Artists and the Art of Online Marketing

Online art emarketplaces are becoming more necessary and more abundant even with the difficulties of trying to administrate and sell original artwork over the Internet. This makes it more difficult for professional artists to choose which one might be right for their marketing needs. The reasons that artists are reluctant to try this medium relate to cost and to fear of the Internet.

The first pertains to those artists who have already been part of other online galleries or who have their own website. They don't want to pay more monthly fees for hosting or for membership when there is no guarantee that their work will sell through the site. They would rather use these funds for advertising and art fair opportunities.

The second reason artists may pass on the Internet is fear and uncertainty. "Many artists have very little knowledge and experience with the Internet because their work never required it before. They want to focus on the creative process, not the business process," says Yoom Nguyen, creator of Artists Heaven, an art emarketplace. Furthermore, entering a global market requires trust. In the age of SPAM and get-rich-quick scams, trusting your artwork to a website gallery can be hard.

By meeting artists from across the nation and discussing these issues, Artists Heaven (located at www.artistsheaven.com) developed their business and cost models. "We'd like to attract artists who would have otherwise not participated with an online gallery. We can do that by providing lots of communication and technical assistance to the artists." says Celestine Nguyen, co-creator. They decided to use a commission only cost model in part because that is the model they are used to when working with storefront galleries.

When deciding if an online gallery is for you, make sure you review their inventory and decide if the pricing and quality of the other items are similar to yours. Also, ask them what their policy on image quality is. You want the images to reflect your work enough to make it desirable to potential customers, but not good enough that your work can be copied! Finally, sign up with a site that doesn't require funds up-front and that doesn't require exclusive rights to the images. That way if you are not satisfied, you can try another.

Artists' Heaven
An emarketplace for fine art and fine crafts.