Xanadu Gallery's Art & the Internet Survey

TAKE THE SURVEY NOW

Last week we received an order for two paintings from our website. The client was searching for art for her home, went to Google, and searched into our site. There's still something so amazing about making what I call a "pure" internet sale - that is a sale that originates and is completed entirely online - it almost feels like free money.

For artists, the promise of a free medium for connecting with buyers seemed almost limitless. Instead of working through galleries or laboring through shows and art festivals, an artist could upload art to his or her website and make a direct connection with buyers. Success seemed almost guaranteed.

The reality has proved quite different. While the internet has become a valuable tool for artists, there is so much noise online that it's hard to get attention amongst the millions of other artists online, let alone the billions of other websites.

Xanadu has always tried to stay on the leading edge of the art industry and the internet. We were one of the first galleries to offer our entire inventory through our website, and to update the inventory in real-time. We were early to add e-commerce capability to the site. In 2009, we launched Xanadu Studios, which allows artists from around the world to create a free account on our site, and, once their art is approved, share it with our collectors.

Internet sales are a significant and growing percentage of our over-all sales, and I expect that trend to continue. We put a lot of effort into getting potential buyers to our website through advertising and our Art Catalogue, and more and more of our marketing efforts are directed to our website.

In my conversations with artists, the internet is a constant topic of interest. Many artists know they should be doing more, but they're not sure what's effective and whether it's worth the time and money. In an effort to help us all get a clearer picture of what's happening online, I'm pleased to announce ourArt & the Internet Survey. This is an opportunity for you to share your marketing experience related to your website, and, just as important, to learn from the experience of others.

I invite you to take a few minutes to respond to the 24 questions in the survey. I also encourage you to pass this survey along to other artists in your social and real-world networks. The more participation we get, the better the results.

This survey will only remain open through June 22, so please take the survey at your earliest convenience.

Your responses are completely anonymous.

We'll share the results of the survey in the coming weeks on reddotblog.com (be sure and join our mailing list to receive updates if you haven't already) and you can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter for results.

If you have thoughts about the internet or feedback on the survey, please leave a comment below.

Are you ready to take the survey?