Creating your art is only a small part of the battle when you’re trying to create a business. Production, distribution, and materials are another huge part, but the hardest part is marketing.
Production:
Using myself as an example, having over 600 photos that have not previously been offered for sale, I had my hands full. I opted not to trust the quality of my product to a third party, so instead purchased the equipment needed to reproduce my prints. This required purchasing actual photo printers. Not the type you can easily get at a box store, but six color printers with photo ink that is archival quality and doesn’t fade. So the printing part is done, right? Wrong. What will you print on? Paper you by online or in a store that is labelled “Photo paper” isn’t always actual photo paper. It’s just glossy paper. You need archival quality, acid free photo paper, so establishing a relationship with a paper company is paramount. Then deciding whether to offer a UV coating or not is the next thing, and choosing the coating you will use. I use a spray on acrylic, which adds a new set of challenges. Having a jig to hold the product, as well as an area where you won’t kill yourself with the fumes is a trick in itself. So now you have your product. Now what?
Shipping:
Decide how you’ll package your work. I ship my prints flat, with a matte, a chipboard back, tissue paper and in a clear bag. More investment in supplies. I use flat rate envelopes as they are rigid and they add an extra layer of protection with a “DO NOT BEND” label. Now you know how it will be packaged, you can choose a shipper and determine rates. This will decide if you’ll include shipping or have your customer pay for shipping. Ready for the hard part?
Marketing:
This part will bury you, and is the most time consuming and stressful part of selling. You’ll want a site, likely. I strongly recommend keeping as much control over your product as possible. Your reputation is on the line, and putting the quality in someone else’s hands isn’t always a good situation. Nor is letting someone else handle fulfillment. You’ll want a website with a commerce solution and a way to “talk” to your customers. I, of course, recommend WordPress and WooCommerce. These will allow you to post for your customers as well as take orders and process payments. I use this combination, as well as Quickbooks for my bookkeeping. Connecting to Facebook and Instagram help, but can be really convoluted, but it’s good exposure. But you may still need more. Look for other outlets, like Etsy, Amazon etc. to place your work where people are already going. There’s a process to signing up for these, but the more exposure the better. After you’ve exhausted all options for marketing, really the best you can do is wait, and hope that people find you! Unfortunately there’s no way to force this, you just have to be patient, because obviously, in order to grow, you need income to do so.