I and many other artists I know are completely stumped when it comes to the marketing side of the business (is it even a business?), i've joined a plethora of art communities, hardly any of which actually bring in traffic let alone sales. But fear not, there's a far easier, far simpler way than rabbiting on at an obscure forum lost in the back pages of a vast corporate portal vaguely focused on promoting the arts, bar the few who can afford extravagant fees to briefly appear on the home page. I'm talking about a simple arts banner exchange. Yes that's it.

Now I know a lot of experts out there say that banners are past it, perhaps so, for the majority of markets, but as far as the visual arts go, I think we can all make an exception. A great image makes a great impact, and lots of powerful imagery can induce a domino effect of interest from a vast swathe of the public. A sister site at Artshout.net, partly run by myself, partly by a few friends, has leapt into the void that is online arts marketing and come up with a new exchange, an advertising exchange for artists and arts bloggers. It's specifically intended for visual artists, there are plenty of places for musicians and the like to market their products, but the visual arts niche has been a little slow on the uptake as regards to the rise of the Internet. There are big expensive galleries out there, little subcategories in some of the more humongous blog communities, a few arts forums and the like, but not much in the way of arts marketing. I and friends are taking a punt that there are a lot of us out there, creative people who create amazing imagery, objects, sculptures, installations, posters, prints, you name it, and they all need more marketing, free advertising in fact.

So, with no further a due I present to you…
 

Perhaps the only purely visual arts based advertising exchange out there! It's a simple concept, simply sign up for free, add the code to your arts site or blog, and when there are enough of us in the exchange the traffic should pour in. None of us at the exchange are experts when it comes to programming, we just want to help each other out, and this is an invitation for any visual artists and arts bloggers out there to join in the fun. Who knows, it may just prove to be a turning point in a lot of  our creative careers, no promises mind you.

So, what do you get for your trouble?
 

• A free advertising service exclusively for artists and arts bloggers.
• A 10:8 ratio – which means that for every 10 times an ad is seen on your site, your own ad will be seen 8 times on other sites. These are called impressions which are based on pageviews. The greater your traffic, the more your ad will be shown on other art blogs and sites.
• A quality control process that guarantees your work will be seen by a targeted niche audience that have a genuine interest in the visual arts and design.
• A chance (once the membership picks up) to purchase highly targeted advertising placed purely on other arts sites and blogs.

The more your ad is shown, the greater your traffic, the more exposure your creativity will receive! No matter how you're involved in the visual arts, we need your support. Let's give big business a run for its money and try and see if the artists can get their act together and market ourselves on masse. Who knows, stranger things have happened. Visit Exchange.Artshout.net for more information today!

This post is tagged artist banner exchange, artist marketing, artists, arts advertising, arts banner exchange, arts marketing, free advertising