N. Michael Bryant 03 Feb 2005

I was always under the impression that non-members can stop by and rate as well. That is what generates some traffic here.

David Díez 03 Feb 2005

From more than 170 ratings I have, only 2 or 3 are from anonymous. Only members seem to step in here, which is definitely no good...

Nina Kuriloff 03 Feb 2005

David, If other artists are having the same experience that you are having, I agree with you, that it isn't a favorable thing that is going on.

Of course, if lots of sales are occurring, regardless of the ratings, than it really doesn't matter, I suppose. :)

Christina Toews 03 Feb 2005

That is why a suggestion was made in another thread... to possibly have a gallery page for stuff that has sold as a direct result of AW. For ALL of us to see what is selling... that way people coming to the site see that stuff sells, and that way us artists on the site see that yes, we are selling our art. Interesting if they could make it happen! :)

eileen martin 03 Feb 2005

i have never sold anything here from people that were browsing, i have however sold from people doing a search on google for something specific and my artwanted site showed up. i think its very important to name your catagories so they will show up in searches.

Melissa Bond 03 Feb 2005

I doubt they would want to rate anyone's artwork honestly, they just have to read the message boards and realize they can't be honest unless it is a perfect 10 in their eyes. With artists demanding perfect scores and top 10 listings, then that's going to sway any visitor from commenting if they read the boards or have experience with rating an artist anything but a 10. The popular viewpoint is if they don't have work in their portfolio and say rate a 6, then they are bashed (a recent thread taken for example). No one cares for that immaturity.

Now, I can say that I have received more client assignments through this website than with any other art website. I already got signed on for an advertisment project with a very very large company (which I can't wait to share the work once the project is finished). It's a weekly basis now that I get these so far this year. The even more amazing thing? I'm not listed in ANY top 10 list...these clients did not use those lists to find me...they typed in Poser, black and white, etc. and pulled me up.

I haven't sold anything directly through the site, off-site from someone who saw it on AW..yes.

So the traffic for art buyers and companies looking for artists is DEFINITELY there. However, for them to rate would be a waste of time as the site has a reputation (like many others) for ego stroking rather than honesty no matter how detailed one writes a critique. If that reputation is quite known among artists, then it quite known among those seeking out art.

I hope the traffic stays that way though, because one of the clients I am doing a project for read through the message boards and told me his agency does that frequently to see how the artist behaves online so they can get an idea of how easy they would be to work with and take criticism no matter how harsh it might come across to the artist. He said many ruin their chances of even being contacted for an assignment for their behavior on the boards. I don't know if that is the same with art buyers or not.

Anyway, the traffic is there....just keep doing what you do...don't worry about the ratings. The art buyers and companies don't care about what Top 10 list you are in or what others rated you. Good luck!

ArtWanted.com Staff 03 Feb 2005

It was decided between our members last year that no one could rate artwork, post comments or message board posts without having an ArtWanted.com account. This was due to the problems we had of anonymous people knocking peoples portfolio down with very low ratings and offensive comments.

Since we made this change, we have seen very little of the past abuse going on, so we feel it was a good move.

However, this does mean that those that simply like the artwork found here can look, but can't touch. However, they can always e-mail the artist if they are interested in their work.

ghada zoughby 04 Feb 2005

yes, if we receive no ratings from non artists, it deosn't mean that they are not watching our art....anyway, Christina's suggestion is not bad, but I prefer to make this page available only for AW artists so it will not affect buyers' impression.

Nina Kuriloff 04 Feb 2005

I am very happy to have received so much helpful and wonderful feedback on this thread. There are good suggestions that came up. Congrats to you Melissa on how well you are doing! Thanks, AW! :-)

Gayla Drummond 07 Feb 2005

Nina, AW is an excellent source of traffic and sales, even without commenting by non-members.

Since I joined here, almost 11 months ago, my CafePress store's sales have doubled, and I'm currently receiving an average of 3 inquiries weekly wanting to hire me for projects or custom work. I have received more than I can possibly take on...and I make it a point to refer them to other AW artists when it's something I either don't do, or aren't interested in doing.

I have received more website traffic from AW than all of the other art communities I belong to combined.

In 50% of the inquiry emails/calls I receive, I am told they found my work in the Top Tens. The other 50% it's stated that my AW portfolio and website were viewed. It's also interesting to note that many make mention of the comments my work has received helping them to decide to contact me...what others think of your work is apparently important to many clients.

I haven't had a single client mention viewing the message board here, but it does seem logical that some would make the effort to do so. Not anymore tiffs than I've been involved with, it doesn't bother me much if they do so. =)

Ratings are a tool to get into the Top Ten lists, the Top Tens are a tool to generate more publicity for your work. I'm not going to die if something I do doesn't make the lists or get perfect 10s...in fact, I'd rate most of my stuff a lot harsher than most of you do. Guess you really are your own worst critic, hm? =)

All in all, AW has been the absolute best of any art community website I've joined, and I am looking forward to a very long, profitable membership here.

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