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  We've been one of the leading providers of artist websites at FASO for over 15 years now.   Over the years, we've had many competitors.  New ones enter this market all the time.  Some competitors have come and gone, while others are still around.   I respect some of them, and others irritate us with underhanded practices.  That's how it is in all industries.   Many, if not most, of the competitors in this space we call "artist websites" have at one point or another decided to compare themselves to FASO.   Sometimes, this has been in the form of an email they send prospective customers to tell [...]

  Branding is the only power artists have.   I'm using the term "power" narrowly here as defined in the book 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy by Hamilton Helmer.   Power   In business strategy, "power" is defined as this:  the set of conditions creating the potential for persistent differential returns.   In plain English that means:  You can charge more money than your competitors because you possess a power that they do not.   The book defines several powers such as economies of scale, counter-positioning, switching costs, and process power.   But as I read the book, I realized that the only one of the seven powers available to artists is branding.     Branding   Branding, [...]

Recommended if you run a company.  I'm not sure most artists who wish to sell more art would benefit much from it, although I would recommend the chapter on Branding.   I recently read 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy by Hamilton Helmer.  Below are my notes.     This is a very interesting book.  The author's premise is that there are seven, and only seven, paths to power available for companies.   The idea reminds me a bit of Warren Buffets assertion that great business build "moats" around themselves.   Upon reflection, my gut says this book is onto something important.  I've been trying to think of other paths, besides [...]

  In the same way that sound isn’t music, traffic isn’t audience. - Jason Fried [source]     I read this in my Twitter timeline a few days ago and, thought, "that's true", dutifully hit "Like" and moved on.   However, I haven't been able to stop thinking about this concept.  For anyone trying to accomplish anything online, from eCommerce to affecting political change, this is a deeply important concept that you must internalize and understand.  Of course, this general idea is something I've been asking artists to understand for a long time. But I've never expressed this idea as clearly and succinctly as Jason's Tweet ... and, I've [...]

  When I published the 12 Top Things to Never Do on Your Artist Website, I had a couple of people write me directly who disagreed with some of my recommendations.   The item that most people disagreed with was, "No Prices."  My position has always been that, to sell art online, you need to publish your prices alongside each work of art.  A couple of people disagreed with me on that point.  I've captured the gist of what they told me by combining their objections into the paraphrased "quote" below:   I disagree with your position on posting prices.  As a gallery owner for many [...]