Do you blog as an artist? 3

< the Mirror ring and the resulting Circle of life ring >

So what do you get out of a blog?

Many a pin on Pinterest says you can get rich with it easy. If that is what you are after, you better go to Pinterest now. I am using my blog to promote my artwork. I have learned from experience that additional information is essential for visitors to my website. When I had my first version of the site online, I was teaching a lighting design course. A few participants became curious about my jewellery and objects, so I handed out business cards. I got valuable feedback a week later. Their questions told me that my site was not clear. For instance, the dimensions and materials of my objects, as the link was not clear, were not found. Furthermore, they were sorry not to see the story about the origin of my Mirror ring. In the meantime, I have made many improvements to my site resulting in an increasing number of visitors.

Is your turnover growing?

I regularly encounter people who promote success formulas on social media. Solutions that quickly make you successful have not yet convinced me. I believe in quality and perseverance. I learned a lot from the ''Improve your website'' workshop for artists and creatives organised by Kunst in de kijker. I do not receive a bonus or discount from Eline for linking to her site, but Google recognises the link to Eline's site and therefore values my site more. Thus besides being a form of appreciation for Eline's work, it works for me as well. A blog will increase the chance of people getting to your site. In Google, people often use a question to search for information. With a blog text relating to the frequently asked questions, the chances of being successfully found do increase. On the first blog posts I wrote, I had no responses at all. Since I started writing blogs on my work, I have noticed more visitors to my site. They stay longer too. More visitors means more chance of a successful sale. So blogs are just one more tool to be used to sell your art. Find a form of blogging that suits you. Then it also becomes an added value for you.