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.
I feature my Original Abstract and Contemporary Art that is amazingly alluring, affordable and ever-changing. In addition, I post reviews on art supplies, books, and offer information on many types of artist resources, products, promotions art contests and many more topics of interest.
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