Be a Creative Paddleboat

I often tell artists to spread their communication and promotional efforts as wide as they can. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. You should never give up, though. For example, one of the ways in which you can use communication channels to stimulate interest in your work, is simply to utilize as many communication channels as possible. Broadcast your message. The law of averages is in your favor that there will be interest by a few.

What I mean by communication channels, is essentially any current medium of "broadcasting". Picture your web site as the hub of a great big wheel. Picture that wheel as the paddlewheel on an old Mississippi paddleboat from early in the last century. The spokes of that wheel could be:

• Blogs
• Web sites
• Mailing list
• Linked-In
• Facebook
• Cell phones
• Press releases
• Articles
• Associations

All of these spokes of the wheel lead outward from the hub, and as the wheel turns through the river of communication people utilize, the paddles begin to pick up interest which drips back down those spokes to the hub.

Recently, because I chose to write about my interests on LinkedIn.com, a social and business network I belong to, Artsyshark.com picked up on it and I subsequently garnered a very nice write-up about my art, my book, and the free course in promotion I offer. Now, I probably would never have made that connection were it not for the fact that I constantly broadcast the fact that I'm an artist. And, why not?

Many of the people I meet for the first time have never met an artist. We're interesting creatures and a bit foreign to most. As soon as I put a name and face to the profession though, I humanize it and make art, especially my art approachable. Fine art is not a foreign, exotic commodity.

Even though I'm currently in a gallery, the gallery world is not my first venue; the web site is. It is my gallery which is open 24-7 and viewers can come and browse with no pressure. A gallery, while performing a useful function is limited in scope due to its physical location. I on the other hand, am unlimited in where I can be at any given time.

I do that through communication channels, and I suggest you do the same. Be a paddleboat and churn through the river of communication just waiting for you to partake of it. You may find as I do, that to promote your art is every bit as creative as producing it.