Marketing art on-line is almost a full time job in itself. There are a huge number of sites where you can post your work and either sell it or put it up for feedback. You are not guaranteed instant success either as the competition is fierce but the harder you work at it the more chance you have of success.
Here are the ones I have tried.
www.etsy.com – All handmade good, this is an American based site but I like it. You do have to pay to list but it is very little. I have had no direct sales here but interest has been good.
www.folksy.com – The British version of Etsy, still quite new.
www.absolutearts.com – I like this site but I still have work to do on here.
www.deviantart.com – a massive site which has not worked too well for me as I am a little too traditional I think but the forums are good and there is a lot to be learned here.
www.wobblybridge.co.uk – This is about to relaunch so I am waiting to see the improvements but this has pushed traffic to my website in the past.
www.redbubble.com – I like RedBubble. Only one sale her but I like the gizmos for promoting my work and the forums are really useful.
www.cultureinside.com – I have only had feedback on this site but there is some useful information here.
www.ispyart.co.uk -Very new site – still trying this out
www.artworksvenue.com – I like the feel of this site but it is new for me so I cannot say how it will work for me.
www.bttradespace.com – This has been the best for direct sales for me.
www.artition.com – Another new one but I like this has also helped with traffic to the website.
www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk – This has helped push traffic to my website
The way to get the best out of any of these sites is to take part in the discusssions and update regularly, it is time consuming but does work after a while. I am still in the early stages but can already see the progress.
This is a very small selection of the sites available and some of them do cost money to participate. I will keep you up to date on how things are going and if anyone wants to share their experiences with me I would be grateful.
I love drawing and painting but there is also a satisfaction to be gained from the technical side of selling online. I was so happy when I achieved my first sale…..I am now keen to learn more. My brain is not naturally technical, I am the kind of artist who cannot draw a straight line (there are no straight lines in art anyway 🙂 ) but I am always up for a challenge and this is certainly a challenge.
I hope these sites help someone and if you pop by my profiles – say hi!
Anyway, I can’t have an art blog without a picture so here is Harry – still one of my favourites
