Kathy- I just read your messages to Annie and was curious- I am going to start a website and try to sell via online - your comments are intriguing- I would like to know how you started and what I need to look out for when I first start up.  Could you give this rookie a few tips?  Deb

PS.  You have some wonderful pieces- Love the detail_ Wow!

Hi Kathy, thanks for the nice comment about my articles!  I must confess I know absolutely nothing about internet marketing, which is why I leave that subject to the other writers.  I have noticed a shift from brinck-n-morter galleries to virtual galleries, but web galleries have not been successful for me.  My clients go to my website to help them make decisions before they purchase, but I have never had any 'cold' sales from the internet.  People use my site to get more info about me and my art, and thus it has helped increase my income, but internet presence has not initiated any business for me.  In fact, I'm thinking about deleting some of my profiles and links from some of the art sites that I'm on because of the spam that they generate.  For instance, I get a lot of phishing, scam, and spam from people that are havesting my web address and email address from popular art sites (my site tracker allows me to see the path that people use to find my site, and where they are from, IP address, and other useful info.)  By comparing this against the internet path details of the spam, I can often see where they find my address.  Of course, spammers get my address from other sources as well, such as newspaper articles, show listings, reviews, propectuses, and other things that get archived online.  So removing my info from from the worst offending art sites will help some, but not eliminate the spam problem. 

Having info on the web does help close some sales, but it's a catch-22.  I think I also lose some sales because local clients can go to the web instead of coming to my studio.  I have a better chance of closing a sale and also up-selling if i have face-to-face contact with the client.  It's harder to do that with email.

ta ta,

Annie

Thank you!  It's actually a relief print not a painting, but I appreciate the nice comment on it.

e.