Accurate photographs are important for online sales.
It isn't easy to make a living as an artist, so artists who want to be professionals are constantly looking for new ways to successfully market their work. The Internet offers a diverse market of potential buyers, but there are many other artists who are also trying to sell to them. Produce consistently high-quality, innovative work and learn the marketing skills that are particular to the Internet and you stand a good chance of making an online living as an artist.
Instructions
1. Develop a website that prominently features high-quality images of your art. Link your website to as many other sites as you can. This improves your website's search engine ratings. Develop pages for your website that show how you work and something about who you are. Art buyers are more motivated to buy when they feel like they know something about the artist.
2. Market your art on Internet auction sites. In most cases, you won't get high prices for your work through online auctions, but if you are selling small pieces that don't require a lot of time or expensive materials, this method may be profitable for you.
3. Promote your work to the webmasters of websites that feature articles about art and artists. Try to get yourself and your work featured on some of these websites. Potential buyers are more likely to read news and personal interest stories than ads. If you are the subject of the story, it's a free advertisement for your work.
4. Use social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace to get word out about your work. Make online connections with everyone you know and encourage them to pass on pictures of your work to their friends. People are more likely to pay attention to a recommendation from someone they know than an advertisement.
5. Produce videos of yourself working on your art and post them on YouTube or a website for artists. Take some time and create a professional video with a good voice-over that shows viewers how you make your art and something about the meaning behind it. Link your videos to your website and your social networking profiles.
6. Collect payment for your sales using an online digital payment service such as Paypal or Bidpay, or by accepting checks and credit cards. If you take checks, don't ship your art until the check has cleared.
7. Ship your art carefully to protect its material and fragility. If you make art on paper, ship it between sheets of stiff cardboard or rolled up in a sturdy cardboard tube. More fragile art should be properly packed, insured and shipped by courier.
