Have you tried Googling yourself? If not, do it right now. Go to Google and enter your name in quotes like this “Joe Smith” or “Jenn Bly”. Even if you are a complete beginner when it comes to computers and the internet, you might be pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised by what comes up when you Google your name.
This is only one of the reasons why you need to have your very own web presence. If anybody Googles your name for whatever reason, what page do you want them to see? Some random page with a person who shares the same name as you or your very own page featuring your own artwork.
Artists today cannot afford to not have a presence on the web. Any serious artist who for whatever reason rejects or avoids the web will find their work, their influence, their clients and their reputation either disappearing, or much worse, appropriated by fans and admirers.
For me, this is not a question of “should I or should I not put my work on the web?”, it is a question of “How exactly should I market and promote my artwork on the web in a way that is safe, effective, easy and priced within my budget?
There is an impressive range of options out there, from free blogs to personal portfolio web sites, and everything in between. If you are on a tight budget, you can start up a blog for nothing. All the work of coding and page design is done, you just add the content.
