Basic Steps for creating an online Art Gallery and other places to list your Art for sale.

Marketing is an integral part of every business.  For an Artist an online portfolio is of the up most importance as gallery directors, collectors, and potential new clients will be noticing your work, contacting you and if your online portfolio is equipped with a checkout system, it will undoubtedly produce sales along the way depending how you further market your online portfolio. 

  An online portfolio will serve you well as an Artist, because it is a display of your work that is available non-stop, all over the world. Many of my own art sales or inquiries have come from the United States as well as abroad, and you just never know who is interested in your art and when they will arrive and so it's best to have your presentation ready, and in working order as quickly as possible.


There are many online Art Galleries and Art Auction portals on the web, however, starting with your own is the first and foremost important one before the others. I would suggest to get a domain name. Having a domain name that is your very own will demonstrate to most admirers that will visit your site that you are a dedicated artist that is passionate about their art and their clients and that you are anxious to provide your Art along with your services as an Artist.

Domain names are relatively cheap and average on the low end about $10 a year, and Web hosting for your domain to go live on the world wide web, can also be obtained for usually around $10-$15/month.


Take quality photos of your art, and include some alternate views, such as the sides, close-ups of details, and possibly if you have art that is versatile in direction, then show that your art can be turned horizontally or vertically.  These additional images can be shown on their separate web pages showing each particular piece of art by itself, however for the main gallery choose your best photo and allow a click-through feature to it's presentation page.

Offer a basic, but complete description of the Medium your art represents, Colors, the size, whether it has been varnished, or will it be, is it ready to hang, what are shipping costs if any,
and make sure you have your prices listed large enough to see clearly.  One of the first suggestions I ever received by a friend was to increase the font size of my price.

The investment in your very own Art Gallery website will serve you well both for your online portfolio and your future commissioned work and sales that will be direct from the site.

If you aren't ready to embark on an a shopping cart just yet, that is o.k., it can be intimidating to a lot of people. You can at the very least provide a link to another art portal where that item can be purchased.

Make sure that your photos are high resolution this will allow you to sell your art not only as originals but as prints. Try to crop out any background items in your work area that you are photographing in. Unless it's just the actual wall space.  

Here are a few other areas online where you can market your artwork.
http://www.yessy.com/
http://www.fineartamerica.com/
http://www.esbq.com/
http://www.artbyus.com/   (auction)
http://www.zazzle.com/
http://artq.net.com/
http://www.yourartnetwork.com/
http://www.photobucket.com/ 
http://www.etsy.com/
http://www.bonanzle.com/
http://www.ecrater.com/
http://www.originalartonline.com/
http://www.artspan.com/


and many, many more! 
Good Luck!  If you need advice on building a website, setting up an easy checkout system, or any other tips, just contact me, I will be glad to help you, by sharing with you, what has worked for me.

Pricing Your Artwork - Some helpful Resources

One the most important aspects of selling your very own creations is the knowledge of how to price your artwork.  One day, I saw a book about this very same subject in the Book Store, but I was trying to stay focused on books targeted towards my project for that particular week and not get sidetracked.

That was a mistake to say the least, as I could never find that book again!!  All I had was a visual memory of it's cover and I guess you could say, that I should have purchased it then, because every time, I tried to locate that particular book again, I could not find it!  

In the meantime, I did some bare bones research on the web to try find articles and other resources to find this important information and I wanted to share the information with you, so you won't have to search as hard as I did! 

Title: InformArt: The Limited Edition Art Price Journal
Description: Provides information through online subscriptions about market value of limited edition prints, including the names of artists, titles of prints, and high and low selling prices.
Frequency: Monthly
Publisher: Westown Publishing Company, Inc.
Publisher's Address: Westown Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 147, Easton, CT 06612,


Title: Empty Easel
Description: Article "Don’t Sell Yourself Short: Price Your Art for What It’s Worth.”
URL: emptyeasel.com/2006/12/11/dont-sell-yourself-short-price-your-art-for-what-its-worth



Title: Artists' Survival Manual (The): A Complete Guide to Marketing Your Work

Author/Editor: Toby Judith Klayman and Cobbett Steinberg
Description: Revised edition. See chapter "Getting Ready: Pricing Your Work."
Publisher: Klayman/Branchcomb
Publication Date: 1996
URL: www.klaymanart.com/mybook/index.html


Title: Basic Guide to Pricing Your Craftwork (The)
Author/Editor: James Dillehay
Description: Suggests formulas for setting prices to achieve maximum profits. Includes a step-by-step record-keeping system and sample forms.
Publisher: LaVergne
Publication Date: 1997



Title: Big Picture (The) : The Professional Photographer’s Guide to Rights, Rates & Negotiation
Author/Editor: Lou Jacobs, Jr.
Description: Addresses pricing of photographs, and the art of negotiation. Includes sample contracts and resource lists.
Publisher: Writers Digest Books
Publication Date: 2000


Title: Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines
Description: Revised. Contains essential information on business, pricing, and ethical standards for nearly every discipline in the visual communications industry.
Publisher: Graphic Artists Guild
Publication Date: 2007


Title: How to Survive & Prosper as an Artist. Selling Yourself without Selling Your Soul
Author/Editor: Caroll Michels
Description: Revised edition. See chapter "Pricing Your Work. How Much Is It Worth"? Revised edition.
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Publication Date: 2009
Email: carollmichels@gmail.com
URL: http://www.carollmichels.com/


Title: Pricing Photography: The Complete Guide to Assignment & Stock Prices
Author/Editor: Michael Heron and David MacTavish
Description: Revised edition. Although geared for commercial photographers, this book will be helpful to fine artists for establishing fees when photographs of artwork are used in newspapers, magazines, annual reports, books, etc.
Publisher: Allworth Press
Publication Date: 2002

Title: Pricing Your Artwork withg Confidence
Author/Editor: Alexandria Levin Painted Jay Publishing
Date: 2003
Publisher's Address: Painted Jay Publishing, P.O. Box 2234, Jenkintown, PA 19046-0834,
URL: www.paintedjay.com

Title: Talking Prices: Symbolic Meanings of Prices on the Market for Contemporary Art
Author/Editor: Olav Velthuis
Description: A highly praised book that provides an analysis of how prices are set in the contemporary art market and discusses the tension between art and commerce that characterizes the art world.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication Date: 2005
To purchase any of these publications listed above you can go to my direct
Source :  Artist Help Network


For Crafter's you can buy these helpful publications