What type of Internet portal is best for promoting your work: A website or a blog?

Website

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by Elizabeth for XquisitLife

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There are many venues to promote your work no matter what field you are in that range from everything online, to a retail brick and mortar place of business. Whichever way you decide to go with your product, service, or business, you will need to decide the best way to promote your work, and then determine the most perfect vehicle that will take you where you want to go and the most effective manner to get there!

I myself am an artist. Many like myself will speak of their anger, frustration and pain about being an artist. Their sense of self worth can diminish, and that can affect work, life, and relationships with others. Many times artists question whether or not to continue on as an artist, but the reality is that if you give up after all that you have learned in creating the pieces that you have, you will never be more than where you are right now. You will never truly know the possibilities of what could have been if you had only known the right avenues to proceed with your art! So it is whether you are an artist, designer, salesperson, or spa attendant!

When you are dealing with a work that you have created, you open yourself up to either facing acceptance or rejection. You become completely vulnerable because you are dealing with someone's choice and their personal taste and opinion regarding the piece of art that you have created and poured all of your passionate heart into.

There are certain things that you must do as if you want to be a success, and let me remind you that what you consider to be success will always be different from what another person declares success to be. Success must first begin with a decision that we are going to be successful!

Remember that success is not an accident when it comes, but it is the result of specific, measurable actions that you have taken to propel yourself forward! Never let ANYONE tell you that you can't do something.

Just relax and remind yourself that inability has more to do with attitude. Keep your head up, believe in yourself, and don't move away from your plan. Attitude determines your approach and your approach determines your successes or failures! Remember that the right attitude will usually supersede your level of ability and take you beyond your present level and into a realm where dreams come true. Attitude is everything!

Always remember that there has to be an audience for your work and realize that you just haven't found it yet. The best way to find that audience is by the process of elimination. The reality of this is that it's a lot of hard work. You will encounter such things as self-doubt, face the anxiety of an inconsistent income over and over again, possibly deal with depression, but you have to decide if you would have it any other way because you are actually doing what you are passionate about and want to do in your life with the gifts that God gave you to create with.

This is the first thing that you have to do. Decide what you want to do, make a plan, and then do it no matter how you feel, or who says it can't be done the way you see it! Realize that the way our lives are right now are a result of the choices that we made yesterday. If you can't "see it" before it ever comes to fruition the chances of stumbling or falling when it gets really tough is great! But if you believe in yourself, there is absolutely nothing can stop you but you!

Figure out what you want. Do you really want to be rich and famous or do you just want to make a living? Do you want both? Are you good enough to be both? Do you want to make great masterpieces that everybody wants when they see them, or do you just want to be the best you can be and learn who you are in the process?

Once you have figured out what you want, you have to make a plan on how to get there. Set goals, and then draw up your business plan. Once you step outside your art studio it is all business! But you are creative and so this is where you will develop your "edge" above the rest!

Take responsibility for your life, develop a business plan, and follow through with it no matter how discouraged you may become. Take all of the things that are negative in your life and try to find the positive in them. Negative situations will keep you from achieving what you want to do. Statistically, the more rejection you get, the closer you actually are to getting your acceptance! It statistically takes 7 No's to get 1 Yes! So you have to find in yourself the will to move forward no matter what.

Find your own way. Be a leader in your market and not a follower. You might love Monet or Van Gogh, but let your passion lead the way with your heart. Don't try to copy someone else, or that takes all originality and "You" out of what you are creating!

If you have set goals for yourself you need to ask if they are they the right goals? Do not set unrealistic goals that you do not have control over. So here you are. Do what needs to be done! First and foremost, you have to be honest with yourself! You don't want your work to be more about your desire to make a living than it is about the integrity of who you are.

Always remember, that you will need to make many compromises, but never compromise your work.

You can market yourself locally and/or through the Internet. Ebay is a fabulous tool, but don't allow it to be your only way of doing things because then it can become your crutch, and if that "crutch" is removed at some point, you can fail and fall flat on your face because you didn't have other venues in which to get your work seen! Craigslist is another perfect venue, but if you want to know the truth, creating a website of your own business structure can validate your professionalism far more than anything else. Blogging can be useful, but blogging is still deemed to be less professional and more of a hobby for your thoughts kind of place.

Besides direct selling, you could get into direct-response marketing by setting up an Internet business to sell your ideas, products, and services. Here are some simple steps to begin to make that happen right now for you!

You should set up a website, but keep it simple and not spend too much time and money on it. There are many places to set up free web hosting. Google it or go to www.000webhost.com. Invest the majority of marketing time in going out to other websites and e-mail lists and promoting your name and artwork.

Promote your name first by teaching people about what you are offering and how to appreciate it, what separates good products and services from undesirable ones and exactly how to interpret what you are looking at. Each person will interpret each thing differently because beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

There are plenty of places where you can write articles and give advice for free. You should encourage people to respond to your articles, and then add their names to your mailing list. Create two e-mail services: one that teaches people how to appreciate your product, or service, use your own artwork, and another email that goes directly to people who have purchased or expressed interest in your own personal business. In this second service, you would talk about your product or service, the projects you are working on, and your next limited editions or upcoming news.

You might think this kind of work is boring, arduous, or too commercial. A lot of people who are artistic feel that way. They would rather be creating than marketing.

You actually have the unprecedented opportunity to become twice the artist you already are. First, by creating, and secondly, by selling and creating your name into a brand! It is time to begin spreading the word. What are the best ways to do this if you don't have a direction to go?

Step One: Business Cards

Before you say having business cards is a given, there are some things you should know.

First, you should have cards that stand out and attract attention. Use an image of your art on the card. A good place to get affordable, professional business cards is vistaprint.com. You can get all kinds of nice promotional items for your art at this website. Highly creative professionals use Vista Print.com

Secondly, don't forget to put your online portfolio address and email addresses on the cards. This way people not only have that nice business image on the card, they also have a way to view your portfolio, recent creations, and a way to contact you.

Thirdly and most simply, once you have your cards, use them!

Whenever you mention your business, slip that person a card. Whenever you sell something, give the buyer a card. Leave a card with your tip. Put a card in all your works so that others will know who created it. Give many cards to family and friends so they can give them out to people they know. Branch out and use your immediate resources to get other people spreading the word for you!

Step Two: Internet Networking

Networking is easy when you do it on the internet. The easiest ways that I have found are:

Make your email signature your name and link to your portfolio, website, or blog

Join business forums and groups on the web. Meet others, ask questions, and make friends. Remember to make your post signature like your email's, and leave a copy of your website there too!

Join online groups. Learn where you can advertise your product or service, and find job boards.

Write! Write articles about how you create your product or service, or just about you in general. If you are not a good writer, then seek one on the Internet possibly under Craigslist or any other popular websites. Call colleges to see if they have any students willing to "intern" and write for you for free basically for the practice! Then post your articles on a blog or free article service along with your biography and a link to your amazing portfolio.

You have worked very hard to create what you are trying to say or sell, and you have put your heart and soul into it. Now you have to go from creator to salesperson, and ultimately become a businessperson. For who knows every inch and detail of your business and abilities more than you do? Who could describe passionately everything that was poured into that particular piece than you can? The answer is easy! Nobody but you can do what you can~ Not the way you can do it!

Selling is not easy, because of the extreme competition, but there are many ways to sell that I have listed for you within this article. Blogs, Websites, and other venues online are just a few ways to get your work out there.

There are plenty of ways to get your work seen by those who want something fabulous. It takes passion, and persistence, but if you want something badly enough, you can succeed! Remember that you are the only one who can make something happen for yourself, and it will be up to your determination, attitude, and perseverance if and when you will get where you want to go. Now my only question is this~ What are you waiting for?

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