Blowing Bubbles - Social Network Galleries Don't Really Sell Your Art!

Introduction - Overview

The aim of this article is not to take a cheap shot at social networking, online galleries and/or online "Artistic Communities", nor does this article single out any particular online entity. It is not intended to convince you to avoid signing up ... or worse yet to cancel an existing account.

The online businesses that can generally be described as Social Network Galleries or Online Artistic Communities serve a useful purpose for many (perhaps even most) of their members. However, those that claim to "Sell Your Art" are indulging in little more than a marketing exercise aimed squarely at boosting their membership.

For a few years now there has been a steady and at times rapid increase in the number of social networking web sites. Some keen observers, realising the commercial potential of such large Internet structures, then developed web sites aimed primarily at selling their members' art works or related products. Such web sites now come in a variety of flavours or blends of social, community and commercial.

Regardless of the initial "social" or "community" concept behind these web sites, the fundamentals are generally the same ... the ultimate goal is to make a profit through volume. Some web sites may be more socially or community oriented (or touchy-feely) than others, but the underlying premise of "this is a business venture" remains solidly in place. Those without a sound business model don't last long.

In fairness, I should qualify the above heading. Web sites proclaiming to provide a way for you to "Sell Your Art", do actually sell a lot of art. Which should in itself be self evident, because if they didn't sell anything, they would eventually fail. Running servers, programming and managing massive web sites while also paying for the kind of bandwidth that these web sites chew through ... is no small thing.

Some of the operators of these social networking Internet "businesses" do sincerely believe that their particular socially ethical and community based approach will somehow benefit their particular "artistic community". Perhaps this is true, and perhaps it is just wishful thinking ... I'm sure there would be considerable divergence of opinion on that question, both for and against.

Sadly, whether they ever sell enough of YOUR art for YOU as an artist to actually be paid any meaningful amount, is an entirely different and rather significant matter.

The truth and simple reality is that it's all about numbers ... very, very big numbers!

It is worth bearing in mind that, unlike a traditional walk-in Gallery, where the gallery management is keen to personally promote, sell and profit from your work, the online social networking galleries rely on sheer volume.

Social networking galleries don't care who's artwork they sell as long as there is a steady throughput of trade. For a social networking or online artistic community based gallery, selling a few thousand greeting cards is just a profitable as selling a few dozen much more expensive framed prints.

For the artists however, there is a very, very big difference.

For the artist, selling a framed print may net anywhere from ten to a hundred dollars (depending on the artist's markup), whereas selling a card may earn as little as twenty cents. An artist would therefore have to sell a lot of cards (something like at least 50) before they reach the point where the operators of the web site (online business) are obliged to send them any money. The minimum payout figure may generally be anywhere between ten and one hundred dollars, and will vary between web sites.



The Big / Tiny Social Networking Gallery Market Place

Social networking galleries are quick to point to their BIG (often massive) membership numbers, ranging from the tens to hundreds of thousands.

What they are somewhat reluctant to brag about, is how many artwork sales come from outside of this membership or simply put ... the art buying public at large (i.e. the real world).

Since I don't have their web site statistics to look at, I can only go by personal experience, observation and common sense ... and humbly suggest that sales generated from outside the membership of "the social networking community" are small enough to be considered essentially irrelevant.

The implications for most serious artists are therefore fairly simple. Social networking galleries may be useful for getting some additional exposure, advice or critique, but they won't provide anything even approximating a viable income from one's art.

The online business model works for the social networking based gallery largely because of the multitude of member artists. The artists themselves, will from time to time, make use of the printing and production services offered to generate hard-copy of their own works.

The intention is that these artworks would be sold through other outlets, possibly in a physical store or perhaps through the artist's own web site.

An Australian online artistic community/gallery that was started in 2007, had a turnaround of over AUD $3 million in its 2008-2009 year of operation. So we are not talking small change here.


The Social Network Gallery Crud Factor

Any respectable traditional gallery will have a substantial level of quality control. They have to. If they didn't they would go out of business. Social networking galleries though don't have such issues, because they rely on vast membership numbers to both exist and remain profitable.

This creates a scenario where artists who have spent much of their lives perfecting their work are competing for exposure (and of course sales) with wannabe's and housewives, whose only real gift is that they have a great deal of free time on their hands to spend in socialising online.

One valid argument in support of such networks is that they also provide a place for people to learn and benefit from the experience from established artists.

Aside from some anecdotal comments, I haven't seen any substantial evidence to support that theory.

The majority of people who sign up to social networking galleries appear to do so with the simple hope that they will sell something. That would be without having to spend years practicing, learning and perfecting their art ... and of course, going through that wonderful character building process of being rejected by traditional galleries.

And then there are also those members who, bereft of any meaningful artistic talent, will spend their days online happily arguing that "art cannot be defined" ... and therefore no one has the right to say that what they or any one else does isn't art. One can only smile. The song "Dreamer" by Supertramp comes to mind :-)



How "Artsy" Social Networks Function

Social networking web sites are definitely not all the same. There are however enough similarities between the main players to allow a very considerable amount of generalisation.

It's also important to differentiate sites aimed more towards social networking from those that are true Online Galleries. Sites aimed more at the social side of things generally derive their income from a lot of advertising.

Another quick (but by no means concrete) way to detect a difference is that true Galleries will often have admission and/or administration fees. There nay also be limits on how many works you can exhibit, and most importantly, the better Galleries will usually have some level of quality control. Quality control is notably absent from nearly all social networking focused "gallery" web sites.

This is not to suggest that paid online galleries are any more scrupulous or successful at selling your art. Just that there is likely to at least be some sort of minimal standard.

To be "noticed" in any a social network scenario (that would be amongst your peers) will require some effort, actually a lot of effort. Just completing your profile and uploading some pictures will generally not be enough to make it worth your while even signing up, even if it is "free to join".

For even a small measure of success, you will need to "engage" the online artistic community of the web site in question ... so that ... other members will: add your work(s) to their Favourites, leave lots of favourable Comments about your work and add you to their Watchlist.

For your part, engaging or participating in the community will require you to: add other peoples' works to your Favourites, Comment on their work, add them to your Watchlist ... and it will help greatly if you also participate in the available online forums and competitions.

If you happen to be socially inclined and have an abundance of spare time, this might work well for you. It would be nice to think that your participation time is being invested, rather than wasted ... but that very much depends on what you expect to get out of the experience.

However ... should you elect not to "play the game" as described above (or you are somewhat of a recluse), then social oblivion awaits you. In other words, participation is not really "optional". Success via exposure on any social networking web site is very much popularity driven.

It may be worth asking yourself ...
Would you rather spend your time online socialising in chatrooms or working on your art?



Getting the Most Out of Social Networking

Though social networking is geared to "profit" from your active and continued participation, there are a number of things you can do to make it work for you. These are neither difficult nor particularly time consuming.

Intelligent Use of Keywords and Descriptions:
Just in case some one (from either within or outside the online community) does actually use the provided search facility to look for artwork ... it will be of little benefit to you if your works are not tagged properly with relevant and meaningful keywords. This is no different to the logic used to get a web site found by search engines. Badly tagged pages (or artworks) may as well not exist.

A short but intriguing description of each work may also be of assistance to create additional interest. It pays to remember that you may be competing with many thousands of other online community members, some of whom are actually very talented artists and writers.

Out-Links to Your Web Site(s):
This is an opportunity that is often totally wasted. Every page of your social networking "gallery" (including your profile page) is an opportunity for you to have links to your own web site, and thereby improve your web site's search engine ranking.

Some social networking galleries do have deliberate restraints and/or conditions on the use of such links. Social networking gallery web sites that prevent or prohibit you from linking to your own web site are not worth your time.

Avoid Linking-In To Social Networking Web Sites:
Every time some one puts a link on a web site that points to a social networking gallery web site, the social networking monster gets that little bit bigger and more powerful. For those who would like to have their art found on their own web site, this can be problematic.

If you have your own web site (and if you are serious, you definitely should), there are are several ways to create links to (and thereby promote) your social networking Profile Page and Artwork Gallery, without giving away more power to the social networking gallery web site.

The first and possibly simplest way is to use the nofollow directive in your HTML links. This advises the Search Engines that the link is a "qualified link" and that you do not wish to give "weight" to it. You might be surprised at just how significant this small measure can be.

Example Standard HTML Link:
<a href="http://www.hubblebubble.com">See my cool artwork on sale</a>

Example of the improved NoFollow HTML Link:
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.hubblebubble.com">See my cool artwork on sale</a>

Another, but slightly more complex way, is to use scripting to actually hide the outlink from your web site from search engines. This method can be useful for other purposes as well, such as preventing automated "link harvesting" by competing web sites.

The result is a link that looks and works normally for a visitor to your web site, but is invisible to the Search Engine bots when they regularly scan the pages of your web site.

If you really do need to link-out, then link directly to a product or artwork page, e.g.:
Dirt and Trail Bike Posters, Prints, Wall Art

The HTML for the above link looks like this:
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.redbubble.com/products/configure/6118526" target="_out" title="Dirt Bike and Trail Bike Art, Posters, Prints and Wall Art make excellent gifts">Dirt and Trail Bike Posters, Prints, Wall Art</a>




How To Really Sell and/or Promote Your Art Work

First of all ... if you don't already have one ... Get Your Own Web Site!

A well designed web site is the most cost-effective marketing tool you can invest in. And no, a free blog page (on some one else's web site) is not really a workable substitute. In fact, you are shooting yourself in the foot for the long run.

The annual cost for web hosting and securing a domain name are now very affordable, particularly if you are prepared to spend even a small amount of time to shop around.

I mentioned "well designed web site" for a reason. Not only does your web site need to look good, your web site also needs to be easy to navigate and be set up properly to be found by the many search engines. Having a web site is a pointless exercise if it can't be found via a simple web search using relevant key words.

Don't even bother with building a "flashy" all-Flash web site. The contents of all-Flash web sites are essentially invisible to search engines (read: another pointless exercise).

Your web site also needs to have content other than just images. This is a simple point that is often entirely missed by artists and photographers, who mistakenly believe that having a few hundred images online will do the job. It won't !!

When you have a web site, having profile pages and links on other web sites that point back to YOUR web site will greatly help with your web site's search engine ranking. Links from other web sites provide credibility for your web site.

There are definitely advantages to participating in Online Social Networking Galleries ... just be careful however that you don't just end up blowing a whole lot of bubbles for some one else.

Should you require a web site, domain name, web hosting or just a spruce-up of an existing web site, you can or use the email form on the Contact Page.


Wizard - Incept date: 05/06/2008 - Updated: 15/03/2010