Name of your website?studio.joemarsella.com
Your name?
Joseph Marsella
Your Location (city, etc)
Pepperell
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Artist, Joe Marsella takes your photos and digitally paints and prints them for you. These are hand painted using modern technology and not automated by a computer program.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I started using this technique of turning photos into paintings as a great way to give gifts to people and not have to spend 20 hours on an oil painting. I had little money and needed an affordable way to give people my art and this was great, i just had to get it printed on canvas or fine art paper. I was going to start painting portraits for like $500 at least and then I thought that this was a great way to bring art into homes at a price that everyday people can afford, starting at $99. I can charge a lower price because I don't have spend over 20 hours working on it.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
My first website was a promotional website for myself as an illustrator, www.joemarsella.com and it is still up today, although it has changed quite a bit.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
Well, i am offering a service as an artist and did not want to stray away from my name so i decided instead of starting a business under a new name i would just call this my studio and there it was... studio.joemarsella.com
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
studio.joemarsella.com differs from some of the other sites that offer similar service because it is just me, as an artist, doing the painting. I am not part of a large corporation and that means you know what you are getting. What you see on my site is all my own work and it is personal to me, even the work I do for my customers. I feel very professional about it and sometimes the one man acts like me are not.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
The goal for studio.joemarsella.com is to keep it as my own company. I would not mind getting to the point where I could bring other artists aboard and have it where people can choose an artist with a style they like under the same roof. It would be like a tattoo parlor.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Well, we will see about this as I am just getting started but I have to say that after my first customer I knew this was exactly what I want to do. I still work as an illustrator but the balance there is perfect.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would make it so that uploading photos could be done on the site rather than by email, and I would put together a great store with framing and all on site.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Yes, I am very confident in my ability to get the work done, the wait time would increase but people would know that before they ordered anything as it is listed on my site. I also have another artist who would be a great addition and would join right away if things got to heavy for just one person.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
My first order wanted their product shipped 2 day and to a PO Box but my printer only ships UPS 2 day. So I ended up having to print it locally at a higher cost and ship it myself USPS. There was a lot more driving and time needed to get that first order out but I did what I had to do. Also advertising is a bit more expensive and time consuming than I thought.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Getting my website up and running and working on a lot of content to put in it. Making it all work seamlessly was a lot of work. Once the site is doing well and it is time to upgrade the site I am going to outsource to a professional web developer.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
My first orders came from craigslist.org and I am just getting some adds out in magazines now so we will see.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
There is just a lot of work to get your name out there and recognized. I just hope people like what I have to offer.
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?
studio.joemarsella.com has been up for about a month and it is a site for a service that I enjoy doing and there are no advertisements on my site so traffic is not a huge concern. I will keep it up for a long time, as long as I can. There is no quota set in order to keep running.
Are you excited about what may come from your site?
I am so excited about studio.joemarsella.com, this is a chance for me to get out of working with companies that just pay the bills and do something i love to pay the bills. This is going to be a great thing for me.
What is your website address?
studio.joemarsella.com
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