The Real Story of Twitter’s 1st Art Auction – @140hours

 The following guest post by Gary Brant is the first in the series of inspiring and informative articles by working artists, galleries and individuals who are ‘Thinking Outside the Frame’ with creative art marketing ideas in this challenging economy. 

Gary, a true visionary, has created a revolutionary online art auction using the power of Social Media. The World’s 1st Twitter Art Auction & Supporter of International Charities.

On a personal note, I would like to mention that my art has sold on this reputable auction site. Read on and join in… 

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guest author: Gary Brant

140hours was born in the summer of 2009, while I had been trying out Twitter and didn’t really know what to do with this relatively new social networking tool.

The most appealing things about Twitter for me:

• Its light-weight messaging possibilities.
• The ability to reach a lot of people at once with your message.

As an art dealer in New York City and a gallery owner, I had been used to the old world style of selling art off the walls to “physical” customers.

But I wondered, what would happen in those hot months of July and August, ‘if we merged an art auction with this new technology for sending and receiving messages’?

Thus was born @140hours.  The name was conceived from the 140 character limit that restricts Twitter users when writing their “tweets”.

I was also keenly aware of artists’ needs:

• publicity
• marketing
• self-promotion
• to achieve financial success with their art

Perhaps we could conquer two birds with one stone, or even three?

We introduced in late October, 2009 - The World’s 1st Online Art Auction with our unique “TweetBid” technology:

• Now, art buyers anywhere, even with their mobile phone, could purchase art through the Twitter network by placing their
  bids as a “tweet” and connecting to 140hours!

It was an exciting and historic moment, and the 50 artists that had joined at that time were excited. Their enthusiasm was linked together and broadcast on Facebook, Twitter, emails, phone calls, media coverage, and word-of-mouth to broadcast the event across the art world, with great success.

Today, on the eve of 140hours tenth consecutive auction, the same magic applies. Make it easy for customers to find great art and artists, make the process of bidding in our auctions fun and easy, and letting artists take control of their careers by becoming savvy self-promoters, for the common good of the entire enterprise.

It’s a winning formula for artists, and brings value and a fun experience for art buyers, helping to revive an art market that has been in questionable health for the last several years.

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If you like this article you may also enjoy:

• 5 Reasons Why Artists Need Social Media & Eye Opening Stats to Back it Up!
• Art Marketing Success Tips for 2010
• Brand Yourself as an Artist on Twitter

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