Please do take me up on the offer. Depending on how crazy things are at work, I may have the ability to run things under one of my lawyers' noses - they do that for us from time to time. We're old hats at getting everything we possibly can on the other side of the type of agreements that you'd be looking at, and at the very least I might be able to recognize when the time has come for you to drop the money to hire a lawyer of your own. I think that after Cirque you can see that it's an investment rather than just a new bill. It can't hurt to nose around the area and see if there's someone who does contract law so you know where they are if you need them. It could save you a lot of grief.
My advice? Kill the site and build a new one. I don't know about "no prices," though. As a consumer that tends to scare me away - "if you have to ask, you can't afford it." I don't buy at sites like that. I'd suggest you put up pricing and keep it updated until such time as a gallery contact requires you to take them down. Don't explain SCA prices to a gallery owner - explain gallery prices to Scadians. If you want to offer an SCA discount, explain the discount to them in person at the event: "if you enter "SCA" in the comments box you'll receive a 10% discount," or some such. Or just be clear that your table prices are special for the event and if they don't want to pay gallery prices they should buy NOW. Or tell them they need to contact you and tell you they're in the SCA. Scadian interest in your work is going to come from you presence at events. If you want to break into the general market, I think you need to crack the web. Galleries are going to check out your website, and you want it to look professional. That'll get you the call back. It's worth the time. It really is.
Some of the sites that I've committed serial purchasing from are www.michaelwhelan.com, www.nenethomas.com, and L.A. Williams' site (I don't remember the url offhand (and I was buying the fantasy stuff, not the pinup ;-).) April Lee has a website that in my personal universe is an example of how not to do it. I say that because for years I've admired her work, but the set up for the site and for ordering discouraged me from buying anything. I'm a regular buyer: I've got 25 to 30 limited edition lithographs scattered around the house, and I managed to grow the collection even while I was unemployed. Because I was seduced by good web presence. I'm slowing down only because I've run out of walls. I know that the art side is more fun that the business side, but you've got to invest in that too.
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Date: 2007-07-04 04:13 pm (UTC)My advice? Kill the site and build a new one. I don't know about "no prices," though. As a consumer that tends to scare me away - "if you have to ask, you can't afford it." I don't buy at sites like that. I'd suggest you put up pricing and keep it updated until such time as a gallery contact requires you to take them down. Don't explain SCA prices to a gallery owner - explain gallery prices to Scadians. If you want to offer an SCA discount, explain the discount to them in person at the event: "if you enter "SCA" in the comments box you'll receive a 10% discount," or some such. Or just be clear that your table prices are special for the event and if they don't want to pay gallery prices they should buy NOW. Or tell them they need to contact you and tell you they're in the SCA. Scadian interest in your work is going to come from you presence at events. If you want to break into the general market, I think you need to crack the web. Galleries are going to check out your website, and you want it to look professional. That'll get you the call back. It's worth the time. It really is.
Some of the sites that I've committed serial purchasing from are www.michaelwhelan.com, www.nenethomas.com, and L.A. Williams' site (I don't remember the url offhand (and I was buying the fantasy stuff, not the pinup ;-).) April Lee has a website that in my personal universe is an example of how not to do it. I say that because for years I've admired her work, but the set up for the site and for ordering discouraged me from buying anything. I'm a regular buyer: I've got 25 to 30 limited edition lithographs scattered around the house, and I managed to grow the collection even while I was unemployed. Because I was seduced by good web presence. I'm slowing down only because I've run out of walls. I know that the art side is more fun that the business side, but you've got to invest in that too.