Why aren't people buying your art? 7 possible reasons and what to do about it.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ค. 2024
- If the saying "if you build it, they will come" is true, we'd all quit our jobs and make full time living making whatever we want. You launched your online store, got a bunch of orders from your family, friends, and coworkers, then crickets. You go weeks without another order notification. Where is everyone and why aren't more people buying??
I've been there. It took me almost 2 months after my initial Etsy shop launch before I received an order from a total stranger on the Internet. I've learned a lot about selling art [online] since then.
In this video I will discuss 7 possible reasons people aren't buying your art, whether it's greeting cards, art prints, stickers, pottery, etc. I’m not going to talk about the obvious, which is whether your art is “good enough” to buy. That’s a question you have to answer, often by continuously putting yourself out there in front of potential customers, while dedicating as much time as you can to improve your craft.
Because you know I'm all about giving practical advice, I'll share the reason as well as what you can do to improve your chance of getting sales. Ready for some tough love? Enjoy. :)
00:00 Intro
00:50 Photography
03:03 Curation
04:10 Who Are You
05:40 Conversion Rate
06:53 All Your Eggs in the IG Basket
08:32 Call to Action
10:11 Pricing & Shipping
12:08 Last Words of Encouragement
If you found this video helpful, we'd love for you to subscribe to our channel, follow us on Instagram at @easysundayclub and let us know in the comments which strategy resonates with you. I may do more videos that do a deeper dive on these topics.
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Cathy is a self taught watercolor artist based in Los Angeles, CA. Easy Sunday Club was started by Cathy and her husband Nam and is a collection of Cathy's modern paintings, art prints, and baby/children's soft goods that showcase playful interpretations of subjects in her expressive painting style. Prior to art, Cathy got an MBA and worked in corporate for 10 years before rediscovering her creative side. Nam is an attorney. This channel is our way of giving back to the art community and covers Watercolor Tutorials, How To Videos, Product Reviews and the Business of Art
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Shop: www.easysundayclub.com
Instagram: / easysundayclub
Facebook: / easysundayclub
Patreon: / easysundayclub
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Music: In French (Used w/ Artist Permission)
/ infrench
Recently stumbled across this channel and the advice is indispensable. Can't recommend this channel enough! Thx for all you two do!
Thank you sooooooo much!
Thank you for sharing this info! I like your videos, they are clear and concise.
I appreciate it, Mita!
Another great helpful video.
SO ENLIGHTENING! Thanks for sharing
Thank you! This was extremely helpful!
glad to hear it!
What you said about your ig followers being other artists was something I never even thought about haha. I do try to branch out on other platforms but this was a good realization to have haha. Thanks for the reminder!
I’m glad it resonates with you! I realized this recently especially after hearing that IG algorithm will show your content to more new people who are like your followers. It all makes sense. I think having an artist following is inevitable and isn’t necessarily a bad thing but we can definitely be more intentional with how we communicate if our end goal is to find and connect with our customers on these platforms. Thanks for watching :).
I can take your tough love all day. Thank you so so much Cathy as always, you are awesome. Blessings
Thank you for all your positivity, Nakeisha! Wish you success on your creative journey.
This whole! video is information I needed but I think what resonated the most was the part about shipping. I can't tell you how many times I just left a shopping cart because of the shipping. I totally forgot about that. Pricing my own time as an artist is the biggest leap for me. I have NO IDEA because I might take a week to paint a picture or series for a collection. My time, my skill my undying love... lol. etc. Pricing is the hardest and figuring out getting my Etsy store set up, getting the best prices for the stuff I need to make and ship all this.... WHEN DO I GET TO PAINT AGAIN? That's how all this started because I love to paint and the zone I'm in with a brush in my hand. Thanks to both of you for sharing your knowledge...
Thank you, Cathy - some really useful points - especially about the shipping.
Great!
Very good information. Thank you so much for sharing!
You’re welcome Diane!
More great ideas. I'm addicted to your channel :) I love the idea of including all or most of the shipping cost into the price of your product. It's true about people expecting free shipping. Thanks for another informative video !!
Thank you for this! Very helpful tips. I am definitely going to try to improve on a couple of the points you made (appealing to the ideal customer -- that is a really good one! -- and my bio).
I remember I loved that you were a career changing artist like me, definitely worth telling that story in your bio if you haven’t yet! and the ideal customer piece is so important but it’s a little different for art businesses. I’ve been writing down an outline for a dedicated video about this topic for months 😅, hope it’ll happen.
@@EasySundayClub please let me motivate you to make it happen soon :D
Hello! can't believe this video is already one year old. I only chance upon your channel today and *where* have you been all my life. Have been struggling with the whole creating, shipping, selling, thank you for sharing your experience and all the advice you share openly. Sending love from Singapore!
Hello Slice of Whit, I’m glad youtube algorithm found its way to you eventually :). Thanks for your kind words!
I really like your straight forward approach.
Thanks Debra! we’re all too busy to beat around the bush :).
WONDERFUL advice! My art must either suck, or I just don't have enough traffic yet...
It's the same with me. Alot of people don't know about our business
Your intelligence just shines through! The 'why' is so clearly explained.
thanks Ruth, that’s very kind of you!
Thank you as always for sharing your knowledge, Cathy! Another fab tutorial, and a good reminder that our artist friends are not our ICA!
I’m glad you agree with that point Amy and good to see you here on YT!
@@EasySundayClub Nice to see you too!! :)
Awesome work. I believe you are right on target here. It can be overwhelming when you are the only person doing everything in an Art business. These are the most important categories you have chosen. My favorite is the paradoxical choice-having too many options or feeling you have to have everything available. I started my shop with 10 bookmarks 😆
Thanks again!
good job, paradoxically it is much harder to start with just 10 bookmarks than 10 bookmarks, patches, stickers, and totes. 😆
Too much choice breeds contempt
Just found your channel today and felt like i've been binge watching all your advice. Such a great channel! thank you!
thanks for binging! 😄 which video did you find first?
@@EasySundayClub I had searched for a video to get started on Pinterest. There were loads of ‘get 500k followers in 6 months’ type ones, but I clicked on you because you seemed real. It definitely gave me encouragement to give it ago! So thanks!
I guess the one thought is that Pinterest seems like a void. Facebook and instagram you all ready have friends that can immediately engage with your content, Pinterest not so much. So do you just start making and have faith that it will be found?
@@Gj.Sherwood yes it can feel that way. but a good differentiator about Pinterest is that you don't need to have a lot of friends to start and to be discovered. In its current state, it's not a social network like FB/IG and content matter more than how many followers you have.
@@EasySundayClub thanks for the encouragement. Going to give it a go!
Make a video on why you changed your brand name, what did the previous name mean and what does the new name mean? why you rebranded ? How have things changed? Did it affect your clientele and followers. That’s would help.
Hey JC good suggestion! I'll seriously consider it.
Thanks for this, reminds me to aim for the long term game. It just takes time to get numbers to show. How do you handle international shipping when the cost can eat up the profit margin?
international shipping can be so cost prohibitive for artists who want to expand abroad. I cover 1/4 to half the shipping cost and factor it into the price markup of the product so that it’s still profitable for me (even if barely) but the shipping cost isn’t so high that it scares the buyer away. For me it’s worth knowing my art is being seen in other countries.
@@EasySundayClub Thank you for the honest reply. This helps.
You are right about the instagram hack. Majority of my friends on there are making cards
Yup. That's why marketing outside of IG is just as important.
great video Cathy!! I struggled with the shipping costs for awhile too since shipping from canada can be a pain but thankfully there are companies now that lower shipping costs. Etsy also offers free shipping to US on orders over $35 which some people don't like but it's worked really well for me. Are you selling on Etsy too? I'm having issues with their thumbnail photos they seem to desaturate all my photos and I can't figure out why haha
I do sell on Etsy although my main channel is my Shopify. The $35 thing has worked well for me too, but I think I just offer free shipping for everything and price up my prints slightly. I just checked your Etsy shop and your images look fine to me in saturation. In the US, I find Etsy shipping rates to be more favorable than some of the other companies. But outside of Etsy, I use Goshippo to fulfill orders from multiple platforms.
P.S. People are definitely buying your art so you won't find much help in this video :P
Which "problem" in this video resonates with you or surprises you? Which one have you tried to improve? Let me know in the comments!
Can you guys please explain how making content like this (teaching other artists how to do business) helps to grow your business? As you have said other artists are not normally the ideal customer. I really enjoy your videos and have learned a lot from them but I can't get around this concept. It seems very common amongst art businesses to build audience based on sharing processes but how does it translate into sales? Is it more about building another stream of income through TH-cam adds and Patreon?
Thanks for the comment, Polina. Nam here. It can drive direct sales for the art but it seems very few and far between for the reasons I said in this video. You are right, it is more about another revenue stream but that's not what got us started. FYI once you monetize on TH-cam (attain 4000 watch time hours and 1000 subscribers) then you can start to generate ad revenue. However, at this point it's not enough to quit our day job but it will grow into another steady revenue stream. So other things motivate us. 1) Giving back to the art community. So many people have helped us along the way and we want to pass along the positivity. What got us started was making content we wish existed when we started this business. 2) Build a community. As you know being an artist yourself, it can be lonely as an artist by going off of the safe normal 9-5 professional path. This feeds back into 1) of course. We have connected with a lot of real people through this process and we get more instagram followers from TH-cam because IG wants you to pay for exposure. 3) Experimentation. We can share and test new ideas, practice teaching and giving presentations and stay open to where this will lead to.
@@EasySundayClub Hi Nam and Cathy, thank you so much for such a full and lengthy response. Im really sorry it took me so long to reply back with a thank you! My husband and I were just about to have a baby and things got crazy busy once our baby boy has arrived. I really appreciate your taking your time to explain this topic to me. I wish I could be as brave as you guys are to talk about my struggles and successes and share my art on TH-cam. I haven't got a courage yet to do it and not sure if I have the guts to be so open about my processes, as being an introvert doesn't help even though I do really love sharing and have been teaching students art in person for several years. Maybe in one of your videos you can talk about how to overcome this fear of being exposed and starting a TH-cam channel? Again, love your channel and the amazing work you guys are doing! You are a huge inspiration to me. All the best. Polina
@@illabarbru congrats on the baby. I checked out your and your husband's art and it is beautiful. I would guess you are a tad more busy these days but when you have time, I think the last four videos we made are relevant to you: 1) Q &A where we address motherhood; 2) Cathy's Failed Launch; 3) Leaving Corporate; 4) How Much Money We Made in TH-cam during our first year. If you were like Cathy when she was breastfeeding, you are probably up at 2 am anyways :) Best of luck and wishing you good health.
@@EasySundayClub Oh my goodness, you are so fast to respond guys! Thanks a lot, Nam!😊 I wil for sure, I have already added them to my watchlist and definitely night time feeding is a great time for me, Haha. I was just thinking I need something great to watch to keep me awake😂. Looking forward to new videos guys, keep em coming! Your little daughter is just adorable!
I really like affinity photo but I’m also trialing Affinity Designer... which one should I get that will help me use printing services until I can afford a decent printer? I can’t afford them both right now and I want to get the IPad version so I can use my magic pencil. Do you use a magic pencil?
Affinity Photo would be a better fit. Designer is more like Adobe Illustrator for digital designs, pattern creation etc. They do have an iPad version that costs $20 (I think). I have the Apple pencil for iPad but I usually use Procreate on there.
I’ve had my shop open for over a year. Only one sale. So sad. Not sure what I’m doing wrong or is Etsy too saturated. Disappointed, but I keep making work and listing. I started with printables than switched to svg’s for crafters. I try to ad a few new pieces per week, quality svg’s. I get some visits per day but not many……what can I be doing wrong?