OPENING AN ART BUSINESS

PHEW!!!  

That was quite the pace for a couple of weeks.  I've learned that getting an art website launched, where you have multiple contributing artists, can be a challenge. But, FourSquare ART dot com is up and operating quite smoothly.  If you're reading this blog, it means you've already found the site.  If you came here from some other site (how did you do that?), here's the link:   WEBSITE

Thanks for all of the positive comments.  "I love the way your website focuses on the art" and "it's very easy to move around the site" are distillations of the two most common comments I've received thus far.

The website would not have been even remotely possible without the able assistance of my friend, Matt Jones who is a website genius and is really responsible for the site's ease of operation and performance.   It helps that he's 30 years younger than I am and more knowledgeable of thinks cyber.  We met and discussed what I was looking for and I showed him a couple of other art gallery websites that I liked, some for the good and some for the bad.  He then discovered the perfect template, which, with some behind the scene adjustments for my specific needs, is what you see today.  So, many, many thanks to Matt.  While working full-time and in the middle of creating my website "on the side," he also became engaged.  So, he was a really busy camper.

Now, that the site is up and I've loaded all the images of the work and added the important detail information.  It's time to get started on the marketing end of the equation.  It was difficult to start advertising, social media and word-of-mouth efforts without a website.

Here on the blog, I hope to offer some thoughts periodically on art and my observations as I enter the world of selling art.  It's not a totally new world to me as I've been buying art for many years.  I know what buyers are looking for and I've watched the market enough to know how it works.

The walls in my house are full with only a few places left for additional acquisitions.  In fact, I think my wife, Cindy, is half convinced the reason I started this business was because it satisfied my desire to have new art around me on a continual basis and to work with a great stable of artists, many of whom have become friends over the years.  She's a third right with that assumption.

The other two thirds are these:  One, I find great joy in helping people.  One way is to help friends discover great art that speaks to their spirits.  For me, I don't plan on going broke, but it's not a financial, money-making venture.  It's a desire to bring quality original art in to more homes so others can experience the emotional connection and attraction to quality art that my family has enjoyed.

The last of the three reasons is a more personal one.  After spending a career in government, public policy and politics...I'm looking for something a little softer at the end of my career.  Also, selling art better fits other responsibilities in my life right now...as opposed to arguing politics.  I'm not abandoning my government affairs consulting practice or my clients.  That work will continue.  But there's room in my day for more to be done, and this is how I want to spend that time.

So, welcome, enjoy the art, If I can help you in any way, let me know.  FourSquare ART is a new part of my life which I'm hopeful will keep me busy for years to come.