Art Blog - ArtId

It's easy to get caught up measuring "hits" to your website when you are selling artwork online, and then wondering, "Why so many hits and no sales?" Remember, hits are people, too. Not just faceless numbers on a statistic sheet. January is a great time to go back to your ArtId gallery and look at it from a buyer's perspective. Ask yourself some questions and see how you might improve your gallery according to your answers… Continue reading… 13 comments

I know dozens of artists who simply will not: have an online gallery, a blog, join any online groups, or use the Internet to their advantage in any way. Period. Statistics don't sway them, other Internet artists making sales while they aren't, doesn't prove anything to them. Well the facts are in, artists who use their website and social media to their advantage, sell. Period. The marketplace has changed and the way we do business has changed. "I don't have time, I don't like computers, it's too hard to learn, I don't have anything to blog about, it costs too much". If this sounds like you or someone you know, read on.… Continue reading… 17 comments

Email Signature as a Marketing Tool This is such a simple but powerful way to get the word out about your art. Put your ArtId gallery link at the end of all your emails. Every time you send an email will be an opportunity to remind people that you are an artist. You'll be amazed at how many people will check out your gallery. How Do I Add a Signature to my Email? Go to the "Settings" tab in your email server and type your ArtId www address into the "Signature" space under your name. Go! Go do it now! … Continue reading… 3 comments

It almost goes without saying that people love stories _ we root for the athlete with the story that affects us the most, we watch the same news report over and over because the story compels us, we even eat at a certain restaurant more often if we appreciate the chef's personal story. The same is true with art buyers. Imagine you are at an art fair and you are selling your landscapes. There are 5 other artists selling landscapes at the same fair. If a buyer is out there looking for a landscape painting, chances are that buyer will buy a painting from the artist whom he/she feels a sense of camaraderie with personally. How do you create camaraderie? Tell your buyers your story… Continue reading… 3 comments

In the last Art Marketing Minute, Maria gave us some very persuasive statistics and reasons to get out there and blog. The comment I get the most is "I have nothing to blog about." followed directly with "I don't have time to blog." The actual keyboard time involved in blogging is minimal, it's the subject matter we blank out on. Imagine...you are exhibiting in a gallery or Art Show, what are the most FAQ from viewers? Inquiring minds really do what to know. It makes them feel like they know you or have an inside track on you and your work. Buyers are much more likely to purchase original art if it has a story attached to it. Every time you upload a new piece on your artid site, there is a button that says "blog about this art". Here are 10 "Starter" tips to get any artist blogging.… Continue reading… 1 comment

Did you know that artists who write in their ArtId blogs enjoy more popularity on the site than those who don't? It's true. Every time you post a blog entry from your gallery, it not only appears in your ArtId pages and the Artists Blog homepage where visitors can read your blog and then click in to your gallery, but it also is indexed by the search engines, posted on the ArtId Facebook page (where we currently have over 400 fans) and shared with anyone on Digg, Stumbleupon and the many other content sharing networks available using the "Share" button. So it just makes sense to get yourself out there and blog to get more people to see your art. … Continue reading… 1 comment

Describing art for the internet requires artists to shift gears and think much differently about the word "description". Internet Speak In gallery speak, a "description" is "watercolor painting of my grandmothers garden where I loved to play as a child." In internet speak the same painting has to read "original watercolor painting, of garden in summer with purple and yellow flowers and a white chair." Then, you add "painting of my grandmothers garden where I loved to play as a child." … Continue reading… 0 comments

As the Editor of ArtId, part of my job is to monitor what is happening on the site everyday. I check out all the new art that has been uploaded and read the new blog posts. What I am seeing is the members of ArtId becoming more than just names and images in a list of online art galleries. Instead, they are a vibrant community of individuals whose experiences, stories, and expertise are successfully engaging both visitors and other artists. This is what we at ArtId had hoped for when we built the new site. Being an artist is more than just producing art, and now, through the new site capabilities, we are able to hear the voices of artists as they speak about their inspirations, difficulties, experimentations, and philosophies, and view their new art in real time… Continue reading… 3 comments

I am frequently asked to judge art exhibitions for organizations, and my magazine stages a number of it own competitions, including the 70th Anniversary Art Competition . that concludes at the beginning of May. That experience allows me to offer the following advice to artists about entering their work in juried competitions and understanding the results.… Continue reading…

Hartford Fine Art and Framing's phone and email inbox continues to fill up with "tell me more" inquiries. Most of the questions we have been getting revolve around the question, "How?" Here are several emails that sum up the feedback: "I have a web site but I have never marketed it. I have no idea what to do and I don't know what a "meta tag" is and frankly I don't want to know or do any of this as my job is to paint, not be an IT professional. Can you recommend anyone or a company to do this Internet marketing legwork for me?" "I'm trying to discipline myself to update my website and get it to function more for sales. I have some ideas but haven't implemented them yet. Any other suggestions that you have would be helpful… Continue reading…

When Bob Pejman, owner of Pejman Editions, was alerted to the fact that a website was selling illegally reproduced versions of his artwork, he decided to take matters into his own hands--and succeeded in having those products "taken down" from the site. Using tools available on the Web, he ascertained the name of the owner of the website in question and also that of the ISP hosting the site. (Those tools are dnstools.com .) He then invoked the powers of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) under which, if an ISP is aware that it is hosting a website containing counterfeit material it can be held liable. Mr. Pejman registers every piece of his art with the Copyright Office. (The process takes a few days and the fee is $30… Continue reading…

It's beginning to appear as though the Web comes to us with a bigger price tag than we all might have imagined. I've been writing about the Internet for Art World News for nearly a decade, says columnist Todd Bingham, and I have repeatedly observed that the advantages to having instant information available can be sweet--and sour. Consider this: We now live in a world where I can go online and look at artwork that was created by an artist living on the other side of the Atlantic, in a small town in Denmark. The painting was completed only yesterday and already I know about it! And what's more, I can purchase that work of art directly from the Danish artist and have it shipped to me. All of this, without leaving my office… Continue reading…

I wrote my book, The Visual Arts Resource Manual , to help other photographers and artisans. I have gone through a lot of frustrating times trying to locate products and resources to market my photographs. The name of my business is Creative Photo Products. I make and have made alternative products that feature photographic images such as handmade photographic note cards, canvas tote bags, tee shirts, pillows, gift enclosures, framed prints, clocks, refrigerator magnets and book marks. It was truly a quest to find vendors and suppliers to help manufacture all of these products. Another challenge was the financial end of things… Continue reading…