update from the trenches
I've been in Serious Thinking mode when I should be painting. As you know, the whole Etsy phenonenon takes up way too much of my thinking time. Lately, shop sales have flattened, and it's keeping me awake at night! But it's also helping me figure out the right direction to take as I observe the successful sellers vs. the not-so. As a result, I'm switching direction a bit and need to clear out some of my more traditional original art (SALE! Was that subliminal enough?). Etsy really is the place for prints. It's pretty amazing to me to see an artist who sells small original paintings for, say, $100, sell the same thing in a print for $28 and sell dozens per day! I still don't get that way of thinking, but I need to start getting with the program if I want sales to pick up. So please check out the ol' shopfront and if you don't like the sale price on any of the older stuff, contact me.
Meantime, Etsy is having a bumper sticker contest. Here's my entry (Fimo fellow conceptualized, designed and constructed by #2 son):
posted by andrea at 10:42 a.m.
10 Comments:
Loving what you do ... and interested to see how you develop your paintings. Isn't the marketing thing difficult? My background is in marketing, and I still do some consultancy ... but can I get my head around marketing my own work? Maybe that's why we need more collaboration. The feedback you, and others, give me on these blogs is so helpful. Keep up the good work ... u sound like you're heading in the right direction. And I found your "Easter" painting so inspirational.
Andrea - this stuff is crazy-making, isn't it?!? Best, best wishes in finding approaches that work well and that you find satisfying. I, too, am grateful that you generously share your experiences with this online for all of our mutual benefits.
Love the Fimo critter! :-)
Have some chamomile tea and get some sleep!
Andrea, I don't have prints in my shop or anywhere else for that matter and very few of my works on and off etsy are under 100.00 (altough I did make some under 10.00 stuff just for the etsy market and got nowhere with it...aaaiiieee)...I have just been using etsy as my original art on sale site and that's seen some good things, but even though... I am begining to feel like etsy isn't the place for things priced over 25.00 each. I don't know...I have spent waaaaay too much time on this as well, and I am not giving up but I don't know what to do about it either. Sales are flat everywhere it seems and I wonder if it's the economy or what. I too appreciate your sharing your trials and tribulations...BAH! Marketing....sheesh! Best of luck to you. :) To us all!
I'm not sure the "SALE" sign was subliminal enough. Can you make it blink, maybe?
Kyknoord got there before me
;-)
Peter: Thanks for the encouragement. I think marketing of art is a trickier business than most marketing, especially one's own!
Tara: Sometimes I just want a regular paycheque... Maybe I should look into illustration. It's not a regualr paycheque but it's a lot closer than what I'm doing. (And I hope you're not working too hard.)
HMBT: Like in anything else, there are a few people who do well and do well all the time, while the rest of us ride the wave. I wish there was an Etsy for art only.
Kyknoord: Was about to blow you a virtual raspberry when I realized that you might be on to something... :)
Cronale (that's a good one!): You get the raspberry then. :)
Love the bumper sticker-I will definitely vote for this one (if we're allowed to)!
One of the people that will be on the Denver Street team is carlasonheim (etsy id)- I think she does pretty well with prints too. I should ask her about that on Sunday when I hope to meet her.
I find this post so relateable! I am currently a seller on Etsy and I learned pretty quickly that Etsy was a more affordable art site. I based that obviously on lacking sales in the beginning and conversations I received that basically stated, "I wish I could afford this". I made some adjustments, sales picked up and I've had some success. What I find even more frustrating is the lack of response to my inquiries of a handful of Esty artisans. I was curious as to their 'secrets of success' and received not one reply back. This is something that I just don't understand. While I am always willing to share knowledge that I may have with other artists', I always hope for the same in return.
Haha your sticker is sure to win! It seems like etsy has a lot more sellers than buyers but that is probably true with Ebay too. I don't think it's logical about the painting for 100 vs the print for 28. but it might be that more people have 28.00 extra bucks than 100.00 extra to spend on a luxury item?
andrea, at the provincetown coop, items under $ 15 went like hotcakes, between $ 20 and 30 less so but still strong. i think this is due to people who don't understand what it takes to make and produce art, but know enough that they want to have something handmade.
I wonder about the coops and independent craft/art gift shops where your prints would/could work really well.
i so admire your effort in figuring it out. !
:)
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