​TheAppLabb CEO Helps Artrepreneurs Leverage Technology for Success

MISSISSAUGA, March 9 - TheAppLabb CEO Kundan Joshi presented to a full room of artrepreneurs, or Art Entrepreneurs at the Mississauga Art Council’s second MAC Munch on March 9. He talked about “How Can Artrepreneurs Leverage Technology for Success?”, covering how to leverage technology to promote their brand, increase their sales, engage with their fans, enhance fan experience and innovate to scale their business. Participants were a mix of visual artists, musicians and performing artists, who were already entrepreneurs looking to take the next step with their art businesses.

Engaged, collaborative and curious about where tech can take them, attendees discussed what tech can do to grow their success with Joshi, learning the basics of how to create a presence, align their messaging and harness the power of the information age to increase visibility of their art. The artrepreneurs learned why technology is so important to their success: 73% of North Americans own a smartphone, and 91% of smartphone owners keep their devices at arms’ length at all times — meaning artrepreneurs who haven’t gotten comfortable with technology are missing many huge opportunities to grow their brands.

Joshi moved on to cover the vast number of tools artrepreneurs can and should leverage. First, attendees learned they need to create an online presence, whether by creating a website with Squarespace or Wix, or simply maintaining a blog or portfolio on websites like Tumblr and Behance. Next, the importance of promotion using relevant social media channels was covered: for instance, while all artrepreneurs should maintain a presence on Facebook and Twitter, visual artists should also have active profiles on Pinterest & Instagram while performing artists would do well to upload their performances to YouTube, Vimeo and Vine.

An overview of various e-commerce platforms and their specific advantages was provided, as the artrepreneurs learned the benefits of using technology to sell their art. The ease of creating a personalized store on Shopify and receiving payment through PayPal was discussed, followed by a deeper dive into more specialized platforms like Etsy, Upwork, Bandcamp and ArtBinder that focus on specific art disciplines. New ways to engage with their fans were also discussed: for instance, emerging apps like Periscope and TheBaseApp, a white label platform powered by TheAppLabb, allow artrepreneurs to livestream performances or their creative processes at work and create truly interactive experiences with fans around the globe.

The artrepreneurs also learned how augmented technology is allowing new types of art to be created every day, and how it is easier than ever to co-create and collaborate with fellow artists through tools like Jampipe and Kompoz. Joshi also discussed how artrepreneurs can gain insights through big data tools such as Next Big Sound and Muzit TRACE to learn more about who their fans are, and how technology will help them innovate and scale to keep growing their brands.

Lastly, Joshi detailed how artrepreneurs can scale their business by creating their own art tech startup. First, they need to listen to their fans’ problems, complaints and feedback to understand what they need. Next, it’s key to brainstorm ideas that can solve problems or fill voids their fans have, and focus on the ideas that resonate most with their brand. Validation is important, from the perspective of both the user and the market: artrepreneurs must get direct feedback from their customers about the solution they’ll provide, and understand the size of both the market and the problem being solved. Artrepreneurs should then get involved with the startup community, through hackathons like Culture Hack and the Music Hackathon, incubators such as The Art Incubator and TheAppLabb’s StartupLabb, and startup events. After forming a team with partners in design, development, marketing and operations, they can then begin to build their product. Following a course of strategy + design + development + testing before launch, making sure to build a minimum viable product and test the market first will increase their chances of success. Finally, artrepreneurs can then promote their product within the target audience, focusing on early adopters. Joshi wrapped up by stating, “Those of us who embrace the shift will not only survive, but thrive by gaining new fans, unlocking new revenue, and discovering new joy in the unfettered ability to share our art with the world.”

To learn more about how tech can help artrepreneurs or to book our CEO Kundan Joshi for a speaking engagement, please contact us at info@theapplabb.com or 416-745-3164.