Become a blogger to highlight your painter’s universe
Were you born an artist or did you become one? If some have predispositions and audacity to embark on an artistic career, others are more cautious. Being recognized for his expertise and his creativity as a painter is a possible objective, do not doubt it. The Internet is an open door to the abundant world of art, you just have to push it to enter it. Creating a painter’s blog is the most appropriate way to make your passion and talent known. Why get started in the blogosphere can bring you clear visibility? How to proceed to avoid tangling the brushes? This is what we will see in this article.
Combine complementary communication media: website, blog and social networks
Website
It is first of all necessary to distinguish the way in which the web ecosystem is articulated, in particular the main channels for the dissemination of information. The most classic is the website which acts as a showcase. Creating a site to present your activity, your works and explain who you are is a great idea. It may be fed with some novelties from time to time.
However, it may not generate continuous and growing traffic if it is not regularly refreshed. A showcase website, even well referenced thanks to natural referencing techniques (SEO), is a rather fixed communication medium. However, the algorithms of search engines like Google get tired of little renewed content, and will tend to no longer index the site.
The blog
The blog can be independent of a website or integrated into it as a section in its own right under the name “blog” or “news”. It usually consists of categories, labels (or tags) and dated posts (or “tickets”) that can be written in advance and scheduled. There are also user comments. This last specificity will allow you, as an artist painter blogger, to open up to your public, to respond to it and thus to get closer to it. Then begins a real interactive relationship with your audience…
Social networks
Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc., are all opportunities to be able to show up on the web and make your work known. You can share your latest blog post there, address the community that follows you directly, and above all expand your circle of subscribers thanks to the “friends” of your followers that you could seduce. This will help bring you flow. Jackpot for SEO and for your notoriety!
To sum up: the website informs, the blog animates and federates, the social network diffuses.
It is highly recommended to combine these three-communication media. You will thus put all the chances on your side to widely distribute your creations, and perhaps even live one day from your art…
Go further in SEO
Backlinks, Hen tags, Alt attributes, copywritten titles, internal linking… Does natural referencing jargon scare you? In your eyes, does it represent a colossal investment of time and energy, or is it simply not of interest to you? However, in front of the plethora of blogs offered on the Internet, your referencing of yours is essential to hope to be visible on the web.
Fortunately, the SEO web editor is there. This optimization specialist will be able to advise you or write traffic-generating content for you. Using the services of ghostwriting services is not an expense, it’s an investment.
You are ready to create a painter’s blog, manage it and update it independently. This challenge is within your reach, do not doubt it. The secret is to be yourself and to offer authentic content while respecting certain technical rules. No trompe-l’oeil in your blog! Each artist is unique, and each talent has its place on the Internet, but it must be the best possible to succeed in living from his art. The words of Paul Cézanne will bring this chapter to a marvelous close: “It is not a question of painting life, but of making painting alive”. It’s your turn!
Make your artistic activity take off thanks to blogging
Arouse the interest of internet users keen on painting or beginners
As you will have understood, the blog is a powerful marketing tool accessible to all, which improves online visibility as publications are published. Each article anchors your presence on the Net a little more. Whatever your artistic project: gaining notoriety, selling your works or simply sharing your passion, you have to offer quality content.
They must be clear, informative, entertaining, embellished with pretty photos and above all meet a need. Thus, you will be able to reach a large audience which will perhaps turn into customers later. This technique which aims to attract the customer rather than to get it is called inbound marketing.
Build customer loyalty through expertise and creativity
The blog is the ideal place to promote your knowledge and know-how. You will show that you master your subject and receive feedback from Internet users. It may take some time to gather a virtual audience, you have to be patient and persevering. Be regular and redouble your inventiveness in the themes of your publications. Each ticket should be an appointment, a surprise, a small gift from the painter to the people who follow him.
Are you running out of ideas for topics to cover in your posts? There are, however, an infinite number of them. Here are some examples:
- mini report on your current exhibition;
- sharing of an artistic collaboration and common works carried out;
- feedback on a painting workshop led by you with a specific audience;
- crush on an artist;
- extract from your travel diary: sketches, sketches, etc.;
- tips such as “How to fix blank canvas syndrome?” »;
- tutorials on the different painting techniques or the choice of medium: watercolor, oil, acrylic, etc.;
- trends and inspirations of current artistic creations;
- interview or press cutting concerning you;
- self-painted greeting card to download and print as a gift;
- current table;
- upcoming projects.
Generate a source of income by monetizing your blog
When you have captured the attention of Internet users who read you, that they are loyal and trust you, your blog can be a vector of remuneration. We talk about “monetization”. You can promote and sell your productions, courses and painting courses there.
You then work on your own account. It is also possible to earn a living by opting for affiliation. This method consists of selling a product or service for others, in exchange for a commission.
By comparing the placement of physical products and the promotion of digital products (e-book, training, etc.), there is a clear pecuniary advantage in favor of this second option. Be careful, however, to remain credible by offering quality service.
Google AdSense type advertising will only earn you little money, unless your blog has a significant number of visits. In addition, sites whose reading is polluted with advertising inserts are often not well perceived by Internet users. This remuneration option is therefore not to be preferred.
Create a painter’s blog in a few clicks
Draw up a checklist for your blogging project
Before starting as a blogger, you must define a few essential points:
- the purpose of your blog;
- the name of your blog;
- the editorial line (tone, style, “you” or familiarity, etc.): guaranteeing the harmonization of content;
- the headings you want to set up;
- a list of topic ideas and a few pre-written articles;
- an editorial schedule to publish regularly.
This list is an essential draft to successfully complete your entry into the blogosphere.
opt for a practical and flexible technical solution
The turnkey blog
You don’t have to be a coding whiz to start creating a blog. Anyone with an ounce of curiosity can achieve this without any special technical skills. You can use a blogging platform like Wax or Squarespace which offers you a ready-to-use blog already hosted: practical, simple, free, but limited and not very customizable.
The paid versions offer more options; however, you will always remain dependent on the restrictive aspect of these platforms. However, your blog as a painter may have to evolve…
The most common: CMS + hosting
The other possibility is to turn to a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress, Joomla or Typo3. The latter require finding accommodation, but above all they have many advantages over the first solution. In addition to being open source, they are free, flexible, easy to customize and offer a lot of features.
As far as web hosts are concerned, the best known are Ionos, Ho stinger or OVH. You will buy your domain name from one of them for a few euros per year and will be able to access the management interface of your blog 24 hours a day from any computer. WordPress.org is the most successful and widely used blogging platform in the world, especially for monetization. Be careful not to confuse it with wordpress.com, which is more restrictive.
Animate your artistic blog sustainably and make your place in the blogosphere
Know the profile of your readers
Eventually, when your painter’s blog will be a few months old, you will be able to study your audience and find out how the Internet user behaves when browsing: which publications interest him the most, how much time he spends on average on your pages, etc. The Google Search Console is a free tool offered by the web giant, easy to use, which will give you an overview of organic traffic. This study will be valuable to better target the needs of your readers and post relevant posts.
Expand your community
There is an effective way to encourage visitors to your blog to leave you their email address: the opt-in. Do not hesitate to install one in the form of a pop-up window or an insert at the edge of the page. This will allow you to better communicate with your audience, grow and retain your community.
The Internet user who agrees to give you his email generally finds interest in your blog or in what it offers in exchange. It’s up to you to define what to bait him with. By receiving a newsletter from you, it is very likely that he will read it and come back to visit you. He then becomes a potential customer, much more interesting than a passing visitor.