There are two big complaints I hear from artists who don’t want to use social media.

1.    It’s a waste of time.
2.    It takes too much time.

©2010 Don Sullivan, Loretta Waits for Taxi. Pen and ink, 14 x 14 inches.

To address the first point, social media can easily be a waste of time if you don’t use it correctly, don’t enjoy it, or neglect your primary obligations for your business.

You will never hear me say that social media is the answer for all of your marketing.

Nor will you hear me say that you have to be on Twitter, Facebook, or any other platforms. The truth is that these platforms aren’t for everyone. You have to find a good fit.

To the first point, social media takes only as much time as you give it. If you spend 4 hours a day on Facebook, it’s not Facebook’s fault.

If you’re willing to give social media a little time, but find it hard to maintain, try squeezing these simple 5-minute tasks into your schedule.

5-Minute Social Media Tasks

• Upload a new image to your Facebook fan page and respond to comments on your page.
• Comment on Facebook pages where you want to be noticed (e.g. galleries, niche markets, and museums). Remember to comment as your page on other pages.
• If you haven’t switched over to the new timeline format on Facebook, read how. It’s quick and painless, and it won’t be an option in the future, so you might as well join the party.
• Add an event or two to your timeline on Facebook – especially if it’s about your art.
• Share someone else’s blog post or article on Google+.
• Leave an insightful comment on someone else’s blog.
• Respond to comments on your blog.
• Recommend someone on LinkedIn and leave a recommendation on a business page on Facebook.
• Send a current Twitter update and retweet two others from your Twitter stream.
• Post-date three tweets using your favorite scheduling service, like HootSuite or TweetDeck.
• Review your profile on one of your social media sites. Can you freshen it up by adding a colorful word or deleting a ho-hum one?
• Streamline the photo albums on your Facebook fan page. Do the album categories make sense? Is it time to delete some of the images?

The reasons for keeping such a list nearby are to remind you of little tasks that can have a big impact and to help you stay on task and not get sidetracked on these sites.

Remember, just spend 5 minutes on these social media tasks, and then get back to work. You have bigger, more important things to accomplish.

PS: The Blast Off online class for artists begins today! Join us and rev up your New Year.

Use a photo of you for your personal profile on Facebook and an image of your art for your business page.

Yes, it’s nice to see artists’ faces (I agree! I like to see faces, too), but are you promoting your face or your art?

When people visit your art page, you want them to be wowed immediately. You want your page to scream, “I’m an artist! And I’m a damn good artist!”

As pretty or handsome as you might be, your art should be the star here.

The #1 Reason

The main reason you use your art as your image on your business page is this:

When you comment on other pages as your page, you leave an image of your art on those pages. If someone likes it, they might click on it.

I know of at least one artist who commented as her page on my Facebook page and was then asked to show her art at a gallery. The gallery saw the image next to her comment and contacted her.

This wouldn’t have happened if she had left a picture of herself next to her comment.

To confirm: face on personal profile and art on business page.

At one of my book events in Boulder, Colorado, an artist in the audience mentioned her frustrations with being an introvert on Twitter. She feared saying something that she might regret later.

I imagine there are many other artists out there who feel the same way she does.

As I was fumbling to respond to the concerns, audience member Andrea Meyer, a writer, entered the discussion. She  said that she loves Twitter so much precisely because she’s an introvert.

I was intrigued enough to ask for a follow-up phone interview with Andrea, who obliged.

Andrea said that in social situations, it’s often hard for introverts to think on their feet.

Introverts often can’t get a word in edgewise in an in-person group conversation. The extroverts are taking charge while the introverts are churning over their response.

After a little time has passed, it’s too late to speak up. The conversation has moved on.

Not so with Twitter or other forms of social media.

Twitter seems like an instant platform, but it actually gives you a little time to respond and still participate in the conversation.

It’s a level playing field. Introverts get just as much screen space as extroverts.

Are you an introvert?

Is Twitter (or another social media site) a perfect platform for introverts?

Philadelphia’s Rosenfeld Gallery is providing videos for their artists. This is a fantastic service for the artists and a smart use of video by the gallery (though they didn’t add their brand to the footage).

After dropping in on an opening there, I was delighted that one of the artists, Eliza Auth, sent me a link to her video.

Why I Like It

While this video is longer than what would be ideal (7 minutes compared to 2 for our short attention spans), it is compelling.

It features high-quality artwork, great lighting, and professional photography. AND, Eliza speaks with clarity and confidence.

Notice, too, the textures of the footage: artwork close up, room scans, people (old and young), voices, and the pleasant music track.

I stuck with it to the end.

It’s not very easy to find out little secrets about how things work on Facebook and Twitter.

Here are a few things I’ve learned that have made me feel more confident in my presence on those sites.

Twitter

• The photo strip on the top of your Facebook page and profile consists of images that are 97 pixels wide and 68 pixels high.
• Manual posts outrank automated posts.

Twitter

• Create a custom Twitter background to show off your art on your profile page. Your design in the left column of your Twitter background should be about 200 pixels wide.
• When your tweet begins with an @Name, it is seen only in the streams of people who are following both you and the @Name.

What secrets have you learned that have made you feel like you know what you’re doing on Facebook and Twitter?

It’s not just you. Everyone is overwhelmed by all of the options for online marketing.

In today’s Art Marketing Action newsletter, I provide PEARLS of social media wisdom. Here’s a sneak peek.

©2008 Angela Piehl, Pearls Kiss. Oil on birch panel, 36 x 48 inches.

Pick a Platform
Engage
Acknowledge
Respond
Listen
Share and Sell

What pearls of wisdom do you have to share about using social media for your art career?

For a closer look at each of the PEARLS, subscribe to the Art Marketing Action newsletter before the next edition comes out. The current edition will be emailed to you upon confirmation of your subscription.

Class Starts Today

Just a reminder that the Blast Off online class begins today. It’s not too late to join. Get the scoop.

Does your Facebook presence show your friends and fans that you’re going places with your art?

Here are 4 quick things you can use to improve your professional presence on Facebook.

1. Connect Your Biz Page to Your Profile

You want your friends to become fans, right? Make it easy on them! Lisa Call outlines how to show everyone you have your own art business in this article.

2. Add a Welcome Page

What do first-time visitors see when they visit your page? Is it your Wall by default? Facebook expert Mari Smith says custom Welcome (or “landing”) pages result in a 47% conversion rate! I recently added my first Welcome page, which first-time visitors see.

(If you’re already a fan, click on “Welcome” in the left sidebar to see what it looks like for you.)

I had a lot of help with this process by referring to Nithya Swaminathan’s guest post.

3. Curate Your Images

You want excellent images of your art – like Frances Vettergreen’s page – to show up in the stream at the top of your page. The more cohesive your images are, the splashier your page will look.

If you have images you don’t want to show up in your image stream, remove them by hovering over the image’s upper right corner and then clicking on the X.

4. Bonus: Recommend a Business

Social media is all about being friendly and generous. Now Facebook lets you recommend businesses in the right sidebar of business pages.

If you’re a fan of, oh, let’s say Art Biz Coach, you can add a recommendation on my business page. This is a nice thing to do for businesses that have done right by you.

Note: Facebook only allows you to write recommendations from your personal profile – not as your business page identity.

You’ll be fine-tuning your online presence in my Social Media Immersion workshops in Golden, CO and Philadelphia, PA this fall.
Get the details and sign up before early registration ends.

Guest blogger: Nithya Swaminathan

If you have a business page on Facebook, follow these instructions to create a custom welcome page.

The image at right is what you will see when you visit Fine Art by Nithya Swaminathan and aren’t already a fan of my page. If you are a fan, then you will see the “Wall” by default and you can click on “Welcome” to your left to see this same welcome page.

Why custom?

• When someone visits your facebook page for the first time, this page will give them and introduction to your work.
• You can feature your best work on the welcome page, instead of a visitor having to go through all your albums to find them.
• You can list all of your important links, like your blog, website, and online store.
• You can include a call to action, as I have, requesting visitors to like the page.
• You can inform them about your newsletter or other events and opportunities.

To design a personalized welcome landing page in 30 minutes, follow these steps.

Step 1: Select an App

• There are many apps like Pagemodo, Custom Welcome Tab, Static FBML that can be used to create a custom welcome page. Try searching “custom” to see many more.
• My page uses “Pagemodo,” because it provided an impressive array of options, including page templates.
• After you have made your selection, authorize the app with your credentials and proceed.

Step 2: Choose Your Page Template

Select a template that offers video, images, or whatever other types of content you wish to display on the landing page. I wanted to showcase as many images of my work as possible, so I went for a template that let me add 7 images.

Step 3: Add Content to Your Page

The app provides a rich text editor to add text, images, links and format them. Just scroll down and add each page element.

After adding each image, there is an image editor that lets you crop and edit.

A hyperlink can be added to every image and text box. Other elements like text color, background color, and font style can also be customized.

Play around with the app to arrive and something that you really like.

Step 4: Complete Your Welcome Page and Install It

• You could select a free or a paid option. I think the free version is good enough.
• When you scroll down and click “Install,” the link for your custom page is added to your menu.

• Now in your fan page, select Edit Page and go to “Manage Permissions.”
• In the “Default Landing Tab” dropdown box, select the page you just designed.
• Save your changes.

Voilà! You are done! A first-time visitor to your page will see a personalized page with all the information that you would like someone to know about your work.

Go ahead and personalize your page! Play around with more apps, more styles and design it the way you like it.

About the Author

Nithya Swaminathan is an Indian artist living in Germany. She paints bold and vibrant scenes from everyday life using a palette knife. Her work is in private collections in the US, Europe and Asia.

Nithya invites you to see her welcome page and become a fan on Facebook.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a virtual rock, you’ve been hearing a lot about Google+ (a.k.a. G+) over the past couple of weeks. You’ve also been seeing more +1 buttons popping up on your favorite sites, like at the bottom of posts here on the Art Biz Blog.

The Google +1 button is Google’s answer to the “Like” button. As they say on their site, clicking on the +1 button is like saying “this is pretty cool.”

The initial buzz on G+ is good. This means that more and more people will be using it, which means that you should have a presence.

Even if you decide to hold off on digging into G+, you can still complete your Google profile. If you have a free profile on Google, it will be among the top results in a search for your name. As G+ gains traction, more and more people will land on your profile.

Complete your Google profile to take control of your story online.

To get started, you will need:

• A free Google account. Some people will tell you that you need a Gmail account, but I used my business email to set up my Google account. I’m unclear as to whether or not some of the perks disappear if the Gmail account isn’t attached.
• A picture of yourself.
• 15 minutes to fill in the blanks.

In 6 steps, you can upgrade your Google presence.

1. Go to https://profiles.google.com/ and click on Create an Account or log in to your existing Google account.
2. Select Edit Profile.
3. Add a photo of yourself – or two or three.
4. Respond to the 13 questions (or as many as you care to respond to) under About. Most require or only need very short answers, and the rest should be as brief as possible. Let your personality shine here!
5. Click on Links in the right sidebar and add your website, blog, and other social media accounts.
6. Scroll down to the bottom of the Edit Profile “About” page and note your Google+ URL.

Don’t worry if you can’t finish it all in one sitting. You can always go back and edit.

Just when you think you have it all covered with Facebook and Twitter, Google is taking another stab at the world of social networking. And because they are Google, you can’t discount them. Take 15 minutes to upgrade your Google presence.

Are you using G+? Tell us about your experience on the Art Biz Blog:
http://artbizblog.com/2011/07/google-profile.html

Click on the button at right to see my G+ profile.

Spam isn’t just . . .

Sending bulk email to those who haven’t requested it.

Spam is also . . .

Leaving all of your links in a comment on someone else’s blog. When you sign in to post a comment on a blog, you leave a URL, which automatically hyperlinks your name to your site. Don’t add extra links in your comment unless you are pointing other readers to a related resource.

Promoting your art, your product, or your event on a Facebook profile or page that isn’t your own. If you’d like to cross-promote, ask. Don’t presume.

Think about another Facebook page as someone’s billboard or flyer. Posting your promotion is like writing over their message or tacking your flyer on top of theirs. Not nice. And it might get you banned from a page and reported to the Facebook overlords.

Tagging people who aren’t in your Facebook photo. The only reason to do this is to appear on someone else’s page. See above.

Using someone’s @Name in your tweet when they have nothing to do with what you’re tweeting about. The only reason to do this is to appear in their @Mentions stream.

Promoting yourself in an autoresponse to new followers on Twitter. Using an automated response for people who follow you on Twitter was the rage about 3 or 4 years ago. Then we found out how annoying they are. They junk up our Direct Messages columns and are almost always self-promotional. Not good for a social media platform.

Are you spamming people? Stop it.