SENDITNOW.COM PROMOTIONAL FEATURE
With an increasing number of artists looking to showcase and sell their work in online marketplaces, ensuring you’ll be seen and heard among the thousands of competitors is a daunting task. I’ve been selling my artwork and illustrated products on Etsy for more than five years and started out knowing absolutely nothing about selling online – so everything I’ve done I’ve built myself. If you’re thinking of selling your work online, read on for tips and tricks on how to start, promote, package and send out your work, based on my own experiences.
Starting Out
Loving what I do has been crucial in getting through the tough parts of being a sole trader.
Having a unique style will make you stand out against the competition. There’ll be sellers who appeal to a similar audience, so you’ll need to research the marketplace and other sellers (even those who sell different goods) before you start out. If you enjoy what you do and have fun with it, the hard times will pass more easily – and you’ll only have to imagine yourself back in the job you left to put a smile on your face.
Selling Online
Put yourself in the buyer’s position and think about how you search for things that excite you online. Presentation is essential: ensure a cohesive look and avatar, as well as quality photography that shows each item’s best side, its textures or its features. With illustration, you can get away with showing artwork files, but a better option would be photos showing the paper texture and whole finished product (this is essential when selling items such as jewellery and other tactile objects).
In terms of pricing, get your margins right and understand your market. You want to keep it attainable and fair for most people, while also making a decent living. See what competitors sell and ship for and start there.
Packaging And Posting
When it comes to packaging, it’s important that it’s secure and well presented. I send prints and cards in a stiff board backed envelope, supported with another piece of thick cardboard. I customise the packaging using stamps and stickers, and include postcards, business cards and other goodies. Setting your postage too high will put potential buyers off, whereas setting it too low will lose you money.
When I need to send larger boxes for stockists, or framed work for shows, I need a reliable, quick and cost effective parcel courier service. Over the years I’ve tried a variety of courier services, and recently had the pleasure of trying SenditNow.com. It offers one low price up to 30kg for parcels in the UK. When I tried it, the courier was booked in the afternoon, and my parcel was collected the next morning and delivered the following day.
Promotion
Use social media across relevant platforms – most likely Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and/or Facebook – to promote your business. Posting photos of your studio and work in progress and showing people your process online is what creates a network of links to your work, and helps people realise there’s a person behind the product.
When I started engaging with others and showing my work, it resulted in blog posts and features, which, when you’re starting out, are great for driving traffic to your shop and website. Be nice to people, be consistent and, from time to time, celebrate special occasions together by offering discounts and hosting giveaways.
I hope you’ve found some of this helpful! Good luck with your shop!
Sandra