Promote your art show on a budget

Now you have just got a spot for your next show, started working on your artwork, and counting down the days before they will be displayed in the beautiful space. But how are you going to get people to come to your show? And yes, you need to start thinking about it, right now.

Personal connection

You can start with this immediately. Go to show opening weekly if you want to get into the circle. People might not know you to start with, but that’s ok. Check them out on Facebook, become their fan, they will add you as friend on Facebook if they also like your work. It’s ok to start talking online and then meet in person if you are shy like me. This will lead you to more artists, more curators. They are important people for your show, because they will then talk about your show to other people.

PR

This one don’t come as you wish, good PR requires a good story to tell. I hardly send any press release to people, because I know it’s hard for a new artist to get recognised. I think a blog will be better than press release these days, get in the habit of recording your stories, people love to know about behind the scene actions, someone will pick it up at some point and pass it on to journalists. Once you are connected with the journalist, it’s much easier to pitch your show at a later stage.

Online presence

Once people start talking, you need a place for them to easily access all information. It took me a long time before I set up my website, but it worths every single hour I spent on it. Yes, I could use Facebook for these information, however it’s just tedious to go through all the posts for anyone to find everything from bio to CV to your full portfolio. Of course use all the social network you can relate to, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram …

Printed flyer

Generally I’m not a big fan of offline media simply because I can’t track them (therefore I wouldn’t know if they are effective). But if they come with the gallery cost or affordable in a group show setting, then I will go for it. However, my new found artist friend Ryan McGennisken told me, “A flier drop at art stores, in Cafe’s etc, is very, very effective.” So I’m going to try that. He also pointed out “Websites like the Herald sun, Beat Magazine etc. They all have online ‘art event’ pages that have been very effective in the past for me/shows I’ve been apart of.”

Advertising

I’m not sure if advertising is good for artists because I believe if you can’t win people’s heart to show your work in publication as editorial, why would they be interested in your show? I think it only make sense for the functional industries (like art supplier, or galleries) to do advertising. But if you really want to do it, I will be asking the advertiser how many people from the database are interested in your type of art. Also knowing what type of people are generally interested in your work will also be helpful to find the right place to advertise.