Whether you’re a writer, a visual artist, a cartoonist, a musician or anything else, getting recognition can be hard. It’s essential if you want to turn your passion into a career, but there’s a lot of competition. On the internet, there’s even more. But the digital world can be your ticket to growing yourself not just as an artist, but as a commodity. So, how do you do it?

Create an online portfolio

This is the very first step. You can’t expect to have an online presence worth noticing without putting any of your work up. The best way to present your work is with a website of your own. But there are plenty of sites that can help you host that portfolio, from Bandcamp to Instagram. As you keep working, you should keep developing that portfolio, too. Don’t be ashamed of putting early work up, but make sure your best always has pride of place. If you’re not sure how to format your portfolio, just take a look at how some of the artists who inspire you and how they do it.

Show you put effort into what you do

The work should be able to speak for itself, but if you want to frame yourself as a professional, someone who is dedicated first and foremost to their craft, then you can do a bit of speaking, yourself. More than giving an insight into your methods and how much work you put into what you do, creating a blog can also be a place to show that you are constantly updating, constantly working and constantly improving. An artist’s website with little content to it can sometimes look like a ghost town to talent spotters.

Make yourself easier to find

General visibility is also crucial. If you have a website, start with that. Use relevant terms to your art form, your style, and even names of pieces you’ve done with an SEO agency. If you offer tutorials and tips in your blogs, make sure they’re optimized as well since they’re the things that burgeoning artists are just as likely to find. Being found by others in your field, being praised and shared can do wonders for your visibility as well. If you use social media, make sure that you use a shared name across all platforms, whether it’s your real name, a band name or a studio nom de plume.

Take part in conversations

Networks support one another. If you want to succeed in any art form, you need that network. Not only can groups like the Contemporary Visual Arts Network give you the platform you need from time to time. You also need to think about any fans your art might find and building a base out of them. If you use social media, interact with them regularly. If you have a blog, take the time to reply to their comments. The more noise created around you, the better you can capitalize on it.

You can’t ever stop promoting yourself online. No-one else is going to do it for you. Without that outreach, that presence, it’s going to be a lot harder to get spotted.