Tony Ferguson on wed 2 aug 06
Hey,
It occurred to me that it is time for me to write this little pseudo article to let artists know, like Marie, my experience on the web and the possibilities it offers for artists along with other tips and information I have acquired as a studio clay artist/web designer/photographer/computer geek.
Having a website has offered opportunities for me and my work that would otherwise not be afforded me in a different time period including communication with artists from all over the world, feedback, critique from tea masters, etc, etc. Being a nobody, because of my presentation of the work and the photography I believe, I have been able to sell my work in ways that transcended the normal routine and time line (somewhat). Because I haven't been the game for 30+ years and don't "have a name" to which brick and mortar galleries are advertising or promoting, collectors who have found my work on the web meet the work first (not a name and again, presentation, and are pretty much left to deal and judge it by its own terms. Web site sales is my main source of income and has saved us time and time again from recurring collectors of my work who are able to follow it as well as new people who find my website. I always consider my site a work in progress as I am following the tech
side of things and making changes to keep up with how work is found, seen, and marketed online. I also update my images and the organization of the site to reflect what is going on.
Historically, when the web first started, people paid upwards in the range of $500 to $10,000 to have a really cool website built that essentially just sat their and gathered cyber dust--they simply became glorified business cards that you had to let people know was there. Those artists who in turn spread that word to their friends has affected the majority of artists having websites these days--namely among the older artists. Let me tell you there is a tremendous amount of misinformation and ignorance out there because really the internet and selling artwork online works. Although its still in a way in its infant stage, it is constantly growing, evolving, and working well for many folks. Never the less, what does this all mean to you if you don't have a website: unless you have an extremely well oiled setup (Mel's 50 mile radius/home shows/gallery rep./wholesale) that is producing a heavy and consistent and growing cash flow, you CAN NOT AFFORD TO NOT HAVE A GOOD
WEBSITE. Think big picture. Think long term. Think how many ever increasing jury and booth fee shows do I want to schlep my work too? There is much potential for all of us and not just in financial gains: artistic growth, documentation, interaction with other artists. I think many of us are realizing the many benefits of having and nurturing a website. The internet is here to stay. It is the newest form of commerce for saleable items. The sooner you get a website going the sooner you can establish a cyber presence and start a buyer and collector base.
Website Tips:
**Hiring a webmaster to build your site: If your time is worth more than you taking the time to learn how to build a website, communicate with technical staff from your isp and host company, then find a good webmaster. Better yet, find a webmaster who is an artist, has knowledge of marketing, and has sold work on the internet for an extended period of time. Just because some knows how to build a website does not mean they know anything about good design--especially as it relates to the look and feel of your work. See http://www.potterydesignsinc.com to see an example of one sites I built. This is my idea of good design in collaboration with what the artist wanted. I actually used the colors from her surfaces and incorporated aspects of her work into the design, look, feel of her site.
Some very crucial concerns to be aware of when hiring someone to build your site: see what sites they have built previously to see if you like their type of design work (you can also email those folks once you receive those web addresses for references), find out if they know how to program meta tags, image tags and other relevant search engine related code, do they have any gained knowledge and success of online marketing (which is valuable in terms of how they lay your site out), do they have an example contract so you can see exactly what you are getting for your money and what the expectations are for both parties, etc.
**Building your own Website: Now, if you like a good challenge, you become the padawon of website mastering and so will begin your journey as a webmeister. I started out on a school server when I was in school, then geo cities (free until you ask clay arters to look at your site and then bandwidth is exceeded) and finally my own site with a host company. If you construct your own site, I suggest Dreamweaver or Microsoft Frontpage (you do not need the most recent version!) as they are the two most popular website building programs out there for reasons I don't have time to go into. It will also not hurt you as I did to pick up some books on html and some other current coding formats to help you with code when you need it. You can build a very simple website and then elaborate on it as you learn to use more of the features of the program. You can also use a template system (which I really don't like because many people do and I am an "all custom" sort of designer) to rough
out your site. Use css (cascading style sheets) for format consistency. You will need an image editor such as Adobe Elements as well.
Now, if you are Linux user, Linux has a variety of free website building programs and if you are a Linux user, well, you already know which ones more than likely. Keep in mind, Linux operating system and more software than you could possible look at is completely free. I digressed. If you are thinking, "no way can I do this. Build a website?!!" Remember you are a purveyor of the creative process. Learning how to build your own website is also a creative process--one that is not beyond your reach but will demand your patience, ability to ask questions, and experimentation and once achieved will save you mucho dollares and offer you a kind of satisfaction that is, well, warm and fuzzy and full of sweet goodness. You can do it. My one recommendation at this time: keep it simple, don't worry about having to have Flash or other bells and whistles, keep your design clean, don’t have too many images on a single page, make sure your images are optimized, have your navigation
structure on a side or top bar so no one gets lost and you will start out just fine. Save the funk and flash for later when you get a handle on things if you think you need it.
**Finding your website: You can not simply do it your self or hire someone (and assume they know what they are doing--find out) and expect buyers and galleries to find your site and be an overnight or even over-year success. You must research what is working out there currently. Ask lots of questions. Yes this going to take time and so does driving to shows, packing (which I prefer to driving), etc, etc. You must have meta-tags programmed, you must have image tags programmed (something I recently discovered and its degree of importance because of how Google and other search engines index images), you must upload your site and variations of its address to search engines, you must build partnership links which will raise you and your partner's search engine placement. I will shortly, having manually done this for years, have a company I've followed and researched do marketing for my site. If it works well, then I will have them work their mojo on the sites I maintain. I
see much potential here for all of us whether starting out or veteran internet seller.
**Ebay: You will find so no cheaper source of advertising (well, depending on your website) than having work listed on ebay. Ebay is great for having a buyer who likes your kind of work find it. I built part of my collector base from ebay in the late 90's along with Michael Coffee and a guy named Tad. I hope Michael will chime in here. Having a website and listing on ebay at crucial months in the calendar year will help niche collectors find your work and the deal with you one on one through your website. There are ways to link ebay to your site.
**Aesthetic Appeal: If your website looks amateurish you will loose the attention of your surfer and they will move on very quickly not even seeing "your best" work. Even if you are a pro of 40+ years, unless they know your name, you are just another name in Uber cyber space. If you do it yourself make sure you get a wide appeal of feedback. Ask people you know will be painfully honest as you develop your site. Clayart would be a very good resource of artists to get feedback from as well as any folks who collect your work because of the diversity. Also ask your buyers what kind of browsing experience they are looking for.
**Professional Photography: There is no way around this anymore. You must have professional images. It was cool in the 70 & 80's to do it yourself with a burlap or velvet background but not today. I even have pictures of pots with snow as my background. These amateurish techniques visually cause people to be distracted from your work and find fault in your visual sense and respect for the work. I have given some work shops this last year on how to professionally setup, light, take images of your work, process, resize, optimize your work, websites, etc. and it will be hard for you to compete with them or those that hire a professional photographer to shoot their images. Unless you are wealthy, you can not afford to hire a professional photographer to shoot your images if you plan to take seriously selling on the web because of the volume of images you will need to shoot as this too is a creative and technical process as you learn to shoot. Even after you learn to shoot,
you are still going to take many pictures. After the last $700 I spent on images I said to myself “wait a second, my dad once taught photography, what I am doing.” I took the money I would use to pay a pro photographer and started investing in the equipment. Add up the costs of doing a few bad shows and you can have a complete setup. So, if you are going to sell on line, expect to take many many pictures at first. I believe I have shot over 20,000 digital images now (30,000+ actually but I figure a third or less are from family) since I've been selling online. Why so many you may be thinking? I used to take many shots with different lighting, angles, details, etc., so that after weeding I could present around 8 to 12 images of a single work. Recognizing my overkill of image taking was taking up more time than I wanted it too (and believe me with 4 children our time is priceless) I don't shoot as much and I present 5-8 images on average these days for a single work. So,
learn to do it yourself professionally (if you are selling your work, you are a professional artist), invest in professional equipment, invest in a website that is or will become professionally done, and you will be glad you did.
Well, its midnight, I got a Y camp to teach raku glazing to tomorrow and a tie dye critique. Peace clayarters.
Tony Ferguson
Tony Ferguson
...where the sky meets the lake...
Duluth, Minnesota
Artist, Educator, Web Meister
fergyart@yahoo.com
fergy@cpinternet.com
(218) 727-6339
http://www.aquariusartgallery.com
http://www.tonyferguson.net
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