Hello Fine Art America!

Yesterday I told you about my disappointment with Flickr's decision, and today I will tell you what it pushed me into doing. And I needed the push.

For a few months now, several of my online friends with whom I have shared pictures of my art, have urged me to begin selling some of it. At first I was very hesitant, but no one has room to keep everything you create! If I were well enough I would join some of the artists groups in the area, and certainly try to sell at the shows that are always being held.  But I am not, and I do not forsee that happening in the future. So I opened an Etsy store and began to put a few things in it. The push I got from Flickr was that I had been searching around on the Internet for more options, and found out that two of my artist friends are on a site called Fine Art America. To be honest, there are thousands of artists on this site, so why would I want to be part of something I may get lost in? The answer - marketing.

When I owned an antiques business, I learned a lot about marketing, and the more I learned and put into practice, the more my business grew. Fine Art America has numerous groups, contests and an all over site community. Hundreds of art prints are sold everyday (they post them for you to see) and it has a world wide reach. It has widgets and other things to use to promote your business. It even has been tapped to furnish art for a TV show. So, I uploaded several art pieces and some photographs. They offer different types and sizes of prints of your work, and framing options, and once a print is purchased, they will do all the work on their end. I don't have to do a thing. If I wanted to sell the actual piece, I can list it there, but obviously I would need to also handle the shipping. I name my price, they take no commission and add a markup.

So for me, it is a win-win situation. I will keep my Etsy store for the time being, since I have original art postcards and print postcards and some artwork for sale there. And then on Fine Art America I will offer a variety of original art pieces which can be made into a selection of print options by them. I have added a shopping cart widget on the right side of my blog for folks to view the variety available and perhaps purchase something; it's right under the Etsy store posting.

For me, having an illness that is as debilitating as ME/CFS, this is an excellent way for me to put my art in front of people. AND I have made one sale already! (it was one of my sisters, but it still counts!)

So Flickr really did me a favor. I was dragging my feet, a little uneasy about stepping out of my comfort zone, but when they did what they did, it made me angry enough to push myself straight out of it. I don't know if I will sell a little or a lot, but who knows that anyway? I'm just happy to be there and have an opportunity!

Come see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!