Diversify Your Selling

I am no expert when it comes to investing however I am familiar with two very important principles: buy low and sell high, and diversify your investments. It’s this latter one that I want to discuss and how it relates to an artist selling prints of their work. This includes commissioned works as well.

Diversification is like not putting all your eggs in one basket. When you invest, instead of putting all your money into one thing (like just one stock or just one type of investment), you spread it out across different types of investments. This way, if one investment doesn’t do well, the others might still be okay, and you won’t lose all your money at once. It’s a way to reduce risk and protect your money.

How does this correlate to selling your art? Let’s take a look at online selling platforms. Many artists find Etsy to be a great platform to sell their art. Others might have an independent online shop that does well for them. One bit of advice I constantly tell people is not to rely too heavily on one platform or another.

Take for instance one artist that was a star seller on Etsy. I am not sure what exactly it was but evidently, her account was flagged for some sort of policy violation. Fortunately for her, it was something she was able to fix with her listings so Etsy did not shut her store down but only suspended or placed it in vacation mode until she could resolve the issue. Unfortunately, it caused a substantial disruption in her Etsy sales momentum that took a few months to recover from.

The good news was she was also selling via her website which used Squarespace so she was not shut down completely. She still had orders coming in and going out, just not quite at the same rate but enough to get by.

Now what if she had not had that extra platform to sell on at the same time? For a few weeks, she would have no income coming in. And God forbid that her site was not shut down completely otherwise she would have gone out of business for a substantial period with no way of knowing if she would ever recover.

I know some people fear selling on third-party platforms which they do not have full control of but that is not the point. The point is regardless of what platform you are selling on, if something happens that might disrupt your sales for an extended period, do you have an alternative or backup plan?

It’s easy to find that first outlet like Etsy and run with it. Suddenly all your previous effort in finding a way to attract buyers is now focused on actually running your online store and making your buyers happy. Don’t get caught up in that trap. This is where the work actually increases because now you should be focused on finding another outlet to sell your work while still maintaining your new store.

Think of it as an independent restaurateur who decides to open up a small taco place in his neighborhood. He had developed a loyal customer base because he provided great service and great food. But later he wanted to grow his business so he knew he needed to open up another location and another location after that. At the same time, he had to continue to maintain the initial location at the same level that made it so successful as well.

The same analogy applies to artists selling prints. They must maintain their current achievements while actively seeking new opportunities, just as they did when they first began their journey to success. This approach is key to growth. Without it, pursuing an art career can feel like playing the lottery. I’ve met many artists and photographers who passively wait for opportunities to come their way, only to see their dreams slip away. If you’re not the patient type, you have an advantage—you’ve likely learned what works and what doesn’t. Use the experience that helped you launch your first successful platform to guide your efforts in expanding to new outlets.