On Line Art Marketing Stinks!

   I had suspected that publishing ArtofJohnFrench.com would not mean that the world will magically find the website, and buy my art online. But at this point I was still somewhat sure that my art could sell itself. So I was sure that as long as I could get more than a few people to look from around the world and the nation, I could quickly generate some sales. After all, it worked at the art shows, right? The website is an art show, on a digital, global scale. I'm not sure if this was arrogance or ignorance. Neither have any place in marketing!
   At first, I got a lot of hits, a lot of interest, and a lot of great comments. No buyers.  Now, some artists will tell you that this is OK, because to them, it's more about sharing their creativity than making money. I'm not one of those artists. I want to make money sharing my art. I'm in business. This does NOT mean I insist on getting money for everything I do. I donate lots of time, art and money to local causes and groups. More on this in the next post.
   I designed and printed the  postcard (below) alerting people that my art was online, and tried to convince them to buy some. I bought a mailing list and sent the postcards to carefully chosen people in affluent and upper middle class zip codes.  It was very meticulous and time consuming, and generated zero sales.

   It was around six months before I actually sold anything through the website (incidentally the painting on the left in the postcard), and that painting was something someone saw at an art show, but couldn't buy at the time. So she went through the website when she was able. I gave her free delivery, since she lived around the corner from me!
   So all that time, effort, and money I spent trying to sell art to someone thousands of miles away netted a sale two blocks away!  I started re-thinking this website and researching online art selling. I learned that a lot of people are afraid to buy art from a website. First, there is a lack of trust, because the prospective buyers don't know the seller. Second, there is a concern that the art won't look as good as the picture, which really goes back to trust. Third,art buyers tend to collect art from local artists, which again goes not only to trust but also familiarity.
   So, I had a plan: I had to target locals. I could still market to the world, but I had to build trust, and that had to start on a local level. My next post will deal with building trust as I developed a plan to market myself as a real person, who was a real artist in a real community.