How to sell online paintings
how to sell your art (online)!
[Music]
hi everyone I hope that you're doing
well I know it's been a long time since
my last video I apologize for going
missing for so long but I've been really
busy this month working on at my shop I
just launched a new a spring collection
so there was just a lot of work to do
with that which I was really excited to
do but unfortunately I didn't have time
to make youtube videos but I am excited
to be back I hope that you're doing okay
you've been with everything going on in
the world I know everything is just kind
of weird and uncertain right now and
you've probably been stuck inside like I
have for quite a while now so I hope
you're doing okay but I'm excited to be
back making YouTube videos again because
I've been in the midst of working on my
shop as you can see probably a little
bit behind me my desk is kind of messy
because I am shipping lots of orders and
getting all of my new stationery out and
I was just thinking that it would be
perfect to talk about starting an online
shop because if you guys have been
following me for a while you know that I
don't just do YouTube I'll set design
stationary and that's a big part of my
work and my job and I want to share how
I can help you start your own business
or start selling your own art if that's
what you're interested in so this video
is just going to be full of tips on how
to start your own online shop and how to
start selling your art so I'm dividing
this video into two parts just to make
it easier for you to understand the flow
so part one I'm going to kind of explain
my story and how I started my shop and
then part two I'm going to give you all
the tips I asked on the Instagram for
questions and I'm going to answer some
of your questions and just talk about
more of the details of how you can start
your own online shop I hope that I can
help you out with this video because I
remember how overwhelming it is in the
beginning when you want to start a
business but you just have no idea where
to even begin you don't have any
resources you probably have very little
money to start with that's where I was
at least so if you're there
hoping that this video will give you
some tips to get started and I'm hoping
I can explain my process and the things
that helped me along the way so let's
start with my story and how I started my
business so I actually first started
selling things in the autumn of 2016 I
was in college and I really wanted to
start a sticker shop I had had this idea
for so long and I didn't have any
resources at all I barely had any money
I didn't have a sticker machine or
anything so I actually started by
designing a few stickers and cutting
them out by hand and selling them in
packs on my Etsy shop and that didn't
really work out for me
I actually didn't sell anything at all
which was disappointing at the time but
it was for the best because then I just
took a step back and started refocusing
on really what I wanted to do but that's
that's where I began was having a failed
sticker launched in the autumn of 2016 I
was just so busy with college I decided
to put that on pause and then when the
semester was over I was going to refocus
on my sticker shop so for Christmas that
year I asked my parents for a silhouette
machine which if you don't know that's a
machine that can cut stickers cut like
sticker sheets so I knew that I needed
that so I could make like
professional-looking stickers so they
gave that to me for Christmas and then I
had just decided that by February of
2017 I was gonna open my sticker shop
and I spent the entire month of January
designing stickers working on my
branding everything that goes into
starting the shop and I launched it
February and I think that I got a couple
sales my first week but really not much
if any at all I at the time I didn't
have a social media following I didn't
really have a customer base so it makes
sense that I didn't really sell anything
but that's where I got my start so I
made a plan for myself I knew that I
needed to find my customers and to do
that I needed to be in social media so I
told myself I was going to post on
YouTube every single week and Instagram
so those are the social media platforms
I really focused on and that's what I
tribute to growing my shop was working
on growing my social media following
because that's where I was able to find
a community of people who were
interested in what I was making and they
would become my customers so honestly in
the beginning my designs weren't that
great I wasn't in love with my products
and what I was making because I had this
vision in my head of what I wanted to
make but I just couldn't quite make it
yet I didn't have the skills but I knew
that I just had to keep making things in
order to get better so I let myself make
designs that I wasn't totally happy with
because I knew as I kept doing that
further down the line I would get better
and better and they would become what I
was envisioning in my head I think a lot
of people get stuck here where they want
to sell their art but they feel like
they're not good enough yet so then they
put it off and wait thinking that maybe
there's gonna be just one day where all
of a sudden they have all the art skills
in the world and that's just not gonna
happen you're always going to be
improving and you're always in a way
gonna be unsatisfied with your work so
you just have to start where you are
with the skills that you have and trust
that as you keep making art you are
gonna get better and your style will
improve so for the next several months I
honestly didn't make that many sales in
my shop I think over the first six
months I maybe made 15 or 20 sales if
that it was a lot and honestly I was a
little discouraged but I knew that my
shop wasn't going to instantly
be successful this was something I
needed to grow and work out every single
day consistently in order to make it
into what I wanted to be so I kept
working on my social media I kept
posting it on YouTube and on Instagram
and I grew my customer base that way
because people were interested in what I
was making in the content that I was
creating and that they naturally went
over to my shop and that's how I started
to grow my shop so it's almost a year
and a half later around the summer of
2018 that I finally reached my first
goal or my first milestone which was
1,000 sales in my Etsy shop and I
honestly could not believe that I had
reached that it did take over a year for
me to reach that milestone but I was so
excited and it was at that point that I
decided to move on from Etsy and open my
own website which you guys have seen
today I moved to Shopify and I was
really nervous about leaving Etsy just
because I didn't know if my customers
would move from Etsy to my website I
didn't know if they would trust my own
website because as he has that name that
everybody knows so I was a little
nervous about that but I really wanted
to have my own website and had always
been my dream to have my own brand that
I own and I didn't want it to be
associated with Etsy so that's why I
moved and it ended up working out well
for me I continued to work on social
media so that I was putting out regular
content and I was able to make my
website and - exactly what I wanted it
to be and of course my art improved a
lot over that time period as well
because I was consistently making new
things and learning new skills and
getting closer to making the things that
I was envisioning in my head so you just
have to remind yourself that this is a
process you're not going to be perfect
overnight you're not going to be able to
create everything you want to create
right away but if you let yourself have
the time
you need to go on that journey and go
through that process you will come out
of it making a better art than when you
started
so that's my story about how I started
my shop and now I want to give you some
tips and answer your questions about how
to sell art and start your own online
shop so before we get into the questions
I just want to give you my number one
tip and that is just start now don't
wait don't put it off
don't spend months planning you're never
gonna know everything you'll never have
a roadmap to starting an online business
or to selling art you just need to start
now and figure it out as you go because
there's always going to be questions you
just have to take them as they come and
figure it out and know that you have the
ability to figure anything out that
comes your way you just need to start by
making art which you probably are
already doing and then you'll decide on
the platform that you want to sell your
art on and then you figure out how to
take photos of your art and then you
figure out how to ship everything and
all these things will come but please
don't try to have everything figured out
before you get started you're gonna make
mistakes along the way and that's okay
let yourself make mistakes but know that
you can figure it all out and everything
will fall into place as it needs to so
now let's get into your questions like I
said I asked on Instagram for you guys
to submit any questions you have about
how to start an online store so I've
gathered together the most asked
questions and that's what I'm going to
be answering right now I will have
timestamps in the description if you
want to jump to a specific topic so this
is probably the most asked question
because it's the biggest unknown like
how how do you know how to start an
online store if you haven't done it yet
obviously like I said my number one tip
was just to get started and figure it
out as you go and that is true but I
will tell you a little bit more about
how to get started I would recommend
that you have a little bit of money
saved up you don't need to have a ton of
money to open an online store I had very
little but you do need to have something
to work with once you have a little bit
of money saved up you can budget that
and decide how you're going to use that
in your business whether you need to buy
supplies to make your products or maybe
you need to pay for your website or pay
for shipping materials or whatever it is
and see it's a great option when you're
first starting out since it's free and
you don't have to pay to make a website
this is really the part that you have to
figure out what is going to work best
for you so maybe if you don't have a lot
of money you could try selling digital
items like prints or principals or
things like that
and save up money from your digital
sales and then you can put that money
back into your business and start
selling physical products starting a
business is just like creating art where
you're starting with essentially nothing
and building it into something for me
personally the expenses that I had when
I first got started were basic supplies
like sticker paper packaging materials
shipping materials like mailers things
like that I spent as little as possible
because I didn't have a lot and I bought
very small quantities of everything just
because I didn't know how much I was
gonna sell so save up whatever you can
before you start your business but know
that you will have to spend a little bit
up front the second question is what
platform should you use to sell your art
or open an online store
[Music]
as I mentioned earlier I started on Etsy
and I think that's a great first step if
you don't have a lot of money to put
into your business upfront or if you
don't have a lot of customers yet or a
lot of people following you I think Etsy
is great because you don't have to spend
a lot to use epsy first of all it's
basically free to start a shop you do
have to pay a listing fee per item that
you or per product that you put on Etsy
but it's very minimal and then whenever
you actually make a sale they do take a
small percentage but if you don't make
any sales you don't have to pay anything
so that's why I think that sees a great
option if you're first getting started
and then once you have a customer base
or a steady stream of orders you could
consider moving to your own website
that's hosted by a platform like Shopify
or Squarespace I currently use Shopify
for my website and I love it so much it
does have a monthly subscription fee
that you have to pay so that's why I
think that maybe it's not the best place
to start with because you don't want to
pay for your website if you're not
making any sales but look into all the
different shop platforms and their fees
and everything and decide what would be
best for you
the next question I got is how do you
find your customers and actually start
making sales
so the answer to this is honestly social
media that's how marketing is done
nowadays you have to have our presence
online in order to find your customers
especially I mean obviously if you have
an online store you have to market
yourself online my advice is to pick one
or two social media platforms that you
want to focus on and make the best
content that you can for those platforms
I personally it started on YouTube and
Instagram that's still obviously what I
do and I love it but pick whatever
platform works for you share unique and
creative content that isn't just trying
to promote whatever you're selling
because I think people can tell right
away when they're just being marketed to
you want to create a genuine connection
with people and you want to create
content that engages them and makes them
interested in you not just makes them
want to immediately go buy something
I've always just tried to make videos or
online content that I personally would
want to see something that I would click
on so I love our tutorials I love
sharing inspiration with you guys and
just giving you whatever knowledge I can
and sharing that with you because that's
what I like to see from my favorite
creators you don't want your content to
just be one giant ad so make fun things
that you would watch yourself and then
let your audience naturally become your
customers okay next so many of you guys
had questions about the legal side of
running a business taxes finances
bookkeeping all of those questions so
let's talk about that
[Music]
so obviously I am NOT an expert in any
of this I'm not an accountant I'm not a
lawyer I can't give you any actual legal
advice but I can give you a starting
point because I know how overwhelming
all of this is in the beginning when you
just have no idea where to get started
but I will say just please and do your
own research because like I said I'm not
an expert and I don't know everything
that you need to do for your business
okay so getting started with the legal
stuff how to make your business
legitimate obviously I can only speak
for the United States because that's
where I live but I would say the first
place that you should start is by going
to your state's Department of Revenue
website they will have a list of all the
requirements that you need to do to
start your own business whatever
business licenses or applications you
need to fill out they will let you know
so they are the best resource to get
started every state is different so you
have to go to your specific state
because they have different rules and
different applications you'll need to
decide what business structure you're
going to be so if you're starting out
really small like I did and it's just
gonna be you then you'll probably just
be a sole proprietorship this means that
you are the sole owner of your business
any money that your business makes any
profits losses debts anything is all
going to be under your name it will be
your responsibility any money that your
business makes will be filed as your
personal income tax I will leave a link
to a government website with more
information about this just so you can
read more because like I said I'm not a
lawyer I don't know the specifics but at
least now you have a place to get
started your county or city that you
live in might have even more
requirements for starting a business you
might have to get like a business
license for your specific city so also
look into that but all that information
should be on your state's Department of
Revenue website so that's really why I
tell you to go there because they will
have
everything that you need to know as for
taxes if you are a sole proprietor which
you probably are then you are just going
to file taxes as usual when tax season
comes along whatever money your business
made is just filed as your personal
income but this means that you have to
save money for taxes throughout the year
because unlike a regular job where they
take out taxes from your paycheck it's
your responsibility to pay the taxes on
whatever money your business makes so
for me personally any money that comes
into my business I save thirty percent
of it for taxes so if you're
self-employed you're supposed to pay
quarterly taxes throughout the year so
there are four tax deadlines throughout
the year and the idea is that each
deadline you pay a quarter of what your
estimated to Oh in taxes that way when
April comes around and you file for
taxes you don't owe a ton of money you
should have been paying it throughout
the year now for bookkeeping this is
probably my least favorite part of
running my business I love the creative
side but I hate the paperwork and the
numbers side and all of that but if
you're self-employed this is just
something that you have to do it comes
with the territory so what's been
working for me is actually just to have
basic spreadsheets on my computer to
keep track of all the numbers and I just
make sure to update these spreadsheets
every single month so I have a
spreadsheet for my business income and I
have a spreadsheet for my business
expenses things that like supplies
things that I spend money on that could
potentially be written off on my taxes I
use the app capital to save money for
taxes and this isn't sponsored at all
this is just the app that I use but they
link to your bank account
and you can set rules to take out a
certain percentage of whatever money
goes into your bank account so for
example I have a rule set for any
deposit that goes into my bank account
capital it takes out 30% and puts it
into a savings account so that's what
works for me and I don't even have to
think about taking the money out
it just takes it out for me so that I
can save that and know that
going to have enough to pay for taxes
your specific bank might actually be
able to do this already on your bank's
app so check that out see if you can do
that and if not maybe see if capital
would work for you so that's all the
illegal and financial talk I'm going to
give you I know that I didn't give you
that many specifics but you're gonna
have to do the research for your
specific business depending on where you
live and what you're doing but hopefully
I was able to give you a starting off
point because I know that it's really
overwhelming and kind of scary because
you don't want to do anything wrong
especially with like taxes and the
government that's kind of scary but
don't worry you can figure this out and
I hope that I gave you a good place to
get started with all that and the last
topic that I'm going to talk about is
how to ship your products you guys had
so many questions about the shipping
process everything from how to buy
shipping label to what shipping
materials to use or how to deal with the
post office all these things so I'm
going to try to answer your questions as
best as possible first what are you
selling and how are you going to get it
safely to your customer can it be mailed
in a flat cardboard envelope or can it
be mailed and a padded mailer or do you
need a box that will just depend on your
specific product okay once you've
decided on how you're going to package
your item then you have to decide what
shipping provider you're going to use
unless you're shipping something really
heavy or really large you'll probably
just want to go with us PS and of course
this is specific to the United States
because I'm not sure what shipping
providers there are in other countries
so you can look up a shipping calculator
online and estimate the cost of shipping
for your products based on how much they
weigh in your packaging and then you
know how much to charge your customers
for shipping now you don't need to go to
the post office to buy shipping labels I
had a couple questions about this you
can actually buy shipping labels online
so if you're using Etsy you can buy
shipping labels directly through Etsy
you'll go through their process looks
how to do that if you Shopify like I do
you can buy shipping labels directly on
there I believe the same as for
Squarespace
or there are shipping apps online for
example I recently started using ship oh
and that integrates really well into
Shopify which is why I love it but I use
Shippo to buy all of my shipping labels
and it's great I love it you can look
that up if you're interested so you buy
your shipping label you print it out you
put it on your package and then you can
drop that off in a mail box or you can
drop it off at the post office so I'm
just going to walk you through my
process for shipping orders because it's
kind of confusing if you don't actually
see it being done so let's go through of
my process first I open the order on my
shipping application which like I said I
use ship oh I just do one order at a
time and I will start by packaging all
of the items then I weigh the package I
input the weight and the dimensions of
my package into my shipping app and I
purchase the label then I print out the
label and put it on my package and then
I drop off the package at the post
office so I hope that is answered your
basic questions about how to start an
online store there's so much more
information that I could give you but I
just can't fit it all into one video so
if there are more topics that you want
me to talk about let me know in the
comments and maybe I can turn this into
a series and make more videos about
specific topics that relate to starting
an online business or selling art I want
to make another video sharing all of my
tools and supplies that I use in my
business so let me know if that's
something that you would be interested
in seeing I hope that this video was
helpful for you I'm so excited for those
of you who are inspired and motivated to
start your own online store and I'm just
happy to help however I can
so let me know if there's anything else
that I can share my knowledge on but
thank you so much for watching this
video I hope that you're staying healthy
and safe and I will see you again soon
with a new video
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
