New Direction Needed

CharlestonArtShop.com needs your HELP. We need a new leader to take control of operations or a new owner to take over the business. The ideal candidate will be someone or some organization with experience in art sales, marketing, and business development. While some amount of technical prowess is necessary to keep the website operations running, a dedicated web developer is not necessary (although recommended). Parties of interest may contact us with inquiries. For more info, please see CharlestonArtShop.com is Closed Indefinitely.

We are a membership-generated e-commerce website made up of 64 active members with over 700 artwork listings. We have 2 full years of operations under our belt with proven monthly sales. For more info, please see about us.

General Website Features

Artwork Listing Features

  • large main image with zoom on hover feature
  • up to 5 additional images allowed per listing
  • artist name, artwork location, category, dimensions description, options, attributes
  • social sharing icons
  • add to your account wish list
  • submit a review form
  • submit a question to the artist form
  • related artwork listings
  • every page view is recorded in database
  • see "Anatomy of an Artwork Listing" YouTube video for more info

Member Features

Administrative System Features

  • admin user management system with authorization levels
  • artist membership system
  • artwork listing management system
  • advertising images/banner system
  • sales commission tracking system ready
  • customer and artist account management system
  • coupon code system
  • security system
  • newsletter system
  • tax system
  • affiliate account system ready
  • database backups
  • sitemap generator
  • complex member sales report
  • complex artwork listing views report
  • search history report

Checkout & Order Processing Features

Development Specs

  • dedicated IP address
  • site-wide SSL security certificate
  • secured admin dashboard
  • built with SEO best practices
  • 93% GTmetirx page speed score

Branding & Marketing

  • well recogizned professional logo
  • files for print catalogs, flyers, business cards, stickers, vinyl sign, ad banners, and other old images and image templates
  • advertising history with Art Mag, Charleston Artist Guild, Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, and Craigslist

Website Accounts

Accounts have been created with the following websites: google business, google analytics, google adwords, google phone, paypal business, amazon business, facebook business, pinterest, youtube, uprinting, dropbox, craigslist, stumbleupon, uline, citypaper, patch, digital, funding, coinbase, reddit, imgur, and more...

Going Forward

The ideal buyer will be someone or some organization with experience in sales, marketing, and business development. Contacts and experience in the art world will be most helpful, especially if you are local to South Carolina. Basic website development skills are encouraged, but not necessary. It is highly encouraged to have a good developer on-call.

Suggestions

  • additional marketing and advertising is needed
  • add a blog to generate more website visitor traffic
  • increase newsletter subscription and frequency
  • consider transforming the business into a non-profit

Monetization Options

  • re-introduce sales commission fee
  • sell on-site advertising to artists and related businesses
  • sell space in marketing materials, like the Artist Catalog
  • sell premium membership account features
  • run donation campaigns