Marketing: Where to Sell Prints of Your Work Online You never know what sort of bargains you will find online. There are a growing number of websites that will allow you to exhibit your digital art and sell prints to online shoppers. These sites handle the money transaction, the printing, the framing (if needed), and the shipping. Often there’s no upfront cost, since these sites make their money by taking a percentage of the sale. We’re talking no upfront cost, no barrier to entry, money just waiting to be made. Sounds like a great deal, no? With all this in mind, here’s our list of sites currently offering exhibition space and POD (print on demand) services, with some information on each to help you decide. Back in 2008, when we reviewed Deviant Art, the site had over 7 million members and was hosting nearly 60 million images. Imagekind was purchased a few years back by Cafe Press. Since we first wrote about them in 2008, Zazzle’s reputation within the digital art community has grown.
How to Become a Famous Artist in 3 Easy Steps -- Skinny Artist Let’s face it, you’ve probably been working way too hard. Forget about all of those years toiling away in obscurity Forget about putting in your 10,000 hours of practice to master your craft. In fact, forget about creating any creative work at all, now it’s all about becoming famous for the sake of being famous. Somewhere along the way fame has become a goal in itself. Creative artists have always been provocateurs. Now having said that, why does it feel like so many of us these days are just screaming to get attention? Breaking through the Background Noise Look I get it, the internet is getting awfully crowded. Now that virtually everyone has their own Twitter account, Facebook page, YouTube channel, and blog — it has become harder than ever to breakthrough the background chatter and get ourselves noticed. What seems to be disappearing, however, is our attention. So what happened? There are no spectators any more. But here’s the problem….things changed No one is listening Shock & Awe Step 1.)
5 Fears that can Destroy an Artist #1 Self-Doubt (What if I’m not good enough?) This is probably the number one fear of any creative professional. After all, we are not creating necessities but luxuries for the most part. As much as our art enriches our life and the lives of others, it remains something that we (at least as consumers) could probably live without. i also worry that at some point i’ll give up on making a living with art. i have this mental image of being 65 and having my grandkids find a crate in the attic with all my drawings in it. they’d be like “i didn’t know grandpa could draw. why is he working at Jiffy Lube?” When money is tight, luxuries such as purchasing books, music, tickets to performances, and artwork are often the first to go. We’re not doctors, teachers, or even farmers–we don’t create or provide a service that people can’t live without. What if no one wants to buy my work? The cure for self-doubt is surprisingly not success. #2 I’m not original enough (someone else is doing it better)
How to Sell Your Art Locally in Your Community - Skinny Artist by: Steff Metal As artists, we’re told again and again how vital it is for us to market online, to reach an international audience, to establish a profitable niche. And this is very true, but in extending our reach we often neglect a lucrative market that’s right in front of us – our local art community. People love to support local artists, and there are many opportunities open to you within your hometown that can support a part- or full-time artist. Here are some ideas on how to market your artwork in your local community. Hold Local Exhibits It may not be the Tate Modern, but your local art galleries enjoy loyal and steady patronage, and they’re a great place to begin building a local following. Local galleries have an established network of art fans and collectors who love to support up-and-coming artists. But you don’t have to stick to galleries – cafes, office lobbies, schools, libraries, banks and theatres often host mini exhibitions from local artists. Get in Touch With Businesses
Search Engine Optimization SEO & Google for Art Blogs & Sites If you sell your art on the internet through your own website it is really really important to ensure that you have a steady stream of interested visitors looking at your work. I can’t emphasis this enough because you can have the most amazing work in the world out there on the web but if no one sees it nothing exciting is going to happen. You can’t just sit back and wait for people to turn up. You have to help them find you. So, one of the best ways make this happen and make sure you get all those visitors popping their head round the door of your shop is to spend a little bit of time making sure that your website is as “Google Friendly” as possible. This means tweaking the site so that Google and other search engines find it easy to navigate and index. So here we go – some easy SEO that will give your site a head start. Use keyphrases – not single keywords Keyphrase consists of 2 keywords together – like “Abstract Art” or “Contemporary Art”. Page titles – Sort em out!
Marketing: 7 Places to Sell Your Work Online What if Van Gogh had been able to show his work online? Before the Internet, artists had very few outlets to sell their work. The main choices were galleries (which took 50% of the selling price) and art fairs. Determining the “best” sites for selling art is subjective, of course, but I tried to list the best in terms of audience size (traffic), cost, and quality of service. While Imagekind sticks to artwork printed on paper, canvas, and greeting cards, Redbubble is a place for “framed prints, mounted prints, greeting cards, posters, designer T-Shirts and more.” Etsy calls itself “Your place to buy & sell all things handmade.” If fine art prints aren’t your thing, or if you’ve got a great design for a mug or t-shirt, then head on over to CafePress or Zazzle. BoundlessGallery is a site for buying and selling fine art originals and prints. DeviantArt, which we profiled a while back, is a free online community which offers a print-on-demand service, much like Imagekind or RedBubble.
Achieving Your Dream: How to Take the First Step A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.Lao-tzu Do you have a dream deep in your heart that you want to pursue? If you do, have you taken the first step necessary to achieve it? Taking the first step is perhaps the most difficult thing to do in achieving a dream. There are a lot of mental obstacles that make it difficult to take that first step. Here are some dont’s to help you solve the mental obstacles: Don’t wait until the situation is perfect.You should not wait until the situation is perfect because the situation will never be perfect. As you can see, the three points above have “don’t wait” in them. I learned this in blogging. Here are some more things you should do to successfully take the first step: 1. Believing in your dream is essential to get the motivation you need to achieve it. 2. Can you imagine – in detail – how the world will look like when your dream comes true? 3. While it’s not impossible, achieving your dream is definitely not easy. 4.
30 Sentences that Can Brighten Your Day It’s far too easy to get lost in this lousy world. We always need reminders to get us back on track and moving forward. You don’t need an expensive life coach to empower you, sometimes one or two sentences are already enough to brighten your day and help you to spring forward to take on the challenges that will come during the day. We have 30 inspiring sentences that can empower and motivate you to look ahead. Click on the image to download wallpaper sized images! #1 Never compare your weaknesses to other people’s strengths. #2 Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. #3 Your childhood may not have been perfect, but it’s over. #4 Own your life, or someone will own it for you #5 We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand. #6 The world does not reward perfectionists. #7 No matter what anyone says to you, you don’t have to eat dinner with them, live with them, or go to bed with them. #8 If you risk nothing, you risk everything.