in this video i'm not only going to show
you how you can sell your art online
but i'm going to give you tips on how
you can scale your passion into a real
business
and make it a viable source of income
fast now more than ever
selling your art online is a realistic
way to make money whereas 15 years ago
before
social media the money was in corporate
in advertising commissions
but today you can make it a full-time
business or just a side hustle
be your own boss love what you do and
make money while you do it
welcome back to learn with shopify i'm
your host michelle bally
so as a creative strategist i've worked
with a mix of artistic organizations
like house
and corporate organizations like united
way so i know all about the importance
of striking a balance between creativity
and business so to succeed in your art
you must also succeed in business here
are nine pro tips to make your business
a success
we'll cover how to sell art online as a
full time or a side hustle
how to know what to charge for your work
how to sell
other artists work what kind of art you
should sell
the best practices for setting up your
online store
how to photograph your artwork to sell
online the best ways to ship your art
and the best methods to print your
digital art we'll also talk about how to
work with galleries
pop-ups and be involved in offline
events how to sell art online as a full
time or a side hustle
so maria kamar the artist also known as
hate copy
she quit her advertising career to focus
on painting when her pop art paintings
began to catch
fire on instagram her success didn't
happen overnight though
she supplemented her income in the
beginning while she was growing her fan
base on instagram
she stated that her full-time job taught
her business skills that were critical
in getting her store off the ground
and marketing herself as an artist now a
good tip is to tap into employer
resources and learning opportunities
think of it as learning from mistakes on
the company's dollar
this will help you grow and fund your
art business on the side
now once you get signs that you don't
have enough time for both your day job
and your side hustle that's when many
entrepreneurs tend to make the switch
you'll also have to account for income
if you have a reasonable amount of proof
that selling your art online
will sustain your lifestyle you can make
it your full-time gig
however there is something to be said
for taking the plunge and just making
art your full-time gig right away
so ken harmon he's the gallerist
responsible for spoke art empire he has
three galleries
three e-commerce stores and a print shop
and a production facility
he signed a two-year lease on a space
and this was the risky move that helped
him
quit waiting tables within just a few
months so
whether you decide to make art your
full-time source of income
or a side hustle it's going to depend on
how much time you want to devote
and how much risk you're ready to take
on
how to know what to charge for your work
now this is a pretty common question
no one can really answer this except the
market so to know what your work is
worth you need to monitor how much
people are willing to pay
on a consistent basis so if someone buys
your art for 10 grand and they only do
that once you'd be jumping the gun to
say that this is what your time and your
skills are worth consistently now
repeatedly making sales for 10 grand a
piece will confirm that this is what the
market is willing to pay and how you
should charge for your work
this will require pricing adjustments
when you're just starting out that's
very normal
but a purchaser will value your work
according to how much they pay for it
so a 400 piece will be treasured while a
40
piece might end up in a donation bin
somewhere however
when you're just starting out it does
make sense that your pieces won't be as
expensive as say someone with 20 years
experience
unless you've already reached a skill
level that is highly sought after
no one can tell someone else what their
timing skills are worth but when in
doubt
i would say are on the side of not
underselling yourself
how to sell other artists work so if you
want to diversify your streams of income
or if you're not personally an artist
curating is a really good way to get
into the art world
many artists are disinterested in the
business aspect and they rely on
agents and other merchants to do it for
them you can sell originals and prints
or you can license work to be printed
onto merchandise
generally the artist would make a set
commission gallerist ken says most
galleries offer an industry standard
50 consignment split for original art
the artist provides the artwork
and we do our best to sell it which
leads us to our next point
choosing what types of art to sell
what kind of art should you sell of
course if you have a passion sell what
feels true to you
however some mediums like sculptures are
more difficult to reproduce for
merchandise applications
most 2d mediums however are easily
scalable
2d has multiple options for generating
unlimited sales on a single work
consider selling the following original
fine art
limited or open edition prints digital
downloads like desktop wallpaper
stock photos and quote prints custom
and commissioned work merchandise like
hats
mugs t-shirts and enamel pins repeat
prints on fabric or wallpaper
licensing work to other ecommerce
merchants and
collaborations with merchants and
creators these are easily scalable
easy to ship and they can accommodate a
wide price range now
you can take the approach of sticking to
one medium you specialize in
and going for it full force or you can
diversify to open up your potential
streams of income
so for example maria uses shopify to
diversify her offerings
she sells prints apparel and other
merchandise on her website
let's talk about offering limited
edition versus open edition
there are pros and cons to both
reproducing work on t-shirts or mugs
means that a single work can bear fruit
indefinitely the model does require less
time and effort to create and sell
open edition means your business is more
easily scalable
but the art also does lose its perceived
value
open editions can also make your work
vulnerable to copycats
when you sell limited edition work the
effect is like a limited time offer
it creates a sense of scarcity and
urgency which is actually an
excellent marketing tactic it also
increases the perceived
value of your work so much so that
resale prices become inflated
ken says a lot of the things that we
sell have secondary market values
you can go on to websites like ebay and
find those works selling for in some
cases
exponentially more than the original
price because the demand is so
high it's not all bad though high resale
value is favorable to a brand's image
and demand the only problem with limited
edition is that it requires more time
and it requires more effort to make to
put online and then to sell it
it's not a scalable tactic specifically
for independent artists
best practices for selling art in an
online store when you're setting up your
online art store
choose a theme that lets your art
breathe utilize large images and
lots of white and negative space minimal
is a freestyle that many artists use
or you can check out the shopify theme
store and browse by the art industry
california is also a good paid option
for a clean design
add on any apps that help you run your
store more effortlessly
allowing you to focus on the creative
aspect of the business if you sell your
artwork via prints and merch
apps like kite guten or printful can
sync up with your store
maria enjoys these because she can focus
less on the logistics and more on the
creating side of things
she says i use an app to do the printing
and delivering
all i have to do is upload and let it do
the work
for me now i can focus on actually
creating the artwork rather than the
printing
packaging shipping every single day
spending at least
three four hours doing just that i can
now use that time to brainstorm
and come up with better things and
connect with people
here's a tip use variants in shopify to
provide customers
not only with size options but finish
and framing options
and you can set the pricing to be
different for different variants as well
if you love the idea of running a
semi-automated business from anywhere in
the world
then you're going to want to register
for this free webinar it'll teach you
how to
quickly start a profitable
print-on-demand store
this 40-minute webinar will get you from
product idea to setting up an online
store
to getting your first print on demand
sale learn where to find designs
how to connect with suppliers without
paying for products upfront
worrying about inventory or shipping a
single package yourself
just click the link in the description
box below how to photograph
your artwork to sell online
photographing and representing your
products
clearly and accurately is important
across the board in e-commerce
regardless of your industry without the
ability to be in front of the product
customers need to get the best sense of
what they're buying
through clear and detailed images if
your image is lit in low quality
basement lighting or if there's clutter
in the background
you're going to have a harder time
selling your work photographing art is a
little trickier than shooting other
products
and a basic lighting setup may still
cause glare on glass
or color irregularities but make sure
that you're checking out our photography
for beginners video
right up here otherwise consider hiring
a professional to shoot larger works of
art
or art with any three-dimensional
elements for 2d works however
can recommend scanning as an affordable
and effective alternative to photography
that way you're getting a high-res image
and consistent lighting
the most cost-effective way to do that
is to get a desktop scanner
and scan that work in parts then you
just stitch it together in photoshop
if you've got a piece that's got a high
gloss coating or a resin that's going to
be a little bit trickier
but for the majority of works on canvas
or paper it is pretty straightforward
the best ways to ship your art if you're
shipping original art
or electric ship prints and canvases
yourself take extra precaution with your
packing
prints and posters are best shipped in
cardboard mailing tubes
and smaller prints in rigid cardboard
mailing envelopes
use glassline which is a water and
grease resistant paper
or clear cellophane sleeves to protect
prints within the packaging
framed works and canvases require
additional precautions
the ups store and packaging supply shops
like uline
offer packaging and shipping materials
designed specifically for art
ken says that there are a lot of little
tips and tricks that can help keep
shipping
lower for art collectors for example the
cost to ship a large painting that's
stretched on a canvas
can be pretty substantial especially if
you're getting into oversized dimensions
sometimes i will unstretch a canvas roll
it in a tube
and ship it that way which dramatically
lowers the freight costs for customers
and then they can have that canvas
stretched locally
by the way insurance is important when
shipping original work since
a lost or damaged work can't really be
replaced
many standard carriers like fedex and
usps
offer fairly basic insurance on most
packages
merchants should look into what's
covered what's not covered and the costs
associated for higher value pieces take
additional measures to ensure the safety
of the work
best methods to print digital art it's
possible to create quality prints
yourself with the right paper
ink and the right printer you can also
offer your customers framed options
and diy the framing i'll leave a link in
the description box on how you can mount
and print the frames yourself as a new
artist this method can keep costs low
but it's not sustainable or scalable
maria did this in her early days in the
beginning i would print
package and deliver by hand i did this
for about a thousand orders
every morning i would get up go to the
print shop package all the prints
go to the canada post office the volume
became so much that i couldn't make time
to draw or to be an artist
for a completely hands-off approach look
for a print on demand and dropship
company
for example maria now uses printable for
her online store
how to work with galleries pop-ups and
be involved in offline events
selling work online is great for
expanding your audience geographically
and scaling your business but artists
should also connect with fans
and find new audiences in person
in-person experiences will drive people
back to your store
consider the following partner with a
gallery to exhibit work
look into local art markets and events
set up a one-time or
semi-permanent booth consign work
through gift or lifestyle stores
or set up a small pop-up within an
existing store
open your studio to the public when you
launch your website or keep consistent
weekly open studio hours run a pop-up
shop
and partner with other artists to reduce
the costs here's another tip for you
sync your online and offline sales by
using shopify pos
for in-person selling this will help you
centralize your inventory and sales in a
very neat and organized way
in today's video you just learned nine
pro tips on how to turn your passion for
art
into a successful online business i'm
going to leave you with a quote
scott adams said creativity is allowing
yourself to make mistakes
art is knowing which ones to keep it's
the same thing with business
allow yourself to fail to find success
in places that you
least expect drop me a link to your
instagram or website in the comments so
that i can check out your art
and don't forget to hit that subscribe
button so that you don't miss out on any
videos on how you can grow your online
business
thank you guys so much for watching i'm
your host michelle bally and i will see
you in the next one
you