Publicize Your Art in 2012

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One of my clients sent me an email to let me know she’s having a retrospective of her art quilts shown at a local gallery. So exciting!  She asked me for a little advice about getting the word out there.  In just a few minutes, we had the makings of a PR campaign set up for her.

I thought I’d share it here… It’s a useful starting point to brainstorm almost any PR campaign.

Step One.  Plan ahead.  What are your personal goals for the exhibit? Number of visitors? Number of sales?  Capturing contact info?  Give yourself a running head start.

Let people know your retrospective is coming with enough time to make space on their calendars to see it.  Will they be able to buy art at the venue?  Get them primed to want to purchase.  If not able to buy, then get them thinking about a commission.  You might even add a page to your website about your commission work.

Step Two.  What exactly do you need to say?

Brainstorm the  things that people need/want to know, and then write your press release (as crisp & clearly as possible) and then use that info again and again, tweaking it to the style of each broadcast method you have.  Make sure to include:

  • Artist name & website
  • Number of pieces in the show
  • Time period of the work
  • 1-sentence synopsis of theme of show
  • Location of show
  • Dates of show
  • Cost/hours/how to see
  • Will their be an opening?  Meet the artist?
  • Pieces available for purchase
  • Any special donation or charity to receive portion of proceeds
  • Commissions available

Step Three.  Now, how will you tell them? Your promo should be:

  • On your blog
  • On your facebook
  • Tweeted on twitter
  • In your emails to friends/family
  • In a promotional email to all of your contacts
  • In your postcards/mailings
  • on the blog for your local SAQA (insert name of your guild or artist group)
  • promoted by national SAQA – Martha’s emails (insert name of your guild or artist group)
  • promoted by your local art groups and/or tourist groups
  • in a press release to your local papers
  • And…? how is this being publicized by the venue? Get involved and take advantage of their expertise

Remember that print pubs usually work ads & editorials 1 to 2 months ahead of publication dates.

The above list may not be all-inclusive, but it’s a great kickstart to any PR campaign.  I hope you have something exciting to publicize in 2012!

2012: Call It a Comeback!

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Well, after a very lovely bit of hiatus that included enjoying early pregnancy, a day job at a nightclub, getting some sewing done, and holidays with friends and family, I’m back in the saddle at CYN WORKS!

If you’ve got a project you’d like to work on — from a website/blog revamp to a PR campaign to getting your social media in order — give me a shoutout. Contact me!

To read some of the nice things my clients said about me just a few weeks ago, check out my recently updated CLIENTS page.

I’m also getting back to a regular blogging schedule, so keep up by either signing up via email (link to the right side of this page) or by adding this blog to your RSS reader.

Looking forward to hearing what you’re working on for 2012!

 

Hiatus

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Welcome to CYN WORKS!

I am taking a small hiatus from branding and marketing strategy work. That means I’m not actively working to find new clients. However, if you have a special project you’d like to work on together, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

I love hearing from you and being a part of growing your business!

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Address Numerology

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I often walk this welcoming Claremont neighborhood on the Berkeley/Oakland border.

Yesterday, I found myself with camera in hand, looking for a pictoral story.


After a few general shots down the tree-lined streets, I keyed in on the unique ways the homeowners had decided to announce their street addresses.


It became clear to me that each home had its own brand that was being played out in the aesthetic choices – from font to placement to alignment.


Some were about clarity.


Some were clever.


Some appeared chosen by an architectural eye.


Some had never been informed of the diagonal layout “no no” in graphic design. Or chose to break the rule?


Some were blessed to have beautiful gates to keep them company.


Some had quirky, fun personalities.


Classic.


Temporary placeholders?

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Visual Marketing – Rockridge, Oakland, CA (2 of 2)

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…continued from Marketing, Taking It to the Streets in Rockridge…

It seems that in these Rockridge storefronts, the cool, “less is more” mantra of visual marketing has given way to the urgent, “I need to tell you something” text-heavy version of marketing.

This excursion got me thinking, Do all the words slow me down and beckon me to engage, or do they create a messy, untidy storefront that sends me to the next shop?  And mostly, it got me thinking, Who is doing this best?  And what can I learn from these leaders to help my clients in their businesses?

Bella Vita gives us a creative S A L E and reminds us that they have been voted Best of Oakland with the text on their magazine-provided brochures.

Arellano goes for the “part of the establishment” approach by telling us they’ve been 20 years in Rockridge – impressive. Longer than I’ve been anywhere!

I can see pop-up signs in the windows behind these moms. I gotta move in for a better view!

redhound uses a crisp font on a small paper format to remind us that they’re more than product – they offer classes and help pet owners with licensing their pets.

Tootsies seems to have a whole lot to say — from promoting a long-wearing nail polish to one of my favorite text window pop-ups — we’re hiring. Yeah! That’s good news, right?

Fenton MacLaren and Rockridge Furniture & Design both seemed pretty skilled at the feature/benefit aspect of using text in the storefront.

I’ve been stopping to look at this vignette for at least three weeks.

I’m not in the market for colorful, metal furniture, but if I were, this (Rockridge Furniture & Design) would be my spot. I love the playfulness of the window, and I think the editorial “conceived in the Eiffel Tower Age” tag appeals to those who want a sense of history and culture to accompany their lifestyle purchases.

I thought I’d end with a shot of this Picnic in the Street poster, hanging in Market Hall. You can tell from the effort put into developing the event, the local merchant participation, and even the design of the artwork that creating a sense of community is important to the people who have their livelihoods based in Rockridge.

It’s this kind of engaged passion that sells during tough times.  Anyone can ride a boom.  But only the strongest and most creative will prosper and thrive in the busts.

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Marketing – Taking It to the Streets in Rockridge, Oakland, CA (1 of 2)

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I moved to San Francisco in 2001, during the dot-com boom.  I squeezed into a postage stamp-sized studio apartment in the Inner Sunset (code name for “very foggy SF ‘hood”), and I worked @ a cool internet job doing web development and cultivating content for a massive website.  When the dot-com went bust, so did my company, and I jumped on the next bandwagon – real estate!  A great opportunity in real estate marketing took me to the East Bay, and I relocated to Oakland in a groovy little neighborhood called Rockridge.

Since then, I’ve moved across the country and back, landing in Walnut Creek, CA, an even more suburban environment 25 miles east of SF.  It’s warm and friendly, but I can’t help but find my way back to Rockridge at least once a week, mostly to keep an eye on how the artsy, free-spirited yet civic-minded entrepreneurs are faring in the post real-estate bust era.  (Do I have that right?  Are we really past the bust?)

What really strikes me is how the storefronts seem to mimic the world of the internet. Check out my snapshots, and you’ll see what I mean. Everywhere I looked today, I saw “pop up ads” – little flyers or signs stuck in windows that used text to explain the features and benefits of buying from a certain merchant or a certain product line or even individual products.

This letter to the neighborhood is in a shop that used to be Crossroads Trading and now is going to be a giftshop under the Nathan & Co brand. Notice how they really promote their localness?

Pegasus Books, an East Bay-based bookseller, fills a window with a huge poster promoting eating, sleeping, and reading local!

Crush, a clothing store, is talking straight internet – “like us on facebook” and “follow us on twitter“!

Bittersweet gets artsy with chalkboard signage.

Uhmmm, did you see this? I think Bittersweet invented a whole new time of year! Milkshake season! Yum!  I think I’d like to see that marketing concept carried to the next level.

Does this count? Books already have text, and the way these are displayed, I did want to slow down for a better look.  Diesel is certainly an independent bookseller, but there’s not exactly any pop-up local/interactive promotion in this window.

Heading up College, I noticed there was a large banner hanging outside of Cafe Rustica.

Hmmm… what’s the message here? They deliver? Their chicken is free range? I can tell you from my own experience, they serve up some delicious food. Wonder if they felt it was too editorial to tell you that the chicken melts in your mouth or that people have been known to drive from SF just to grab one of their Salsiccia pizzas to go?

I have more to share from the creative merchants on College in Rockridge…

to be continued… check in for tomorrow’s post!

Thank YOU, Constant Contact!!

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Look at the surprise that came in my mailbox yesterday!

A $75, no-strings-attached, gift card from Constant Contact! Wow, what a nice way of thanking me for referring my clients to them!
Truth is, I would refer my clients to Constant Contact if there were no incentive whatsoever. Here are just a few things I love about their promotional email system:

  1. Emails are easy to custom format to highlight YOUR business’s features.
  2. You can see a report of who opened your email and when!
  3. You can track the individual links in each email, so you know which topics appeal to your readers.
  4. People can sign up for your newsletter online!
  5. People can unsubscribe and you automatically are set up to follow all legal spamming guidelines.
  6. Emails can be written at any time and calendared to go out on a regular schedule.
  7. Super affordable!

So, if Constant Contact is sending me such a nice gift to say thank you for referring my clients to them, it got me to thinking… have I said thank you enough lately to the people who refer business to me?  Have you?

Let’s make sure we do… this week!