Who Doesn’t Want Straight Advice?

We are long past the point where any artist or nearly any small business that needs to find new customers can avoid marketing online. It’s a way of life. Smartphones have made many physical retail locations live demonstration spots rather than sales spots.

A Common Occurrence in Galleries Everywhere

People do this all the time. They walk into a gallery and immediately start using their phone to check out the artists they find there. Some are looking for additional information or provenance, many others are seeking to see if they would overpay by purchasing from the gallery. It’s a fact of life gallerists must overcome to stay in business.

Amazon Prime alone has forged new habits. I know, it has in me. Because so often I find Amazon has a better price and one-or-two-day free delivery, I now check before buying anything that costs more than a few bucks. That is a recent development, but it is one that is growing fast. It’s a sea change you cannot afford to miss and expect to remain relevant and with sales increasing.

We’re Beyond Websites Are Not Optional

I’ve said for many years that websites for artists are not optional. I’m taking it a step further now to say that marketing your art online is no longer optional. If you expect your business to grow and your sales to increase, it’s become necessary for you to take control of your marketing and build a loyal following. Here’s the first chapter in my new Straight Advice, How to Market Your Art Online Now book:

Artists alive in this generation are the first ever to have tools that allow them to connect with buyers and sell to them directly. The internet has changed our buying habits. We can now get so close and learn so much about anything we want to buy, and then e-commerce, UPS and FedEx make everything readily available. In many metro areas, consumers can order from Amazon and other retailers and get same-day deliveries. The marketing – and therefore the art world – is literally at our fingertips.

And we’re not just talking commodity items. All sorts of high-end luxury products are sold online. Costco.com, for example, is now one of the world’s largest diamond retailers. What all this means is that artists are free to find their own buyers and eliminate all the third-party gatekeepers that controlled the sale of art. It’s a Brave New World.

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Change Doesn’t Come Easy

It never has and never will. It took many people a long, long time to give up the horse and buggy, but eventually they came around. I’m betting some wondered what the heck took them so long once they saw the benefits of a motorcar.

The whole world, it seems, is online. The internet has changed everything. It certainly killed the trade magazine industry, including Decor magazine, which devastated me because I put in nearly 20 years there.

Decor Magazine Ruled In Its Time

Before its demise, the 135-year-old publication was considered the “Bible” of the art business world. Its companion DECOR Expo trade shows had grown to massive events taking over half the enormous Georgia World Trade Center. Neither the magazine nor the shows could survive the withering waves of media and marketing changes that steamrolled industry after industry.

The Internet As a Disruptive Force

To say the internet is a disruptive force is an understatement. And here we all are, loving our cool technology. I love the good things that have come about and realize nothing stays the same. Either go with the tide and roll with it or get pulled under and suffer the consequences.

Besides the internet giving me the ability to write books, create online courses and do free and paid online webinars that are then archived for future viewing on YouTube, what I love most about it is the freedom and career control it offers artists who embrace its possibilities.

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No matter where you are on the ramp-up to using technology to market your art, you need to have enough information to help you make smart, informed decisions about how to use that technology and make it work for you. I wrote this book to give artists straight advice and tips on using technology more efficiently.

Here is the Table of Contents:

Straight Advice Table of Contents

Some of you might recall when I went to the no sidebar format a few months ago that I was also not going to run banner ads or do link marketing in the blog posts. That’s still the plan. This post is an exception as there will be on occasion.

It would be downright foolish of me to not tell you about this book with the best marketing vehicle available to me. I trust you see your online platforms as I do mine. I want to inform, encourage and enlighten you – even delight you on occasion. And, I want to let you know when I have an appropriate offer for you to consider.

It’s been three years since I published my last book. When I have a new product, such as this one, you can bet I will use this blog to promote it. It’s the best way to alert you that it is available. Rare promotional efforts aside, it won’t alter my plan to keep my weekly art marketing content from being cluttered with distracting ads.

Do Us Both a Favor and Buy This Book!

I hope you will take me up on this offer to buy this book. I’m confident you will get far more in value than the small price tag to buy it. It’s getting many great reviews on Amazon already. Here are a few:

Straight Advice reviews

You can order this e-book at a great price and start benefiting from it immediately. CLICK HERE to order.

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  • Barney, Seems like a hundred years ago I started reading your stuff and I’ve always admired your casual style. You’re good. ‘course it hasn’t been 100 but at the rate I’m gainin’ on it I make that number before you retire. I’m comin up on 90 and I know you’re no pollo primavera. So what the hell, send me the $7,98 or whatever it is. Right now I’m just wasting my website and I’ve got ten years to a hundred, might as well be doin’ something with those ten. Best of everything for you old buddy. RonGrauer
    P.S. Where do I send the money?

  • Hi Barney,
    I too appreciate your casual, yet straightforward and wise style. Working with you has afforded me an unequaled resource in multiple ways. I have you who graciously answers even that simplest of questions with ease, and the community you created, that is a source of ideas, encouragement, and information. The latter, you always review it so we can all have fresh and accurate understanding, so…whatever you create, i am in, and recommend it to any artist at any level.
    I am going to order my copy through amazon so I can put it on my Kindle. I can the use it in any device. I don’t seem to do well with transporting my pdfs from laptop to mobile and I am about to get a new phone.
    Much luck and success. I am glad you are in my world. You can use my statement to promote your company! Blessings

    • Hi Lidia,
      Thank you for your kind words. Artists like you who get what I’m about are what keeps me going. Wishing you great success in your career! Cheers, Barney

  • Hello Barney,

    I have ordered your book from Amazon since this is the best way for me. Once
    again my sincere thank you for everything you do for the art world. The support we receive from you is greatly appreciated.

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