Marques Vickers' The Ultimate Guide To Selling Art Online is a concise reference source for artists enabling creative entrepreneurs to maximize the expanding sales capabilities of the Internet. This edition details important exposure strategies, existing and emerging sales opportunities and valuable promotional outlets. Over 500 useful reference websites are provided referencing art marketing, website design, sales and promotion outlets.This Ultimate Art Guide stresses the importance and urgency of cultivating a vibrant social media presence via active postings and participation with content, social networking and weblog websites. These activities supplement an artist website with videos, feedback capabilities and resources to cultivate new and return buyers. The book stresses the importance of personalization and an artist's articulation of their creative vision.Practical advice and supplementary consulting sources are offered on every aspect of website design, effective promoting through media exposure, direct mail and the cultivation of a potential and existing client base to establish long-term sustainability. Concrete and instructive sales advice is provided on the most direct online sources available today for artists including online art galleries, eBay, Amazon and Etsy marketplace stores, auction houses, design industry outlets and barter exchanges. A chapter stresses alternative income sources including giclée reproductions and licensed art images.CONTENTS: What Art Selling Outlets Are Profiting By Online SalesThe New Gallery Business Model For Selling OnlineBreaking Into The Art World's Closed CircleGlobal Selling OpportunitiesChapter #1 A Fresh Dependency and Integration of Social MediaHow to Personalize Social Media Follow-UpThe Three Categories of Social Media Best Suited For ArtistsChapter #2 An Artist's WebsiteAttractive PackagingYour Role in Creating The Design ConceptDesigning and Personalizing Your Own Website Evaluating Your Website HostMemorable Domain NameClarity of VisionMake Your Site Simple to NavigateHow The Cellular Phone and Tablets Affects Website LayoutsChapter #3 Drawing Traffic To Your Social Media Pages and WebsiteQualifying Your Website ViewersSearch Engines and IndexesWhere and How Often Should You Submit Your Website PagesBuying Traffic and Ad Words ProgramsChapter #4 Cultivating Media Exposure and Email MarketingStrategies For Sending Out Press ReleasesBulk Email Press ReleaseSpecific Media Submission GuidelinesDirect Mail and Permission Based Email Selling ListsChapter #5 Alternative Income SourcesGiclée Print TechnologySelf-PublishingLicensing OpportunitiesChapter #6 Who Buys Art? Online Art Gallery Sales OutletsIdentifying Primary Buyer GroupsRepeat Art BuyersChapter #7 Selling Via eBay, Etsy and Amazon MarketplacesChapter #8 Consigning and Selling Through Auction Houses The Process of ConsigningGrowing Role of Auction HousesChapter #9 Barter Exchanges and Cashless TransactionsTrading Fine ArtInternet-based BarterJoining A Barter ExchangeReference Category ListingsArt Industry Mailing Lists. Art Weblogs, Artist Website and Portfolio Services, Automated Social Media Marketing, Barter Trade Exchanges, Bulk Email Services, Content Community, Currency Converters, Digital and Video Imaging Software, Digital Encryption Technology, Domain Name Brokers, Domain Registration Services, E-Commerce Shopping Carts, Social Networking Websites, Fine Art Marketplace Websites (Painting, Drawings, Sculpture, Photography, Handcrafts, Fashion and Jewelry), Large Format Printing Research, News Media Search Engine Submission Sources, Pay Per Click Traffic, Press Release Services, Search Engines, Weblog Websites, Website Design Software, Hit Counters, Host Comparisons, Website Hosting, Translators and Troubleshooting.
About the Author: Visual Artist, Writer and Photographer Marques Vickers is a California native presently living in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, Washington regions. He was born in 1957 and raised in Vallejo, California. He is a 1979 Business Administration graduate from Azusa Pacific University in the Los Angeles area. Following graduation, he became the Public Relations and ultimately Executive Director of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce between 1979-84. He subsequently became the Vice President of Sales for AsTRA Tours and Travel in Westwood between 1984-86. Following a one-year residence in Dijon, France where he studied at the University of Bourgogne, he began Marquis Enterprises in 1987. His company operations have included sports apparel exporting, travel and tour operations, wine brokering, publishing, rare book and collectibles reselling. He has established numerous e-commerce, barter exchange and art websites including MarquesV.com, ArtsInAmerica.com, InsiderSeriesBooks.com, DiscountVintages.com and WineScalper.com. Between 2005-2009, he relocated to the Languedoc region of southern France. He concentrated on his painting and sculptural work while restoring two 19th century stone village residences. His figurative painting, photography and sculptural works have been sold and exhibited internationally since 1986. He re-established his Pacific Coast residence in 2009 and has focused his creative productivity on writing and photography. His published works span a diverse variety of subjects including true crime, international travel, California wines, architecture, history, Southern France, Pacific Coast attractions, fiction, auctions, fine art marketing, poetry, fiction and photojournalism. He has two daughters, Charline and Caroline who presently reside in Europe.