| Selling Your Art by Douglas Ready |
The Internet has greatly expanded the potential for entrepreneurial success, particularly for those
businesses that are singularly driven. A primary vehicle for pursuing this success is the web site and the
key to achievement in this arena is exposing the web site to as many appropriate viewers, i.e., potential
customers as possible.
The website's sole function is to effectively showcase the artist's work.
Regardless of the design specifications and functional anomalies, the web site must load quickly, capture
the viewer's attention within just a few seconds, be easy to maneuver through and readily demonstrate
the desirability of the artwork displayed. Aesthetics are important to creative people and sometimes
there is a tendency to focus more on the creation of the web site than its function. Whirling bits of
animation, complicated mazes of boxes designed to lead the viewer from one gallery to another or
pop-up boxes designed to regale the viewer with whatever visual wizardry conceived by the web
designer who took your money are virtually guaranteed to drive away the potential shopper and prevent
his or her return.
Imagine yourself standing inside a retail store at a greeting card display. If inflated promotional objects
popped out at you every time you attempted to remove a card from the rack for consideration or if the
rack began to spin every time you reached for a card, you'd probably leave.
So will most web surfers.
The idea is to make it as easy as possible for the potential customer to peruse your samples. Remember,
he isn't there because he's looking to be impressed with your marvelous ability to create a website. Don't
let the web site become so annoying that actually looking at your artwork is the last thing a visitor would
consider.
It's been estimated that you've got eight seconds to capture a web surfer's attention--if you're lucky.
Every loading delay you build into your site increases the possibility that he'll be gone before the entire
site is visible. Don't assume most visitors have high-speed internet access. In fact, it's a good idea to log
into one of the sites that offers no-cost limited internet access--like NetZero--sign up and connect to the
internet using their dial-up system. This is an easy way to find out just how long potential customers
might be waiting to get a look at your product.
There are two methods of web site promotion: Direct and Indirect.
Direct Promotion refers to making the best use of those established procedures designed to help the
seeker readily identify and locate those sites appropriate for his needs, i.e., Search Engines and Referral
Sites.
The most effective tool in the Direct Promotion of a website is the Search Engine. Search Engines gather
information on existing web sites by either scanning a list of keywords supplied by the Web Master at
the time of registration or by scanning the words on the first page of the web site itself. It is, therefore,
of utmost importance to post copy on the first page of your site that states in no uncertain terms who
you are and what you do.
Registering your site with a Search Engine is a relatively quick process. Simply go the main page of the
Search Engine and look for the icon that says something to the effect of "Register a Site". Click on the
icon and follow the instructions. Some Search Engines will offer a "Priority" for a fee, either quicker
consideration of your site for inclusion or sometimes a promise to list your site sooner when a query is
posted rather than later in the list. You'll have to make your own determination as to whether or not
you wish to spend the money, but just registering your site without a financial investment is usually
appropriate. If you find yourself registering with a Search Engine that demands a registration fee, back
out immediately.
There are literally dozens of Search Engines. Many of them pool resources so registering your site with
one automatically registers it with several others. It is recommended that the greeting card
entrepreneur take the time to register--in no particular order--with Google, Yahoo, Dogpile, AOL
Search, Alta Vista, HotBot and WebCrawler. These particular Search Engines seem to be the favorites
among those looking on the internet.
If you're selling product from your website, organize the site into two sections: a portfolio section and a
catalog section. Visitors who are considering contracting you for commercial services aren't generally
interested in wading through the thirty poster images you're pushing. In fact, the notion that you've
referred an art director to a selling catalog is probably enough to give him second thoughts about
contacting you for future work.
If you're going to sell from your site, make it easy for your customers to buy. If the only payment
method you're setting up is to print out and order form and mail a check, you're going to lose a lot of
potential customers. If product variety warrants, set up an online shopping cart
SPAM is an annoying fact of life. Most of us utilize some sort of screening software to sort out those
unwanted solicitations and they are deleted without being read. It's perfectly legal to send a one-time
email invitation to visit your web site to a party you don't know, but unless you can do it in multiples of
hundreds of thousands your return on the effort is bound to be negligible. You'll realize a much better
return by offering an emailing list on your site so visitors who already have an interest in what you have
to offer know when to return to take a look at your updated products.
Print advertising has proven extraordinarily ineffective as a means of securing visitors to your website.
The simple truth is that people who chance upon your site while they are online are much more likely to
visit than people who find your URL in a magazine and have to write it down and remember to punch in
the web address the next time they venture online.
Indirect Promotion refers to making the best use of secondary functions to help the seeker identify and
locate those sites appropriate for his needs. Your greeting cards are a product and their primary
function is to be sold, but an effective secondary function is as a promotional beacon, a beacon lit by the
placement of your web address on the back of each individual card. Someone who has already purchased
one of your cards is likely to consider a future purchase and a quick referral to your online catalog is a
good way to make that next purchase an easy thing to do.
There are online chat groups focused on most any subject or endeavor. A quick perusal of the Yahoo
Group Page will identify sometimes hundreds of groups of like-minded folks who may have an interest in
your product. You make photo cards with horses on them? Common sense suggests that an Equestrian
Chat Group might have a few members who'd be interested in buying from you. Or a Rodeo Group. Or
a group of Horse Racing Enthusiasts. There is generally no charge for joining any of these online chat
groups and membership may prove beneficial to you in other areas as well. SPAMMING the members
of a chat group isn't appropriate, but an introductory notice on the Message Board with a subdued
invitation to visit your website for a look at what you do certainly is. Chat Groups, sometimes called
Message Boards, are sponsored by a number of different online operations and easily identified using the
Group Search function of the Search Engine Google.
A number of online operations, such as Yahoo and Hotmail, provide free email services, and this service
is often accompanied by the offer of a free web page. There are also online companies--Lycos Tripod
comes to mind--determined to offer you a free web page in the hopes that you'll eventually use them as
your primary web site carrier. Generally, selling product from these pages is prohibited, but posting a
couple of your more popular images on the free web page and posting a link to your main web site, giving
the web surfer the opportunity to peruse more of your work, is certainly acceptable. Remember, every
free web page you construct has the potential of directing new customers to your main web site, and
these are to be set up strictly as referral sites--a one-time setup with no maintenance involved. In fact,
you'll probably never visit that web page again once you've set it up. And, many of these free
pages--such as Tripod--are automatically archived by the major search engines.
A variety of online companies seek to partner with creators. Companies like Cafe Press offer the
opportunity to place your designs on products they produce and sell for a commission through their own
web site. While a real opportunity for profit to the creator is dubious, most of these companies offer a
free web page to showcase your image on their products and will allow you to post a link to your web site
on that page.
On occasion, you'll receive a request to use one or more of your images on someone else's website. These
kinds of requests generally come from non-commercial sites from someone who became enchanted with
your work. Consider allowing the use of your work in exchange for credit and a link back to your web
site listed with the image.
Take advantage of every no-cost online opportunity to post a referral to your web site.
Finally, a few observations that should prove useful:
EVERY EFFORT SHOULD BE MADE TO MAKE VISITORS WANT TO REVISIT YOUR SITE. Change
the content every 30 days or so, even if all you do is to move the same content around for a different
aesthetic. Your visitor won't remember everything that was on the site anyway, but he will generally
notice if it doesn't look like the site has been changed.
GET THAT VISITOR COUNTER OFF OF YOUR SITE! A new visitor who finds out he's the
thirty-fourth one to hit your site may figure there must be nothing there worthwhile or you'd be getting
more traffic. Believe me, he won't wait for the rest of the page to load. An invisible counter you can
access from behind the site will tell you how much traffic you're getting. Anyway, those numbers are
nobody's business but your own.
ESTABLISH A VISITOR'S LOG AND OFFER A SIGNUP BLOCK FOR AN EMAIL LIST. People who
sign your log do so because your product appeals to them. Most people won't take the time to sign up if
they don't think they might have a future need for your product. In fact, people who'll voluntarily signup
for even more email deposited into their Inbox probably usually have a definite thought in mind for the
future. Email a "Thank You" to everybody who signs the log or signs up for the mailing list--you can
compose a standard response and have the message sent automatically.
DON'T MAKE THE VISITOR'S LOG AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC VIEWING. In the first place, some of
your more ambitious competitors are perusing Visitor's Logs to determine who might be in the market
for an introductory email invitation, and second, you don't want a visitor leaving your site having just
read a nasty comment posted by some disgruntled fifteen-year-old kid.
Promoting yourself and your product on the Internet requires the same dedication and attention as
promoting the physical product in the local market. The difference is that the Internet allows access to
customers worldwide and the biggest promotional cost is time.
Your website is one of the most effective--and inexpensive--sales and marketing tools at your disposal.
It gives you the opportunity to put your skills and the results of those skills in front of everyone in the
world that has access to a computer, and all without print cost.
Your website should certainly contain every appropriate image you have available. Those images should
be easy to access without a lot of splashy animation involved in the web page setup to aggravate those
potential customers who find their way to your site. The concentration span of the modern consumer is
extremely short--this isn't meant as an insult, but rather an observational statement of fact--and if your
visitor has to wait longer than a few seconds for your page to load, chances are that he won't.
Your URL should be listed on every piece of business paraphernalia associated with your business:
business cards, promotional pieces, catalog pages, invoices, packing slips, and definitely on your
letterhead.
If you are selling product directly to consumers on the site, consumers should be directed to their own
section. If you're selling reproductions in any form wholesale on the site, it's a good idea to have a
separate wholesale section. Post a link on the first page of your site that will take the wholesaler to
where he needs to be, just as you posted a link that will carry the art director to a simple portfolio section.
A printable order forms is a must, even if you're set up for online ordering. Give your customers the
option of ordering in whatever manner is comfortable for them.
Clearly state minimum order requirements. Tell your customers approximately how long they'll have to
wait for merchandise, retail or wholesale, and make certain the orders go out in a timely fashion.
If you're interested in talking with distributing firms, convey that information on a separate and distinct
page from the other pages.
A business survives by making a profit. That profit is generated by creating and producing a product or
service, then promoting and selling that product or service, over and over again. Every working day is
structured to accomplish these ends. Product becomes the important concern. Ego is incidental.
It doesn't matter if the product is an original watercolor or if the product is the service of creating a
package design or if the product is imagery reproduced on posters or greeting cards. What does matter
is that the artist's creative juices are applied to assembling something he can put in front of a buyer and
exchange for cash, and that the artist does this day after day after day.
Financial solvency permits the continuation of artistic pursuit. A dedicated, straightforward approach to
producing work and selling it permits financial solvency.
The website, properly utilized, can go a long way toward achieving this end.
Douglas Ready
©2006 Serendipity Press. All rights reserved.