A good friend of mine is a talented artist and photographer who “hates all that networking mumbo-jumbo.”  She’s a purist in the purest sense of the word:  “Art for art’s sake”and all that .  Sadly, however, this doesn’t pay the bills.  At least, not right away, that is. Likewise, one of my followers on Twitter recently asked me: “where and how do I start building my business with ‘Social Marketing?’ ”

So begins my new social marketing series,  “Social Butterflying for the Artist.” It’s here that each month, I’ll post a new blog which attempts to string together a step-by-step social marketing toolkit for the artist.  And I’m not just talking your Caulder-esque mobile here.  I’m talking about a simple, easy-to-follow guide that you can pick up, implement and put on your virtual coffee table for future reference.  What better way to market when you’re starving, than by learning free methods for advertising you and your work?  And, you’ll never have to go to a cocktail party again — unless you want to.  (Because I know how much most artists love that “networking” stuff.)

First, and if you haven’t already, please read my first entry for Social Marketing U, Social Marketing Flow.  You’ll need some of the tools listed on that diagram and you’ll need to connect your dots  to get started.  I would also recommend a few good articles I’ve found on the topic of “social marketing and the artist.”  See my list below for those.

• Tweetable Art: 10 Twitter Tips for Artists
  
• The Artist’s Guide to Flickr
• Natasha’s Art Candy (her Blog) –> take it for a whirl and join her community on Ning.  I don’t address Ning here, because it should be in a lesson all by itself.  (I’ll keep that in mind for future posts)
• MyArtSpace.com –>  one of the (many) niche art sites, this is an important piece of your social universe.  But don’t rely on just these artist-only sites, as you’ll miss the bigger picture I’m trying to paint here.

Second, I make a few assumptions about you for this mini-series. Call them prerequisites if you like, but they’re mission-critical for what I’m suggesting you need to do to be successful at Social Butterflying. So if you can’t say “yes” to all of the items below, this Social Butterflying mini-camp isn’t for you:

1. You already have a website that shows some of your work
2. You know how to update your website, or have a resource that can
3. Your website has a way for people to contact you — either through a web form or via an email link
4. If you are selling your artwork from your website, you have the ability to run promotions (see #2 above)
5. You have a Facebook account that you already use to connect with friends

Finally,  here’s your first 10 steps to becoming a social butterfly (and a networking guru) for your artwork:

1. Get a Flickr account, customize it and post 10 images of your artwork each week (2 photos every weekday).
2. Learn what “tags” are.  You’ll need to understand these for Flickr, for your Blog and for Twitter (“tags” in twitter are called “hashmarks”). Tags are the lifeblood for driving traffic to your site.  If you continue reading my blog, you’ll read about tags a lot.
3. Start a WordPress blog at WordPress.com.
4. Write! Write! Write on your blog. Stop whining!   Think of it as a thesis; or an artist statement; or a submission for a grant.  It’s only about 500 words each week about your artwork, including 1 photo of the work you are discussing
5. Open a Twitter account and start following people.  Stay tuned here for more about twitter.  It’s the easiest tool to use and will really drive your business forward. Trust me.
6. Clean up the photos and stuff on your Facebook page that you don’t want people to see.  This is about branding yourself, so unlike my corporate clients, you need to use your real Facebook profile.  Read more about a “Brand Called Me.”
   Now, you have to connect the dots:
7. Connect your Flickr Account to your Twitter account using Twitter Feed.
8. Connect your Twitter feeds into Facebook status using the Twitter for Facebook app.
9. Connect your Facebook to your Flickr using the Facebook to Flickr App.
10. Convert your Facebook and/or MySpace page into a place where you post (publish) your work.

This should keep you plenty busy for the next 30 days.  Take my Social Marketing University for a spin around the block and check back here next time for more about what’s next. . .