The Online Art Business
Wellness Check
You sell your art in real life. So why isn’t it selling online? Answer 12 quick questions and get your score, the exact number of people you need reaching every day, and a plan for your next 14 posts.
About 10 minutes · Grab your phone — you’ll be looking at your last 14 Instagram posts
Tell us your goal — we’ll show you what it takes.
Two quick questions. The moment you answer both, you’ll see exactly how many sales you need each month, how big your list needs to be, and how many people need to see your work every day.
Go look at your last 14 posts right now.
Open Instagram and scroll to your 14 most recent posts. We’re going to count what you’re actually putting out — not what you think you’re putting out. For Questions 1–4, count each post once and pick the closest match. Questions 5–6 look at those same posts a second time, so a post can count there too. Your running tally follows you down the page. Don’t overthink it — the honest count is the useful one.
Your first 14 posts — in order
Your foundation is solid.
Why your scores look the way they do
Most artists lead with the art. They post finished pieces, process videos, studio shots — and then wonder why nobody’s buying.
The reason is simple: people don’t buy art online the same way they do in real life. When someone walks into a gallery or a market, they already trust the space. They’re there because they’re ready to look, ready to consider, sometimes ready to buy.
Online, people aren’t showing up to buy art. They’re showing up to be educated, entertained, or inspired.
This is why so many artists end up only reaching other artists. If your feed is just process videos and finished work, the only people who feel educated, entertained, or inspired by it are the people who already make art for a living. Everyone else scrolls past.
If you want to reach more people, your job is to get them to connect with you as a person — because you don’t just make art. You are the art. The faster someone connects with your values, your story, and your ideas, the more likely they are to want the work. By the time they see the piece, it doesn’t just represent you anymore — it represents them too.
The most effective way to sell your art online is by allowing people to fall in love with the artist and the art.
What most artists post
- 🖼️Finished painting
- 🎥Process video
- 💸New piece available
- 📩Commission open
What builds buyers
- 💭Your mission / why
- 💫What you believe in
- ❤️Your values
- 🎨Your work (with story)
