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4 Online Business Ideas for the Artist

4 Online Business Ideas for the Artist

There are several ways that you can utilize the Internet to help you sell your artwork. In fact, some of these options will enable you to take your designs and have them turned into a wide variety of different products, including temporary tattoos and iPhone cases. Because of this, it is important for all artists to embrace the Internet as a sales tool if they want to make enough money to quit their day job.

It is also a good idea to diversify your sales efforts by getting your artwork listed on a wide variety of websites. The following are some ways for an artist to increase their sales by use of the internet.

1. Temporary Tattoo Retailer

Getting custom pieces of art converted into a temporary tattoo has become a very popular option for people who want to change their look for a night out on the town. Creative and unique designs, such as a fake tattoo sleeve or a necklace, are great ways to get your art work noticed. Due to this, it is definitely a good idea to consider connecting with an online temporary tattoo retailer to have some of your art converted into this format.

Additionally, you could get some of these tattoos made for yourself, and they could become inexpensive giveaway pieces at art fairs to generate more interest in the rest of your work.

2. Print on Demand Sites

Consumers love having multiple options, and utilizing a print on demand site such as Zazzle or CafePress will give them the opportunity to put your artwork on a diverse selection of different items, including postcards, iPhone cases, t-shirts and calendars. Therefore, it is a good idea for artists to list their pieces on these sites in order to increase awareness and capture various demographic groups. As an added bonus, you do not need to take care of any of the customer interaction with these sites, so you can simply sit back and make some extra money.

3. Open an Online Store

Every artist should have a website that enables consumers and art lovers to peruse their latest offerings. However, it is also important to include a shopping cart feature so that people can make a purchase instantly from the site without having to take any additional steps. Keep in mind that encouraging impulse purchases in this manner is one of the best ways to increase your profit margin.

4. Etsy and eBay

Etsy is well-known to art lovers because all of the items available have been created by hand. Additionally, many consumers prefer to get artwork via eBay because they have the perception that they will get cheaper price via the popular online auction site. Because of this, it makes sense to open a store on both of these websites.

As you can see, there are many different ways to take advantage of the Internet in order to spread awareness of your work. Keep in mind that it is also worthwhile to operate a Facebook page or another social media page for your artwork to help keep all of your fans up to date about your latest projects.

Lisa Coleman shares some successful ways that an artist can utilize their talent online to help support their artistic career. From selling your paintings to designing a fake tattoo sleeve, artists are finding the Internet a great way to promote and support their creativity and work.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/duhdenise/4995660536/

Important Reasons to Guard Your Domain Registration Information

Everyone in the modern-day world understands the serious need for privacy, and website owners are usually well aware of this since they often keep their customers’ information on file. What many don’t realize, however, is that keeping their domain registration information private is important as well. The mailing address, email address and phone numbers of most website owners are available on the WHOIS Internet directory, but there are several benefits to preventing this information from getting on that public domain.

Reduced Spam

As stated, part of the domain registration process includes sharing an email address on the WHOIS directory. Sadly, there are people out there who are sometimes called WHOIS miners that do nothing except go through the database and seek out the contact information of website owners. They can then use this information to flood a company’s email address with spam and unsolicited offers. Private registration services hide a website owner’s email and ensure that this doesn’t happen.

Domain Name Safety

One of the biggest fears with using private domain registration services has always been the possibility of losing access to a domain if the service goes out of business. This was a huge issue with the former company RegisterFly. Luckily, since customers had difficulties accessing their domains when RegisterFly went bankrupt, rules have changed to prevent this from occurring again. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, now requires these private registration services to keep all of their clients’ contact information in an escrow.

More Control

Whether it’s in the business world or on the reality show Survivor: control is everything. Since private domain registration services prevent all of the aforementioned information from being publicly available, it’s the website owner who can pick and choose what to release to the public. If an individual wants their organization’s phone number available but not their address, they can make it happen. Any information that gets out to the public will only do so because the website owner chooses to let it.

Personal Protection

One of the scariest aspects of having a domain registration that isn’t private is the fact that most of the information registered on the WHOIS database can be traced back to an individual person. The Internet makes it easily possible to use an address or a phone number to find contact information on a private citizen who just so happens to own a website. This can be a huge annoyance, and in some cases, it can even be dangerous.

Depending on what type of website a person runs, there’s little doubt that there are those out there who would harass the website owners. Just imagine if private contact information was available from those who ran controversial political or religious websites. The point is that it is much safer to have this information kept private. Even if a person doesn’t run an especially hot-button issue website, it’s probably not a good idea to let an angry customer find personal contact information either.

It’s a sad fact that it can be annoying and even detrimental for a person’s or organization’s information to get out into the public. More and more, people are starting to realize that this holds true for domain registration information as well. Luckily, there are companies whose sole purpose is to keep this information private, and if a website owner decides to work with them, they’ll be on the right side of all of the aforementioned benefits.

About the Author: Researcher Shelby Warden shares this information to help small business owners protect themselves. Business owners who decide to register their own domain for the highest level of protection can find the latest updates on domain registrars here. Domain Raccoon is a well-known database of domain registrars that provides users with unbiased, fact-based information.

The Top 4 Most Effective Ways To Improve Your Facebook Advertising Results

Looking to improve your Facebook page and become more popular? If you are, this article will get you going. Read on!

There’s one simple reason why Facebook is one of the best online mediums for advertising: its wide spectrum of active users (just over 960 million as of March 2013). From all corners of the earth, people long on to Facebook daily to socialize and for various other reasons, and more and more marketers realize how powerful the world’s largest social network can become when used to its fullest.

If you want to take your Facebook presence to the next level, here are 4 tips you can use to improve your advertising results:
• Improve your SEO. Facebook is very SEO-friendly, giving you all the features needed to turn your page into a traffic driving machine and reap the benefits directly. Use these 3 SEO ‘secrets’ for Facebook to beef up your efforts:
1. Choose the best name for your Facebook Page and stick with it. Changing the name will cost you SEO points, especially if you give in to the temptation to stuff the title with keywords. Avoid doing this!
2. Choose the best URL. Facebook offers the ability to select a custom URL for your page, which is an important SEO opportunity for Facebook you can explore. Make the URL simple and relevant to your business.
3. Place your keywords in the “About” text-box. It’s always a good idea SEO-wise to place keyword-dense content as close to the top as possible, and Facebook allows you to do this in the “About” section.

• Get professional designed graphics. This is optional, but remember: Facebook is a place where potential clients come to interact with your business — just like every other place on the Internet where your brand is attached. If you want your Facebook page to look professional, have it designed by a professional.

• Create interaction. Facebook users seldom find a page with no activity to report on. Facebook also uses an algorithm to determine what’s newsworthy based on interaction (i.e. the number of likes an updates that a page receives). Be likable, ask questions to start up conversations and you will be more and more visible each day.

• Buy Facebook likes. Here’s why buying Facebook likes is important: it makes the hard job of getting likes easy. Have you ever wondered why many Facebook marketers give up? In most cases, it’s because growing a Facebook page naturally is time consuming and hard work. Do it right and there’s no downside to buying traffic. If you’re not sure how to buy Facebook fans, there’s no absolute guide to follow, but it’s important to buy them from a company that gives you real users.

So, to recap, what you need to do to improve your Facebook advertising results is: (1) work on your SEO, (2) look professional (use a high quality design), (3) create interaction and engagement on your page, and (4) scale up your business with quality traffic. Add these tips to your arsenal if you don’t want to miss out. If done right, your advertising efforts will help you tap into a powerful source of traffic and an opportunity with serious potential for business.

About the Author: Roman Sahakov is the co-founder of Followershop, a company which provides Twitter followers and other social media metrics to musicians, entrepreneurs, businessmen and others for the growth of their campaign. Followershop agency is notorious for its duly delivery and professionalism in fulfilling the orders. The company also provides the opportunity to buy twitter followers.

The Beginner’s Guide to e-Commerce

In the current economic climate where employment opportunities can be scarce at best establishing a small business can seem like a tempting proposition. Being self-employed can free an individual from the endless process of job hunting and provide much desired independence.

However, establishing a business is not as straightforward as some may presume. There is a lot more involved in creating and managing a business than may at first be imagined. The owner of the company is not only responsible for day to day operations but also for managing the business itself.

A working business idea

In many respects coming up with a working business idea can be the most difficult part of establishing a new business. The majority of entrepreneurs approach this problem from one of two very different directions: having a business idea and creating a business based upon it or simply having the desire to create a business with a working business idea yet to be created.

Either way, caution should be exercised. In the first instance the prospective entrepreneur must ensure that there is a market for the business and that they do not simply press ahead with the idea based upon passion and emotion. This would be a sure route to failure.

In the second instance the prospective entrepreneur should ensure that the business idea that is adopted is of course viable but they should also ensure that they have sufficient knowledge and enthusiasm for the product. This is essential to succeed.

The basics of e-commerce

Once the newly established business has a product with which it can proceed, the next challenge is to create the infrastructure necessary to sell the product. This generally starts with a website. For more sound business cases this may involve designing and building a professional website or having one created on the business’ behalf.

If the desire is to simply test the water before committing significant resources many companies have found eBay to be a good starting point. Products can be advertised and sold on eBay for minimum investment and maximum return.

Of course the business should ensure that it has sufficient stock to be able to sell to clients, whether using eBay or a professional website. Moreover, the business should consider supplies of consumables including cardboard boxes, jiffy bags and other packaging. The business should also consider the creation of address labels, packing slips and invoices.

Business development

It is always a fine balance between failing to take advantage of a market and overreaching too soon. The business should be ready to take full advantage of the market if it is available and the sale of the product is successful.

However, the business should also ensure that the infrastructure is in place to support this expansion to prevent overreaching. The company should aim to expand progressively in a controlled and calculated manner. By doing so, the owner of the company can ensure continued success and this will allow the business to grow naturally.

Opening An Online Business Store

Internet has significantly revolutionized the way of doing business by introducing more efficient and simpler ways of trading. The virtues introduced include expansion of market, payment simplification and real time transactions amongst others. These features have consequently created numerous chances for different forms of online businesses. Amongst the best and successful online businesses include a makeup and cosmetics store. The popularity of this kind of business is mainly because nowadays there are many people who buy makeup and cosmetics online since they do not live near where their favorite boutique or a beauty shop is located. But there are several requirements and guidelines in which this kind of businesses needs to follow so as to start and run successfully.

online store — How to start an online business

Opening an online business store requires one to have an internet connectable gadget such as a computer. This is the primary requirement because it’s what will be used to market, take orders and sell the products. Furthermore, it is advisable to use a comprehensive ecommerce internet services which provides template designing, processes payments, shopping carts and edit web pages amongst others. This eliminates the necessity of subscribing to many subscribers for services which would have otherwise been provided by just a single or a few service providers.

It is paramount to obtain the relevant permit and license before starting the business even though the business will be operating online. This is because different regions have diverse regulation and they also needs to account for every trading activities in the relevant authorities jurisdiction. Amongst the probable documents that might be needed include; use tax permit, assumed name certificate and employer identification number amongst others. It is paramount to obtain these documents before the business officially commences so as avoid surprises and closure due to non compliance.

Starting a successful online store also requires ample preparation in marketing. The best marketing channels include starting promotional blogs and opening related social networking accounts amongst others. The blogs and accounts should have links where visitors can be directed to the website in which to find the products on sale. To entice the visitors, they can be offered discounts and offers if they visit the website or if they purchase a product.

The business also requires that the products be readily available where they can be delivered to the customer immediately they make their order. This is important because the first impression in such businesses is significant in creating a customer base. Thus a delay or a failure in delivery can give the business a negative image. This can be achieved through several alternatives including opening wholesale accounts with distributors. This is especially helpful to those who do not make the products on their own, instead they buys from companies and other manufacturers. Consequently, opening a wholesale account ensure that the products can be delivered even with short notices. The products should be packed and braded in a way that customer can identify them with the online business.

About the Author: This post is written by Maya Zajacko.

Image: ernohannik / Flickr