Being an artist / photographer, doesn’t mean you should leave your business hat off. If you want media attention – go that extra mile and put in the hard yards.
I worked on my recent collection, Notorious Dames throughout 2009 and figured, since I’d spent so much time in the creation of the work – I should do the work some justice and send off some media packs in conjunction with the exhibition launch.
I created 10 “snail mail” media packs to 10 of my favoured publications. Because the packs took some effort (the black envelopes were hand made) – I decided to email the rest of the publications on my list, of which there were about 16.
The ratio of the media attention I received wasn’t great, of the 26 publications I was contacted by 3 of them. But those 3 in my eyes are loads better than none!
A pre-launch promo by MX Newspaper :
A post-launch “featured artist” spread (6 pages in total) in Post Modern Ink :
And Deadbeat magazine will run with photos of the launch.
So what do you do if you have no business nouse, or just feel plain weird promoting yourself? I come from a graphic design / web design background – so creating ‘an image’ for me not only comes naturally – I enjoy it immensly. Please take what you will from my suggestions below, it’s not meant to be a step-by-step guide, but merely serve as inspiration.
- Think of a catchy “title” for your collection
- Create a design for your title (a logo) as the visual branding is as important (IMO) as the written title
- Get a media release written or write one yourself
- Get someone to write a review of your work & incorporate it into your media release
- Create a media pack to post out and do a simplified email version
- Create interest! Facebook, Twitter, Redbubble, Myspace, etc etc
No doubt, you are all creative people – that’s why you’re here right? So the above should be easy for you – most of it involves more creativity. Don’t be afraid to push yourself out there – otherwise people won’t know your wonderful work exists.
Paul Vanzella
Great words Helen, and wow your image looks amazing Post Modern Ink, they would be lucky to have you… like I said great words here… so well done…
you’ve inspired me!
BigFatRobot
Inspiring stuff! Keep up the great work.
jetsta42
fantastic and very inspiring
transmute
Great advice. Media buzz is part of the creation. I thought the whole exhbition had a unifying aeasthetic and narrative drive.
Melinda Kerr
Hey Helen actually 3 responses is pretty good. Well done. Kudos :)
jemimalovesbigted
such a clever lady you are!!! well done Hells and great response.
aglaia b
you look hot!!!
;-) xox
PJ Ryan
You’re such an inspiration – for any artist of any craft. Awesome stuff Helen.
juulz
You are so right Helen! I can remember leaving school, I sent letters to all the vets in our city about 50! and had 1 reply, but that was the job I got!!!! Thanks for the inspiration, your work it awesome Helen. Good luck with all that you do x
John Robb
Great lesson to learn with a great result in your case. You deserve all of your success because you’ve done the hard work.
berndt2
fantastic – thanks so much for this and all the best with all your projects!