Customer Reviews

How to Market and Sell Your Art, Music, Photographs, & Handmade Crafts Online: Turn Your Hobby into a Cash Machine

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As much as I love Ramen Noodles I don't want to live on them. The idea that being a "starving artist" is romantic is for angst-ridden teens in the burbs. To a sane adult, the idea of doing what you love to do and making a living at it is, if not romantic, at least much more pleasant.
How to Market and Sell Your Art, Music, Photographs, and Handmade Crafts Online-Turn Your Hobby Into A Cash Machine is the book for any artist who would like to get their work in front of people and sell it. The internet is where to be if you want maximum exposure to potential buyers, but you need to know what you're doing before you jump in.
As promised in the intro, this book tells you step by step how to stand out in the now very crowded online marketplace and to successfully market and sell your work. Simply putting your photos or music downloads on a website won't cut it anymore. People need to find you first amid all the clutter and lesser talent! Then, as with any business, you need to earn a reputation and hopefully a following. Everything you need is covered here: Selecting the right computer and software, creating an impactful website, low and no-cost advertising and marketing, online auctions, etc. Along with providing incredibly useful tips and techniques on building a successful online business ("keywords" are one key!), there are tons of websites and sources listed that are invaluable- Many referrals to free software and online resources. (Note: I took so many notes I got writer's cramp, and then realized there was a handy-dandy appendix at the end of the book that listed online resources, websites, etc.)
Even with zero online experience you can be up and running very quickly by using this book as your guide. I'd never heard of "Squidoo" or "CGI Forms", but I now know what they are and how to use them. I found the information on marketing and "strategies infrequently used by creative people..." particularly helpful. The "Hows" and "Whys" are all explained in an organized and easy to understand way. It's a great book that I'll be referring back to often.

Whether you're just starting out or have years of experience, How to market and sell your art, music, photographs, and handmade crafts online: Turn your hobby into a cash machine, is the ideal "soup to nuts" book for the person who wants to sell online but doesn't know where to begin. It thoroughly covers all the basics, with a particular focus on the essentials of effective website design and strategies about how to best incorporate your art or music into your site.

I'm a photographer and consider myself to be fairly well experienced in website design and marketing so I thought that the "basics" sections would bore me but I was wrong. I learned a lot of things that I didn't know.
The book is detailed, well-written and interesting to read, unlike other "how to" books I've read. The sections about marketing online, the importance of content in attracting visitors, optimizing for search engines and using social marketing to build clientele are especially useful. Separate chapters for art, music, photography and crafts outline aspects unique to each medium.

This is the kind of book that I will refer to again and again and highly recommend it for any artist that wants to establish a web presence and market online and wants to really learn how to do it properly. I rate it 5 stars.

I have NO IDEA why this book of VERY BASIC direction I already know is getting so many good reviews. Am i missing something? Page after page of useless information.... "why sell on ebay", "what the fees are", photograhping your art" should not take literally 14 pages to explain. I feel like i got ripped off buying this book

In this day and age, anyone who produces products for sale needs to be aware of the possibilities of selling them online. This book is especially valuable for artists, musicians, craftsmen, and other creative people who could increase their volume of business by becoming Internet-savvy. The book's premise is that artistic people are very good at producing wonderfully creative items, but most likely do not have the knowledge needed to be good internet marketers. It provides a wealth of information without assuming that the reader has any understanding of how to sell on the World Wide Web. It begins by enumerating the reasons that an Internet business is a good choice for an artist or musician, and goes on to give a step-by-step guide for how to begin such an enterprise.

There is a complete chapter that describes the computer hardware, software and peripherals that will be necessary to get a web-based business up and running. I could see that this information would be of great value to anyone wondering how to get started marketing to a global customer base. Technical topics such as how to create a website are covered in a style that makes them accessible even to those with computer phobias. There are hints about how to present products in a clear and appealing manner, and describe them in a way that will encourage website visitors to make a purchase. There are many more chapters concerned with how to drive traffic to an online store, how to outsource certain aspects of your web business, and lots of other topics of interest.

This how-to book has a complete appendix, as well, so that the reader can easily find websites and other resources that will help him as he continues to develop his customer base. Any artist that would like to take advantage of technology to expand a business will find help for his enterprise in this guide.

If you are looking for a book that takes you step by step through every aspect of setting up your online business, look no further. I thought this book would be a good resource to help me sell my photographs, but it is far more comprehensive than I had any idea. Every possible aspect is covered, from purchasing the right equipment through finding a web hosting service and right on into Internet marketing. Lots of links are provided, which is quite helpful. I can't say I tried them all, but every single one I tried worked, and all contained useful information.

I am not new to the Internet, but if I were, I think this is the only book I would ever need. As it happens, I have a couple of web sites and an eBay store, but it took reading this book for me to learn why my sales have not done as well as they might have. I have learned some new marketing techniques that I am even now putting into place. There is an absolute treasure trove of information in this book for anyone looking to start out or to improve an Internet presence. I was very impressed and would recommend it to everyone.

Many artists have the idea that while creative pursuits are nice as hobbies, they are no way to make a living. This is indeed true in many cases. However, there is another face of change. The digital revolution has made possible for easy and economical ways to sell anything, including your artworks, online. Using this opportunity, your ability to market your own arts online become something inevitable. Hence, Lee Rowley's How to Market and Sell Your Arts, Music, Photographs, and Handmade Crafts Online could become the tool that all professional artist turn to when they want to make art not only their hobby but also their career.

In this book, the author has managed to put together an action-oriented how-to manual that will make any artists better entrepreneurs in organizing their own creative stuffs: displaying their artwork in a virtual gallery and doing the online marketing, as well as managing the selling and shipping. It's a surprisingly compelling, readable volume with specific ideas and practical examples of how an artist can obtain better result in living professionally from their creativity.

Of course, it will take hard work and a fair amount of patience to accomplish this, but this book itself is a starting point, a seed that can generate action-oriented thinking - and most professional artist could easily use that kind of tool!

If you're in need to know how to buy a computer to access the internet then this book is for you.

I'm not really quashing this book but its way too basic for what I need. Most of the techniques in this book I already knew about and felt rather unimpressed by the books offerings.

If you're someone that is just getting to know the internet and are wondering what you need to do to get out there then maybe this book is for you but it wasn't for me.

How to Make and Sell Your Art, Music, Photographs, and Handmade Crafts was a very useful book. I would rate it a four. The book is very encouraging and makes you feel as though your hobby has the potential to be a "cash machine". Although, there were times while reading the book that I felt that the book was a bit too elementary. That it was overly simplified. The extras in the appendixes are very helpful and informative. They will be a useful reference for anyone who owns the book.

How to Market and Sell Your Art, Music, Photographs and Handmade Crafts Online: Turn Your Hobby Into a Cash Machine

By Lee Rowley

By Janet Trakin

Rating: 5

With his brilliant and insightful introduction, Rowley clearly outlines the premise of the book--that starving artists do not have to starve anymore nor work at day jobs they detest. This positive tone permeates the entire book as Rowley compares the traditional artist to the modern day global artist who markets online.

Rowley cites concrete and compelling reasons for the artist to go online. He covers everything from selecting the right computer to promoting your artwork, crafts, photographs and music.

This cutting edge book should be the Bible for any and all artists. It is informative, a pleasure to read, and inspiring.

This book had a lot of tips and resources I didn't know about. It was written simply so anyone who is not a techie can understand it!