"who's On First"or Rather Who's Selling And Why?

the how can be found in the forum and blogs

Marketing 101 by Mike Savad
Why Your Work May Not Be Selling - By Mike Savad
Evaluating Your Own Work To Sell – By Mike Savad
How To Critique And Edit Your Own Work For Better Sales

the why is - i want sales, so i take pictures. its a lot of work, so i couldn't say its fun to do.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Mike,
Thank you for your reply! Mine was not a was not one of condemination of FAA, but Food For Thought. I am a retired Salvation army Officer staying busy with a camera! I do search for that once in a lifetime image, but I get to see all the beauty this world has to offer in the process.I injoy what I shoot and love to see the work of others.

Have a wonderful day!

Bob

The answer to "how" is more keywords!
If you have lots of keywords, it is more marketing!
If you do a lot of marketing, it is better images!
If you have better images than you might consider more keywords!

Photography is about the thrill of the hunt. When it happens, it's like netting that rare butterfly - but magically capturing only a copy and leaving the real butterfly in his world, undisturbed.

Luck is the most simple answer to your question. Its direct and its honest. However, you have to create your own luck, you can't sit around waiting for luck to happen.

Selling art, or just about anything you can imagine, is about making connections. In order to make connections, you need to reach out to people and let them know you have something they may want, such as a product, or in this case art.

The most successful way to connect with people is through marketing efforts. Some artists do it with social media, some do it with networking in real life, and some will pay for their marketing in one form or another.

If you haven't found a way to connect with a buyer yet, you need to reconsider your marketing plan. A lot of artists are naturally shy people who eschew conventional forms of marketing, and still manage to find their way to sales.

Its the connections that matter. If you find a way to connect with buyers, the world will be your oyster, or in this case, your art market.

-YoPedro
Twitter@YoPedro

Well first of all sales aren't minimal. I'm trying to keep it minimal so I don't have to get that business license this year, but I had to start selling because I had too many paintings sitting around and I don't like hoarding.

This was only after I had given thousands away to old folks homes, every family member, every friend and after twenty some years of painting. I always think it's just a passing phase, but I continue to paint.

Why? Probably because I feel imprisoned, and during my sentence, I want to do something constructive.

"I had given thousands away to old folks homes, every family member, every friend and after twenty some years of painting." - Lisa

LOL... sounds like me when i grew an abundance of zucchini one year, everyone locked their doors and turned the lights off
when they saw me coming down the street with an arm-full of green... the smart ones told me they were allergic to zucchini... lol

Yo Pedro, if it where connections that matter, FAA would not have been a success. People are buying here without knowing the artists, and artists are selling without knowing their buyers. Of course there are exeptions to this, but they do not explain the succes of FAA.

Wow! I appreciate and look forward to more great responses to my Discussion (blog) Thanks and keep this informative discussion going!

Bob

Buyers and vendors need a website. FAA is the best solution for this that I have found so far. This place has some quirks that frustrated me initially, but at present I don't have much to complain about.

I am on here twice. The exact same image from my agency comes up in searches before my personal image does at a higher price and less quality. When I sell on my own, I get notified but if a sale is made through my agency, I don't. At any rate, a precise measure of my success is impossible.

Another way I make sales is by having people look at my site and write down the titles of images they want which I print for notecards or print and sign for frameable art.

All in all, much better than other well known site providers, I would say.

Why must an artist always dwell on sales $$$.....just paint or click....enjoy what you are doing....if it's money you want, then get a job...if you happen to sell a piece of art, consider it a supplement.

Danl Art,
we must for the same reasons you must write these moralic comments about money.

To dwell on $'s while creating really limits you. "Will someone put this on their wall?" "OMG, will this sell???". If you're working in that field (job/career), then you have to focus on that, but if your enjoyment/stress relief/escape is art... be happy with your accomplishment/vision and if you get $'s, great!

So I guess this time I agree with Danl

Exactly Ed, I thin people avoid me because I might shove a painting in their hands.

It's always best to find an audience if you can as an artist.

I agree with Danl as well. If you have to focus on sales, it may never happen. Just do the art for arts sake.

The major stumbling block in creativity is the focus on making cents....if something doesn't sell....just keep creating

Have you heard about the Egg of Columbus ?

Why not focus on making art when making art
and on dollars when selling art!

Me think the opening post ist just about that.

Keywords will not do anything for your sales if you are not selling or if you are just adding keywords that do not belong to the image you are pushing. Say what you will - believe as you will - but if you are not already selling - no one will find you, ever, on FAA's search. Selling counts for 99% of those whose images are found in the first 10 pages - JC's Abilene perhaps accounts for a few more. Name recognition is much much more important - especially if you are well known - Sales will happen for you rarely and at random - unless you are able to drive people to look at your art/photographs and not get led off in the FAA/Pixels quagmire/morass of 'more important' artist/photographers work. (Important = selling)

I believe you are right, RD Erickson!

I wrote something about keywords earlier in this thread, just to sum up in a short formula the traditional help-answers which appear all the time when somebody asks "how to sell".

X = Buyers and Y = Number of artist selling art

This most overlooked part of the solution is: Z

Danl,

To me,

Art as self-gratification is no different than any other form of self-gratification.

Roger, some hobbies are healthier than others. ;)

Gentlemen....purlease lol

volume of work is important it seems.

Thanks to all for a healthy discussion! For the record I am not now or in the future planning on being dependent on how many photograph I sell! I raised the question to here your thoughts on the matter..and wow.. did you all come through! Thanks to all who participated in this discussion.. have a great fit tomorrow!

Sincerely,

Bob W Mullins

" I see great work by great photographers and artist..that are not selling"

There is no need or want....like trying to sell an air conditioner to an Eskimo living in an igloo...

It seems more tag, beautiful photos, luck but all of above is you must have Payed Account. I want to upgrade my account but in my country we don't have credit card facility for general people and other online payment method.

No. Not true. You do not need a paid account.

Paid accounts give you over 25 images and your own area, but I'll be truthful here, many people sell without. Because they market their 25 images well

the more you have, the better you chances are, but that's about it. you can create a number of free accounts as long as you have multiple emails. a bit of a hassle, but its doable.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

This is a selling platform. Plenty of sharing sites exist. One would assume when someone uploads to a selling platform they would want to sell their work.

To stand out among the 100s of thousands of other hopefuls, one has to bring to market something different to be noticed. To be noticed requires marketing your images and not in the typical easy ways that thousands of others do.

Luck plays its part but you increase your chances by having a marketing plan. Just like those "lucky" shots come to the prepared photographer, the "lucky" breaks come to those who make it easy to be found.

Rhetorical question: On the question of volume, which would be better? 1. 3,000 images. or 2. Your best 1,000 images uploaded 3 times to triple your chances of being found by a search? I have noticed that identical images do not get identical ratings.

Personally I'd much rather do 3,000 images spread out, or at least with different styles/variations. I'm not a big fan of uploading the exact same image more than once.

As far as effectiveness I would guess spreading out would be better since you'd be in more search results. I don't see an advantage to having the exact same image show in a search result more than once.

And if people view your profile directly I think it would be confusing to see the exact same images over and over again.

Also you run into the issue of subjectiveness. People may disagree with you on what your best images are.

Perception is everything in art. The artist goal (while some may disagree with this statement) "is to influence the viewer to see the world as you do regardless of your artistic medium". What you as an artist may see and say this may or may not be my best work or why did this one sell and this other great image, similar or not, not sell is the subjectivity of the viewer of an artwork. So love the works you create, first regardless of medium, and don't try to chase what popular that will always change. If you love what you do then the rest will not be a challenge. It probably will not make you rich but few artists ever reach that plateau.

That said, how are people "seeing" your works? How are you displaying them outside of FAA? Are your keywords and descriptions really relevant to a specific work? Are you building a following besides friends and family? Are you submitting your work for publication in magazines, online editorials, blogs and bulletin boards submitting them to shows and to be judged by independent and successful art critics and artists?

Activity and exposure create sales if you are after sales. The best thing an artist can do is stay active and release new works on a regular basis. There is no real definition of a regular basis because the time to create is relative to your medium. A photographer may be able to release a couple hundred images in the amount of time it takes an oil painter to create one 40x60 work on canvas.

So as for the "magic formula of sorts" to what sells and what does not. There isn't one. What does help artists "sell" works is to keep creating new works, keep promoting their works, and to do works that they can pour their heart and soul into.

One final thought, FAA is a delivery service, a print on demand service. As a service, they do a great job but as with any service they are only one piece of a system, a business must utilize multiple services/streams as one cohesive system unit to be successful. If that is your ultimate goal.

Everyone go back one post and read Chris Flees' post again.

Couldn't have said it better myself. :-)

Yes, great post, Chris.

"The artist goal (while some may disagree with this statement) "is to influence the viewer to see the world as you do regardless of your artistic medium".

Nope, I have no desire to influence the world in any way, shape or form with my art. I only have a desire to influence "my" world by having fun taking pictures and now painting abstracts. I do not care what the world thinks.

I personally think that is when an artist gets in trouble and starts trying too hard, right to the point of becoming self-destructive.

Everything else Chris said I totally agree with. But create what you want to create and forget to try to change the world.

Thanks Chris! Very well put! I was able to accomplish more than I ever dreamed as discussion was much more than a who's right or wrong. It was about learning from others, as every writer provided us more food for thought from their experiences in the world of photography! Thanks to everyone for their input!

Sincerely,

Bob W Mullins

Thank you, everyone, for your comments. Thank you, Floyd, for your comment. On the onset, I know the position was slightly controversial. Friends continue to create and continue to post and share your magnificent art. Each and every one ya all creates some very magnificent works.

The concept isn't some grand idea to remake the universe. I see it as simple communication. Sharing something of yourself, an idea you had or a moment you witnessed. Those things CAN change people - their mood, their mind, their outlook - even if only for a short time.

I create for myself, and I do so without any expectations... but I am glad I don't have to do it in a vacuum. It's nice having people to talk to and to share with. Because they talk back, and that shapes me along the way as well.

Maybe Chris meant something different, but that's my interpretation of "changing the world". It's not fiery revolution, it's the butterfly effect.

I like Chris's and Cynthia's artistic statements. May I use them for my own bio?

Lutz I can only speak for what I wrote but, sure, if you would like.

I think that the percentage of people who buy art, for the sake of art is very, very low. I think only about 30 percent of people have ever bought art of some kind. I would bet most of us have friends and family who are bargain buyers, not art buyers. I would bet that artists who have very affluent families and grew up in affluent neighborhoods with affluent friends don't sell here. Dont have the same problem finding buyers as most of us do, unless we become known.

Cynthia, correct I do not see any of my art that as something that would cause a major movement of some sort and change an ideology someone holds. By saying "see the world as I do" meaning take the time and literally see and to admire or maybe better said marvel at what has been created.

Today, society moves so fast that people see things but do not SEE them at the same time, if that makes sense. They know things, objects, nature, buildings are there and exist but if asked 10 minutes after someone saw something more often than not an individual cannot even tell you what color it was.

Lutz, I think I have mentioned before how much I love your work. You are one of my favorites here, and if you want to use something I said in your bio, you are more than welcome to. On a related note, if you ever want to trade artwork, let me know. :)

All you guys are really awesome. Your works and thought are really great. I am just learning from you. Thank you All.

I put this in my bio:

"Perception is everything in art. The artist goal is to influence the viewer to see the world as the artist does. This can change the viewers mood, their mind, their outlook - even if only for a limited time."

Thank you guys!