Frank Juárez
For the past two decades I have noticed that my interest in the business side of art has increased, which led me to design and facilitate professional practices for artist training workshops across the state. My interest stemming from my own studio practice to publishing Artdose Magazine as well as participating in multiple conversations with artists via social media.
To best navigate this so called ‘art world’ it is important to become effective practitioners of living in the digital age. How can we use online platforms and resources to our advantage? For most artists, Instagram has been a platform of choice, but is that enough to communicate about what we do as artists inside our studios?
Since 2015 I created an art e-newsletter called Artdose Magazine Weekly (formerly FRANK & COMPANY), which is committed to promoting the visual arts in Wisconsin and now regionally. Back then this e-newsletter was shared on a monthly basis. I begin to think if that was too much time in between e-newsletters to share information? Would I be able to keep track of content if I changed the frequency and how would I organize it?
I assessed these monthly e-newsletter to see if they were being opened by my subscribers? I often think of how I could continue to engage them and how I can present content? My thought was what if I sent out a weekly e-newsletter? This would mean more work on my end and would I be committed to this?
Time is one of our most valuable assets. Do we want to spend it on something that may not give us the ROI we expect? Most likely not. We have other things to take care of that demands more of our time than putting together something that only a few will open. The only way to know is to test it out and see what the results indicate.
Today, the Artdose Magazine art e-newsletter lands in the subscriber’s inbox every Sunday at 7pm (CST) with an open rate of 43% (24% is the industry average for an arts e-newsletter). Not too shabby.
How do we know if what we are doing to self-promote is effective? Do we focus on one way to share information or do we tap into other ways? Are you willing to dedicate time to something like this? I find it that when we communicate in 3’s, we tend to reach more of our diverse audiences, which some may be following us on multiple platforms.
An art e-newsletter is just one way to keep your audience engaged. Maybe your audience isn’t a group of artists and that is okay. We all strive to create our own audience that is paying attention to what we are creating and sharing.
One way to gage interest is to encourage people to click on a link to learn more about you. This could be shared with arts consultant, buyers, or collectors. Perhaps include the link in your email signature or on your website. Organizations use them. Art centers use them. Galleries use them. If they are using them, why not you?
I reached out to a few artists who put together their own artist e-newsletter and invited them to participate in this ongoing blog. Questions asked are as follows:
- Why do you have an e-newsletter?
- In what way(s) has it impacted your career as an artist?
- What is one challenge of maintaining it and how do you overcome it?
- How do you determine what content to share with your subscribers?
- How often does it come out? Where can people sign up?
All images are courtesy of the artists.
Renee Robbins
Renee Robbins is a Chicago-based visual artist who layers biomorphic forms to create detailed otherworldly environments. She has large-scale public mural commissions in Chicago on Lake Michigan in Lincoln Park and in the South Loop. She has exhibited widely, including exhibitions at Lois Lambert Gallery, Santa Monica, CA; Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Chicago, IL; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL; and the Alden B Dow Museum of Science and Art, Midland, MI. Press includes TV interviews on PBS, print features in Chicago Gallery News, Inside/Within, NewCity Art, and a podcast interview with Ahtcast. Honors include four grants from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs as well as a grant from the Illinois Arts Council. Robbins received her MFA from Michigan State University and has been working in Chicago since 2007.
Why do you have an e-newsletter?
I send an e-newsletter to keep people in my network informed about my exhibits, projects, and new work. It’s a great way to stay in touch with friends, supporters, curators, press, and clients. The simple act of creating artwork is a triumph in this world and sharing my passion for art is very important to me. Maintaining a mailing list and sending out occasional updates is the bare minimum you can do to market your work and get the word out on why you are creating. In addition to creating artwork, it is important to spend energy and time on marketing your work. My time as a professional artist is typically spent about 50% creating and the other 50% on marketing, outreach, and administration. This percentage often ebbs and flows, but my goal is to have a balance between these activities as both are important in the life of an artist. The e-newsletter is free to send out and that is so wonderful.
In what way(s) has it impacted your career as an artist?
I started my mailing list and sending out e-newsletters a few years after college. In December 2007 I sent out my first one with upcoming exhibits. I was nervous to send out the first one and I still get nervous each time that I send one and I wonder if anyone will open it. When I started the e-newsletter list social media was just starting out as it was only Myspace in those days. I think Facebook began around 2008 and then Instagram in 2013. It’s amazing to think about posting my art on Instagram for over 9 years! I moved my list to Mailchimp in 2014 for my e-newsletters. Many people in my network are not always connected on all the social media channels so it’s good to have additional ways to keep them updated. I think it’s a great way to stay in touch with curators, artists, friends, and press. The e-newsletter often leads to opportunities, and I find it wonderful to have contact outside of social media. Keeping folks updated on what I am up to as I continue to pursue my artistic dreams is important to my goals as an artist. I continue to create new work and sending additional reminders about it are part of the business of being an artist. I am part of a large artistic community and my place in it has value. I think the e-newsletter has helped me to build and strengthen my own personal artistic community.
What is one challenge you have encountered. How do you address it?
I experience disappointments thinking about bothering subscribers with my projects too often. If I don’t have a scheduled exhibit, I wonder if creating new artwork is enough to send an email update to my list. I have to remind myself that my artwork is enough. I have firmly committed sending at least one email a year, so I do it anyway if I have not sent an update for that year. There is always room for improvement in how we talk about and share our work.
Art is a form of communication, and the e-newsletter is a way to practice communicating our deepest passion.
– Renee Robbins
We are the experts on our own work and that makes us uniquely qualified to talk about it. I often think it would be better if I sent 4 emails consistently each year, but it feels challenging to have a new series finished or scheduled exhibits so frequently. I think my future emails could be even simpler with just sharing one new artwork rather than an entire completed series. I remain flexible to changing my e-newsletter approach and try to improve it each time to make it interesting. To address the imposter syndrome, I often encounter, I just tell myself that my work is not for everyone, and my work has importance and value. Everyone has imposter syndrome, and everyone has people in their life who support what they are doing. Keeping an opportunity for growth mindset can help as we encounter setbacks in believing in ourselves. What can we learn from challenging situations to not get discouraged and to keep up the faith? The setbacks can and will lead to growth so just keep moving forward. I try to do the best that I can and think about what I can learn from failure. I try to shift my mindset to think about the opportunity for growth instead of what’s missing or not working.
How do you determine content to share with your subscribers?
I announce all exhibits, public art projects, and new work. Any news or happenings will be added to the e-newsletter. I keep a running list of content to add in my planner if I feel blocked when trying to compose the newsletter. The e-newsletter often goes into greater detail than what I share on social media. In the past 3 years I have started to do blogs with a goal of doing 6 a year. I also share links to the new blog posts in the e-newsletters. If I am sharing information about a public art project, I might share the design sketch. The e-newsletter is a form of storytelling. It’s very creative coming up with ways to share our work and what’s going on in our life.
How often is your artist e-newsletter published? Where can people sign up?
I have settled on quarterly or 1-4 emails annually. Monthly is too often for me personally and I try to pack as much as I can in each e-newsletter. In the past few years, I’ve been doing an annual update if my exhibition schedule is slower. I manually add new clients or people that I have worked with on projects to my list. I have a link on the contact section of my website where people can sign up. https://reneerobbins.com/contact
Connect with Renee on IG at @renee_robbins
Hector Acuna
Acuna’s art weaves together themes of his rural Midwest upbringing, a conflicted relationship with his Mexican heritage, and the human body as a social and cultural signifier. Within his mixed media practice, he traverses a multitude of subject matter and media by collecting, integrating, and juxtaposing visual information. Building on a foundation of autobiography; he looks to better understand the complexities and preconceptions of brown male identity in the United States. Multiplicity functions as a thematic compass for both process and concept in his practice, and diversity develops in the varied visual languages of representation and abstraction. Through a layering of form and meaning he continually examines a sense of belonging between the figure and ground. Symbols and references reappear throughout the surfaces of his work inviting viewers to explore humorous, exaggerated, and uncanny chapters of an ongoing personal mythology. It is his belief that through a consistent practice of depicting natural light, form, and color he can best discover and describe new ideas in his studio. Painting has centered and grounded his approach to image making where familiar and unfamiliar subjects may coexist.
Why do you have an e-newsletter?
I create newsletters as a way to engage directly with my news list subscribers in a long-format update from my studio. Newsletters are a motivating form of communication which allow me to share information in great detail. I’ve tried to host a blog on my artist website and found little engagement with site visitors. Newsletters have been much more successful at reaching the audience my art has cultivated over the past ten years. I also like the intimacy that a newsletter offers. I like how this creates a special dialogue with people who choose to support my art journey by joining my email list.
In what way(s) has it impacted your career as an artist?
By sharing a consistent newsletter I’ve been able to make sales in my online shop to collectors on my email list. I’ve also been able to get feedback on new ideas that I’ve shared. I really appreciate when a reader responds to a newsletter through email. I like when genuine connection can occur because of my newsletter and the time I invest in sharing what’s happening in my studio. Sometimes a reader will respond with a few paragraphs that touch on different parts of the letter. Those emails are very motivating and encouraging given the fast-paced, instant refreshing, and scrolling nature to social media.
What is one challenge of maintaining it. How do you overcome it?
The frequency and length of newsletters have both been challenges I’ve had to overcome. Currently I run my newsletters through my website’s hosting service, Wix. With my plan I’m given three email newsletters a month. When I first decided I would share letters I initially thought it would be best to use all three letters every month. As artists we learn to make the most of our resources right. I quickly found that not only did I not enjoy trying to find interesting information to share with readers, but that most of my recipients weren’t opening these emails three times a month.
Eventually I shifted to sending a newsletter once a month, but even then it was difficult to distill information that was new, interesting, and engaging for readers. My solution to that problem was to tell them everything. Which meant that my letters became e-novels. The opening rate to the emails was slowly increasing, but I was getting feedback that some of the readers didn’t have the time or energy to read 15 long paragraphs after a long work week. The feeling of putting hours and hours of effort into a piece of information that goes unread is really deflating. Monthly newsletters were too time consuming to produce and not as rewarding as I’d hoped.
I realized with other social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook I can still share weekly updates and news. I decided recently to cut back the frequency of my letters to four times a year. So far I’ve found this to be the model that works best with my schedule, energy, and creativity. My opening rate is higher than ever with leads and sales increasing too. It took me over a year to find this model for both frequency and length of my newsletters, but sometimes you need to try out multiple options to find what works for you and take feedback from readers seriously.
How do you determine what content to share with your subscribers?
I approach my e-newsletters like an actual letter to a friend or family member. The letters that have received the best feedback for me are the ones that read the most casually and conversationally. The newsletters are a chance for me to share my voice and personality with the reader while keeping them informed on what I’m working on. I try to balance the ratios of text, image, and video. I’ve found that short 1-minute videos are a great way to share a work in progress, peek in the studio, an announcement, etc. Most of the time I’m sharing news on current/upcoming exhibitions, new listings or promos in my online shop, stories about a particular painting, information about my painting process or a work in progress, events I’m participating in, and I always end with an art giveaway. The giveaways are a chance to reward a subscriber for supporting me and taking time to be a reader. The giveaways are also a way to get noticed by potential subscribers as a fun perk to join the mailing list. The art I choose to give away is always something small, experimental, and lightweight to ship. I announce the winner in a video where I can be seen shaking up a jar of names before picking one. The video also gives me a chance to say thank you and close out the newsletter.
How often does it come out? Where can people sign up?
My e-newsletter is sent out four times a year: January, April, August, and October. Anyone can sign up at acunaarts.com/contact. I also keep an example of the most recent letter next to the submission form for those who are curious. Thanks for letting me share my newsletter experience!
Daniel Fleming
Known for aggressive brushwork, expressive symbols and a colorful palette, Milwaukee artist Daniel Fleming investigates popular perceptions of worldly events through his paintings. Inspired by the many viewpoints that we use to understand the complex history of our world, Daniel presents the viewer with personal, current or historic events and challenges them to confront their own perspective to better understand alternative viewpoints. A graduate of the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Fleming was the youngest artist invited to join Reginald Baylor’s Plaid Tuba Studio before opening Daniel Fleming Studio, LLC and has sold art to various public and private collections including the Rochester Museum of Fine Art and Northwestern Mutual.
Why do you have an e-newsletter?
Besides the obvious benefit of keeping in contact with buyers and being easily able to show off new paintings, writing the email also helps me personally reflect on the recent work and further develop thoughts and concepts. It also provides an opportunity to show work that might not otherwise be seen. I create almost daily and a small amount of the work I do ends up going into the physical shows, especially in 2020 when the majority of plans fell through and hundreds of artwork went unseen.
In what way(s) has it impacted your career as an artist?
While I have definitely gotten a number of sales over the years from the eblast, I think the biggest benefit has been personal. As previously mentioned, it gives me the opportunity to review and reflect on work and better understand where I currently am as an artist… and gives a sense of purpose in that the paintings do not go unseen into a storage locker. While I’m not driven to paint for sales or recognition, it still feels better to think that the art you do is seen and appreciated to some extent.
What is one challenge of maintaining it and how do you overcome it?
The hardest thing is motivation to do it regularly despite small return on the invested time. I paint and do creative things purely because I enjoy them. The public and/or business side of things are important and enjoyable in the own right, but its often hard to sit and work on an email when I have the option to get a new painting started.
How do you determine what content to share with your subscribers?
I try to feature work that I personally feel proud of and is timely in some sort of way. The recent “Pandemic Painting” series has provided an easy thread to follow lately, but often I select artwork simply based on my own desire to discuss and reflect upon it. Outside of featuring specific paintings, I’ll promote shows, upcoming events involving my artwork, or new series I’m working on, but I generally try to keep the email focus on getting inside some of the recent work.
How often does it come out? Where can people sign up?
I try to send out a newsletter at least every other month. People can sign up on the contact page of my website at the following link: http://www.dflemingart.com/contact.html
Brianna Lynn Hernandez Baurichter
Brianna Lynn Hernández Baurichter (Wisconsin) is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and educator based in the Midwest. Brianna’s creativity is heavily influenced by her mixed heritage from Mexican and German parents, embodying the spirit of a hybrid, eager to form connections and build new realities. In the studio, Brianna creates installations through several mediums including large-scale charcoal drawings, video art, and performances, each incorporating a high level of physicality and movement to reveal knowledge held within the body. Brianna’s current body of work focuses on the experience of providing end-of-life care and subsequent grieving process which, in addition to formal artworks, offers workshops and takeaway resources for viewers to self-educate through the safety of the creative process.
Why do you have an e-newsletter?
As a professional practice, having a newsletter has been greatly beneficial to document and archive different aspects of my career in my own voice. It’s also been a touchpoint for those who are interested in following my work but are not on social media or are looking for more content than a single post can provide. For those who may have seen my work without knowing me beforehand, it’s been a nice way to share resources and context related to my subject matter. Generally speaking, having a newsletter has been a great way to update people on in-progress or evolving projects as my website is reserved for completed works and documentation of final installations.
In what way(s) has it impacted your career as an artist?
From an inter-personal aspect of my career, having a newsletter has helped me get invaluable virtual feedback from folks. I’ll often get email replies to my newsletters with words of encouragement, suggestions of related research I may or may not be familiar with, or personal stories of how my work connected with and impacted someone. In other situations, my newsletters have reminded folks in my network of how what I’m working on fits with something they are working on and they’ll extend an invitation to participate as a result. I’ve also noticed while meeting new people at events, having a newsletter to direct them to has helped me maintain relationships that began as brief encounters that could otherwise be lost in a sea of meet and greets, music, drinks, and the flurry of events.
What is one challenge of maintaining it and how do you overcome it?
Similar to social media, maintaining a digital presence through a newsletter is a balance of giving others an insight to your process while also maintaining boundaries. I know many artists who feel overwhelmed by the thought of needing to constantly document every step of their studio sessions in order to share more of what they are working on with the world. I decided that in order to protect my studio time, I would shift my newsletter from monthly to quarterly and discuss some of the more intangible elements of my work instead of having a photo or video at each phase of a project. It’s helped me find a nice flow and pace to work sustainably while staying in touch.
How do you determine what content to share with your subscribers?
I’m interested in showing the multifaceted nature of my practice, so I split my newsletter up into sections that can address each area of my work independently. Sometimes there have been many developments in one aspect such as work that I do in collaboration with the community, while my studio updates are more about noting what I’ve been researching. I always note my current or upcoming shows so folks can plan a visit, of course right now that visit may be virtual. And I like to provide a main topic update that is relevant to other big changes. Sometimes this update is how my work is related to current events, other times it’s about going into more detail about a residency experience, or requesting audience participation in a project. Within the categories I’ve created for myself, everything can stay flexible and timely to where my work is at and what feels right in the moment.
How often does it come out? Where can people sign up?
My e-newsletter comes out quarterly and people can sign up through my website on the “About” page or the footer of any page.
Link to newsletter sign up
- Web: https://www.briannabaurichter.com/about
- Subscribe here: https://mailchi.mp/3dffb1903328/blhbnewsletter
Heidi Parkes
Heidi Parkes (Wisconsin) is a fiber artist, focused on quilts and mending. Her art explores the concepts of place, relationships, and memory.
Heidi sends out a monthly e-newsletter to keep her subscribers up-to-date on what is happening with her studio practice, new work, and workshops.
Why do you have an e-newsletter?
This was a big to-do item for me for years. I’d heard from other artists and quilters that their newsletters were the top way that they sold their work. I’ve also realized that basing my communication on a free platform like Instagram leaves me at the mercy of their algorithms and changes. By sending an email, I have a form of communication that is much less fragile, and that inspires me to share content that is more valuable than what I’m comfortable sharing for free on other platforms.
In what way(s) has it impacted your career as an artist?
I’ve had an e-newsletter since January 2019, so it’s still pretty new. I can point to a lot of ways that Instagram has impacted my career: selling art, getting mending commissions, booking one-on-one consultations, getting exhibitions and jobs teaching, and then selling spots in those workshops. I hope that my e-newsletter can do the same thing as Instagram, but perhaps more reliably due the lack of algorithms. My open rates are in the 60’s, and I hear that’s a pretty high rate for actually reaching folks.
What is one challenge of maintaining it and how do you overcome it?
Committing the time to writing it is the top challenge. I want my e-newsletter to be full of value for readers, and not just a simple update on new classes and things to purchase. That can mean filming videos, writing tutorials, creating over a dozen hyperlinks, and a lot of thoughtful reflection. I spend at least a full day of work on each newsletter. If it’s a really busy month, I’ve chosen in the past to skip a month, rather than send out something boring. I stay motivated because my readership has grown a lot in the last year. I also get wonderful feedback from it with people replying to me, and mentioning it on Instagram and through in-person conversations.
How do you determine what content to share with your subscribers?
I try to be very generous with them. I know I’m protective over my email inbox, and I strive to share things that feel worthy of the time and medium. I also aim to provide a variety of experiences in each newsletter: technique, philosophy, online presence, art world, quilt world, hard sell, gentle promotion, personal stories…. I hope that each newsletter will be unique, and valuable to them as creatives and as humans. This technique video is an example of something special made for my e-newsletter: https://youtu.be/rmIhPFUgz6o Also, this back issue included my recipe for elderberry syrup, and a link to some local Milwaukee music that I love: https://us4.campaign-archive.com/?u=c5983809261497be4cfe2af5c&id=a470df0c50
How often does it come out? Where can people sign up?
It comes out once a month, near the end of the month, with 10-12 issues per year. People can sign up on the splash page of my website: heidiparkes.com
Cristian Andersson
Cristian Andersson (Wisconsin) puts a monthly e-newsletter together to keep his subscribers up-to-date on what is happening with his studio practice, work, and classes that he teaches.
Image courtesy of the artist
Why do you have an e-newsletter?
1) It gives me more control over whom I am wanting to reach. I could put a post up on social media, but there is absolutely no guarantee that it will reach the audience I am intending. At one point I made a statement that I was going to be sharing less through social media, and I received responses such as: “but what will it do to your art career?” I refuse to let my career be subject to an algorithmic connection made by enormous companies when I am wanting to specifically inform people who have interest in what it is that I am doing. While I’m not giving up on Facebook (yet), I feel much more comfortable handling my contacts this way.
2) Having the e-newsletter helps me personally visualize, and at times remember, what my upcoming month is going to be like! Through a calendar, journal, writing app, and task manager app I keep on top of my priorities. This monthly e-newsletter has been a clean way of integrating all of the ways that I organize my career and distill it into a singular and organized format. I need all the help I can get on that front.
3) It helps me have more control over the persona I want to share.
In what way(s) has it impacted your career as an artist?
I have found it to be a very personable way to connect. While I don’t receive e-mails back all the time, I do receive a fair amount. Questions, comments, and encouragement all have found their way to my inbox through this e-newsletter. While certainly people can respond to a social media post in the comment section, I have found that more in depth and personal communications have happened when pulled away from such a public forum like Facebook. These comments then inform me what readers are (generally) interested in, and thus what I should be sharing more of in subsequent e-newsletters. Additionally, it just feels great to know that someone has taken the time to read the e-newsletter and respond back. My artistic practice can be very solitary. Along with those sequestered hours come equal amounts of work, introspection, and feelings of loneliness. The abstracted conversations I can have through my e-newsletter, and any response that it generates, then feeds back into my days in a very positive way.
What is one challenge of maintaining it and how do you overcome it?
Oh yes, this question. It can be easily answered by saying: “why would anyone even care about what I am doing?” When I hit send on an e-newsletter I am always filled with the concern that it will come into a busy person’s inbox and they will think… ugh. This guy again. Of course, that is my own internal demon shouting through a gleaming megaphone with the words Imposter Syndrome stenciled on it. I overcome this though by just saying fuck it, writing it and sending it out. An artistic practice, or anything at all I suppose, is just railroading any doubts with a belief in yourself, and the idea that if you find value in what you bring forth, someone else probably will also.
How do you determine what content to share with your subscribers?
This goes back to part of the answer to first question, and that is that it helps me control my external persona. I am shying away from saying “brand,” because I find that concept extremely off-putting. While the beginning of my e-newsletter covers things like exhibitions I’m in or classes I am teaching, I want people to know more about who I am on a much more personable level. For better or worse, I will write about how I am feeling and any struggles I am going through. I will share in-process works and concepts that I’m currently tackling. I’ll write about connections I have made to others, and the gratitude that I have to them. It is very important to me that this e-newsletter doesn’t share just the product, but also person behind it all. Art may just be an item. An artist may be a collection of clichés. I want to share content that makes a statement about what it is to be a creative, what one goes through and why. I want to help develop for others a better idea of what a painting, installation, or performance piece that comes out of my studio is. And that it is, in fact, a very personal reflection of who I am.
How often does it come out? Where can people sign up?
I have found that monthly works best for me. Some artists are more comfortable with a shorter timeframe with their own. I have come to the realization that I am not the best at managing time and if I want to put out an e-newsletter with regularity, which is extremely important, that I have to be realistic. My e-newsletter comes out mid-month, which works nice for making announcements for the following month as a whole. What this has done is give the readers ample time to open my e-newsletter up—reports that I get show that it generally takes four days for a majority of subscribers to get to it—and then if there is something happening right at the beginning of the month, they can decide if it will fit in their schedule.
The link to subscribe to my mailing list is: https://dm-mailinglist.com/subscribe?f=5be0187c.
Stephanie Harvey
Stephanie Harvey (Wisconsin) writes, “I have an e-newsletter because I want to stay on my clients’ and collectors’ (current and potential) minds. I want to make it easy for these people to continue supporting me, so sending them a monthly reminder to show them which events I will be doing that month helps them to show up, buy, share, and give moral support! Increasingly, social media sites modify the visibility of “business pages” and sometimes, in order for a multitude of people to see your posts, you need to pay for it. An email newsletter doesn’t typically cost much except a bit of your time and personality. An e-newsletter, when done the right way, can feel like an exclusive connection to you sent especially for a specific receiver rather than social media posts that sometimes don’t feel directed towards anyone in particular”.
Having an e-newsletter has pushed Stephanie to become more marketing-minded in general. When she teaches a class now, rather than just share her passion for art and her dazzling personality, she is able to get even more from the experience. Because she needs to bring an iPad and/or paper Sign Up Sheet for her e-newsletter, it also reminds her to grab business cards and other promotional flyers and items to be sure people not only enjoy the class, but can easily hire her again for something similar or a variety of other artistic services she offers if they want to. It isn’t pushy, it just gives them the opportunity to connect if they choose to without obligation. She has even noticed increased sales through doing this. Some people sign up for her e-newsletter at a local workshop, then end up showing up at receptions (after seeing it listed in her e-newsletter) and buy art! Stephanie sometimes get teaching financial bonuses for bringing new students into a workshop she is teaching at a specific organization, so getting the word out is important!
“I love how my e-newsletter brings in old familiar faces resurface at art receptions and workshops (because they saw my email). It makes me feel like all the time I put into getting email addresses and creating these e-newsletters really pays off! I also have noticed recently that some of my “e-news members” forward the emails on to other people, so my name and work is getting out there through the sharing of the email. Also, some months it feels like I am not getting anything accomplished in the studio or booking cool teaching gigs or exhibiting art. But, when I start compiling that e-newsletter, I think, “damn, girl! You have got to stop being so hard on yourself! You are doing plenty!” – Stephanie Harvey
To connect with Stephanie, click here.
Ana Perez Ventura
Ana Perez Ventura (France) writes, “I have an e-newsletter to keep in touch with people who have shown interest in my work and to maintain them informed about what’s going on in my art and career. Well, it has, for example, lead to some sales. I remember a collector who came to my first solo show and signed up in my newsletter list (paper). I didn’t know about it, but he kept following my work through my e-newsletter and several years later he bought 3 pieces.
The challenge is that is time consuming, as well as keeping up social media profiles and the website. I try to concentrate the news and send a newsletter with several different articles instead of one newsletter every time that I have something to say. I also have to deal with different languages. I primary send it in French but I try to translate it to English too and when there is big news I translate it and send it too to my contacts in Spain. It allows people who are not keen of social media to follow my work. I like reading those of my fellow artists too”.
To connect with Ana click here.
Anita Burgermeister
Anita Burgermeister (Wisconsin) writes, “To keep clients, friends and family updated on recent projects and to support and share my enthusiasm for the arts. I do get jobs and repeat work from engaging people on my mailing list. I often get positive feedback, which warms my heart and is great encouragement some months. The blog is my main form of promotion – I share it across all my social media in addition to my mailing list. I always have updates to share, often reigning it in so the blog is not too long is a problem. I have several charity events and shows, etc. that repeat annually. Sometimes I worry about being redundant so I just try to be aware of not repeating myself.
I have sent my newsletter out monthly since January 2010. I’ve come precariously close to the end of the month, actually only missing the deadline once by posting after midnight. I enjoy the writing process and my open ended concept. My tagline is: “A.R.T. (assorted random topics) by Anita – Sharing news about creative people & events in art, music, magic, dance, dining, film, writing, architecture, inventions, life & other stuff.” So, for me – and hopefully the reader! – it never gets boring. I’m lucky that I have so many creative and interesting friends for inspiration”.
Anita Burgermeister, Brady Street Rooftops,Digital art layered with maps (and often painted abstract or textured backgrounds) printed on aluminum, 2 x 3 feet
To connect with Anita click here.
Raeleen Kao
Raeleen Kao (Illinois) writes, “I started an e-newsletter when I began doing art full time, prior to teaching at Evanston Art Center. For years, buyers, curators, and gallerists asked me if I had one and I put off putting one together because I was uncomfortable about seeming boastful about my work and doubted my ability to maintain a recurring e-newsletter. When I set up my print studio and started doing art full time, there were a lot of people who supported me financially and it was a way to share with them that I was constantly working and that their support had been a good investment. Because my print based work is so process heavy, it’s extremely helpful for my audience of non-printmakers or non-artists to see and read explanations of every step of the process. Frequently, it’s this explanation of my process and writing about my thoughts and inspirations that draws collectors in. I do a significant amount of travelling to art fairs and shows outside of Chicago, and it has been especially helpful with connecting with potential clients that way. While it’s easy to share my studio updates and new print releases with the community in Chicago, having an e-newsletter is an occasional reminder of my work to those outside of this city. A buyer may become a returning collector if they receive updates on an artist’s new work or an individual who may not have followed through on a purchase at the time may come back if they are given occasional reminders of the artist’s work”.
“I have a very strong aversion to technology. I have to schedule in my calendar that I will write my newsletter on a set date and then go set up shop in a coffee shop somewhere. I have to physically remove myself from my studio/apartment otherwise I will find every excuse in the world to draw, print, read, etc over sitting at a computer. I try to send one out monthly, but let’s be real, the second year I did it, I only sent out two the entire year. (I am getting better!) Having a newsletter helps me keep track of what I have done each month. I do a lot of research and writing in many of my pieces/series and writing it forces me to organize my thoughts”.
Raeleen Kao, Lagan and Derelict, Woodcut on Mulberry paper, 27 x 108 inches
To connect with Raeleen click here.
Michaelyn Michalec
Mychaelyn Michalec (Ohio) writes, “There are lots of reasons I started an e-newsletter. I had a booth at an art fair last year and I collected a lot of contacts as part of that. So it started it as a way to connect to the people that I met at that. All artists want people to see their work, so we have websites and most everyone does some form of social media. But I also found that not everyone uses social media and we don’t control the algorithms of social media so people who are interested in your work may not even be seeing it. But I have complete control with an e-newsletter. I don’t know if it’s possible to ascertain the impact of the e-newsletter versus other forms of promotion like social media. But I found a surprising number of people responded to my last one. It was great to have direct feedback”.
“I think it would be challenging to have a set schedule of content to produce. That’s not how most careers are. So I try to create an e-newsletter only when I have a few interesting bits to share with my audience. Sometimes it’s every two months and sometimes it’s 4-5 months. I also think the length is a challenge. If it can’t be read in three minutes, people aren’t going to invest their time. After all, people have a whole inbox of items that are piling up behind yours. So I usually try to show 3-4 interesting items with some great images and lots of links. If they want to read more they can always click. It varies depending on what I have to share. I don’t feel a need to have a set schedule. I’d rather have it be less frequent and more interesting than more frequent and lacking content.
“I think it is great to focus on the successes we have had as artists. I think an e-newsletter helps to highlight that”.
Mychaelyn Michalec, Then I decided I would never be able to think of the things about me that bothered him, Acrylic on canvas, 31 x 32 inches
To connect with Mychaelyn click here.
Angela Pierro
Angela Pierro (Wisconsin) writes, “I have an e-newsletter in order to stay connected with collectors and/or potential collectors that may not use social media. It is a great way to inform readers about upcoming shows and career successes. From my experience, sending an e-newsletter has allowed me to build a better relationship with my collectors and potential collectors. Keeping my audience informed has allowed them to see how invested I am in my work, which has ultimately lead to sales and commissioned pieces”.
“It isn’t easy writing about myself so to overcome that I start by writing as though I am helping to promote someone else. My goal is to send my e-newsletter out a minimum of twice a year and maximum of four times a year. However, if there is a big event scheduled like a solo show, which I recently had, then I send one before the event and one afterwards. It’s a great way to say thank you to those that attended while keeping others informed”.
Angela Pierro, Close up of “Repose”, Oil on canvas, 5′ x 7′
To connect with Angela click here.
FRANK JUÁREZ 
Hi Frank,
Thanks for the mention in your blog! Nice article showing the process other artists use.
Smiles, Anita
A R T B Y A N I T A fine art / faux finishes / murals http://www.ArtByAnita.com info@artbyanita.com 414-385-0922