So shopping on the Internet isn’t anything new. In fact in the 15 years that eBay has been going, shopping on the Internet has blossomed. Interestingly, it hasn’t stopped there. The world wide web’s ability to constantly evolve has enabled everyone to market their own work and set up their own shopping space online.
We’ve all seen what brilliant marketing power social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook possess to get the word out about what we are doing, what we are inspired by or just what we are thinking. The additional element to all this is who you follow and the followers you accumulate. If you are using Twitter correctly then you’d more than likely be following (or be followed by) like-minded individuals who share the same interests.
The beauty of this is that you’ve already found your market. You’ve been sharing your work, your inspirations and all the while talking about how or why you’ve been doing it. The people who have been following you now have a vested interest in what you are doing and get to see the end result. Through word of mouth you’ll be doing so much more than just selling a product online, you’ll be selling yourself to your customers and connecting with them.
I really enjoy this type of interaction and I’m certainly noticing more of it as Twitter’s popularity has soared. A great example of this would be Last Exit to Nowhere an internet shop that sells unique t-shirts from “the most memorable places, companies and corporations in cinema history.”
It fits what selling socially online is so perfect about. A niche idea that captures the attention of like-minded Twitter users and treats them as one of their own. They don’t pander or give you long drawn out advertising campaigns to encourage you to buy their products, they simply talk to you asking what you think of a new concept or design. Follow them and you’ll see a variety of competitions to win t-shirts and discussions about popular films. Of course they’ll let you know when there are offers or deals on shirts but it never comes across as intrusive.
What is so inspiring is that anyone can set this up and give it a go. Whether it be your photography, paintings or design prints your followers can be a great indicator of the audience/market that you may be trying to reach.
Here’s a couple of other artists that I’ve noticed selling their work online through Twitter:
Simon C Page is an amazing graphic designer who’s work rate is second to none. His work has been featured in a variety of design magazines and his online shop has a plethora of work for you to purchase. Find Simon on Twitter @simoncpage
Renato Pequito is a designer/photographer who’s just started to sell his work here but has some more amazing work on his flickr page. Find Renato on Twitter @Kyanos
Scott Johnson is an established illustrator/comic artist who produces prints of his illustrations and sells to people all over the world. Find Scott on Twitter @extralife
Leave a Reply