Five Items You have to know to be able to Properly Offer Your current Art On-line

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These are 5 things to you need to know to successfully sell your art online. Where to exhibit, Approaching a Gallery, Professionalism, Pricing, and Personal Websites.

The Internet has become anindispensable tool for artists. With theclick of a button, art enthusiasts around the world can view your artwork. But before you begin posting your images on theweb, there are five important things you should know. The following is a guide to effectivelyselling your art online.

1. Where to Exhibit – There arethousands of online galleries, so how do you decide which ones are best? Do your research. You need to find out how much they charge infees or commission, what services they offer, if the gallery is curated, whattype of marketing efforts they participate in, and most importantly, how muchart they sell. Some of these questionscan probably be answered right on the gallery’s website, while others willrequire a phone call or email. Theircontact information should be easily visible on the site. If not, that should raise a red flag. By contacting them, you are also testingtheir customer service. See howknowledgeable they are on the phone, or send them an email and see how quicklythey respond. Overall, you want todetermine that they are working hard to promote the art they display, and notjust making money off of signup fees and advertisements on the site.

2. Approaching a Gallery – Whenyou are ready to put your art on a site, there are two things you need: greatimages of your work and an artist’s statement. Most online galleries are not curated, which means that anyone with apaintbrush and money to cover the signup fees can post their art. Be cautious of these sites. Instead, you want to apply to a gallery thathas reputable curators who oversee the quality and direction. This is where great images and a statementare crucial; they represent everything about you and your art, and make it mucheasier for the gallery to see what you do. Once accepted to the gallery, these things will also be important forcustomers, who will be able to see your art clearly and understand it. As a result, they will be more likely to makea purchase.

3. Professionalism – Throughoutthis whole process, professionalism is key. You must respond promptly to emails and phone calls, do what you say youare going to do, and be conscious of small things like typos in yourartist’s statement. Above all, you needto know your work. If you are a photographer, than you need to be an expert abouteverything related to your camera and prints. Are these pieces in a limited or unlimited edition? How many prints in the edition? Signed and numbered? To truly be a successful photographer orpainter or anything else, you have to know your trade. Professionalism will show your gallery andcustomers that you are a serious artist worth their representation and money.

4. Pricing – Pricing your art canbe one of the most difficult aspects of being an artist. Your prices should be based on the size,medium, and complexity of the piece, and your sales and exhibitionhistory. If the only work you have soldhas been to your family, or you have never sold anything, you need to startlow. It may be less than you want in thebeginning, but that is how you work your way up. If you throw a $10,000 dollar price tag onyour first painting for sale, it’s probably never going to sell. Start with a couple hundred dollars and ifthe first pieces sell quickly you can raise your prices a bit; a ten to 15percent raise is considered standard gallery practice. One important thing to remember is that youshould almost never discount your art if it’s not selling. It makes collectors very unhappy, and it candevalue your whole portfolio. If someonebuys a piece from you for $1,000, and then later you lower the price of acomparable piece to $500 because it isn’t selling, in effect you’ve justdecreased the value of the first piece to $500 as well. Galleries and buyers will catch onto this andkeep away; no one wants to put their money into a risky investment. Start low, be patient, and the right buyerwill comes along.

5. Personal Websites and eBay – We’ve talked about onlinegalleries, but what about creating a personal website? Selling your art on a personal site isdifficult. The reason you pay signupfees or a commission to an online gallery is to handle things like building ane-commerce site, pursue marketing opportunities, and fostering relationshipswith customers. Having the time andresources to do this yourself is rare. eBay is even more dicey than a personal site. Although the customer base is there, it issomewhat of a black eye to the art world. Forgers go there en masse to offload knockoff paintings. Beyond that, you are probably not going tobuild a proper sales history that you can take to a physical gallery sellingyour art this way, which should be your goal.

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