Do you want to be a successful online artist? You may very well, but there are a few major things to keep in mind. Yes you can achieve success, but the name of the game is selling yourself! You may wonder, isn’t it selling my art, and talent? Absolutely, but this day in age the market for selling art online is heavily saturated. When I say heavily, I mean it is overflowing! In fact if you already tried your hand at selling online, you may feel overwhelmed, and unsuccessful. In this article I am going to outline a plan to use when selling online. Also a few suggestions I have used.
The first thing you should do is start an inventory. Start this first so when you go to sell you actually have a lot to offer. After you have inventory, photos, edits, digital prints available it is time to set up a gallery of your own! If you want a free gallery, and don’t know about programming I would suggest https://www.wix.com/ they make it really simple. At first it seems overwhelming, but use their tools, and suggestions. If you want to see an example of one feel free to view my gallery here. https://hstasek.wixsite.com/illimitablecreate
Once you’ve set up your own gallery it’s time to self promote. There are so many different networks available. You have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google. Facebook for example allows you to create pages of your very own. Hold on there though! First remember the gallery you made? When you make the gallery you should decide on a branding name. Something you can use everywhere you network to keep it professional. This will also aid people in easily finding you! You should think of something catchy, trendy, and easy to remember. After this decision use it everywhere you network!
After you’ve branded yourself, you may feel lost. Where should you go next? What move should you make now? I’ll tell you it’s time to gain a following! This isn’t as easy as it seems. The first aspect to remember is to keep it professional. When networking you might get negative feed back. You might get jealous people who want to bring you down. Always remember to handle it professionally without getting angry. If you are the bigger person they will realize they can’t affect you, and move on. Keep this in mind always, remember you are a business! To start a following the best thing you can do is swallow your pride, ask friends, and family first. This may feel awkward, but if you don’t do this it will be very hard to gain followers. After having friends, and family follow you, you need to get interactive! Interact with posts, you will probably meet more people you can add to your following! After awhile the right people will take notice.
Finally it’s time to promote, and sell! At this time you are most likely asking yourself, where do I sell my art? First off with some investment you could open your own selling gallery as I suggested Wix. They also have paying options to have a business website. If you want to go free there is Etsy, Ebay, and Amazon. Those are the major players in the online sales field. If you want to go quick, and easy I can reccomend what I use. I use https://www.artpal.com. This is a free gallery, but you are in charge of shipping unless it is for prints. If you choose the print option you can choose your earnings, and they take care of the shipping. Here is my link with Artpal, for an example.
https://www.artpal.com/Illimitable
In conclusion this plan outline does take time, and effort. After all it isn’t just art, it’s a business. You can take all the time you need, or you can work full time to blow through these steps. The most important aspect is a following, so keep connections. Make time for your fans! Make time to respond to messages, and write heartfelt posts. Offer promotions, like three free prints for first time customers. Or maybe one free photo edit if you like your Facebook page. Be creative! That part shouldn’t be hard, after all you are an artist, happy selling.