When I started The Abundant Artist, it was an exploration of the idea that the starving artist is nothing more than a myth that artists self-perpetuate. It’s easier to believe that being an artist inherently means being poor, or bad at business.
Since then, however, I’ve met a lot of artists who are pretty good at business. They’re artists who have turned their passion into their work and have left the day job far behind. They have invaluable information to share.
One of the things that has been amazing to me is that there are thousands of artists online desperately seeking to connect with the information that these artists have, and yet only a handful of people who are sharing that information in any sort of useful, studied way.
There are various art forums around the Web, many of them with a marketing section attached, like some sort of afterthought – but where are the places that artists can go to really study and get feedback on their business? Where’s the community of business-minded creatives?
Can I Bring Together A Stronger Community?
For the past year (plus a little), I’ve been bringing business savvy artists to the Abundant Artist blog through interviews. They’ve shared their information, but because of the limited nature of blogging, there can’t be a lot of discussion back and forth on the ideas discussed there. Blog comments only go so far as a discussion and learning forum.
Ever since I had a discussion with Carol from one of my first group coaching programs I’ve wanted to bring an online community together for artists that would enable artists to get the training that they need to succeed online, as well as create a place where those who are really serious about learning how to sell art online can gather to discuss what works and what doesn’t.
I’m nearly done with the bare bones of this new part of The Abundant Artist and I can’t wait to show it to all of you. I just have a few questions:
If you were going to be a part of a community of artists focused on learning to sell art online, what kinds of things would you expect from the site? What would you want to learn right away? What would you want to learn down the road?
this sounds fantastic. I think one of my biggest problems is finding my target audience, it’s easy enough to know who i should be target but how do I find them. My art is not widely accepted but it seems to be the style that is licensed to many companies, so knowing how to approach companies regarding licensing would be a big help. with so many online portfolios which ones work the best? which ones has the highest percentage of sales? once we choose the sites to stick with, how do we then market ourselves and promote.
What about youtube etc, how can we promote art effectively with video??
This is pretty exciting!
I had talked previously about doing a comprehensive review of many of the online galleries. Sounds like several people would be enthusiastic about that. We’ll definitely include it in the timeline.
Oh, and Lindsay, the very first lesson that I’m including in the Community page is a lesson on finding a target audience and differentiating yourself from other artists. I hear ya. 😉
I like what your doing, your tenacity is amazing.
What I’s like to see is way to take advantage of free or nearly free hosting opportunities, blogging, portfolio sites which is best, pros and cons.
How much is too much.
Who makes money on Ebay, who doesn’t. Value of sites that resell prints. Tips on providing images for those sites.
Jeremy, you must be prescient – I’m going to have a hosting offer for The Abundant Artist Community that will be just awesome, and very soon I’ll also have some tutorials on how to set up an artist website, complete with galleries, in very short order.
I was just thinking about the possibility of using the community aspect to encourage accountability towards each participant’s goals. Know what I mean?
I do know what you mean, Mike. I’m planning on encouraging each artist to share their goals and help each other reach those goals. I participate in a mastermind group that meets every two weeks, and it’s one of the best things that I do for my business.
I think this is a great idea. I’d love you to outline how to use social networking to increase exposure and sell art. Things like blogging vs Facebook fan site and how to use each effectively…
Definitely on the list as well Andrew. Have you seen this blog post on using Facebook to Sell Art Online?
I’m looking forward to breaking out into some sales…good luck with this venture
Do you think a good way of building a strong community would be to follow the blogs of the people who follow your blog?
That’d be great Lori, and I do that with many of the readers of this site. Blogging is a definite community builder.
Just sharing the info we each have will be of great benefit. We can help each other find the missing pieces of OUR marketing and sales puzzle as we each hold some that others don’t have.
For instance, a comment above is regarding Art Licensing. The best source for info and help with that is Tara Reed of ArtLicensingInfo.com and http://www.ArtLicensingCommunity.com . She has been in the business for many years, is EXTREMELY successful and brings many experts in the field together to help artist build their art licensing business.
I personally am interested in reaching the target market; getting those people TO my products (keywords, links, etc…); and converting them to purchasers and collectors. Also, organizing myself, my art, my files, etc… Sometimes things seem to be such a jumble it’s hard to get to work. When you work alone, everything you have to do to run an art business seems overwhelming.
Great info and tips. Thank you.