My first promotional mail shot is landing on gallery director desks around Cornwall today. I've had two, nice email responses so far, both admiring my work but having no room on their rosters for an additional artist on their walls. This isn't disheartening, as the responses came before lunchtime, meaning that the handwritten envelopes did their jobs in grabbing attention.

That's my free tip: hand address envelopes.

Back when I worked as a pre-press technician for a giant printing company (direct mail/junk mail), it was well known that handwriting fonts often got the greatest open rate for campaigns. If your career is important to you, make the contents of your envelope professional, but hand write that mailing address. It works. (Note to self: install a tip jar on this blog...)

I've also contacted - with separate, unique correspondence - a gallery I've been casually courting for over a year. (They've got some big names in there. I want to be one of them.) They like my work, and have said they'd like to see my studio, but it's been awhile since we've been in touch. If nothing else, I'm sure I must stand out in my determination.

Since mid-February, I've been ramping up my promotional/professional activities and it's been paying off. I've sold more prints, have sold my most expensive painting to date, and am getting some good social media responses. Knowing about and how to use these tools means squat unless you actually use them, and I can tell you now, I'm not even warmed up. ;)