Gaining Marketing Skills Quickly by Leading a Creativity Challenge with Kristen O'Neill (#145)
Release Date: 03/23/2023
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What Artists Need to Know About SEO with Meg Casebolt (222)
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You work hard on your art. You want people to discover it. But if you’re relying entirely on social media to be found, you're building on shaky ground. Search engines like Google, YouTube, and even Pinterest remain powerful tools for helping people find you and your art—but only if you’re strategic about how you show up there. In this episode of The Art Biz, host Alyson Stanfield talks with her go-to SEO coach, Meg Casebolt, about what artists need to know about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and how to take ownership of your content online. Meg helped Alyson make sense of 20+ years of...
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Comprehensive Guide for Writing an Effective Artist Statement (221)
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Guest: Ruby Lopez Harper, Executive Director of CERF+ In this episode of The Art Biz, Ruby Lopez Harper, executive director for CERF+ (the Craft Emergency Relief Fund) joins host Alyson Stanfield to discuss the vital work CERF+ does to support artists before, during, and after emergencies. As CERF+ celebrates its 40th anniversary, Ruby shares the history of the organization, its spirit of mutual aid, and how it has expanded its services over the years. Most importantly, Ruby and Alyson want to encourage artists to research, plan, and prepare in order to protect their art businesses—sharing...
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The 4 Core Beliefs That Lead to Art Business Success (ep. 216)
The Art Biz
host: Alyson Stanfield If you’ve followed my work, you’ve likely noticed some recurring themes—guiding principles that shape the way I advise artists. These aren’t just casual suggestions; they are the foundation of everything I do. In this episode of The Art Biz, I’m sharing the four core beliefs that define my approach and help artists build sustainable, thriving careers. You’ll hear why your art must always come first, why you must learn to communicate clearly about your work, why your network is your #1 marketing asset, and why business systems will help you grow faster and...
info_outlineIn this episode of The Art Biz, I’m joined by Kristen O’Neill, a team member of mine and an accomplished artist who recently created a 30-day daily art lesson challenge for her online followers. But in the end, it may have been more of a challenge for her than it was for the participants. Kristen and I discuss what she hoped to get from this challenge, how she organized it, how much of it was planned ahead, and what her workflow was like—including all of the platforms she used to share the content—and most importantly, what she would do differently if she were to do it again.
First posted: artbizsuccess.com/challenge-oneill-podcast
Highlights
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Details of Kristen’s 30-Day Art Challenge and what she hoped to get out of it. (1:29)
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How Kristen shared the challenge while honoring her email list expectations. (6:10)
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Creating and organizing a workflow that worked all month long. (10:42)
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The time commitment and unexpected challenges behind the challenge. (16:35)
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Lessons learned from the challenges of this challenge. (22:25)
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Staying motivated and accountable throughout a challenge. (27:52)
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Tracking the participation, success, and results of the challenge. (30:15)
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The value of Pinterest for artists. (38:30)
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What Kristen would do differently next time. (41:07)
This Week’s Action
Your assignment this week is to consider how you are stretching yourself in and out of the studio these days.
Mentioned
Related Episodes
Quotes
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“I’m always looking for different opportunities and ways to reach out to more students and interact with more painters.” — Kristen O’Neill
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“It’s really important to honor what you say you’re going to do with your list.” — Kristen O’Neill
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“I picked up lessons more quickly than had I done the same amount of work spread over a longer period of time.” — Kristen O’Neill
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“If you haven’t figured out your system ahead of time, it’s going to be harder than it needs to be.” — Kristen O’Neill
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“Often we spend so much time guessing what is the right way to do something, and we could put that energy into just doing it.” — Kristen O’Neill
About My Guest
Kristen O’Neill paints the essence of landscapes based on real locations, including those from recent collaborations with long-distance hikers. Her Oregon Coast Trail series was featured in a solo exhibition at the Grants Pass Museum of Art.
Kristen graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and now lives in Southern Oregon where she has become passionate about teaching art. She teaches both online and in-person, leads a field trip program that has taught art history to thousands of 5th graders, and is an Artist Mentor for Alyson Stanfield’s community since 2018.