My teenagers were mortified to find me on Twitter. First blogging and now this! But, don’t allow yourself to underestimate the power of social media and micro-blogging services. Twitter is one of the quickest ways to build brand recognition for you and your art business.
What do I mean by branding? The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand:
“…name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.”
A strong brand is invaluable and serves to communicate credibility to your prospective customers and business associates.
You want your brand to reside in the hearts and minds of your clients, collectors, prospective customers and competitors. Twitter is the perfect site to begin branding yourself online. It’s true that some people do use (or misuse) Twitter as a way to share their mundane lives with us. However, many intelligent minds are sharing links, news, photos, websites, blog posts, videos, podcasts and more. Finding and networking with like-minded individuals is a great advantage.
Here are important branding tips to think about: Please add your suggestions by commenting below…
1. @Name: Your name is the first thing that people will see on Twitter. Used the name you wish to represent your artist brand. When I first started on Twitter I used @lorimcnee, but quickly changed my name to @lorimcneeartist and gained followers rapidly. It is easier for people to associate me as an artist this way. Also, when people search ‘artist’, my name appears. Once your Twitter page is complete, I suggest you consider adding yourself and your interests to the free Twitter Directory, WeFollow. This way, you can track your ranking, status and influence on Twitter. Currently, I am ranked as one of the most ’influential artists’ on Twitter according to WeFollow!
2. The Profile & Bio: Choose your profile wisely. This is a great opportunity to brand yourself on Twitter. These few words will say a lot to the world about who and what you are. Make it ‘catchy’, this description says a lot about you which helps people make the choice to follow you or not. A custom page is a good way to immediately grab attention.
3. The Profile Picture: Remember you are building your artist brand. It is noted that most people relate to and want to see a friendly face. If you are not comfortable with this, then pick a great image of your art that represents you and grabs attention.
4. Your Website: Do not forget to add your website to your profile. Make sure your portfolio is visible. Twitter will drive traffic to your site.
5. When to Tweet For Impact:
Tim Ferriss tracked and measured ’tweets’ and came up with the following best times…
12 midnight – 4am PST: 6, all between 12 midnight and 2am = 3 per hour
4am – 8am PST: none (partially due to the fact that I am sleeping)
8am – 12 noon PST: 8, all 10am – 12 noon = 4 per hour
12 noon – 4pm PST: 11, 9 between 1:30 – 3pm = 6 per hour
4pm – 8pm PST: 9, evenly spread = 2.25 per hour
8pm – 12 midnight PST: 3 = 0.75 per hour
Guy Kawasaki states: I find it’s worth repeating important tweets up to 4 times in about 18 hours. Typically, that would be evening, late evening, next morning and then the afternoon. Hopefully, that will catch the different audiences. But that’s enough, I don’t want to turn anyone off.
Guy generally pre-schedules his tweets 8 hours apart at 7 pm PST, 3 am PST, 11 am PST, 7 pm PST…
6. Be a Good Follower: Next, follow people and organizations that could help your art career and are of value to your business. I suggest you follow galleries, museums, collectors, art coaches, fellow artists, and others you would like to be seen by. Do not underrate the average Joe or the newbie tweeter…he might be your next big collector! It is good to learn how to be a better follower and follow interesting people from all walks of life.
7. The Tweet: Tweet, re-tweet or post high quality content that adds value for your followers. Remember, is micro-blogging. People are looking for something of value to read and share or “re-tweet” with their followers. Each ‘tweet’ has a limit of 140 characters. Make sure to keep your ‘tweet’ to a maximum of 130 characters in order for others to easily re-tweet your tweet! Save extra characters by shortening links by using a URL shortener like Bit.ly or TinyURL.
Download and use Tweetdeck (I prefer) or Seesmic. These are efficient and time saving personal browsers used to manage your Twitter & Facebook accounts. These applications are intuitive and easy, but if you are feeling intimidated, I suggest following a Tweetdeck tutorial to help you get started.
On Twitter, at times I will share a a photo using Twitpic (on my Tweetdeck) to post a newly finished painting or one that is in progress. This is a great way to get feedback and spark interest in your work.
I like to share my favorite quotes, knowledge and art tips.
Keep in mind what kind of personal information, links, resources and promotional materials you plan to post.
I read somewhere that a good rule of thumb for tweeting is – one personal tweet for every 10 informative tweets. That said, you will find the right balance that works with your following… I average around 2 per 10. (This does not include all the re-tweet ‘thank yous’!)
Sometimes it is tempting to get something off your chest or share some exciting news as I did when I taught a plein air workshop in France or when a black bear jumped in front of me on a dark trail. A little of this goes a long way, but it also important to show a real real human side.
Also, tweet frequently to build your following and brand recognition. This way, you can grow a small community of people with similar interests and who recognize your name and your brand. Having said that, don’t bombard Twitter or Facebook with numerous tweets & updates. You will find what works for you…and your followers will let you know if they don’t like it.
8. The Retweet/RT @: Re-tweeting is a great way to capture the attention of an art organization, gallery or someone you would like to have ‘follow’ you. The re-tweet shares valuable information with other like minded individuals.
9. Etiquette: Don’t forget to thank people for Re-tweeting or replying to your ‘tweet’. Oh, and don’t worry if you lose a follower or two…this happens every day and is the name of the game.
Be a human being, not a marketing drone. Otherwise you will be considered a spammer if you are constantly direct messaging to your URL or product line.
And finally……….
10. The Golden Rule of Twitter: “Tweet others the way you want to be tweeted.”
Lori 
If this article was helpful, you might enjoy:
5 Reasons Why Artists Need Social Media & Eye Opening Stats to Back it Up
Simple SEO Tips to Rank Your Twitter & Facebook Pages Higher on Google
About Lori McNee
Great post, Lori! The profile is a big thing for me; it’s how I decide if I’ll follow back someone or not. If a person doesn’t have a profile, or it doesn’t clearly state what they are interested in and will be tweeting about, I don’t follow!
Hi Miranda…thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think a lot of people will agree with you.
Lori, I love your header photo! Thanks for sharing your Twitter tips. I’m amazed at how many artists are really discovering Twitter right now. I’m also excited for all the artists out there who are working to sell their own stuff instead of just waiting for the galleries to do it. Go artist entrepreneurs!
Great article……thanks for taking the time and effort to help other artists. Well done!
Hi Henry and thanks for taking time to read and comment on the Twitter post!
Excellent tips for artists, designers, writers, etc. Twitter is a great networking tool and social platform. It’s also a perfect place for marketing & building your brand. Adding a ‘title’ in the name field definitely helps with association & in searches. Also, registering with Twitter directories is very useful. Another important aspect: not only following, but also personal interaction with those in your field. Thanks for posting!
~ @Mysticle
Hi Misty…i recognize your pic from Twitter! Thanks for the thoughtful and helpful comments. Glad you ejoyed the post.
Thank you Lori. Great post, very interesting.
Great post! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Great advice and greatly appreciated.
Georgie – I am glad the Twitter advice helped you. Let me know how it goes…
Fantastic post, Lori. I especially liked your suggested tweet times and associated counts.
One thing we don’t do a very good job at is tweeting during the wee hours of the night. I personally hate automated tweets, but there really is no other choice. We are missing the opportunity to build our brand across the pond.
Your article inspired me to get this going immediately with our team.
So glad this post helps you, Brian. Thanks for commenting and visiting my site. Come back again
Great article! I’ve been on Twitter for over a year now and have been using similar techniques you outlined here. It’s a very powerful tool to help get your name out there, if used correctly. Thanks for this great info. Shazam!
Hey Ralph- Nice to meet you and I agree with you about Twitter. It is an amazing tool that many artists have not tapped into. Thanks for your comment. See you on Twitter! Lori
Great article, thank you!
Thanks for taking time to read and comment on the ‘Branding’ article.
Hi Lori, I just went through a Twitter rebrand myself. Thanks for the great tips.
Hi Christine, thanks for the comment & glad to help!
So glad I found your site Lori! Someone tweeted about it and I followed the link. I’m new to twitter but slowly coming up to speed. I look forward to readying more of your informative articles! Thanks for posting.
So glad to have you visit, Michelle! Thanks for taking time to comment and I look forward to hearing from you again.
Best, Lori
Seriously great post; I took away a lot from it! Lovely work, by the way.
Thanks Laura! Glad this post was of help to you. Oh and, thanks for the nice words about my work.
Best-
Lori
Great article! I’ve taken notes from the beginning till the end. Thanks for posting something so informative!
So glad you found this article helpful! Thanks for the comment. Lori
Nice information! Will try some of your tips!!
Hi Jenn…thanks for the comment. Glad to help.
Some of these are good tips, and some of them really, really aren’t. Not if you want to build a good following of people who are actually interested in what you have to say.
First, tweeting for impact up to 6 times per hour for several hours a day? I would defollow that in a second. You are just flooding my stream. That’s not a conversation; that’s talking at me. I try to keep my tweets to 1 an hour. Sometimes I go over, but six is ridiculous and means you’re putting out a poor signal to noise ratio.
It’s great to follow relavent orgs, but often only if they’ve got useful twitter accounts. Many of orgs’ accounts mostly just send tweets out and don’t take info in.
ONE personal tweet for every 10? That’s also a quick way to get unfollowed. We follow PEOPLE. If I want a stream of information, I follow a blog. The only tweets that SHOULD be streams of info are some organizations, weather beacons, things of that ilk.
A lot of these tips definitely make you a marketing drone, not a person. I wouldn’t follow your twitter account. This isn’t meant as a personal attack, but you are giving poor professional advice so it needs to be said.
Hi Cat,
Thanks for your comment. I just clarified within the article that the stats I shared are by some of the biggest names in Social Media, they are not my own stats. I linked to their websites, but maybe you missed that. Believe it or not, I find that I don’t follow the formula myself. I tend to tweet in the am, maybe a few in the afternoon and I try and get some in in the pm (depending on my schedule).
That seems to be working for me because I have a strong community following and have made some really great friends on Twitter. I always personally thank my friends for RTs and nice comments, randomly say hello and then add a personal tweet every so often. Other than that, I like to share my art tips & quotes. That is what works for me. I know I can’t please everybody
I am a big believer that, ‘bad ink is better than no ink’ so thanks for your comment. Hope to see you on Twitter sometime.
Best-
Lori
I have to disagree with your reader name Cat. I have followed you from your first tweet and you didn’t grow to be the top artist on twitter for spaming. You built it by putting up important info that reached a large audience not just artists.
Personally, I think she is jelous and probably has about a few hundred followers and if I had a picture like that for my avatar I would delete it.
Anytime an artist decides to ‘put themselves out there’, they better be ready for the positive AND the negative feedback. Realize, we can learn a lot from what people dont like! Comfort zones are most often expanded through discomfort…
Thanks for your follow-up comment.
Excellent overview with simple suggestions. I love sharing http://vinylart.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-twitter-can-help-art-business.html when I see articles about artists and how Twitter can do well there.
Glad to have connected!
Peace,
@vinylart
Hi Daniel, it is great see my Twitter friend here on my blog. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the comment!
See you on Twitter!
Best – Lori
Hi Lisa, Thanks for linking to my branding article…i appreciate it!
Thanks zero2illo, for linking to my article on branding yourself. I am glad you find it useful to your audience. Come back and visit! Lori