Grab the free Art Fair Checklist Here (20+ pages): forms.gle/QiUTYtw4i9AXE6tb7 You'll learn: - How to sell art: Following our guide will equip you with strategies that could significantly boost your art fair profits. Imagine making consistent income from your art. - Boosted Confidence and Recognition: Navigate art fairs with the poise of an experienced artist. Your newfound confidence will not only attract more admirers but also open doors to invaluable connections and opportunities in the future. - Save Money: Learn to budget effectively, ensuring you maximize returns while keeping expenses in check.
I've been painting for over 20 years, but I have never really tried to sell my art. I am now thinking about it, and I am SO VERY GLAD I found your videos. I did not know any of this. Thank you!
I have avoided online galleries. But I have also found my art that I posted on social media, stolen, and selling as prints along with several other artists I knew. We all came down on that site, and they closed FAST. I learned to post my art at 72dpi. I sometimes forget, but have to redo my postings
Also (after running my own site for ~20 years) it's really not that much work over time. Yes, the initial, say, 3 weeks, yeah you are doing all the code and pictures and stuff and those 3 weeks are a pain in the ass. But then its up, and the work you put in is just a little maintenance and updating here and there. I spend about an hour a week tidying up my site (if that) and then another 12 hours or so running Shopify (which includes packing prints / fulfilling orders), which is really not that much.
But the point is that if you have decided to sell your art online is the way to go. You either run the website yourself or outsource it because using those art gallery websites costs you a lot more in commissions and as pointed out in the video you do not get that vital list of customers and fans you can contact.@@asuka4e
I've noticed that a lot of online galleries tend to feature, market, and promote artists who are already popular and making good sales, and have decent social media followings already. The artists who are there at the beginning of the platform, are the ones who benefit from that early exposure because there isn't much competition. But when it becomes popular, you get lost in the saturated market. Many of these online galleries also insist, in the terms of agreement, that you're not allowed to refer to or link your own website or social media. What you said is exactly right - they want to benefit from your own online presence bringing them traffic, but don't reciprocate.
Once an online gallery has your email list those customers are no longer yours, they belong to the gallery. The gallery can then use your customers to sell artwork from other artists leaving you with nothing. The moral of the story is keep control of what's yours
@@mypointofview1111Only and only if they can sell anything to those people in that mail list or that mail list despite of them now owning it can be totally useless if they can't sell anything to the people in that mail list. It is very hard to sell anything to someone else's customers. Very hard....People buy...BECAUSE THEY KNOW YOU. Rarely can anyone take someone else's customers.
I’m in the very early stages of starting my own art business, so I’ve been hyper-focused on researching the most efficient way to go about it. I’ve watched so many videos from various people and hands down, you have the MOST informative information. It’s very helpful and I’m really grateful for your decision to share so much information based off your success. I’ll be sharing your content on my growing IG with my tight knit of group of growing artists. Thank you, again. 👏🏻❤️
Concentrate on the quality of 'your art'. Be careful about quick fix solutions. There is a lot of amateurish stuff out there; business models might not always hit the spot.
A couple of years ago, I read brick and mortar galleries can entrap artists and then the collectors make the lion's share of the profits. Probably why Damien Hurst no longer uses galleries. This video is pure gold. How to avoid being exploited by the mass online galleries is THE most important message. Keep your data for your website, yeah...mm hmmm...
Thanks Man, Dries I honestly love your vlog... from watching your videos I believe you are more of a life coach than just an artist. Your advice applies to every aspect or perspective of merchandise not just Art's... thanks you once again, we need more honest people like you in the online entrepreneurship stage 👍
I'm an emerging artist and I'm trying to find my way in to the ofline art galleries but the information which you share here it's like real gold. I new also from before that the best way is to have your own website and sell yourself but I was never sure about that idea. Your video and way of explanation was so clear for me, thanks to you I have now no doubts.
This is a fantastic video. I just paused my e-commerce website yesterday because I made 1 sale in a year! I was searching online for help and found your video. I canceled subscriptions to other things that for. a year have been confusing and useless for me. I need help. My art is really good but I need to figure out how to find people who give a $#!+ about it. Thanks, Dries.
You are so right about brick and mortar galleries. I am listed with one in Florida, I'm an eclectic Artist. They prefer palm trees and Florida plants. Very frustrating. Thank you for your input. Helped enormously.
Bravo, bravo and thank you so much. What you have said is exactly what I have experienced about those POD sites. It's only been one month since I uploaded my art to 2 POD sites. And I can already see the "scam". Without my driving people to my page, NO one sees my art. They want me to do all the promoting and on of that, they get the majority of the profits from the sale!! It's disgusting!!!
Thank you Dries! this episode truly clarified some questions about online galleries and their benefit for selling my abstract paintings. I agree that it would be very wise to drive traffic directly to my website to grow my collector base. I will be watching more!
I'm happy to clarify some stuff Audrey, hope to see you around. And if you ever have questions or you would like to see something specific explained on the channel. Please let me know. I would love to help you out with some future videos.
Thank you Dries, I've only recently found you but your influence is huge. I was considering one of those Artists marketing websites that promises the moon, but my gut was in doubt. I appreciate you breaking it down like you did.
This is such valuable wisdom. This took me too many years to figure out too and what I end up arguing about with other artists. These sites prey on the desperation artists feel to build their career and their lack of business / marketing knowledge to never see through their strategy.
Hey Dries, having done SEO copywriting for other businesses and my own blogs, I understood the first time through. You're exactly right on this. Thanks for waking me back up. Namaste'.
I m a new artist, I only have two pieces but it took me 25 years to be able to inspire myself at will and now that I can do that i can produce beautiful artwork. Thank you Dries for the video as it helps me A WHOLE LOT to also understand how I can sell my Art, be strategic and plan well to achieve the best results without self sabotaging and devaluating my work. Thanks, liked and subscribed 😊
I’m on several of the online galleries you speak of and a few others. I have sold quite a lot of art on most of them repeatedly over a few years. However I totally agree that these places are over saturated with too many artists these days and you can easily get lost in the hundreds of thousands of pieces of art for sale. Also paying them 40 to 50% commissions which forces me to up my prices so I don’t walk away with a payment I’m not happy with. I have a website, a good one but I don’t pay for ongoing SEO because it is expensive to do so. It’s a difficult situation. I do sell directly via social media too. Still I’d definitely like more sales. Last year (2020) was my best sales year yet. This year has been up and down so far. Art isn’t an easy game to play. P.S. I don’t care about awards I care about selling my art.
Glad you like them! If I can help you with something specific you're always welcome to send me a message on IG. I know out of personal experience some big IG and RU-vid art accounts with 100's of thousands of followers who barely sell any art. It often only takes a couple of easy adjustments to make their channels lucrative.
These videos are super helpful Dries, thanks. i am working with an artist at the moment who creates fantastic art but needs help marketing it, which I think might involve me ! Learning fast, thanks!
Nice, just seeing this comment now and seeing that it's been like a year ago I'd love to ask how helping the artist to market their going for you because your comment sounds like something I'm trying to do with my artist right now... Pls I'd like a response from you
Great video Dries. I've had some success on Saatchi but its extremely saturated, they almost always heavily discount the work and I think their image quality is the worst out of all of the online platforms I sell my art on. On the other hand, being able to show at THE OTHER ART FAIR is a major benefit when you're just starting out and have no other thing to put on a CV. Its the hippest fair for emerging artists that I've seen in the US. I agree with your points in this video and never drive traffic away from my own store to these other platforms. They should be driving their own traffic. Also, some of the sites only let the artist see shipping addresses but I've had success asking for the collector email address so that I can follow with direct marketing campaigns. Looking forward to watching your other videos - thanks!!
Seriously? Saatchi allowed you to do this? They gave you the contact info of the collector? Because I recently had a sale wit them but couldn't find the artwork anymore and wanted to contact the collector with apologies and a proposal to make up for my mistake and things like that but they didn't gave me the contact info... Ps: Please answer in a new comment because RU-vid only shows me new comments and not responses to responses.
I appreciate your channel, I think for an artist to have their own website is best but the SEO challenge is mega real and can be a cripplingly long process not only in time but money too.
Thank you so much! I just found you, trying to search for information about selling art prints. And that’s the most honest and full information. I will definitely look forward for the next videos.
Subscribed. Yeah, it's interesting that although a site may have millions of visitors a year you may get very few views or none at all.. I have seen this happen time-and-time again and have come to expect it. Self-promotion and knowing how to market yourself is crucial.
Thank you so much for this. I have suspected online art galleries were a scam but feel lost with out them. Artfinder is a joke. I'm done with them :) I will put more effort and time into my web site etc now.
Thank you for taking the time to make this video. We right brains need helpful empowering information inorder to take art and the business thereof into our own hands.
At first I thought “..oh here we go again…. another guy with a wild hair dew who thinks he’s Elvis.” But you are the real deal man! You are Elvis! Lol I’m just kidding Dries man thank you for all the great videos. This one in particular is so good. You have really got a lot of knowledge on this stuff. I appreciate that you share it.
Hi Dries, been binging your videos for the last couple of days 😊 and, I must say that other than being really entertaining, I also find lots of good advice in them. So thanks for that.
Dora, that's just lovely to hear. You are the best... If there is anything else that you would want me to cover please let me know. As I'm constantly trying to understand what people would want me to cover more of.
Excellent eye openers. I'm a metal sculptor/ mixed media artist working in the film industry, Thank you for taking the time to pass off your knowledge to others.
I love your videos!!! definitely underrated and I am eternally grateful for this valuable information and navigation into my art career. Your personality is awesome and the content is so clear and helpful! Bless you
I love and appreciate your information. I found your video on my other RU-vid channel and commented. You have opened my eyes as a self-taught artist..I have a lot to learn. Thank You!!!❤
Hello Your video was very interesting to me because I am in the process of creating my own web site.I know that you gave all the reasons for not joining galleries or places like Etsy but I decided before I saw your video that I wasn’t going to pay 40%. to these companies and have little to show for my effort . You made me feel like I am going in the right direction . Thank you
Friktion hell! Great Content, i should show this to my artteachers. I’m concerned that no one else in my class seems to think about the "surviving as an artist aspect" of being an artist.
Thank you Dries, this is great information. I have not been happy about my artwork on an online website (no sales only after 10 months though). Listening to your experience, calculations and knowledge helped me to go and delete the artwork from the online profile. By the way, and you've probably experienced this (or others have too) I couldn't delete my profile information from the online gallery pages...had to request assistance to do this. Thank you again and I'll watch your other videos.
Shipping art without having to pay astronomic costs once you have sold your art is also quite a challenge. Hope you will talk about your experience with this.
Still wonderful information to date. Forward thinking & adaptation is imperative for artists. Believe in yourself and refuse to sell yourself short. Thanks for sharing.
I have been an artist for five decades. I have sold a few pieces. I was unlucky as far as producing in hard economic times, plus not concerning myself with making a lot of money, only exhibiting. I almost hate watching these videos, because I knew what it cost, and I am low income, plus so many brick and mortar galleries that are legit didn’t really hustle, and they needed to. My art was also not “appealing” to a mass audience. My head was full of the MFA aesthetic syndrome, that people would understand and the “right” collectors will want to buy. By the time I graduated, I was already exhibiting in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. I was WRONG. But I had many other distractions as a painter. Life happened. Serious life. I still produced, but I was busy trying to find a day job. It is a fantasy that everyone is going to sell enough of their art to make a living off of it. Also, at least in Los Angeles, there is the more occurring and DISGUSTING pay for play model practice in brick and mortar galleries. The artist is expected to pay thousands to show on a wall. I am morally opposed to these galleries and they are popping up all over L.A. At age 68, my days are numbered, so that is a BIG strike against me. I am still an unknown, and my art when I die will probably go to family, or the Goodwill (I have known some excellent artists who found their art at thrift shops). Reknowned art critic Jerry Saltz basically said to love making your art, and don’t make it just to sell, because a person who becomes an art star is an extreme rarity.
You are right. In the first few years of saatchi online, they did promote my art, but when it became too big, the traffic I got was from my own marketing $$ driving traffic to their website.
What happened to you first comment? I was reading it, and wanted to read further so I click on it and then it's gone. And now I'm curious towards the end of the comment. XD
This previous comment was deleted by... someone. Whom? Interesting. Can someone other than you delete comments on your site? Basically, I waited for + 1 month after the sale with messages telling me to wait, that the shipping was being slightly postponed (no further infos, at first they were not even telling me the reason or where it was going, I had to keep calling and sending messages to finally get the destination country). As I said, Saatchi doesn't have shipping arrangements for art shipped from Canada to Canada (and I suspect this is the case for many other countries when a painting is not shipped internationally) therefore in case of large paintings, the costs are prohibitive for them and do not fit in their business model. Last time it happened, it was a small work and I did the arrangements myself in the end. They paid. This time, after the costs of crate-packing it and 5 weeks of waiting with as little information as possible from their part, the buyer cancelled its purchase, of course, and I have to assume the costs of building the large wood crate for nothing.
I finally got a full explanation from Saatchi that is genuine. So it seems that yes, Covid19 had to do with the inability to ship this big painting. Profuse apologies from them. I am satisfied with it. This was just the kick I needed to start my own selling website for smaller artwork (shipping logistics can be very challenging and costly for large work), at least for now. Thanks for the tips.
Thank you for this honest and insightful video. I had no idea being techno ignorant. I am a hobbiest artist but will not be investing any more time and money in these websites thus making them money.
Dries. Hi, my name is Fintan. This is an unbelievably important and effective channel. I am starting a painting business. All of this information is just fabulous. I hope you get millions of subscribers. You deserve it for the content you are creating. Do you do private consultations?
Yes I do private consultations At the moment everything is full though but if you want I can put you on the list for when things open up (no obligations). Send me a message with your email or preferred way of getting contacted to driesketels(((at)))driesketels(((dot)))com
Glad it was helpful! And if you ever have questions or you would like to see something specific explained on the channel. Please let me know. I would love to help you out with some future videos.
Hello Dries, I am an artist working abstractly and I am not selling much art. I sold a painting on 1st Dibs and also sold to people who saw my art, but I feel i could sell more if more people coulld see my work. There are too many artists on these websites and people would have to look at thousands of pieces of Art on many pages before they even saw mine. I live in Berlin and although there are many Galleries there there are thousands of Artists for each Gallery. I am trying your suggestions but most have already been tried by other Artists so I have walked back my expectations and just decided to enjoy the fact I can make art and don't have to compete.
Google does not have a ad word category for "art" be advised when doing any paid ads. Most of the off shoot companies use ad words since this term does not exist art is what every the highest binder says it is or could be. Got it.
Great video Dries. The information you share in your videos is really helpful to artists like me who have limited tech knowledge and need help to get into online promotion. Thank you.
I literally laughed out loud when you put the Beanie on! 😅😂 Love your gorgeous hair and truly beautiful art Bravo!!! Bravo! 🌻🎉 I teach Fine Art History obsessed with artists from the past! Albrecht Durer is my favorite and I was born on VanGoghs birthday! Obsessed w/ him too! God bless your amazing work! Very helpful information and fun too! Bravo!
I’m an artist just starting out and I just wanted to say I dropped a like and I really appreciate your honesty. Can you do a video on your top tips for fine artists starting out.
Hey I don’t comment on anything just wanted to say that bc I’m honestly not trying to be rude or mean but I’m sitting here 15mins in and you haven’t said anything I watch so much RU-vid I’m constantly trying to learn new things ect but I feel this video told me nothing I honestly wish I had that 20 mins back honestly.
-MERCI BEAUCOUP - I AM SO IMPRESSED WITH YOUR SINCERITY , NO BS - WONDERFUL TO SEE SOMEONE SO PURE, PUT OUT MORE VIDEOS . IF I START SELLING ONLINE - ITS BECAUSE OF YOU - SO THANKS AGAIN. MUCH APPRECIATED . FROM ME WHO STUDIED ART IN BRUSSELS AT ART ACCADEMIE IN UCCLE
Fun fact. I have store in etsy. I'm the one who brings 85% of the traffic. They provide me only 15% which is pretty small amount. I feel like it's better to open shopify store for myself.
