I hardly ever use business cards in everyday life, but you kind of have to have them (even if it is just to win a free dinner at a restaurant) so after re-branding earlier this year, I thought I’d ditch my old “HOLLi CONGER designs” ones and get some new ones printed up. To maximize my $ and varied illustrated logos, I went with small square cards. I printed them double sided and 2-up per card at Overnight Prints and then cut them.

Day 4 of oils and making more progress. Nothing spectacular but I can’t wait to move onto another piece where I plan to built up more color and texture and actually do a piece I’d hang in my house. I won’t have another class until the end of July but hopefully I’ll be able to finish it then.

If you missed my giveaway post yesterday, check it out!

So most of you all know that I love to test things out when it comes to marketing. I like to see what works and what doesn’t and then evaluate it. We’ll I came across a new site I found via twitter called That’s My Folio. It’s brand new and get this, it’s only $12.50 a MONTH for 15 images. With that low a price, any illustrator (even newbies trying to break into the field) can afford to test it out and they give you your first month free (use promo code 1month). Since I only subscribe to one online portfolio listing site right now, I though I’d give it a try. I love how easy and clean the site is and how big the images show and since it’s just starting up, you really have a chance to get noticed on there.

I was so impressed with the site and since it’s new, I thought I’d help Lanette and Patrick out by promoting it on my blog so I asked them a few questions so I could post about it:

Do you have a background in illustration or publishing?
Patrick has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in marketing. He has done some marketing for Prairie Breeze Gallery in Mitchell, SD. He has also been working on website marketing independently for the past 7 years.

Lanette is an admirer of art and creativity in many forms, with an Accounting diploma and over 20 years of customer service and sales experience (6 of those with a local bookstore). She is learning more about marketing by attending local business conferences and workshops.

Why did you decide to start a portfolio site with all the others out there?
It started with Lanette’s desire to start her own business, grew as she and Patrick brainstormed on what types of businesses either or both of them could do, gained substance as they focused on what they wanted their lives, careers and world to be about, and jumped onto the World Wide Web as an easy-to-use, professional site that still maintains a personal feel, geared to help illustrators get their talent shown to the world.

We are not planning to overtake all (or any) of the great portfolio sites that are already available. We just want to offer a smaller, more personal and affordable site where illustrators can feel like more than “just another artist”.

What type of advertising do you do to promote the site and the artists there?
At this time, we are focusing on social media advertising and have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. We also believe word-of-mouth communications via blog posts and articles and networking are very valuable. We have recently begun placing ads online on some blogs, also. Our site has been developed to be as search-engine friendly as is currently possible, including an opportunity to upgrade with mobile web use in the near future.

We are networking at local book fair/festivals as well as small business conferences and workshops.
Within the website itself, we are using a featured artist spotlight and a blog area that we hope will help create some “buzz” about us.
We do welcome any suggestions for marketing and advertising that anyone might have!

AND Lanette and Patrick were so nice to allow me to offer a free one year portfolio to another illustrator. So, it’s Giveway Time!! All you have to do is enter in one of 3 ways:

And the winner of the 1 year subscription to That’s My Folio is the fab, ! Congratulations Wendy!