Take control of your digital self.
A guide for artists and art professionals who want to develop their digital literacy skills. You don’t have to follow each step, but consider them all.
1. Know your digital self
Google yourself. To what extent can others identify you as an artist or art professional? What is missing from your story?
2. Ask yourself why?
What do you want to gain from your digital presence? Raise awareness of your art practice? Get opportunities? Foster new conversations? To sell? Why is important and dictates the how, what, where of your digital activities.
3. Take stock
What assets do you have, how well do you create and publish content? How do you distribute and promote? How do you engage? How do you look to optimise what you do? How do you analyse impact?
4. Identify your audience
Who do you want to communicate with? Where will you find them? What do you want from the audience?
5. Start telling a story
A story provides you with a framework to present your ideas. Your stories need to have emotional reach, they need to connect with your audience, so think about them. How do you tailor your story to different audiences?
6. Build your digital profile
Make sure you have a professional art focused profile. Using respected and validated online profiling sites such as Axisweb helps you presents and frame work alongside peers and establishing reputation and raising awareness with audiences.
7. Be consistent
Decide how you want to be portrayed and be consistent across all the platforms you use. Avoid professional mis-representation, keep profiles updated and reflective of you.
8. Choose the right social media channels
Consider how best to reach your audience. Where are they, how do you get to them.
9. Be a curator and share with others
It’s not all about self-promotion. Curated content helps us make sense of what’s out there. By helping others it extends your influence and will support your own goals.
10. Create a workflow and save time
Design a workflow for you that ensure you are efficient at getting your stuff out there. For example: Create content - manage it - deliver it - engage - analysis - learn - repeat.