2 Tips for Online Art Sales on Your Website!

By by M Theresa Brown

You know that marketing phrase “Make money while you sleep?” Well it IS possible for artists to do just that with their art product IF they make it convenient andย  easy for shoppers to see and buy their art 24/7.

You can offer your art and an easy way to purchase it at any time of the day or night which truly does enable you to “make money while you sleep.” And that is an amazing feeling the first time you experience it!ย  It’s even better when it becomes a regular occurrance ๐Ÿ™‚

So what is the best way to do this?  In our workshops we emphasize adding testimonials from your clients all over the site and an ability for the client to purchase your art online. And that’s possible and practical if you are set up with an online merchant account AND the client has the added knowledge that others love your work!

Two Tips to Get More Sales on Your Web Site

1) Testimonials. People like what other people like: Artists often forget this but testimonials or reviews do sell art. Make sure and list comments or testimonials on your site and in your online store.

2) Shopping Cart. To have sales while you sleep, you’ll add a shopping cart.  From there, make the check out easy!  The experience of buying your art product has to be quick and easy. Add  buttons under each art product you are selling. Not knowing or being surprised by the cost of shipping is the NUMBER ONE reason that buyers abandon online shopping carts so make sure the buyer knows what the shipping and any other expense is BEFORE they put it in their cart.  We make it simple and include shipping in our sales. PROVEN marketing research has shown that the “shopping cart” language “add it to my cart” is less intimidating than “buy it now”.  We have found www.Paypal.com to be the most universally recognized online processor.

If you are serious about selling your art online, you’ll have the sense to ignore the bad advice we found on a popular art forum not too long ago where the owner found the use of immediate payments “distasteful”.  This individual has apparently not caught up with the times nor, apparently, sells art for a living.  Take a page from the success of the Music industry artists….making it difficult or time consuming for an interested person to buy your art went out a long time ago!  No one in today’s world has to go to a store, physically, to buy the music they are interested in!

The Art World has always been in love with such words and phrases as “elite, exclusive, private inquiries, call for pricing inquiries, etc.” when it came to marketing art.  The idea was to elevate the appeal and perceived value of  the art in question by making a potential client jump through hoops to finally talk with a gallery salesman.  But times,  as in everything, change.  The consumer savvy client of today, often has the money but not the time to go through the contact process. There are plenty of artists out there making it easy to purchase their art.

Really worried about the technical part? For a small fee, you can also have a store on Etsy or Ebay and the whole sales checkout is set up for you. Either will work fine and you can direct your clients there to purchase by a link. And although it is time consuming to initially set up your online shopping cart on your own website or blog, it is free!

The testimonials are equally crucial. Buyers don’t really want to hear how great you believe you are. They want to hear that from your buyers! So ask you clients for their reviews and be timely in adding testimonials to your website. Despite loving your work and wanting to let others know, many clients simply don’t have the time or won’t remember to set their verbal  testimonial down in writing for you. Often it is easier to remind them of what they said and ask if you can add it under the artwork or on a separate testimonial page.  Try to use the image of the piece they purchased to add a valid reference point for the viewer!

Make money while you sleep? It doesn’t get any better than that!  Now, sleep peacefully ๐Ÿ™‚

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