The Off Season

WE ARE STARDUST by a Sea Dean

I recently read a blog talking about the “Off Season”. I have always looked forward to my studio off season so I can check inventory, handle paperwork, revamp web presence and work on ideas I simply don’t have time for the rest of the year. However, times are changing. One of the points the blog brought up, is that the internet has no off season, that alone should be why some of our marketing attention should be given to our online presence. I know many artists dislike marketing and often they don’t have the skills (or think they don’t) to sell through the internet, but in 2020 it really shouldn’t be ignored.

I’m all for keeping it simple and the simplest way to market your art on the internet is to find a platform that does most of the work for you. If you choose a strong online gallery, they hire experts to handle website building, marketing and accounting and all you have to do is produce art that catches the buyers eye and supply great images of it to the online gallery.

High profile bricks and mortar galleries charge up to 60% commission to cover overheads and make an income. Many artists make the mistake of thinking that an online gallery has lower overheads, but if they are doing a good job that just isn’t the case. Often artists tend to opt for platforms that are free or inexpensive, but it’s important to realize that they need money to hire the experts; the less that comes in, the less likely they can afford to do a good job.

There are several types of online gallery ...
1.  Completely free giving the appearance they are just there to help.
2.  Charge a monthly fee.
3.  Free to join, but charge commission on anything they sell.
4.  Hybrid, with a small monthly fee and a small commission.
5. Attached to a bricks and mortar gallery.

1. Don’t be fooled, if an online gallery is free, they get money from somewhere to make an income. It could be selling pop up advertising, selling your information, or enticing you to purchase their more expensive options by giving limited options for free.

2. Charging a monthly fee gives the platform committed money they can rely on to spend on marketing, website building and talented staff.

3. Taking commission on sales is the traditional way to sell art and makes a lot of sense to the artist because they only get paid if they sell your work. From the online gallery standpoint it is risky, so they are likely to hold back from spending on marketing etc.

4. Hybrids make the best business sense on both sides of the equation because the artist can expect more for their regular payments and the platform has a reliable source of income for growing the business and supporting their artists.

5. In 2020 bricks and mortar galleries must have a regularly updated online presence and marketing plan or it’s unlikely they will survive. If your storefront gallery doesn’t have this I would give serious thought to whether you wish to work with them. Your work needs to be visible to sell, not under your bed or showing in a gallery with limited vision.

Having been on both sides of the issue, I have absolutely no qualms about paying the experts to market my work: I would rather pay someone than spend 90% of my time doing it myself. That way I get to spend my art time exploring my talent rather than sitting on a computer stressing over things I am not an expert in.

What do you think? I always love to hear from my readers, both artists and art lovers alike. Please take a moment to check out the many links on my blog and give you opinion on that too if you like. Thanks for dropping by.

Sea