had me listed as a Navajo artist, which I am not. It also has made me aware of some older directory listings that I needed to update. Google alerts is a great tool!

[Margret Short]

Alyson, Thanks for the great information. Because I am currently working on my "Rembrandt and the Golden Age of Dutch Art" project, I used your link, and set up a google alert for 17th Century Dutch Art. It will be interesting to see what happens. I also used the google image link and found there are many of my paintings listed although some are attributed to me but not mine. I can see how this can happen because I am a member of the Salmagundi Club too, but it looks like they put my name under another artist's painting. But all the other information was correct. Thanks again, Margret

[Matt Searles]

In some of the marketing podcasts I've been following they talked about getting your google alerts onto rss, so you could subscribe to it via an rss reader.. and thus not have to deal with all the extra email.. and I'm wondering if you might now how they do that! I'd ask the podcasters, but I don't remember where I heard this...

[Alyson B. Stanfield]

Wouldn't that be cool, Matt? Let's find out!

[Julie Thompson]

I've been doing something sort of similar for a few of years now, in webhit tracking and site stats through my website host/provider. It allows me to see where my visitors came from; whether it's a search engine (and it lists the words they used in their search), a link from another url, a link that was emailed, or a direct hit. It also provides their geographic location. This tells me what show venues or new gallery representation has stirred up interest when I suddenly see a lot more searches/hits coming from a specific area. The search-engine information is extremely valuable, letting me know what metatags are working well in making me easily found.

[Elsa Bluethner]

Thanks for the "google alerts" information. I tried to set up my alerts but to no avail. I will try again. I need "google alerts for dummies" or it just takes me days and days to figure it out. Unless somebody can give me a tip...