Sell 

2186 creative works found

• Selling Greeting Cards Through Stores
  by Jo O'Brien

  Recently the topic of selling greeting cards out in the real world has come up in the forums. Having sold greeting cards before throug…

  Recently the topic of selling greeting cards out in the real world has come up in the forums. Having sold greeting cards before through shops and at markets, my humble opinion and experience may be of interest. I’ve got a lot to say on this one so I’ll use headings :) Be a Business- Not Just an Artist / What I mean by this is consider yourself a business supplier and demonstrate a level of professionality. Yes it is great if you promote the artistic merits of your work but greeting cards are a very common product and so being organised with an ABN, professional looking invoices, online ordering facilities, fast turn around etc will put you ahead of the (always growing) pack. Like all good businesses, know your strengths and show them off. Provide Good Quality Products / It might sound obvious (I hope it does) but when people are starting out in business they tend to cut corners. In the greeting card business quality is a big deal. This is where RedBubble becomes a huge advantage because the quality of the card printing is so exceptional. Packaging is Important / Have you considered what your cards will look like after 20 or so customers have handled them? Some people like the ‘no plastic’ look and who am I to tell them otherwise. I always individually wrap my cards and make sure that if the packaging prevents the card being openned, that “Blank Card” is printed either on the individual packaging or nearby signage. If you put together gift packs, wrap them beautifully and make sure people know what images they are getting in the pack. / My little tip: leave one copy of each card unwrapped on display and when you check up with the store, see which ones are the grubbiest to identify the favourites Displaying your wares / The things people want to see are the images, the quality and the price. Where possible I use clear perspex stands that do not cover the front of the card. By leaving a few sample cards out of their packaging people can pick them up and feel them to check the quality. I also make sure each card has a visible price on it, on the back, on a removable sticker. Some hints would be not to have too many of a particular card out on display at once. Keep a box of ‘top up’ cards out of sight. If you have a series that belongs together, display them together and perhaps highlight them with different packaging or a small separate display rack. Cards should be displayed with the image facing the right way up where possible. Always put your name and contact details on your card stands- so often they ‘magically disappear.’ And if you are providing your own stands, try to ‘claim’ the space so that other people’s cards don’t get put in over the top of yours. This can be hard to police but for example, having “Cards by Artist ABC” on your stand makes it harder for the retailer to stick any old stuff in there. Get Your Pricing Right / Like all things business, a lot of small shops will heckle with you over money and prices. My advice to you? Know what price you want and stick to it. Think about it in perspective, in a typical shop, greeting cards will be close to the cheapest item in there. If the business can’t fork out $30 to try 10 cards then you don’t want to be doing business with them! But also think realistically about your prices. Most retailers will start saying ‘no thanks’ at about $4 a card so to make RedBubble cards (with a base price of up to $3.50) a financially viable option you need to sell them as premium art cards worth that extra dollar or two. Considering the quality of them, I believe this is possible. Depending on where you sell them, you could get $4 to $8 or even more per card. It will depend on the clientele for that particular store. / Common Mistake: Too many people give their cards different prices when in the eye of the customer they all look pretty much the same. If you want to have a premium range, make it obvious Profite Margins / I should add as a separate but related point, most stores will want to mark up by about 100% on greeting cards. Most people sell there cards for a set wholesale price and then let the store charge whatever they like. The only time in my opinion, you should intervene is if you seriously believe they have overpriced them to such a point that they are not affordable. But think about it before setting your price. If you ask for $4 per card, can the store onsell them for $7.95? How to actually get them into stores / Here’s an idea for you- send them a card! Of course a rigorous follow up would be required. I would ‘door to door’ with a small sample or my stuff and it worked really well. I also had a bit of a tactic. I’d show a selection of cards worth $20 total. Then when they fell in love with a couple I’d say. “How about you buy this $20 worth from me right now and you keep that one you like for yourself, I’ll replace it with this one” Then I’d pull some other random card out of my bag and add it to the pile. Worked 9 out of 10 times. The other thing I did was band together with a fellow card maker (she did printed ones, I did handmade) so that we could show a greater range and cut our door knocking time in half. Can I also suggest not interrupting businesses during busy periods such as weekends or lunch hours. That happens to me in the gallery all the time and it’s a real pain. Also, if you’re talking to staff and their phone rings or a customer comes in, invite them to deal with the more important thing first and come back to you. Rotate Your Stock / Basically, if it isn’t selling, get rid of it yourself before the store owner decides to get rid of you! I’m exaggerating but the point it still valid. People will stop looking if your display always looks the same so keep it chaging. Make a fuss. If you have a new range, stick a sign up saying “New Farm Yard Range On Sale Now.” And remember, what works well in one store may go really badly in another so if it’s not selling, try somewhere else rather then giving up and throwing the lot in the bin! Consignment / This is particularly just my opinion but I’m against consignment on cards. Especially if you give a choice of what is ordered. Seriously, cards cost so little compared to other things, if a store can’t find $50 somewhere to buy some outright, there is something suss about that right away. It might be good to offer consignment on your first batch which will encourage the store to stock your stuff but don’t get into a habit of it. I would drop off say 50 cards and get someone to sign a consignment form saying how many they were given. Then after a few weeks I would go back, count them up and invoice for however many were missing. Then I’d also give them the choice of buying the remaining ones, or me taking them back. Most would swap a few that they didn’t like and then buy up. Payments / Again I hope this sounds obvious but ask to be paid. So many people get lost in a world of politeness and assume that eventually someone will do the right thing, Most small businesses using MYOB or QuickBooks accounting software will automatically lodge your invoices to be paid within 30 days. Agree on your terms and then chase up late payments. No need to be mean or nasty but a follow up letter and then a follow up phone call is fair enough. Also, be flexible in how you can be paid. Some businesses do everything with a cheque (or for you Americans, a “check”), others will rely on Direct Debit. So know how the business wants to pay you and don’t make it hard for them! Promote your Cards / The beauty of RedBubble cards is they have the URL of your portfolio on the back which shows off all of your work. But also remember to promote your cards out in the real world. Recently I bought a bunch of RedBubble cards and gave them all to friends. The response was amazing. They all got online to find more! Next step for me is to buy a bunch of my own cards and find excuses to give them to people. webgrrl had this awesome idea too. The cards really do speak for themselves so get them into circulation. - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - So if anyone is still breathing after reading all that, I hope you found it useful! / I do tend to ramble when it comes to retail related things- it’s my passion in life.

• 

  Spring And Polkadots
  by Mariska

  Thank you everyone for your lovely comments !! Available as a matted print , laminated print, mounted print, canvas print framed print and card . Summer And Polkadots / / Patterns#2Red Hill All Origional art work can be purchased through the artist. —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-——- Copyright notice: / All rights reserved. All images contained on these pages are © copyright protected by Mariska and any use of these images in any form without written permission will be considered an infringement of these copyrights.

• 

  S P I R I T Land
  by Holly Kempe

  “Spirit Land” Photography & Artwork / by Holly Kempe © Early morning fog is clearing exposing the ghostly forms of trees in a bare landscape backed by a distant mountain range. Rockhampton, Queensland. “Have you ever felt the spirit of the land / when you’ve walked alone and seen / the beauty in one tree one rock and / managed somehow to overlook the / majestic landscapes. Have you ever….” / ~ R Frankland Spirit Land was featured in the: Landscape and Abstract Photography Goup – September 08 Trees Group – September 08

• 

  Veil of Mystery
  by Holly Kempe

  Veil of Mystery Photography & Artwork / by Holly Kempe © A stand of bare limbed trees on a gently rolling hillside emerges from the veil of an early morning fog. Gympie, Queensland. “Some might see the morning fog as a shroud of / grey that settles in their soul and stays with them / even when the sun breaks through to warm their / skin. / Others see the fog as a beautiful mist that opens / up to reveal the brightness of life and a reason to / feel good about the outside…on the inside.” / ~ Annette Hansen Veil of Mystery has been featured in the: Redbubble Homepage – December 08 Trees Group – June 08 Trees and Their Parts Group – May 09

• 

  Praying for Rain
  by Holly Kempe

  “Praying for Rain” Photography & Artwork / by Holly Kempe © “As the farmer knelt down on the salty sand, / He needed rain to save his land. / The crops were wilting, the cattle all dead, / He looked around, not a word was said. / The ground was dry, where is the rain? / What could stop this worthless pain? / The farmer cursed in sheer despair, / He did not have a drop to spare. / A thundercloud covers the western sky, / A bolt of lightning explodes near by. / The farmer looks up and begins to pray, / Hoping that the rain will come his way. / Then drip-by-drip it starts to fall, / The crystal water like a clear glass wall. / The trees and flowers all in bloom, / Then once again, gone is the gloom. / The water fills the old parched creek, / The rivers bulge as the waters peak. / The mud squelches through the farmer’s dry old / hands, / As he thanks the Lord for saving his land.” / ~ Meg Hayes Year Seven / St Mary’s Primary School Praying for Rain was featured in the: Redbubble Homepage – November 08

• 

  Storm on the Rise
  by Holly Kempe

  Storm on the Rise Photography & Artwork / by Holly Kempe © “The wise man in the storm prays to God, / not for safety from danger, but deliverance from / fear.” / ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Storm on the Rise has been featured in the: Redbubble Homepage – April 08

• 

  Against the W i n d
  by Holly Kempe

  “Against the Wind” Photography & Artwork / by Holly Kempe © A surreal depiction of birds flying into a gale force wind under a full moon partly covered by cloud. “When everything seems to be going against you, / remember that the airplane takes off against the / wind, not with it.” / ~ Henry Ford Against the Wind has been featured in the: Redbubble Homepage – September 08 Tree Group – July 08 Cards: Best of Your Best Group Shoot the Moon Group – February 09 Redbubble Homepage – June 09

• Help for Redbubble members
  by Mel Brackstone

  Karin Taylor, Jo O’Brien, Stuart Chapman, Lance Jackson, Ragman, Mark German, Steven Lippis, Simone Byrne and myself have added some v…

  Karin Taylor, Jo O’Brien, Stuart Chapman, Lance Jackson, Ragman, Mark German, Steven Lippis, Simone Byrne and myself have added some very useful tutorials and links for those members who’d like some help in learning a few extra tricks to make their time on the bubble easier. I have this link in my profile, so it’s going to be easy to find. I’ll add to it as I learn of new helpful information. How to enhance your profile Text formatting Where to get help/critique/FAQ Help on how to sell your work How to TAG your work effectively Inserting image links easily with Stuart Add category lists How to make smoke photos Digital Infrared info Ragman’s excellent advice on all things arty farty Mark German’s fantastic photographic techniques Steven gives an explanation on how to utilise a flash modifier My experience with Neutral Density Filters My hints on shooting at the beach Explaning focal lengths for digital Polarisers – a visual experiment

• 

  Butterfly Beauty
  by Mariska

  Work featured on home page 06/01/2009 – Thank you very much dear Redbubble:0)) / First place of the Fabulous ts Gruop Challenge here One of my best sellers T-shirt on REDBUBBLE. / You can buy more products of this design in My Zazzle Store here / / / / / / / / / / Thank you for buying ! :0) Another favorite:White Flowers All Origional art work can be purchased through the artist. —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-——- Copyright notice: / All rights reserved. All images contained on these pages are © copyright protected by Mariska and any use of these images in any form without written permission will be considered an infringement of these copyrights.

• 

  Birds ,Girl & Flowers
  by Mariska

  Vector illustration / 2008 / Work featured on home page 28/01/2009 / Work featured on home page 06/01/2009 / Thank you dear RedBubble and thank you my dear friends for your lovely comments and fav.I am totally thrilled:0)))) / Best selling tee, / /

• 

  RED
  by Christian Zammit

  Telephone boxes in the snow in London / This was a unique event as it rarely snow so much in London. / This was shot on 2nd February 2009. It did not snow so much in the previous 19 years. Canon EOS 400D SOLD at REDBUBBLE / 1x Framed Print of RED / Print Size: Small / Frame Color: Black / Matte Color: Off White / Frame Style: Flat Frame (30mm wide x 20mm deep) / Bought by a mystery buyer. Canon EOS 400D This / work / has / been / produced / by / Christian / Zammit / Kindly / click / on / photo / below. / Visit my gallery Calendars 2010 /

• Sixteen Ways to Increase Your Sales
  by Stephen Mitchell

  I’ve seen so many people still asking why they’ve still not sold any artwork on Redbubble! So I’ve compiled all my enterprising, marketin…

  I’ve seen so many people still asking why they’ve still not sold any artwork on Redbubble! So I’ve compiled all my enterprising, marketing, sales and money-based articles written over the last two years. I really REALLY hope you enjoy reading and applying them into your sales-campaign. First, let’s take a look at you, the artist within. Wait, that sounds like the first article… 01. Defining the Artist Within / 02. I Have a Special Condition! / 03. Keep that Entrepreneurial Spirit Alive / 04. Two Crafty Ways to Become a High Profile Photographer / 05. Playing the Popularity Game Without Caring if You Win or Lose / 06. What Makes You Think Your Art is Good Enough? Here is the guts of this article, the really in-depth stuff that should help understand how to better use Redbubble in your venture to either make money or make a name for yourself: 07. Are You Selling More Artwork ? / 08. Helping YOU Make a Profit on Redbubble ! / 09. Pleasure from Profit from Pleasure / 10. Quality Marketing Equals Sales / 11. Selling Your Art Successfully / 12. Sell, Give, Donate and Use Your Skills / 13. My Marketing Strategy / 14. How to Sell Anything / 15. Selling My Artwork At Amended Prices / 16. Twelve Months on Redbubble The trick is to read each article, and then ask yourself: ‘How does this apply to my situation?’. I’m very sure you’ll find a way to incorporate the ideas I’ve used here to improve your situation and increase your sales! I look forward to hearing how much more sales you make over the next few months!! EDIT [11:32 PM 15/05/2009] / Some of you will now want to run an exhibition, gallery or stall of your artwork. For that I have compiled another list of links that should help you! / ... Running Sheet for Exhibitions Since this is my article, I have to get a few shameless-plugs in here somewhere. I have T-shirts for sale that will get you noticed! / ... Your Name on a PHOTOGRAPHER Shirt / ... Photographer Shirts / ... Redbubble Shirts for Artists, Writers and Photographers Postscript / I started writing simple tips that any Redbubble Artist could use. I don’t write them so much any more, but I keep them here for my own reminder. I hope you enjoy these two that relate to this post enormously: / ... Tip #001 / ... Tip #004

• Using Art Subjects to Target Shoppers
  by selling

  Let’s look at the subjects that people favor when purchasing art. By extension and personal experience, these are big buckets that are se…

  Let’s look at the subjects that people favor when purchasing art. By extension and personal experience, these are big buckets that are searched for often, but are hard to win through search engine optimization and expensive to buy through pay-per-click advertising. In a survey of 2,000-plus art buyers ages 18 to 65 (selected based on their previous purchase of art), shoppers aged 45 and above favored landscapes, flowers and gardens, and country traditional themes more than those who are younger. Shoppers aged 35 years of age or younger favored photography, abstract/surrealism, European subjects, and movies or celebrities (pop culture) more than the older [in age, perhaps not in spirit] consumers. Here are the art themes that had the strongest appeal to shoppers (in ascending rank). One caveat: keywords that are a direct hit, e.g., Star Wars, Barack Obama, etc. don’t apply below; it’s a given that brand names are targeted by their very nature. 1. Landscape / 2. Photography / 3. Flowers, Gardens / 4. Wildlife, Animals / 5. Abstract, Surrealism / 6. Impressionism / 7. Tuscany, Paris, Cafes (scenes of Europe) / 8. Still Life / 9. Country Traditional / 10. Pets (dogs, cats) / 11. Sports (baseball, cricket, football, futbol, soccer …) / 12. Religious / 13. Pop Culture / 14. African-American / 15. Brand Icons / 16. Hispanic Art / 17. Other What can we do with this information? We can use the above keywords for tagging, artwork/group descriptions, and Bubblesite text, as well as integrate them into titles, description copy, and hyperlinks in from external blogs, personal websites, and other credible referral sources (e.g., press, social shopping websites such as StyleHive, Kaboodle, etc.) when linking back to your RedBubble pages. In no way should these tags be applied to unrelated work; you’ll drive page views, but not sales. Plus, it’s poor form. There are many excellent categories missing above, e.g., nude art, self-portrait, dance, etc. The recommendation is to think about how you search online. Use common terms and keep it simple. If this article bores you to tears, we suggest that you take a bit from the above and then go with your gut. You know your artwork best, and by thinking like a regular art shopper you might find that fewer tags in a simplified structure will help categorize your work – both in your own mind and for the shopper and buyer. Bringing it all back home. All this sales talk is great; thanks for listening. However, I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that the outcome is to provide an amazingly great work of art and design to someone that appreciates it… that we artists made something that someone loves or gave to someone they care about. In many cases, the shopper will come to think of you as a contact or friend; or at the very least, someone that they feel they know a bit about. Regards, / Jason

• Working with Press to Promote Your Art
  by RedBubble

  We recently read two great articles that feature RedBubble artists. Mindy McGregor Mindy McGregor is an artist and stay at home m…

  We recently read two great articles that feature RedBubble artists. Mindy McGregor Mindy McGregor is an artist and stay at home mom. An art curator found her work on RedBubble. Since that connection, Mindy has displayed her work offline several times in Melbourne, and she now has a new solo show in Sydney, Australia. As part of the Sydney show, local and regional newspapers were sent information about Mindy and her upcoming show. Periodicals were also offered an interview with Mindy about her artwork. From the article: “Soon after joining RedBubble, an online artist group (www.redbubble.com), she was contacted by Andrew May, an art curator.” “The 30 photographs in the Sydney exhibit are mainly images from southern Saskatchewan, because McGregor loves to capture bits and pieces of province’s history.” More information: Mindy McGregor | The Leader-Post article Tom Baumker Tom Baumker is a respected US wildlife photographer who was recruited by an existing member to join RedBubble. Tom’s work was recently shown on his local CBS television affiliate as part of a story about the US holiday, Memorial Day. Tom also hands out “at least 20 business cards each day” in order to drive traffic to his RedBubble profile page. The local TV spot led to an article about Tom’s work in the TC Palm, a periodical focused on the coastal area of Florida, USA. From the article: “Baumker starting taking photos when he was 7 years old. His education in photography came mostly from the school of hard knocks and by reading as many books and magazines as he could get his hands on. Since then, he has taken thousands of wildlife photographs. Many of them end are on his Web site – redbubble.com.” More information: Tom Baumker’s RedBubble profile | The TCPalm.com article How can you secure press about you and your artwork? David Watts Barton, a 25-year veteran of The Sacramento Bee and well-known music and arts writer who’s currently the managing editor of SacramentoPress.com – a local online daily periodical that is mixing professional and citizen journalism, stated: “Start with the four Ws – who, why, what, and where. Beyond that, be sure to pique the writer’s curiosity. Most local publications want to write stories about local people. Just give them the hook and the basic information – don’t sell the subject. Just tell the story. If it’s interesting to the writer, they’ll bite. If not, no amount of hype will sell it.” Other tips include: 1. Make the information newsworthy by capitalizing on a trend, e.g., working from home, secondary income streams, networking online, etc. are hot topics right now. 2. Leverage events such as artwalks and current events such as holidays – tying them back to your work. 3. Provide thought leadership if possible. If your work documents a specific topic in which you have expertise, note that in your pitch. Offer an interview and be on time. 4. Build a relationship with newspaper and press staff. One isolated email won’t do most of the time. Send editors commentary, leads, feedback on past articles, etc. It’s easier to sell your artwork to a friend; the same goes for securing press. 5. Be consistent in both your tone and the frequency in which you write editors. Become familiar and there will be less hesitation on the editor’s part to engage. 6. And lastly, don’t send attachments without prior approval. Link to images whenever possible. Let’s conclude In Tom’s case above, you have a dedicated photographer whose subject matter matched the upcoming US holiday. With Mindy, you have an aspiring photographer who was “found” and whose work captures and space and place in the form of a collection. See how you go and let us know how you do. Also, if you were featured in a periodical or publication, please feel free to post the link and details below. If you already create articles about selling art, please point us to them below. More information about selling your art can be found under the Selling member name. Thanks. Regards, / Jason

• Using Email Marketing to Sell Your Art
  by selling

  Email marketing is a powerful tool that should leverage your existing relationships with family, friends, previous customers, clients, an…

  Email marketing is a powerful tool that should leverage your existing relationships with family, friends, previous customers, clients, and acquaintances to create awareness and sales. You can also purchase email lists that are targeted to people that are apt to buy art or apparel (corporate art buyers, retail shop owners), however, the fastest way to lose credibility is to send a bulk email to strangers without providing context, purpose, and pointing out an immediate benefit to the recipient. Always ask yourself what job the email is doing for the recipient. What’s the benefit? OK, you’ve decided to send a mass (aka bulk) email. Now what? 1. Identify your mailing list / Your list can be your webmail contact list, an export of your computer’s address book, Apple or Outlook Address Book, Palm Contacts, etc. Members interested in buying lists should ping me via Bubblemail. Don’t be dissuaded by a small list of just a few people; email marketing works based on list quality and not the total size of the list. Email marketing can be as simple as sending an email to previous customers from your Gmail account. 2. Segment your list / Divide your list in order to test several groups. You can segment the list by sales potential, e.g., purchased from you in the past six months, inactive for six-plus months, new prospects (new to your list and never purchased art from you), etc. You could add a second qualifier if you have the patience, e.g., purchased a t-shirt from you in the past six months… or you could just go the full monty. 3. How will you mail? / This is the juncture at which you will decide if you’re going to send the email from your webmail, personal mail, or if you’ll send email using a bulk email tool. There are many free and pay-per-use bulk email tools online. A few names include Constant Contact, Campaign Monitor, Campaign Master, SubscriberMail, ExactTarget, etc. Look for a service that does not charge an up-front fee, little or no monthly fee, and that charges less than a cent/penny/pence per email sent. Why use a third-party email tool? a. You preserve your personal email address’ white label status (favorable view) with Internet Service Providers – making it unlikely that your address will be blocked due to an email blast. b. These tools provide templates that make email creation very easy. Some tools make adding content to an email as simple as “drag-and-drop.” c. The third-party will manage your unsubscribe and spam lists, so you won’t need to remember who wanted off the distribution list. Similarly, some services allow you and interested parties to add subscribers using a form; you won’t need to manually add subscribers. d. Third-party tools often include reports that will show you how many people opened your email, how many clicked through (and on which links), as well as unsubscribe and “spam” rates. 4. What to write? / Perhaps you dislike the “hard sell” and choose to send an editorial email that targets everyone in your list. The content of this newsletter could focus on: a. New work / b. Artwork in process – a behind the scenes peek at upcoming work / c. News about you and your work, e.g., recent shows, groups, charity work / d. Photos of you and your studio – or other personal images / e. A short, witty anecdote, etc. lead-in If you’re interested in creating a merchandised (sales-y) email, consider: a. Keeping the copy short and the calls to action obvious. Don’t make clicking through to your RedBubble page hard for the reader. / b. Capitalize on seasonal trends or life cycle events. Holidays are a great reason to talk about your work. / c. Readers love of collections, e.g., art for shared spaces, pop culture t-shirts, landscapes, etc. / d. Show lots of pictures, but keep the file sizes small. If you use Photoshop, use the “Save for Web” function and tweak the JPG quality so that images are small yet attractive. / e. Make any incentives obvious and put them in both the Subject line and at the top of the email newsletter. E.g., if you’re having a sale, offering a free item with purchase (free digital downloads are nice; e.g., wallpaper, printout), etc. 5. Subject line time / Subject lines make or break the number of people opening your email. You can get crazy and send the same email content – using different subject lines – to similar audiences and then measure the different open rates (the number of people that opened each email). My best advice is to include an offer in the subject line (if an offer exists). Otherwise, keep the subject line short and to the point. Humor and personality helps if it’s not obscure. Want to know if your email subject line is too obscure? Send a test to a few friends in the target audience and ask for their opinion. 6. Prepare and test / You’ve got your list, created your email message, and chose a distribution method. Next, paste your message into your email client. If you’re using a third-party tool, load your content into the template you’ve chosen. The only other note I have here is to send a test email to multiple email clients. For example, open a Gmail account, employ Apple Mail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, etc. if possible. Send your test email to make sure that you like the way it looks in each email client. Some third-party tools will show you a preview of your email in multiple email clients (for a small fee). Here are the email clients used by RedBubble members: 25.0% use Yahoo! Mail / 15.0% use Outlook 2000, 2003, Express / 13.0% use Apple Mail 3 / 10.9% use Hotmail / 9.6% use Gmail / 5.8% use iPhone 2.0 / 3.1% use Apple Mail 2 / 17.5% use All others combined 7. Time to send / Good luck. Spell check, recheck, and check your copy again. Then push that send button and be sure to record the results. Basic stats include: / a. Emails sent / b. Emails opened / c. Clicks from the email to your artwork / d. Number of sales – both transactions and total dollars A next step would be to monitor the lifetime value of the customer, e.g., how many sales, dollars, etc. started with that one email. I’ve probably rambled on far too much, but I hope that this article got you started and provided a few new thoughts, tips, and tricks that you’ll test in the near future. If you use email marketing to sell your art, please Bubblemail me or add your anecdotes or pointers below. Oh, one last thing. If you have blog, you might want to look at FeedBurner.com as way to automatically email people each time you post a new blog entry. Feedburner provides the opt-in (sign up) form and automatically distributes the email for you. I can see that many members also use Feedburner through Blogger.com, and feature a link to these feeds and newsletters on their RedBubble Profile Pages and personal blogs, e.g., Jordan Clarke / thickblackoutline / and Stephen Mitchell among others. If you already create articles about selling art, please point us to them below. More information about selling your art can be found under the Selling member name. Regards, / Jason

• Yes, You Can Sell Your Art
  by selling

  The Selling articles detail tactics and marketing channels that you can use to sell your art an…

  The Selling articles detail tactics and marketing channels that you can use to sell your art and design. And while we’ve received great feedback about these practical tips and tricks, this is a good juncture to step back and discuss the mindset and culture of selling art. As a photographer and printmaker, I wish that people would simply see and buy my work. And sometimes this happens. However, an impulse purchase is counter to how many art sales happen. Most enthusiasts and collectors want the same emotion from the art buying experience that they get from from the viewing experience—a connection, a feeling, a memory, an aspiration, etc. After all, relationships sell art. So, what does it take to sell your art? A sampling of RedBubble members that have demonstrated a dedication to this pursuit shared these thoughts. 1. Have confidence and a hint of modesty. You created the artwork or the design and that’s amazing—embrace it. A simple “thank you” can address a compliment. Janis Zroback publishes some very good journal articles about art and selling theory. 2. Talk the talk. Buyers are interested in your background and the story behind the artwork. Feel confident in chatting about your work. Also, ask the viewer questions; get them invested in the work in order to further their interest. If you’re uncomfortable at first, practice your 10-second pitch with a friend or family member. It also helps to have supportive ‘agents.’ Karin Taylor has friends and family members that act as her representatives. Says Karen, “My family members are my biggest advocates. They run out of my business cards all the time and ask for replenishment. They have the guts to go where I am afraid to go and put my case forward, and they do it in a great way, very conversational, without all the nerves.” Karin does a great job herself here on RedBubble, and offers a live chat link from her profile page. This reminded me of a comment last week by Tom Baumker. Tom hands out dozens of business cards per day. Tom meets many sales leads where he photographs “on location.” 3. Join customers on common ground. It’s worthwhile to “join your audience.” Scott Robinson recommends, “I’m a member of a lot of different sites based around things I love. Namely skateboarding and comics – two things that a lot of my work consists of and revolves around. I don’t use these places as somewhere to promote myself, but as an active part of those communities, I do build up relationships there and can make posts of my art (and links back to RB) wherever appropriate. Using discretion of course—no-one likes spam. You have to respect the communities you’re a part of.” 4. Walk the walk. Scott Robinson and Diesel Laws wear their work constantly. For print artists, use greeting cards or printouts to advertise your work. You can print your work on ink jet sticker, label, perforated business card, or photo paper. Pass along these samples at parties or other public events. Marketing doesn’t need to be expensive. Or, simply hang the work on your wall. Bruce Watson noted, “I have actually sold it – Cell Phone – as an RB framed print also, but not on RedBubble. A visitor to my home liked it so much they bought it off the wall!” And finally, 5. Challenge yourself. Entering challenges not only improves your exposure on RedBubble – which encourages feedback and interaction with others – but it also says that you believe in your work. Winning a challenge would be nice, but entering is the first step. As I stated before, selling is a marathon and not a sprint—just like the creative process. Matt Simner captured this best when he said, “Self-promotion is a constant voyage of discovery. I believe a fair percentage of exposure I’ve got (which has overall increased views, etc.) has been a by-product of me just doing what I do naturally (sharing information, giving encouragement, trying to help), rather than explicitly ‘trying’ to get more exposure. Of course when you realise that’s the result, it gives you more ideas…” Please add your thoughts on selling below. Selling isn’t easy for everyone (for most people really), so I hope that this article makes you feel in good company and gives you some inspiration to keep going with it. And one last thing. Thanks to the members that contributed above. I reached out to many other artists whose feedback I’ll note in future posts. I welcome any other thoughts, case studies, tips, tricks – anything you want to share as related to selling. Thank you. Regards, / Jason p.s. If you’ve lost your mojo and need some encouragement, click for my Frustration and Anxiety Release Tool for Artists.

• Using Facebook to Sell Your Art
  by selling

  For all of their pluses, there are plenty of confusing aspects of Facebook and Twitter. The biggest positive…

  For all of their pluses, there are plenty of confusing aspects of Facebook and Twitter. The biggest positive is that Facebook and Twitter leverage your relationships with contacts. And we all know that relationships help sell art. Additionally, Twitter allows you to “follow” people that broadcast information and links that can broaden your understanding of topics, industries, etc. For example, I follow 100+ t-shirt designers via my Twitter account, and have found that the their tweets keep me “in the know” about seasonal and pop-culture merchandising trends. RedBubble has both a Facebook page and Twitter account. Back to Facebook. As an artist and designer, Facebook can be a great awareness builder and sales driver. Here are three easy ways to promote your art and design on Facebook. 1. Friends, and friends of friends, buy art / You may already have a growing list of contacts that Facebook defines as friends. Tell friends about your art and design via: Link to your RedBubble profile page or Bubblesite from your Facebook profile. Post new artwork in your Facebook status. This broadcasts an image, a link, and associated text to your friends. Create a collection (or collections) of artwork as a photo album. Be sure to note the artwork URL in the image description. Note: You might want to watermark your images or overlay your RedBubble URL on the image. While Facebook down-samples files to 72 dpi, expressing copyright is never a bad idea in digital public spaces… though one would hope that your Facebook friends would give credit where it’s due. Use Facebook Notes to tell the story behind the creation of your artwork. If you’re a writer, you can tease your work in the Notes section and link to your writing portfolio on RedBubble. You can also install the RedBubble Facebook slideshow found in the Promote area of MyBubble. Status update of an artwork and link. / Addition of a photograph / B. Groups contain focused, interested buyers / Join Facebook Groups where members share common interests related to your artwork content. By being active in Facebook Groups, you can subtlety migrate interested parties to your RedBubble profile and/or Bubblesite. It’s helpful if you can use your art and design to educate others and gather feedback, e.g., post “New images of Yosemite National Park. I’m interested in feedback about which images I should place on RedBubble.” You can obviously use this same technique on RedBubble. / / C. Use Pages to create fan clubs / Facebook Pages are separate from your personal Facebook profile and are also free to create. Think of your Facebook Page as a business page where you can give people a view of your studio, news of a recent exhibition, show work in development, etc. It’s also good to use RedBubble journal posts to do the same for those watching your RB profile. The distribution power of Facebook Pages comes from their ability to update “fans” whenever you post something new to your Page (like your status update, but for your business). However, note that your friends need to become a “fan” of your Facebook Page in order to receive updates. The Pages updates won’t duplicate nor conflict with your personal Facebook profile. You can also announce promotions on your Page. Here is a contest example created by Diesel Laws. Contest created by Diesel Laws / Advertising is easy, but demands attention / Facebook advertising is easy to set up, but not a “set it and forget it” exercise. You’re dedicating funds to this exercise, so consider the following when creating your ads: What images will capture the viewer’s eye best amongst all of the other Facebook page clutter? What designs sold best for you previously? What art or design is at a price point that will attract a first time buyer? What outcome would you consider a success – exposure and sales, simply sales, etc.? FB ads work on a pay-per-click basis, which means that you’re only paying for the clicks that you receive. You can cap the cost per day, so if you want to test ads at $5 per day it’s simple to do so. FB ads also feature demographic (age, location …) targeting, as well as psychographic targeting (interests, hobbies, career …). This allows you to show ads to people you know or estimate to be very good targets. You were once only allowed to create ads for businesses with websites outside of Facebook, but now you can create ads for Pages and Events too. Start simple / My advice is to try the free options first – especially if you already have a large Facebook friends list. Personal referrals will often convert (create a sale) better than a paid ad. That’s not to say that a targeted ad can’t work well if you present the right image, copy and URL. Let’s close / If you’ve found success with Facebook personal, business pages, events or paid ads, please add your comments below. We’re always looking for success stories or warnings about sales and marketing programs as they relate to selling your art and design. And finally, if you want to help other members sell, you can join our “You Can Sell Art and T-shirts” Group (by invitation). Bubblemail me with the topics you feel confident sharing. Thank you. Regards, / Jason BTW, click here for our Twitter tips and tricks. It’s also worth noting that Twitter integrates with Facebook; your tweets can be broadcast as your Facebook status. Janis also pointed out a great Twitter guide on Mashable.

• Optimize Your Profile Page for Sales
  by selling

  *Your Profile page and Bubblesite are your consumer-facing galleries (some would say shops or storefronts). Here are some simple ways to …

  Your Profile page and Bubblesite are your consumer-facing galleries (some would say shops or storefronts). Here are some simple ways to make them both visually appealing and sales focused. A brand called you / Your Profile page should contain an image of you. Many artists dislike this idea, but a happy, smiling image of you helps buyers connect. A photograph, painting, etching, drawing, etc. all work. People are naturally attracted to faces. . . . . . . . The elevator pitch / Tell buyers a bit about yourself. Where you live; your location as it relates to your artwork; your influences; your USPs (unique selling points), etc. For example, Ron Moss wrote: “I have been deeply interested in Eastern art and philosophy from an early age. I have pursued this interest through extensive reading and through the study of Japanese writing forms including haiku. [-] My poetry work has been translated in several languages and is widely published in journals and anthologies. I have won numerous awards both within Australia and overseas (including Japan). I enjoy using visual media and poetry in combination.” For anyone interested in Eastern philosophy, Ron’s description is spot on. The application / What have previous admirers and buyers loved about your work? E.g., “My work looks great in baby nurseries, shared spaces, etc.” You can also let this story be told through the pitch above, e.g., “My work features super hero characters from the 1940s – 1960s, and features an aesthetic reminiscent of the unbridled optimism of yesteryear.” Categorize whenever possible / If you have works that can be bundled by theme, location, application, subject, etc., you can fudge categories and link to them from your Profile page. For example, Scott Ward created categories by tagging work with key words, e.g., “Africa,” and then creating category URLs such as: http://www.redbubble.com/people/membername/art/everything/tags/keyword-tag/ Karin Taylor did the same, but augmented the strategy by creating categories for both topics and themes, e.g., “new baby” and “relaxation.” You can also categorize by holiday or event. See holiday calendars for the US, Australia and UK here. Be smart and efficient with these categories. Too much is, well, too much. See categories that art buyers search for often. RedBubble is a safe place to buy art / RedBubble repeatedly states that the website uses 128-bit encryption and that all sales are “Satisfaction Guaranteed.” This is good for members, as RedBubble carries the burden of complete satisfaction. I added this body of text in the Sales & Marketing Forum, but you could shorten to say “Safe and Secure checkout featuring 128-bit SSL encryption.” “My art sales are powered by RedBubble.com. Since February 2007, RedBubble has shipped more than 240,000 premium-quality works of art and t-shirts to over 70 countries worldwide. RedBubble offers a simple money-back guarantee, gold star customer service, and assures safe online transactions by using 128-bit SSL encryption – an industry standard. RedBubble accepts five different currencies including USD, AUD, CAD, EUR and GBP, and accepts credit cards as well as PayPal.” Kudos / It’s always a good idea to feature any kudos and awards that you’ve received, as well as a testimonial if possible. Causes / If you represent a charity or donate a portion of your earnings to a charity, your Profile page is an excellent space to feature your cause. Melinda Kerr has done a great deal of work in this area, and features calendars and cards. The real thing / I’m not one for cluttering pages with lots of large and heavy images that slow page load. However, there is something to seeing artwork and t-shirts in the real world. You can feature work on your Profile page as well as individual artwork pages by capturing an image of the work after configuring it on RedBubble. You can also add images to the Buyers’ Booth and link to them from your Profile page. ! My recommendation is to note the configuration details near the image, e.g., “Here is a large work X in a bright white mat and cherry box frame. You can buy this work here.” You can also show works that would make good diptychs and triptychs (pairs and threesomes) by showing them together and noting the links (URLs). RubyRed features a t-shirt of the month on his Profile page, as well as an image of the t-shirt on a person. I like both of these techniques, as they encourage repeat visitors. What’s the weather? / If your country is currently in the fall/autumn or winter seasons, note on your Profile page that your t-shirts are available in a long sleeve version (if you chose to reveal that option). The same goes for “girly fit” – which is a must for some buyers. Give buyers the idea to personalize their purchase by choosing a color, size and style. Develop fans / If you have Facebook Page, Twitter account, blog, or other resource that you use to communicate details related to your artwork, link out to them. These resources are a way to capture mind-share and leverage other communication channels – directing people back to your RedBubble Profile page or Bubblesite at a later date. Be sure to link from those sources back to your RedBubble Profile page or Bubblesite too. Let’s wrap / The formatting “code” for making links, displaying/linking images, etc. can largely be found here. Here are a few more resources. Rhana’s guide to making links Karin’s detailed Profile page tutorial Webgrrl’s unofficial RedBubble cheatsheet Before we go / We’re always looking for success stories big and small, so send them our way here. And finally, if you want to help other members sell, you can join our “You Can Sell Art and T-shirts” Group (by invitation). Bubblemail me with the topics you feel confident discussing. Thank you. Regards, / Jason

• 

  The IT Crowd V2.0
  by lukeshirt

  I recently watched IT Crowd S3 and as a homage to this great show decided to create this design. This design was also a tribute to my other IT Crowd Shirt selling 80 copies. Thank-you everyone for your support. I made this design by taking screenshots of the intro of the IT Crowd and then printing them out. I then used photoshop to draw the design by glancing over at the printouts frequently. The text used is: http://www.dafont.com/ds-digital.font P.S A buyers booth pic would be rad :)

• Make Your Art and T-shirt Pages Buyer Friendly
  by selling

  The Optimize Your Profile Page for Sales a…

  The Optimize Your Profile Page for Sales article proved that customization is a popular topic. Today, let’s apply customization and optimization hints to the “show work” (your art and t-shirt) pages. First, let’s look at what a show work page should do. show work page example 1. Honor the art by displaying it in a clean, gallery-style environment 2. Enable the viewer to see the work at a distance and close up 3. Allow the visitor to learn about the work/have enough information to envision the art print or t-shirt in their space or on their body 4. Share the work with friends, family, others via email 5. Inspire/start the order process And for websites like RedBubble: allow the visitor to find other art and design that interests them; a next step rather than prompting an exit. Other ideas are welcomed. Simply list them below in the comments area. RedBubble addresses numbers 1, 2, 3 and 5. You can benefit greatly by sharing information about your work – #4. This helps you on two levels: 1. Relationships sell art – even a newly formed understanding about an artwork or design. 2. Search engines love to be right. Their job is to match a query (search) to a result (content), so any relevant information that you can supply on the show work page can help search engines find your page(s). E.g., if your browser title says that the image is of St. Kilda, and the title of the work is St. Kilda, and your show work page description is about St. Kilda, and the tags include St. Kilda … well, you have a pretty good shot at ranking in web search for St. Kilda. You could do even better by noting the medium (canvas, print, t-shirt) if possible. Here are a few “extras” that can help you merchandise your show work pages. Remember that you’ll need to use RedBubble formatting to make many of these items appear. You can show a detail of the artwork or t-shirt design. / Matt Simner placed a detail of his t-shirt design next to a full view of the design here. You’ll want to save the image for Web (making it lighter weight) with a width of no more than 335 pixels wide. How to? You can upload the detail image via MyBubble and choose not to publish it. After the image is uploaded, right-click (option+click on the Mac) and “copy the image location.” Paste the image location into the product description using the “!” mark at the beginning and end of the URL. See the RedBubble formatting cheatsheet here. Small images of the finished product. / We noted in the previous Selling article that examples of the real product help shoppers envision it in their places and spaces. Luxquarta also noted on their show work page that the image would look great as a “Laminated print, Mounted print or Canvas print.” And another example of the product in real life. Like this? You might also like … / RedBubble members can show small thumbnails of similar products on show work pages. Yanmos does this very thing here. The design for sale is also available as a free iPhone wallpaper too. With enough views of the iPhone image the shopper might just buy the shirt! You can also use the search category trick that we discussed in the previous post to provide visitors with category links that show a broader assortment of similar work. Small touches make visitors feel at home / It’s always the “little things” that make the difference – like RedBubble packaging, t-shirt inserts, swing tags, etc. Along these lines, Definatalie extends her design aesthetic to hand drawn headers and other visual touches that relate her Profile page to her show work pages. Added protection / Some members opt to manually place a copyright on their show work pages. While RedBubble adds a copyright to all pages, you can add a line reminding visitors about copyright. Rupydetequila added a softly-worded note, while boilerplate copy is available via Creative Commons or other reference websites., e.g., “This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia.” or “All rights reserved. Copyright Rupydetequila. Please do not use my images without permission. Feel free to convo me with any questions about this item. Thanks for checking out my work With love Rupydetequila.” Building your audience / RedBubble allows visitors to email a link to their friends. You can go a step further by asking visitors to: Subscribe to your newsletter Follow you on Twitter Become a Fan of your Facebook business page Matt Simner does this in his Stay in Touch section on each show work page. Building your network / We’ve all been beat over the head about Facebook and Twitter, so let’s just say that your profile and show work pages can include links to your Twitter profile page and Facebook Pages (fan pages or your personal profile). Go forth and personalize / I should reiterate that the goal is to show the work in the best light possible whilst not burdening the page load time with tons of heavy images. There are many other customizations that members have made to their show work pages. Feel free to share links to your ideas and pages below. Also, if you’re interested in helping all RedBubble members sell their work, hop on over to the Sell Art and T-shirts group here. Regards, / Jason

• The Soft Sell - Creating Sales Through Non-Salesy Actions
  by selling

  You can reach a lot of people using the Internet, but creating personal and lasting relationships is a more difficult task. It requires a…

  You can reach a lot of people using the Internet, but creating personal and lasting relationships is a more difficult task. It requires an openness and reciprocity that doesn’t come easily to most people. Not that we artists don’t have the ability, but exposing ourselves emotionally outside of our art takes practice and a thick skin. There’s also a tension between wanting to sell our art and not wanting to be too salesy nor abuse others with self-promotion. So, how can we promote ourselves using a ‘soft sell’ or ‘no sell,’ yet create sales? Here are a few ideas that members have shared in the Selling Group. 1. Share information, help others, and give encouragement on RedBubble It’s easy to get mired in the minutia of everyday life. No one can fault you for addressing personal priorities and work, but it only takes a moment to comment on an artwork, t-shirt, or a bit of writing. Share your expertise or give another member an encouraging sentence or two about how their work made you feel. These activities help elevate your profile – and work – on RedBubble. The more people that view your work, the better your chance of receiving a personal referral. If you’re interested in sharing ideas or have questions about selling art, join the Sales/Sharing Group here. We don’t judge and we don’t bite. Also, check out the RedBubble site and individual group forums. 2. Network web-wide with kindred spirits Track yourself and your interests with Google Alerts and Google Blog Search, among other tools. Alerts and Blog Search help you find websites that have content related to your artwork, t-shirt designs, interest areas, etc. A practical example would be for the Game of Kings to track websites that talk about chess. Chess destinations and fans would surely be interested in learning more about a stellar collaboration featuring artwork about chess. Track them, and then contact them with a friendly head’s up about your work. 3. Add people to your RedBubble Watchlist, Favorite work, and Comment on work Here’s a case of quality over quantity. Discover new kindred spirits, curate your Watchlist, and make insightful and positive comments that spur conversion and relationships. These relationships can bring helpful advice, collaborations, and again, referrals. There have been a number of times that my work didn’t suit a friend’s aesthetic, so I referred them other RedBubble artists. I sent a quick Bubblemail to these artists to note my referral. It’s good karma, and the artists appreciated my thinking of them regardless of the outcome. 4. Publish a blog or website about your subject matter, geography, technique, etc. The key to a blog is updated content. Ask yourself if you can commit to updating at least once each week – if only to post a quote and a link to relevant resources. Readers can visit your website directly or subscribe to a feed of its content. Did you know that you already have a RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feed in your RedBubble profile? Just go to your Profile page, click on Journal, and then find the “RSS” button in the address bar of your browser. You’ll see a page like this one: Simply copy the RSS URL from the browser bar and add it to your iGoogle, MyYahoo, Feedburner, or other newsreader account. Outlook and Apple Mail accept feeds too. Here are a few members that have used their blogs and websites to drive sales on RedBubble: Matt Moylan and Lilformers Helen Nehill and Bowerbird Blues As well as, Ron Moss, Bryce Casselman, Diesel Laws, Soniei, among many others. Please post your blog/website below. 5. Develop a rapport with industry websites Giant caveat – DO NOT simply email a thought-leading website with a generic note and URL, e.g., “please highlight my t-shirt.” Try to develop a rapport with the author first. Start by reading their website. Make sure their content matches your artwork. Ask what it takes to be featured on their website. Send them occasional links to related articles unrelated to your artwork. You’ll make friends in no time. We previously discussed tactics for contacting periodicals, magazines, etc. here. RedBubble can help you find the best press contact for your announcement; learn more in the Sales Group PR forum. 6. Give a little, get a lot Everyone loves freebies, chotchkes – whatever you want to call them. Email a digital postcard to a friend or contact. Embed you message in your artwork and subtly note your URL in the email body copy. Create business cards or product cards. Here’s an example from the always-giving Nuh Sarche. Another way to share is to show works in progress. Sam Dantone is painting a wall mural. It’s not for sale, but I loved that he shared his progress on RedBubble. Whenever I think of costal scenes, I’ll return to this mural and then browse through his portfolio. I could go on forever, but I’m interested in the things that members have tried. Add you comments below, or join the conversation here. Thank you. Regards, / Jason

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is Not Scary.
  by selling

  Firstly, what is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? When you edit (fine tune) your web pages to accurately describe the content on th…

  Firstly, what is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? When you edit (fine tune) your web pages to accurately describe the content on the page, you’re optimizing for search. Search engines will scan your website, index the content, and use it to deliver [what they feel] are the best results to the searcher – hopefully your web pages! Why is this important? The better you rank in Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc., the more “free” natural (aka organic) web traffic you receive. And we’re all hoping that those shoppers convert into buyers. WWGD – What Would Google Do? Google is clear about the steps that website owners should take in order to rank highly in natural search results. And while search engine optimization isn’t hard nor scary, it’s a marathon and not a sprint; building your website or webpage’s online credibility takes time. RedBubble keeps pace with the changes being made in the search engine optimization arena, however, it’s important to note that RedBubble – and your own – organic search engine rank will fluctuate due to the searcher’s country of origin, season, competition, and a variety of other factors. Credibility One of the elements that factors into your website or Profile page organic search rank is credibility – your content’s relevance as related to the shopper’s search query. E.g., does your St. Kilda artwork page have a descriptive title, page content, and tags that make it a relevant match for the shopper’s “St. Kilda photograph” search query? Another factor that determines page credibility is the number of links into your page(s). Known as “inlinks,” these are links from credible (content-relevant) websites to your RedBubble pages or to your personal website. If I had to choose one, I would choose quality links. Quality links mean that prescreened customers are clicking from a related piece of content to your artwork – which increases the chance of a shopper converting into a buyer. How can we increase the number of inlinks to our RedBubble Profile and artwork pages (as well as our personal websites and blogs)? Start with directories Google, Yahoo, Bing, DMOZ, and other directories allow website and page owners to submit their website URLs. There’s almost always a free option, so if you see a pay-for-placement option, look around the page for a “basic,” free option. - Google Add URL / - Yahoo Site Submit / - Bing / - DMOZ.org You can also list your art business as a local business with these websites. - Google Local / - Yahoo Local (choose the Basic listing) / - For larger US cities, Yelp.com Reach out to friends and contacts You can trade links with friends, contacts, or other willing website owners. If you approach third-parties, take the time to review their content, relate to the owner, and explain the benefits of reciprocal linking. There are far too many link exchange scams online for an unsolicited and unsubstantiated request to pass muster. Write and distribute articles, press releases We chatted about writing for press here, but you can start by posting your writing on RedBubble. If you’re not confident in writing about yourself or your art, start by writing about a local event, an art opening, museum visit, or another topic that’s important to you. Be sure to link keywords (anchor text) in your articles to work in your RedBubble portfolio. E.g., if you’re writing about Yosemite National Park, link to your images of Yosemite. Commenting creates conversation Comments on RedBubble encourage fellow artists, and they prompt members to view your profile and artwork. Take that same idea and apply it to websites outside of RedBubble. You can use Google Alerts to find websites that talk about topics related to your artwork. If the topic applies and there is a space for a comment, be sure to add a relevant note with a link back to your work or Profile page. Become the expert and share You have a lot of valuable information stored in that head of yours. Now is a good time to share your expertise in a journal entry, articles on friends’ websites, etc. “Test the water” with a RedBubble journal entry; be sure to solicit feedback. Then paste the amended story as a Facebook Note or blog entry. Ask friends to pass along the article to others that might enjoy it. Again, pepper the article with links to relevant artwork (anchor text) and add a small “by line,” biography, and website link in the footer of the article. Smart tagging with anchor text In short, when you or someone links to your artwork or Profile page, it’s exponentially more effective if the link text – the anchor text – relates to the headline and body copy on the destination (landing) page. E.g., if you link from text that says, “tiger photograph,” link to a page that includes text, art, and other content related to a tiger. Search engines interpret this as a relevant link and therefore worthy of higher placement in search results. If many websites link from “tiger photograph” to your page you’ll rise in search engine results. Never give up Don’t get discouraged if you receive little to no feedback or results from your first efforts. It takes time to build an audience, and there are rewards to be found in the maturation of your writing and in the discovery of new websites, resources, and in meeting new contacts. And remember, even the world’s most successful artists are bad at some things. Ideas come from you RedBubble members always have great ideas, so please comment below. If you can relate the content to your work, be sure to add a link! :-) Thanks. Regards, / Jason

• Merchandise to Increase Your Art and T-shirt Sales
  by selling

  A merchandiser’s goal is to make shopping easier – often resulting in more sales. If you’ve bought an item from a store mannequin displ…

  A merchandiser’s goal is to make shopping easier – often resulting in more sales. If you’ve bought an item from a store mannequin display or purchased an item that was featured on an aisle end (an “end cap”), you’ve experienced a merchandiser’s work. The same goes for those of you that have added a suggested item to your online shopping cart. Here are a few ways to merchandise the art and designs on your RedBubble profile page. The first thing a merchandiser does is to think like a customer / How do you search for art or other products online and what elements of the process guide your buying decision? E.g., which keywords would you use to search for an (you can insert a term here) image or a t-shirt? Jo has a good, quick example here. What information would help you bond with the image? What price point will help the customer decide to buy your art or t-shirt? Be unique / Your images and designs are yours alone, but your written voice has a lot of power in terms of making the shopping experience more fun, or educational, or simply pleasing to the spirit. If there’s a story behind a term or regional colloquialism, be sure to explain it. Show the shopper what else you have in store / Show a print next to a greeting card as a way of up-selling shoppers from a greeting card purchase to a print. Better yet, pair the print and the card and suggest that the shopper purchase both. Learn how to post an image in the description field here. “Approximately 30 percent of category buyers also made purchases in the past year of items where art and illustrations were a prominent feature of the item. The most frequently purchased other art item were calendars and stationery items, bought by just over half of those who made other art-related purchasers. T-shirts (44 percent) and mugs or glasses (40 percent) were the second and third most popular art-related items purchased.” / Source: UM Study, 2006 Rearrange the display case as you add new work / New artwork pushes down older work on your profile page. Carefully curate the first six designs on your profile page with a mix of best-selling and new designs. Press the selling designs and test the new ones. You can change the order of your images by clicking on the Art tab in your MyBubble; use the up and down arrows on the far right-hand side of the page. Tell the shopper why to buy / Where would your photograph look great? Is it a seasonal work? Is it reminiscent of a place or space? Much like a Realtor’s open house, shoppers want to envision themselves in your space and frame of mind. “Most art buyers are willing to spend more for a piece of art that really ‘speaks’ to them. They are highly value oriented and want the art they purchase to represent a good value for the money. At the same time, the majority of art buyers are not particularly motivated by owning an original or one-of-a-kind piece of art. In most cases a good quality reproduction works for them, as long as the buyer really likes the picture.” / Source: UM Study, 2006 Have a sale / Create your own promotion by lowering margins for a period of time. Tell your customer base, friends, and family – if only to have them spread the word. Use holidays as a reason to hold a sale and reach shoppers when they’re in a buying mode. See holiday calendars for Australia, the UK, and USA here. Use the Buyers’ Booth to expose testimonials – written, spoken, and pictorial – as endorsements of your work. / There is an odd psychology around both wanting to discover something new and wanting what others already have. If you can allot the time, create a buyers’ book or collection of your work in offline settings as a way of helping buyers to see your work in their space. Overall, tee artists have done a very good job at this. For print artists, you might find interest in this statistic: “In terms of the size of art bought, a majority (49 percent) reported that their most recent art item purchased was medium sized, or approximately 20-24 inches by 28-36 inches. The next most popular size was small, approximately 16 by 20 inches or smaller, bought by 27 percent of art buyers most recently. Large-sized art, approximately 30 by 40 inches or poster-sized, was bought by 20 percent of art buyers most recently with only 5 percent reporting their most recent art purchase was over-sized, or approximately 40 by 60 inches or larger.” / Source: UM Study, 2006 Tag accurately / Use the Google keyword tool to help identify tags (keywords) that are searched for often. Accurate tagging is the best way to ensure that your work shows up as part of both RedBubble and search engine query results. We can’t emphasize this enough and mention it frequently in the forums. Until next time / There’s your Merchandising 101 primer. Merchandising is both an art and a science. We could teach an entire course or curriculum about using metrics to guide merchandising decisions, but the idea above is to start small, keep the process personal, and to measure – albeit simply – the improvements that an extra bit of marketing polish can make. Have a success story to share or a question? Please comment below. Regards, / Jason Enjoyed what you read here? Join the Selling Group on RedBubble.

• 10 promo ideas for beginners
  by selling

  If you’re not used to promoting your own work, writing articles or showing off your talents, there are some simple things you can do to t…

  If you’re not used to promoting your own work, writing articles or showing off your talents, there are some simple things you can do to test the waters and build confidence. Self promotion needn’t always be about saying ‘here, look at my art’. Your expertise, experiences and knowledge are just as good advertisements for you as an artist: Write a journal about an art event, gallery opening or exhibition you’ve attended. Sell someone else. Tell us about another artist you’ve spotted. Interview them. Give us a behind the scenes look at how you work. Show us pictures. Share hints and tips or write up a tutorial or ‘how to’ about the techniques you use. Share some great resources you’ve found online. Let us know about a big exhibition or show that’s coming to your town. Collaborate on a work with another artist then write about the experience. Tell us the story behind one of your works. Where it happened or what it means to you. Teach yourself a new technique or skill and write about what you learnt. Test drive (borrow) new camera equipment or computer software and write a review. / Once you’ve done these things, make sure you take the opportunity to get them out to the wider world. If social networking is your thing, post it as a note on Facebook, tweet about it on Twitter with a link back to the article and use relevant keywords so others may find it in Twitter search. Drop an email to a local paper or press if you’ve written about a local event. If you’ve written a great tutorial or review, think about bloggers that may be interested in sharing it with their readers. / / The key to getting started is to find something related to your art or your work that you’re confident in sharing or writing about. Don’t just focus on RedBubble as an audience, think about how you can get that extra bit of mileage out of what you’ve written about and who else might be interested. Above all, don’t underestimate your own knowledge or expertise, or assume people won’t be interested or they’ll already know about it. Writing the Community posts has revealed time and time again that this usually isn’t the case and for every 10 people who are familiar with the topic, there are 10 more who really gain some insight from what you’ve written. Nat