The bottom line is that there are plenty of really talented people out there who will never be heard from because they don't understand even the most basic principles of marketing. Marketing isn't often taught in Fine Arts courses because the instructors, by nature, are better at teaching the craft than they are at marketing themselves in the craft. Most marketing experts haven't fine tuned their artistic talents enough to have a product worth marketing.
So the good news is that it is easier for a talented artist to learn the principles of excellence in marketing ideas and services than it is for a marketing genius to develop the passion and skill sets needed to produce good and, sometimes, great art.
Your website looks good and is ready to be shown to the public but now you'll have to begin your marketing phase.
The first thing you'll want to do is start writing internet articles?for free! They don't have to be long or profound, they just have to be written well, stay on subject, be controversial and have great titles that search engines will latch onto and deliver people into your funnel.
Go to http://ezinearticles.com, sign up for a free membership and start writing short articles about what you're interested in. Also, make sure the meta tags on each page of your website have 101 keywords and phrases to attract search engines. Also, make sure that you have a text table of contents on each page of your website as well as the cool flash buttons. Make sure every page has a title and that you register your site with http://dmoz.com.
Next, start a blog at http://blogger.com (it's free) and start blogging about your subject and your art. Talk about which phases your are in certain projects and make sure to include plenty of juicy tips and advice for people interested in art (do you see that you are truly building your online brand into an expertise here?).
Next, go to http://aweber.com and sign up for a newsletter database subscription ($20 a month). Put forms and links on all of your websites and send an initial message to your warm e-mail market to join your subscription list. Send a weekly newsletter to your subscribers-keep them entertained and keep them interested and with patience and time your audience will grow into thousands. These thousands know tens of thousands and this circle of hundreds of thousands of possibilities will keep you working for the rest of your life if you choose to work that long.
Beyond this, there is pay-per-click advertising you search out proper keywords and buy time with them in certain search engines as well as affiliate programs where other people market your services for you and you give them a percentage of whatever business they bring. But let's focus on the cheaper foundation first.
This is a guaranteed method of success if you are willing to put the time into it and you must first decide whether you want to go all the way or not because success and happiness begin at the crown of the head where spirit meets mind meets body. Success or failure is a choice we make each moment and determine the nature of our experience of reality. I have been extremely impressed with your talent and with your professionalism in our exchanges so far-I believe in you and in your future and I am willing to invest my time and limited resources (for now at least) into helping you achieve. But all that doesn't matter if you haven't invested yourself and your success 100%.
There is no going back from here, my friend. Onward and upward!
Joshua Minton is President of an Internet Publishing and Business Consulting Corporation called Family Bliss Enterprises, Inc. He is also author of two novels, several short stories, poems and articles on art, philosophy, politics, sociology, science, popular culture, business, health insurance administration, internet marketing, blogging and personal success.
You can reach Josh by e-mail at josh@joshuaminton.com or by signing up for his weekly newsletter off http://joshuaminton.com or by sending a blank e-mail to moreminton@aweber.com.