Selling art

hi - thanks for getting back to me.

i've had a look at instagram and if i'm not mistaken you can't run it on a mac computer? which i would need to do, you need an android phone by the looks of it. i'm afraid I still use an old brick phone that only texts and calls.

I' have also tried facebook advertising recently, i tried the impressions route first and that never seemed to do much bar a couple of hits to the site. I think if i was going down that route i'd have to pay for the traffic to hit the site directly which looks like it costs a lot more....

Are they any other cheap ways of getting website clicks direct to the site?

I second the suggestion to open a shop on Etsy. It already has great traffic of people looking for creative, unique items - all you'd have to do is optimize your listings for better search results. I believe there are also paid ad options within Etsy, so that your items will show up at the top of the results page. I think your items would do really well on Etsy, and Etsy shoppers are willing to pay good money to support artists.

Let us know what you think!

Tiana with ecomdash

thanks for the feedback so far - very much appreciated. sorry for the delay in posting back up i've been lost in the dark room for the last 24 hours! getting some new work ready for release.

etsy i have tried in the past, it has to be said I never had any success on there and much of the work seems to be sold very cheaply - people seem so eager to sell they will almost give it away. Even if they are trying the approach of pile it high - sell it cheap they would have to sell vast quantities to do this to make it worthwhile. Also i think the point was raised about products being lost on there in the mire of all the other items. I totally agree with this. The reason why i've had so much success with ebay is because i've keyword spammed on mass over several accounts.... Many people would frown upon this technique but its enabled me to put my work in front of a new audience every week for ten years whilst i've developed my practice. Its very rare that I will even list under the art category as the work will be lost in the haze of other artwork - hence more competition. I tend to list under any items that will generate sufficient traffic to my listings then cross polinate the traffic over to my other listings using a scrolling gallery. Its works well but there is always constant intervention from the powers above! I'm amazed i've got away with this for so long………

In terms of print on demand - its definitely a route i wish to stay away from ( i should have pointed this out earlier in my post ) as all the stuff i produce is created by hand using a silkscreen print process often *******ising traditional print techniques to create something unique and i sell on the fact that i've had to put the physical effort and energy into its production to create it rather than just push a button a keyboard. I can definitely see why P.O.D could be seen as a good money generator though, its just not the direction for me but thanks for the input.

The point of influencers though was definitely right in my eyes as well - once this type of work is in the right set and setting it makes perfect sense to people, and ultimately this will be the best route in the long term i'm sure which would free up my time to concentrate on production. The next few weeks are going to see a few different channels open up for me in terms of distribution, which will be interesting to see what happens when the targeted traffic of established retailers sees the work.

Saying that though I still want to persue some traffic generation options / ideas for my site as its key to moving some work in bulk and will always allow me to make sales independently. i really want to stay away from etsy / Facebook / twitter i've used them all before and find them a very depressing experience if i'm honest. What i really want In an ideal world is to to start getting 500 hits per day to my site. This number targeted or otherwise should start to move the stock I have, as what I produce seems to have broad appeal. Saying that i'd ideally like the audience to be in the 25 - 50 age group. That would be perfect from my sales data i've worked out so far.

Whats the options here? - google adverts are expensive for to clicks direct to the site. Banner ads - i know really nothing about how to go about this but if they were on the right sites i feel they could work….. youtube videos - a lot of my work would definitely be of interest people into music, particularly this into electronic music. Would it be worth while doing some videos on mass but using keywords in the titles of the video related to electronic artists that get views and use their music with my artwork and links to the site. i'm only throwing ideas around here as i don't know if youtube would class this as bad etiquette and throw me off / downgrade the traffic….. Im not suggesting that this would generate anyway near what I need but might start to work in some small way without having to do Facebook / etsy etc.

I'm completely open to suggestions here? I have the means of production to create the physical work, I've developed many processes and techniques that ultimately makes a striking product. I'm selling stock on a regular basis and I know theres a market for what I do and the uptake on what i offer is very good, the website I run is simple and portrays the work very well, the only missing link now is traffic……. traffic and more traffic……….. There has to be some ways that I havent thought about............

Thanks for the feedback......

I think i'm going to focus my energies on some youtube videos in the short term and see where that heads. I cant help think that this could at least start the process of generating some new traffic and some interest on top of what i'm already doing with the multiple ebay accounts. I feel the fact that combining the audio and the visual elements in some tailored content might be the best option for me.

I do have a facebook account and have tried some adverts on there but it has to be said nothing comes close to the conversions i get out of the ebay system i've been working with. I've never seen myself as a gambler, but its got to be said i think the ebay strategies i've been adopting must provides a similar rush! Must be the uncertaintly of making it through every week........

I've found about three art sites related to what i'm doing as well which might also allow me to do some banner adverts for a reasonable price so i'm also going to have a good think about that as well. At least its all receptive traffic...

some interesting food for thought. i'm just in the middle of producing a new print now which i'll be on with for a few days so i'll post and follow back up on this thread as soon as i'm done.