How to Sell Art Online and Achieve Success

Selling art online can be an art form all its own. Some people seem to be very good at it. These people rake in the art sales while other artists idly sit by and wonder how do they do it. You’ve heard the stories. Certain artists make thousands selling art at Ebay. Others are consistently selling at Fine Art America, and reaping the rewards.

The fact is, most of those artists who are successful online today have started months or even years ago. They began in the same place as you. But, obviously they found what worked for them and stuck with it. They had a dream and did not give up. Making money with art on the internet is not easy. It is a long process.

 

But those who commit to starting today regularly promoting art in the right places, and building their online presence, have a better chance eventually finding success.

Like selling most things online, success at selling art is a numbers game. The more people who see your art, the higher the potential of selling it. There are also many other things that factor into success at selling art on the internet.

 

How to Sell Art Online and Achieve Success

 

1. Enjoying the Online Experience
   
   Artists who are the most successful online love what they are doing. They are open to new ideas, and love networking with other artists.
   
   Creating art and promoting it online means much more to them than just earning money. Artists who do not genuinely enjoy the online experience may be prone to failure.
   
    
2. Learning How to Market Art on the Internet
   
   Most artists are not natural marketers. They would rather be in their studio creating art. But, the fact remains that a knowledge of certain art marketing principals are necessary to sell art on the internet. Successful online artists are using the same marketing tactics that large internet companies use. They have their own portfolio site, and brand themselves with a logo. They build a list of contacts, which they regularly email about new events, site updates, gallery shows, and more. These artists also use all available offline resources to promote their online presence. 
   
    
3. Centralize Your Online Presence
   
   Online artists should find one site, and centralize everything they do online there. Use this as your home base, and promote it at social networks, as well as offline. A self-hosted artist website works best for this purpose. But, some artists find success just promoting their shop at Etsy, Zazzle, Fine Art America, etc., without the need for a site.  Whatever you choose to showcase art online, use this as a central location to market art.
   
   
   
4. Network, Get Followers, and Increase Your Popularity
   
   Building an art website and expecting visitors to magically appear simply does not work. The only way for others to find your site or portfolio is for you to let them know about it. But where? Read these posts on social networking for some ideas.
   
   10 Places to Network and Promote Art Online
   10 Social Networks for Artists
   
   
5. Only Showcase Your Best Art
   
   Only display your best art online. Do not show everything at your online portfolio. Use art blogs for the purpose of talking about the progress of a piece, or displaying sketches. Most of the people who will look there are the people who have been following you for awhile, or want to know more about your process and personality. 
   
   
6. Make a Name for Yourself by Branding 
   
   There are many ways of branding an artist online. Sign every single piece and include your name in the description. Have your name at the top of your portfolio in large letters. Use the same profile picture wherever you display art on the internet, so that people will come to recognize you. Create a logo, and include it at all these places as well. Artists who build a reputation over time, by branding themselves are more likely to sell their art than someone who does not. Stay tuned for an article with tips on how to brand yourself as an artist. Subscribe here to be notified of this by email.
   
   
   
7. The Quality of the Artwork Photography
   
   Out of focus or un-cropped images will make the artwork look bad, leave a negative impression, and art collectors will be less likely to buy it. The photo should be large and as close to viewing the painting in person as possible. Please take a look at our tutorials on art work photography to learn more about taking great pictures of art for the web, and fix them with Photoshop.
   
   How to Photograph Art for the Internet
   Photographing Art – My Camera Settings
   How to Use Photoshop to Optimize Photographs of Art – Part 1
   Optimizing Images With Photoshop – Part 2
   

What do you think of these tips for selling art online and achieving success? Do you have anything to add?

We will be sharing more with you soon.

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