Digital art is more than a hobby, it’s a passion. Whether you have a daily drawing practice or you grab your tablet and stylus whenever inspiration strikes, you can earn an income with your skills. If you want more time and financial independence, keep reading.
In this article, we’ll cover the five simple steps that will show you how to sell digital art. Let’s get started.
1. Make your digital art
Selling digital art is unique because it’s a business that’s also personal. Many artists choose to sell at a gallery, but there are more ways to get respect and sales for your original art.
When you start, think about the price. It may be hard at first to sell a print for $15 or less especially for digital art that takes weeks to make and sell.
Selling digital art isn’t about overnight profits. You will earn by selling the same low priced item over and over to hundreds, if not thousands of customers. It may take some time to make money back for the time and effort you put in.
Most importantly, to sell digital art you have to get inspired and consistently put out new work. Your digital art should reflect your original ideas and should be your highest quality work. Don’t make something fast and then get disappointed when no one wants to buy.
Also, always be aware of image copyright law and avoid plagiarizing other people’s artwork.
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Formatting
If you want to sell digital art, your first option is the work you create on your computer with your favorite drawing apps or graphic design software.
Next, take a look at the work you make offline. Scan existing artwork that is small enough for your scanner.
You can also take photographs of your art. Make sure that you have a quality camera or scanner if you plan to sell digital art. Your files will need to be high resolution if you are selling digital art files for your customers to print.
This is also an important consideration for how you save your files. Jpegs are great for viewing onscreen, but .tiff files are better for printing. It’s also smart to sell PDFs of your digital art.
Also Checkout: Instapainting – Photo to Painting by Artists
When someone buys your digital art, you will send them a link to download your files. If you sell a digital art file, you are giving the purchaser the right to print that file as many times as they wish in whatever form they wish for their own personal use. You’re not giving them the right to sell your file.
2. Figure out what your audience wants
Do you already have a following that adores your digital art? Maybe you have a big audience on Instagram, or friends and family reaching out for custom drawings?
If not, you may need to do some market research and come up with a sales strategy. Who will buy your digital art online? How will they use your digital art? Are they concerned about the environment? Are they looking for eco-friendly prints or digital art? If your immediate network can’t help you answer these questions, try a social listening tool.
Targeting a small niche is your best bet when selling digital art. Say you love to draw mermaids and have been doing it for years. Chances are you’ll be more successful selling mermaid digital art to a community of mermaid fans than selling digital art to art fans in general. That said, your pool of customers will be smaller.
Spend some time thinking about your niche how you want to connect your personal creative practice with interested buyers.
After you’ve done your homework, you may want to just sell your digital art as a file. As you learn more about your biggest fans, you may also decide that you want to expand your product line.
If you’re excited about selling digital products, you can create unique digital art to sell patterns, brushes, or backgrounds.
You may also want to make things easier for your audience by printing your digital art for them. It’s easy to find great services like Undullify that can produce quality art prints, t-shirts, phone cases, mugs, and more. If you choose to go this route, make sure you order a sample of each product for yourself to make sure they are up to your standards.
Most of the best-selling products solve a problem. Is your digital art an incredible gift for someone special? Does it spread a message for a specific community? Is it a way to share your art with fans who can’t afford your original work?
Start simple, then ramp things up as you go. It may be better to start with digital files and go from there. Once you decide how you want to sell your digital art, it’s time to start selling online.
Portfolio Websites for Artists
Create your stunning art portfolio website. Showcase, share and sell your works of art easily.
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Try free for 15 days. No risk, and No credit card required.
3. Sell digital art on your website
You have incredible digital art that’s ready to sell. Now you’re ready to build your business online. To sell digital art effectively, you’ll want to create a website.
Also Read: Best Places to Buy a Domain Names
You can start with an online gallery of 15+ images, but that may not be the most effective way to get sales. The same goes for a marketplace site. The fees and distractions of most marketplace sites can bring attention at first but can hold you back over time.
Most people online don’t stay on any webpage for too long. You have about 10 seconds or less to grab their attention. Try something unique, like an ecommerce easter egg, that captures the style of your unique digital art.
A few more ways to optimize your website for sales:
- Make the navigation on your website easy to use. Save your creative ideas for your digital art, and take a look at your favorite online brand for website inspiration.
- Make the buying process short and sweet. Think about the steps and information you share. You may not know much about abandoned carts, but more people stop partway through purchasing than you think.
- Test your shopping experience and be ready to answer any question about the process!
Another creative way to earn some real credibility, build a following, and ultimately sell your artwork is to use webinar marketing. Platforms like WebinarNinja make it incredibly easy to bring your contacts to an online workshop or sales webinar.
Consider offering webinar-based lessons in digital artwork or in the topics your artwork addresses. Include special sales offers for attendees. It’s a great way to build your contact list, earn authority, and generate sales.
Your audience also wants to know that purchasing from your website is safe. Posting enthusiastic shopper reviews and positive press is a good idea. This can build trust with anyone who visits your website.
You’ll also want to show that your site is secure and verified by trusted third parties like Symantec or McAfee. If you are planning on handling credit card information, your website or blog will need to be on a secure server and PCI compliant.
Instead of doing this on your own, you can save time using a site builder like Selz. This ecommerce platform is great for digital products and can handle credit card payments and security for you. And if you’re keen on attracting more customers online, consider starting a blog on your site or any one of the best free blogging sites, so that you can share regular content and give prospective customers an idea of what to expect from your work.
Portfolio Websites for Artists
Create your stunning art portfolio website. Showcase, share and sell your works of art easily.
No coding needed.
Try free for 15 days. No risk, and No credit card required.
4. Offer great customer service
Your top concern is making your digital art. Once you start a business, your other top concern is your customers. Customer service for an online business includes telling your buyers how to log in or how to download their files. This might not be your favorite way to spend your time, but it’s one of the most important parts of running a business. In order to meet customer expectations, companies must provide multi-channel customer service.
You’ll also want to anticipate any challenges your customers might run into. For instance, some print shops will not print artwork without permission from the artist. You may want to include a document with your digital art file that proves that you have granted permission.
If you sell digital art as a digital file, automate your delivery and make it easy to download the file right away. If you sell physical products like printed clothes or frames, think about shipping. Set realistic expectations at the time of purchase, and provide detailed shipping information whenever you can.
5. Promote your store
The most important thing to remember if you want to sell digital art is that you are selling. This means that any time you’re not making your digital art, you’ll be devoting time to selling your art online.
You’ll need to create multiple product marketing channels for selling digital art. Social media, a blog, SEO, and paid advertising all take time, great writing, and some online research to get going. You can always opt to have some help and support with different services and tools, such as social media marketing, but always opt for cost-effective marketing channels. Each channel has the potential to bring new visitors to your website
Also Read: How to Make Money Selling Photos of Yourself
Don’t take too much on at once. It’s better to choose a few channels and make them work. Give each the focus they need to thrive in the long run.
One of your best marketing channels is email. With a dedicated website, you can create an email list of your customers. This will give you a chance to build a strong relationship with every person who’s into your digital art.
Many businesses get a bulk of their sales from repeat business. So, send out an email when you’re having a sale. Send a newsletter when you want to share new things you’re working on in the studio.
As you sell digital art, try to be where your customers already are. Ask their advice on Facebook. Write blogs that show people what inspires your digital art and how you make it. Follow other bloggers who are into digital art and submit guest posts to drive interest in your work. Encourage your customers to share a link or two on their social media accounts.
Also Checkout this post on Procartoon – Best Place to Sell Art online – Where to Sell Art and Make Money
Bonus Tip: Video is the most effective way to engage your audience and ultimately improve sales. Online video presentation tools like Wideo, you can outpace your competitors with promotional videos that your clients will love. The best thing of all: no video skills needed!
Selling digital art successfully doesn’t happen overnight. Be patient and keep working on it a bit each day, just like you do with your digital art. Don’t give up. It is challenging but rewarding.
Also Checkout:
Portfolio Websites for Artists
Create your stunning art portfolio website. Showcase, share and sell your works of art easily.
No coding needed.
Try free for 15 days. No risk, and No credit card required.
