In 1994 I saw Netscape, with a page somewhat like a web page you see today with photos. Immediately I knew that this is for me. Up to that time I had been viewing the Internet as text based. Strictly text, and even at that I was impressed. But, the Netscape browser let me see the future.

Since that time the Internet has advanced almost daily and who knows where it will go from here.

The Internet will give you more exposure than you can get anywhere else. 99% percent of my business is done through the Internet.

Today there are a number of avenues that you can use through the Internet.

Web Site

Online Craft Malls

Ebay

Blogs

Video Blogs

Forums

User Groups

Viral Marketing

Google

Online Video

Your own web site can showcase your work. Almost anyone can build a web site. There are a number of WYSIWYG web building software's out there. WYSIWYG is an acronym for "What You See Is What You Get". In other words as you build your site you see exactly how it will look on the Web.

Beyond that there are more progressive web building tools and a learning curve to match. In general, the more sophisticated the software the steeper the learning curve.

If you don't know anything about building your own web pages, do a Google search for WYSIWYG, download a trial version of a software that looks like something you can handle and give it a try. Once you master that you can go onto something a bit more complicated.

When you first start, it may seem a bit overwhelming. Just take it step by step.

I have a number of friends that make their living through their craft. In other words, professional craftsmen and craftswomen. Some do not want to do their own web pages. They prefer to spend their time working on their craft rather than on a computer. Most decide to have someone do their web page for them, called a webmaster.

This is a viable option, although it means that whenever you want to add or change your web pages, you have to go through someone else. Webmasters charge for editing or adding to web pages.

Let me say here, that I like computers and the challenge of working through software enabling me to do what I want to do. Not everybody likes computers or wants to build their own web site, so getting someone else to do it for you may be your best solution.

Also, when you consider the time involved with learning the software and building a web site, you may find that it is economically more productive to spend your time on producing work for sale.

If you do decide to have someone else build your web site, you can easily find someone locally. Ask around and find out who is recommended. With the speed of the Internet you can also find someone on the web who offers this service. You can email them the text and the digital photos of your work.

If you are doing your own web site, here are the basics:

1) Software to build your site. (you can find free software or you can buy software).

2) You'll need a Domain Name. Go to www.godaddy.com and start a search for a name that appeals to you.

Often times the name that you'd like is already registered. This means that you have to play around with names until you find one that you like and is not registered.  www.dot.com is the most favored, such as www.amazon.com, or in my case, www.gsegmedia.com. There are also .biz, .us, and many more, yet most people prefer the .com extension

3) You'll need a hosting site, which is a service that hosts or stores you web site so that people can access your web pages.  I pay $50.00 a year to have my web site hosted.   A web site "host" is a company that stores all the files for a web site on their computers.

4) Next you'll need a shopping cart, which is a service that is secure for accepting credit card information so that you can get your orders.

5) Finally you'll need a way to process your credit card sales.

As I look at the above, it looks a little formidable, but if you work through it step by step it's not that difficult.

If you don't want to go through this, there are services that will do the whole process for you - for a price.

When I first started there wasn't anyone in my area that built web pages, so I started from the bottom up and kept adding to my skills. As the Internet changes, I'm continually  adding to my skills.

My most extensive web site is for the Metal Sculpture Instructional Videos (www.gsegmedia.com ) which has over 500 megabytes of data, including, text, photos, graphics and videos.

Let's say that you don't want to go through all of this. You don't even want a web site. There is another option - Internet Craft Malls. Here again, do a Google search for "online craft mall".

For a fee they will showcase your work, process the sale, accept the credit card and send you the order. You ship the order and they pay you. If this interests you, you can browse through the different craft mall listing on Google and see which appeals to your type of work.

This is an easy way for you to get your work out there.

I had a sculpture that did not fit in with the pieces I had on my web site, so I placed it in an online mall and did quite well. Once I discontinued that piece I withdrew from the online mall.

The reason that I will discontinue a piece, even if it's popular is that there is limited time to do all the things that I want to do so I have to set priorities.

Be sure to shop around and find the online mall that best meets your needs. You also want to check their web site - is it appealing? Do they look like they really are in business or is this just a sideline for someone? It's your money, so make sure you get value for your dollar.

Ebay is another option for selling your work. Ebay, working in tandem with PayPal makes it fairly easy to get your work out to the public. You can do individual items, a group of items or even set up your own store.

If you list your pieces on Ebay and accept PayPal, you have a very simple business. Your main focus on Ebay is to have good photographs and well written detailed descriptions.

Ebay and PayPal are quite easy to setup. Their income is based on the listing fees for an item and a small percentage of the sale once the sale is completed. Thus, it is to their benefit to make this as easy as possible for you to list your items on Ebay and accept payment through PayPal.

A Blog can help you generate interest in your work. An example, if you want to develop a following you might write a blog on pieces you are working on. It would be like a journal, with daily or weekly entries. It could also point out what's new or where and when you'll be exhibiting your work.

Blogs generally have a place for your readers to add comments.

The more interest you an create in you and your work, the more you'll sell and the more you can charge for your work.

The phrase, "the more interest you can create in you", the important word here is YOU. Many people buy the YOU. They may want to follow you through your development and collect pieces from your early days, and on up to the present.

The difference between, let's say Ebay and a Blog is the time difference. An Ebay listing for 5 days is going to pay off immediately if your piece sells. A blog may takes months to lead into sales. However, if you can create a following, you'll reap long term benefits in sales and the dollar amount your work will sell for.

Art work has a perceived value. It's what the consumer feels that the work is worth. A Rembrandt will sell for millions of dollars, a fake Rembrandt may sell for just a few thousand. Both painting may look exactly the same, but the perceived value is the deciding factor.

A blog can help you create a name for yourself. Through writing a blog the perceived value of your work can increase dramatically. But this takes time to establish.

An example of perceived value is an experience that I had some years ago. I was selling to an exclusive gallery. One day when I was in the gallery, one of the owners was showing me some new pieces they had just received. These were animal figures, about 9 inches tall and 4 inches wide, cut out of old oil drums. To me they looked like rusted pieces of junk metal.

The owner was giving me a dramatic story of where these came from in the Caribbean. I forget how much they were asking for them, but it was a considerable amount. I quickly could see how he could increase the perceived value from what I considered to be junk, to what a customer may perceive as a piece of fine art.

The same is true of writing a blog or for that matter, any writing you do about you and your work.

A different example is having a publicist. A publicist will describe you and your work in way that increases your stature in the art world. Just as they do with celebrities.

A blog can do the same thing for you, it just takes longer to see results, but there is no cost involved.

Video Blog

This is the same as the blog above, however now we are talking about video rather than text. For me a video blog might consist of short ( 5 minute) videos on the progression of a particular piece of sculpture I'm doing, Each day or maybe every other day I would post the video.

This is a little more involved and requires some type of camcorder or webcam and a video editing program to edit the video.

Online Video

I produce the Metal sculpture Instructional videos so it quite easy for me to post short videos on sites like YouTube. At the end of each video is an 8 second screen that says, "Check out What's New at www.gsegmedia.com. This has driven many people to my web site and consequently they've purchase my videos.

Even if you are not interested in producing Instructional Videos, short videos of you work, or demonstrating one of your techniques can drive people to your web site.

Forums and User Groups

Forums and User Groups are web sites where people can ask questions about a specific topic. In my case it might be a site devoted to metal working or welding. If someone is asking a question that's in line with my expertise, I will answer their question. This can lead to others on the forum asking me more questions, which can eventually lead them to checking out my web site which in turn leads to sales.

If you have knowledge on a subject put it out there. Sooner or later it will lead to sales. The information that you can provide may be on where to buy materials, specific techniques that you've acquired or a host of other suggestions that you can provide based on your experience.

The internet is all about information. The more information you can put out there the more it will filter back to you in terms of sales and interest in your work.

Viral Marketing

It's often been said that "word of mouth" is the best advertising medium. This is what viral marketing is.

A good example is YouTube video. If person A sees a video that they like and feel five of their friends might like it, they email the YouTube link to their friends. If they in turn email the link to five other friends, you can see how quickly this expands the number of viewers for that particular video.

Some videos on YouTube that have only been up for a week may have been viewed 300,000 times. This starts with a few people telling others about the video.

In my case, one of my short brazing videos on YouTube may be viewed by someone that has no interest in brazing, but they have a friend that may be interested, so they email the link. Some of the viewers may end up on my web site and purchase my product or a number of products.

The same is true of your web site. Someone may stumble across your web site and have no interest, but know someone who may have an interest.

The beauty of viral marketing is there is no cost to you.

There are billions of web pages and the bottom line is getting people to go to your web site.

The best search engine and the one that people most  go to first is Google. Achieving a high ranking, meaning that a web site comes up in the first ten or twenty listings for a topic, is a matter of working until you achieve the position that you want. This is easier said than done. Plus the fact that Google is always changing how they rank web sites.

If you are into the web and want to sell your products on the web, I would suggest subscribing to a web site that specializes in product promotion on the Internet.

One that I highly recommend is www.bmyers.com, Bill Myers has saved me money and has offered suggestions that have result in thousands of dollars of sales. His site keeps me up to date on the Internet, software, and marketing strategies.

The Internet has done more for me than any other methods of putting my work in front of an audience. However, if the computer and the internet is not your cup of Tea, then there are numerous other ways to market your work.

Incidentally, I just paid the yearly hosting fee for one of my web sites.  The hosting service is $60.00 per year, but since I have several web sites it's $50.00 for each site. 

If one is willing to be their own web master, there is no where else that you can this kind of exposure for $50.00 a year.

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