Selling digital artwork is an ever-evolving process that varies from person to person depending on your strategies and how you approach it. There are many ways to sell your art, but no one way that always works for everyone.
There are three main types of sales when it comes to selling digital illustration work: price discounts, free offers, or sale transactions. Discounts can be given away as “giveaways” or sold at a lower cost. An example of this would be offering your best piece for free in exchange for someone trying out your services.
Free offers are similar to discounts, except they are not tied to anyone else buying anything. You offer your service for free until you reach a certain goal (hiring you, investing in you, etc.)
Sale transactions occur when you put up your work for sale and set a price. Most people start off using the low end of the market value and then slowly increase the price over time, sometimes years later. This is typically done through sites like Etsy where you have your own profile and you can add and remove listings.
Get your work seen
As mentioned earlier, with digital illustration there are many ways to get your work “seen”. You can create your own website or profile where you showcase your artwork and links to it, start groups and participate in them, contribute to forums related to digital art, etc.
By doing this, you will be creating an audience for yourself which is very important. People will come reading your page to see what you have to offer!
And don’t forget about all of those free resources I talked about at the beginning of this article; they’re incredible! Many people have made a career off their artistic skills and sharing their knowledge so why not help others reach that goal as well?
Another way to gain exposure is through social media sites. There are so many out there these days it’s impossible to ignore them completely.
Create great marketing materials
After you create your own digital illustrations, how to sell them is more of an advanced topic. But there are some things that can be sold and what prices they will fetch online.
This article will talk about some ways to start selling your artistic creations.
Know your market
As seen before, knowing your audience is one of the most important things you can do as an artist. The same goes for selling your work! If you are not aware of who your target customers are, it will be difficult to know if your art is making a difference or not.
Your potential clients may not even know what types of illustrations they want to see or purchase. It is your job as an artist to figure this out!
Some tips: ask them, look at their products, and watch YouTube videos related to your field. All three of these apply directly to how well you sell digital illustration designs.
Another way to find your ideal customer is by looking at magazines that feature illustrative artwork. You would have to agree that most magazine covers use very specific styles and concepts to succeed.
Finding our style comes from experimenting with different artistic approaches and then choosing one we like more than the other. For example, someone might love bold lines and bright colors, while another loves softer shades and natural looks.
Find your clients
Finding new customers is the hardest part of selling any product, including yours. Creating products that people want to buy is an endless process that takes time. But you are not looking to make money quickly here!
Selling digital illustration includes creating quality artwork and marketing materials to promote it. The more you do one or both of these, the higher your sales will be.
This article will talk about some ways to find your first clients for digital art. These strategies can be done in parallel or sequentially depending on your schedule and income levels at this stage of your business.
Make a good website
Now that you have your toolbox full of all of your digital illustration tools, it’s time to start designing! The first step in selling your design work is creating an online presence or “shopify page” as some call it.
You can create this using several free web hosting sites like Squarespace, Wix, or Shopify. These will give you an easy-to-use platform to put together your own site and launch it for free.
Once everything is set up and live, you will need to find ways to get the word out about yourself and your business. You can do this by marketing on social media, posting on forums and blogs, and putting up banner ads and sponsored posts.
Connect with clients
As mentioned earlier, being able to connect with potential customers is one of the most important things you can do as an artist. Your audience will grow if you are aware of what types of media they enjoy and how to use it to market yourself.
It’s not enough just to create great artwork; you have to expose that art to the public.
Forming relationships with other artists or creative individuals in your field is a good way to achieve this. You can also start your own group or studio, or work from outside sources for appropriate exposure.
Running your business like a business requires understanding marketing concepts such as these.
Offer your services
As mentioned earlier, offering your services as an illustrator is a great way to get into selling digital art. If you are already able to draw then offer your skills for sale! If you are not yet capable of drawing but have other artistic talents like painting or sculpting, showcase those products!
Running your own Etsy shop comes with its shares of responsibilities, but it’s also a very accessible way to start marketing yourself as an artist. Even if you don’t make any money from sales, you will be building your portfolio and brand which can only help your career in artwork!
There are many ways to promote your Etsy store so that people find it. You can put up banners across all of the most popular websites, spread word-of-mouth, and contribute to the community through blogs and social media.
Another good way to grow your audience is by participating in online contests and giveaways. Creating content to share on different sites such as Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter is another way to gain attention for your work and business.
Set your price
In art, there is an expression that artists use when they are struggling to sell their work. They say, “I would really like to sell this, but I’m just not willing to let it go for what I want.”
That is totally understandable. If you have spent hours upon hours creating your illustration, then why should you be asked to lower its value? It took you so long to create it, why should people get it for less than how much you wanted for it?
Artists will sometimes lower the price of their works in order to obtain more sales. This can backfire if your artwork is seen as too cheap or even free.
If you feel that your artwork has limited market potential, then probably one of the best things to do is to offer it online for sale. Many artists make a lot of money off of sites such as Etsy, where individuals and businesses can buy and/or sell creative products.
By offering your piece through these sites, you increase your exposure and chances of finding a buyer.
