We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Billl Snider. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Billl below.
Billl, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
For all of my adult life I have been self employed and worked as a visual artist, doing actual artwork like painting and sculpture and working in the film and television world. Being self employed and surviving while doing these sorts of things means one must always be aware of self promotion and on keeping an eye out for where the next job might come from. I think it’s this sort of mind set that led me to the development of the STUDIODOORZ.
As a filmmaker running a small production company, marketing was an ongoing process and as a visual artist searching for avenues to sell my work it is an absolute necessity. I have explored many paths for selling but came to the conclusion that getting a possible collector into my studio was the most likely path to making a sale.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
STUDIODOORZ is based on the model of organized studio tours which have been around for over 50 years and number in the hundreds in the US alone. They range in size from small tours with10 to 20 artists to very large tours that have as many as 500 artists taking part. The number of actual studio visits by those art lovers attending these tours number in the millions. SDz is creating a global platform that allows these artists and artlovers to connect anywhere, anytime of year. So if you miss a tour while visiting a town you will be able to find some of those artists through the SDz site. I have been part of the Boulder Colorado Open Studios Tour for about 15 years and it was because of the success I have had during the tour that I started the SDz project. Here’s a link to the site, www.studiodoorz.com
The problem we hope to solve is simply to provide a way for artists and art lovers to connect. In spite of all the organized studio tours around the country there isn’t any central organization that does this, other that SDz.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Interestingly enough, the angel investors in SDz were a couple I meet during the Boulder Studio Tour, who also have half a dozen of my paintings. I mentioned the SDz idea to them, mostly to get their reaction to the idea and they said they liked the idea and would to put some money into the project. Their funding got things off to a good start and we are now looking for additional funding from an investor or a corporate partner.
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
The STUDIODOORZ website functions as a connecting point for artists and people who want to visit their studios. We do not take any percentage of sales so whatever an artist sells their work for they get to keep.
There are numerous paths that artists can take to sell their work such as, online, galleries, and art fairs to mention a few, and I think it wise for artists to have a diversified approach to marketing their work.
The online art market accounts for a significant amount sales, however, my concern is that collectors are exposed to thousands of artists’ work, which means it may be difficult for a single artist to be found.
On the other hand, if someone searches for artists on the SDz site it narrows the number of artists to be considered because the searcher will only be searching a selected area. That area could be where the person already lives or some place they plan on traveling. This increases the chances for an artist to be found.
But of all the options only one gives an artist “home field advantage”, and that’s when an art lover is in the artist’s studio and the artist has the opportunity to talk about their process and build a first hand relationship with a potential buyer. This is what SDz is all about.
Artists need to use every available avenue to sell their work and I think SDz should be an addition to their mix. We are currently giving free listings to a limited number of artists. If you would like one, or know an artist that might, use this link: https://studiodoorz.com/register/
Contact Info:
- Website: www.studiodoorz.com and http://www.billsniderstudios.com/
- Instagram: STUDIODOORZ & billsniderart
- Facebook: STUDIODOORZ
- Youtube: STUDIODOORZTV
Image Credits
Photo credit, Deann Snider & James Balog