[TheForge] Advertising your work

[RIES NIEMI]

The best advertising is always free advertising-
 Editorial coverage, that is the media covering you as news, is always
preferable.

Most magazines and newspapers, and even radio and tv, are always looking for
things to cover. In many cases, you just need to let em know you exist,
although the more of their work you do for them, the more likely they are to
cover you.
When I used to do a lot of furniture and metal knicknacks, I would send
packages to writers at local newspapers and magazines, as well as national
ones. Go to a big newstand, and spend some time looking at home and design
magazines, and spend a few bucks buying copies of the ones that seem to
cover the style of work you do. Look on the mastheads, and send photos and
biographical info to writers and editors. With computers today, it is easy
to scan and print a few pages of photos, with a little explanatory text- you
dont have to write a book, just a few sentences. This works much better than
snapshots crammed in an envelope, and only takes a few minutes with
photoshop.

Most of my work now is large scale sculptural and ornamental, and one of the
things I find gets a lot of publicity is working with community and school
groups. I did a project with the elementary school where we took kids
drawings, blew them up and plasma cut them out of steel, and mounted them on
the playground wall. The PTA raised a little money and provided volunteers
for installation, and the work was amply covered in the media. My donation
was mostly just time, and it has was great fun working with the kids.
Similar projects are possible with fences and railings, indoor and outdoor
furniture, signage, etc. I dont try to teach all the kids to do metal work,
instead I take their extremely creative drawings, and translate them into
metal as parts of a larger project.
Working with local nonprofits, doing creative work on projects that are
popular and high profile in the community, is a great way to expand your
audience and get media attention. Often there is a budget for needed
metalwork on downtown improvement projects, senior and low income housing,
schools, theaters, parks, and the like. In larger cities and states there
are organized public art programs, which are also worth investigating. More
and more blacksmiths are getting public art commissions, which are high
profile, and creative. But many smaller towns have no formal process, but
are still open to creative work- you just need to tell em you exist. I know
local smiths who have made railings for a local non profit theater group,
plant brackets for the light poles of a small downtown, outdoor seating, and
the like, all as small informal projects directly negotiated between the
smith and the towns. Many people see your work in highly visible public
places, and think of you when they need something.

Currently I have a piece in a yearlong sculpture exhibition sponsored by the
arts commission of a local town. They dont pay anything for the work, but
the piece is out in public, for sale, and much more likely to sell than
sitting in my yard. Since it was a project of the town, not a commercial
effort on my part, it got lots of coverage, including a picture on the front
page of the local paper. There are many exhibits like this around the
country.

Most of this is part of lifelong career and reputation building, a step at a
time. You never know when something you did years ago will result in a call
that leads to a job.
It also requires work- you need to have a good, concise resume/ description
of yourself and what you do. You need to take good pictures of everything
you do, and make up a package blowing your own horn. You need to make phone
calls, talk to people, and do research on opportunities. If you just sit in
your shop, waiting for the world to come to you, a few folks will, but you
will get a lot more interesting and fun opportunities if you go out and look
for em.

You dont have to be an artist with a capital A either- there is a growing
appreciation for hand craftsmanship at all levels of private and public
buildings these days.