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| HeartHomes |
...or both? If I want to market my art, what is the most effective use of my time and money? I have been blogging for several years now. Before I discovered the blogging world, I was journaling about my art on my computer, which no one saw except me. Then I found blogs and it took me awhile to get the courage to actually start my own. I really didn't think I had anything to say, much less anyone would want to read about it. Well, along the way I did pick up some readers and met some very nice artists. I have no idea how much this blog is actually read, but for me its still more about journaling about what I'm doing with my art. I'm not sure that it has any effect on marketing my art, but I guess it gets my work seen by some people, at least. Being from a small town, there are no art galleries or local places that sell original art. (That's the subject for another blog post.) I do have online shops where I sell my artwork and I have links on the sidebar of this blog, set up to both of my Etsy shops,
Hearthomes, where I sell my little clay houses, and
BMacre, which I sell my pen and ink drawings and other drawings and paintings. I also set up a page on
Facebook to display my artwork, which has brought in some business from local people, which is great! It has always been hard for me to talk about myself and show what I do either because (1) I feel like no one is interested, or (2) it feels a little like showing off. But I can't sell my work if I don't show it to people, right? ...This is why I did not go into sales, but I'm learning.
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Custom Pen and Ink
House Portrait |
So my dilemma is, should I have a website? Do people actually go look at websites that stay the same for long periods of time? How often do websites get changed? So far, having the blog and facebook page has worked for me. I can very easily add pictures of what I am working on currently. But would a website make a difference? I have a free
website with WIX, but it is very limited on what I can add to it. And it needs updating if I keep it. But I think that if I have a website, I will be using my domain name. Problem is, I just don't know how to set up a website, or the time to learn anything very difficult.
If you have any thoughts on this subject, I would like to hear your comments.
Beth♥
hi Beth
ReplyDeleteI am sure you'll have different answers to your question. Firstly it is now possible to add pages to your blog. I have used them a while, and find it an excellent way to integrate more permanent stuff to blogger - people don't have to search in all your previous posts to find info! You can place tabs to the pages on top of the blogsite (I do) or on sides. I still keep a website beside this opportunity. I see it as a Website is like a place, where people can faster have an overview and (hopefully) easy discover your artwork in few steps. Blogs are great for posting wips, news, and keeping people updated. Facebook - some people believe it will eventually replace both website and blogs. I do have a FB - you almost have to - but I thought about it as a link to my blog. That will not do though. FB is where I have most viewers! So - I ride all 3 horses ;)
... I forgot to mention, the reason I keep my website even I now have pages on blogger is, that some things are not so easilly integrated on the blog-pages. But it will be different, what people need ... :) It's a great feature for sure.
ReplyDeleteHi Beth. I have asked myself the same questions... I have a web site and to be truthful I pay for premium so as not to have advertising on it. I use Webs. http://www.dorsart.com/ I have hardly had any commissions from this site. I sometimes feel it is a waste of time and money.
ReplyDeleteI love blogging and doing WIP art.
I love the friendship made on blogger. I am visitng some of them on a trip this year to the USA. :D
My fees are due for my web site $99. this month and I am trying to decide what to do... cancel or not.
I also use facebook and get a lot of response from it re my work but again no commissions.
I question if my work is good enough or if people just don't have money to spend on artwork these days.
It's never been easy to sell artwork..Look at the old masters in time. I think they almost starved... Recognition comes too late.
It's hard when you live in a small town. I wish you luck Beth and your gorgeous heart homes are wonderful. Your art work is amazing.
I hope you find a way to sell your work. If I ever find a good place on the net to sell I will surely let you know. Hugs.
Hi Lene and thanks for your response. I do have some pages (or tabs) on my blog, but maybe I need to make those a little more obvious with a different color font. I like that feature too, but I think it slows loading time down a little bit. But it is nice to have that. I think Facebook helps with exposure, but with everything else, I wonder if something different (next new thing) will come along to replace even Facebook, like Facebook has replaced MySpace for many people. Thanks for your input!
ReplyDeleteHi Dors and thank you for responding as well! I think the best part of blogging is developing relationships with other artists too! That is wonderful that you will get to meet some of those friends when you visit the US. I have been able to meet some online friends also at CPSA conventions and its great to get with people with similar interests.
ReplyDeleteYou are definitely 'good enough'! I think it is just hard to sell art in this economy, no matter how good you are. That is why I have been able to sell some of the lower priced items on Etsy. The little houses are slowly gaining more sales. I also sell custom pen and inks through Etsy that do very well for the holidays.
Thanks for your input!
hi again
ReplyDeletethe latest I heard of as new stuff that could replace Facebook in the future, are Apps on your phone... not easy when you love your old Nokia :)