I’ve had my site up for almost two years. I have had over three
thousand looky-loos. Some wrote and said my work was great. So far I
have had no sales. Is it my work?
There may be a few people cruising the web to buy art. I haven’t
seen many. If any. Mostly I think they’re just looking for free
things. My stuff isn’t free.
People like looking at my site but they don’t buy my sculptures
very much.
If I search my name on google.com my site comes up right away so I
know that it is accessible to anyone who is interested in finding me.
There is so much bad art on the web that people are discouraged.
Bad art on the web is good because it helps people develop taste and
make up their minds better.
The web is loaded with artists who can’t get galleries.
The web is full of artists who are too timid to ask galleries to
represent them.
There are some wonderfully slick websites out there where it looks
like the art was put up as an afterthought. "Hey, we need some art
for this site. Do you think you could knock some off this weekend?"
Some online galleries have thrown a lot of money (sometimes millions)
on advertising in order to bring visitors to their site, but they seem
to be laying off now because it’s just not yet cost effective.
It’s easier to get money out of internet gallery speculators than
internet gallery art buyers.
Buying real art is a personal thing. People like to talk to artists
or dealers, and even though art looks darned good on the screen, people
generally want to see the real thing. Except for the dummies who are
buying the reproductions. They know what they’re like and want them
because their neighbors already have them.
One of the main benefits that has come out of internet art is that
critics are now more redundant than ever. We can see it perfectly well
for ourselves.
The more bad art there is on the web the better mine looks.
Artists of the world arise—It’s time to dump your dealers!
I get a pretty good number of so-called hits and/or visits. I deal
with all queries and sales myself. I dump all junk mail and I spend too
much time on line where I would be better employed painting. But I guess
that I am now a bit of an addict!
A sale still has to be worked on and delivered. Am I doing things right?
Yes. Is there room for improvement? Yes. Is my product right? Is my
pricing? I do not have to be on the net to face the same dilemma.
I'm off to France and Spain for the next two months to paint. I will
probably not have much access to the net as I may have to go to cafes to
access it. Will I suffer as a result? Probably not. Will my paintings be
better as a result of not having access to the net? The answer is a
definite YES!
I have my own website, managed by a webmaster because I do not yet have
the knowledge to do it myself. Having a webmaster is only a drawback
when you want something added and are impatient to get it out there, as
I am!
The first few months after I was online with the site I received no
sales, but since then I have been very happy with the results. I am
physically and financially handicapped and cannot get out to do shows
and exhibits often and the site has given me an avenue for exposure. I
have sold a few originals and more prints and notecards from it to
people all over the world. Last year I made up a Christmas card and did
great selling exclusively from the website.
I also have my work in several online galleries and so far have had no
sales from these.
The funny thing is that although my site is on the 'World Wide
Web' the leads I'm getting sales from are all local!
My work is entirely computer generated and shown on the web at
Art.Net, a gallery of over 100 artists. I have a link on my site that
catalogs my images and gives a price list for prints or booklets. Sales
were VERY slow, and the books were quite labor intensive for the $15 I
charged for them, so this past year I have closed out that link and show
my art for the
pleasure of sharing only. I do get a fair amount of feedback and average
over 100 visitors a day. One problem is the fugitive quality of home
printer inks. They all fade after a few years in the light, similiar to
water colors but more so. So I have gotten some negative feedback from
prints I sold five years ago, very discouraging. I am sure the quality
of the inks will improve with new technology, but so will the cost.
(For collectors) it’s like trying to find four-leaf clovers in
acres of dried grass.
Some on-line galleries have juries and this can be a good thing
because at least some people who don’t have the confidence can at
least know that someone who knows something about art is taking a look
at them first.
The great thing about internet art is that anything goes. Good, bad,
indifferent. It’s all there. As you say Robert, "It’s
democratic."
There’s no such thing as an undiscovered genius.
The internet is the Salieri of painting.
If you can’t get galleries, don’t think the internet will attract
customers.
My work is very good. So far I have sold three of them (oil
paintings) on the web. But it’s quite disappointing after the work I’ve
put in.
Net commerce is driven by price. If people can save money by dealing
on line, they will. Art, with its inherent arbitrary pricing, does not
lend itself to the net. On-line art auctions are another thing. There’s
excitement there.
I have galleries who handle my work. Some of them send out packets of
photos of my work by email to clients who are already familiar with my
work. If they happen to be ready to buy, this system works well.
I have listed paintings on eBay, a year or so back, but people did
not want to bid over $50 for an original painting. I was solicited by a
few of the so called "bigger" art sales sites, but with at
least one they had a change in "management" after accepting my
work, and decided not to carry my art. Now all they carry are
"popular" and "known" artists, or lithos, etc.
The implosion of the commercial bricks-and-mortar art gallery system
as we know it is going to be more impressive than the demise of the
Seattle Kingdome.
Most galleries are asleep at the switch. There’s a world wide
sleeping giant out there if they would stir him up.
For specific, regional material, or very esoteric items where you’re
the only outlet in the world for say a certain type of native-decorated
shell that is only available on one remote south-seas island, then I
think it would work if there was a magazine article saying that these
things were desirable to collect and were going up in value.
The better art sites have content like how to paint, where to line up
seminars, and sorts of things like your letters, Robert, and this at
least brings in some traffic because people are interested in what you
have to say.
If the art is good enough it finds a way to the right person in spite
of the all the efforts of bad marketing on the part of the artist.
I don’t care if I sell my work. I just like to have it up so the
world can see it. It’s good for the world to see my stuff. I get my
money by working night shift at Dairy Queen.
The general public is not allowed to actually buy my paintings
anyway.
I do my work for me and I would rather meet girls through my work on
the internet than sell them things there.
The internet is a vehicle for communication, interaction, information
and mutual understanding. All this commerce is going to press it out of
shape. I particularly dislike the blinking banners.
No bites yet.
I have forgotten where my site is.
I’d forgotten I have a site.
Having had my site up for three years they’re are a few things I have
noticed. First of all direct sales of work on the Internet seems to be
an elusive myth. Secondly that having a site is a great reference tool
for an artists career. And finally if you are not participating in this
new medium "Internet" then you are missing the proverbial
boat!
Getting the site up in 1997 was not a big deal. I had a friend set it up
and host it. That was great, seeing my work for sale in my
"own" gallery on the net! Then reality crept in. I had a site
but only 10 people a week were stopping by to see the greatest artwork
available on the "NET". After learning how to promote a site,
ie: banners, search engine registration,
and links, the hits were pouring in. Had over 100,000 hit with-in the
first year and one half. Well with all those hits I still didn't
generate a sale.
However I have been invited to do a few commissions and everyone
seems to want my opinion on just about any subject including but not
limited to ART. Now here is the revelation. It looks good on the C.V.
and hey I am getting far better exposure than if I had no site at all.
Secondly the internet is like having a portfolio that is available for
perusal 24/7. It is a great place to keep your C.V. as well as a place
for photos of new and old work! The artists’ site provides the artist
with the opportunity to talk to potential collectors in a one on one
basis, and it eliminates the middle man, those "gallery
types". When doing shows I have noticed that my work sells better
if I refer collectors to my web site. The Internet is the best calling
card a new millennium artist can carry so get
out there. "Why not be out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit
is?" The way today to distinguish a great artist from a good one is
if they have a site on the "NET". From a purely esoteric point
of view if you have site these days you are considered by other artists
to be upwardly mobile. And if you don't have a site how else are you
going to reach potentially
millions of people with your work, without the pain of being in a
gallery that doesn't promote your work and then disappears in the night!
Whatever happens in your career as a creative person "DO NOT MISS
THE BOAT". Get a site up today and be patient. It takes awhile for
the contacts to come pouring in!
The Internet in the greatest tool available to artists today. Use it. To
avoid the inevitable is to die a slow death.
Art sells well online. As customer acceptance of the Internet grows,
more people use it more often every day. Buying low priced items from
trusted sources such as amazon.com or Barnes and Noble or ToysRUs has
built customer confidence in the system itself. Art in many forms -
posters, T-shirts, ceramics, home decor, etc. has sold extremely well
over the Internet.
But would you buy a $35,000 original scupture by clicking on a "Buy
Me" button. I doubt it. I have yet to see a customer do it either.
There are several ways to approach selling online. All are probably good
ways if the person doing the site has the expertise to build, maintain,
and market the site and it's artist/s.
The first is to put your own art on the Web. Of course, we need to know
how to produce html to do that. We can of course use something like
Front Page, or Page Mill, or even Netscape to produce the site without
any real knowledge of html. But for some reason, things don't always go
where we want them to go or stay where we put them. And it seems
Microcsoft and Netscape can't get together on what standard to use, so
our site doesn't
appear the same in Internet Explorer that it does in Netscape.
You must also have skills in producing digital images that are properly
designed for the Web. A large detailed high-resolution image that really
shows off your work is near useless on the Internet. On a standard 56K
modem this image may take from 5 minutes to as long as an hour to
download and appear on your screen. Sorry, but no one is going to wait
that long to
see your work. Okay, so we use small thumbnails so it loads fast and we
can show a lot of images on one page. Now we have the viewer wishing to
see some detail because he really cannot tell much of anything from the
thumbnail except that it is a landscape with lots of blue in it.
Secondly, we can get together with the "pro" in our group of
artists and let him put it on the Web in a group gallery. Now we have a
large presence and look much more professional because we are part of an
art community. Of course, it would really be a lot better if the
Internet guru that is doing this wasn't quite so crazy about background
jazz that requires you to download a plugin. And all those little
animations make it really hard to
focus on the art.
Third, we can go to the real professionals. Those big galleries that
show hundreds of artists. That is, if we can afford the setup and
maintenance fees to get listed. But, since your art is so outstanding
that you know it will really sell if you can only get it exposed to the
public. These guys have millions of hits every day. After all, your
local gallery where you
show your work is doing good to get 5 visitors a day. But, it seems your
work gets lost in the masses and becomes only one of hundreds. Your
actual traffic to your own pages of art get only 5 visitors a day.
And last, we can always hire the Internet professionals right here in
town to build us a fantastic well designed professional site with lots
of pages and properly presented images. It really looks great. It
presents you as the outstanding artist you really are. Finally, the
world will see your work - and buy!
Not quite. You find that despite your time, efforts, and monthly
expense, your work still does not sell. You have been on the Internet
for years and never sold a piece. The only email you have received was
two organizations asking for a donation to their fund raiser, one
college student wanting you to write their research paper for them on
the skills and techniques required to produce award winning teapots, and
a lady looking for a large subdued colors framed still life under $50
with a money back guarantee.
So, what does it take to sell your art?
First, it should be art that will sell in a brick and mortar gallery.
You should not expect art to sell on the Web that does not sell anywhere
else. Your problem may not be exposure, but content. Think about it. If
the only person who has your art on their walls are relatives - back to
the drawing board.
Secondly, if all your art that has been sold has been through a dealer,
architect, or interior designer, and not from hanging in a gallery, then
it stands to reason you not only need exposure, but you need a
professional salesman to go with that exposure.
Maybe you have also realized that all your potential customers look at
your great work, compliment you on how fabulous it is, and then say,
"Do you have some post cards?" Your prints are the only thing
you have sold in six months. The third thing to think about is what does
the buying public really want?
Oh, but that is "commercial". I want to sell "my
art" from the heart of the artist. That is wonderful if your heart
produces work that the viewer can't live without. But if you notice they
pass by your booth at the show like they are being paged by someone two
booths down, maybe you should paint for yourself, admire your work, and
enjoy it. But don't quit your day job.
Now, considering that your art is in demand, you have good sales, but
you would like a whole lot more just like it. The Internet may be a gold
mine for you . . . if you can find the right way to market it!
Art is being sold on the Internet every day. Lots of it. But only a
small segment of the total that is presented on the Internet. As is
typical of most things - 10% of the artists have 90% of the sales. It
takes a lot of doing things right, a lot of marketing time, a lot of
planning, and a lot of the "right stuff". It is no overnight
miracle for the starving artist.
I have had a web site up now for several years. My first attempt was
having someone else do it, and found it costly to have the necessary
updates added. I then dove into designing my own, and I have been much
more pleased. I have had numerous responses from folks all over, which
has been fun. As far as sales, I can't say that they have been great,
but enough to
make it worth my time. Although my form of art differs some from perhaps
others, as I do awards etc. in glass as part of my work. I think it's a
wonderful media for sharing beauty, God knows there is much on the web
that it not beautiful! I love (the rare times that I can take the time
to do it!) to surf, looking for, particularily dogs, horses and wildlife
art.
which is my particular love. I have found INSPIRING work and had the
opportunity to share with other artists.
Selling artistic products online is like anything else: It's a coin
and there are two sides to it.
Art galleries, per se, are only one way to get public exposure. It's a
good idea for anyone interested in marketing an artistic product to try
this kind of exposure, if only to get a better understanding of what it
does or doesn't have to offer. Nowadays, it has less and less to offer,
especially to the unestablished or emerging artist. The individual
needs to make that assessment and determine whether this route is worth
the time and effort it takes to have an effective website.
As the internet takes hold and expands, art galleries, naturally, are
finding even more competition in the marketplace. Thousands of artists
are already taking to the internet in an attempt to make sales, as
opposed to going through the outside art gallery. In the long run, it
remains to be seen whether or not the art galleries, as we knew them,
can survive, or whether individual artists can get better and more
lucrative exposure by putting their own portfolios on the web.
One thing is clear. In order to survive, art galleries will have to go
with the flow, and the greatest advertising avenue now is on the
internet. Most art galleries already have difficulty advertising or
providing any kind of coverage for the artists they promote, and doing
websites is expensive, unless gallery owners do their own webmastering.
So whether or not they should have a website is a question many gallery
owners are finding difficult to answer. It's like anything else in the
market place where we find ourselves asking: Can we afford it?
If the typical gallery decides to promote artists via a website, then
getting the site up and running is only part of the job. The other part
is marketing it, and that is a whole different ball game. As most of us
know, just having a website isn't much help if we don't get the word
out. And getting the word out amounts to marketing. And if the typical
gallery can't afford to market before they decide to have website, then
what's going to change their financial status to make it possible to
advertise before they become blue chip, internet outlets?
No matter who we are or how we look at the proposition of selling
artistic and aesthetic products from websites, the real key to success
comes in the approaches we take to marketing. But equally important is
the decision we have to make concerning where we will display and keep
our products: In our own galleries, or someone else's. It won't work
to have our products in someone else's gallery and offer the same pieces
for sale over our own websites. This is the mutually exclusive decision
I found myself making at the very outset.
There are other important decisions to make if we are going to choose to
have our own websites. We must understand how to ship art when it is
bought. We must establish trust and faith in our services. And so on.
But one thing that has happened to hundreds of artists, who decided to
go online with a portfolio or virtual gallery, is that because of a lack
of income they have become full time web masters. That's a decision
that's not so easy to make anymore, because there are millions of
would-be web masters who are infinitely better qualified to program
websites than your average artist. Competition in webmastering is so
fierce that an artist has to be exceedingly savvy to get any web work as
an alternate source of income. I shrug everytime I see an artist cross
the line, however, because that's one less person in our ranks. It kind
of says: It's too tough to be an artist, and webmastering is open, so
I'll do that instead. It's a personal decision. But it says to me that
before we discuss marketing artwork over the web, we need to discuss the
security behind being an artist, and how to cope with it.
As to actually selling art work over the internet, it's being done. I
personally have made my biggest sale from my website, which is far
greater than anything I sold before I had a website. But, like any other
business, promoting a website takes time and a solid awareness of how to
market in this newest medium. It's time-consuming and slow. And
there is a lot of competition. Much of the competition, and many of the
artists’ who don't sell anything off their websites, consists of poor
promoters, but even if we are good at promoting, sales are slow. There
are few exceptions, and those artists (like Thomas Kinkade, for example)
have established niches. The rest of us can't expect similar returns.
No matter which way an artist chooses to get exposure, it's a hard row
to hoe. But, assuming that most will opt for websites of their own,
there has to be a basic understanding of how to market our wares. The
internet has a tremendous potential for a lot of businesses, but for the
artist it's a mixed bag. There are a number of questions or issues that
should be addressed to help all artists understand how the internet
works and what they can expect from it. A few questions are:
1. Is it best to be associated with a site that represents a lot of
artists, or is it better for an artist to have his/her own site?
2. What are the best ways for an artist to market on the internet?
(Note: what's good for one kind of business is not necessarily good for
artists.)
3. Can the internet be used to establish artistic niches?
4. Can an artist define a clientele through internet usage? (What are
the internet demographics that define art buyers and, then, how do you
reach them ethically?)
5. What is known about the art market on the street, so to speak, and
how does it apply to marketing on the web (if at all)?
6. As the art gallery scene declines (assuming it will) what are the
alternatives to marketing artwork? (even if this is a hypothetical
question, it poses some interesting possibilities)
And so on. Summarily, art sells on the internet. Not all art, not most
art. But some. That will change in the near future. There is no doubt
that it will be the best outlet for most of us, for a lot of reasons.
But the art of marketing art over the internet is barely into
the gestation stage. There is a long way to go to perfecting this art,
and until it gets fleshed out and takes on a real character, thousands
of artists will continue to start a race they will never finish.
I am astounded with the results I have had with the net. I created my
own webpage with a gallery and have it on about 3 art sites as well. It
is amazing to me the number of people that visit each week, and I have
sold 13 paintings all over North America. May not sound like much to
some, but to me it is. I also have a notecard site online and I do very
well with that
too...in fact the sales keep me in paper and paint, which is wonderful.
My internet web site is a useful adjunct to my art sales. It informs
people where I am exhibiting so they can visit it and see it first hand.
They also can order a work they have seen at a show but didn't purchase
for some reason, or when they have thought about it, or have the money
they buy. If I market particular works through newsgroups that are
looking for a particular image, that works also. I email last year's
customers about upcoming shows in their area. These are all valuable
sales tools.
I do not think people trust computer monitors with portraying the colors
and values which are important in a work of art. I also believe many
people value the experience of going to a show, meeting the artist and
asking questions, which are best done in person. I do think that heavily
promoted "know quality" art work can be sold on the web
because it has a know market value and quality. I'm not there yet, but
someday I hope to sell completely,
directly on the web.
I have a website, which is registered with several large search engines.
I do not know how many people visit the site, as there is no counter. It
has proven very useful when making a new contact to refer people to the
site. However, I have made only one sale in two years through the site.
This sale came as a result of a client seeing my work in a gallery and
going to the website, seeing another painting she liked and contacting
the gallery where
it was located. I do not believe clients will buy original art through a
website, unless they are familiar with the artist's work and have seen
the originals elsewhere. However, they may purchase prints on-line, from
personal experience I don't know yet, but will be updating my site to
show prints available. I'll let you know how successful it is.
The site is only as good as the advertising you do to get people there.
Without the advertising, it hangs in cyberspace. I also think that there
is such a preponderance of artists' websites that it is becoming
overkill. Sites that show hundreds of artists, in my opinion are
useless. Surfers have notoriously short attention spans, and unless the
site loads very quickly
and shows almost immediate images, people get bored and move on. It's
also like going into a candy store. When there is too much to chose
from, people get overwhelmed and leave without making any choice. Too
many artists spend money to put one or two images on a group website
based on slick advertising promising big sales and exposure to millions
of clients. The fact is real art buyers shop in galleries or shows,
they're not surfing the internet.
It's mainly other artists surfing the net. People will buy computers,
books, and art supplies on-line, perhaps prints, but rarely original
art.
Sorry for the apparent note of cynicism. I think the internet is an
incredible tool. I use it constantly. But people have certain
unrealistic expectations about what it can do, or can be used for. I
think too many hopeful artists are taken in by unscrupulous marketers,
promising to sell their art, while the only ones making any profits are
the companies running
the website.
I look forward to hearing what others think. I would like to be proven
wrong.
Though I am not in my studio in the traditional sense I have adopted the
entire net as my studio - I post images on the net but am more
interested in using the interactive nature of the net to create new
forms of artwork - artwork I cannot describe because I do not know what
it is.
As I understand it, and I am not computer literate, it is not the
number of hits you get to your site but it is the number of visitors
that counts. I have been getting 10,000+ hits a month but that only
means that people are just surfing and not staying in the site too long.
I need to be in the top 10 list of the major search engines and that
takes time and constant upkeep to get your product out there.
I have had sales as a result of the site but I get a lot more
inquires about the work then actual sales at this point. Some of the
contacts have led to other avenues in the marketing of the work such as
companies asking to use images, for a price, for some of their products.
I think the way of the future is the internet but at this point with
security problems and positioning of sites and cost it is still the
desire of people to see the work personally and to have in a lot of
cases a contact with the artist to purchase the work.
Since I'm a portrait painter, the advanage of my site is so
prospective customers can view samples of my work. This saves them time
from coming by the gallery, especially if out of town until they make a
decision. They can also make copies of my prices and
procedure, this saves me postage and time. Most local customers are
online and they can share the experience with friends in the comfort of
their home or work. This gives me more exposure with people that may not
have thought of commissioning a painting or may have heard of me but
never viewed any of my work. The portraits leave the studio
and people never get to see most of them. Customers think you are
sucessful with a .com address. Yes, I have recieved a Portrait
commission online with a local person who drove everyday within a mile
of my studio/gallery and didn't know about me till finding me
on the web one day! Then this pass Christmas I lost 3 very expensive
commissions because (local also) they wanted to do every aspect by the
web. I just didn't think the photos and art checks could be done this
way. Also I didn't have a scanner or enough computer knowledge
to fool with it. Maybe in the future.
One cannot ignore the internet. Like it or not it will become an
absolute necessity for communication and commerce. Like a blue chip
stock, however, the investor has to be patient while the value grows
with ups and downs. If an artist has art on the internet and nothing has
"happened" it's probably more a reflection of their work than
the medium.
Although an extremely powerful one, the internet is simply another
tool to effectively become a better business artist. To achieve direct
sales is only one way of analyzing the success of the internet. The real
success comes with the credibility of having a professional site and
using it as an effective portfolio.
Good business is about convenience for the customer. Home or office
internet access is very convenient and a nice "soft sell".
Also, the more consumers buy other things on the internet the easier it
will become to sell art.
If a confident customer already has an artist's work they often only
need a slide, snap shot or internet image to make another acquisition.
This recently happened to me. A new customer saw some of my originals at
a friends’ office. He went back to his home in Colorado, viewed my
website then purchased a $9000 oil. I feel this is only a start of
things to come on the internet.
Get on it.
I have sold about twenty original pieces directly from my web site
and have had four commissions, but I think of the web as a marketing
rather than sales tool. I thought of it strategically and this has paid
off. The gist of it is that I designed not for looks but for
functionality, and utilize the web resources peripheral to the topic of
my art to reach those that might be interested but would probably not
find me if I presented pure art.
I use my writing skills and decades of flyfishing experience to offer
viewers a pleasant experience and some value beyond just looking at
pictures.
I was one of the very first artists on the web in 1994. When our network
manager showed me the first Mosaic browser and a few things that were
listed in their directory, I looked at the HTML code and saw it was very
simple and easy to put up text and graphics and had mine ready in a
week. Friends of mine have an Internet service provider and they needed
something on their site to be able to show people what the web was, and
they hosted my site for free. They also hosted for free a site for
ProArts East Bay Open Studios for four or five years. In January 1995 I
offered through the newsletter of 510, an Oakland arts organization, to
help put any artists work up on the web and my friends offered to host
their sites for free. I included a short description that through the
Internet artists could reach a global audience, and was very surprised
when only two local artists responded. They still
have their work up for free, and one Sonya Rapaport has won awards with
her innovative pieces - she uses the web as her medium now. Anyone who
got on back then has a big advantage over those trying to catch up, but
the ignorance of most artists to this opportunity struck me as absurd.
In 1994, Netscape was founded and soon their directory grew and
commercial interested started sprouting up. On the original Mosaic and
Netscape directories there were about ten categories, one of which was
Art, and when you clicked on that there were about ten museums listed
and my own gallery. As the Web grew, I was on every directory as back
then hey all started with those first Mosaic directories and built from
that. It was
great exposure, far beyond what any gallery system (other than perhaps
Kincaid's) could reach. I received emails from many foreign countries as
well as all over the USA. I can't imagine a better opportunity for an
artist.
Although I had been selling my art at local open studio events, I had
never sold in a traditional gallery. I consider their comissions and
exclusivity contracts abhorrent, an obsolete situation that served
neither artist nor patron. I prefer to sell directly, and my resultant
low prices open up my market to people who do not typically shop at
galleries. (I will begin selling at a gallery this summer, now that my
exposure can draw higher
prices). I had always sold most of what I had time to paint, as I was
also in a technical career.
For the first four years I considered the web to be a marketing rather
than sales vehicle. I didn't have much to sell as they all sell pretty
quickly at open studios, to friends and acquaintances. I also didn't
want to have to be updating it all of the time as works sold. I didn't
have time to reply to emails so I didn't even put in a link or guest
page or anything,
just listed my email address for folks who wanted to take the time to
write. It was my goal purely to get people to see my art, with the goal
of someday in the far off future being able to let go of technical work
to fish and paint freely. I still think it is best for marketing rather
than sales. I find there is a reluctance to spend more than a hundred
dollars or so on art
sight unseen. I have always sold my art on approval, with a
self-adressed mailer in case they don't like it, and this helps.
I used other internet services to help draw attention to my site. I had
been active in a fly fishing list-server and a Usenet group. Most of my
paintings are done on location at rivers and mountain lakes where I
fish, because I generally do the two together. Instead of aggressive
marketing that bothers people and has become the norm, all I did was
provide good flyfishing advice freely just list my URL below my
signature. Occasionally when the topic of discussion was a place I had
painted, I'd mention that. This subtle approach proved far more
effective than most artists’ strategies I have heard about. Editors
found me this way, and when someone posted asking for gift suggestions
other than fishing tackle, a few readers recommended my paintings. This
is far more effective than if I were to push my paintings directly.
The design of my site was very simple, on purpose, to minimize bandwidth
and provide a fast and easy browsing experience. In my opinion this is a
combination of courtesy for peoples’ time, and strategy. I still
adhere to a few simple rules:
No superflous graphics. The graphics are my paintings. Many people
don't know that search engines work on text and won't find words
imbedded in a graphic, which most artists feel the need to do to make
their site have an interesting design. Originally I had no graphics on
the home page, so it would load instantly. As modems have become faster,
I now have a very small image on the home page. I use the slowest modem
myself so I always see the
worst possible performance and design for that.
Graphics are made with the web in mind. I scan directly at 72 dpi to
avoid the resizing of images, and keep them small enough so they will
fit in the browser screen of any monitor. It is poor design to waste the
viewers’ time with a highly detailed and slow loading image, and then
have them try to scroll to see it. Most artists with high-res monitors
don't understand that not everyone has them. Again, I design for the
lowest common denominator.
These low-res graphics also prevent people from unauthorized use of my
work. Watercolors in my opinion look the best of any art on a computer,
because the light coming through the screen does exactly what we try to
do with transparent watercolors.
Text is key. Text streams across instantly while graphics always take
time to load. I put a short piece of text, with an anecdote or
observation or short piece about the place or my experience there.
Knowing about search engines, I kept in mind the keywords that people
interested in my work search on. This included place names, local
history or geography,
types of fish, flies I used, painting styles and artists I followed,
etc. The text loads instantly and draws the viewers attention and
occupies them briefly so they don't notice any delay of the picture
loading. Many artists imbed titles and topics in graphics to
"design" their site.
This is the opposite of design in my opinion as it ignores the
functionality of the site and how the web works. Search engines work on
text, and will not find words that are imbedded in text. I still find
some artists sites that do not even include their name in text - a
search engine would not even find the site if the searcher typed in
their name.
Change and growth help draw return visitors. My big advance came in 1997
when I traveled around the west painting and fishing for four months,
updating "A Painter's Journal" ever week or two with a
magazine-like article with new paintings and travel and fishing journal.
This drew very good response. I continued with this style afterwards
when I have traveled and will do it again this summer as I move to
Alaska and concentrate more on my art than I have been able to in the
last few years. Now that there are thousands of artists on the web, it
remains to be seen whether I can still draw a large viewership. I am
confident that by sending a friendly and personal email to those who
wrote me before, I can draw them back and they tell their friends. I
tell them to visit to take a "Virtual Vacation" and
that is a good draw for folks at work, where most web browsing takes
place.
The strategy of most web commerce fits neatly into a quote I read from
David Bowie when asked about the future of the Internet: "It's all
about shouting," he said. The folks who are drawn to noise are not
at all my target audience. I say - "People listen more closely when
you WHISPER".
I created and maintain my own web site and use it mainly as an aid to
my "brick-and-mortar" galleries, who also display my work on
their web sites. I don't try to sell work directly from the site. (I
have sold work from the site but only to collectors who already have
other pieces of mine.) The main use I've found for the site is in making
contacts with collectors, galleries, universities and museums--proposals
for exhibitions, etc.,--without having to send slides. If the
Internet contributes to the obsolescence of artists' slides, that alone
will have justified its existence in my opinion!
But there's another possible justification for an artist's Web site
that you didn't mention. As Walter Benjamin said, fine art lies mostly
outside of the world of useful objects. The same can be said for a
website, especially if an artist is his or her own webmaster. It exists
for itself alone, as a sort of art object. I think if I didn't have this
underlying attitude about my site (even though it just occurred to me) I
wouldn't have maintained it for so long. Besides, all artists are
exhibitionists, and there's a certain thrill in knowing that by putting
your work on the Internet you are--at least potentially--showing it to
the whole world.
I had a website on IMALL for 2 years and got lots of hits but not one
sale from it. The only people who made money was the people at
"IMALL" so this only cost me $2000, and around $800 for the
set up fee etc. Not a good experience for me or my pocket book!
I sell directly through my website, by e-mail, and checks or money
orders. About 1 in 3 "confirmed" orders actually delivers the
money - the other two seem to forget, or never
get around to it. My assumption is that a site with e-commerce
interactivity would net those other two buyers, more than doubling the
site income.
On average, I'd say I sell $300 US a month, though is is an average,
with a high of $1700 and a low of $0 being the range per month. 100% of
this revenue is retained by me, as I own the site.
I have had my paintings on the internet for about three years. I
started with my work on a nonprofit site called art.net. It costs about
$60 a year and you make your own site. It's a great community of artists
from all over the world. One problem is that because it's nonprofit, you
can't post prices. Another problem is the length and obscurity of the
URL. I now have my own and it is clearer and easier to remember. That
site is very good for telling people about, or if I want to post prices,
but art.net generated a lot of traffic, so I maintain that site, too.
All of the business that I've gotten on the web has been through my site
at art.net. My site at art.net has resulted in a gallery relationship,
as well as many inquiries for slides. I found it very expensive to deal
with individuals, because I'd have to send out slides and most of the
time they would not get returned. I decided to just post the galleries
on my site so anyone interested in my work can contact a gallery near
them.
Soon I'll take my site to the next level and start selling something.
There are many interested people out there. It's just a LOT of work;
maintaining the site, publicizing, dealing with inquires, accepting
payment, shipping work. I'm curious as to how artists who actively sell
on the net handle it all.
I am looking into hooking up perhaps with some of the many online
galleries that have approached me and my question to all of them is 'are
you selling?’ Some claim much success - others don't say. I also do
not wish to pay any kind of fee for these services
- if they expect to do well they can take a commission only. I find that
there must be literally thousands of 'artists' offering their wares on
the internet and this may indeed be an obstacle to sales this way since
'brick and mortar' galleries, as you put it are more selective.
I have not sold anything from my home page at all. I have sold some
paintings on ebay
for very low prices $20.00 to $75.00 old work done long ago. My newer
regular work on ebay did not do well and I did not sell at the low bid
prices offered. I think only artists with a name and known reputation do
well there.
This is certainly a timely topic for me. I have had a website since
before last August. I manage my own site-I am the webmistress and
artist. My own art is there and I also have my art in several web
galleries. I upgraded my site in December to be able to transact
"e-commerce," thinking that was the key. I periodically send
out a newsletter (one every month or two). I've tried meta tags. A real
brick and mortar gallery has my work too and I have allowed them to
place some of my work on their web site. I have diversified into
very affordable greeting cards on my site too. (I have a day job and so
I am an artist in the evenings and on the weekends. I would love to be a
full time artist.)
It has turned out that the web site has been more of a gallery or
portfolio to view than a gallery from which to purchase. In fact, I've
made no web sales yet. I have made sales where there is personal contact
such as at art shows and fairs. I have received lovely comments
about my work but no web purchases. I am about to be featured in
ArtsFusion Magazine in April and hope that a listing in the magazine
will improve web sales.
Over the years I have had thousands of "hits" on the piece,
but only one sale...to the kind lady who built the site!
I feel that artists who have a wide network of dealers and sell
well probably don't need a site. Unless someone is very familiar with
the artists’ work I cannot see a work being purchased with the
internet image as the only frame of reference. However I am learning not
to predict what people may or may not do. My goal is to leave most of it
in the hands of enthusiastic dealers and concentrate on the business of
painting.
I manage my own website and use it in lieu of a brochure. I have had it
up and running for three years. I receive numerous requests for help
with foundry techniques as well as inquiries of suppliers of sculpting
materials. I have actually received several commissions as a result of
my site. Each time the commissions were for custom work. It would not be
enough to pay the rent but I am encouraged by these few sales. The fact
that a client is willing to pay several thousand dollars for a sculpture
they have not seen in person off the Internet by an unknown sculptor
leads me to believe this may eventually become more common place.
I sell on line all the time. I sell posters on Ebay of my work
through a fellow that handles all of that for me. I have just started
selling originals online. It’s a much harder sell because people still
want to see slides and it takes a little longer. The marketing and
networking are the hardest parts of ecommerce but no harder than doing
your own ads in newspapers and magazines, although less expensive, and
networking in the real world. It all comes down to consistency and PR.
And the help of very good people who although they share in the profits
make it much easier than trying to do it all yourself.
I had many requests, spent time answering them, but ultimately made
few direct sales. I attribute that to the fact that artwork really needs
to be seen and maybe touched.
One thing the web doesn't provide well is the relationship that a
gallery owner has with a
client - the "recommendation" factor. Anyone can put their
work on the web, but no one knows the reputation of the individual
artist.
Overall, I have still enjoyed my web experiences, but possibly more for
the community of artists I have met than for actual sales.
In very short order after I set up my site I had contact from several
other art web site
operators asking if they could link my site to theirs, some for a fee
but most for free. I took up the offers of the free ones and that
expanded the exposure.
I expect the development of online galleries to proliferate and will
look to participate at that level this year. That is the way of the
future and the opportunities are endless. Traditional
galleries and traditional collectors will still be around but the fast
lane is on the net.
My site generates a lot of hits but the hits number is tainted by the
fact that I have the word nude in the key words so almost all of my top
ten search references include the word nude. As far as sales are
concerned, I'd say my web site is a bust.
I've only had my own site available for about 16-18 months. However, I
see it as a revolutionary development for now and the future. Therefore,
knowing absolutely nothing, I became involved to a small degree and got
a ".com" address. To date, I can only credit selling a
sculpture just once on my web site. Yet, I do enter competitions and
art-in-public-places awards with some consistency and see more and more
of these utilizing email and web addresses to access information. I see
the medium, cyberspace, as a future method for making my work viewable
to a far greater audience than galleries and exhibits.
And, hopefully and likely, future competitions will request email
pictures and website references to enter rather than last centuries'
request for slides and snail mail forms.
Through the magic of the internet, I can display some samples of my
works, and for those who care to read it, information about my
philosophy of art and background, and still have everything available
here at my studio. I enjoy looking at my work installed all around my
yard in the house instead of elsewhere waiting to be purchased.
It’s a very fast and convenient way to show potential new clients
what you are doing.
