It’s no secret that exchange among peers is one important factor in creativity. Think about the history of Modern Art and at the source you’ll find artists’ communities. Artists were brought together by creative affinity and they expanded the limits of their time, as well as their own, to be and do more.
Countless are the benefits of being part of a professional artists’ network. To mention only a few:
- Contact with diverse practices will keep you inspired and motivated.
- Being around to hear about opportunities and events, will keep you informed.
- Getting support through difficulties or creative blocks will solidify your confidence and keep you committed.
Plio’s social features make it easy for you to be part of a professional network of artists.
Stage 1: Create a News Section
Stage 2: Create Your Own Blog
Stage 3: Use Tags to Draw Visitors and Get Seen
Stage 4: Comment and Get Commented
Stage 5: Keep a Links Page
Stage 6: Reach out to Others Using Forums and Support Areas
Stage 1: Create a News Section
Now that you have an online website, you can keep your visitors updated on your latest news.
- On your dashboard go to Posts.
- A Post has been pre-created. Your first News is “My Plio Art Portfolio is now online!” Click on the title to customize.
- Edit the title and content to inject it of your personality.
- Notice the Category panel on the right column, below “Update”. You’ll find that this post has the category “News” associated to it. This is how it will be displayed on the navigation menu.
- You can add images to this Post by clicking on the first icon (Add an Image) next to “Upload/Insert” below the Post title. You’ll see the “Add an Image” panel where you can upload From Computer or select from Media Library.
- You can create a new “News” post by going to Posts > Add New and selecting the right category.
Stage 2: Create Your Own Blog
To keep a blog is to take advantage of the opportunity to create a richer online presence. You can choose any topic you want, related to your art or not. You can publish as often as you want. You fix the rules.
You can share about ongoing projects, experiments or events. Express your opinions on related topics, write about current collaborations or comment on other artists’ work. These are only some of the many possibilities.
Interesting content can draw many people to your site and as people learn more about you they are more likely to understand and appreciate your art.
Create New Categories in the Posts section on your dashboard. Examples are “Exhibitions” to publish information and documents related to your exhibitions, “Blog” for less specific content, etc.
You can develop your blogging style and interests as you go along. Later, you can add more categories as needed.
Stage 3: Use Tags to Draw Visitors and Get Seen
Plio’s network uses global tags to relate all members’ content. This way, tags can help others find your work. You can also tag your posts to relate them to similar content.
Go to Posts > Tags. As you can see you already have the tags that you imported with your Works. These tags can be used for your Posts as well and you can create new ones also.
Stage 4: Comment and Get Commented
One of the greatest features of a blog is that it can allow people to respond to Posts through Comments.
The fact is you can largely benefit from the exchange with others. You can get feedback and establish dialogue. As a community member, you can turn on this network for inspiration and to connect with other creative professionals like yourself. You might even meet future collaborators.
By default every new Post allows comments. If you wish to get feedback directly on your artwork or your personal information, you can allow comments on every single Work or Page of your site.
As reciprocity, follow other artists’ blogs and comment on them.
A strong artist community will lead to more opportunities and creative nourishment for all members. Take advantage of this possibility, shape and define this network by being an active part of it and contributing generously.
Stage 5: Keep a Links Page
You can keep a page for displaying links that are relevant to your art or simply interesting to you and your audience. This is another way to establish ties with others.
A Links page has been pre-created for you. You can modify it by going to the Pages section and modify the links themselves by going to the Links section in your dashboard.
Stage 6: Reach out to Others Using Forums and Support Areas
The forums and support areas are part of the community as well. There you can find people and resources available to help you solve technical problems and get the best of your online experience.
Online communities are based on the practice of mutual support. As they say: “you get as much as your give”.
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This article was the 8th step of the series: Get your Plio Portfolio Up-and-Running in 10 Simple Steps.