Advice on selling art on the Internet

Information Overload

The advice on selling art is so numerous on the Internet nowadays  that the generic  word of mouth advice artists used to hear from friends and neighbors has gone from “You’ll starve” to the Internet version of “it’s easy and this is all you do!”
The experts are everywhere. With so much “advice” popping up at every link, it is easy to get information overload.  There is way too much information coming rapid fire at an artist, leading to the panicked feelings of “There’s not enough time!” or “I just can’t do all they ask!”

The interesting thing about the changing economy and businesses as a whole is that for years everyone sold their products without the benefit of the Internet, Twitter, Facebook and websites. In the case of artists, that was considered impossible. 

Yet some were successful.  Now artists have all the Bells and whistles of electronic media and despite the technological advances, most still are not selling. So what’s going on?

The Information Overload affects not just artists, but your potential clients. Your client is also getting bombarded with too much information.  It’s like having too much food thrust upon you and being forced to eat it all.  You and your client are hit daily with professional  ad campaigns to buy this, buy that and your life will be perfect. You are worth it. You deserve it. Press the easy button.  It’s like a big pot of soup. Now add to that mixture  the constant media bombardment of bad news and stir that up a bit. But wait, to add a little seasoning,  turn on your TV, cell phones, Twitter, laptops, anything electronically connected, and there is, remarkably, a pill to cure what ails the viewer.  Now, the catch is that if you listen to the ad long enough you’ll have the privilege of hearing the  potential negative side effects of the miracle pills. It is little wonder that we have a tough time digesting everything in that pot of soup. One more bowl?

You would be far more willing to sample that pot of soup if it wasn’t being forced upon you with so many negative ingredients.  Better to let it sit on the stove and you go by it a few times. Maybe lift the top and smell it.  And when you are ready to finally sample it on your terms, you can digest it better, spoonful by spoonful, rather than the whole bowl poured down your throat at one sitting. It may even taste better that way!  Now what you are experiencing is  Information, not Information Overload.

 So think what a breath of fresh air you will be to your prospects when you do not try to shove something down their throat.  To an outsider, the life of an artist (never mind Van Gogh) seems therapeutic.  A slice of heaven.   Our artwork is part of that imagined world. There is no easy button for success. There is no magic pill. The only ingredients in any pill that you, as an artist, take for art should be perseverance, dedication and optimism. And there are NO negative side effects to that pill.  Imagine that for a moment.

In all of your methods of  corresponding with your clients,  let them sample your art and your world, one spoonful at a time.  That’s the easy button for you. It’s digestible for them. And before long they will be asking for the bowl and maybe even the whole pot.  And sure, by that time, you’ll deserve it!