Off the Wall: LOL


Every so often I run into a product that makes me laugh out loud.
I found this in a catalog called "What on Earth."


Off-The-Wall Online Wall Plaques



What artists can teach everyone about Social Media

The following is a guest post from Amrita Chandra, from Chris Brogan's Blog:

People tend to look to leaders in the technology or business world to learn how to use Social Media. But from my experience, it is artists who are the best teachers of all. Some of the things we can all learn from them:

Find inspiration outside your domain. – Talk to an artist and they will often tell you they found inspiration in a book or political event or meaningful place. Artists take ideas from everywhere to foster collaboration and innovation in their own practice. If you are on Twitter, are you just following other people in your field or your region, or the so-called A-listers who everyone else is following?Try broadening your circle, to follow people like @ryantaylor who is using social media for his sustainable jewelry business and @brooklynmuseum who despite being one of the oldest museums in the U.S., have started a 1stFans program to bring art lovers together using social media. Apply what they are doing to your own area of interest.

Article Continued...

Art Licensing Videos

Check out these videos on Tara Reed's site, of artists telling how they got started in art licensing. They really warmed my heart and made me feel part of a great community.

To see more, go to the links below:

David BillingsCherish FliederJen GoodeHeidi GrayBarbara HarvieKhristian A HowellChristine MarshXenos MesaTara Reed Jamie Stevens Leyla Torres Deb TrotterLibby Unwin




How to Make a Good "Art Licensing Website."

by Kate Harper
Some artists are so overly concerned about getting new manufacturers to go to their website, that they completely forget about them, once they get there. Manufacturers are busy people and when they go to a website, they want to see a lot of art fast, without running into navigation obstacles. Is your website "manufacturer-friendly?"






Website Quiz:
How many of these "Manufacturer-Friendly" things do you do?




  • Your art is on your homepage, and your overall style is represented.


  • The manufacturer can find your portfolio in one click from the homepage.


  • From the moment a manufacturer lands on your homepage, within 30 seconds, they can locate and view at least 30 images. Use a stop watch and test this on a friend: If they can't do it, then it means either your images take too long to load, are too hard to find, or are on too many different pages. Consider making your images scrollable like in Sara Henry's website below.


  • Your contact information is no more than one click away from any page.


  • A 10-year-old kid can guess what information your link names will lead to.


  • Your site is only for Art Licensing. It is not a mix of 2-3 other businesses.


  • Your pages load fast, in 1-2 seconds, because you know slow-loading-pages are the #1 reason people leave websites.


  • You don't have spontaneous animation, because you understand not all computers can support the software, and it often slows down page-load time.


  • You don't force manufacturers to listen to audio, watch video, or view animation, and you don't expect them to click "skip it" or "turn it off" as a default.


  • You don't have text that blinks, moves, or change colors uncontrollably


  • Your logo is in the upper left of all pages, and links back to the homepage


  • You avoid pdf links, since they require downloads in order to view.


  • You have a super-easy way for manufacturers to sign up for your mailing list, such as a form that only requires a name and email address.
Here is an example of an  art licensing website that fulfill most of these guidelines. It allows the visitor to find the art quickly. Notice how it doesn't use any fancy bells and whistles, and yet is effective at showing a large body of work in an elegant way.


Sara Henry Design



Another Artist's Homepage



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