5 ways to promote your art online for free

There are a number of ways to promote your art online and each direction includes a number of options. What works for you and your art all depends on what you create and who you are selling to. There are plenty of artist communities and outlets for promoting your art alongside other artists, however is that where your buyers are?

Here are 5 ways you can promote your art to build name recognition, gain new clients or drive sales.

Blog – share your newest designs and creations… post pictures, invite feedback and display your work in all it’s fabulousness for the world to see. Blogging is a great way to feature designs, run promotions and thank your customers. You can talk about the meaning behind a piece of work, the process or simply share the art as is. Don’t sales pitch, but rather, share ideas and insights.

You can host a blog with your own domain or you can use any number of free services. My blog platform of choice is WordPress.

Facebook – build a business page to not only promote your art and your art business, but to interact with your clientele and your fans. You can integrate your blog into your Facebook business page so your facebook followers can read along with all of your comments from a single site. Share thoughts about art, network with other artists, get involved in any number of groups from the art community.

Go where your buyers are – get involved where your buyers are. If you are a work-at-home mom, find other moms and share what you do. If you are involved in supporting a charity or specific cause, donate products to an event or volunteer to help out. If you are interested in ceramics or photography, find groups that for these areas. Talk about what you do, share your ideas with others and help those asking for assistance. Become a part of the community that you are creating for. In addition to user groups you may already be involved in, check for groups through Yahoo, Google, Ning, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Artist directories – there is a huge array of choices when it comes to artist directories, lists and online galleries. The first place you want to start is with your particular style of art and your location. There’s a great list of artist galleries and directories on Mashable’s Artist Toolbox.

Get involved in any of the numerous activities involving art and creativity. Participate in regular group events such at Illustration Friday or Photography Friday. Enter art contests and share your comments on other’s blogs and portfolios as well as networking groups, forums and mailing lists.

Although we’d all like to create new art all the time, someone has to shout out that the art is here. Even if you have an agent, it doesn’t hurt to get yourself out there as well. None of the above activities require an enormous amount of time but do require sincere effort for positive results.

Take an hour each day and choose one. Update your information, write a new article, reply and offer feedback to fellow artists and fans. Think of it as virtually walking the neighborhood and shaking the hand of every person you pass by. If you do this every day for a year, how many new people will you have connected with and introduce to your fantastic talent?