My husband and I were watching 60 Minutes when they featured a story about mobile phone addiction. It was very compelling (and scary) and they focused mostly on teens. Then my husband dropped the bomb and said "I wonder why they aren't featuring a middle aged woman who spends way too much time on her phone". Gee, I wonder who he was referring to?

I do spend a lot of time on my phone. Recently I have made an effort to spend less time on my iphone. But then I started a new instagram account and blog called @my100yearoldhome and my plan went right out the window.

But here is my question. Is it any "less bad" if the time I spend on my phone is primarily for my business? I check email and social media frequently on my phone. But the social media is about 85% business related. I guess I could spend the same time on my computer and thus it would seem less like I am addicted to my phone.

The scary thing is that I don't even think we know how much time we are spending on our phones. I did some research and I found an app that tracks the time you spend on your phone. The app is called Moment, and it is designed to help you monitor (and hopefully, lessen) the time you spend staring glassy-eyed at your phone. You set the "start" and "end" times for tracking your phone use, as well as your maximum daily limit. The app gives you "nudge" updates every so often so you know how much time you've used. I don't think it shocks you if you go over your limit but I do think just knowing the amount of time spent on your phone might be an eye opening. At least for me.

How much time do you think you spend on your mobile phone? I will install the app and let you know soon ...

Hopefully you have had a chance to think about your audience. (If you haven't read yesterday's blog post I suggest you do that first!)

Now that you have some idea as to who your audience is, it's time to find them. And the first two places you need to start are Facebook and Instagram. Go to your Facebook account and set up an ad. While you are setting up the ad you need to create an audience who will receive your ad. The way you do this is by identifying demographics and interests of your audience. Start with the basics, such as geographic location, age, gender, etc. Then start identifying their interests. Perhaps it's travel, outdoors, sports, and food and wine. The list of interests can go on and on and on. Maybe your audience likes the beach and water sports and travel. As you create your audience be sure to save it and name it appropriately. 

You don't even need to run an ad right now. Just define your audience. And just so you know since Facebook bought Instagram the audience you create will work for both Facebook and Instagram.

​Have fun.

"Warm Water"
30" x 30" Available here.

One of the questions I am asked all the time is "How do I find my audience?" Most artists need to know who their audience is, because why should you spend your time marketing if you don't even know who you are marketing to? It's pretty simple. If you know your audience, you can target your art to them. And sell more art.

So how do you find your audience? It's not as hard as you think.

The first step is to look at your existing customers. Who has already bought your art? Take the time to look back at your customers. Take notes to determine their age, their demographics, their interests. Once you have done that, spend some time determining what interests they share in common.

If you haven't sold a lot of art then you need to decide who you want your audience to be. What is it about your art that appeals to an audience? Is it the subject matter? What about the style? Is there a marketing audience (such as interior designers) that can help sell your art to their customers? 

Take the day to give this some thought. Write down your answers. And be ready for tomorrow's blog post for what to do next.

It's the beginning of the second quarter of the year and it's time to stop and ask your self a question. What are you most excited about when it comes to your art? Is it a painting on your easel? Is it a new series you are painting? Perhaps it is a new show you are hoping to enter. The answer is important. But asking the question is the key.

Why?

Because what ever you are the most excited about should be what you are telling everyone else about. Write your answer down. Now go look on facebook, instagram, and on your blog. Are you telling everybody else what you are excited about? I am guessing probably not.

For some reason we forget to talk about the most exciting things happening in our art. But not anymore. On the first of every month I want you to ask yourself this question and then focus on sharing this information with your art audience. Do this every month. Got it?

When you share what you are most excited about others will enjoy your enthusiasm. This is a win, win, I promise.

Well, it's official. My blog titled My 100 Year Old Home has officially launched. There are already five posts on the blog and tomorrow there will be a new, somewhat interesting, yet humorous blog post. titled "My Life as a Dish Whore-der". I would love it if you would visit my blog and let me know what you think. It even has recipes (for those of you who didn't get one of my cookbooks!).

So how does this affect this blog titled "My Everyday Life as a Working Artist"? Not at all. Each blog has a different purpose and I am excited to be able to have two blogs. It's a big undertaking but I know I can do it!

So do you have a blog? It's a great way to have a conversation about your art. For me my blog is a way to share my life as an artist, which includes all of the crazy things I try to accomplish every day! Tomorrow starts my week of commissions. I have three 6' x 9' abstract paintings to complete and I will be so happy when these huge canvases are out of my studio. They are so big and I can barely move around in my studio! I also have a huge list of things to get done and I would love to cross a few of those! I won't bore you with what's on my to-do list. But I can say that launching my new blog was at the top of the list!

If you don't have a blog for your art you might want to consider creating one. It's a wonderful tool to promote your art and a lot of fun too!