It’s a question that artists of all stripes wonder. There are thousands of artists around the world who sell hundreds of thousands of pieces online. How can you get anyone’s attention?
I’m bringing a focus on the basics back to The Abundant Artist. For the next couple of weeks, we’re going to publish a series of articles on the basics of selling art online. Nothing crazy or flashy – just 10 posts on how to build a solid foundation for long term online success. This is the first post.
Making Art Stand Out Is A Process
I’ll break it down for you here in a succinct way.
Define your target audience or collector. No matter how great you are, your art will never be loved by everyone. Who really likes your stuff? Who do you know that has said, “wow, I really love your necklace/painting/song?” Of all the people who’ve said this to you, what do they have in common? How old are they, what are their interests, approximate income?
Define what makes you unique. Even if you consider yourself just another jewelry maker, chances are that your work is unique in some way. Perhaps you make jewelry out of recycled glass? Maybe you really like to make customized pieces? Combine that with the unique things about your target market. Of course, you’ll also need to get your own website so that you can present your own unique style.
Sell to your audience. Don’t worry about standing out for everyone who sees you. Once you know who you’re trying to reach and what makes you unique, just put yourself in the places where those people hang out. Display your work on Etsy, Amazon, and the other places to sell art online that are out there, but then start visiting niche blogs that your target audience is reading. Find a way to get your art featured there.
Build a List. This is crucially important, and too many artists miss this. Once you start getting attention you need a way to keep their attention. Sign up for an email list management service like Mailchimp.com, and then put up a signup form on your website. Put on your website that you offer special offers to your mailing list and let people sign up for it. Most of your sales will come from your mailing list.
From here, you can try lots of interesting things like Facebook advertising for art, Google Adwords, video and other targeted forms of marketing – but first you need to identify what makes you different.
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