Last week we posted some initial results to our recent Art and the Internet Survey. The survey gives us a glimpse into the internet life of artists. While the general results were enlightening, today I want to begin sharing more in-depth analysis – this post will specifically look at what the most successful artists are doing and we’ll compare those results with the “average” artist.
As always, it’s important to note that this is not a scientific survey – the respondents are self-selecting, not a randomized group. Total response was around 750 participants, but the group we’re pulling this information from is much smaller – 23 artists who are selling more than $20,000 worth of art on their website. As a result, the averages are even further from scientific – consider this anecdotal information and use the information accordingly.
First, let’s look at how long these artists have operated their sites. Unsurprisingly, successful internet art marketers have been at it for a while. A majority of the artists who are selling $20,000+ launched their sites over 3 years ago, and around 39% have been running their sites for 10+ years.
These successful marketers have most of their work showing on their site.
They also spend more time than the average artist updating their site. In our first post you can see that only 29% had updated the site within the last week. Among artists who are selling a high volume of art, 39% had updated within the last week and a full 69% had updated within the last 4 weeks.
Successful internet marketers are also spending more time working on their sites.
The Mechanics of Generating Sales
So how do they manage to generate these sales?
First, surprisingly, only 30% have a shopping cart right on the site. This would indicate that there is a high level of direct, personal involvement with each sale, even though it was generated through the site.
Successful internet merketers feel that the internet is going to be an increasingly important part of their marketing efforts.
In our initial results we found that 14% of all artists feel their website is their most important advertising channel. Among successful internet art sellers almost 50% felt the website was their most effective advertising tool.
Successful internet art marketers are putting not only a lot of time into their sites, they are investing in site design and maintenance.
For over half of the respondents, they spent from $500 - $5000+ designing and setting up the site initially. (We’ll be looking in a future post at whether or not we can draw a correlation between amount spent on site and sales – the flip side of this question)
These artists are re-designing and refreshing their sites far more frequently than the average artist.
Demographics
Finally, let’s look at the demographics. Again, this information is from such a small sample that you will see the demographics aren’t necessarily what is indicative of what it takes to be successful online. This information will at least give you an idea of who these successful marketers are:
I look forward to your feedback on this dataset. What else would you like to learn from our survey? How has this information influenced you to change your approach to your website?
Be sure and use think link in the upper right of this page to like me on FaceBook so that you can see additional results from this and other survey’s and keep up to date with RedDotBlog.
About Jason Horejs
Jason Horejs is the Owner of Xanadu Gallery, author of best selling books "Starving" to Successful & How to Sell Art , publisher of reddotblog.com, and founder of ARTsala. Jason has helped thousands of artists prepare themselves to more effectively market their work, build relationships with galleries and collectors, and turn their artistic passion into a viable business.
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
This is GREAT Jason!! Great job!!
Thank you!
What about if an artist is represented by multiple galleries. There are galleries who would probably not be happy that an artist was selling directly to clients. How do you figure put who’s turf is who’s even between galleries representing the artist. This has been a judgement call for me to navigate at different points because there isn’t a set protocol depending on the types of galleries and how exclusive they want to be with each artist. I’d love to hear input about these types of issues.
I have definitely been bad about not updating mine by the way. Used to pay to have it done but ended up doing it myself thinking I would keep it current more often. But I’ve probably been worse about it. I need to go back to this drawing board especially because I have an iPhone & could be much better w this amazing tool.
Thanks for all of the research yall do by the way. Always have good topics to think about.
Cathy
What really sticks out to me is the age of the participants in the survey. I think if you had a majority of younger or middle aged participants that you would have different results. I am pushing 60 and have tried to get as computer savy as I can, but there is a huge number of younger artists selling and using their websites complete with stores for alot of their sales. I have been following the careers of one of these artists who only sells on the web and she is doing quite well for herself, her work is flying off of her website and she runs several online auctions.
very interesting I seem to be pretty mainstream…..
Wow people sold 21 percent of their work from their website. I’ve gotten a commission but never sold from the site.
People do like to see what I’m doing by seeing the artwork online but they buy in person. I will do a better job
of figuring how to get more traffic and to update more often. Helpful information,thank you
what an interesting survey inparticular the age group! Yet, it does not surprise me as in this age most are more financially secure, have more time and their skill at art has either greatly improved or they have more confidence. I don’t have a personal website yet ( not sure what is best – a professional or my own, there are the cost factor, advantages and disadvantages). My work is shown (free with facebook) the Helfa Gelf website and group which covers the whole of North Wales, to participate one has to have an open studio or hire a place with a group wherby you can have an open studio as a place. There is a mixed age group in this and background. It will be interesting to know how many visitors and work I will sell this way. In the past I have mainly shown and sold my paintings and felt works through local galleries, local competitions and retail shops, craft stalls. however in future in order to get an a wider audience I find I will need my own website and join more website gallery groups. Some uk galleries won’t consider your work unless you have a Degree, studio and website. They can also lock you into contracts and control how you, where show your work.
Excellent information for both the individual artist and the gallery. Now if I can only find a way to design my website so that I can change it weekly. At present I can only do that via my blog, which is linked to on the front page of my site. I hope you will do research in that area. For now, thank you for the above!
Sigrid
Thank you for this very interesting information. I’ve sold my art in person, and in galleries, and I do not have a shopping cart on my website because my website builder knows more about posting images and computers than I do. I don’t have all my art on my website for the same reason. I keep painting and drawing, however. I am grateful that I can do this and I am thankful Xanadu and you are still working.
I think online success has a lot to do with the nature of the work ( I am not refering to the quality ) I make sculpture and am actually uncomfortable selling to people who have had no realworld experience with the work. Graphics and some types of painting can be well represented, but still most sales seem to be initially prompted by having seen the actual somewhere.
I have been meaning to redo my website and this has made me realize I need to add some things like mailing list. Would love more info on what type of print advertising is used. My mailing list is sooo old. Does anyone buy those art lists?
It would be great to know in depth what exactly the most successful internet artists do to drive sales from their website. Do they advertise on other art sites? Do they do Google Analytics or pay to get on the first page of searches? How do they get the traffic? How do they close sales? What percentage of sales are from local art buyers or from all over (including outside the US)? Are art buyers getting more comfortable purchasing art without actually seeing it in person? Do they find that art buyers are satisfied with their purchase after buying it and viewing it in person? I am very interested in this method of selling art.
Thanks. I found this very enlightning.
I would be interested in finding out the price of the paintings bought from the websites; ie, are internet sales tending to be smaller items? Does the survey reflect the sale of actual original art, or do the online sales also include cards, prints, etc.? Also, I wonder about the “cold sales”, ie, customers who purchased from the site without having actually seen the artists work “in the flesh” previously. Just thinking that this info might make the survey more enlightening. Thanks!
I did leave a comment. It appears above! Clearly, I am one of those “older” artists who is not quite at home with the computer!
As an artist with three online websites, and as a gallery owner with a retail space, I have found both “venues” seem to be equally important. The websites definitely drive traffic to the gallery, and I still maintain that 90 percent of buyers want to see the “real thing” before deciding to purchase. We are talking original art, no reproductions!
But, if someone has already purchased a work, or has seen a “live” example, they are willing to purchase, or arrange a purchase online. I don’t believe art acquisition will ever become a purely “online” activity. There is too much of the “experience” of discovering a new work of art, that needs to be in person, with the tactile and visual clues that are only present with a real live interaction! I think as artists, we all have to hope this is the case – otherwise, machines will be making art for the masses!
The survey does not mention the price of the art work. If the gallery price averages between $ 5,000 and $20,000 the client will need to see the work. My collectors know my work so I have sold works directly to them when they have only seen it on my site. There are many factors that need to be considered regarding sales. However, the website is a necessity and updating it regularly indicates you are not an amateur trying to show otherwise with just a dozen works to your name!
I have pretty much the same experience as mentioned above by Norman Nelson.
I have had 1 commission and 2 sales from my web site. I had no previous direct, indirect, or phone contact prior to these sales. However, these were generated over a 12 year period. I don’t think I could make a living as these figures demonstrate with only online sales. I have had more sales resulting from direct contact through shows and other markets. I wish it were otherwise. It seems that ‘my people’ need to see my work before a decision is made to buy.
A good question to answer would be: “ What is the range of price points the most successful artist has for sold art?”. This, to me, would be very telling. For example, Etsy, a web site that many artists and crafters display their work, is very good for selling inexpensive work. But inexpensive work may not sell well either, good or otherwise. It’s very confusing. There is even work that’s priced at hundreds of thousands of dollars on Etsy, but I would venture to think little if none is sold. It seems more like a social web site that gets your work on line for the world to see, but that’s about it.
My personal experience in pricing my own work has been a huge rollercoaster, never sure, and always thinking I was over priced for my area. That was a big mistake. I kept hearing comments like, ‘your pieces are priced so reasonably’. Those words used to make me feel good by thinking I was in the ball park—another big mistake. The phrase ‘reasonably priced’ has come to mean for me under priced, period. For many artists I’ve met, their work is extremely under priced (in my opinion) and they could be doing so much better.
While selling at shows and markets, consistent comments I heard were: ‘You don’t belong here’, ‘Your stuff needs to be in galleries.’, or, ‘You could be doing so much better in L.A., San Francisco, or in New York’, and so on. These exact words were voiced by both would-be clients and vendors. It was music to my ears (and my ego), but it didn’t pay the bills.
All this is going somewhere, I promise—a little long for the blog but here goes.
I am not certain about selling on line. I think given enough time, which I’m running out of, online sales will definitely be key to generating enough sales to earn a living. Right now though, unless somewhere out in web land there are enough people who are web cruising for art and can say to themselves while viewing a piece on their computer screen, ‘Oh, I like this one. I think I’ll get it.’, and the price point for this object is in the thousands, I probably will be doing more business by directly marketing in shows and being represented in art galleries.
I usually ask how my clients find me and the internet is becoming more and more common as the answer. The poll makes me realize how much more active I need to be in adding content on a regular basis. When I receive calls, I often refer them to my site to use the images as I try to understand what kind of work they are looking for. The site has become a great tool in that way. Thank you for the motivation!
I found this very interesting. The ages were interesting too. I have recently recreated my website on squarespace and add photos, links, interview’s, etc… in my “news” section. I also have my Twitter feed on the home page. I add pictures when I have new work. I will now consider changing the site more frequently. I do have rotating pictures on the home page to make it more interesting. I would appreciate any feedback on my site that you can give me! I struggle to determine how to increase sales. My work is mixed media metal sculptures. Maybe a little hard to get a good feel for online?
I did leave a comment above. However, there is one more thing that needs mention: As with business cards and portfolio, these days I believe it is absolutely necessary to have a web site, regardless of how much business is generated from it. In almost all cases when talking with prospective clients, they eventually ask if I have a web site. It is increasingly becoming a major factor unless the artist is widely well known.
Thanks Jason — very timely and interesting information! I was talking about this subject yesterday with a group of artists. It looks like the most successful of the internet artists are being very consistent with their marketing. I’m curious whether price range of their art makes a difference? Do smaller, less expensive pieces sell better than large? Thanks again!
Very, very useful information here! The differences between all respondents and the top sellers is pure gold!
I’d be interested in seeing a discussion of categorization strategies, as previously suggested, but I suspect that’d have to be another survey. Something that might be available from the current dataset is the type of art. As Stephen H. mentioned, how online success compares to the nature of the work would be most enlightening.
Another thing that might be available and highly useful is stats on use of Flash/Javascript animation vs. static display. I’m guessing a lot of Flash/animation for all responders, maybe very little for the top sellers?
Something else that struck me was the “most effective marketing channel” question. Of all respondents, 13% said Social Media, of the top sellers – 0%. I wonder if that’s because their websites are so successful they don’t see the need? Would love to see more stats on what people are doing to drive traffic to the website.
A note on email lists: They can no doubt be effective in a marketing strategy, but in my experience they are much more labor-intensive than you might expect. I don’t see that chart for the “all respondents” group, might be interesting to see if there’s much difference.
Perhaps I should mention, I’m not an artist, I’m a web developer. I’m looking at this from a slightly different angle, but my goals are the same: The success of artists’ websites.
Quite an interesting and informative survey I should say. I have been wondering how effective online presence would be. In the past, I have sold my work mostly through art galleries and have not had any sales experience through online yet. Since website connects into global markets, I am not comfortable with the idea of making sales abroad. The shipment regarding each country’s custom policy etc. concerns me. I would be interested in learning more in depth the whole procedure of the sale online.
It was also interesting to learn how the price range of art work relates to online sale. Larger the amount people have to pay, people want to make sure what they are paying for, seems to make sense.
Thank you for the valuable information.
I have found that some galleries do not like to compete with the artist’s on-line shop. I have been told I am too commercial. Websites can be expensive to set up and although they are a window on the world of the artist most of us would prefer to paint as its our livelihood. On-line shops don’t seem to generate much income but people see the images and then buy from a gallery or contact me directly. My on-line shop only sells to UK customers at the moment but I intend to make sales abroad in the near future. This seems to be a huge task because of the tax and exporting rules for each country. The postage also seems a nightmare to work out.
Its hard to find a balance, particularly as many galleries are only interested in originals and not prints. I pay to have originals professionally captured for limited edition prints but there are many galleries who won’t sell them.
I abandoned the traditional gallery racket entirely at the beginning of 2012 and sell exclusively via eBay….and I’ve never looked back. It took a few months but I can support myself from my art now. I am a realist painter living in Vancouver, Canada
http://simonshawnandrews.wordpress.com/
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