Occasionally on ArtId, we get a person or company that contacts a number of our members through the contact page in their ArtId galleries offering artists anything from representation to licensing deals. Sometimes these offers are legitimate and, unfortunately, sometimes they are not. Because your contact page is open for anyone to use, these emails cannot be dealt with as spam. An email received through your ArtId contact does not mean that we have endorsed the company or person.

So, we'd like to give you some tips on how to discriminate between truly interested business people and those whose real goal is to get you to pay them a lot of money for nothing.

How to Compare

1.A legitimately interested person will identify themselves right away and give you information about themselves and/or their company.

Beware of emails where the writer does not divulge the company name or does not tell you exactly what they are interested in doing.

2. A legitimate email will most likely address you by name and make mention of your work, how the person found you, and why they think you are the artist they want to work with.

Beware of emails that appear generic and do not regard you or your work personally. Likely those emails are being sent to a large number of artists by cutting and pasting the same email over and over again into contact pages.

3. A legitimate proposal will work within a standard of operating procedures that exist within the art business world.

Offers that promise too much probably cannot deliver.

If you receive an email that you are unsure about, let us know and we will investigate it. When we know that an unsavory person or company is contacting our artists, we post a notice in the Announcements section of your ArtId which appears when you login.

]]> http://artid.com/members/artid/blog/post/3626 Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:10:21 +0000

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.

-How did those people find my gallery?

-Who are they?

-What were they looking for and not find?

-Did I tell them enough about the artwork?

-Did I tell them enough about myself?

-Do the images in my gallery do my art justice?

-Are my prices too high for them, too low?

-Did I make it easy for them to buy my work?

-How can I get them to come back if they didn't buy today?

A few simple changes could convert those hits into buyers!]]> http://artid.com/members/artid/blog/post/3461 Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000 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.

Granted, getting started is a learning curve but the longer you wait the harder it will be. If you can send email and pictures, you can have a website. You don’t need to spend thousands on a personal website and have someone maintain it for you or learn to maintain it yourself. The fees attached with any community site like ArtId are tiny (and tax deductable as a business expense) compared to what you would spend on your own and there is nothing to prove that your personal website will be any more lucrative. Artists care about the aesthetics and flow and flash, but the buyer doesn’t. If you build your own site and it’s lousy, they will notice that.

Galleries don’t want to look at portfolios, especially without an appointment. They would much rather look at your web site when it is convenient for them. If they like what they see, maybe they will call you in. Galleries are looking online now for new talent, because it’s all there in one easy search.
Your online gallery IS your portfolio, your brochure and your artist’s statement. It is also a place to build your email list and send out your virtual postcard or newsletter mailing. Now you can get your artwork in front of millions instead of hundreds and you don’t have to schlepp it anywhere.
If you produce art and you want to sell it, then you have to do the work. In today’s commerce structure, your self-representation must include a web presence, a blog and a mailing list. These are very valuable and powerful tools to help you build a following, connect, research, learn, teach and communicate with other artists and buyers all over the world.

If you don’t care about selling your artwork, then please pass this article on to an artist, you know who does. ]]> http://artid.com/members/artid/blog/post/3259 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

We don’t read them all everyday but do check them often, or subscribe to them, like Seth Goden’s blog, which is very short and sweet and gives us something to contemplate as we start our day. Blogs we follow, have great information, are well written and are by people or organizations that are trustworthy.

1. Seth Godin: Marketing genius with decades in the business. Forward thinking, concise and top notch story telling. We subscribe to his blog so we get it everyday Actually, we think that every person on the planet should read Seth Godin everyday. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/.

2. Empty Easel: Excellent weekly digest for artists covering, techniques and trends, the business of art and other musings we think any artist would find helpful. We subscribe to this blog as well, it is posted on Sunday Nights. http://emptyeasel.com/.

3. Fine Art Views: Written by Clint Watson and his team of excellent guest writers. They cover everything from how to hang your art to business ethics to how to work with galleries. Excellent content. We follow Clint Watson on Twitter http://clintwatson.net/blog/.

4. Art Biz Blog: Excellent, excellent. They post all the same great advice ArtId com does so it’s good to know we're all on the same page, giving you good advice. http://www.artbizblog.com/.

5. Social Media 101: Written by twosome Julie Roads and Ron Miller, it is geared toward Social Media beginners. This blog has great content, and is written simply and easy to understand. We follow Julie Roads on Twitter. http://www.socmedia101.com/.

We're sure you have some favorites of your own. Let us know what you are reading.]]> http://artid.com/members/artid/blog/post/3162 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Email Signature as a Marketing Tool

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! Go do it now!

]]> http://artid.com/members/artid/blog/post/3111 Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:33:49 +0000

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. Make them feel that the way you came about making your landscapes is far more compelling than the other 4 landscape artists at the fair. Not only will a patron be more likely to buy your art, but they will remember you, they will tell your story to their friends and create priceless word of mouth advertising for your work.

Recently, I saw the power of story-telling in action. An art consultant friend of mine was showing over 50 artists to a big retail client. Out of a wide range of excellent work, the client chose one artist to work with because that artist had an interesting story, one that pulled together his personal life with his artwork. The retailer knew the work not only had merit and salability like many of the other artists he saw, but that it also had a story he could sell to his retail customers. The artist was awarded a huge opportunity based on the power of his story.

As artists, we often like to believe that the quality of our work should determine how well it sells. But let’s be real - selling art is like selling any other product on the market, it has to be good and have the most appealing package.

5 Ways to Effectively Tell Your Story to Sell Art

1. Ask yourself why it is you are making the art that you are making. Is it because of where you grew up, some life changing experience that happened
   to you, an obsession you had from childhood, because of a job or career that
   you had, or a technique you discovered while fiddling around in your studio?
2. Write your story (in no more than several paragraphs) in a way that captures your reader’s attention. If you are not a great writer, hire a friend
   or freelance writer to do it for you. Try to use the first person voice in
   your story so you can bring the reader in more immediately.
3. Copy that well-crafted piece of writing into your bio, your brochures and everywhere you can. You could even base your business logo on some aspect
   of the story and use the story as a basis for building your visual brand.
   
4. Embody the story. Re-tell your story to anyone and everyone who is interested.
5. If a piece/tangent of the story is recognizable in your work, all the better. A buyer will feel like they are taking your incredible story into their homes
   and are in some way too a part of it.

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...

1. "Where is that?" If it's a city or landscape write a paragraph about the location, the weather and why you were there.

2. "How long does it take you to complete a work?" Be honest, time spent does not equal quality in any line of work.

3. What kind of blah-di-blah do you use? Mention brand names you do or do not like and why. Write about a new material you are using or why you are sticking to the tried and true.

4. "Where do you get your ideas?" Well, where do you? What sparks your creative energy?

5. "Where did you study?" Once again be honest, did you go to art school, night classes, read books, hang out with other artists and watch?

6. "Do you ever get artists block?" Write about it and what you do to combat it.

7. "Do you teach classes?" Write about your students and classes or, the reasons you don't teach.

8. "My 3 year old could do this, why is it so expensive?" Write about how a 3 year old can't do it and how you price your art. You don't have to be defensive, just explain.

9. "Where else can I see your work?" Write about your show schedule and web site(s).

10. "Can people visit your studio?" This can be fun, write about where you create, on the kitchen table at night, in your giant custom built studio, a room of your own, or your lap... where you create can be as interesting as why you create.

These are a precious few subjects you can write about. A paragraph or two will suffice. You can write about your opinion, your process, your "aha moments", your cat, anything. It's up to you how much of your soul and/or personal information you want to share. Once you get going you will have plenty of ideas.

Blogging. It's good for you.

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.

5 Tips for Blogging

1. Use Keywords in the Title and Be Specific - No matter what you're are writing about, be specific about it in the title. Online readers
   search for content by typing very specific words into the search engines.
   Both your title and the first 20 words of your post are searchable, so don't
   be vague or creative, let people find you.
2. Advertise - Let your network of friends, family and co-workers know you're blogging. Place your blog address on the bottom of every email
   you send or formally invite people to come and read it.
3. Write What You Know - and what you care about.
4. Stay Focused - Blogs with a focus tend to garner a stronger following than those that write about many topics.
5. Become a Reader of Blogs - Enter into conversation with like-minded authors and readers through comments.

Login and Blog Now!

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."

Put The Story In A Blog
Better yet, the story of the painting, it's whereabouts and it's meaning to you, the artist, is a perfect entry for a blog. A blog is the place where you start a conversation with your buyer, let them get to know a little about your work and as much about you as you want to divulge. Telling a story, gives the reader something of interest that may attract them even more to the art. In your Member mode when you uploadimages we've added "Blog about this art" to make it easier.

Tags
Descriptions on the internet need to contain keywords or "tags". Put yourself in the position of someone searching for art. What are they going to put in as search terms? "painting, horizontal, watercolor, garden, yellow flowers" because that is what they are looking for. If your description contains those words then, the search engine findings will include you. The same is true for all media, sculpture, jewelry, prints etc. Words like I, my, and, the, with don't qualify as a tag.

Titles
The same is true for artwork titles. Traditionally artists have named pieces "Motif #3", "Beyond Gratitude", or "Three Red" and that's fine, but understand, it will not help in the search. "Untitled" is exactly that, you will end up in the sea, make that the universe, of work titled "Untitled". Titles like "Blue Nude", "Urban Landscape in the Rain" or "Sunflowers" now, we're getting somewhere.
It's alright to name a painting "Sunflowers" and in the description repeat "blue vase with three sunflowers". You ask, "There is a picture of it right there, why do I have to keep saying sunflowers when it's so obvious?" Remember this, search engines work with words not pictures.
Describe you art as if there were no picture there. It's counter intuitive but we're talking marketing and technology here, not creativity. If you do not describe your work properly for the internet, don't use good tags or titles, you are sabotaging yourself and no amount of marketing on your part or ours is going to get traffic to your site.

Keep it Short
Keep your tags to less than ten really succinct words, especially for eBay. Learning to speak internet will greatly increase your chances of exposure and sales.]]> http://artid.com/members/artid/blog/post/2790 Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Elizabeth Davison, President
Company: ArtId
Phone: 413-739-1494
Email: betsy@artid.com
Website: www.artid.com

MARCH, 2009 – ArtId.com, the Internet’s fastest growing social and business website for artists is hosting an Art Video Contest for artists who want to gain more exposure for themselves and their artwork.

The video contest is free and open to visual artists of all mediums and career levels. Because the videos will be hosted on our website, all participants must open a free ArtId account to upload their videos for the contest.

Categories for winning videos are: Best Montage, Most Humorous, Most Informative, and Most Creative. A fifth category for Most Views will also be named a winner.

The winning videos in each of the 5 categories win prizes from participating sponsors Earth Safe Products , Rex Art , Hartford Fine Art and Framing , ArtId , and The Independent Coffeehouse Network.

Artists must submit their videos through the ArtId site within the 48 hour period between 12am on May 7th and 12pm on May 8th.

On May 11- 31, visitors to the ArtId voting page will be able to view and vote for their favorite videos in the above mentioned categories. Voters may place multiple votes. Artists are encouraged to share their videos through emails and other social media sites to increase voting on ArtId.

Throughout the contest, videos will appear simultaneously on the artidmembers YouTube channel, in the artists ArtId galleries and on the ArtId voting page as well as other subsequent ArtId pages.

Winners will be announced by ArtId on June 1. Click here to view the full contest rules.

Artists, like all small business owners, are looking for innovative ways to market their product. ArtId believes video is the next necessary step in an artist’s bag of marketing tricks. With video capability built into nearly every cell phone and digital camera, videos are becoming increasingly easy to make, edit, and share. Many business, who have successfully harnessed the potential of YouTube and the Internet for their videos, have reaped incredible benefit.

_______________________________________________________________________

]]> http://artid.com/members/artid/blog/post/2523 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0000

This is a sample reel that features www.artid.com members, Robert Hicks and Loretta Petraitis, and will appear on the Independent Coffee Network. The ICN is an Out of Home Network that will be in coffee shops throughout the United States. Artists work is paired with independent label musicians to create artistic content for the broadcast audience.

Some previously free online artists sites are starting to charge membership fees, as their advertising revenue decreases, scrambling to offer more services and features touting them as “something new” when they announce {“new product/service for artists which (will) change the way that artists market and sell their art online.”} Free uploads, articles, no commissions, and other unnamed marketing “products”.

ArtId has been offering these same services and MORE for nine years and counting, thriving in a struggling economy. ArtId has always been membership based; only very recently have they accepted selected advertising from environmentally responsible companies that produce or distribute green art supplies. Many artists resist paying a membership fee, because they can get Free Memberships on other sites. Yet,even ArtId’s Free Membership has more features than any other free site out there. ArtId has never charged a commission on sales. ArtId has always let the artist, be in control of their own content, transactions and self-promotion. ArtId became a community-based site with individual blogs and artist interaction the minute the technology was available. They must be doing something right, ArtId’s membership has more than doubled in the past year. Artists are beginning to abandon their individual sites, finding them cumbersome to maintain and disappointing in terms of generating traffic, in favor of easier use and a more communal atmosphere.

ArtId has been gaining exposure for their member artists at an unprecedented rate and strives to provide artists with sales opportunities. ArtId began publishing articles that were tailored to artists and their self-promotion needs two years ago; providing valuable information from describing your art for the internet, to how to optimize your site, to product and book reviews. The ArtId Art History blog is unequalled in scope and content. An expert, with real time suggestions and advice, posts the blog written for Art Teachers. Member support is extraordinary in a time when such services are outsourced or gone. With all this in place ArtId now turns it’s focus to the buyer, with tools and information for the collector, the designer and the public.

Think about it. The artist gets a lot for their $9.95 a month membership. A cup of coffee every day adds up to more than that, cable TV, parking, a cell phone, the subway, a fast food lunch costs more than that. Like all these other services, it’s up to the consumer, how little or much they use them. Service, support, marketing tools, information, job postings, blogs and links, designed for the artist, are not new, they are ArtId.]]> http://artid.com/members/artid/blog/post/2463 Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

In 2009 ArtId has made the commitment to be environmentally responsible and post information that will help our members make green decisions about their work and their surroundings. Part of that commitment is to seek out and partner with a limited number of environmentally responsible art supply companies. These advertisers will be contributing to the content of the site with news and information about new products and working towards keeping art, artists and the earth safe from harmful substances. You will soon see some new link connections on the log in page. Earth Safe Finishes and Rex Art. Please go to their websites to see their product lines and support them when buying art supplies.

I will be writing more in depth about each of these companies in the coming weeks. We will be keeping the advertisers and number of pages limited to comply with our original idea of clean, uninterrupted spaces. If you know of any companies that are producing green supplies, storage systems or studio furnishings please let us know. Help keep ArtId free of harmful dancing bears and bouncing smiley faces.]]> http://artid.com/members/artid/blog/post/2395 Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:09:37 +0000

I know it's hard enough to find the time to make your art, let alone become a video producer, but the power of video is something you can't ignore.

Buying art involves a very personal kind of decision-making process, one that includes an emotional response not only to the art but also to the artist. Because of the intimate nature of video, artists have the opportunity to present themselves and their art in a way that further inspires a positive emotional response in interested buyers. If that response is strong enough, likely a sale will be made.

There is something different that happens when instead of reading about the artist, we hear the artist's voice, or see his/her studio as a painting is being made. We begin to identify with the artist on a personal level and begin to have a greater appreciation for the art they are producing.

ArtId has always imagined the artist online gallery as a virtual tour through an artist's studio, where visitors can see the art, get to know the artist by reading the artist blog and bio, sign the guestbook and purchase the art. And while those features work well, video is a more instantly gratifying way for buyers to emotionally connect with artists.

Where is all this leading? That's right. ArtId now has given every artist member a Video page inside their ArtId galleries.

Not only do your videos go on ArtId, they are also automatically placed on YouTube in the ArtIdmembers Youtube channel. Youtube is the highest trafficked site on the Internet and there are plenty of people out there looking for art-related videos. They will comment on your videos and send them to their friends to watch. Consider making an art video as creating your own ad.

Your job is to present yourself and your art in a way that endears you to your buyer. Whatever that may be. Humor, innovation, personality, anything that promises lasting emotional value.

Making videos is also super easy. Most cell phones have a video feature these days, and if not that, certainly all digital cameras. Note that on ArtId, it does take a while to upload a video - so walk away from the computer for half an hour or so and come back and it'll be done.

You can also take the "embed" code on your video and place it anywhere in a blog or bio page on ArtId, in an email or on another website.

We're excited not only to watch your videos, but also to watch what happens to your sales as more and more of you delve into video-making.

ArtId will also continue talking about video, giving you technical and marketing advice along the way.

“Where Art and Coffee Meet”

Thanks to everyone who has submitted a CD for the ICN project. The CD’s are coming in at a steady rate and the variety and quality of the work is outstanding. Members, if you have not considered joining in this project, I urge you to read on. http://artid.com/business/tradejobs.html

Your artwork will be seen in independent coffeehouses, on wide screen TV’s, across the country. The art will be paired with original music in a dynamic and entertaining way for coffeehouse patrons to enjoy. Your name, location and the artid.com logo will appear on your work, making it easy for viewers to find you. The video below is a short sample of how things might look. This clip is just an example of what the production people can and may do with the images, how your name will look and the artid.com logo. The music is also just a sample. This is not a sample of the finished product, only a short clip to give you the look and feel. Broadcast programming will change throughout the day, to appeal to coffeehouse patrons, morning, afternoon and evening.

This is an outstanding opportunity for artists to get their work out to a huge, art friendly audience. More information about requirements and submitting your art can be found here. http://artid.com/members/artid/blog/post/1983-artid-and-icn. Or http://artid.com/business/tradejobs.html