This Calls For Sushi & Fine Art

I’ve been burning the midnight oil the past couple of weeks, working on my Squidoo lenses and tinkering with my blog layout. I noticed I’ve been in the Leading Lensemaster rotation on the Squidoo home page this week. It was a pleasant surprise.

I managed to create the Deadly Beauty abstraction series in the midst of all the other Web tinkering. Though, on the flip side, my writing has dropped off. Tonight, I realized I’ve nearly drained myself dry creatively. It’s time to refuel and recharge. This calls for a generous dose of Sushi & fine art.

Later this afternoon, I’ll be heading into Vancouver with my husband. It’s been a while since we’ve been to the Vancouver Art Gallery. I’m looking forward to looking at the work of other artists and seeking inspiration. The gallery is currently showing the photography of Fred Herzog. As I’ve been branching out a bit with my digital photography, I’m very interested in viewing Fred Herzog’s work.

I’m hoping to get back on track with my writing and would like to create some new haiga over the next few weeks. I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of two sets of limited edition ACEO cards I’ve just recently had printed. When ready, I’ll be numbering and signing each limited edition card and offering them for sale through the blog and my web site.

Trudging Up the Steep Learning Curve of Self Representation Online

It’s been four months since I started promoting my poetry and artwork online. I’m still trudging my way up the steep learning curve of online self-representation. My Cafepress shop has paid for itself, in terms of covering the annual premium shop fees. From what I’ve read, it can take up to a full year for a shop to get going and be successful. So far, I’m off to a good start. I attribute it to the hours I’ve spent sizing images and writing product descriptions. The time spent up front pays off in the end. My shop is getting regular search engine traffic, and I’ve made good use of Froogle Beta thanks to a great online tool called café Toolbox.

Over the past few months, I’ve read as much as I could about SEO and learned how to tweak my keywords and maximize my Google AdWords ads. I’ve made good use of Squidoo and have a handful of lenses. They’re seeing regular traffic and are receiving good placement with Google. I’ve been networking with other self-representing women artists who sell their work online and have learned quite a bit from this creative group.

I continue to research and sign up for various free online artist gallery & print services like imagekind.com, printpop.com, artistrising.com, deviantArt.com, and artwanted.com. It’s this side of things I’m finding the most challenging to navigate. There are quite a few free gallery services and print services popping up on the Web these days. It’s tough to know which are trustworthy and will showcase my work most effectively.

I’ve set aside my domains, created a logo and continue to work on branding and visibility. When I started out, last fall, I didn’t realize how time-consuming setting things up would be. As a self-representing artist & poet, it’s not enough to just create and put my work out there. I’ve learned how important it is to research SEO, network with other self-representing artists & bloggers, and take what I’ve learned and put it into practice.

I look forward to seeing what the next few months bring, in terms of networking & business, now that things are slowly rolling forward.

P.S. My thanks to the person who purchased the Heartbeat & Moments Matter framed poem prints today. It’s also cool to think that somewhere out there one of my Moments Matter license plate frames is zooming about making my poetry mobile.

B.Y. Penman

Froogle Beta : http://www.google.com/base/help/sellongoogle.html

café Toolbox: http://cafetoolbox.com/

Cafepress: www.cafepress.com

Squidoo: www.squidoo.com

Worldwide Women Artists Online: http://www.worldwidewomenartists.com/