When my great-grandfather owned a grocery store and boarding house in the Greenwood District, Tulsa, OK the internet was not around to help support his sales. When my grandfather owned a pharmacy on Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa, Ok, he didn’t have social media to advertise his business. But, they were thriving operations that supported their families. I still believe there is room for analog artistic opportunity and success, but I’m learning to use the internet as a business tool more and more.
SOCIAL MEDIA
PROS built-in customer traffic and mechanisms to diversify your content like video, photos, privatized content that generates income. The ability to network with like-minded people or potential partnerships.
CONS Controlled by a large company with no customer service. Hacking and imposter accounts. My Facebook account was recently hacked and while I did not ever post, I used it for Marketplace sales. I lost 3 sales in a day and the account retrieval process is an endless loop.
WEBSITE
PROS I have more control over my website than any other platform which provides me with more creative control. Because it’s a service I pay for, the quality of the product and back-end customer service is much higher. Visitors to my site cannot see the number of ‘followers’ I have, so the focus stays on the content. It is a traditional form of presenting information and a learning curve that can grow your skill set.
CONS There is no built-in traffic of visitors so sales from the site can be very slow.
I keep telling myself these specific pros and cons to sort out my choices and how I fell about my art biz in the 21st century. I can only stay true to myself and what I know works while finding ways to stay flexible.
Have a Pleasant Day!
-Rae