Tips on promoting your art online & Hobson's Lighthouse

"Hobson's Lighthouse"

ref:AH-001-134

by "Ave Hurley"

Based on my original [mirrored] image acrylic painting done several years ago, this digital repainting has taken on a new life and appearance of its own, as I manually, digitally repainted it at 1200% resolution, one pixel at a time,creating details that my finest 10/0 sable brush never could have done.

In particular I digitally repainted this using a pointalism technique, adding in details to the US Flaf and windows of the house and lighthouse. The US Flag is proudly flying and added in a double masted sailing ship going off into the distance. I added new details to the foreground and changed the coloring overall and re-painted the waves and water.
RELEASE: April 2012, so, if interested, please bookmark this page and come back soon, or email me and be among the first to obtain a copy of this fine digital painting.It will initially be available as a limited edition, hand signed Artist's continental sized glossy finished postcard, meant for framing.

SIZE: 4.27" high by 5.25" wide.

LIMITED SIGNED EDITION : I will only have 100 printed of this and will number and date them when the printing is commissioned.
Price: $5.00 for a collectors first edition art postcard with free shipping.
Other sizes will be available by special order as this can be printed in any size up to 16x20 which will be on my POD Sites shortly. I will be making Giclees of this in sizes up to 12x16 by the end of April when my print shop is once again set up here at my new shop. Just contact me here at ArtRave.

Above is being used as an example of what you as an artist should do in describing your art when posting.

How to 'use' [ArtRave] & any galleries to help promote your art work & increase chances of making sales:

1. List your art in the Gallery [ and other galleries you belong to]

• Use your Artist ID# [if you have one, or use your name in the title bar along with the title of the art, ] I personally assign a page # to create a uniform inventory online that I use on all sites I belong to.
• Give full description of your art : size, Medium used, Price, contact info.
• Let viewers know if the original is for sale or not and give a price.If you sell this art as a print, let viewers know if they can purchase directly from you or not and if there are any limited editions, signed versions and what sizes are available.
• Provide your contact information and correct URLS to where your art is being sold.Also include your profile page URL since viewers may want to read your BIO and check out any other information you provide there.
• Viewers are unlikely to search for your art, unless you provide accurate information

• Check your Gallery page URL using your ID# & page number [example: AH-001-034] at the end of the URL being assigned. This will identify your art in search engines along with the info placed correctly in the Title bar
• Use the same title info, separated by comma's and quotation marks and paste into the Tag line along with other descriptive words, so searchbots can index your work on Google, Bing, Yahoo etc..

2. Repost your art into the FREE Promotional ArtRave Categories that apply - even if more than one.There are over 100 & this is a free service to all artists from any art site. Only rule is it has to be 'family friendly' since ArtRave is a family friendly network, geared to helping emerging artists online to succeed and promote all t heir art sites collectively.

3.Open a second window, to start a blog post on the piece. Be sure to upload the picture and put the Gallery URL as well as the Category URL for the work and the complete copied description you provided in the Gallery, including any sites you have this art for sale at.Keep the blog open til you have all the pertinent information copied there.Tie your info together across the net~!!

4. In the blog, write a short paragraph about the art, whatever inspired you or details about the location of where the art took place or any info that might stir more of the viewer's interest. This may mean the difference when the viewer is making their choice in buying your art over other art they are checking out. Remember art is competitive and viewers are swayed by many factors, including the topic or appearance, the story, the price and how the art makes them feel. You need to make the feel good about your art without making a hard sell. The viewer must always feel in control over what they are seeing, but you need to present your art in a way that will make them want to see it enough to own it.

5. Copy your blog into any other blogs you may have online. The more you spread the news about the same piece of art, the more it will show up in search indexes and be more available to art viewers.

6.Copy the URL of the blog into our Facebook Group and or other promo pages that are available. Be sure to use the Like buttons on the Gallery and Category pages as well as on the Blog pages when available.Twitter it too. Do each and every Like available - Twitter, Facebook, Google+1 and also post urls & your short paragraph about your art into any of the clubs you belong to and on the sites you belong to.

If you learn to repeat this process for each work of art you upload online, you will be self promoting your work using these tools and your art will get noticed and have a better chance of reaching the viewers that may choose to buy it.

It is not enough to just upload a picture to a random site and hope that some millionaire will come along and 'discover' you and make you rich overnite. If you dont go about presenting your work properly and energetically online, you will remain unlikely to sell your work .

This process or system I have laid out is simple and works.I have sold alot of my art this way.

Now for more promotion and advertising, you can use ad agencies, but they are expensive.

If you want an alternative, collective low cost advertising for your art, consider buying a banner ad here on ArtRave. I was doing them for my art but now do it for other artists as well. [or read my forum on ArtRave & do it yourself~!]

While other sites charge alot per day to advertise, you can buy a low-cost ad that will last an entire month for less than you would pay for one day on most sites. [this just covers bandwidth & site support] You can choose what art and site you want viewers to go to with your banner ad.

I also have a Top Artist Ad services which are banner ads with per clicks. Unlike other banner services, I DO NOT CHARGE PER CLICK - ~!
Most adlists charge over $100 a year and up to $.35 per click thru~
I only charge $25 per year and have no click thru charges. I worked hard learning how and creating all these additional services to share with other artists to provide you with an effective way to show, promote and sell your art online.

Do not fool yourself by simply loading art and leaving it everywhere.

I created ArtRave as a promotional artist network, but it is not enough for you to simply post a piece of art and disappear as some have done. That is a waste of time and bandwidth on your part. You need to be proactive if you wish to sell your art online anywhere you go. If however you do it using ArtRave, you will see more results for your efforts and I will help you along the way more than any other site will.



Have a good day :) Happy posting and promoting~!!
Ave

• Ave Hurley : http://www.artrave.com/profiles/blogs/art-promotions
• ArtRave : http://artrave.wordpress.com/
• Ave Hurley : http://avehurley.wordpress.com/
• Ave Hurley Illustrations : http://avehurleyillustrations.wordpress.com/
• Ave Hurley : http://www.painters-online.co.uk/blogs/blogIntro.asp?blog=664

ArtRave offers artists moer options and tools for online promotions

As ArtRave continues to evolve it addresses more of the needs of family friendly online artists worldwide.

ArtRave 

As there are so many artists and many can not afford to advertise and promote by conventional means, ArtRave develops forums with tips and tutorials that can help emerging online artists to get themselves established online and learn how to present their artwork and where to list it where they will increase their chances for success with sales of their work online.

An artist can join ArtRave free and use the many Categories to list their art into for more promotion and exposure. Viewers find the art and can directly contact  the artist for commission free sales.

ArtRave also offers linking to Print on Demand sites that the artists can or have joined already and promote their shops so that viewers will go there and do their shopping for printed art items , such as giclees, posters, cards, postcards, aceo's, household decorative  items,. fashion items, toys, ipad covers, cell skins,even items such as skateboards~!

Whatever anyone is looking for, if they want a family friendly artist verson custom created in an affordable venue, viewers should come and browse ArtRave, check out the shop links and galleries, read the blogs, forums and review the art.

There are also low cost services available for those who need a bit of extra help and or want more promotional services that are totally affordable for all budgets.

Consider becoming a Gallery member for as little as $3.95 a month but enjoy the benefits that will far exceed your expectations.

Come visit ArtRave, ArtRave Mall, ArtRave Categories, ArtRave Blogs, ArtRave Forums today and find the art you have been looking for :)

Walmart Great Value Mild Italian Sausage is loaded with WORMS

I'm still Gagging on Walmart 'Great Value' Mild Italian Sausage, cooked up, took a slice , tasted like Pine-sol.

So I thought, I better be sure,doubting my own taste buds, assuming the sausage was good since we just bought it and it had an expiration date of 7/14 and this was only the 8th~

So I cut & tasted a different piece from another sausage that also had a -soapy Pine-Sol type taste, but was clearly gamier, so spit it out~

Then I looked closely at the sausages I had removed from the frying pan and placed on a plate -It was FULL OF WORM 100'S OF WORMS springing out all over the encasement - long white strings~

So Disgustingly GROSS~!!!

Recapping my actions in shock and totally grossed out~!!!.........

Since I had steam/boiled them in a frying pan, I didn't see all those long thin white thread like worms that had broken through their encasements and were hanging out cooked, [ as they tried to escape being parboiled.. ] since the fat that was boiled out frothed the water.

[I always parboil/steam sausage, then take them out cut them up to add to sauce]...

Not this time~!!!

I took off a small piece while cutting them and popped into my mouth to taste.

Tasted like PineSol smells~

So I forced it down, thinking 'agh', just some different seasonings or maybe the frying pan was a bit soapy{?}, so I decide to test another bite from another sausage to see if they were good or not..expecting the next piece to taste right....


Stronger yucky taste~!
What the heck??

This piece I spit out immediately...I couldnt believe that I got 2 items of bad meat from the St.Mary's Pennsylvania Walmart~!

The 5 lb roll of 80/20 hamburger that I had just opened earlier,made a poping sound when I cut the tube open and it let out a smelly gas, so it was bad and now the sausage was full of worms~!!

Earlier, before cooking their sausage, I had opened a new 5 lb tube of the 80/20 hamburger, which let out a gas hiss and had a slight odor~ I wrapped that back up planning to return it to Walmart.

It wasn't supposed to expire til 7/14 & we only bought it the night before! So I had my son, James smell it to confirm it was funky and put it back it the bag, tied it and placed it in the freezer so I could return it next trip to Walmart.


Because the hamburger was 'bad', I had decided to make spaghetti & sausage~

Yuck~!

I am glad I cook sausage separately before adding to sauce to cut down on the grease, but since I steam/boil it to get all the fat out, the water gets frothy a bit, so I didnt see that each sausage had these long thin white threads popped perpendicularly through the encasements!



I had cut off a chunk from the end of one sausage [before seeing the worms] and had eaten a piece that tasted kind of like soap or pine-sol, thinking my taste buds were 'off'...

Then I figured I needed confirmation , so I cut another piece off another sausage and it tasted even worse so I spit that one out...



I took them out of the water, put them on a plate and then saw the little stringy things. I called James to see and initially he said it looked like it was just the encasements breaking down from boiling them, but ass we looked closer we then realized that there were more, as I turned the sausages over to look at the little strings, we then realized that they were long stringy white worms!!!!!



GROSSED OUT AND OUTRAGED, I IMMEDIATELY PUT MY FINGER DOWN MY THROAT- to try and vomit out the piece I had already swallowed.my stomach still remains queezy today!



James called up Walmart immediate and they apologized and said to bring them back, we decided to take the ride 15 miles to them and show them so they could put out a recall.



So we took them back to Walmart - grossed them out too~

Told them they better recall their crap~

They said they get it all premade, pre-frozen and even though it had the label and UPC that they weren't saying whether or not they would send in a recall~ Come on~!!

If it was like that in my package, it had to be in others~!!



They gave me a $20 Gift Certificate [big deal!] but I can still feel that lump in my throat-


Although I know the worms were dead, its still grossing me out~!

Thinking about it, makes me wonder if at the meat plant perhaps when cleaning up and scraping away scraps, that someone must have put them into the vat and processed them into sausages- since they had a soapy, pine-sol type taste...sick~!

Disgusting - How many other packages will be like this??? Who else will be affected???



I normally love sausage, but now cant consider eating any.. especially their brand.

James and I then went to buy some non-meat food products, but I stopped by their sausage, seeing some packages still icy from being just brought out.

They had a 7/18 expiration date - so they either sold out all the 7/14 or maybe did know about it and removed them all.

Out of curiosity I started looking real close at their new packages and could see that under the encasements they those too looked like there were little white stringy things...that if boiled will most certainly pop through.



Where ever this pork sausage was processed at needs to have the FDA go in and inspect their plant and make them get rid of all their wormy meat!!



DONT BUY GREAT VALUE ITALIAN SAUSAGE!!!

DONT BUY ANY 'GREAT VALUE SAUSAGES' AS THEY ALL LOOK LIKE THEY COME FROM THE SAME PLACE~!!

Artists can show & advertise their family friendly art FREE on ArtRave Categories~!

The ArtRave Categories [ are located to the right hand side of any ArtRave page]

The are also published on other websites affiliated with ArtRave & ArtRave blogs.

Find more Art like this on ArtRave

Members are free to use the comment text box to promote and sell their art commission free, direct to buyers.

Use the little tool bar atop the text box that has a camera icon, to place an individual pic of your Art/craft/handmade jewelry etc., along with editing in the Description of your art : Title, medium used, size, shipping info, price, contact info etc, added along with your art picture so that you can show or offer your art for sale, commission free, on ArtRave Categories.

All submissions have to be 'family friendly' suitable for all ages to view as we do not filter art.

No nudity, profanity or illicit art is allowed and must not be submitted or you could be banned from using the site..

The ArtRave Categories menu is a java script menu which I post to numerous websites.

Viewers of other websites and pages can then access the category from anywhere online by clicking on any category/ topic. They will then find your ads instantly and be able to connect them to your mini webpage here on ArtRave.

Your free mini webpage given free when you become a member of ArtRave, has text boxes that you can customize to promote your art.

You can use it as your homepage .

Your webpage is a very valuable tool and asset when starting out online, especially if you do not have your own website.

It also is a good home base 'hub' to use if you as an artist have multiple websites.

You can list all your internet art related sites, blogs, shops, galleries & contact information on your own customizable home web page, including placing your own paypal payment receiving.

[Learn how to make a Paypal button in the Forum]

Keep all your internet sites, links etc here in one easy to access place. Make it a wealth of information to any viewer seeking to know more about you and where you sell your art online.

I have developed this system to provide free promotional advertising for all artists.

Originally I built this site specifically to be a hub for all my own online art & websites, but later opened it so other artists can join and promote their art alongside my own.

I made instructional forum posts including how-to-do's, tutorials , where to advertise, how to advertise and more so any artist can use the resources here to develop their own websites as well.

I advertise online so other artists can learn to do likewise or piggyback along with my ads which offer viewers a variety of art.

This site is ever evolving as I learn new venues for us as artists to use online,therefore there will be changes along the way that will be designed to making each member's art more visible to the public and easier to find in search engines to those seeking to buy art.

I share the info for the do-it=yourselfers, it is labor intensive and very time consuming for me but for artists wanting more specific custom attention I had to develop several upgraded membership levels , which I now have in place on site .

Check here: COMPARE TYPES OF ARTRAVE MEMBERSHIPS

These levels of memberships began to evolve when my current hosting company started charging money for the site, so I have to pay extra for each feature.

Using the groups/club feature to showcase art, didnt raise the costs that I have to pay monthly so, so I developed this feature to create the ArtRave Categories & clubs for cross promotion links to other popular art print sites. I have been telling members to use this FREE feature to their benefit.The more art listed there, the more viewers it will attract which will benefit all the artists who use the feature.

ArtRave Categories currently remains free to all members.

The ArtRave Gallery feature includes slideshows & include off site web hosting, This include the monthly fee on the bandwidth usage we have to pay our hosting company.

As a result of the hosting charges which I pay monthly, it is necessary that the cost be paid by those using the Gallery feature here at ArtRave by the creation of various levels of membership.

Find more Art by Fran Hoffpauir on ArtRave

I strive to keep ArtRave to include free memberships as well as to be affordable for all artists,

Donations from viewers and members will enable poor artists to post their art into the ArtRave Categories and for some to keep their current Gallery simply by requesting a waiver on subscription costs due to economic hardship.

Currently many Gallery members are being supported by donations, however donations currently being received have not met the costs of ArtRave and we are running at a deficit and need help. I am working without salary and have personally devoted over 8,000 working hours to development of this site to help other artists!

I want to invite all art promoters & art advertisers to come and advertise here on ArtRave, to help offset operating costs and will gladly accept any size donation to help keep the site running.Using the Paypal Donation button makes supporting ArtRave easy with a click of the button provided and the amount is up to the individual as to what they would like to donate.

Members, Supporters & Advertisers can help by ordering a banner ad which is a low cost ad displayed on our front page & included on other websites, blogs & more.

Lowcost Ad prices are the most economical anywhere on the internet~!!

Find more Art like this on ArtRave


Find more Art like this on ArtRave

My slideshow banner ads start at only $3.50 a month and these slideshow ads get promoted on numerous websites online so you can advertise any site where you sell or your ArtRave webpage that you can post all your sites at~ so the advertising here can have phenominal results.

Artists wishing to advertise on and offsite, can buy an annual banner ad which will automatically promote and advertise their art online, I have developed some 'Top 100' sites that are exclusive to 100 artists per site which will bolster any artist's presence in search engines to those seeking art.

Here are the current sites and memberships available for only $25/year

1.]TOP 100 FEATURED ARTISTS

2.]TOP 100 PORTRAIT ARTISTS
3.]TOP 100 SPACE ARTISTS
4.]TOP 100 ETSY JEWELRY MAKERS
5.]TOP 100 Pet & Wildlife Artists

6.]100 TOP ABSTRACT ARTISTS

7.]BEST ACEO's ONLINE

I am just a single artist like the rest of you, trying to work online and have devoted most my time over the passed two years in free labor promoting all ArtRave artists.

ArtRave is growing and getting better known all over the internet but needs help & support so each poor artist can show & sell their art.

I do not charge any commissions for using the site to sell art and

allow artists to show and sell direct to buyers.

.

The basic Gallery membership includes uploading up to 60 pictures into the gallery part of this site for only $3 a month through Paypal subscription which can be canceled any time ~

Find more Art like this by Jendrawan Husada on ArtRave

For those seeking to be part of the elite family friendly ArtRave Gallery who have alot of art to display, a Premium Gallery membership allows up to 200 pictures to be posted for only $7.95 a month hosting fee~! This includes the use of sharable slideshows we host all over the internet~!

APAS Gallery memberships include more personalized labor on my part to specifically promote members of APAS, for only $12.95 a month that I will advertise and promote your art here and elsewhere online~! This includes up to 200 pictures in the ArtRave Gallery as well.~!

This is for all artists that basically can use the forums to do their own promotions, but enables the artist to have up to 60 pictures hosted here and to also helps the site to grow. AS a gallery member you can then use the slideshow feature to 'share' and copy the embedded code to post anywhere online you want, although it is hosted here which means I have to pay the hosting fees to the hosting company which happens to be Ning.

I also have several other sites linked to this one that have free galleries on them that you can upload your art to that have no current hosting fees. I try to find and develop as many free sources for artists as I can.

ArtRave is unique among Art network sites as you are allowed to promote any art site you belong to. Many other art sites wont allow cross promotions but here it is encouraged as the purpose is to help artists collectively. We have had over 32,000+ unique visitors since starting and some of our artists, such as Nan Wright & Murphy Elliott have had sales through being listed here in our clubs and using links to their POD sites.

Please take some time to explore ArtRave Supergroups & Clubs Directory .and our How-to do self help FORUM

List your art topically in the ArtRave Categories that apply. List them also in the Art by Price categories. See some of the current clubs an sign in to post links back to the appropriate clubs, such as Fine Art America, Imagekind, Zazzle and so on [ if you belong to them ] or go to their sites, join and then come back and post links to those galleries or shops. The more you can promote, the better it is for you to get known online and the better known you get, the better the chances of meeting the promoters or buyers that would be interested in your work. Art online is extremely competitive, so making your work stand out is accomplished by promotions.

I can hold uploaded submissions in the approval bay for 24 hours, in case you wish to upgrade to one of the gallery memberships, which in that case can then be approved and posted.

If you do not wish the basic gallery membership ] $3 month subscription through Paypal ] or an enhanced membership, there is no pressure to do so, however your pictures can not then be in the Gallery due to hosting fees.

If you can and do decide to upgrade, just choose which level you want on the comparison page and go through the Paypal button checkout. Paypal then notifies me and I can approve up to 60 pictures [3 gallery pages] and add your name to the Artists ID list and provide you with an artist id that is designed to help get you into google searches.

Have a great day :)

Ave

ArtRave Members who selling their art on Fine ArtAmerica

If you don't already have a Fine Art America account~ Go to http://www.fineartamerica.com
 Open a 'free' basic account and load your pictures there.
Then as you edit them include the URL here in your edit.

Once you have an acct with FAA then list your FAA URL here~


Fine Art America Member's Directory

Alberto D'Assumpcao http://alberto-dassumpcao.fineartamerica.com

Basant Soni http://icollages-made-from-all-natural-materials.fineartamerica.com/


Delfina Mendonca http://delfina-mendonca.fineartamerica.com /

Dr.Krishne Kumari Challa http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/dr-krishna-kumari-challa.html

Duc-Sai http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/zoltan-ducsai.html

Elf Evans http://elf-evans.fineartamerica.com/

EL-302 E Luiza Picciano http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/e-luiza-picciano.html

Janet Marston-Wadle http://janet-marstonwadle.fineartamerica.com /  

Jerry Hanks http://jerry-hanks.fineartamerica.com

ME-003 Murphy Elliott http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/murphy-elliott.html

NW-004 Nan Wright http://nan-wright.fineartamerica.com/ .....
NEW SHOP:: http://nan-wright.artistwebsites.com /


Nicholas Piliero http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/nick-piliero.html?hidetop=true

Pedro Charters d'Azevedo http://fineartamerica.com/profile/pedrocharters

Rachel Asherovitz http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/ricklene-wren.html

Stan Layman - http://Stan-Layman.fineartamerica.com

Wllliem McWhorter http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/williem-mcwhorter.html

Zhenlian - http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/lian-zhen.html?tab=artwork ...NEW~!! http://lianzhen.fineartamerica.com

PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME and FAA Website URL[addy of your site] below in the comments so that I can add it to this Directory.

Also add your FAA widgets into Comments, Classified & your pages in the Text modules so you will be cross promoted here and people can find your work online~
THANKYOU FOR JOINING


In comments, use only one comment per image.
Select 'camera icon' above.
Click on 'Options' - choose thumbnail & wrap around text Left.
'Browse' to pick out your Artwork from your computer.

When your picture code comes up ~ List the Title of your Picture and any contact info or pricing you want viewers to know, so that you can be contacted should a buyer be interested.


See More Art in ArtRave Gallery or ArtRave Categories

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Great Site Policy - on ArtRave promotes family values, decency in art and has positive impact as well as provides a great place for good atists to join together to show their art & sell it.

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