Art Print Issues by Barney Davey

Marketing Art Online Using Twitter

In the Art Business, Social Media Simply Is an Effective Marketing Tool to Sell More Art.

Regular readers know I am a proponent of artists using social media to grow awareness for their work and sell more art.

While I have a solid understanding of Twitter, I've always known there was more to it, if I just had the right information and tools.

Recently, I found a jewel of an e-book, The Art of Marketing Art Online, by Icelandic visual artist, Heidi Bjork.

At Only $7.99, This Affordable Art Marketing Online E-book Is a Steal!

You can order for your Kindle, or as a digital download e-book from the Payloadz site.You will find it offers great value as it is loaded with deep insight and practical advice for visual artists on how to effectively use Twitter to promote themselves and sell their work.

It is obvious Heidi has given lots of thought on how artists can use Twitter in their art marketing efforts. That she is a successful professional artist herself who has used the same steps she outlines in the book helps to validate her credentials and solid marketing art online advice.

Readers Will Learn the Key Elements to Creating a Powerful Art Marketing Brand Using Twitter

1. Username
2. Profile Picture
3. Professional Background
4. Follower count

You will learn new ways get more from Twitter by effectively using TwitPic, #hashtags and ReTweets, and how to turn "power searches" into a powerful art marketing tool. Building traffic is a key component of achieving success on Twitter, and you will find useful ideas on how to make that happen for you.

When it comes to social media, you can see from the YouTube video below that Heidi walks the talk in using available tools to promote her book.

 

Facebook Has a Click Through Rate of 287%. Twitter's Click Through Rate is a Staggering 1904%.

That head turning statistic alone ought to be enough to help you move towards fully incorporating Twitter into your art marketing arsenal. Here are some other key items that will help you use Twitter to maket your art marketing more robust:

• Why choosing to use the right URL shortener is marketing genius
• How to grow your followers and why you need a large group of followers
• Learn about Twitter Karma and how to use it to your advantage
• How employing automated Twitter marketing tools can make your job easier and your results more dramatic
• How to stay on top of your Twitter marketing by using the TweetDeck platform
• Learn what is the best tool to streamline your Twitter account management, so you can track and easily know who to follow and how to safely unfollow in the right way to avoid account suspension
• The best way to make use of promotional tweets
• How to effectively get the best results and not over do it, which can lead to a reputation for spamming
• How to use RSS to syndicate your Twitter feed

The book is an easy quick read, well worth every penny you pay for it. It will give you a whole new perspective on how using Twitter can be a most effective online art marketing tool for visual artists. Learn from Heidi's practical advice, which is born from her personal experience, and you are sure to find new succes marketing your art online.

You follow Heidi on her blog at: http://heidibjork.com/ or on Twitter @Heidi_Art.

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10 Questions about EBSQ Art ~ the Online Community for Self-representing Visual Artists

Having always been a strong supporter of visual artists being independent as possible, I became an instant fan of EBSQ Art upon learning about it years ago.

In Internet time, ideas, companies and online communities come and go in the blink of an eye. If you think back about how much has changed since 2000, EBSQ Art's longevity is simply amazing. It truly is a testament to its ability to evolve and add value to its members.

I recently had the opportunity to pose ten questions to Amie Gillingham, the site's CEO and guiding force behind its great success story. If you are an visual artist and not already part of this vibrant valuable community, I urge you to consider joining.

1.            What is EBSQ Art and where did it get the name?

EBSQ is an online artist community geared towards artists who sell or otherwise promote their work directly to the public. A lot of people wonder the heck what our acronym could possibly stand for. But actually, our name is a derivation of e-Basquiats which was what our earliest members were dubbed when they were selling on eBay at the turn of the century. EBSQ as a keyword became their calling card. Our artistic sensibilities have greatly expanded since our founding in 2000, but the name stuck.

2.            What is the mix of art available on your site?

Our site leans heavily toward traditional fine art, but we also have a nice smattering of digital artists, photographers, jewelers, glass artists, and all manner of artisans. You'll find everything from realism to contemporary cubism to fantasy and steampunk to Pysanky eggs!

3.            Creating and selling art is an obvious part of the community. How well are your members doing using the site to get their work to market?

EBSQ isn't a traditional e-commerce site. We're actually more of a hub for an artist's total online marketing strategy. We do allow members to make items available for sale either by providing contact information for the buyer or by using their preferred payment gateway on individual items, but we don't have a site-wide payment system in place. So a lot of our metrics come from what our customers have reported to us.

Back in November 2010, we upgraded a lot of our site code and our Certificate of Authenticity systems was temporarily unavailable. We were actually surprised by how many artists were coming to us, desperate for COAs because they had a backlog of sold artwork to ship to their customers. While we're quite sorry folks had to wait for us to get this feature back online, it was gratifying to know that both the service was so much in demand and how many artists were doing better sale-wise than they were the year before. Folks that are just starting out might have a rough time of it at first, but artists that have hung in there during the recession are seeing at least a small rebound in sales above and beyond the expected uptick during the holiday season.

We do see a shift in where our artists are making items available for sale beyond our website. EBSQ traffic has moved from being largely at eBay to largely at Etsy. Imagekind and CafePress have fallen out of favour and Zazzle has become the POD vendor of choice. And a lot of members are marketing their work directly on their blogs and Facebook pages. Our goal is to provide as much support as we can for our artists, regardless of their venue of choice.

4.            Besides having an established online venue to showcase their work, what other benefits do artists enjoy with their participation?

EBSQ has a lot of the tools you'd expect from an art site in this day and age: bulk uploads, unlimited portfolios, Google Analytics-powered stats, social sharing tools, and the like. One rather unique feature is our digital Certificate of Authenticity. Artists have the option to print or email our COAs to buyers, who are then able to "lock" their COA. They can even transfer COAs if the work is resold and the provenance of the work travels with it.

Our community is the biggest unexpected benefit cited by our members. Not every member makes it to our forums, but those that do tend to stick around and get a lot more out of their membership than those that don't. Especially in a down economy, it's helpful to stay immersed in an artistic environment.

Another benefit unique to EBSQ is our extensive exhibition schedule. Currently, we run 3 exhibits every month. This year includes several juried exhibits as well as our annual benefit for the Susan G Komen Foundation. Shows are a great way to get involved, challenge yourself, and get your work seen. You can check out our 2011 exhibition calendar here:

http://blog.ebsqart.com/2011/01/05/announcing-our-2011-exhibition-schedule/

5.            Do your members volunteer to help keep the site functioning? Are they compensated for their efforts, or is it pro bono for the good of the site?

Our site is a mixture of paid staff and volunteer members. Our handful of volunteers serve as topic hosts/moderators on our forums where they're already active participants and were already acting as unofficial community leaders. In some cases, we've had members serve as bloggers in exchange for membership. We think the knowledge and skill they bring to our blog is a huge asset and we're lucky to have them!

6.            How has online marketing changed since EBSQ Art was launched?

Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, YouTube, and blogging going mainstream have completely changed the rules of the game. Five years ago, these were optional venues an artist could use to gain a massive edge over the competition. Now, they're practically a requirement in the self-representing artist market if you want to stay in the game.

7.            How well do artists selling digital fine art reproductions do on the market?

I've found that artists who are well-established and sell their originals at a higher price point do MUCH better in the print market. When you can't afford or otherwise lost out on a sought-after original, the reproduction becomes more desirable.

That said, artists who actively and aggressively market their reproductions do much better than artists who simply post work for sale at sites like Imagekind and RedBubble and wait for something to happen. But more about that later!

8.            It has been a rocky road for many artists in the recent past, what is your vision or how do you feel about what will happen next?

I truly don't have a clue what the future holds. And that's kind of exciting! But I do know that artists who stay the course and keep creating and actively marketing their work through the bad times will have a leg up on those who packed in their dreams until it's no longer a rainy day. Carpe diem

9.            What advice do you give to artists for getting the most from their participation with EBSQ Art?

While this advice is true for EBSQ, I believe it also holds true for most, if not all, online venues, including personal websites. Don't post and pray. Be active. Participate and update regularly. Engage with your peers and potential customers. And above all, don't stop creating and posting new work.

Looking at stats for individual members, those that see the most traffic are active. They enter shows regularly. They're chatty on the forums. They're constantly on the front page because they're always creating and adding new work. When we added Google Analytics to our toolbox for artists, members were stunned to see how much of their traffic was a direct result of their activity, particularly show entries.

I've had artists leave EBSQ, complaining that the site didn't "work" for them. But more often than not, when I look at their portfolios, I see a lot of self-sabotage. In many cases, the artist uploaded a handful of pieces on their first day, didn't bother to give them titles, dates, or statements, didn't enter any shows, didn't even fully complete their profile, and never engaged with the site in any way. Of course they're not going to see success! It would be foolish to think otherwise. I don't care how amazing your artwork is. Post. And. Pray. Doesn't. Work. Period.

10.          What is your elevator speech for why artists should join EBSQ Art?

EBSQ is an online community for artists who want to take control of their own art careers. We're a hub where you can house your full portfolio, link to all of your online venues, easily establish the provenance of your work with our Digital Certificate of Authenticity tools, and connect with a global art community. We've been here for a decade, we've stayed small and kept a passionate focus on serving our community, and we still answer our own email. Our mantra remains the same since our founding in 2000: Support Living Artists!

-Amie Gillingham
CEO, EBSQ
web: http://www.ebsqart.com
blog: http://blog.ebsqart.com
twitter: http://twitter.com/ebsq
Get out of the vacuum and express yourself!

Build an Art Market - Profit from Your Passion

I love to read stories about artists who succeed against improbable odds. The news in this post should bring hope, joy and encouragement to visual artists everywhere.

The past five years have been very difficult for artists and publishers in the art print market. The dwindling pages in trade magazines and disappearance of formerly important tradeshows serving the art print market punctuate the point.

Tough times do not mean there are no opportunities

Given current conditions, it is a wonder any artist or publisher is doing well. And, yet here is a story proving when you follow your passion and create something that touches people in a compelling way, you can grow a profitable art business in the most trying times. Such is the case of Ashley Goldberg and her partner Drew. She is an artist who draws whimsical images and turns them into prints sold on her Etsy shop.

Kudos for getting ink from Inc. Magazine!

The result of creating such work and making it available on Etsy is her site is one of the most "hearted" on all of Esty and she and her partner Drew end up as part of a cover story in Inc. magazine. The cover story title is How to Launch a Dream Career and Profit from Your Passion. The aricle within the feature about Ashley and Drew is titled Start-Ups 2010: Building a Market for Art. 

Take heart and take notice.

It's obvious not every artist reading this post is destined to be featured in a national business magazine. Nevertheless, there are unending promotional and publicity opportunities for visual artists willing to work at turning possibilities into realities. You can be one of them if you put your mind, your body and your will to it.

If you want to be noticed, do something worth noting.

I do not know if AshleyG and Drew courted the publicity directly, or if they just got "lucky." Truly, it does not matter. If it is the latter, as I suspect, I would argue their luck is the residue of the hard and dedicated work they have put into making their art print business happen.

I bet the best is yet to come and that we have not heard the last from AshleyG and Drew. What is exciting to me is I know there are many more artists out there who are breaking into the print market on their own terms and enjoying the success that comes with it. If you are one of them, I would love to hear from you.

How to Protect Your Rights and Know Your Responsibilites on the Internet

Long before the advent of social media, and the 800-pound gorilla that Facebook has become in that patch, artists, art publishers and art marketers already had moved towards establishing some sort of dominion on the World Wide Web. Since you are reading this blog post, the probability is you have grabbed some digital online real estate yourself, or you are on the verge of doing so.

Statistics show roughly 45% of Americans generate their own online content including videos, podcasts, blogs, Facebook and MySpace pages and online profiles. If you are operating a website, publishing a blog or email newsletter, or offering original content online you need to be aware of how Internet laws apply to you.

You need to know your rights and responsibilities on the Internet

Joy Butler is a Washington, D.C. based Harvard-educated attorney and author. She has written what perhaps is the best legal primer you will ever need to help you fully understand your rights and responsibilities when staking your claim on the Internet. Her new book is  The Cyber Citizen's Guide Through the Legal Jungle: Internet Law for Your Professional Online Presence .

The books covers, in easy-to-understand language, how you can protect your online content, select protectable domain names, and comply with privacy obligations to online visitors. You will find copyright, trademark, defamation, patent and privacy are among the laws discussed.

There are certain resources that should be indispensable, this book is one of them. It should be "must" reading for anyone who wants to know to protect their interests and avoid potential problems and serious consequences due to operating in the dark. I read this book after receiving a complimentary review copy. I found it most useful and informative and gladly would pay to have this practical resource on my bookshelf.

Become informed, make better decisions and save money on legal fees

Lawyers will charge you large hourly fees to explain what you find here for a pittance by comparison. That's not to say it replaces genuine legal advice when needed, but if you don't have to pay to get the basic understanding of Internet laws, then you come in educated and saving yourself billable hours by learning beforehand what this comprehensive book offers.

Butler also is the author of a book previously recommended here. It is titled The Permission Seeker's Guide Through the Legal Jungle: Clearing Copyrights, Trademarks and Other Rights for Entertainment and Media Productions . It provides detailed guidance for obtaining permission to use quotes, music, artwork, names trademarks, film clips, and other protected materials. As with the book featured here, I read and reviewed this book after receiving a complimentary copy. And, likewise, I believe the invaluable information it provides makes it an easy decision to pay to add to any resource library.

Visual Artist's Perceptions & Selling More Art with Partners

When it comes to visual art, the finished product is all about the artist's perception. You fashion your work based on your reaction to how you see, feel and think about your subject matter. Those things mattered as much to Marcel Duchamp and his famously recycled porcelain sculpture, i.e. Toliet 'ready-made', as they did to Jackson Pollock methodically and randomly dripping and splaying paint, or Picasso rendering his exquisite Still-life with a Pitcher and Apples.

Are you an artist, or you an entrepreneur or a small business person? Your perceptions about yourself are equally as important to your art career as your artistic vision is to your creativity. What you take in, how you fell about your business, how you react to the changes and challenges to your business and how you present yourself are all part of your perceptions about yourself.

The point is if you want your art and your business both to be taken seriously by those who matter most. That list is comprised of your patrons, your partners and your pushers. Often times, the lines between these types is blurred. For instance, you may likely find your best pushers, i.e. those who work at promoting you, among your patrons and your partners.

If what you are passionate about in your art carries over to the rest of your life, it will immeasurably boost your art career. Obviously, you want your collectors to have the best impression about your talent and vision. You want them to buy into your story because if they do they are likely to become a repeat buyer, which is a key to your long term success as a visual artist.Your mission with your patrons is to have them hold you in the highest esteem possible as an artist.

Pushers are those people and companies that champion your art for you, whether paid or out of passion, or both, these invaluable resources can impart a near magical exponential effect on your career. You will come by some naturally. In other cases, it is incumbent upon you to actively form relationships with centers of infuence who just happen to love your work.

When it comes to the business side of your career, having great partners can be a huge help. Partners can be anyone or any company that assists you in some way to get your work created, or get it to market. Although there are many, two fine examples of companies that work with artists and offer ancillary services to help them market their art are Digital Arts Studio, a digital fine art printmaking studio in Atlanta, GA, and FASO, Fine Art Studio Online, a web developer and hosting company in San Antonio, TX that specializes in building websites for artists.

In both cases, these companies have created online galleries for their artist clients to use to help promote their art. Digital Arts Studio has created the Fine Art Marketplace for the exclusive use of its artists to have an online venue to present and sell their fine art giclee prints. FASO uses a complete directory of artists on its main site. Both serve the same multiple purposes. They help the painters get online recognition, it helps the partners get the same, and increases the odds of everyone involved succeeding at higher levels. What's not to like about that?

Take a minute to do a personal assessment to discover how you perceive yourself. If you already think in terms of being a successful entrepreneur, or artrepreneur if you will, good for you. If you don't, you only need to begin to act and think like you are to change your perception -- and your results. When it comes to partners, assess what are they doing to help you. It won't hurt to think about what you are doing to help them. This is especially true when it comes to your gallery partners.

 

For Some Artists, Marketing Limited Edition Giclees Makes Dollars and Sense

In the art business, when it comes to the subject of limited edition giclée prints, there are those who feel as strongly about using them as I do about not. While I remain opposed to the practice for most artists, I fully understand the argument for using limited edition prints from those who rely on them to complete their business.

I do not wish for my opinions on not limiting giclee prints to stand in the way of anyone who is being successful, or to deter them from doing those things that help them get to market. Rather, I applaud those who make it work. Certainly, history shows there are innumerable successful visual artists who exclusively market their work using limited editions. Still, I believe there is a better way today.

A year ago, I wrote a post titled Five Opposing Thoughts on an Art Career. and used a famous quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald to illuminate it. I find the same quote apropos to today’s post. And, once again, with apologies to F. Scott Fitzgerald, I offer you this thought:

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless yet be determined to make them otherwise.
~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

To be clear, while I have not softened my stance on using marketing giclees, or digital fine art reproductions, as open editions, I merely welcome other voices. To that end, I have summarized a thoughtful insightful retort regarding my posts on this subject and present it to you here.

The reply comes from one of the industry’s most well regarded giclee printers, Gary T. Kerr of Fine Art Impressions LLC in Davidson, North Carolina. Let me know if you have your own opinions to add to this lively conversation.

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Hi Barney,

I am always in alignment with you on your writings, but this one I would like to influence you on as follows:

We have a case study where one of my artists sold a giclee for $33,000. It has a 10 page contract stating how the buyer can hang the piece and that they have licensed only one hanging position and that the other 3 ways it can hang are considered derivative uses and not allowed. The artist attends the installation of these diptychs which are 10 x 16 feet. Now comes the edition issue... these prints are editions of 13. Question, do you think the buyer would write the check for $33,000 in these were "open" editions?

Galleries drive the decision to use limited edition giclees

The facts are it is galleries that have pushed us toward limited, not our artists. The galleries want "exclusivity." I agree it is a coercion of value. But in this world of marketing, they (galleries) need some sales pitch for the floor, limited editions have given them that hook (albeit a weak hook today).

Regarding later made prints being better... Not necessarily so, not in the vast majority of cases. This is due to the fact that the quality of a reproduction stems from the capture process not the quality of wide format printer technology. Files coming out of our studio can be printed on a $99 inkjet from Officemax and blow away many marketplace prints. That's because our capture process is second to none -- I've got the magazine articles and white papers to prove that (but I'm sure you already know).

The pace of progress on improvements in digital fine art printing has slowed

I also think we are seeing the end of era with pushing printer improvements. Getting more ink channels, DPI, and color gamut is not happening at the pace of 5 years ago. Although improvements will be made, it will be at a far more gradual pace and meaningless when it comes to improving quality greatly. The quality of my prints has barely changed in 10 years! And we have been through every generation of printer technology here. Why? Because the capture determines 90% of the quality, not the printer make and model.

And if you have all the latest gear and the artist doesn't like what they see, who cares how good the printer technology is! The music is in the pianist, not the piano. I have the same set of golf clubs as Tiger Woods, how come I'm not in the PGA?

Again, I always find your articles and blog amazingly accurate and informative, but my response today should provide some nuance that only the guy doing it for a living may see -- hope you can reasonably parse my view.

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My reply went like this:

Hi Gary,

Thank you for your informative reply. In my estimation, by virtue of your stellar reputation, you are one of the premier master giclée printmakers in the industry. As such, your thoughts carry great weight with me.

I am not the Pope of Prints

The one thing I am not is the Pope of Prints, which means I am far from infallible when it comes to my opinions. While I make my case for open editions, I also realize there are many who still use limited editions as a viable way of getting to market and making a living at it too.

As is the case in the art business, there is no one size fits all formula for making a booming career. In the many years I worked for Decor magazine, I marveled at how top selling artists could approach their marketing in vastly different ways and still manage to be successful.

Of course, I realize the collector who bought a $33,000 limited edition giclée would not have ponied up such a princely sum for an open edition. One can only imagine if the print sells for that price that the artist’s originals are well in six figures. These price points make the exception, not the norm. I would not expect any artist who commands such prices taking much interest or heed in my advice or opinions. It is emerging and mid-career artists who are most likely to benefit by following my advice. If an artist is already established, they most likely have their very strong opinions about open vs. limited editions.

Championing Unlimited Editions Is Foremost a Financial Decision

To my way of thinking, most artists will make more money from prints in the course of their career if they offer them in open editions. That is the rationale for my pressing the case of open edition prints. I want artists to be more successful and make more money. If they can be more profitable in the long run by selling more open than limited edition prints, then printers, reps and galleries also will benefit in the success.

There are those rare artists, such as with Terry Redlin, who are able to print open, limited, and mega-editions and make it all work. But, like your artist mentioned above, Terry Redlin is beyond the pale for most artists who might try to approximate the success he has enjoyed. He was there at a time when limited editions on paper were sold in the thousands upon thousands.

A New Era Calls for New Ways to Do Business

Terry Redlin's heyday of selling 10,000+ editions is a bygone era. Today, we are dealing with a new paradigm and new market realities. The trade publications and shows are on life support. Galleries are struggling to meet the new challenges coming at them from all sides, and artists are trying to figure out what they need to reliably get their work to market and keep their sales repetitive in the process. If there ever was a time to shake up the status quo, it would be now.

With your permission, I would like to publish your email as a guest post on my blog to make your case. I always will welcome a differing perspective on important issues and think it would be healthy if others chimed in as well.

Getting more voices in the conversation can only enrich the process and make everyone think a little harder about how to utilize this wonderful print-on-demand technology to advance the careers of visual artists. Not just at the cash register, but with respect towards how they and their legacy will be perceived by their actions and decisions to employ fine art reproductions in their business.

Related posts:

Milton Glaser Post Goes Viral - A Lesson for Not Limiting Giclees

The Case for Open Edition Digital Prints - Part Two

Using SlideShare to Promote Your Fine Art

These days, actually any days in the art business, you need as much promotion and exposure as you can muster. Fortunately, you have many unique opportunities to promote your fine art to galleries and collectors.

In a recent post, I told you about printing your own four-color magazine from MagCloud. Long time readers may recall I posted about the power of SlideShare by linking to a most impressive presentation titled Shift Happens. Today, I want to reacquaint you with SlideShare by introducing you to a wonderful presentation of fantasy art by Rebeka Rodosek.She is a talented visual artist from Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Fantasy Art By Rebeka Rodosek

I found Rebeka the same way I am sure many other have, which was by searching the Internet. An email from SlideShare about new features prompted me to revisit the site. I had not been there in quite a while, but my good intentions to do so needed a reminder.

When I searched the site for "art," I found Rebeka's palette and subject matter jumping out at me. She is in the print market, as a Google search shows her with work on Imagekind, among other online art sites. I am certain I would have also found her Facebook fan page sooner or later as well.

Email marketing works to promote art

By keeping in touch with me, SlideShare has managed to maintain my interest to the point that I am touting it to you once again. Repeated exposure has worked for it. If you are not using email marketing, you are letting an important and powerful tool go to waste. There will be more on email marketing in a future post. For now, let your imagination run wild and brainstorm on how many ways you can use SlideShare.

Blending marketing elements enhances how you sell art

If you sense there is a thread running through this post, you are right. We talked about how with MagCloud you can create your own four-color magazine. Then we moved onto SlideShare and also mentioned email marketing. Finally, we mentioned Imagekind, an online fine art print gallery site that will sell your art, print it and fulfill it for you.

Your art marketing plan should be to combine powerful elements, such as these, into a cohesive plan to reach and influence your best art collector prospects, dealers and customers. In doing so, you will leverage each component to lift the other and thereby greatly raise awareness for you and your art.

In my humble opinion, this is how to sell art using affordable tools that are readily available and easy to use. Weave them with your Website, blog and social media presence to generate buzz and increase your income.

Decade in Review for the Art Print Market

There have been numerous reviews of the past decade in print, broadcast and online media such as this one from Newsweek: Decade in Review (It is seven minutes long).

 

Here is my take on The Decade in Review for the Art Print Market. The dates and information supplied are subjective, arbitrary, approximate and included to the best of my ability, but not guaranteed for accuracy.

 

1999 (These items in this year are not officially part of the 2000 Decade, but close and significant enough to include)

• Commerce Publishing Company sold to Pfingsten Partners LLC. Properties include Decor magazine, and its sister Art Buyers Caravan, Frame-o-rama and Galeria tradeshow division.

o Actually happened in mid-1999, but most changes due to new ownership started in the new decade

o Many longtime employees leave Decor and Decor Expo

• Getty Images buys Art.com for $115 million in May 1999

2000

• Art Buyers Caravan (ABC), Frame-o-rama and Galeria shows rebranded as Decor Expo

• Cafepress.com gets initial VC funding

• West Coast Art & Frame Show in second year continues to grow with nearly 250 booths

2001

• Terrorist attacks on 9-11-2001 cause Atlanta Decor Expo show to be cancelled

o This singular event was a turning point for the industry

o Although some shows continued to grow in size, the industry never fully recovered its momentum as other factors compounded to stymie its growth

• In the wake of the dotcom bomb stock implosion, the founders of Allwall.com purchase Art.com from Getty Images for a fraction of Getty’s purchase price

2002

• Pfingsten Publishing & Advanstar Communications agree to single registration fee, to share registration and shuttle buses expenses between venues at the Jacob Javits Centerwhere ArtExpo is held and the Westside Piers where Decor Expo Art & Framing shows are held

• Art Copyright Coalition is formed by Art Publisher's Association members

• Alyson Stanfield launches www.ArtBizCoach.com

2003

• Pfingsten Publishing & Advanstar Communications agree to co-exist in the Jacob Javits Center putting ArtExpo, Decor Expo in the same location for the first time ever

• West Coast Art & Frame Show fills void in exhibit space as it grows with more art publishers finding success at its show

• Digital art begins to get traction in fine art print market

2004

• ArtExpo New York and the Atlanta Decor Expo (formerly Atlanta ABC Show) continue to grow in size and importance

• Internet retailers command growing sales from consumers and in orders from poster publishers

• Thomas Kinkade featured on CBS News "60 Minutes" show

• Increasing volume of Chinese assembly line oil paintings create concerns

2005

• Barney Davey launches Art Print News; publishing it as an online newsletter

• Atlanta Decor Expo lands at # 145 on the Tradeshow Week 200 signifying it is one of the largest tradeshows in the US

• Advanstar Communications agrees to sell its art properties, including ArtExpo shows and Art Business News magazine to Pfingsten Publishing LLC

• Print-on-demand technology proves to be a game changer as giclée sales eclipse all other media in the limited edition market

• Sharp decline in the number of independent art retailers brought on by the rise of Internet shopping, growth of big box stores, flood of cheap Chinese oil paintings and changes in consumer tastes wreak havoc on the poster publishing business

• Allposters.com and Art.com merge. Allposters.com is #145 on Internet Retailer Top 400 and Art.com is #95. Both sites continue to operate independently to date

• Etsy.com is launched

• Marilyn Sholin launches www.DigitalPaintingForum.com

2006

• Art Print News changes format from online newsletter to blog

• Summit Business Media LLC acquires Pfingsten Publishing LLC for the latter’s financial publishing properties. Art group gets short shrift as management unsuccessfully seeks a new buyer for it

• Imagekind.com is founded

• Thomas Kinkade is reported to have earned $53 million in the period 1997 to May 2005

• West Coast Art & Frame Show continues strong appeal to art exhibitor grows to more than 500 booths

2007

• Changing economic and market conditions continue to cause dramatic declines in booth space at tradeshows and ad space in trade magazines

• Decor Expo New York is cancelled and move to Baltimore. For the first time in three decades there is not a spring international picture framing and poster publishing tradeshow in New York

• Inaugural ArtExpo Las Vegas show opens to mixed signals

• Blogging for independent artists takes on growing use and importance

2008

• Decor Expo Baltimore is canceled

• Imagekind.com is acquired by Cafepress.com

• Etsy Raises $27 Million to Expand Marketplace for handmade goods

• ArtExpo Las Vegas opens on day Dow drops 600 points. Show never recovers

• Limited edition Shepard Fairey art available exclusively at CafePress through partnership with Rock The Vote

• Wyland paints 99th Whaling Wall "Water for Life” in North Lauderdale, Florida

2009

• Kim Feager, publisher of Decor, Art Business News and Volume magazines, and Eric Smith, Art Group Vice-President purchase the art group properties from Summit Business Media LLC. Feager gets magazines and Decor Expo shows. Smith gets ArtExpo shows.

• Decor Expo Atlanta cancels 2009 show. New owners vow to return stronger in 2010

• ArtExpo Las Vegas show canceled, future is doubtful

• ArtExpo New York announces it will move to Pier 94 from the Jacob Javits Center

• Social media outlets including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn rise to become important marketing vehicles for artists and publishers

 

Undoubtedly, there were other momentous events affecting the art print market in the past decade. These mentioned where what easily came to mind for me, thus making this list both arbitrary and potentially inaccurate. I welcome all comments with corrections and additional items worthy of mention in the past decade.

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Start your year off with the learning and inspiration you will get from the 2010 SmARTist Telesummit in January!

If you want more help on you career from me, I will be one of the eleven speakers the 4th Annual SmARTist Telesummit. Click here to sign up now or to get more information about the topnotch panel of presenters who are ready to help you catapult your career this January. With the impressive lineup Arianne Goodwin has put together, you are sure to get a very positive career boost from your investment in time and money.

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Art Co-op, Right Idea, Right Time to Sell Art

As I have watched the traditional ways artists have gotten to market become battered by forces beyond their control, (witness the cancelation of both the Artexpo Las Vegas and Decor Expo Atlanta 2009 shows as prime examples), I have repeatedly voiced an opinion artists need to do whatever they can to take as much control as possible over the distribution of their art.

Whether it is through sales onlne, direct to consumer sales at shows, owning a gallery, joining a co-op, or other creative means to generate their own sales doesn't matter. What matters is artists find ways that work for them to manifest their own destiny. I'm not advocating abandoning trade media or tradeshows, or brick and mortar galleries. These venues will always have an important role to play. But now, because so much has changed and so much is possible, it is the right time to take control and own the distribution wherever possible.

Good Ideas Are Catching

Have you ever noticed the coincidence of different people hitting on similar themes to solve problems without any interaction between them. It's happened here in the art patch recently. I've had a note to blog about Indy Hall for some time because I think the artist co-op model it uses is right for many artists today. Independents Hall is a co-working space and community in Philadelphia. It includes designers, developers, writers, artists, entrepreneurs, scientists, educators, small business owners, telecommuters, marketers, videographers, game developers. You will soon hear more about it in a future blog post here.

Yesterday, Tony Moffitt's blog post was titled Do Co-operative Galleries Run by Artists Work? It was not an examination, but more a question thrown out to the readers. It has 13 replies to date, which indicates a good level of interest in artist run co-ops.

Today, I was notified I'd been tagged in a note by a Facebook friend named Tom Davidson. He had posted in his Notes section on the site these thoughts, which I publish here with his permission, in a piece titled Art Co-op. He is offering suggestions for Florida-based artists to come together. Obviously, they can be implemented anywhere artists band together to help each other.

Art Co-op by Tom Davidson

I have been spending a lot of time wondering how I can create more and still promote and do business. My original career is marketing and business. I come from the large corporate world, before I walked away to become a starving artist, lol. Anyways I propose to all of my art online friends and associates to review and contact me if you are willing to work smarter not harder. Let me know at least what you think of my idea. I appreciate all artists who are concentrating on creating, there is room for us in this world and we do help make it a better place, that is a sign of a good industry!!

1.Artists write art reviews of other artists, submit to media
2.Galleries and artists work together to promote exhibits more effectively
3. Provide a networking resource for Daytona - Orlando Area artists, sharing info and pooling talents, resources and information to create a stronger art market. I was suggested we develop a mission statement based in values like integrity, loyalty, trust and mutual benefit.
4.Look to other cities for effective models
5.Artists at every level in their careers take on the responsibility to give back to the community as part of their marketing plan.
6.Artists take responsibility for controlling the flow/availability of work (taking into account the basic laws of supply and demand).
7.Galleries develop exclusive relationships with artists so they can effectively promote their careers, locally and nationally.
8.Galleries co-op advertising in National Publications
9.Invite art schools, agencies and other arts entities to play a larger role in educating fine artists and venues about proven marketing practices
10.Establish a forum to determine how each of us can play a role in a healthy art market.
11.Create an annual Central Florida Art Expo,put on by the artist group presenting top artists and galleries to regional art buyers.
12.Artists establish consistent retail prices.
13.Explore methods of developing emerging collectors. Reach out and encourage the younger "arty party" scene by promoting/educating them about collecting fine art - not just getting drunk in front of it and hoping they will buy.
14.Artists offer a wide (but consistent) price range of artwork at exhibitions (from reproductions to large scale works).
15.Artists leverage their influence by working together
16. Utilize Facebook to inform,communicate,educate,and build a better bigger art industry in the state.

You can friend artist Tom Davidson on Facebook and make your own comments on his Notes page there. Or, contact him through his website: http://www.portraitspetsanpeople.com

I added this comment:

Tom, I'm in complete agreement with your thinking. Given the indiviualist nature of most artists, I have no delusions that your suggestions will be difficult to implement. But, I don't believe there are many better solutions either. You have my full support for your thoughts and suggestions as they closely mirror my own.

Cheers, Barney

Can Visual Artists Succeed Without Using Twitter and Facebook?

For nearly four years I have been honored to be a guest blogger on Absolute Arts, which remains one of the most highly respected and trafficked online art sites. My most recent post for it went up today. It is titled: Success and the Unconnected Artist. The post tackles a question am frequently asked, which is can I make it as a visual artist without having a Twitter and Facebook account? Not to mention Linkedin, MySpace, FriendFeed, Flickr and on and on.

The short answer there, and I encourage you to go there for the longer one as well, is yes. An artist can devise ways to sell art and enjoy a viable long term career without the benefits of Facebook and Twitter, etc. While I am a strong proponent with my own regular involvement, I think most visual artists who do participate in social marketing would be hard pressed to accurately assess their return on investment from their involvement. This incongruity does not diminish the activity.

David Ogilvy, arguably the most influential advertising person ever, is reported to have said, "Half the advertising I do works, I just wish I knew which half." So if a Madison Avenue superstar can't pinpoint return on investment, it means you shouldn't fret over it either. Despite believing it's possible to make a career outside of the Internet's widely bandied Web 2.0 tools, I remain a stalwart believer that artists can positively affect their careers by using them.

In order of importance, I would start with a good Web site that can professionally promote and properly present you and your work. Follow that with a blog and then let those things be the platform to launch into Twitter and Facebook, which can effectively be used to drive traffic to your site and blog. There's obviously more to it than that, but this is a good overview of how to get started using Web 2.0 to promote your art career.