#076: Key Lessons from Office Hours: Marketing, Art Business, and Open Call Strategies

Take action on insights shared in our live office hours.

October 22, 2024

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🤗 This week's edition of Creator Royalties is about key strategies on marketing, art business, and open calls from HUG’s first live office hours.

Scroll down for our usual rundown of weekly artist grants and opportunities, as well as art drops.

#076: Key Lessons from Office Hours: Marketing, Art Business, and Open Call Strategies

You asked! We answered.

Last Thursday, we hosted our first-ever Office Hours with the HUG team, diving into the topics that matter to you most — marketing your art, increasing sales, and landing those coveted open call opportunities. We ended up having a conversation packed with actionable advice to help artists grow their business, build connections, and get their work in front of the right people.

If you missed it, not to worry! Here’s a quick rundown of what we discussed.

How to Market Yourself

Feeling like social media success is just out of reach? The good news is, it’s not about being the most skilled or famous—it’s about how consistent you can be about personal branding. Social media algorithms reward engagement, which means focusing on building relationships with your audience is key.

On one side, your audience cares about who you are—what you represent, your relatability, your authenticity. On the other, the algorithm cares about what you do—your content's format, engagement rates, and use of features. In the middle is you, the bridge between creating valuable content and building trust with your audience.

To balance both sides:

  • Focus on consistent storytelling to engage your audience emotionally

  • Experiment with native content, trending features, and higher production quality to catch the algorithm’s attention

  • Think of the algorithm as a tool to find an audience that genuinely cares about who you are as an artist

✍️ Take Action 

Review your last three social media posts—do they showcase both who you are (your personal brand) and what you do (algorithm-friendly content)?

Create one new post that balances both to build trust with your audience and boost visibility. For extra credit, review our Art Marketing Handbook, packed with additional actionable tips.

How to Sell Your Art

During the session, many of you expressed that pricing can feel daunting. We get it! Pricing is an art form in itself, requiring practice and iteration.

We broke pricing down to a few simple steps:

  • Research the typical price range for art similar to yours

  • Consider your hourly rate, production costs, and marketing expenses

  • Don't forget to adjust and iterate as you gain more experience

And then there’s the "Rule of 7"—the magic number of times potential buyers need to see your work before deciding to purchase. So, don’t be shy about posting your art multiple times! The more you share, the higher your chances of converting followers into buyers.

For a deeper dive, check out our pricing calculator guide to help you find the sweet spot for your art.

✍️ Take Action 

Share the same piece of art in at least three different ways this week to increase visibility. Can you use a sneak peek, a behind-the-scenes look, or even a story about your inspiration? 

For extra credit, check out the Licensing Your Art Masterclass with Amber Vittoria, or explore the HUG Shop to see how other artists have priced their work.

How to Maximize Your Open Call Chances

We spent the second half of Office Hours focused on tips and examples we gathered from running hundreds of Open Calls all around the world. Here’s what you need to know.

The Don’ts:

  1. Don’t Submit Incomplete Work: Check every requirement: file type, links, and answers to specific questions. Incomplete submissions are often rejected immediately—curators don’t have time to chase down missing details.

  2. Don’t Submit Inaccurate Information: Double and triple check links, files, and details for accuracy. Inaccurate submissions can ruin your chances, even if your art is spot-on.

  3. Don’t Submit Misaligned Work: Tailor your work to match the open call's theme or criteria. This can take time, but the investment is worth it. Even great art can get rejected if it doesn’t fit the curator’s vision.

The Do’s:

  1. Do Leverage your Artist Profile as Your Artist Resume: Your artist portfolio, updates, and badges can act as your artist resume. Maintain a dynamic profile to build credibility and prioritize opportunities that align with your long-term artist goals.

  2. Do Write an Engaging Artist Bio: Craft a clear, compelling bio that highlights who you are and what drives your work. Curators want to know who you are! Your bio can be just as important as your submission. Personalize for each Open Call submission, aligning your bio with Open Call values and objectives to stand out from the crowd.

  3. Do Spotlight Your Identity and Mediums: HUG Artist Profiles offer optional identity and medium tags to improve your discovery. Use these to help curators discover your work! Many curators take an inclusive approach to their final selections—tagging accurately can help you stand out and add further dimension and context to your art.

✍️ Take Action 

Practice crafting submissions that align with the specific values and themes of the open call.

Check out this recent example from the United Nations Open Call, where they emphasized their theme of economic justice and hope for the future. Winning artists aligned their art, text submissions, and bios to these specific calls to action. This approach can make all the difference!

Closing Thoughts

Thank you again for learning with us at our first live HUG Office Hours! Our biggest takeaway is that we want to offer more of these to you, creating more opportunities for connection, learning, and growth.

Whether you're refining your portfolio, preparing for open calls, or strategizing your next big project, staying focused on your craft can make all the difference in turning your passion into a thriving business.

With that, we are excited to introduce HUG Open Studios, where creative consistency meets community support and professional guidance to get your latest project over the finish line together!

What to expect:

  • Casual, virtual drop-in sessions that offer a serene, “library-like” atmosphere for creators to work alongside others while drawing inspiration from the collective energy of the community. 

  • HUG team members joining the call to offer personalized insights on art marketing, open calls, and creative strategies—building on our previous office hour.

  • 10-day accountability challenge inviting you to post your learnings and works-in-progress on Lens, with an opportunity to win cash prizes, gain exposure, and connect with fellow creators. 

Artist Grants & Opportunities

đź“Ł New Open Calls come and go everyday! Visit thehug.xyz to discover your next Open Call opportunity, from grants to gallery showcases, and more.

Want to host your very own Open Call? Submit your interest.

HUG Artist of the Year

We are seeking artists across mediums and miles to submit their signature artworks in consideration of becoming HUG’s 2024 Artist of the Year and receiving a $1000 award!

Artists of all experience levels and subject matter are encouraged to submit their best work for consideration. 1 outstanding artist will be selected by our curatorial jury consisting of HUG Founder & CEO Randi Zuckerberg, artist Jimena Buena Vida, and curator Micol.