Frankly, this makes me feel a little more confident in polishing off my site and launching it. I absolutely love you guys. Your videos and podcasts are so helpful!
A note to artists asking this question. I have a website and although it is tricky sometimes technically, that is what google and youtube is for. There is very little that you cant find instructions for so yeah go for it. for the cost element I would suggest that if you ( the artists without a website and thinking about it) are willing to pay for tv and other stuff then why not spend the money to have your own website. We also, as artists, dont generally think twice about buying supplies to create so think of it as a supplies extension required to be an artist. Yes we buy whats in our means but we can do that with our websites too. I am not using mine to its full potential yet but I am building it up to do so. It is a work in progress, a little like me lol. :) I hope this helps T x
You did a great job with this. I'd like to add a thought. I've worked on websites large and small, from huge technology corporation sites to small local businesses. I encourage everyone to build your site for growth. What you think you need when you start will change over time. Don't use services that will ultimately limit what you can do with them. No Wix. No GoDaddy. Or like services. They aren't going to grow with you and when you are in a growth spurt, the last thing you need is to change your site host. I'm retired now and only do small business sites. What I use is WordPress and I have it hosted with InMotionHosting. I use a paid for theme (I mostly use Theme Foundry) because it comes with excellent tech support. InMotion's tech support is also great. Plant your flag there (or with a like service) and you won't have to pick it up and move it when you're buried with other work. Another plus to using WordPress is that it is ubiquitous. If you get to a place where you can hire someone to help you, you will find a lot of people with WordPress skills. And do consider hiring help. It may not cost as much as you think to get someone to help you get started. Rafi and Klee gave perfect advice for the content that needs to be there. Just do it!
Yes, you're so right. A website is essential. It shows that you are serious about being an artist. I'm presently working on adding more onto my website such as blogs, video clips from my TH-cam channel and I now have an ecommerce shop. I've found that I have enjoyed the creativity involved in creating the website and yes Klee you're are so right - I have had to learn sooo much, but it is worth the time and effort. Thanks for the great advice guys, take care :)
I am binge watching all of your videos!!! Thank you for sharing such valuable information and advice. Not only that, but you guys are so friendly and hilarious! I love it 😁
Absolutely .. great advice. I have a website with a blog that I did years ago when I was scared to press a button on my computer. But it has served me well telling who I am, where I am and what I do. Plus others can comment on it and now I know other artists all over the world... I love it. Just go for it, it has a way of working out..
my web site is blog-based. Hosted and powered by Wordpress. Back then Wordpress was a cool customizable thing, free (still is but more on that later) and offered quite a lot of functionalities. Now it is a huge machine that can do blogs, e-commerce, catalogues and even host newspapers (and big ones if you search for those online). With this came complexity. I pay the premium package because I want a lot of storage space (my images are getting bigger and bigger and I sometimes host audio files and videos there) AND very important I DON'T WANT MY VIEWERS TO BE HARASSED WITH STUPID ADS. Ads may be fun on social platforms (and I dislike more and more those platforms but that's another topic) but they ruin any professional attempts for a web site. Tech support on Wordpress is good but it could be made easier to understand everything. Wordpress supports countless plugins to further augment the user experience. There are also infinite design templates to choose from which saves you the daunting task of design (unless you're a web designer and love tweaking CSS and sucn beasts). For a beginner I'd suggest WIX, their drag and drop formula is more refined than Wordpress. Nothing would prevent you later on to move to a more powerful platform and, why not, pay someone to do the transfer and adaptation for you. For artists making a good living with their art, delegating work is a sound investment. Does my website bring me business ? no. Not at all even with a thousand+ followers. I've got a Patreon page with only one Patron so far who happens to have purchased several of my pieces. But I'll keep my website just because it's been around for a while and I like the idea of entertaining my followers with my random stuff.
Rafi & Klee 🎨🎨🎨🎨As a Cave Critter who has very little to do with social mediums, I am Verry happy (even relieved) from listening to your site today. You both have put into perspective so many things, starting with The Website. I am warming up to Try, again, to make myself a website. Thanks for your Inspirational, smart, and uncomplicated discussion about this and the coinciding topics weaving in, out, and around Self-Promotion. Cheers and Happy New/ Dragon Year from Vancouver, Canada. 🇨🇦 ☔️❄️🐉
I love your videos and I'm trying to get organized to put myself out there. You are fun to watch, provide me with lingo to understand the process (like putting myself out there :) and cover all the subjects that fly around in my head and in the air and turn them into fun projects instead of abstract concepts. That's a really amazing skill! Thanks for sharing the knowledge and Love For The Process, the most important part of art and the secret to enjoy life!
I started making my website last year, got overwelmed and didn't get very far. Your recent videos are giving me the motivation to push through the hard parts and finally finish this thing. I already got so much done in the past two days! So I'm confident I'll get it done this february. What sucked the most was doing the whole legal stuff - I don't know what that is like in the US but germany sure has a lot of requirements and people can sue me if my website doesn't fulfill them. It's pretty scary tbh, but I'm almost done with it.
Thanks for the motivation. I've started a platform with products and am ready to start my website- thanks to your motivational videos! It wasn't just the techno learning curve- it's also committing the $ which is the mental part of ok, commit!
I loved this video guys I think one of the things I struggle with is forgetting to post because I'm insecure about sharing my thoughts. It's way more comfortable to listen and even create visually for me than to share thoughts and words. I feel like when I create visually I don't have a choice, I'm naturally authentic because it's the only way I know how to be, but when I speak or even write there's a rush of multiple interpretations I'm overthinking about how other people are interpreting my site. AND it's not like many people visit the site it's all in my head. Goals are to get out of my head and start posting more on my blog maybe just to get more comfortable in general. Wish I could be a shadow in my work but it seems people like seeing who someone is behind a piece... how terrifying. Love you guys! You help me keep painting through my fear and tears. xoxo
I was scared to get one...I had one run by someone else who screwed it up for me she took all my customers and the money I sold my products on...this was in 1998.Along time ago. After reading your book I feel confident to get another one with word press or wix... that I can run myself. Thanks for being so understanding and kind to us. LOVE U..
I know an elderly woman I found on LinkedIn and subsequently followed on Google-Plus (social media). She had a lot of content on Google-plus and was publishing a meme or artwork almost daily. One day Google decided to they wouldn't support the platform any more and gave all of us until April to scrap (just like that). 5:37
Thank you for making it easier. This is realy warm and heartfelt explanation among all the marketing videos out there that feel off. Getting back to the simple and leading with the heart ❤️❤️
I've been debating this very question and I think you have motivated me to take the plunge and flail away. Thank you for your inspiration! Keep up the awesome work!
Just love you too!! You 'all give me more confidence in myself. I have had a website for many years but never made it an eCommerce site. I have been thinking of going for it!! Wish me luck! Thanks for all your videos!!
Super excited about this video! It gave me inspiration for the WP tutorials I'm working on and there is a lot I can elaborate on. Rafi I feel is spot on with the website outlook. The majority of websites eventually move to WP because of the visibility. Google SEO really loves WP because it has established trust. And if you are linking TH-cam videos Google really likes you. I started a website because Facebook and Twitter would Nerf my you tube videos. Only my mom would see my content. Twitter won't always show a thumbnail from TH-cam but it does from a wordpress featured image. Fall last year I started thinking of my online presence as an octopus. I use to focus on TH-cam and was spinning my wheels. But now I think of my website as the body and start all post there in the blog. I then make a video based on the blog, clean it up and spread that content down the tentacles of social media. Due to all the backlinks google takes my site seriously and I post content a few times a week. From fall when i started doing this my web traffic has quadrupled. Klee is right. "You ain't no kind of man unless you got land"
I loved designing my website I made sure it have it link out to all other platforms and link back to it from them. My new business cards just have my logo and website address on it. :) At vendor shows I always tell people they can always check out my website and order from there if they decide they like something I have local pickup or shipping available.
Solid and spot on information. Just get a website, right? One more thing that I would suggest is that artists need to gear their websites to not what they want, but on the type of art buyer or market that they want to serve. For example, my primary focus is in the editorial illustration market where art directors seem to have very little time for anything (super frustrating for an artist that needs to work), and so if by chance you get them to look at your website, it needs to be super easy to navigate, we'er talkin' no Adobe Flash. So I've set my website up to show a gallery of my illustration work as my landing page, and if anyone wants to know more about me, how to make contact, or the other types of art I do, then that is a secondary option. This is not too glamorous, but I think this is a generally effective approach for most markets because a lot of people are just too lazy to spend much time trying to figure out what it is that an artist does. The examples are front and center.
Thanks so much for this! I've been so waffly about putting my website up, but now I get why it's important! Finally☺ I'm going to spend some time learning and then "put it out there", as you say!
I now need to ask the techies I know of to help me build website. Still wanting the youtube thing. He said I need another storage thingy for my phone . (more storage space for videos so I can edit them. Before posting. . I am tryin to hook up with a local co-op store also. I DO LOVE KLEES BEAUTIFUL BROCADED TOP SHE WAS WEARING IN THIS VIDEO!
This was a really informative and encouraging video. I discovered your videos recently and I have to say, I have now found the courage to really try to push my art out there. I have struggled alot with creating my own website. I find there are often alot of errors or bugs etc when i try to create one. I am going to try again until i do it. I have an instagram to show my art and ebay selling page.. but need to get a handle on it all .. thankyou for the motivation. Kind regards
Thank you both so very much for taking the time to share this info. I’ve been very slack with my website and am now inspired to jump back into it. So many pearls of wisdom from both of you. 🙌🏻😁
Great advice. I'm an artist out of Memphis, Tn. I'm about to get my art career started. All my life I could draw. But I recently had a life changing experience with my health. I normally drive semi trucks but art is my passion. I'm a self taught artist GOD giving talent. Never have the time for art because of the long hours. But since being off work for over a year. I have reestablished myself as an artist. This is like always great advice. Thanks a bunch
Klee's sweater is awesome! Rafi's jacket is so typical with paint on it. But the brows are nothing compared to the one wild gray hair that was sticking down from your nose about 4 weeks ago LOL! Just kidding.
For me it isn't a matter of if I need, or want a website, I KNOW I want one. A couple of years ago I built a WordPress site with Bluehost as my web host and accidentally made all of my personal information public. (i still don't know how I managed to do it... r soon after, (within a a day) I received numerous phone calls and text from overseas telling me that my personal information is being sold online...:( Uuuuhhhhh! I cancelled my site immediately. The web host support person said that they should have caught this prior to me publishing. To this day, I still get spam and phone calls. I wanted to hire someone to help me build a site, but it is Cost prohibitive for me at this time. I totally agree that we should have a place where we can have a portfolio of all of the stuff we do. Thank you for the video.
You guys are right. No matter what type of business it is, if they do not have a website, I just don't take them seriously. The internet is the new school yellow pages/local paper. 😎👍
I made my website on weebly years ago and then forgot about it. I literally went back to it yesterday bc I hadn't been on it in years, and it was not attractive lol I had to completely revamp it. But now it's more in my style, I enjoy simple minimalistic websites. I do sell through etsy, so that when someone clicks "shop" it takes them directly to my etsy shop. I haven't bought my domain name yet, so it still has "weebly" in web address, but I'll buy it eventually lol
I use weebly as well just because I've worked with it before with someone else years ago. I think it's pretty easy to manage but it's defiantly a challenge for me to remember to update it.
Don't wait to buy your address. Someone else might take it. Or it might already be taken and you'll have to backtrack. It is the most important--and least expensive--thing you're going to need. If you just buy it for a year, it won't cost more than maybe $15. Then you can either renew on a yearly basis or more long term as you develop your business.
Would you guys be interested in doing artist website reviews? I would love to see what you think about my website, and ways you think I can improve it.
RAFI!! KLEE!! 💥🥰💞💜 Thank you so much for This!! I have Just had a Brilliantly Crazy Idea! 😅 Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!! I am going to get a Website, I can't thank you enough, I have been hemmin and. Hawwing for far too long, Now I have an Idea, Bless you Both!! (& May your plumbing be Awesome soon!) I will be back in touch with you soon, with the Website name!!)
Thanks for the video guys! The Mario analogy was great- you’re right you never know when a social media platform might disappear. Building an email list is key. When people visit your site and sign up for your email list you have that lead! And there are plenty of fun ways you can use social media and promotions to incentivize people to subscribe to your email list. I think it would be a great topic for this month if you do a video on building an email list and incentive ideas - like giveaways, or special promotions or VIP updates and info etc. It would be fun if more people shared what worked for them too. Thanks again!
Ya I started way back on myspace and Flickr and a separate blog on blogger.com. Wish I could have kept the blogger.com, but when I went to weebly, I had to rewrite all those blogs. It was a nightmare, but solved that crappy phone view on blogger. I personally would just recommend a cookie cutter version: wix, weebly, square space. There are limitations, but how much time do you want to spend on a website that can take minutes vs hours on a custom version.
Would you recommend having a list of reference pictures that you use on your website? Example: “Here’s a picture, fan art, that I did of Hex (Skylanders franchise) and the reference pictures I used for the piece.. It’s (media) on (paper / canvas) and titled ‘TITLE’... I’m showing it @ (location) from (date / time) to (date / time)”
Great information!! I was debating on whether to have a website, and now I know I definitely need one!!! Thanks! Your videos are always interesting,.👏👍
This made me think more about a website. I ran into the issue of being a tiny blip in the enormous pond that is the web. I have stayed on Etsy because I didn't know how get my customers from Etsy to my site. But this idea of having a "Hi! This is me!' site to begin is something to seriously consider.
I couldn’t fine a place to message privately sorry...but just wanted to let you know in the info/links you include under your video where you list your Random Vlog link you have a typo - spelled vlog - “volg “. Love your videos and this months series particularly timely for me as I’m planning and hope to launch more for my art Mar 1! ❤️
HI Rafi and Klee, not sure where to ask this but interested to hear your thoughts. I am busy reading some articles and watching videos about business and marketing to figure out how to position myself and how to transition into being a full-time artist (that actually earns). I keep hearing business people or coaches asking what are the pain points of your ideal client? I don't know that someone who buys art necessarily has a pain point. I mean what would that look like "Hey spouse, I have a space on my wall. I have so much pain I can't live another day until that space has a piece of art on it?" Is that what motivates people to buy art? I don't think of it as a pain point. I think of it as someone wanting to add colour and beauty to their home and lives. Is the need for colour and beauty a source of pain? If so, where do we find these people who have the money to alleviate their pain by buying our art?
This is a good video, but it contradicts your answer a little bit to my question recently about whether or not I should get a website, or get a shop on Etsy as a pet portrait artist.
@@Rafiwashere I do understand that. I just need to have patience and work on my inventory. I'm hoping I/we can do shows next summer. One way or another, It would be nice to have a platform by then.
I have no problems with websites. I have made so many in the past. I learned the hard way back in the early days when you were on your own or had to hire someone. I learned to code to build my own from scratch. It was a great experience even if my first websites were awful. :P One thing I have been struggling with the last few days is how to sign my work. I could use just my first and last name but there are quite a few other people with that same name. Apparently I am also an actress and a doctor. :p I could add my middle name and that helps some to make it more unique or I could use my creative name (also have the domain registered) of NettyPreat which I actually came up with in high school and always knew I would use it as my creative identity someday. I want to make a stamp for signing my sculptures but stuck on which name to use since I only want to make one. - Heidi
Hi, Rafi and Klee! When and why you started to call yourself AWESOME? You often say you are cool, awesome, creative. I'm embarrassed to even think I could wear a T-shirt with "Im awesome bold creative writer!" on it😆 This is brave. How? When? Why?
I'm a "website builder" and yes, these days there is no excuse to not have your own website. Even if you just pay for the domain name and use a free hosting kind of website, you should do it!!!
THANK YOU! For some reason hearing all this in this way.. Rafis way ;) Has given me some clarity and has also re sparked the flame to get this done! I do have one question.. I love the idea of the Central Hub.. with all the links to all the stuff, I would have the important pages (simply and clear) including a portfolio of all the things on categories like , Functional (mailboxes +signs) , wall art, wearables, ect .. Question is .. Do you think having the ability to click say a painting to purchase.. is necessary? or leave it be up to the links to lead to where they are for sale? :) Also the cost would be less for not having those functions.. not at first anyway. You know me so keeping all my crazy in mind.. Whatchya think .. ?
Lisa Kirwan part of mental stability is knowing yourself better than others know you. If you don’t you should work on it, please for the grace of god, for everyone around you’ s sanity, please 😂🤣😂 okay I don’t know you but your self description has me imagining you are like some peeps I know and wish I didn’t.
@@elsagrace3893 I was looking for the joke in your comment, but I don't really see it.. Sorry I don't see what your opinion of me, (someone you don't know) has anything to do with the post or my comment. You "don't know me" so I will leave it at that .. as far as the "grace of God" I will leave on this note, Judge Less, Pray More.
Hi everyone. At the very least you should secure your website name. I can't get my name so ended up using a brush name which is a pain in the neck. I am an expert flailer now. ❤️
I love you 2 you’re both amazing......but I do have a question does Klee do any tutorials on how to start doing metal jewelry or any advice on where to start....I make beaded jewelry but my desire is metals and there’s so much information out there that it gets completely confusing? Can Klee help me either by a pm or a video.....I look forward to the answer cuz I know it will be correct and not confusing💜💜💜
Thanks so much for this video. I need to get on this as I have been procrastinating and folks have asked specifically if I have a website. I know you two are involved in music as well. I am a singer/songwriter and wondered if I should have this as a separate entity or marry the two into one website? Love the videos and podcasts 😊❤️🎼🎨
Sharon White take a look at their website and see how you like all their activities married together on one site. Would you like this for yourself or not?
My very first website was hosted by my dial up internet provider (yes, it was that long ago) . I used Microsoft Publisher and then uploaded the files. Now I have a free WordPress.com blog so if I upgrade to paid from there are you saying they would take care of the security part of it??
When you can't get the instructions for a "control value" in your camera, take 3 pic's and deliberately only pay attention to that control... First with the value turned "all the way down"... Second with it "in the middle"... and Third with it "turned all the way up". JUST put the pic's on your computer, and examine all three in order... This part's a bit important... This process SHOWS you what the control does, value for value... It works for just about everything, and it won't matter what kind of camera you've got. Remember, all film is digital for online work, so film is cheap and renewable... Time is best "Invested" so that you understand more of what you're doing (at least in the beginning)... Instructions aren't always clear, and even video tutorials can be painfully difficult to quite understand... SO make every "shoot" or "project" work for you as much as you work for it. A cheap tripod is worth it's weight in gold (so long as it's stable). This takes "personal feel and judgment" out of the equation when you set up a shot. You can best practice and increase your skill with inanimate objects anyway... SO refine your work and skill with a tripod (yes, even a mini-tripod that stands on tables and chairs and stools and stuff) and a tape measure (another cheap buy, because you don't need new) will allow you to physically measure the shots by range, height, whatever... Finally, don't forget to take notes. Keep a small tablet or theme book around specifically for your camera of choice... I even label mine for every camera separately. Some companies are a little different from others by the specific numbers for things like "aperture" or "Exposure Value" (EV)... etc... The notepads start with just basic stuff you don't want to forget later... and they help with the damned "internal number assignments" that confuse the shit out of me from one camera to the next... so I can keep my pic's in order... Later on, special notes can be taken for certain lighting set ups, and specific effects you tried or improved, etc... Hope this helps with the whole camera thing... Presently working out a design for mounting a long distance scope and my camera onto a rifle stock so they line up... to see if I can get that idea to work better than "freehand". ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 Thanks, I'll try that - Part of it is also finding good things to drape pieces -over-, because the composition looks off without it, but half is quality - or they are too good, and get details I don't want, like stray cat fuzz >.>
@@yukifoxscales Kind of depends on the size of the piece... BUT there are "indoor clothes-lines" or perhaps it's a "drying frame" or "drying rack".... In any case, for hanging / draping pieces, there's a freestanding frame of metal tubing. It's not the most stable (in my experience) so better indoors on flat flooring, BUT you can use that as a standard... More important to "quality and composition" I'd worry about my lighting, exposure (EV), and background... Background... I've had pretty decent luck, starting with a large (king or queen size) sheet I just staple up to the wall, or hang across the room behind the piece. If you're slick and pick Blue, Green, or Red depending on what color-schemes your work has, you can then use any of the freeware "photo suites" to swap the plain-colored background out for just about anything you want... I try to watch occasional "behind the scenes" vid's to get tips on the blue and green screen technology, and reserve colors like red, yellow, etc... for special cases where I don't have a lot of choices for what screen color does NOT match some difficult aspect of my color-scheme... A little practice "fiddling" and you can even build your own elaborate background sceneries to inject for your photo's and just wow the audience for having looked at it in the first place... Their admiration of your effort for just the photo can be enough to draw them to pay for something. ;o)
This is my website for the time being: www.artbybrittanygodin.daportfolio.com Its basic, displays some of my art, and links to social media and an about me section.
You are so right on about the reasons to have a website!! I am an artist ( www.lindafazzary.com/) and a website designer. I find lots of people are not willing to set aside time to just do it. Love your videos!
So, i was talking with several artists from different art festivals. They used to put their art on their website but then they started seeing replicas of their work over at the dollar store. When they did some investigation they invariably found their work on some chinese manufacturer websites (sometimes a complete duplicate of their web page). People were asking these artists "why should I buy that piece of art for X amount of dollars from you when i can just get it at the store for a buck?"
Website hosting costs MONEY. And not a reasonable amount either. Who has a few hundred dollars to spend? My last food bill was $145 for 3 bags of food.
Love you love your show . Thanks for all the videos . I'm grateful for how real you guys are. . I dont know if you'll give me any feed back or not I can only hope . Following your advice I'm gonna put it out there . Check me out on Instagram and Facebook at ninephase photography and art .please and thank you .
We know it’s a serious video when Rafi is wearing the art blazer. 😄
Exactly my thought, but at least the blazer has paint on the sleeve, so you know that he's not just some super serious imposter.
@@mysterymccarthy6851 I know! Paint in a bunch of places! Too cute.
Frankly, this makes me feel a little more confident in polishing off my site and launching it. I absolutely love you guys. Your videos and podcasts are so helpful!
A note to artists asking this question. I have a website and although it is tricky sometimes technically, that is what google and youtube is for. There is very little that you cant find instructions for so yeah go for it. for the cost element I would suggest that if you ( the artists without a website and thinking about it) are willing to pay for tv and other stuff then why not spend the money to have your own website. We also, as artists, dont generally think twice about buying supplies to create so think of it as a supplies extension required to be an artist. Yes we buy whats in our means but we can do that with our websites too. I am not using mine to its full potential yet but I am building it up to do so. It is a work in progress, a little like me lol. :) I hope this helps T x
Great video! Absolute love the saying: " I don't know how to build a website, but I do know how to build my own. " 👏👏
Subscribed.
“And we all know, you a ain’t no kind of man, unless you’ve got land” Klee. Love it 💓
You did a great job with this. I'd like to add a thought. I've worked on websites large and small, from huge technology corporation sites to small local businesses. I encourage everyone to build your site for growth. What you think you need when you start will change over time. Don't use services that will ultimately limit what you can do with them. No Wix. No GoDaddy. Or like services. They aren't going to grow with you and when you are in a growth spurt, the last thing you need is to change your site host. I'm retired now and only do small business sites. What I use is WordPress and I have it hosted with InMotionHosting. I use a paid for theme (I mostly use Theme Foundry) because it comes with excellent tech support. InMotion's tech support is also great. Plant your flag there (or with a like service) and you won't have to pick it up and move it when you're buried with other work. Another plus to using WordPress is that it is ubiquitous. If you get to a place where you can hire someone to help you, you will find a lot of people with WordPress skills. And do consider hiring help. It may not cost as much as you think to get someone to help you get started. Rafi and Klee gave perfect advice for the content that needs to be there. Just do it!
Your website is the treetrunk for all your branchea :)
Yes, you're so right. A website is essential. It shows that you are serious about being an artist. I'm presently working on adding more onto my website such as blogs, video clips from my TH-cam channel and I now have an ecommerce shop. I've found that I have enjoyed the creativity involved in creating the website and yes Klee you're are so right - I have had to learn sooo much, but it is worth the time and effort. Thanks for the great advice guys, take care :)
I am binge watching all of your videos!!! Thank you for sharing such valuable information and advice. Not only that, but you guys are so friendly and hilarious! I love it 😁
I LOVE Klee's sweater!!!!! You guys look spiffy :)
Absolutely .. great advice. I have a website with a blog that I did years ago when I was scared to press a button on my computer. But it has served me well telling who I am, where I am and what I do. Plus others can comment on it and now I know other artists all over the world... I love it.
Just go for it, it has a way of working out..
my web site is blog-based. Hosted and powered by Wordpress. Back then Wordpress was a cool customizable thing, free (still is but more on that later) and offered quite a lot of functionalities. Now it is a huge machine that can do blogs, e-commerce, catalogues and even host newspapers (and big ones if you search for those online). With this came complexity.
I pay the premium package because I want a lot of storage space (my images are getting bigger and bigger and I sometimes host audio files and videos there) AND very important I DON'T WANT MY VIEWERS TO BE HARASSED WITH STUPID ADS. Ads may be fun on social platforms (and I dislike more and more those platforms but that's another topic) but they ruin any professional attempts for a web site.
Tech support on Wordpress is good but it could be made easier to understand everything. Wordpress supports countless plugins to further augment the user experience. There are also infinite design templates to choose from which saves you the daunting task of design (unless you're a web designer and love tweaking CSS and sucn beasts).
For a beginner I'd suggest WIX, their drag and drop formula is more refined than Wordpress. Nothing would prevent you later on to move to a more powerful platform and, why not, pay someone to do the transfer and adaptation for you. For artists making a good living with their art, delegating work is a sound investment.
Does my website bring me business ? no. Not at all even with a thousand+ followers. I've got a Patreon page with only one Patron so far who happens to have purchased several of my pieces. But I'll keep my website just because it's been around for a while and I like the idea of entertaining my followers with my random stuff.
Rafi & Klee 🎨🎨🎨🎨As a Cave Critter who has very little to do with social mediums, I am Verry happy (even relieved) from listening to your site today. You both have put into perspective so many things, starting with The Website. I am warming up to Try, again, to make myself a website. Thanks for your Inspirational, smart, and uncomplicated discussion about this and the coinciding topics weaving in, out, and around Self-Promotion. Cheers and Happy New/ Dragon Year from Vancouver, Canada. 🇨🇦 ☔️❄️🐉
I love your videos and I'm trying to get organized to put myself out there. You are fun to watch, provide me with lingo to understand the process (like putting myself out there :) and cover all the subjects that fly around in my head and in the air and turn them into fun projects instead of abstract concepts. That's a really amazing skill! Thanks for sharing the knowledge and Love For The Process, the most important part of art and the secret to enjoy life!
Awww! Thank you so much!
I started making my website last year, got overwelmed and didn't get very far. Your recent videos are giving me the motivation to push through the hard parts and finally finish this thing. I already got so much done in the past two days! So I'm confident I'll get it done this february.
What sucked the most was doing the whole legal stuff - I don't know what that is like in the US but germany sure has a lot of requirements and people can sue me if my website doesn't fulfill them. It's pretty scary tbh, but I'm almost done with it.
Thanks for the motivation. I've started a platform with products and am ready to start my website- thanks to your motivational videos! It wasn't just the techno learning curve- it's also committing the $ which is the mental part of ok, commit!
I loved this video guys I think one of the things I struggle with is forgetting to post because I'm insecure about sharing my thoughts. It's way more comfortable to listen and even create visually for me than to share thoughts and words. I feel like when I create visually I don't have a choice, I'm naturally authentic because it's the only way I know how to be, but when I speak or even write there's a rush of multiple interpretations I'm overthinking about how other people are interpreting my site. AND it's not like many people visit the site it's all in my head. Goals are to get out of my head and start posting more on my blog maybe just to get more comfortable in general. Wish I could be a shadow in my work but it seems people like seeing who someone is behind a piece... how terrifying. Love you guys! You help me keep painting through my fear and tears. xoxo
I was scared to get one...I had one run by someone else who screwed it up for me she took all my customers and the money I sold my products on...this was in 1998.Along time ago. After reading your book I feel confident to get another one with word press or wix... that I can run myself. Thanks for being so understanding and kind to us. LOVE U..
OMG! That's terrible! I'm so sorry that happened to you!
I know an elderly woman I found on LinkedIn and subsequently followed on Google-Plus (social media). She had a lot of content on Google-plus and was publishing a meme or artwork almost daily. One day Google decided to they wouldn't support the platform any more and gave all of us until April to scrap (just like that). 5:37
Thank you for making it easier. This is realy warm and heartfelt explanation among all the marketing videos out there that feel off.
Getting back to the simple and leading with the heart ❤️❤️
Ah, I loved that "flailed heroically"! Gotta love the flailing...
I've been debating this very question and I think you have motivated me to take the plunge and flail away. Thank you for your inspiration! Keep up the awesome work!
Just love you too!! You 'all give me more confidence in myself. I have had a website for many years but never made it an eCommerce site. I have been thinking of going for it!! Wish me luck! Thanks for all your videos!!
Super excited about this video! It gave me inspiration for the WP tutorials I'm working on and there is a lot I can elaborate on. Rafi I feel is spot on with the website outlook. The majority of websites eventually move to WP because of the visibility. Google SEO really loves WP because it has established trust. And if you are linking TH-cam videos Google really likes you. I started a website because Facebook and Twitter would Nerf my you tube videos. Only my mom would see my content. Twitter won't always show a thumbnail from TH-cam but it does from a wordpress featured image. Fall last year I started thinking of my online presence as an octopus. I use to focus on TH-cam and was spinning my wheels. But now I think of my website as the body and start all post there in the blog. I then make a video based on the blog, clean it up and spread that content down the tentacles of social media. Due to all the backlinks google takes my site seriously and I post content a few times a week. From fall when i started doing this my web traffic has quadrupled. Klee is right. "You ain't no kind of man unless you got land"
💙 ...hmmm website eh? I’ll add that to my never ending to do list lol 😬😆 Thank you for your perspective, I’ll definitely look into it.
Just wanted you to know that this video directed me to your website😉 thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience, and for making so much sense👍🏼
I loved designing my website I made sure it have it link out to all other platforms and link back to it from them. My new business cards just have my logo and website address on it. :) At vendor shows I always tell people they can always check out my website and order from there if they decide they like something I have local pickup or shipping available.
Solid and spot on information. Just get a website, right? One more thing that I would suggest is that artists need to gear their websites to not what they want, but on the type of art buyer or market that they want to serve. For example, my primary focus is in the editorial illustration market where art directors seem to have very little time for anything (super frustrating for an artist that needs to work), and so if by chance you get them to look at your website, it needs to be super easy to navigate, we'er talkin' no Adobe Flash. So I've set my website up to show a gallery of my illustration work as my landing page, and if anyone wants to know more about me, how to make contact, or the other types of art I do, then that is a secondary option. This is not too glamorous, but I think this is a generally effective approach for most markets because a lot of people are just too lazy to spend much time trying to figure out what it is that an artist does. The examples are front and center.
Thanks so much for this! I've been so waffly about putting my website up, but now I get why it's important! Finally☺ I'm going to spend some time learning and then "put it out there", as you say!
Thank you both, this video and your video on packaging from sometime ago, where very helpful. All the best. Appreciative beginner. Happy Creating!
Okay, you convinced me. Time to get on the website train!!
Even when I'm not in the right mind frame you two make me laugh..." And everyone knows, you ain't no kind of man, unless you got land." 😂😂😂
😊🙏
I now need to ask the techies I know of to help me build website. Still wanting the youtube thing. He said I need another storage thingy for my phone . (more storage space for videos so I can edit them. Before posting. . I am tryin to hook up with a local co-op store also. I DO LOVE KLEES BEAUTIFUL BROCADED TOP SHE WAS WEARING IN THIS VIDEO!
VERY good ... to the point of listening to it again.
Your website is very interesting - spent a lot of time looking around which is quite something in our day and age. Great work!
This was a really informative and encouraging video. I discovered your videos recently and I have to say, I have now found the courage to really try to push my art out there. I have struggled alot with creating my own website. I find there are often alot of errors or bugs etc when i try to create one. I am going to try again until i do it. I have an instagram to show my art and ebay selling page.. but need to get a handle on it all .. thankyou for the motivation. Kind regards
You Rock @claybutler6194!
Thank you both so very much for taking the time to share this info. I’ve been very slack with my website and am now inspired to jump back into it. So many pearls of wisdom from both of you. 🙌🏻😁
You both are so amazing. Always appreciated!
That was another AWESOME video. Thank you.
Great advice. I'm an artist out of Memphis, Tn. I'm about to get my art career started. All my life I could draw. But I recently had a life changing experience with my health. I normally drive semi trucks but art is my passion. I'm a self taught artist GOD giving talent. Never have the time for art because of the long hours. But since being off work for over a year. I have reestablished myself as an artist. This is like always great advice. Thanks a bunch
Klee's sweater is awesome! Rafi's jacket is so typical with paint on it. But the brows are nothing compared to the one wild gray hair that was sticking down from your nose about 4 weeks ago LOL! Just kidding.
For me it isn't a matter of if I need, or want a website, I KNOW I want one. A couple of years ago I built a WordPress site with Bluehost as my web host and accidentally made all of my personal information public. (i still don't know how I managed to do it... r soon after, (within a a day) I received numerous phone calls and text from overseas telling me that my personal information is being sold online...:( Uuuuhhhhh! I cancelled my site immediately. The web host support person said that they should have caught this prior to me publishing. To this day, I still get spam and phone calls. I wanted to hire someone to help me build a site, but it is Cost prohibitive for me at this time. I totally agree that we should have a place where we can have a portfolio of all of the stuff we do. Thank you for the video.
You guys are right. No matter what type of business it is, if they do not have a website, I just don't take them seriously. The internet is the new school yellow pages/local paper. 😎👍
The internet has been the newspaper/phone book for many years now. "Get on it, get on it"
ehhhhhhh.......I have been putting off doing a website because I don't know where to start. But I need to do it. Thanks for the push 😊
I made my website on weebly years ago and then forgot about it.
I literally went back to it yesterday bc I hadn't been on it in years, and it was not attractive lol I had to completely revamp it.
But now it's more in my style, I enjoy simple minimalistic websites.
I do sell through etsy, so that when someone clicks "shop" it takes them directly to my etsy shop.
I haven't bought my domain name yet, so it still has "weebly" in web address, but I'll buy it eventually lol
I use weebly as well just because I've worked with it before with someone else years ago. I think it's pretty easy to manage but it's defiantly a challenge for me to remember to update it.
Don't wait to buy your address. Someone else might take it. Or it might already be taken and you'll have to backtrack. It is the most important--and least expensive--thing you're going to need. If you just buy it for a year, it won't cost more than maybe $15. Then you can either renew on a yearly basis or more long term as you develop your business.
Thanks you guys. This is just what I needed. Love you guys!
Thank you for going more in depth to my question.
Would you guys be interested in doing artist website reviews?
I would love to see what you think about my website, and ways you think I can improve it.
RAFI!! KLEE!! 💥🥰💞💜
Thank you so much for This!!
I have Just had a Brilliantly Crazy Idea! 😅
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!
I am going to get a Website, I can't thank you enough, I have been hemmin and. Hawwing for far too long, Now I have an Idea, Bless you Both!!
(& May your plumbing be Awesome soon!) I will be back in touch with you soon, with the Website name!!)
Thanks for the video guys! The Mario analogy was great- you’re right you never know when a social media platform might disappear. Building an email list is key. When people visit your site and sign up for your email list you have that lead! And there are plenty of fun ways you can use social media and promotions to incentivize people to subscribe to your email list. I think it would be a great topic for this month if you do a video on building an email list and incentive ideas - like giveaways, or special promotions or VIP updates and info etc. It would be fun if more people shared what worked for them too. Thanks again!
Ya I started way back on myspace and Flickr and a separate blog on blogger.com. Wish I could have kept the blogger.com, but when I went to weebly, I had to rewrite all those blogs. It was a nightmare, but solved that crappy phone view on blogger. I personally would just recommend a cookie cutter version: wix, weebly, square space. There are limitations, but how much time do you want to spend on a website that can take minutes vs hours on a custom version.
Would you recommend having a list of reference pictures that you use on your website? Example: “Here’s a picture, fan art, that I did of Hex (Skylanders franchise) and the reference pictures I used for the piece.. It’s (media) on (paper / canvas) and titled ‘TITLE’... I’m showing it @ (location) from (date / time) to (date / time)”
Emerald Queen why would you do that. Nobody cares.
Great information!! I was debating on whether to have a website, and now I know I definitely need one!!! Thanks! Your videos are always interesting,.👏👍
I love your FREAKIN' website too!
This made me think more about a website. I ran into the issue of being a tiny blip in the enormous pond that is the web. I have stayed on Etsy because I didn't know how get my customers from Etsy to my site. But this idea of having a "Hi! This is me!' site to begin is something to seriously consider.
You guys are simply awesome.
I need to get my website ASAP! Thank you for the insight!
The flag planting thing reminds me of the Kings Island show which had its last show in August lol, that show was hilarious, I miss it
It conjured up for me the scene of flag planting in Far and Away, lol
the problem of having a website is... I have no idea what to put in there... I'll just figure it out when I decide to go professional...
I couldn’t fine a place to message privately sorry...but just wanted to let you know in the info/links you include under your video where you list your Random Vlog link you have a typo - spelled vlog - “volg “. Love your videos and this months series particularly timely for me as I’m planning and hope to launch more for my art Mar 1! ❤️
Your eyebrows are one of the things we recognize you by. Don't be ashamed of rogue eyebrows!
Well said.
Just buy the domain name and let it be a work in progress. Mine is an unfinished WIP for the past 10+ years.
HI Rafi and Klee, not sure where to ask this but interested to hear your thoughts. I am busy reading some articles and watching videos about business and marketing to figure out how to position myself and how to transition into being a full-time artist (that actually earns). I keep hearing business people or coaches asking what are the pain points of your ideal client? I don't know that someone who buys art necessarily has a pain point. I mean what would that look like "Hey spouse, I have a space on my wall. I have so much pain I can't live another day until that space has a piece of art on it?" Is that what motivates people to buy art?
I don't think of it as a pain point. I think of it as someone wanting to add colour and beauty to their home and lives. Is the need for colour and beauty a source of pain? If so, where do we find these people who have the money to alleviate their pain by buying our art?
This is a good video, but it contradicts your answer a little bit to my question recently about whether or not I should get a website, or get a shop on Etsy as a pet portrait artist.
@@Rafiwashere I do understand that. I just need to have patience and work on my inventory. I'm hoping I/we can do shows next summer. One way or another, It would be nice to have a platform by then.
right and they can see how much more of you that you add as you grow with drawing and painting and doing "art" and adding to it [the web site].
Have you watched any Eddie Izard stand up? "Do you have a flag?!"
Hey guys you seem to have gone a bit quiet on the old social media.... hoping everything is ok. Sending virtual hugs in case it isn't.
Great stuff ! Thanks.
I have no problems with websites. I have made so many in the past. I learned the hard way back in the early days when you were on your own or had to hire someone. I learned to code to build my own from scratch. It was a great experience even if my first websites were awful. :P
One thing I have been struggling with the last few days is how to sign my work. I could use just my first and last name but there are quite a few other people with that same name. Apparently I am also an actress and a doctor. :p I could add my middle name and that helps some to make it more unique or I could use my creative name (also have the domain registered) of NettyPreat which I actually came up with in high school and always knew I would use it as my creative identity someday. I want to make a stamp for signing my sculptures but stuck on which name to use since I only want to make one.
- Heidi
Hi, Rafi and Klee! When and why you started to call yourself AWESOME? You often say you are cool, awesome, creative. I'm embarrassed to even think I could wear a T-shirt with "Im awesome bold creative writer!" on it😆 This is brave.
How? When? Why?
I've been putting it off because I can't decide where to put it. Wondering if you use Wordpress .com or .org?
Thanks for this. Just the push I need.
Also, I used to sell on ebay years ago, but it got where they made more than I did, so would you consider that a viable option still for an Artist?
I'm a "website builder" and yes, these days there is no excuse to not have your own website. Even if you just pay for the domain name and use a free hosting kind of website, you should do it!!!
Great video. I will claim my internet land
THANK YOU! For some reason hearing all this in this way.. Rafis way ;) Has given me some clarity and has also re sparked the flame to get this done! I do have one question.. I love the idea of the Central Hub.. with all the links to all the stuff, I would have the important pages (simply and clear) including a portfolio of all the things on categories like , Functional (mailboxes +signs) , wall art, wearables, ect .. Question is .. Do you think having the ability to click say a painting to purchase.. is necessary? or leave it be up to the links to lead to where they are for sale? :) Also the cost would be less for not having those functions.. not at first anyway. You know me so keeping all my crazy in mind.. Whatchya think .. ?
Lisa Kirwan part of mental stability is knowing yourself better than others know you. If you don’t you should work on it, please for the grace of god, for everyone around you’ s sanity, please 😂🤣😂 okay I don’t know you but your self description has me imagining you are like some peeps I know and wish I didn’t.
@@elsagrace3893 I was looking for the joke in your comment, but I don't really see it.. Sorry I don't see what your opinion of me, (someone you don't know) has anything to do with the post or my comment.
You "don't know me" so I will leave it at that .. as far as the "grace of God" I will leave on this note, Judge Less, Pray More.
Hi everyone. At the very least you should secure your website name. I can't get my name so ended up using a brush name which is a pain in the neck. I am an expert flailer now. ❤️
I love you 2 you’re both amazing......but I do have a question does Klee do any tutorials on how to start doing metal jewelry or any advice on where to start....I make beaded jewelry but my desire is metals and there’s so much information out there that it gets completely confusing? Can Klee help me either by a pm or a video.....I look forward to the answer cuz I know it will be correct and not confusing💜💜💜
Melissa Jeanne Foster hello. Find a class at a Junior College. It will be affordable and a decent start.. how did you become so entitled?
Thanks so much for this video. I need to get on this as I have been procrastinating and folks have asked specifically if I have a website. I know you two are involved in music as well. I am a singer/songwriter and wondered if I should have this as a separate entity or marry the two into one website? Love the videos and podcasts 😊❤️🎼🎨
Sharon White take a look at their website and see how you like all their activities married together on one site. Would you like this for yourself or not?
elsa Grace ok will check it out.
To what extent does having an external social media page, linked to an existing portfolio website, have to an artists' benefits?
Rogue Eyebrows...LOL That's not all, you'll grow hair on your eyeballs my friend!
My very first website was hosted by my dial up internet provider (yes, it was that long ago) . I used Microsoft Publisher and then uploaded the files. Now I have a free WordPress.com blog so if I upgrade to paid from there are you saying they would take care of the security part of it??
For your first website you can easily start with "wordpress" for free.
For me, its remembering to update and also, well, I have a hard time taking good images with my camera.... >.>
When you can't get the instructions for a "control value" in your camera, take 3 pic's and deliberately only pay attention to that control... First with the value turned "all the way down"... Second with it "in the middle"... and Third with it "turned all the way up".
JUST put the pic's on your computer, and examine all three in order... This part's a bit important... This process SHOWS you what the control does, value for value... It works for just about everything, and it won't matter what kind of camera you've got.
Remember, all film is digital for online work, so film is cheap and renewable... Time is best "Invested" so that you understand more of what you're doing (at least in the beginning)... Instructions aren't always clear, and even video tutorials can be painfully difficult to quite understand... SO make every "shoot" or "project" work for you as much as you work for it.
A cheap tripod is worth it's weight in gold (so long as it's stable). This takes "personal feel and judgment" out of the equation when you set up a shot. You can best practice and increase your skill with inanimate objects anyway... SO refine your work and skill with a tripod (yes, even a mini-tripod that stands on tables and chairs and stools and stuff) and a tape measure (another cheap buy, because you don't need new) will allow you to physically measure the shots by range, height, whatever...
Finally, don't forget to take notes. Keep a small tablet or theme book around specifically for your camera of choice... I even label mine for every camera separately. Some companies are a little different from others by the specific numbers for things like "aperture" or "Exposure Value" (EV)... etc... The notepads start with just basic stuff you don't want to forget later... and they help with the damned "internal number assignments" that confuse the shit out of me from one camera to the next... so I can keep my pic's in order... Later on, special notes can be taken for certain lighting set ups, and specific effects you tried or improved, etc...
Hope this helps with the whole camera thing... Presently working out a design for mounting a long distance scope and my camera onto a rifle stock so they line up... to see if I can get that idea to work better than "freehand". ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 Thanks, I'll try that - Part of it is also finding good things to drape pieces -over-, because the composition looks off without it, but half is quality - or they are too good, and get details I don't want, like stray cat fuzz >.>
@@yukifoxscales Kind of depends on the size of the piece... BUT there are "indoor clothes-lines" or perhaps it's a "drying frame" or "drying rack"....
In any case, for hanging / draping pieces, there's a freestanding frame of metal tubing. It's not the most stable (in my experience) so better indoors on flat flooring, BUT you can use that as a standard...
More important to "quality and composition" I'd worry about my lighting, exposure (EV), and background...
Background... I've had pretty decent luck, starting with a large (king or queen size) sheet I just staple up to the wall, or hang across the room behind the piece. If you're slick and pick Blue, Green, or Red depending on what color-schemes your work has, you can then use any of the freeware "photo suites" to swap the plain-colored background out for just about anything you want... I try to watch occasional "behind the scenes" vid's to get tips on the blue and green screen technology, and reserve colors like red, yellow, etc... for special cases where I don't have a lot of choices for what screen color does NOT match some difficult aspect of my color-scheme...
A little practice "fiddling" and you can even build your own elaborate background sceneries to inject for your photo's and just wow the audience for having looked at it in the first place... Their admiration of your effort for just the photo can be enough to draw them to pay for something. ;o)
This is my website for the time being: www.artbybrittanygodin.daportfolio.com
Its basic, displays some of my art, and links to social media and an about me section.
You are so right on about the reasons to have a website!! I am an artist ( www.lindafazzary.com/) and a website designer. I find lots of people are not willing to set aside time to just do it. Love your videos!
You should just join popular sites if you are not already on them.
So, i was talking with several artists from different art festivals. They used to put their art on their website but then they started seeing replicas of their work over at the dollar store. When they did some investigation they invariably found their work on some chinese manufacturer websites (sometimes a complete duplicate of their web page). People were asking these artists "why should I buy that piece of art for X amount of dollars from you when i can just get it at the store for a buck?"
Website hosting costs MONEY. And not a reasonable amount either. Who has a few hundred dollars to spend? My last food bill was $145 for 3 bags of food.
I pay $300 a year for a full ecommerce site. That's $25 a month. However, we make more than that a month, so really it's up to you.
Americans
"You aint no kinda man 'less you got land." 1:03 so you can play it over and over into eternity. 😉
Love you love your show . Thanks for all the videos . I'm grateful for how real you guys are. .
I dont know if you'll give me any feed back or not I can only hope . Following your advice I'm gonna put it out there . Check me out on Instagram and Facebook at ninephase photography and art .please and thank you .
So what you're saying is you're both masters of your domain (Seinfeld joke), lol