Analogue Ways of Promoting Your Art

Governments across the world are demanding that users give over their IDs to random companies under the guise of "protecting children." It puts the careers of many artists at risk, especially if they care about protecting their privacy and wish to remain as anonymous as possible on the internet. Everybody should have the right to their safety, although it seems like that right is being stripped away on the internet.

So, are we screwed?

No. It just means that the internet is not a viable place to develop your career and you will need to look at other avenues. Thankfully, artists have relied on the internet for a way shorter time in history than they have gone without. That does mean there were fewer artists due to accessibility issues, especially when we're talking about the finance side of it, but that doesn't have to be the case.

Here are five ways you can promote your art offline that are either cheap or free. There are no paid ads or overpriced art markets needed!

Vending at the Flea Market

A common piece of advice for artists trying to sell their work is to sell offline, typically through art markets, but let's be real. Art markets are typically expensive! Customers can usually walk in for free because the event already made its money by selling table fees that often go well into the triple digits, and you would be lucky if the only thing being charged is the table fee!

But if you have some low-ticket products to sell, such as small prints and stickers, then don't sleep on your local flea market. While you won't get the benefits of working in an art market (such as quality customers willing to pay for more expensive products), it can prove to be a good starting point when your business is in its early days and you currently don't have the funding for many other options. After all, it is better to get started somewhere than to wait until a miracle happens. Because, realistically speaking, a miracle won't happen. You have to be the miracle.

Handing out/Hanging Flyers

This is going to highly depend on the laws of your current area, but you can try hanging flyers or handing some out. Perhaps your neighbors have something you see often you like to see. You can give them a drawing as a random act of kindness from a member of the local community. Whether it's just an ad or a random act of kindness, you are getting involved with your local community and letting people know that you exist and you create. 

Posting on Community Boards

If you get to go out frequently, then you should look for community boards that allow artists and small businesses to promote themselves and regularly contribute to them. Many businesses and third spaces, such as public libraries, will have a way for you to make yourself a little more visible in the eyes of people who are going about their days. You can add a little whimsy to a space that is not your own, and more eyes will be on your work.

Talking to People About Your Art

Similar to (and can be complimentary to) drawing in public, you should talk to people about your art. Even if you're not creating, there are many opportunities you're missing out by not mentioning you are an artist. People are not mind readers, and they won't know that you create if you won't mention it. They're only going to consider you for a project if they know that you are even an option. Plus, the odds of someone asking unprompting is basically zero.

Obviously, you should only talk about it when it's relevant, and you should leave room for other topics, but sometimes you do need to be a little annoying in order to grow. There is a fine line that needs to be met, and you're not going to figure it out right away. There is nothing wrong with that. Marketing is a skill just like your artistic disipline, and it's going to take a lot of doing it poorly before you begin to do it well.

Creating in Public

Finally, just bring a sketchbook somewhere and draw! It can be a great conversation starter and can be combined with other forms of promoting yourself. People are usually interested when they see you draw and would love to know what it is you're up to, and why. They want to hear all about your awful characters, the symbolism in an illustration, the ideas floating around in your head. You can even offer to draw people's dogs if you are hanging out in a park or something. It makes for a lovely gift and dogs are cute. Perhaps you can encourage people to be better owners by only drawing leashed dogs or something along those lines.

Plus, if your doodle is in a state where it actually looks like something, you can show it to them. They would get a sample of your work in person, and you can gauge how the average person thinks of your work.

Conclusion

As times change, there is a chance you're going to have to adapt if you wish for any long-term success. Thankfully, adapting is not as difficult as it needs to be. It's all about what you can do, rather than what you can't do. Perhaps it will take a little bit of clever thinking, but we are artists. Clever thinking is most of our job. However, this list is not comprehensive, and there are many ways that I simply don't know about.

That is my question to you. What are some ways to adapt in this new and scary era? How can we, as artists, become less reliant on the internet as it proves to be unreliable thanks to legislations aiming to censor us?