Name of your website?Scenic Earth Studios - The Art Gallery of Rick Short
Your name?
Rick Short
Your Location (city, etc)
Orlando, Florida
Please give us a short summary of your website?
My website contains my life's work of paintings, prints and photography that I have created since I was about 13 years old. These paintings and photographs are captured moments from my life and images, people and places that inspire me.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
Back in 1996 I was looking for a way to show my art work and have people find my work with the most cost effective means possible. I met a man who owned a website company and he designed my initial website and I took over the devleopment and programming of it and by word of mouth advertising, friends from church and work came to me for me to buid website for them as well and the site started to change direction into more of a service burea building websites and creating graphics instead of being a fine art gallery.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
I launched www.ScenicEarth.com back in March of 1996. At the time it was just an HTML site showing a few of my paintings and since then it has grown to showcase my photography, helped me win some awards and advertise my art shows at galleries from Virginia to Florida. It has turned out to be more of an important marketing tool second only to my resume.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
I really prayed over it and 'Scenic Earth' came to mind. I remember people telling me what a cool name it was. It just came to me and I believe it was God's plan to name it that. I have stuck with it and it has become part of who I am. The only down side to the name is there are people out there who mis pronouce it and call it 'Science Earth Studios' which just kills me.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
The feedback I have been given from viewers is it is very organized and easy to navigate. The images, art and photography are unique in that they are my creations. You will not see them anywhere else but here on this site or some of my affiliate sites so they are unique in that respect.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
My hope and dream is to see 'Scenic Earth Studios' become a family run business where my paintings and photography can still earn a profit for my children and wife and it be my legacy.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
The investment of time is overwhelming sometimes. There is so much work in desgning a site, promoting it, adding it to search engines, then painting, creating, doing art shows. The money is not a huge expense but doing art shows all over the country gets expensive because I mail my work and have it mailed back to galleries from California to Virginia to gain exposure and get into nationally juried art shows. It is good advertising though and the best way besides my website to get my work out there to be seen, looked at and hopefully purchased and enjoyed enough to find new homes.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would add more video presentations with my digital camera, music and straming video and flash to showcase the work and build more of a personal presence. The web can be so impersonal sometimes so having a way to interact more and show some video of me painting or talking to the customers and adding something besides still images and static text is my goal.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
That would be end all goal of having the site. I would definitel pursue it full time and spend time on the road doing art shows and use the site to promote my work on tour and spend time creating and would probably end up needing help with shipping, packing and making prints if business were to expand and keep growing.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Oh lets see
1. Having my site hacked by hackers for the joy of it. 2. Seeing people steal and donwload sound clips from the site. 3. Technology constanly changing so you feel the site gets outdated and needs to be updated and improved all the time. 4. Constantly trying to market the site to get it seen on search engines and draw customers to it. 5. Trying to figure out why people are not buying my work when it sells at shows and people comment on it all the time.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Constantly spending time working on the site when I would rather be painting, doing art shows and travelling and taking pictures and putting on art shows. The site is one thing but the main joy for me is doing art shows and meeting the public. That is why I paint, to bring joy into people's life and share a vision or idea by bringing it to life on canvas or paper.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Adding it to Art sites and Christian sites like this one.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It is a constant uphill climb. I think sometimes a brick and mortor store would be much more successful and rewarding, although much more expensive.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
Well ScenicEarth.com has been up and running for 11 years now. I hope to keep the site up as long as I am alive or until I find a better way of marketing my work.
Replace this with a question of your own
What are some things I can paint or create that would get people excited about God's word and art in general?
What is your website address?
Scenic Earth Studios - The Art Gallery of Rick Short
