As a writer, I am NEVER out of fresh ideas, but I often find myself out of TIME when it comes to implementing them all. Most artists however, while never out of ideas for creating art, often struggle with what to share on their blogs.
Below you will find 6 blogging ideas to help keep you posting on a regular schedule:
1. Works in Progress
Artists who work solely on large orders or create works for publications often complain about having to go weeks, even months, before sharing their work. A “work in progress” post can fill in those gaps.
By sharing a small, unidentifiable section of the work, followed by a one or two sentence caption, you’ve just created a super-quick post and given your readers something to “keep an eye out for.”
2. Completed Works
New artists always struggle with sharing their art online, for fear of it being “ripped off”. Veteran artists, however, have discovered that the only way to sell their art is to share it. The key is to make sure images posted online have a lower resolution and include a copyright notice.
When posting your completed work online, it is a good idea to include a story with your art. A simple story might explain how creating the work made you feel, or how you came up with the idea for the piece. Or, share something more complex, like a technique you used in creating the work.
3. Techniques
Although beginning artists learn new techniques from other artists, art instructors, books, and videos, they sometimes hesitate to share the new techniques that they’ve discovered along the way for fear of creating “new competition”.
Veteran artists, however, know that it is very rare that a new idea is literally a “new” idea; and that sharing not only builds an audience but also builds relationships—relationships which can open doors to wonderful, new opportunities.
If you’ve discovered an easier way of doing something, if you’ve found a more environmentally friendly alternative, or if you’ve found a new toy to play with, share your experience. But don’t just talk about the product or technique. . . give a quick tutorial. (This can also work for step-by-step project tutorials and product reviews.)
4. Media Exposure
It seems to me that many artists are modest souls who prefer that their work speak for itself; however, art cannot get sold if nobody knows where to buy it, where to see it, or where to experience it.
So whether you’ve been published in a magazine, featured in a blog, or asked to speak at a local group, share your news with your readers and include an active link and/or image of the published work. Don’t forget to tell your readers when you’ll be selling your art at an art fair or teaching at a workshop. Give times, dates, and locations to those public events.
5. Struggles
Every business person, from artist to shopkeeper, knows that whining accomplishes nothing. Complaining about one’s life or focusing solely on the negatives can often distance people, including buyers. On the other hand, many successful bloggers have discovered that sharing how they’ve triumphed over a personal struggle actually draws people in.
The trick is to share struggles that relate to your business and to your art. Share how you struggled with a certain technique and then how you overcame it. Share how you struggled with your fear of speaking in front of people but overcame that fear so that you could teach a week-end workshop.
6. Kharma
One of the great benefits of being an artist is the feeling of belonging. The art community is made up of very generous souls who believe in the philosophy of “kharma” and therefore strive to “pay it forward” whenever possible.
As an artist yourself, you can share in this philosophy by introducing your readers to those who’ve influenced you in the past and in the present. You could do a quick 5 question interview and feature it on your blog or you could share an image of an artist’s work (with permission, of course) along with a brief caption on why you like that piece and a link to the artist’s site.
In the end, the most important thing to remember is that your blog is an extension of who you are as an artist. If you don’t try to be anything or anyone but “you” then your blog will quickly become a natural extension of your life and your art—and that’s something worth reading about.