On Freelancing 5: Getting started with selling online
The fifth and final part of the On Freelancing series.
Welcome to the fifth and final part of the On Freelancing series. To wrap up, the focus today is on selling art online.
Selling your art can become a valuable source of passive income. If you’re reading this and thinking “no, I’m not ready to sell yet” or “no one will buy my work”, I ask you to keep an open mind and read ahead anyway.
So often we think we’re not ready to do something or that no one will buy or care when, in fact, the opposite is true. I bang on about that a lot in this series and this newsletter as a whole. Imposter syndrome or simply self-doubt, it’s something we fight on the reg as artists, so I’ll keep repeating this again and again until it settles.
I began pursuing photography professionally literally a decade ago (FYI, this was a bit of a “holy shit” moment for me. A decade! Omg), and I only opened a print shop and started selling prints for the first time just last year. It was a direct response to the pandemic cutting off my income and as soon as I’d done it, I regretted taking so long to feel “ready”.
Here I’ll share some of the important lessons learnt along the way as well as some technical bits. My experience is with photographic prints, but some of what I’ll speak about can be applied outside of that too. Let’s get to it:
It’s about the emotional connection
Buying art, whatever the format, is an emotional experience. Think about it from your own perspective; whether you’ve bought art or have a bookmarked wishlist of art, it’s likely because you’ve formed some kind of connection to the art or the artist.
Cultivate that. You can do things like revealing the story of the work, the story of the process/behind-the-scenes, how you create your art, the meanings and feelings behind it, the history or technical knowledge. People connect with stories, so utilise that.
Where to sell?
There are numerous platforms out there now for selling artwork with a range of options covering self-service fulfilment, automated fulfilment and more. Not all of these come cheap, but I want to emphasise that there are low-budget options out there that are getting-started-friendly.
A shoutout to Square who offer a free shop service that has been incredibly useful for me. Then there are your usual suspects; Big Cartel, Shopify, integrated shops on website builders like SquareSpace or Format, Etsy, and the countless alternatives. Don’t forget to check if your current website host has an e-commerce option.
Money, money, money
There’s no catch-all formula here. I’m probably going to repeat thousands of artists before me here but it’s important and needs repeating, including for myself: don’t undersell yourself.
Think about it this way - for each individual piece of artwork or each product you need to take into account the cost of:
Actually making the work
Production
Delivery
Replacements, repairs, and anything that can go wrong
Redelivering due to any of the above
Extra value from signed and editioned artworks
Insurance
Website and shop fees
Selling fees
Production cost increases (for example due to Brexit or the global pandemic)
Delivery cost increases
When it’s all written down, it’s a lot more than we realise.
Don’t be ashamed to market yourself
Now you have your print shop, but it won’t sell itself. Another simple truth of selling art is that you’ll need to invest some time and effort and sometimes money into marketing, as well as overcoming the fear of being in people’s faces too much.
“…The first step in getting people to see (and eventually buy) your work is by letting them know that there is work to be seen.” - RJ Supa; How to sell your own artwork (link in endnotes).
Don’t hesitate to promote the shit out of your shop. It’s impossible to keep everybody happy all the time and, at the end of the day, you need to do you. There is a line, but most of us aren’t even close to that line. Market yourself a bit more than you think you should be, and over time you’ll know whether you need to pull back or push on - it’ll likely be the latter!
Consider alternative or non-traditional approaches
Don’t be afraid to go against the grain. You don’t need to conform to be successful and there’s no one correct way of doing this, though in the art world it can really feel that way.
Selling art has been so lucrative for some artists who have gone away from traditional methods like finding a gallerist, being represented, or even doing limited editioning. It’s opened up so many new and alternative paths for us to follow, and new possibilities for us as artists.
Think more along the lines of what you can, not what you think you should.
Research
Finally, research! Seek inspiration from others. Just as essential is noting down what it is you don’t like and want to avoid.
To get you started, and as sharing the love is a top priority in this newsletter, here are some print shops that I love:
Endnotes
How to sell your own artwork via The Creative Independent
Cathrin Machin on selling art online via theprintspace
10 Ways To Sell Your Art Online via MoMa
How to Sell Art Online: The Ultimate Guide via Shopify
A little about me
I’m a photographer and writer based in south London who enjoys telling stories about adventure, the outdoors, and our relationship with the natural world.
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