Running an online art business means you need to establish your art for people to know you exist. This may seem like a daunting task, but it's a simple process – start selling online, and people will find you.

Whether you want to sell a painting, greeting card, print, mixed media piece, or another piece of artwork, you will need a way to advertise your work to the public.

To do this, you will need to find a digital outlet that is safe and secure, where you can promote your artwork with ease, and all of your social media accounts can show them off in style.

Here are the nine best places to sell your art online:

1. Etsy

Etsy is a web-based marketplace that allows individuals to purchase and sell handmade art. To use Etsy to sell your art, you will need to have a unique username and password, and then create a shop to sell your art.

Here are some guidelines:

• The website design should be clean and straightforward.
• The shop should have a unique name.
• The name should be appealing to a wide variety of customers.
• Shopping carts should be user-friendly.
• Product pictures should be clear and powerful. (For larger, better-quality pieces, Etsy can allow you to upload high-res versions of your artwork.)
• You should be able to edit your listings after they have been listed.

Once you've created your shop, you will need to list your art and choose your price. Once you have listed it, you will accept or reject the bids from potential buyers.

You will also be able to remove an item once it has been sold.

2. 21stCenturyStamps.com

21stCenturyStamps.com is a site that allows you to sell postage stamps online. You can either sell an entire set or one at a time.

The price of postage stamps is typically slightly higher than at most retailers, but it allows you to include your logo in your design and earn a little more from your stamp sales.

You can set your price and selling time to between 30 seconds and a few minutes.

You should use this website to sell your postage stamps, prints, buttons, greeting cards, t-shirts, and more.

You will need to have a unique username and password to access your account for postage stamps.

3. CreativeMarket

CreativeMarket is a site that allows you to sell your art online. You will need to have a unique username and password.

You can choose what type of art to sell on the website, whether it is photography, illustration, painting, etc. You can select a free profile or a paid account, which costs $16.95 a month.

You can set your price as low as $0.99 and as high as $150.00. You can customize your portfolio and learn about marketing and posting in the form of articles.

The site is geared towards artists of all skill levels.

4. Saffronart

Saffronart is an art gallery and marketplace for fine art, art supplies, photography, and more.

You will need to create an account on Saffronart, and then it's as easy as choosing the artwork that you want to sell, the price you want it to be sold for, and then your art will be listed on Saffronart.

5. Redbubble

Redbubble is a popular marketplace that allows artists to set their prices and even have custom branding and packaging.

If you have created your artwork and are looking for a way to sell it, Redbubble will be able to help you. You will need to create a Redbubble profile, and then you can choose to set your pricing or pay for a fixed price.

If you are an artist, you will design your items and upload your pictures and artwork.

6. Planshop

Planshop is a site that allows artists to create their shop. You can use the site to create art, including photography, illustrations, paintings, jewelry, decals, etc.

You will need to upload photos, and you can choose the colors and designs you want. The items you sell can include t-shirts, phone cases, canvas bags, magnets, etc.

You can also create a business for yourself and choose the pricing and selling time that you want.

7. DeviantArt

DeviantArt is a community of artists who make their art with a specific cartoon drawing called comic sans.

Think of it as a digital town square where people can share their art and talk about their different ideas.

If you have an unusual style that attracts people, you can submit your work and gain followers on DeviantArt.

On the site, you can show off your creations and chat with other people. Here are ten tips for getting the most out of your experience on DeviantArt:

Go to the art section and search by tag or keyword. This is the best place to upload your artwork.

Click on the notifications icon on the top right corner of any image to be notified when your art gets shared or looked at by other people.

Comment on the comments or art posts that are showing up in your news

8. Use Facebook for selling your art

Facebook is an excellent platform for selling artwork and for setting up mailing lists.

You can post free art prints of any size and sell other art on your Facebook page, as well as answering questions from interested customers.

9. Placement sellers

If you have limited experience running an online business or a beginner painter or designer, you could choose to sell your art online with a Placement seller.

A Placement seller is one of many Etsy sellers who use the platform's Placement function, where people can browse your products from your home or studio with a few clicks of a mouse.

You will have to create a free listing with Etsy and enter it as the Placement seller on the Etsy shop floor.

The Placement seller will then handle the running of your listing on the Etsy platform itself.

Once the item is sold, the Placement seller will receive the payment, and Etsy will charge your Placement seller's PayPal account.

Tips for selling your art online

1. Have a good profile

Your first port of call for people interested in buying art online will be to look for your profile. At Etsy, your profile must be 'up to date' and contain a minimum of 50 images of your work.

In addition, your profile should have at least one of three things: a description, an artist statement, and a 'call to action' – a link to your shop.

You should also be able to supply your phone number and email address.

2. Have a simple gallery

Etsy provides you with space to 'stack' your images in a gallery, enabling customers to move through your shop quickly and discover more about your work.

You can do this easily with a customizable set of drop-down menus.

3. Make it simple

At its simplest, a simple gallery might be something like this:

But when it comes to art, there are plenty of artists who have made a successful living from their talents by building up a fan base and monetizing their products with a side-hustle, such as a vlog, Etsy, or online art gallery.

That's why artists must explore the many ways that their art can be monetized — whether it's selling prints online, getting commissions for your skill at conferences or social events, or creating a business around your art that generates income.

Although selling online is more complicated than just posting a digital image to the web and expecting it to sell, and is involved in part because technology is changing so quickly, there are ways to get your art noticed in the online market and sell it.

You must study the market, but if you can develop a unique way to sell your art online, you might also create a side hustle that can support you, rather than a company you have to deal with.

4. Set realistic expectations

The quickest way to kill your desire to create is to set unrealistic expectations about how much you can sell. First and foremost, it's important to remember that nobody expects you to make a fortune in art sales.

People do it because they enjoy it. They love to see their creations on a wall or a T-shirt.

However, many artists who sell their work online make a fraction of profit compared to people who earn a living selling their artwork in galleries.

It's often because they are selling works that are too small, too low quality, or not good enough in some other way.

These kinds of problems often put people off selling their work, so a realistic expectation should always be in place to prevent the disappointment and agony of selling an unfinished or unfinished piece.

Consider creating a limited edition of one or more paintings and selling it in a collectible way. For example, many people are still interested in painting a particular artist on their walls instead of more generic paintings.

For those customers who want something exclusive, you can create a special limited edition of one or more paintings. Then, by selling these in a collectible way, you could still make some money even if the paintings are not too famous.

5. Create a great website

There is nothing that can sell art like a great website. It doesn't matter what you are selling – paintings, photographs, or even home furnishings – a great website can transform your art into a successful business.

The good news is that most sites are easy to build, which is why it can be time- and cost-efficient to create one for your work.

You should have the opportunity to make your website at a fraction of the price it would cost to hire someone else to build one for you.

Using a service such as Wix, a popular website builder, could be the best investment you make for your art.

6. Use social media to promote your art

Social media is a fantastic platform that can market your art to a much wider audience and get the word out about how much money you could make.

For those who don't have a considerable amount of time to market themselves, it is worth considering how you could make money by simply sharing your artwork and listing it on popular sites such as Pinterest or Instagram.

If you create a high-quality piece of art that can be done quickly in a few hours, you could even offer people the chance to download it for free and even sell it through a print on demand service.

This could be a great way to make money if you don't want to invest in lots of equipment or art supplies.

7. Set up a mailing list

If you want to generate a steady stream of customers, you should consider setting up a mailing list to send special offers, promotions, and freebies to your mailing list subscribers.

This is an excellent way of ensuring you have regular customers willing to pay for your services.

You could also send special offers to individuals who order large amounts of your art.

This is particularly useful if you have the artwork for sale online and keen to make regular sales over and above what you can do from online galleries.