I'm doing great selling in galleries or on a marketplace right now. Why would I need my own website?

First, it’s not a zero-sum game. If you’re kicking butt in another venue, that’s fantastic—double down on it and hammer it. You can’t lose as long as you’re winning. But at the same time, always be working on a site and customers that you own and retain. It should never be ‘in lieu of’ but ‘in addition to.’ Second, if you’re doing well somewhere else right now, be thankful for your success, but understand that a rainy day can and will come. You need to actively work to move those customers and followers to your own castle, to something you own. Take some of those profits—both money and time—and invest a small amount, maybe 3-10%, in diversifying your success to other venues. If you don’t have a website you own, start there. That’s the diversification you need.

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Asked by an artist successful with galleries or marketplaces · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2018-03-27