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HOW TO GET FREE PUBLICITY
You hear about the value of public relations all the time. You see the stories on the
evening news and in the Sunday arts section of your local paper featuring various artists and art events. And you wonder: How can I get my business in the news?
Securing free publicity is simple when you follow some standard guidelines.
- The first step is to identify what you want to promote. Is it a new product line or a full collection of work? Did you recently win an award? Are you launching a redesign of your website? Did you have record sales at your last trade show? These are just a few reasons to pitch a story to the media that can result in free publicity for your business.
- The second step is to communicate your newsworthy item. This involves creating a press kit. A press kit can be as simple as an eye-catching folder containing interesting information about you as an artist, images of your work, and whatever newsworthy story that you hope to get publicized.
Be sure to draft the information you want to get publicized into a press release. For tips on how to craft your newsworthy information into a standard press release, click here.
- Once your materials are in order, you are ready to mail out your press kit and are onto the third step...identifying who will receive your press kit. Target the media based on who you want to read your story. For example, if you want the local community to come out and support your art opening, the local daily paper is the media to target.
Once you have the media target defined, identify the people at that media company to send your materials. Arts and features editors of your local paper, radio and television journalists and craft and trade show promoters are all good candidates.
- The final step is simple: follow up. Don't underestimate the worth of the old saying, You won't get what you don't ask for. Be sure to follow up with your media contacts and ask for the coverage.
WINTER BUYERS MARKET UPDATE
The February Buyers Market of American Craft is days away. It's not too late to register for the breakfast seminars, featuring leading arts industry experts. Held daily at the Buyers Market, these educational seminars are an excellent opportunity to broaden your business knowledge.
Sunday, February 19
8-9:30am
Artist Seminar: Taste of ABI, Creation & Evolution of a Wholesale
Artist Seminar:Product Line presented by Milon Townsend
Monday, February 20
8-9:30am
Breakfast Seminar: Burning Craft Business
Breakfast Seminar: Questions...ANSWERED
Don't forget about the Buyers Market Party, Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez! on Saturday, February 18, 8pm-12midnight. Come to the Pennsylvania Convention Center in your best Mardi Gras regalia, and help support the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF). Featuring live music, roulette and craps tables, a juggler, and more. The party is free to all BMAC attendees, and includes complimentary food and a cash bar.
DATABASE OVERHAUL
The Rosen Group is completely overhauling its database immediately after the February Buyers Market. Please be patient while we work on this important project. Statistics such as show numbers will take slightly longer than usual to report as our primary focus will be to implement and test our new systems.
OPPORTUNITIES KNOCKING
Merit Awards
The Merit Awards are in full swing for 2006. Exhibitors participating in the summer show are eligible for the award. Designed to help emerging artists enter the wholesale market and improve their business skills, Merit Award winners receive discounted booth space at the Buyers Market's summer show and are assigned a mentor to guide them through their entrance to the wholesale marketplace.
To be considered for a Merit Award, the artist must be new to the wholesale marketplace and have innovative design ideas that exhibit market viability. For more information about the Merit Awards should e-mail info@rosengrp.com with subject line: Merit Awards.
Master the Business of Art!
Arts Business Institute (ABI) workshops teach craftspeople at all skill levels how to improve their pricing, sales, marketing, and design skills through practical teaching by a professional faculty. This March and April, ABI will reach out to artists in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, with registration fees as low as $65! Scholarships are available for selected locations. Register on-line or e-mail info@artsbusinessinstitute.org for a full calendar of 2006 workshops.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
Congratulate yourselves if you have done something strange and extravagant and broken the monotony of a decorous age.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Market Insider
Archive - MI newsletters from previous months. |
