How To Sell Your Art In A Recession – Part Five

Can you sell your art while you sleep? Yes. You put up a website that makes the essential information about your art available to potential buyers around the clock. You put everything a collector needs to know in one place, then lead your prospect, step by step, toward placing an order.

You have to know what your visitors are looking for. What are the top ten things people ask you about your artwork? Put the answers on your website. Use layout, images and words to give your prospects an intimate experience, a studio visit without you there. But, you are still guiding them and providing the answers that will increase their interest and lead to a purchase.

Show them your best work right away. Lead their attention. Collectors want to know all about your background, your training, inspiration, galleries, exhibitions, awards and reviews. Tell them. Your visitors expect a payoff for their time and attention. The unspoken question of every visitor is, "What's in it for me?" Put the answers and the benefits of owning your work right in front of them.

Personalize your site to look and feel like you and your art. Make it open, friendly, informative; go for depth not flash. Show your work in natural, real life settings the way a collector will see it in her home or office. Display a painting in a frame in a room-like environment. Bring in your stories about each work of art to get your visitor involved. Use testimonials by previous buyers to build confidence and trust.

Show images of yourself creating artwork in the studio or field and talk about the why and how. This is your chance to tell the story of how you create artwork, why it is wonderful and what's in it for her - in just a few well-chosen words. Include a clear, sharp photo of each work with a click through link to a popup window with full specifications and buying information. as much work as you can for purchase from your site through PayPal or another shopping cart. Layout all the steps they need to review and purchase the piece. Ask for the order!

Build in a compelling reason for someone to contact you - this week! Offer something extra to visitors to help them make a connection with you; your artist's statement, an article, an exhibit review, a link to an exhibit or gallery. Try to build relationships with your visitors. Ask visitors to sign up for e-mail updates. Reward repeat visitors with special offers, reserved areas, insider information. Make your visitors feel like members of an exclusive club. Allow them to identify themselves, talk to you and each other, build a community. Allow your patrons talk about their collections and show examples that reflect on their experience of you and your art.

Create a website that is quickly accessible, easy to navigate, gets your message across clearly and guides your visitor into a comfortable relationship with you and your work. On each page, let visitors know where they are, where they came from, where they can go and what's waiting there for them. Add new work often to keep them coming back.

Of course, now the real work begins. Don't assume that anyone is looking for your website (or even knows it exists.) Your site is like one bottle in a sea of millions of similar bottles with messages in them. You have to promote constantly by phone, mail and print to attract the attention of patrons, prospects, art influentials and the media to draw them to your site. Your site must be designed and maintained to achieve a high search engine position so interested buyers easily find you. Hire a pro and tell him what you want. Unless you are already an accomplished web designer, you will get a better looking site and more studio time to create art. Do it right and your website will produce direct sales while you sleep.