The norm, after the SE’s find/list your site, is a probationery period to weed out all the temporary spam sites.  Most of my clients are spidered in six months at the very outset with the plethora of SEO and marketing that I do in the background.  Ranking is the ‘value’ they place on your site, which will come later.  This is what determines if you are on page 10,123,000 for the search term…or on the first page.  Personally, I want all of my clients on page 1.  < (';')>  Most searchers will not go past the fourth search page.

Find/list  (book you) 
Spider  (talk about you)
Rank  (evaluate you) 

Hope this helps,
bj.

http://bjdecastro.com/

Here you will see the ‘actual’ Internet address.  Compare it to the link that is typed in the message or the linked word.

I.e.  On eBay and Paypal scam emails, the link will lead you to believe that you need to sign in and give them your account credit card.  However, if you hover over the word or link and look at the bottom…you will find that the link actually goes to some address like: 123.12.1.123

*btw – both of the above companies will ALWAYS have your account name at the top of official and legit emails.  Never – ‘Dear Paypal User’.

Most people do not understand that the first words after the www. is the domain or subdomain that they will be going to.  Scammers count on this.  So when they make these temporary sites, it is usually something like:  www.123.12.1.123/memberpages/cgi/ebay.com

Then…unknowing clickers see the word ‘ebay’ and ‘member’ (or the like) and think it is legitimate.

If you don’t have the hover option in your email program for some reason, you can right click on the link and see the ‘Properties’.  Or, you can go to your top menu >> Click File >> Click Properties.

Hope this helps!
Bj. de Castro
http://bjdecastro.com

Good morning!

If you click on the link and go to the page, you will see that what they are
offering you is an EIGHT page-deep link farm.  *Remember what I told you
about SE spiders only going 4 deep?  There are rare exceptions, but always pertaining to articles (content).  That means the page they are touting ‘a grandiose future’ – will never be ranked at all.

Google now PENALIZES the link that is placed in ‘link farms’.  *New rule (I
know, always changing….but that is why you have me, LOL.)  The only
exception that we want to place here, is if the link farm has a PR ranking
higher than 3 – and it MUST be on topic with your site…specifically!

In return from your website, you would be giving them a TWO page-deep link on a 2-3 PR ranked page!  With the new rules, it is not about kindness…it is more like Bank Monies.  Link to a high PR page and you earn dividends.  Link to a low PR page and you pay charges.

Link Farms are completely automated.  Meaning, these are not hand selected and code-written ‘natural’ links (like you have and what Google looks for).  The directory, the emails, the links…it is all handled through software on their server.  The Search Engines know this and can identify them immediately as places of no value.  According to Google, a site that
participates in a link farm may have it’s search rankings penalized.  Search
engines try to identify specific attributes associated with link farm pages
and filter those pages from indexing and search results.  In some cases,
entire domains are removed from the search engine indexes to prevent them from influencing search results.

Things to look for:

1-There is often times (not always) a ‘directory path’ lined up on the top
of the page, i.e., home > pets > horses > breeders > united states > pacific coast > California (all of these would be links).

2-You will sometimes see ‘hits’ or ‘most popular’ meters.

3-You will always find – or be requested via an email, to go visit the site
and submit all the info yourself.

Please keep in mind, it doesn’t matter what the homepage ranking for their website is, which is what they will brag about to you.  If they are not
putting your link on their homepage, it makes NO difference.  It is always
and only the ranking of the page they place your link on that is – or is
not, the benefit to your site.

Bj. has hundreds of agents representing her work.  If you have a question about one, please contact Bj. first.  The only way to assure you are buying an authentic Bj. de Castro art piece is to buy only from the seller named ‘decastroart’ on eBay, or only from the Official Bj. de Castro website:  http://bjdecastro.com.

International Copyright Law Offenders:

eBay Item number: 8285504537 – Oak & Morgan Stance
eBay Item number: 8285505048 – Valle de Vinales, Cuba
eBay Item number: 8285505843 – Chesapeake Sunset
eBay Item number: 8285506199 – Nappers, Hawaii, oil 

(Thief) eBay Seller: advanceantique6688 (173 feedback rating)

“Bj., do you find it positive to show online with the Internet Art Galleries, what are my options, how do I choose and what about sales?”

The very first time I did a seach-right after I finished my first website, I found only a handful of sites that had anything to do with art. As one of the pioneering artists on the Internet, I knew the day would come, when there would be thousands of pages of website links on search engines. Well, that day has come. All the avenues I take to display my work, i.e., my personal website, my eBay stores/auctions, the brick-and-mortar galleries, distributors, the over 40 online galleries that represent my work and many others, creates a network of expose that consistently spider-webs outward-introducing my art to the entire world. The most important thing to remember, when you are deciding rather or not to sign with an online gallery is the promotional value, which is tremendous! As a consumer, you know… that you can look for something, but if you can’t find it…you can’t buy it. You may give up, or you may buy something similar that you do find while shopping-depending on how readily available the item is. Art is everywhere. So, for the art buyer, the later is more likely to happen, unless it is a specific piece they are looking for.. For there are two types of art sales…customers that buy your work-just because they like it. And the second…are customers that buy your work-just because it’s your work. It is similar to car purchases and many other industries. I.e., some consumers will simply buy the car that they are attracted to-no matter who the maker is. While other consumers will only buy a Chevy, or American-made models. They will scout through the options of that maker, until they find one that they are attracted to. This is the ‘loyal consumer’…the one you want to earn. But first, you need to introduce yourself.

Now the only real rule that I have for marketing proposals of my work is this…if a business wants to profit from my work, I will entertain their proposal. However, if a business wants to profit from me or my occupational title, I will kindly decline. For there are two kinds of representors out there-ones that make legitimate income from the product you produce, and ones that make money from their very own producers. I.e, a hundred years ago, I was a model and owned/operated a modeling school and agency. Unfortunately, I found the later to be the case from many disillusioned hopefuls with stories of broken promises and drained wallets, as they came to me looking for legitimate representation. Agencies were charging them exorbitant fees just to sign up with promises of future jobs to re-coop those fees. Of course, they never made an effort to find the models work. They were paying their bills from the income earned on sign-ups. Now when it comes to Internet galleries…generally, you may not be immune to some costs-but, they should be ‘operational’ in nature. I.e., shipping, packing, and limited promotional/production costs, etc. This should be an easy decision for you. First, assume there is a sale. Then, it cost me this much, they get that much….is there anything left?

The real moral here, is that you have to do your homework on any proposed business venture. Because like it, or not, from the first moment that you decide to sell a single piece of your work, you are in business. Consequently, you have to remove all ego and emotion from the passion that drives us-as artists… to leave a clear, black and white, all-about-the-numbers business skill of thinking. This is why it IS difficult to self-represent and many artists choose to leave all of that to an agent, gallery, or other form of representation. That said, the initial hunt for a mutually advantageous business relationship-still requires the initial homework.

Now, if we concentrate on the question about options and how to choose an “Internet Gallery”, here are a few suggestions and words of advice:

Free websites without commission - These sites make their money, legitimately, through the use of banner ads, or the like. You will have banners at the top, sides, or bottom of your page-or the newest trend, which is pop-up, pop-under or pop-on-exit windows. These are a great avenue for getting your feet wet with your first website, or, just adding to your web presence-which in turn, raises your search engine standing. The more websites with mention of you, the more important the search engines think you are and give you higher ranking. This means that if someone searches for a keyword (topic) that is relevant to your website, your website shows up on the list. The thing to consider is this…is the link to your website on page 1000, or the first 3? Because, statistics show that most searchers will give up, after the first three pages of links. *Note here: If the website you are considering doesn’t have a Google ranking of 4, or more, it will not show up on the search lists and consequently, will not improve your ranking importance to Google. There are two ‘turn-offs’ here to your visitors. First, your website address is going to be so long that no one will remember it, i.e., http://members.freeweb.pleaseclickonthebanners.com/bjdecastro/. Or, your visitors will be so annoyed by the advertisements, which is how the websites make their money, that they will leave before they see your artwork. Again, this is how I got my feet wet and it is a great way to learn what you are going to need and want-before, you make the dive into your own domain, i.e., http://bjdecastro.com . These are also a good avenue for the artist that doesn’t want to sell, but only show and inform.

Free websites with commission - Now these sites are-for the most part, legitimate online galleries that will often only display work by artists that they feel fit into the style of work they represent, or qualify on some skill/career level. In my experience, these sites are ran professionally and expect professionalism from the artists they represent. They should have the standard commission rate, which varies from 15% (rare) to 25%-30% (average) to 35%-40%(highest). If you are paying the higher commission rate (and I do/have), make sure that you are getting your monies worth. Usually, these galleries offer more exposure-perhaps, brick-and-mortar as well. And, they often carry the weight of promotional expenses/materials, which can be a large expense. Here again, I must caution you to put your ego aside and check them out. It can be very tempting to jump into a business relationship that will end badly, because your “I’m going to be famous” voice just reminded you that your work won over a jury selection! With the less than honorable companies, that ‘jury’ could simply be the person depositing your check in their bank. The best case scenario is that they sell a lot of your work and they do earn their money. Unfortunately, many of these online galleries go out of business every year, because it is difficult to sell artwork online without that emotional, face-to-face connection, between the buyer and the piece, which happens in a brick-n-mortar atmosphere. In fact, I have a folder on my desktop full of ‘down’ sites-some notified me and others just left me with a ‘404′ (file not found) moment. On the other hand, there are online galleries that do well. Providing the site fits in this category of Free websites with commission and has a true ‘no up-front cost’ agreement, the only moment of risk for you will be at the close of sales. Use common sense and don’t ship, until payment is received-or, make sure that a ‘escrow’ type service is available. (*This applies to all your online business-regardless who makes the sale, including yourself.) An escrow service holds the product, collects the money, then makes the exchange. Some hold your funds for an approval period for the buyer. There are ‘bad guys’ in this business too, so investigate. In fact, eBay has just succumbed to only recommending one escrow company, until they find another that deserves their confidence. So basically, with legitimate Free websites with commission you have nothing to loose if they don’t sell, or go under, but you will gain in exposure. And if they do sell for you, and if you are careful on the execution of the sale-then, it’s a win-win.

Websites charging fees with or without commission – These sites generally fall into the two categories I spoke of earlier…representors that make money off of the art, or representors that make money off of the artist-or in some cases, both. You need to be careful here. Do your homework. Look at every line of the contract (there should be one) and on every page of the website. Email the other artists represented and be honest with them, as to the purpose of your email. I get these requests all the time from fellow artists, who are simply doing their own homework about a site that they have found me affiliated with. I don’t mind and I also, answer honestly. Literally, sit down with a pad of paper and do the numbers. Make sure that you figure in the cost of your time for what they want to charge you to do themselves. Perhaps, the time it would take you to learn how to do it in the first place x (what you are worth an hour-and you are worth $ per hour) would be much more than what they are charging. Plus, you get to paint! For myself, I learned on my own everything there is to know about writing code, operating and maintaining a website-well, because I am a nerd. It fascinates me. Personally, it’s like painting is my job and my computer is my hobby. However, it is not easy! It takes a lot of time, patience and there isn’t much room for error. So it might be better for you to pay someone else to do it. Again, you have to do the math, because some of these sites will charge you so much that you could never hope to re-coop and come out ahead of the game.

In conclusion, I have been very pleased with the partnerships I have made and find that if I am careful with my consideration, I suffer nothing when the poorly-planned websites go under-yet, continue to benefit from the successful ones with a growing network. I will admit to being bitten once, but it wasn’t for lack of homework studies. In fact, with it being a brick-n-mortar gallery about a thousand miles away, it surely received the most dedicated research. However, one must remember that when you do business with any company, you are dealing with human beings…people capable of making good business go bad. It happens. Because of planning, my loss was easily swallowed-lesson learned. As with all my business decisions, I had made a risk list. This is a ‘worse-case’, which you then use to decide what you can live with. Then, you either negotiate, agree to, or hold it back. In the end, I got all of my un-sold pieces returned, but had to pay for a few repairs. Don’t let me scare you here. Every business suffers loss sometime. The smart business-person just plans ahead for it, limits the loss and then re-coops, if possible. My only hit had nothing to do with the Internet. There is no need to be afraid of the web. Learn it. Use it and watch your business grow.

I hope this helps…bj

1-Ask to have the backing removed. This can be done carefully without any damage done and easily replaced. The dust-cover, or backing paper is easily and inexpensively replaced, if it is torn. This is done with all authentications. Once the dust-cover is removed, look at the back of the canvas. Held up to the light (with the back of the canvas facing you), you should see multiple layers of paint. This is usually more evident with paintings in the style of Gottlieb, where lines and shapes are present. Artists apply oil paint in layers, so what you are looking for is ‘thickness’, or evidence of the vicious medium. *Please note here that they are getting tricky and using various glosses, varnishes and gel combinations to ‘effect’ brush strokes. If you look closely at the back, and front, you will often see that the strokes do not match the subject matter. Ink from a machine is sprayed completely even.

2-Ask to have the frame removed. This can also be done carefully without any damage done and easily replaced. If it is a print, you will see a straight line all around the four edges of the piece. They may have tried to conceal this with painted on fake brush strokes, but with careful examination you will still see the line underneath. When an artist works, there will always be paint on the edge of the canvas from obvious effort. Even with those artists that use tape for a clean edge, there will be some seepage underneath the tape and paint ‘debris, such as, splashes, speckles, ‘feather’ markings. Work from a machine will always have a straight and very clean line.

3-And finally, if you have a good magnifying glass, or a jeweler’s loop, you can examine the front of the piece. What you are looking for here, is evidence of a printing machines pixels…or minute dots. A very good giclee machine will still leave some evidence, but you may need to know what you are looking for. Also, look for ‘breaking’ across the tooth of the canvas. This will be seen on the highlights of the piece, so look for any white. White is generally left alone on a piece and often applied last. With the magnifier, closely look at the tooth, or ‘bumps’, of the canvas to see that the white paint is only sitting on the top of the tooth. As the brush is pulled over the canvas with the thick final strokes, the top of the tooth is what grabs the paint. If it is a large area, look at the edge of the white, or highlight, color.

If all of this leaves you in the same ‘guessing’ spot, then my advice is this…have it authenticated. For either the forger has done such a great job that his effort alone deserves the fee, or…you may have the real deal.

Best of luck to you and I will hope you have a real FIND!
Bj.

If you can help me anyway with promotion and selling the paintings, please, let me know. Maybe you know any galleries or privite collectors who probably would be interested in purchasing some arts by my father? I need your advice. I’ll be glad to get any answer from you.
Thank you and best regards.
Sergey Belikov, RUSSIA

Have you taken many classes or did you go it alone, i know how confusing it can be, well it least it has been for me but I am beginning to get a better feel for it, i refused to take local classes (small town) because everyone painted one dimensional flat paintings and they all looked the same. Have you ever encountered this?

I do have a School of Art series of vhs tapes from the 1990’s that helped a great deal and lots of reference material.

How did you find yourself?

Sincerely

Cheryl