BellaOnline Forums Career Business Coach Does anyone have any ideas ??

I do freelance artwork but I�m having a hard time getting the word out about myself. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can do this for free?

You could start a blog and put examples on it. Blogger.com is free and can be used for commercial uses.

You could self host a Word press blog too for just a few dollars a year.

Once you have blog,you can put it in your signature on forums or post it in profiles of yourself on social networks.

You could also join sites like elance.com. That isn't free but you can bid on some projects with free sign up. I think bidding on more lucrative projects runs about $75/quarter and you can drop the membership if you get enough work.

I think having a blog or website is probably essential to getting the word out on your business. It would allow you to connect with potential clients anyplace in the world.

You might consider doing some projects for free for charities too. That can lead to other work and it gives you samples of your work and references.

Our libraries have a display box or even a room where they let artists display their work. It would be free to you and you never know who will see it. You could even get a press release out in a local paper about your showing.

Depending on what type of artwork you do, you could get booths at craft shows, etc. Have plenty of business cards and brochures to hand out. Craft shows are not free, but you could find them for very low cost to get in for a weekend.

I agree about the press release. You might even find a reporter to do a profile on you, depending on the size of your local newspaper. I used to do those profiles for the newspaper I worked at and didn't mind when someone contacted me with their own story idea.

Getting the word out is all about getting your work seen. You might put some items up for sale on eBay. This is a great time of year to get noticed. You can start a shop there if it goes well (there is a monthly charge for that), but getting started with a few listings is very inexpensive. Just a few cents each.

Be sure to put a note in each listing that you do freelance work. Most importantly on eBay is that if you do contract custom work through them, that you arrange for a "private auction" to actually sell it to the customer so you don't go around eBay. They will ban you for that.

You can also start a shop on etsy.com for free. Just a few pictures and some info about your products. You pay a commission when you make a sale. Again, be sure to mention that you do freelance work. And remember to put all sales contracted through etsy through the system so you pay their commission on it.

If you would like, you can post your question on my painting forum. There are many artists there and they may have some more ideas. We have a forum now on Marketing You artwork, but feel free to ask specifically for ideas in a new thread. Our link is:BellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

Artwork is very sought after. www.YouHaveAProject.com is the place to be for artists to have projects commissioned and to sell what they have already created. This site is focused around helping individuals such as yourself advertise their work. Someone can see your profile and commission you for what they need whether it be a painting, a mural, illustration or anything. This is considered a website for contract work. You will be able to have people bid on the services that you are offering and choose who you would like to start a part or full time job with. www.YouHaveAProject.com is a freelance site online used to help you acquire work on your own terms. It is focused mainly in Canada ,but depending of the project you can find people outside of it. Sign up, create your profile, advertise your skills and away you go. You can start bidding on the jobs you want and getting the word out about yourself.

Joshil, also check out Etsy.com. It's kind of like ebay, but it caters to people that buy and sell art and crafts.

Best of luck!

Also, having a website or blog, if done right, can showcase you as a professional artist and cultivate fans and community surrounding your art. I have quite a few articles on the Business Coach site, here at Bella, and on my website, check them out and feel free to ask me for help!

Hi all, thanks for your nice replies. All replies have really worth for me.

Thanks a lot!

I have links to lists of different ways to market and advertise for little investment to no investment (click the link below). There are so many different ideas out there.

First off word of mouth -- tell your friends and family you want work. Use facebook and myspace to get the word out to friends and family. Add pictures of your work to entice some interest.

Second as an artist you could do some samples that can be sold on ebay, etsy or at local craft fairs or local coffee shops. This money could then turn into your seed money to help you start up a business and pay for inexpensive ads on craigslist and kijiji and newspaper classifieds.

Third - have your artwork put onto greeting cards and journals and sell them to flower shops and gift shops at a very reasonable rate.

Fourth - Leave business cards wherever you can find to display them. Coffee shops, post it boards at grocery stores

Fifth - Stores like Gramma's Attic and Amaze (they are the same) will rent you a space and sell your items for. Leave your artwork there for sale and brochures explaining your freelance options.

Sixth - Talk to business people and give them information on your freelance options. Call larger corporations and ask if they need anything done. Check on government sites to see if they are asking for tenders or bids.

There are lots of options you just have to use your creative mind to figure out how to get started then plan on re-investing the money into your business' marketing and advertising budgets so you can grow bigger faster. Once you get to a certain size then you can do it full time.

Maybe you could give away a few pieces of your artwork as promotional items and them have your weblink embedded or printed on it which will lead back to your complete portfolio. This could be a great way to start a viral marketing campaign for yourself.

If you are connected to other artist, find a space to have a group show with maybe just two other artist. Since you are doing the planning feature your work as the main artist joined by the others. Send notices out to your community and invite them to the show. Let them know that you will have one item available for auction with the proceeds going to a worthy cause.
Best wishes!

When a person start is business he must be good knowledge about a particular product.

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