Every successful artist has a completely different path to success. Most unsuccessful artists on the other hand all share the same path – the path marked with the “Don’t Market Yourself” Lane sign. Don’t go down that path!
Every day hundreds of artists decide to start selling their work online. It seems so easy, just upload your work and sit back and wait for the orders to flow in. Unfortunately, the reality is quite different as there are by far more sellers than buyers. Everyone is an artist these days and everyone thinks their work simply must be desirable to the art buying public.
If you want to be successful selling your work online, you have to be willing to put in a lot of effort on the marketing side of the business. Creating art is fun and fulfilling, and so can be advertising, marketing and branding. Besides, if no one sees your work, no one can buy it.
Selling Art Online is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Keep in mind that success doesn’t happen overnight and is not guaranteed. It requires having good products, lots of marketing work, and a bit of luck. Make a plan to attack all of these points and dedicate a portion of your day to daily marketing efforts. Good marketing work will continue to bring in viewers for years.
1. Concentrate all of your efforts on one POD. The one in which the markups are determined by the artist, not the POD.
2. Take advantage of every marketing tool. Blog, press releases, artist website.
3. Do all the marketing you can outside of the artist bubble to reach buyers instead of fellow artists – Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, blogging etc – create Google-friendly links going back to your portfolio.
4. On the POD, read all of the post threads about marketing. But also create your own ideas about how to attract buyers’ attention.
5. Read tips from proven sellers such as – https://www.dogfordstudios.com/?s=selling
6. A portfolio of 100 ready-to-sell pieces is a good start. You need enough work so buyers can browse and find their favorite.
7. Don’t expect sales to come for months and don’t watch the “view” count. Just keep uploading steadily over time, filling out all of the descriptions and keywords, and marketing each piece as it is uploaded to get the search engines attracted.
8. Don’t waste time and marketing efforts on low-profit items. Push for print sales where the profits can be rewarding. Little items can sell themselves.
9. Your name is your brand. Promote your brand.