For decades, artists have been following what is called the “traditional” model of selling art, which includes a combination of the above strategies.
The problem with the traditional model is that it’s overstayed it’s welcome.
In other words, it doesn’t work like it used. And that’s because the traditional model, for the most part, fails to adapt to the changing art market. It also fails to set up the artist for maximum success and, equally as important, it fails to provide the artist with much control over their own career and destiny.
Fortunately, the contemporary model for selling art has emerged, and it’s one that addresses these concerns – positioning you for success both today and in the future.
The contemporary model is simple. You still continue doing any of the above strategies (given that they are working for you), but you also run your own mini art gallery business, online.
An online art gallery is not only easy to set up, it has the highest upside potential of all the strategies we’ve discussed so far.
And, if your eventual goal is to build a significant business and work on creating and selling your art full-time, this is the only proven way to do so at this time.
So let’s look at the benefits of running your own art gallery business online.
1. You determine when you work. Nights, weekends, it’s completely up to you.
2. You determine how much you work. Like anything else, the more you put in, the more you will get out of it, but there are stay at home moms and dads who put a couple hours a week into their mini art gallery business, and there are full-time artists who put in much more.
3. You determine where you work. At home or while you’re traveling across the world, it doesn’t matter. You’re running an online business, and it can be done from everywhere.
4. Your reach isn’t limited by location. Ever feel like your art would be a huge hit if you could just reach the right buyers? Online, you can – whether they’re in your town, your state, your country, or not.
5. It’s an easy add-on to whatever you are already doing to sell art. You don’t have to quit your favorite ways to sell art to add this one – it’s just one more tool in your toolkit (albeit a particularly powerful one).
6. It is inexpensive to launch. You can get everything you need to launch and manage the art gallery business for less than a $1,000 investment. Compared to other full-blown business opportunities, this expense is a drop in the bucket.
7. Extremely low overhead. You can run the entire thing for a low monthly fee, right from your home. No rent, no employees, and with features like print-on-demand, you have no need to invest in inventory nor a shipping apparatus.
8. Long runway to build the business over time. With extremely low overhead, you aren’t burning cash. This gives you a long runway to slowly grow the business into something significant – even if it takes several years to do so. This also keeps the stress levels low so that you can focus on creating the best possible work.
9. It’s low-risk. A business that doesn’t cost much to launch, doesn’t cost much to run, and has a long runway to find success — meets all the characteristics of a low-risk business. There’s never been an easier way to try to turn your passion into a real business.
10. You are the inventor. You create your own products and don’t rely on the approval and whims of outside designers, manufacturers, or curators.
11. Your profit margins are abnormally high. Art is a product with very high profit margins. Original paintings have profit margins greater than 90%. Prints typically have profit margins greater than 65%. These profit margins are at a level that any business owner (or investor) would die for.
12. It maximizes your marketing ROI. Every day you are out there spreading your name and building a brand, your customers will need to go somewhere to eventually buy. With a fully-featured art gallery website, a fast and enjoyable way for them to buy your art is only a Google search or click away.
13. Extremely high upside potential. There are part-time artists who make $10,000-20,000 per year from their online art gallery, and there are full-time artists who built up their gallery over time and now bring in over $100,000 per year. You can do this too. There’s no other way to sell your art that offers this significant of an upside potential.
12. It is something you can pass to the next generation. We see it all the time. Children taking over the art business of their parents who are retired or who passed away, and who are able to earn income from it for years to come and who also enjoy all the benefits listed above.
13. It is rewarding and fulfilling. Turning your passion into an income stream. Brightening the lives of others with your art. Passing something to the next generation. Does it get any better than this?
How Art Storefronts Can Help
An online art gallery business is a fantastic side business for part-time artists. It’s also the key that is allowing many professional artists to earn over six figures annually.
Regardless of who you are, we believe the online art gallery represents your very best shot at maximizing the success of your art, while allowing you to maintain control of your own destiny.
We help artists and photographers achieve these dreams with our art gallery websites, powerful back-office tools, and ongoing art marketing education and coaching, which you can learn more about in this in-depth article.
⚠️ FINAL WEEK: Get FREE Website Setup with FREE Website Management for Life and we will do all the work for you.Schedule a 10-minute intro call with the form below and we’ll give you a quick overview, show you how our augmented reality tool works, and fill you in on how we can help you get more traffic from collectors. If you like what you see, you can schedule a more in-depth demonstration for later.
