If you are a sculptor, this is especially important. Painters can often crop their photos, so that the image is the only thing inside the picture. Sculptors usually need a platform, a background and some white space around the edges.
Set up a high quality website. This is a great idea for people who want to market themselves to both collectors and galleries. You must buy a domain, choose a platform that can host high-resolution digital media, your resume, a blog, your biography and more. Unless you are already a web-programmer, you should buy your domain and then hire someone to create an attractive site that will allow you to keep a digital gallery for years to come. This requires a large investment at first, but has few long-term costs. Join a site that already markets to the online art consumer. Good examples of this platform are Exhibit A, 20x200, art. sy, artroof. com, ArtSpan, FolioLink, ArtPickle and gallery-worldwide. com. They range in pricing. Some high end galleries require an invitation. Some places offer yearly subscriptions for a few hundred dollars, while other places offer monthly rates between $5 and $25. Choose to create an online gallery through a free service. This includes imagekind. com, Facebook, Artmajeur. com, Vlad Art Gallery and ShowOffArt. com. The main drawback of using a free service is that you have less control over your images and the people who view them. They can be downloaded off the site. In the case of ImageKind, you are uploading a gallery for free, but people can only buy prints of your work. Make sure to read the terms and conditions closely before signing up for any free services. Consider watermarking your images, if you are afraid they will be used without your permission. You can do this with Adobe Photoshop or Google Plus. This is especially a good idea if you are a photographer, because your images may show up on Google Images and be used as clip art.
Some subscriptions to online galleries come with gallery management software. You would install the software on your computer, and it would help you organize updates to your gallery using this software and then upload the changes when you are ready.
List the artist, title, media, dimensions and price in the appropriate caption boxes. Your customers should be afforded each detail, in order to help them make decisions.
Test your shopping cart, if that is the way you have chosen to sell your art. Buy a piece of art and make sure you receive communication about payment and shipping.
These email blast companies allow you to upload your current customer’s emails, create an email from a template and send to your list. They also offer your feedback as far as how many people opened it and how many people clicked on the link to your gallery. These companies offer 1-month trials, so you can try the product before you subscribe for a monthly fee.
Sign up for free social media accounts, such as Tumblr and Facebook. Cross-reference these accounts with your email blasts and online site. They can help you to make announcements about art sales, new pieces, galleries and shows.
