I am always looking for new ways to sell my art. My last post told you about creating a Zazzle store and selling your art on tees, posters, cups, etc. (that's a screen print of my homepage above) and I hope you looked into it. I now have nine zazzle stores (links below) and they are starting to get some nice sales thanks to my promoting on Twitter, Facebook and my websites and blogs. (BTW, you can see how I market them each and every day if you Follow me on Twitter and Friend me on Facebook!)
Today I'd like to tell you about selling your art as an electronic file. I do this in several ways. I create my art as files in formats and sizes for people to use on the web or to print at several different stock photo and e-download sites. There are quite a few of these kinds of sites out there like Fotolia, iStockPhoto and Dreamstime and PayLoadz, etc. Right now I'm setting up my Dreamstime account and uploading images there for sale.
Now, this is a numbers game. You aren't going to make piles of cash per image BUT remember millions of people are out there looking for cheap images they can use on the blogs and websites or art they can use for printing. It's a licensing agreement between you and the particular site and each site has different requirements and pay scales, you have to determine which ones you want to deal with. (Read their agreements VERY CAREFULLY! You don't want to hand over an exclusive right or even give them the full copyrights!)
The more images you have up the more chances you have of making money, it's as simple as that. You can design images for multiple use too - I create images that I can upload to Dreamstime and other stock photo sites but I also create a layout for use on products at one of my Zazzle stores or other POD (print on demand) stores - there's a ton of those out there too. So far I've used Cafepress and Zazzle but Empty Easel has great articles on the others and even ratings and tips. (P.S. I am closing down all of my paid CafePress stores and no longer recommend it to other artists as they changed their marketplace sales commission policies).
I plan on creating accounts at as many of these sites as possible. It's a time consuming process but the fact of the matter is the more places you sell your art the more exposure you have and the more chances of making money on your creativity. Selling art is a business and you have to work at making any business a success, but if you're willing to put in the time eventually you will be making a nice living from your art on the Internet.
If you're not willing to put in the time but still want to set up a POD store or an e-download account but you have the money to pay someone else to do it for you then CONTACT ME (PODsetup@popartdiva.com) - I have several POD set up packages available. I have done this for many non-artistic and/or non-techy types (see Feisty Side of Fifty's BOOMER BOUTIQUE - I also created the masthead and all the art for her slogans she wanted to market on products).
Take a look at these sites and set up a strategy of how you'll approach your sales and marketing. Think outside the box - try to fill a need out there that people might have for art. I set up a website called Easy Greeting Cards where I reformatted my designs as greeting cards, put them on a template and set them up as files people download and then print out. I use PayLoadz for the delivery and payment service. My thought was that often I need a greeting card to mail out but don't have one and don't want to waste time schlepping to the store for one stupid card - I thought maybe that service might solve a problem. Then I found out about Send Out Cards and I'm going to be adapting some of my designs for them too!
Now, get to clicking and start selling your art in new and exciting ways. Well, what are you waiting for?
The PopArtDiva™ Gift Gallery
The Martini Diva™ Boutique
Carousel Corner
Happy Holly Daze
Taking Care of Business
The Brat in the Hat RANTORIUM EMPORIUM™
Cocktail Napkin Wit & Wisdom
The Normal Challenged Artist™ Shoppe
TweetleBirdie™ - Twitter Stuff
Now, this is a numbers game. You aren't going to make piles of cash per image BUT remember millions of people are out there looking for cheap images they can use on the blogs and websites or art they can use for printing. It's a licensing agreement between you and the particular site and each site has different requirements and pay scales, you have to determine which ones you want to deal with. (Read their agreements VERY CAREFULLY! You don't want to hand over an exclusive right or even give them the full copyrights!)
The more images you have up the more chances you have of making money, it's as simple as that. You can design images for multiple use too - I create images that I can upload to Dreamstime and other stock photo sites but I also create a layout for use on products at one of my Zazzle stores or other POD (print on demand) stores - there's a ton of those out there too. So far I've used Cafepress and Zazzle but Empty Easel has great articles on the others and even ratings and tips. (P.S. I am closing down all of my paid CafePress stores and no longer recommend it to other artists as they changed their marketplace sales commission policies).
I plan on creating accounts at as many of these sites as possible. It's a time consuming process but the fact of the matter is the more places you sell your art the more exposure you have and the more chances of making money on your creativity. Selling art is a business and you have to work at making any business a success, but if you're willing to put in the time eventually you will be making a nice living from your art on the Internet.
If you're not willing to put in the time but still want to set up a POD store or an e-download account but you have the money to pay someone else to do it for you then CONTACT ME (PODsetup@popartdiva.com) - I have several POD set up packages available. I have done this for many non-artistic and/or non-techy types (see Feisty Side of Fifty's BOOMER BOUTIQUE - I also created the masthead and all the art for her slogans she wanted to market on products).
Take a look at these sites and set up a strategy of how you'll approach your sales and marketing. Think outside the box - try to fill a need out there that people might have for art. I set up a website called Easy Greeting Cards where I reformatted my designs as greeting cards, put them on a template and set them up as files people download and then print out. I use PayLoadz for the delivery and payment service. My thought was that often I need a greeting card to mail out but don't have one and don't want to waste time schlepping to the store for one stupid card - I thought maybe that service might solve a problem. Then I found out about Send Out Cards and I'm going to be adapting some of my designs for them too!
Now, get to clicking and start selling your art in new and exciting ways. Well, what are you waiting for?
The PopArtDiva™ Gift Gallery
The Martini Diva™ Boutique
Carousel Corner
Happy Holly Daze
Taking Care of Business
The Brat in the Hat RANTORIUM EMPORIUM™
Cocktail Napkin Wit & Wisdom
The Normal Challenged Artist™ Shoppe
TweetleBirdie™ - Twitter Stuff
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LEARN HOW TO DO ART AND CRAFT SHOWS FOR PROFIT AND FUN STEP BY STEP
Click the links below to download my articles for a nominal fee of only $2.50 each:
What Kind of an Artist Will You Be? Define Your Product First.
Creating Your Booth - Making a Portable Gallery That Works
Preparing To Do An Art Show - Getting your art, your booth and yourself together
The Most Important Sales Techniques for Selling and Marketing Your Art
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