The art of online Promotion

Whether you are an artist, gallery owner or publisher, selling fine art can be a tough business. Any artist or gallery can tout himself as the hottest thing on the market, and any gallery can claim they represent the next greatest artist on the market; but there is nothing that can separate the self proclaimed from the real players like recognition and sales. Fortunately the easiest way to score both is just a mouse click away.

Today, on line promotion is an essential part of any art professional’s job. It use to be only those with technical knowledge could create an on line presence. But today there are many affordable and easy formats that are simple and affordable.

1. Create a website. A website is essential.  From registering your name to building a website there are countless resources. Godaddy and Bluehost both let you register a domain name and design your site from a number of professional templates.  Word press is a free site that once you have your domain name registered offers many free templates and designs to choose from.
   1. You can use your website to announce your shows
   2. Give information on how to buy a painting.
   3. Utilize Social Media Tools like Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn.
      1. On Facebook you can create a fan page where you can show your work in progress, update others on gallery events and keep in touch with fellow artists. You can also get valuable feedback with the like and not like icons. Encourage everyone you meet to follow your work on line and if they like use the like icons. The more likes the more traffic is driven to your site.
      2. You can tie twitter to your blog and website and it notifies those that follow you whenever you put in new information.
      3. LinkedIn is a great way to keep in touch with the larger art community.
      4. Making vides of yourself painting or working and posting them on your website or YouTube is another way to get your name out there. Many artists have noticed that when they are present in the galleries their work tends to sell faster. This is another way for a potential art collector to see your work in progress. People are more likely to buy your art when they feel engaged.
         1. Videotaping yourself is easy with most phones and ipads equipped with built in videos, or invest in a small video camera.
         2. You can include a video in your Holiday cards.
         3. You can make a video that tours your studio or a video of you painting on location.
         4. Whatever you decide, create a script and stick with it.  Then use free programs and applications like iMovie or YouTube video editor that makes the process simple.
         5. Once the video is complete upload it on your website or Facebook.
         6. Send email blasts, just be careful not to overdo it and send too many. Constant Contact is still one of the easiest and most popular platforms for email blasts.
         7. The above are just a few of the trends in online marketing and it keeps evolving. The downside is there a large time commitment to keeping your website current. This is not always easy for an artist who would like to be behind their easels, but it  is an important part to being relevant as an artist or a gallery.

(Excerpts taken form Fred Rodgers, jr.-promoting art on line)

Maui Island Giclee can reproduce you child’s art into a
masterpiece on fine art canvas or watercolor. Just in time for that unique
Holiday gift idea. Mention or bring in this coupon and receive a onetime special
pricing set up fee for $50 and prints ready to hang starting from $27.99.

Then have it custom framed, what a wonderful gift for family members that live over seas

“To succeed you need to findsomething to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.”
– Tony Dorsett

Inspiration can be an elusive quality that can’t be forced yet it can be found anywhere if you are open to it. Others think it’s a way to generate ideas, but it is more than ideas. It is being moved to put those ideas
into action.

Inspiration is about finding something that moves you into action. It breathes energy into you so you can take action on it. Its energy is contagious and it inspires action in others. We here at Maui Island Giclee are
creating this blog as a way for us to all connect to what inspires us.

In future blogs we will interview other artists to see what inspires them to keep going, to create, to connect to find meaning in our
lives.

Here are some tips to keep you
inspired:

Read something inspirational
daily – mix it up, from success stories, to blogs, to books and magazines of
all kinds.

Go outdoors – being in nature is
one of the biggest inspirations. Those of us lucky enough to live in Hawaii  have inspiring nature scenes all around us
from our beaches to our beautiful rainforests.

Get to know new people – they’ll
always expose you to new ideas or interesting things, if you’re open to it.

Find time to meditate – creating
time to sit and be silent can be more inspiring that you might think.

Work with inspiring people – find
creative, positive, and energetic people to work with.

Break your routine – take a new
route home. Go to a new coffee shop or restaurant. See things from a different
perspective.

Exercise – or at least get out
for a walk. It helps get ideas moving around and the blood to circulate.

Be Thankful- for your health,
your creative nature, your loved ones. For us here at Maui Island Giclee we are
thankful to come in contact with so many creative individuals in our business.

Personalizing your home or work space with custom framing is a great way to express your personality and to enjoy your surroundings. While others can go to the store and buy the same sofa, tables and lamps that you have, it is highly unlikely anyone will ever have the exact same custom framing as you.

Regardless of what you choose to have framed for your home, whether it is a favorite piece of art, a mirror, an object inherited from an ancestor or anything else, it will add interest to your space. Take a look at these rooms, with and without framed art to see for yourself what a big impact custom framing makes. Suggestions from Larson Juhls frame supplies.

Maui Crafts Guild: HOLIDAY SALE!

Holiday Festivities will glow at the
Maui Crafts Guild starting on November 25.

Enjoy the fun during Paia Town’s Fourth
Friday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM and dig into some yummy treats while checking out
the storewide sale. EVERYTHING is 10% off from November 25 until
November 27.

Fourth Friday will also kick off our
annual Every-Artist-Gift-Basket. Buy a raffle ticket (or two) and 100%
of the proceeds will go toward supporting a Maui non-profit. Every artist in
the store will donate a selection of their hand-made art, from prints to plates
(and jewelry too) to the lucky winner. That’s twenty-one gifts ready-to-go!
More details to follow on the website and facebook.

Maui Crafts Guild is Maui’s only
artist-owned and artist-operated cooperative gallery and is open daily from 10
to 6. Call 579-9697 during hours of operation for more information or look us
up on facebook or at our website. wwwmauicraftsguild.com.

A Bailey House Christmas

Fundraiser for Maui Historical
Society Saturday, November 26^th 10 am to 3 pm

The Maui
Historical Society’s annual fundraiser will be held Saturday
November 26, 2011 from 10 am to 3 pm on the beautiful and
historic grounds of the Bailey House Museum in Wailuku.

Go back in time to
an old-fashioned island Christmas at Bailey House! “A Bailey House Christmas”
will be a festive ho`olaulea with Hawaiian and traditional holiday music and a
Christmas Craft Market, including lei makers and lauhala weavers, vendors
selling locally made gifts, and ono food vendors.

The event will be
emceed by the wonderful Kathy Collins. The entertainment line-up will feature
George Kahumoku, Richard Ho`opi`i, the Ukulele Pops Band of Maui, Aunty Iola
Balubar and Halau Hula O Keola-Ali`iokekai, Maui Madrigal, “The Mad Bagpier” Roger
McKinley and Company, and cast members from “A Christmas Carol”!

In addition there
will be pre-holiday shopping at the museum gift shop, a silent auction, and
free museum admission. The Bailey House will be beautifully decorated for the
holidays.

Tickets are $10 in
advance and $15 on the day of the event. Children under 12 are admitted free
with a paid adult. Tickets are available at the Bailey House Museum at 2375-A
Main Street in Wailuku. “Will call” will be available for advance purchases by
calling MHS at 244-3326. All proceeds support Maui Historical Society
operations and educational programs. Major sponsors are Flyin Hawaiian
Zipline, Maui Oil Company and A&B Foundation.

The Maui
Historical Society was founded in 1951 and is the oldest historical and
preservation society on Maui. For more information, call 244-3326.

E-mail baileyhousemuseum@clearwire.net. Website: www.mauimuseum.org

“IN LOVE WITH THE MYSTERY” FEATURING
GRAMMY-WINNING MUSICIAN PAUL HORN AND AUTHOR/SINGER ANN MORTIFEE

An Inspirational and Magical Evening

“IN LOVE WITH THE MYSTERY”

One Night Only ~ Saturday, November 26th, 7:00pm

Makawao Union Church

Join Grammy Award-winning and world-renowned
musician Paul Horn and author/singer Ann Mortiee for a one-night only encore
performance of their full-house engagements on Maui, Kaua’i and O’ahu of “IN LOVE WITH THE MYSTERY” on
Saturday, November 26th at 7:00pm at the Makawao Union Church. The
evening will be a tapestry of live music, song and story-telling from their
travels to Nepal, Tibet, India and Africa (where Ann was born), and readings
from Ann’s new book In Love With the Mystery accompanied by Paul’s beautifully
uplifting flute music.

Advance tickets are on sale for $20 per
person at www.TicketDerby.com and through www.whenthemountaincalls.com. Tickets
also will be sold at the door an hour prior to the performance at the Makawao
Union Church, located on Baldwin Avenue about 2-1/2 miles upcountry from Paia.

Paul Horn’s illustrious career spans five
decades, 50 albums, five Grammy nominations and two Grammy Awards. He studied
in the India with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and became one of the first 12 teachers
in the Transcendental Meditation Movement in the USA. His album “Inside
the Taj Mahal” became the seminal recording heralding start of a new genre
of music and earned him the title of the Father of New Age Music. A legend in
jazz music as well, Paul has played his flute for millions all over the globe
and with world-famous musicians including Ravi Shankar, Duke Ellington, Quincy
Jones, Donovan, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett and Frank
Sinatra.

Ann Mortifee is one of Canada’s most unique
and passionate performing artists. With her extraordinary four-octave voice,
she has performed in solo concerts and with symphony orchestras around the
world as well as in concert with musical legends such as Harry Belafonte, John
Denver, Ramsey Lewis, Bobby McFerrin, Paul Horn, Michael Legrande and Chief Dan
George. Her philanthropic work and artistic achievements have won her numerous
accolades including the prestigious Order of Canada.

Ann’s most recent literary endeavor is the
book In Love With the Mystery. Many years ago, she began a practice of
waking each morning at sunrise. During those quiet hours, she developed a
fertile stillness that lead to an ever-deepening awareness, recording those
thoughts in her journal. These evocative and inspired messages turned into In
Love With the Mystery.

In Love With the Mystery, a selection of Paul Horn CDs, and the DVD of “When
the Mountain Calls: Nepal-Tibet-Bhutan,” Emmy-winning director-producer
Tom Vendetti and producer Robert C. Stone’s newest documentary feature film
that premiered this month at the MACC, will be on sale during this special
evening.

For further information, please visit the websites

www.InLoveWithTheMystery.com ~ and ~
www.PaulHornMusic.com