image by Wonderlane
Tami Espe, a Mandala artist asked:
“I am a Mandala artist. The hardest thing for me is finding the right places/connections to show my artwork. So my question is How do I find the right venues/sites/contacts with such a specific topic?”
Well, Tami, luckily for you, finding the right place to display your art is even easier when you have a specific topic. It may not be easy to find tons of places, but you should be able to find the right ones fairly quickly.
Find the Right Place to Sell Online in Four Steps
Set Up Your Home Base. One of the first things that I noticed is that if I do a Google search for ‘Tami Espi Mandala Artist’ I don’t see a website for you and your work. You need a website that displays your work in the way that you want it displayed, and you want to make sure that your site pops up when someone does a search for your name.
Find Your Target Audience. Who likes Mandala artwork? Probably people who are Buddhist or Hindu (or who come from cultures that are predominantly those religions), but also anyone who likes geometry or numbers. That’s a pretty specific group of people. Throw in the fact that you need to narrow it down to people of a certain age and income bracket, and you’ve got a nice, narrow group of people that you can focus on.
Find Out Where Your Collectors Live. Where do the Mandala Art-loving, Buddhist, Hindu, math loving people hang out online? Well, you can probably find them on Facebook and sell your art there. Besides Facebook, you could find blogs and other websites that write about these topics (they’re out there, I’m sure). Start by using Google Blog search, then try Alltop.com, or Technorati. Advertise on some of these sites or get them to write about your work (and include pictures, of course). Even better, get on their mailing lists.
Bring Them Back to You. No matter how you advertise, no matter where you advertise, you’ll want to make sure you get a significant portion of those people onto your mailing list. Get their email addresses by offering them something for signing up for your artist newsletter. This way, even if they don’t buy from you now, you can remind them later!
Online Art Galleries: A Word of Caution
There are lots of great places to sell art online that have proven traffic and marketing savvy to get your work seen by the right collectors. It’s easy to get sucked into placing your work on sites like Imagekind, Etsy or Fine Art America and then wonder why your work isn’t selling.
Many artists fall into the trap of placing their art where there are tons of other artists just like them. Many sites are primarily visited by artists, and not very much by collectors. Talk to other artists before you spend a lot of time getting set up on a new online gallery. Have they had good experiences? Have they sold much art? What are the fees?
Thank you! I appreciate your time answering my question. I now have my work cut out for me. =)
thanks for some great suggestions here
It is not necessarily bad to share a website with other artists so long as the site owners are very selective in their jurying. If you are viewed alongside other high quality art it can only enhance your position. Some sites do not charge any fees and are non-exclusive, they collect a small commission when the work sells thus they are a risk free opportunity to increase the artist’s exposure.
Brian, I agree with you there. It’s not NECESSARILY bad – but it can be.
That said, if you’re next to a bunch of well-known artists who are selling a lot of work, some of that good luck can rub off on you.
Sites that charge reasonable commissions are great. I often recommend Imagekind and similar sites to my readers.
Hi, Ann.The mandalas are ditiagl and only made from pixels. You could print them on your home computer, use as a wallpaper on your desk top or have them professionally printed and mounted.Lynn
Great Website ,Heres another
Great post! I am a fine art photographer and would also like to try and sell some of my art. I’ll try some of those sites out!
http://www.schiff-art.com
I am very happy to read this. This is the kind of info that needs to be given and not the random misinformation that’s at the other blogs. Appreciate your sharing this best doc.
I’ve had the most success with Society6 and Redbubble. Those sites are some of the best that also get a ton of traffic. I started getting more sales after I started writing blogs about art posted to those sites though. In my blogs I show off all the products that can be printed from the design. It works well because if the viewer isn’t interested in buying the design as an art print, they might be interested in buying the design on a t-shirt or tote bag etc. Its a great way to get additional traffic to your work that will continuously get visitors. You can take a look at one of my blogs to give you an example. https://smartworkdesigns.com/mermaid-wall-art-decor#more-693
Hii..
I am budding artist, trying to make my passion for art to turn into a profitable profession/ business. But at this point I have no idea of what to do and where to start., it will be a great help of you if you guide me.
I use to draw such designs using a pen on a paper.
I want to share few of them, and need guidance for this.
I mean the exposure to the world.
I m an artist but i don’t know anything about how can i sell my paintings and art works. I want right place where i can show my talent and earn something for living.