Your self portrait painting business won’t be very successful without proper advertising, even if you don’t have a lot of competition. Click here to learn how to advertise for free so you can draw more customers.
If you’ve decided to start a self-portrait painting business, then you likely already know just how fierce the competition is.
You also know that the materials you need to make your art happen — paints, canvases, frames, and everything in between — don’t come cheap.
In short: you need to know how to , in a way that puts you directly in front of people who are the most likely to do business with you.
Of course, we know that’s often easier said than done.
If you’re more of the creative type, you may have tons of ideas about how to advertise your business, but aren’t quite sure about how to execute those ideas.
Keep on reading this post to learn the basics of free online advertising for your self-portrait business.
1. Host an Online Class
When you’re looking for better ways to understand how to , one of the best things you can do is to host an online class.
As a portrait artist, you have an incredible set of skills that people want to learn from. They need to understand how to choose the right type of paints, how to put a subject at ease, and even basic artistic techniques like how to draw a shadow or sketch out a portrait.
Hosting a webinar, an art class that you livestream over video chat, or even doing a question and answer session with your students are all excellent ways to advertise your portrait business.
The session will hardly cost you anything, and you’ll even be able to make money doing it!
This will help you to establish your authority and build your brand recognition.
Hosting online classes are also an awesome way to ensure that you have a steady stream of income in the event that business is slow.
2. Start a Blog
If you want to understand how to promote your business cost-effectively, then starting a blog is the perfect foundation.
First of all, blogging gives you the chance to express your uncensored, creative opinion on all the hot topics within the art world. It’s also a way for potential clients to get to know you as a person.
Especially because of the intimate nature of portrait painting, you want to be sure that you find clients whose personalities and even interests mesh with your own. After all, you’re going to be spending a lot of time together!
Blogging also helps you to strengthen your overall digital marketing strategy — especially when it comes to making connections within your local market.
Always make sure you include location-based keywords in your blog content to make sure it ends up in front of the right people.
Also, always make sure that you include relevant links to your past blog posts in the current ones that you’re writing. This helps you to build up your internal linking profile, which will push you closer to the first page of search engine results.
You should also include links to relevant external websites — the more authoritative, the better.
Never be afraid to reach out to other artists and ask them to link to your blog in their own posts.
Need an idea of how to get your blog rolling and learn how to advertise for free through the content you create?
This company blog shows you some of the best topics to write about, from improving your technique to growing your client base.
3. Write Guest Posts
As a portrait artist, we know that there are tons of industry blogs and websites you likely read every day.
Have you ever thought about becoming a contributor for them?
Writing for the publications you know that everyone in the art world reads is a great way to master how to advertise for free. Not only will you likely be able to link to your website or blog in your author profile, you’ll also be advertising directly to your target market.
Plus, especially in the ultra-competitive world of portrait painting, it’s important that you differentiate your style, perspective, and even personality from other artists.
Places like Art Forum are an awesome way for you to not just stay up-to-date with industry trends, but also actively help to shape them.
4. Get Active on Instagram
If the two artists who painted the Obama portraits can use Instagram as a means of free online advertising, then so can you.
Not only is Instagram an awesome way to directly communicate with your followers and potential clients. It’s also a fun way to connect with other portrait artists and support the work you are all doing.
For example, let’s say you paint portraits specifically of pets. You could ask a portrait artist who does exclusively human paintings to promote your work and direct four-legged clients to you — and vice versa.
Plus, Instagram is also an awesome way to research trends in the portrait industry, connect with your target market, and of course, share your work with the world.
Be sure to research the relevant hashtags in order to get the most out of your Instagram experience, and also turn on geotagging to hone in on your local market.
You’ve Mastered how to Advertise for Free
We hope that this post has helped you to better understand how to advertise for free when it comes to your self-portrait painting business.
Remember that starting a blog, hosting a class, and getting active on social media platforms like Instagram won’t cost you anything — but will deliver incredible results.
Of course, you also need to know how to .
We can help you with that.
Spend some time on our website and blog to access invaluable business tips that will keep you painting the things you love for years to come.
