Building a Professional Online Presence as an Artist

There’s no handbook for how to land your dream job, and  no guide for how to fulfill your goal of landing your dream job. As a creative, this statement is even more true because there’s no linear career path to become a professional artist. Whether you want to be a musician, sculptor, or a director the best way to jumpstart your career in the art industry is through exposure. 

​Because your work is your content, content should be your best friend. Without that there would be nothing to make you significant and stand out from the crowd. Go all in on your content, then you can move into the next phase: advertising yourself and your work. Together, these are essential first steps artists must take to building an online presence.
 
How?
 
In this era of technology, the most efficient way to promote your work is to digitize it. Online portfolios through websites and social media are common ways people are compacting their work to reach audiences. Aside  from putting your creations online, you need to be able to market yourself  in order to gain that following. Alongside this, putting yourself out there allows you to network with the right people in order to help attain your goals. In this industry people always say, “It’s not about what you know, but who you know” as it can be difficult to be noticed. After marketing yourself and your work you’re now on the right track to becoming that famous artist you’ve always known you could be.
 
In any type of relationship, you need to establish a foundation. People are genuinely attracted to art that shows personality and passion because that’s genuine and relatable. It allows for people to connect with you through your work. If you are continuously posting on social media or updating a portfolio, followers will be able to build that relationship with you online.
 
Showcasing this will progressively increase your following and further yourself into the field through networking. With the proper networking techniques you can sell yourself and make it memorable for the right people to become aware of who you are. 
 
Why?
 
In the past, word-of-mouth was the primary way for people to reach other audiences. While this is still effective under certain circumstances, it’s still important to keep up with what is current. Digital media is the now and the future, and major corporations, influencers, and creators have already taken this into account. They are now looking for their next employer, collaboration, or artist via social media platforms.
 
In order to get noticed your presence online needs to be both consistent and interesting for a potential employer. They can quickly get a sense of who you are and if they would like to get to know you further. But even if they don’t, they might know of someone who will. You never know who’s watching or who knows who, so you need to expose yourself to all the possibilities!
 
Get started building your online presence by checking out the popular platforms for artist portfolios!

PATIANA THOMAS

Writer
The Modern Artist Project