Easiest online sell

[Chamber005]

I was thinking about how different kinds of art sells differently online and I was wondering what everyone here thought was the easiest for the unknown artist to sell.

With a $1,000 online marketing budget and no fan base, what do you think would sell the fastest:

Book/E-book (fiction)

DVD/Bluray (narrative)

CD/iTunes Downloads (music)

Comic Book/CB Downloads

Original artwork

I'm inclined to think Book/E-book, though I think an original painter or sketch artist could make some quick cash if they were doing commission work.

Funny enough my first instinct was CDs/iTunes Downloads, but when I thought about it the indie musician would probably only sell units to people who actually like the indie musician as a personality/performer/character. More often I'd think if people liked the musician's music they might just listen to the band's website/MySpace page, etc. Whereas the Books/E-books are being sold on content and Art is being sold on commission or as something that must be owned in order to appreciate in your home (unlike films or music).

Thoughts?

 

[ugafan]

I was thinking about how different kinds of art sells differently online and I was wondering what everyone here thought was the easiest for the unknown artist to sell.

With a $1,000 online marketing budget and no fan base, what do you think would sell the fastest:

Book/E-book (fiction)

DVD/Bluray (narrative)

CD/iTunes Downloads (music)

Comic Book/CB Downloads

Original artwork

I'm inclined to think Book/E-book, though I think an original painter or sketch artist could make some quick cash if they were doing commission work.

Funny enough my first instinct was CDs/iTunes Downloads, but when I thought about it the indie musician would probably only sell units to people who actually like the indie musician as a personality/performer/character. More often I'd think if people liked the musician's music they might just listen to the band's website/MySpace page, etc. Whereas the Books/E-books are being sold on content and Art is being sold on commission or as something that must be owned in order to appreciate in your home (unlike films or music).

Thoughts?

1. itunes download
2. dvd

that would be my guess. i've never bought an ebook, comic book download, or artwork online.

 

[craigbowman]

Recently, someone asked me to setup a quick website to help them sell some specialty dvd's. I didn't think too much about it at the time. So there I am only about an hour into the site build and had only just hooked up the credit card API and orders started coming in. Not just a few orders either. Makes me wonder what will happen when they're ready to actually advertise. Silly thing is, they're still in the middle of editing the thing 'cause everyone figured they'd have plenty of time.

 

[Chamber005]

Recently, someone asked me to setup a quick website to help them sell some specialty dvd's. I didn't think too much about it at the time. So there I am only about an hour into the site build and had only just hooked up the credit card API and orders started coming in. Not just a few orders either. Makes me wonder what will happen when they're ready to actually advertise. Silly thing is, they're still in the middle of editing the thing 'cause everyone figured they'd have plenty of time.

Specialty DVDs -- like porn?



I'm assuming these people already have some sort of marketing in place otherwise no one would know where/why to buy whatever it is they're selling.

 

[Chamber005]

1. itunes download
2. dvd

that would be my guess. i've never bought an ebook, comic book download, or artwork online.

I'm interested that you wrote specifically that you hadn't bought an ebook or comic book download online -- have you purchased any of them in hard format (a novel, comic book, etc) from Amazon or some other vendor?

I think the newest generation's lack of needing to own a physical product (opposed to just owning downloaded information) could probably help the indie filmmakers who can manage to keep their stuff away from Netflix and torrent sites. But as things stand now I still think it would be incredibly difficult to sell DVD/Blurays (in hard format) online to anyone who was not specifically trying to support that artist/film.

For instance, I saw Ink on Netflix and then purchased the film because I felt the filmmakers had done a pretty good job on a self-funded flick. Would the casual genre movie-goer do that? Probably not, especially since they can just store the film on their computer.

If a film like Ink had stayed off of Netflix, I'm sure they could have used their "illegal download" torrent strategy to maximize word of mouth and then could have sold units as downloads (as well as physical product) for $5 a pop. I think the number one enemy of the filmmaker is a company like Netflix. It's great for word-of-mouth and I guess it exhibits some level of status, but I think it's absolute death to profits.

If the indie filmmaker was able to keep their stuff off of illegal sites and Netflix then I'd agree that "DVDs" could be higher up on the "easiest to sell" ladder. I still think iTunes downloads doesn't really make sense unless you know and love the artist/song because you can download the files so easily online and store them elsewhere. You almost have to intentionally WANT to pay for the music nowadays.

Unlike books and films, people don't usually buy a song unless they've heard the song. And if they've heard the song there's a hundred other ways to download it without paying for it (which, I think, most people don't view as illegal as in being punishable under the law -- so long as they're not then turning around and sharing those downloads with others. Obviously that's NOT the law, but I think people's leniency is pretty thick regarding music downloads).

The only three indie artists I've supported (sometimes consistently) by purchasing their product have been the aforementioned Ink folks, DJ Cybo and The Guild (I go the extra mile for The Guild, always adding them to my Netflix cue, downloading every episode on Xbox live and I purchase hard copies of all of thier seasons on DVD because I know that unless I watch/buy the show won't last). Ironically I put Books/E-books first on my list despite not having personally ever purchased a novel from an indie writer (and I don't own an iPad or Kindle).

Even so, I still think the novel is the easiest sell for the independent. People feel like they're getting a huge amount of entertainment value for their dollar (at least I feel that way when I buy a $6 paperback novel), and if it is an E-book, they're getting to use the thing they spent money on to use.

If the filmmaker/producer was extremely savvy, though, I could see pay-for download films taking the top spot, especially with so many new Pads coming out and everyone being able to soon essentially walk around with a television on their hip.