Porfolios.com, Guild.com and other promotional sites

[Helenium]

I'd love to hear from other people what their experiences have been with Portfolios.com, Guild.com, PostPicasso.com and other sites that promote artists' work.

I've been approached by Portfolios.com to upgrade to a paid service (I'm on the freebie version), and I regularly get e-mails from Guild.com as well. I'm loathe to pay a monthly fee for anything like that, but at the same time, my "day job" as a webmaster for an antiques gallery has shown me the power of the web to sell niche items. (The gallery I work for sells about $1,000 to $1,500 worth of stuff a week online.)

Look forward to hearing from you all!

--Helen Glazer
http://helenglazer.com

[jsimms]

I was in the guild publication 5 years ago, and still get inquiries
from that issue. Pretty expensive, but hey, one sale and its paid for!
John

http://johnesimms.com/

[sculptorsam]

I got a call to be in the Guild Sourcebook last year. I looked into it and contacted a sculptor I ran into once who has been in it for several years. He told me it has been very good for him but that it probably depends on the specific artist. He makes very clean, very nice stainless sculptures that designers like for modern buildings and such. After a couple commissions, it paid for itself and then some. I think he was up over $100,000 over seven years or so. They claim to have around a 70 percent re-sign-up rate which implies general satisfaction.

Bottom line, the arts are a business as well. To make money, you have to advertise. The question comes in how to best spend your money while maintaining a "professional" appearance. If I can scrape together the cash, I'll probably sign up for next year.

Incidently, I believe you get listed on the guild.com website free if you purchase a page in the sourcebook.

After re-reading this, it sounds a bit much like an advertisement for them. I'm not on the payroll, honest.

Sam

[Georges]

Many of you found Sculpture Community in the frames of the International Sculpture Center's (ISC) website Sculpture.org. So I just wanted to remind all ISC members that you have the opportunity to take advantage of our online Portfolio (http://www.sculpture.org/redesign/port.htm) .

All members can post their CV, Bio, etc. for free. Basic members can post two images and Professional members 6 as a benefit of membership. Additional images can be posted for $15 each and this benefit is renewed with membership renewal. Since images will not be removed except upon request; a Porfolio listing can also be built up over time.

As a non-profit organization we have not made it a priority to spend resources to statistically determine just how effective this is as a marketing tool or traffic driver to personal websites. However, if you type "Sculpture" into most major search engines Sculpture.org comes at or near the top and we have tracked that it is viewed by 100,000 visitors a month. Anecdotally, dealers have told me they often use it to find appropriate choices for their patrons and sculptors have said that, at the very least, it has driven traffic to their websites.

Email me at george@sculpture.org to inquire about or submit materials for your Portfolio. If you need to join ISC first to take advantage of this member's only benefit - along with all the others (like a subscription to Sculpture magazine) email Sarah, our member coordinator at sarah@sculpture.org (sarah@sculpture.org) or go here: Join ISC (http://www.sculpture.org/documents/mem.htm)

Thanks.

[Kdsmith]

Hi there,

Don't forget that you can advertise in Sculpture Magazine and if you are a member you can receive substantial discounts off of advertising. The September issue closes on July 2 and the ad materials are due by July 9. For more information you can contact me at 609.689.1051 x128. Also if you are an advertiser, you can take advantage of our new web sponsorship program which will launch in July. Currently I am working on the month of September. Please call me with any questions.

Thanks,
Kristine Smith
Director of Publications