Corona Virus – What should you do as an artist?

Corona Virus – What should you do as an artist?

We’ve seen many businesses panic because of the most recent global crisis; the corona virus. Brick and mortar businesses (businesses that operate locally) are the fields of work that will have to suffer the most from this; the hospitality industry especially. On the other hand, as an artist, you could actually benefit from the COVID19 virus outbreak.

How does the Corona Virus affect artists?

Each country is dealing with the crisis in its own way. For example, in Cyprus, all events that would’ve had an attendance of over 75 people were forced to be rescheduled. This has put many people out of jobs for the time being and there will definitely be a decrease in transactions across all industries, except maybe for retail and online shopping.

So what does the corona virus actually mean for artists? A lot of entrepreneurs and individual business owners are concerned about the virus stopping all sales; for good reason! Panic is never good for business, especially for luxury items such as art. The corona virus crisis will definitely decrease the number of sales that occur in the art market. We’ve already been notified of several art events that will have to be postponed until the summer due to the severity of the outbreak. Furthermore, the public worries about stocking food and medicine and artists will struggle to sell their work during the coronavirus outbreak.

Coronavirus – the perfect time to work on your online presence

Several countries have implemented strategies of containing the virus such as self-isolation, border control and even quarantine. In this time businesses will not be able to make face to face sales and browsing shops will most likely be done online (Amazon is making so much money right now!). If you are lacking in your online presence this is definitely the time to take some action. Here are a few things you should be doing to be prepared when the crisis passes:

Work on your social media

Because of the contagious nature of the virus the ministries of health advice people to stay indoors. There will be a huge increase in people spending time on their phones browsing the internet. The coronavirus is the best time to increase your social media awareness and grow your following. Here’s an article we wrote with tips on how to grow your Instagram account.

Artists should also be painting during the coronavirus. Build up a stack of work that you can then market and post on social. It’s been proven that when it comes to the social media algorithm consistency is key!

Learn a new skill

This one is self-explanatory. Don’t spend your energy panicking and worrying. Use the time you spend in isolation to learn something that will prepare you for making sales in the future. Have you ever wanted to get more traffic on your art website? What about something to do with your art style?

Sell art prints online

Since it’s very unlikely that people will attend art events and art fairs you could turn your attention to online efforts. We mentioned before that Amazon is probably the company that will make the most money from this viral crisis. Follow their business model and turn your efforts to the online world. Selling art online is highly competitive and expensive. We compiled a list of steps you need to take before selling art prints online here.

Create some entertaining content involving art

There is no way I can stress this enough: a lot of people are going to be looking for things to do online. Quarantine and isolation can be a terribly lonely place and people will look for entertaining content on the different search platforms (google, yahoo, Pinterest, Tik Tok, etc). Create a timelapse of your sketching process! Grab a glass sheet and pour paint on it and produce a series of photographs. Document and vlog your creative process when setting up your workspace. Anything that you do can be entertaining if you are creative enough.

Strive while everyone else is worrying about the corona virus

As a digital marketer, I am part of many groups of people that have expressed their fear of business going badly during this outburst. There is even talk about an imminent economical crisis. However, it’s during times like this when business owners can showcase their resilience and determination to succeed. If you’re going through hell, keep going. If you have any questions about any topic art-related please don’t hesitate to drop us a comment below!