I've been with ASF for a few years, and I have very few sales from my website. I've never sold an original, only prints. I haven't been able to spend much time on my website because of my busy retired life. I can't afford extras for marketing purposes. I'm at a standstill here. What's your recommendation?
Hi Mary,
I'm an emerging artist - this is my 1st year as a full-time artist - and I decided to go for it. I asked local coffee shops if I could be added to their artist rotation and they said yes. As a result, I have shown my art in about 25 coffee shops. I also have turned some of my paintings into greeting cards and sell them in local stores in my town. I also joined the art association in my town and neighboring town, and I am active with them. I teach classes for the community, I volunteer for the community, and I'm starting to be known as "that artist."
My sales have come from the relationships I've built in painting classes, showing my art publicly, talking about art, selling art, and inspiring others to make art.
I send out an email to my community 2-4 times/month so people know where to find me. I sell occasionally from my website, but the majority of my sales happen when people come to a coffee shop, come to a class, come to a holiday pop up shop, etc.
In my experience, sales have not happened passively... they happen because someone read an email, or walked into a shop when I sell my stuff, or saw my art in a coffee shop, or saw me teaching... ie, the personal relationship engaged them.
Hope this helps, and cheering you on! Let's share our art with the world!
Deborah
deborahfryerart.com
Unfortunately Mary, it is either money or what I call sweat equity. Sweat equity is where you quite literally do everything. I myself am finishing a video editing course because of my marketing plan, that I made myself, etc. Thus on my business cards it says Artist/Owner/Janitor in homage to the sweat activity theme.
Many people, including Michael Dell of Dell computers, Bill Gates, Hewlett, and Packard from a garage, and many others had to make a choice.
Now I only have Arthelper Ai, because it speeds up tasks that eat up a lot of my mental time and I would rather that time be spent on other tasks. I have made a commitment to my business to post every day, to monitor the analytics and to come up with new content every day. Art helper helps with that.
I see you say you’re busy in retirement, but like anything in life you’re gonna have to carve out space for it if that’s what you want. So ask yourself this question what do I really want?
Then act accordingly.
I too am out here, swinging the bat and whiffing more than I am striking the ball. However, I am working hard at it and I’ll figure this out!
Cheers to you and good luck.
Michael Moore, MBA
Moore Fine Art Photography
I like your attitude Michael
keep going
Thank you, Michael, for your helpful insights, and you're right, carving out time for my needs for my art career is important. Thank you for responding.
I am also extremely busy! Have worked very hard recently on reels. Many views, many followers, but no sales.😔
I'm in the same boat honestly, the only originals I've moved have been local, at shows or someone who saw them in person first. Prints can work if you've got a following already, but building that takes consistent time and I don't have it either. One thing that's helped me is posting process shots on social media when I actually remember to, not even trying to sell directly, just showing what I'm working on. Sometimes people reach out from that. ASF alone won't drive sales for most of us unless you're already known or spending on their promotions. Have you tried any local venues or small shows? That's where my garden pieces actually find buyers.
Yes, I am involved in both Dallas and Ft. Worth local galleries. It's not consistent.
I’ve decided after a year with ASF to start analyzing ROI and either finish things out with them this year - or not. But in the meantime I am currently getting prepared for Christmas shows, volunteering in art organizations, joining anssociations, and keeping my eyes wide open to learn best practices. I did a show last May and sold three original paintings which was great! But on my website? Nothing, except small sales that I actually almost have to pay to make the sale with all the fees. I am doing so many things to make it work but it just… isn’t. Spent a lot of money… it was my choice, I wanted to see what I could learn and what would happen but I think I’m almost done.
I'm in the same boat. My neighbor across the street bought 3 small unmounted prints of my photos where I made about $50. After over a year that's all I have. I even ran a print giveaway and the same neighbor was the only entrant so he got that print as well. I am sitting at 399 followers on IG as of today. Seriously considering not renewing next time around.
I suspect we have all gone through the same things when it comes to our art and sales. It seems like a waste of time posting on social media but strangely, I have sold some pieces from those postings. I have two websites-one built from art storefronts and another from my art marketplace. Each has its own place in my process, however art marketplace offers so much more in the weekly zoom sessions. You get great ideas, a beautiful website, and most importantly, super support. I may never make great sums of money but I’m having fun making my art and being surrounded by like minded people. I can just say this- hang in there. Let the community guide you, offer suggestions and keep creating.
Io non ho un sito web perché costoso da aprire pubblicizzo la mia attività sui social ma di vendite neanche a parlarne
Mary, this is such an honest place to be, and you're not alone in feeling stuck here. The busy retired life part really resonates, because so many artists assume retirement means endless studio time, but life has other plans. If you haven't already, the Art Marketing Podcast and The Artist Business Plan both have episodes specifically about low-budget, high-impact moves for artists who can't throw money at ads. Sometimes it's about one focused shift rather than doing everything at once.
Thank you very much for your thoughtful comments. I do my art because it's just who I am. I love the process of creating. However, at my age, it has become a storage issue, and I really don't want to discard anything. But one day soon I may need to clean out work that I can't store. Does anyone else have this problem?
Mary, I feel this so much. The busy retired life thing is real, everyone thinks retirement means endless time, but it sounds like yours is packed. If you're stretched thin and can't pour money into marketing, maybe the answer isn't doing more but finding one thing that actually connects you with people who love what you make. What kind of prints have sold for you? That might tell you where your collectors are.
Thanks, Bill. I appreciate someone who understands the business of the retirement journey. Taking care of other people who need my assistance is a huge commitment. I'm not producing anything new at the moment. I have a whole storage full of art that needs to be purchased. Prints I've sold are to people I know, and they know me. Anyway, I know my audience is out there; I just need to find some local people who know me and love what I do.
Yes, in a world where almost always only those who are successful are seen: for example, you walk through the city to do your shopping. The city is full of shops, street artists, music, posters, movement. People relax in the café. You pass by a scene full of success. Everything that's talked about here — the many invisible, unknown, who are in the shadows — goes unnoticed there. You think it's easy or normal: just publish a page and sell. But in reality it's the same as in all success: years of hard work. Building a brand without having a market.
The example I give is WITH a market. Opening a business in area A or B of a city means you already have at least visibility. That is reflected in the price. But in the big worldwide network… is it like looking for a needle in a haystack? And once again: you always end up learning somewhere in your city and, in the end, you learn 1) over the years to become an expert in your niche and 2) I wonder: if you couldn't sell, would you still make your art?
I think there's also an important message there.
PS: by the way, I’m in the same boat as you. Zero online sales so far. But I’ve run a shop for 18 years and in that shop I’ve sold a lot of my art. But online: zero
And what percentage of the price does the printing represent relative to the original?
Are you asking about the price of prints? That depends on size, but most are reasonable around 200 usd.
Of course it depends on the size; what I wanted to know is what the price difference is between an original and the print.
Hi there! A few years in with a handful of print sales already on the books means the foundation is real. The frustration makes total sense, but the good news is the highest-impact moves for where you are right now cost nothing and take less time than you'd think.
Here's where I'd focus, in order:
1. Run a custom artwork offer. Post on your social media (even just Facebook) that you're opening 1 or 2 slots for custom commissions at a price point you're comfortable with. Custom work is the single fastest path to a first original sale because the buyer is already emotionally invested before you start. One post, one slot, done. Want me to write the announcement post for you?
2. Run a simple giveaway to build your email list. Pick one of your prints, post it on social, and ask people to enter by dropping their email on a landing page. This is the number one move for a new or quiet website because it gives you an audience to sell to later. You don't need to spend money on ads for this. Share it on your personal Facebook, ask friends to share it, and let it snowball.
3. Post one piece of your work on social media three times a week with a story behind it. Not "buy my art" posts. "Here's what I was thinking when I made this" or "This is the view from my studio window that turned into this painting." Process and story posts pull people in without costing a dime. Buffer or Meta Business Suite (both free) let you schedule a week's worth in 20 minutes on a Sunday.
4. Make sure your Art Storefronts website has a filled-out About page and artist statement. Visitors who land on your site decide in seconds whether to stay. Your name, your photo, and a few sentences about why you make what you make do more selling than any marketing tactic. If staring at a blank page feels hard, I can draft your artist statement for you right now.
The retirement schedule is actually a strength here. You don't need hours a day. One custom artwork post this week, a giveaway next week, and three story posts a week after that. That's the whole playbook, and none of it costs anything.
Other resources you might find helpful:
- What Arty Said! - May 22, 2026 11:19 AM — Specific strategies for selling individual pieces: narrative framing, video content, and room mockups that demonstrably convert browsers to buyers.
- Beyond Galleries: Pooling Our Reach for Direct-to-Collector Art Sales — Artists share proven strategies for reaching actual collectors through cross-promotion and newsletter swaps rather than algorithm-chasing among peers.
- 🎪 Show & Sell — Where to Display & Sell Your Art Around D.C. (June) — Concrete list of D.C. markets, galleries, and open calls with vendor applications and deadlines to display and sell work directly to buyers.
Arty is our artist super-assistant. Trained on all things related to art business & marketing. use @arty in a post or comment to ask Arty directly. upvote & downvote to provide feedback.
I spent years in that exact spot, selling almost nothing while working full time and only getting out on weekends. The website sat there doing basically nothing on its own. What shifted things for me wasn't spending more on marketing, it was getting clearer about who actually wanted what I was making. I started showing up in local outdoor groups, state park forums, places where people were already looking at the Shenandoah or the coast. Not selling, just being present with the work. Sales started coming from people who already cared about those specific places. Your prints are the easier path right now, you're not wrong to lean into that while you figure out where your actual buyers are gathering.
My buyers are few and far between, local people who know me, who can see my artwork. I've never sold out of a gallery or from any social media post. I'm tired of putting money into the business but rarely getting it back. I have one designer who purchases my work for her business.