My Venture into Marketing - Part I

Nan Johnson Fine Art Storefront

Use discount code WELCOME for a
10% discount on all paintings & mountings
discount expires 10/31/12

Let me start by saying that I have a new website/store online with my paintings. I am still with DPW as well, and this blog continues also. I wanted to try and expand my work into a larger market, if possible. And as the above states, use the discount code WELCOME for a 10% discount on all paintings - good until the end of the month

Getting to this point took about 2 solid weeks of research, tests & trials. I thought I would share some of it with everyone, as it turned into a bit of an education for me.

Marketing is not my strong point, in fact, I shy away from promoting my work. It's an area I am not comfortable with, and we always tend to avoid what is uncomfortable. But I also knew, if I wanted to expand the sales of my work, I would need to do something. So it was time to put on my big girl panties, as they say, and step forward.

I recently saw a online website that an artist friend setup, and I thought I would try this path again. The biggest thing I learned when I explored the online options is that there is a difference between a website online, and an online storefront. Each one offers similar options, but you need to decide what it is you are really trying to do.

A website is a place to show your work, almost as in it's own gallery. You can explain techniques, offer optional photos, and yes - set them up to work with a Paypal Buy It or Add to Cart purchase. It is a gallery first, with purchasing capabilities. It usually does not offer discount code options, or inventory control, and some of these websites require a bit of manual labor to setup the Paypal pieces.

A storefront is exactly what it says, a store. Less of a website/gallery, it does offer your paintings as visual options. And a description can be added to each painting. But the overall look will be more of a "store" rather than an artist "show" or "exhibit." A storefront does offer more robust payment setups than the websites do, with discount codes and tracking info.

This is all based on the testing I did. Here is a list of the online software options I tested:
1) Facebook with Payvment app
2) FASO
3) ArtSpan Professional
4) Shopify
5) BigCartel
6) WetDog/Quick Shopping Cart

My final decision was based on 5 basic things:
1) overall "look" of my online site
2) ability to do discount codes
3) some kind of inventory control
4) price options as pull-downs
5) monthly cost

I finally opted to use BigCartel, and if you head over to my store, you will see the display & options it has. You will also note that I have discount codes setup - hence the code WELCOME which is active & available for use by any of you that select items for purchase.

In my next posts, I will describe the online options I tested, what I liked - what I didn't. I will also explain what I had to do to make Nan Johnson Fine Art a reality.