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I'm seeing soo many newbies opening up shop in the R&C...
and doing horribly.

Many, just don't have the talent. They see all the auctions going for over 100k and get all caught up in it. It's so tragic. But sometimes you really got to take a step back and think "would -i- buy something like this?" I really suggest to these people is to do a lot of free art. Practice. Lurk the art contest forum....once you start winning things, or you get people asking about your art, set up shop. Or, do what I did, give out art for donations in the charity forum. Really practice first. When you think you're ready, post MORE THAN 1 piece you've done FOR GAIA in the R&C and ask what people would pay for them. I really stress the more than 1 picture, and make sure you have some from gaian avatars. Face it. People mostly buy for their avatar....you need to give them some idea of what you can do with the interesting gaian fashions.

Then I see the people with talent and their thread just dissappears. To these people, I say, look the heck around. Make the effort to make a shop layout. AT LEAST post one example of your art for people to see ON THE PAGE. You need to get their attention. Give them a teaser. And dear gawd, make sure your links work. Also, make sure you have prices clearly marked...or else you're going to be repeating yourself quite a lot when people ask for a price. Another good idea is a waitlist. Waitlist helps in two ways: makes sure you don't get overworked, and allows everyone to see that you're open for requests. And probably most importantly of all, BUMP! R&C moves super-fast. You need to stick around your thread and bump it consistently to get people to notice. Stick up some eye-catching phrase in the subject line to get people to look at your thread. Perhaps advertise free art for bumpers. Learn the basic business moves...you need people to see before you can try selling your wares.

One disturbing trend I've noticed, is people self-proclaiming their art in the subject line.....i've decided people only do this when, in my opinion, their art is crummy. They're trying to fake you out. Whenever I see "Great Art, I promise!" "Really Cute Art, come inside!" , warning signs flash in my head, 'cause low and behold, their art is pretty crappy.
I now just avoid those threads.....or I go in there for a good laugh.

People seem to think Gaians are stupid and will buy any old crap.
...while I have to agree that some do...the majority still won't.


/end rant

I'm thinkin' I should post that in the R&C.