How to Market and Sell Artwork Online
One of the best aspects of the Internet is that it is a great equalizer. In the field of art, for example, beginning and struggling artists can display their creations online the same way as people who have been selling their artwork for years. As long as new artists learn how to promote and market their work, they can have thousands of potential buyers looking at their newest works.
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Instructions
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Marketing Your Artwork Is a Business
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Keep in mind at all times that you need to spend consistent and continual effort marketing and promoting yourself online. There are millions of people visiting websites and blogs, and there are hundreds of thousands of artists trying to attract these people. Set aside at least a couple of hours every day to work on your online marketing, regardless of what vehicles you decide to use. Also, do not limit yourself to one marketing strategy. Pick two or three different vehicles and continue to work these.
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Introduce yourself through your personal blog to online visitors who are interested in the type of artwork you offer. Blogs are just as important for artists as they are for merchants who are selling any other kind of product. Search engines love blog copy and give blogs good ratings. You can attract people to your blog and then offer a link to galleries that have your work on sale. Build a community, which is one of the best ways to advertise and sell, and you can become one of the online art leaders by offering valuable information. You should post several new articles on your blog every month. Check out Wordpress.com or Blogger.com, for example, to make a blog.
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Join an online community, such as My Space, and start telling the world about your artwork. Post your profile page, display your art, start your blog and upload a video that shows you creating your work. Also use the other My Space tools, including message boards, announcements and networking.
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Compile your best artwork for a print-on-demand book, which can be published one copy at a time through a company such as Lulu.com or CreateSpace.com. Sell the book through your website, blog, or an online site such as Amazon.com.
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Become a member of two or three forums with other artists who sell their artwork online. You want to find a forum that has hundreds of members and is continually updated with new messages, such as conceptart.org and imagekind.com. Find the best thread for discussions on online galleries and Web stores where artists sell their work. Read these discussions carefully for a few weeks, and then start asking questions about selling your specific type of art. List your artwork with a gallery that has been receiving positive reviews from other artists. Put a signature at the end of your e-mails, including your name and blog address.
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Tips & Warnings
Finding your niche is important. You want to define and market to a smaller audience that will be interested in your artwork, rather than marketing to a large and broad targeted group. Use search engine optimization keywords to attract buyers. Grow sales by keeping interested visitors up-to-date on your work with emails and ezines.
Be careful about paying anyone to list your artwork or take a commission. Check with other artists before making a final decision. There are many free sites for listing artwork.
Resources
- Photo Credit http://whoscreative.com/portfolios/view/163/3/300
