Etsy, Artfire, Foliotwist, 1000Marktplaces, Big Cartel…these are just a few of the places online that artists and crafters can go to open a website, an online store, or online portfolio. While have a number of choices is great, it also can make it a big hard to choose the right one for you? In this episode, I’ll talk about how to find and choose the right online service to help you build your website or sell your artwork.
1. Decide what kind of features you need- (ecommerce capablity, blogging, marketing, search engine optimization etc)
2. Find a service that caters to the type of art you make- If you’re jeweler, Foliotwist might not be the best place for you while Etsy might not be the best place for high end artists
3. If the service is also an online marketplace, find a service that gets good traffic- If you’re looking to sell your artwork online using one of these services, then you should also sign up with a service that gets reasonably good traffic
4. Ask the opinions of artists who uses a particular service- One of the best ways to cut past the marketing hype is to ask artists who are using and have used a service that you’re considering.
5. Calculate your real costs- All of these services charge differently either by a flat monthly rate, a listing rate, a monthly rate depending on the level of service you want, or by transaction. Calculate how much you’re likely to spend depending on how you use the service.
6. Expect to do real work- Signing up with a service to help you create your web presence doesn’t mean that you don’t have a lot of work to do after your site is up.
