Monday Marketing….So Many Outlets, So Little Time
September 20th, 2010 | 
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This has been my latest project. Rachel of Rayela Art does an amazing job, having only started this in February. Members include working artists, textile businesses, galleries, suppliers and other fiber/textile people. All have an established web presence. Our common connection weaves us together: a love for textiles and fiber art. Getting this together was not an easy task…biographies, store links – there is a LOT of thought put into developing this, and the site is getting a lot of viewers.
I’ve been analyzing all the various areas where I have a presence – some stronger than others. There will be an Etsy group on the Textile and Fiber Art list, and I am looking forward to being mentored, as I need assistance in creating a good Etsy shop. My current shop has a dozen items (as of tomorrow night), and part of what I was stressing over was creating new work just for my Etsy store. Well, duh – it occurred to me that I could list some of the work from our website that gets admired, but no one thinks to buy. So we shall see……
Now along with this was getting the connections to Twitter and Facebook and the Facebook fan page…all of which require time. It’s a good thing I have some basic computer knowledge and can find my way around the web and individual sites. Some just aren’t as intuitive as they could be……But I think Facebook is now linked to my blog, my networked blog, my Etsy…..
I’ve just begun to look at ArtFire as another outlet, but I need to read about that more. I can’t add widgets for Cafe Press and Ebay because I am still using just the free listings for Cafe Press (limited items) and weekly auctions for Ebay. I know you have to spend money to make money, but a store on Cafe Press and Ebay costs additional….need to make good use of marketing dollars, as we still need to buy supplies to continue to make art to sell in these various outlets.
I did enjoy yesterday – spent the majority of the day at the computer, working with Photoshop on some new images, writing bios, and looking for a pic of hubby and moi for the TAFA site. Those of you who know me know it’s not really a current picture, but it is a good one!
Had a great time doing all this yesterday, and then it’s always coming down to reality when Monday morning hits and it’s back into the classroom. I also got the new newsletter out – special on Sampler Package 1 – 20% off….check it out – perfect for collage, mixed media, small quilt projects….
Didn’t get to read my blogs this weekend, and I miss knowing what people are up to. But I do have some good stuff for tomorrow’s post on the Top Ten on the web this week. Stay tuned for Wednesday with unveiling of two pieces that are either home from shows or aren’t traveling to any at this point.
Make art this week! Tell me what you’re working on!
Posted in art, art marketing, artist, Cafe Press, creativity, marketing, Monday Marketing, Photoshop | 
Tags: art, art marketing, artist, Cafe PRess, creativity, marketing, Monday Marketing, Photoshop
Wow, Linda! I came over to test your link to the blog (obviously, it works!) and the first thing I saw was the TAFA banner. Huh? Then the article started to load. How wonderful! Thanks for plugging our group. I know you have been feeling kind of overwhelmed with everything (so am I!), but it will sort itself out and you are doing all the right things to network your business in a good way. Kudos to you!
I closed my shop on eBay last fall to clear out inventory that had been sitting there for awhile. My intention was to move things around and then re-open with a new selection, but I ended up never doing it for lack of time. There are things that I have that are not allowed on Etsy, so eBay was my back up. But, it is expensive to be there although I always had a core group of buyers there that made it worthwhile. I just wanted to say that I thought the store costs were pretty reasonable compared to the auctions. As most of my things are in the $30 range, auction listings can add up pretty fast. But, at the time when I closed, the shop was around $17 a month and then another cut was taken off of anything that sold and that was reasonable to me. I don’t know if prices have gone up, but that is an option you should consider. My strategy was to list everything on auctions first, at a discount, and whatever didn’t sell was moved into the store at full retail price. Almost everything sold, eventually.
So glad to have you on TAFA! I enjoy your comments and hope that you will keep on being vocal in our group. I know you have many commitments and am glad that you find that TAFA is a worthy investment of your time.
Rachel – thanks for the kind words! One thing I’m finding with the stores is that when you bring shoe strings in, you can only spend shoe strings….we work on one income and are trying to build the art business, but could so use an influx of capital!! I’ve just added Constant Contact to the expenses, as a way of managing my newsletter and letting me get it out with the least effort on my part. It’s handling subscription sign-ups. I spent a lot of time this summer reading and trying all the “marketing guru” advice for building a business on line, and I find that not much has changed….I think a lot doesn’t apply n the art world. But we keep plugging along! I will investigate the Ebay shop again over the weekend….
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