How Can We Make Art-Agent Really Sell For Us?

[CT]

I believe that we are developing really a magnificent collection of works on art-agent. It is easy to use and certainly available to anyone who is interested. My question is how do we bring art buyers to the site. I have another website that I use to market my work and I do make regular sales of prints on it. Of course, I have a marketing strategy that brings interested people to the site.

I think that if we put our heads together we may be able to come up with ideas that will bring art buyers to our site. I have some thoughts along the lines of advertising in the right places, etc. that Scott may want to consider. I have a rough idea of forming some kind of an on-line co'op, whereby interested members can contribute toward building the merchandising division of this great website into something that will really work.

I look forward to hearing your ideas.

CT

[scottb]

I've never really shared this with you guys, but here goes the short 'n sweet version:

1) I've purposely waited thus far to really turn on the faucet at Art-Agent. We needed critical mass - which we now have.

2) We will be announcing a MAJOR event soon (in the next few weeks) - which will tie Art-Agent.com into a very unique private buyer's network. This is all I can say for now - sorry gang.

Cheers.
Scott

[C. Moreno]

Hello Scott,
I am an artist who does print and web design/illustration for a living but would like to market my art. I am not enrolled with Art-Agent but I've thought about the possibilities it offers. I look forward to hearing further news.

I was also wondering if you have sponsored (or would consider sponsoring) certain activities, for example a juried competition (you may charge a fee and award prizes) that would result in an exhibit in a bricks and mortar gallery - preferably in a major urban center - as well as online.
Clarissa www.cmoreno.com (http://www.cmoreno.com)

[scottb]

Interesting idea, although I would never do it juried - it clobbers the spirit of WetCanvas! It's a good germ of an idea though...

[bluespade]

I think in addition to driving traffic to the sight, the main issue in selling art on the net is going to be trust. If people know of your works, then the trust is raised. Otherwise, I would be vary wary, myself, to buy art on the net. No matter how good it looks, you would have to have an enormous file/image to really be able to examine the works closely. For instance, some water colors have very unique textures and "spiders" around the edges of the colors for lack of a better word (know what i mean?). It would be hard to really examine this on a piece without seeing it. Likewise, I'm sure many digital artists or people selling other edgy art forms, like installations or objects, would have a hard time getting the image across.

I think in the end the only solution is to work on a policies for "returns". This is best handled by each artist, but I encourage folks to think of having an explicit returns policy on your webpage.

Also, I do like the idea of wetcanvas getting coverage by sponsoring exhibits in various cities. It may be tricky financially, but it would generate lots of what mediea gurus calls "free press". And it may generate trust among buyers to meet some flesh and blood people involved in WC.

Finally, I'm not sure I like the "top artists" thing on art-agent. Might this not just repeatedly generate more and more hits for the same artist (like a self-fullfilling prophecy of "most hits") and prevent viewers from really exploring the site? Maybe a better thing would be to have some artists/images randomly selected each week?

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Doug
Blue Spade Productions
http://www.bluespade.com

[scottb]

Doug - you bring up good points - and I believe we've had this discussion before in this forum. The trust issue is imperative in a traditional consumer model - which is not what Art-Agent.com is designed to do (long term). Sure, for someone to pop in unannounced and buy a piece of art, there is a trust factor - unless of course, they know the artist already, in which a trust already exists.

In a business-to-business model, a buyer could care less. They are buying en masse. We have already established the key relationships (and hence the trust factor) necessary to take this to the next level - stay tuned.

Remember, consumers are not the largest purchasers of fine art.

Cheers.
Scott

[bruin70]

as good as this site is for artists,,,buyers are another story. consider the population today and the miniscule percentage that art buyers make up. we're talking about people who willingly dig into their pockets to purchase something that they really don't NEED. it has been my experience that art buying is an EVENT for these people. it is a trip they plan..it is a stroll down main street or soho, browsing the gallery windows. it is a very visceral, participatorial experience for them. a chance to meet the artist or chat with the gallery owner who can tell enlightening stories about the artist.

as many people even today may have internet access but still shy from purchasing online, the battle to win their confidence will be tough, when they don't even want to buy cd's online.

the solution may not be as linear as simply connecting buyer to artist online. it may require something bolder, more universal.

some artist here can't even get a good jpeg uploaded. the images on my site came from converted 4x5 transparencies.

at present, the only artists i can see profiting from the internet are established artist, of whom the buyers are already aware. so issues like how the jpegs appear online become irrelavant. so if statistics show a grow force of buyers, i would first ask who they are buying.

anywho,,,,you know i'm a traditionalist in this matter. one suggestion is that when you upload images, include two or three closeups....{M}



[This message has been edited by bruin70 (edited July 22, 2000).]

[scottb]

Bruin - you are correct - bold and universal will be making a grand entrance very soon... http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Cheers.
Scott

[C. Moreno]

Originally posted by bruin70:
>some artist here can't even get a good jpeg uploaded. the images on my site came from converted 4x5 transparencies. ...one suggestion is that when you upload images, include two or three closeups....{M}
<
I think that is a very good suggestion. I'd like to see your site. Would you please indicate the URL? Did you use drum scans or a desktop transparency scanner?


[This message has been edited by C. Moreno (edited July 23, 2000).]

[bluespade]

Originally posted by scottb:
Doug - you bring up good points - and I believe we've had this discussion before in this forum. The trust issue is imperative in a traditional consumer model - which is not what Art-Agent.com is designed to do (long term). Sure, for someone to pop in unannounced and buy a piece of art, there is a trust factor - unless of course, they know the artist already, in which a trust already exists.

In a business-to-business model, a buyer could care less. They are buying en masse. We have already established the key relationships (and hence the trust factor) necessary to take this to the next level - stay tuned.

Remember, consumers are not the largest purchasers of fine art.

Cheers.
Scott

First question: what do you mean by art buyers? People who are buying for shops in malls? Interior designers?

Second question: how do you establish trust between these buyers and the artists? Since they are buying en masse, it seems that they still (even more so than the casual consumer) need to know that all these artists are producing qualtiy stuff. Is the site going to verify some artwork so it can relay that evaulation of quality (in lieu of trust)? Otherwise, I don't see how buyers are different from consumers in this regard. Just that once the buyers find an artist they like, they'll buy more quantities from one artist.

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Doug
Blue Spade Productions
http://www.bluespade.com

[bruin70]

cm,,,,my url is in preferences. but here it is,,, http://members.xoom.com/tootie1 .....{M}

[bruin70]

scott,,,,leave it to you to come up with something brlliant.....{M}

[oleCC]

Oh good grief Scott.... "next few weeks" ?
Now I will be staying in a state of excited anticipation - not good for the health -
lol
I feel like the frustrated bunny chasing a carrot on a stick ! Just kidding, know you will share when you can. http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/smile.gif Carol

[shair]

I think Doug is on the right track here, though I don't know what Scott has in mind.

Art-agent does not handle inventory or shipping, and thus customer PRODUCT satisfaction is left to the artist. It is ultimately up to each artist to have their policies available to potential customers, and to offer a good product with an accurate description in a timely manner. You can usually offer money back for anyone who is not delighted, since it is so unlikely that anyone would ever take you up on the offer.

Scott (art-agent) can not do it for us, unless we all (all 1700 artists) ship all of our artwork to him before it is sold. That is just not practcal.

There should be some general return policies (I think that there are already) that artists must agree to before selling through art-agent. Reasonable stuff, that will help us be able to give art-agent more power to market with confidence, but there is still not any way that Scott or anyone else could really be sure that the policies are enforced. This is the internet! No one even has to give their real name!

My best trade secret is making friends. Once someone buys from me, they will keep doing it over and over again. Offer something cheap, and your friends will buy it to be nice. Their friends will see it in their home, buy from you, and show their friends who will buy from you and so on. You will have customers for life.

Gaining credibility online is hard, so also be sure to do stuff like update your site all the time. Regularly contact your collectors, and answer all email as soon as humanly possible. Within the hour if possible. I have never sold an original piece to anyone who didn't email me first. They do not always ask about the artwork, but are just emailing me to test if there is really a person behind the site. Be friendly to everyone, and answer them quickly.

It is totally possible to do. I sold 2 original paintings last week, and that is enough for my family since we have 100% instead of the 40% if the gallery would have sold them.

Sarah

[CT]

I have a return policy stated on both of my websites. Art buyers are often very hesitant and skittish when buying. Often, people will return to a gallery several times before they make up their minds about a piece. I think that it is critical to offer them some assurance to get them to take the plunge on the internet. I think that with time and experience we will all learn the right way to make internet sales effectively.

[bluespade]

Originally posted by shair:
I think Doug is on the right track here, though I don't know what Scott has in mind.

Art-agent does not handle inventory or shipping, and thus customer PRODUCT satisfaction is left to the artist. It is ultimately up to each artist to have their policies available to potential customers, and to offer a good product with an accurate description in a timely manner. You can usually offer money back for anyone who is not delighted, since it is so unlikely that anyone would ever take you up on the offer.

There should be some general return policies (I think that there are already) that artists must agree to before selling through art-agent. This is the internet! No one even has to give their real name!




I think it might be advisable to have "return policy" be one of the sections in the forms you fill out when you upload your pics on art-agent.com. That way, art-agent doesn't get seen as promoting a policy, but encouraging each artist to have a policy. Thus, art-agent also gets friendlier reception and good word of mouth. No?

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Doug
Blue Spade Productions
http://www.bluespade.com