In his book, The Ransom of Russian Art, the author John McPhee, wrote about the underground marketing of art in Communist Russia. In his social observation of working artists he saw the raw developments in art marketing as a developing "nexus" going on under the cover of secrecy. What he tells us is that the formation of this nexus under quite bleak circumstances was absolutely necessary for the development and survival of Modern Russian art. So said McPhee, "The nexus...necessary for the development of [art] is involved around the marketing [of art]...it is the mechanism that makes the artist able to survive and produce."

• List your web address on your business cards, résumés, bios, all promotions and correspondence.

• Create postcards and other promotional materials with your web address

• Give your web address to friends, family, and everyone you meet

2.  linking from your emails -- draw traffic to your page by adding your Northern Front web address URL to the body of your emails, or in your email "signature". You may 'cut & paste' images from your page into your email, then add a link from the image to your page.

3. Forward our newsletter to everyone on your email list-- it boosts viewers on the site when it goes out. And remember, please send us your art events to publicize... we'll put it on Front!

4. Inform your friends and family, other artists, art patrons and the community at large of upcoming exhibitions sponsored by NorthernFront, let them know of art events and opportunities they can get involved in, and spread the word about issues of interest in the area of visual art throughout the region.

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Effective websites should include the following:

1. Your website needs to focus on a specific niche.

2. You need to do keyword research and although Google no longer gives weight to Meta keywords some of the other major search engines still do.

3. Your website should have the main keyword used throughout and each page should be written around 5-10 keywords that are tightly focused on that particular page's topic.

4. Content is still King. Well written, focused content is crucial.

5. Meta titles need to include your keywords.

6. Organization of content should include headings and subtitles to make it easy for readers to scan the pages. Be sure to include your keywords in these headings as well.

7. Most people on the web are looking for information. If you don't give them anything of value or entertain them, they will be gone, probably for good.

8. Use keywords in links whereever possible.

9. Include a call to action and, if possible, provide a Free tríal. You have to build trust before you can make a sale.

10. Check your website in various browsers (FireFox, Internet Explorer, etc.) to make sure it displays equally well in all.

11. Your personality is what attracts people to you so why would you create a generic website with all of the excitement of a flat glass of pop. Keep the content fresh so it has Fizz!

12. Most importantly, have realistic expectations of what you want to achieve with your website. With all the hype about overnight successes on the internet it's difficult to put your results into perspective. If you expect instant success and it isn't happening, it's easy to become demoralized and quit before you reach your goal.

Some Other Important Web Marketing Tips

Google page rank counts! The higher your page rank number the higher you will rank in user searches. How do you find out your page rank? Download the Google toolbar here for Internet Explorer http://toolbar.google.com/T4/ or here for FireFox http://tools.google.com/firefox/toolbar/install.html.

Improve your page rank by encouraging other highly ranked websites in complementary businesses to link to yours and by developing content with a niche focus. Page rank is also affected by traffic numbers. A couple of ways you can improve traffic are pay-per-click advertising and posting articles on the web.

Your web image is at least as important as your personal image. You wouldn't go out to meet a prospective client wearing a mishmash of styles and colours but many businesses have websites with tools that don't work, tables and text that are out of alignment, old information, dated colours, and confusing navigation. Those things are bad enough but when an experienced web developer looks at the code on a website they often find a website that looks good but is not built to encourage search traffic.

Be prepared like the wise owl and make the job of marketing your business as easy as possible with a website that enhances your brand image and is technically sound and purrrr your way to success.