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The Unspoken Don't
13 years ago
You know how there are some things that you just don't do? Even if there are no laws against certain things, we don't do them because we know people look down on such activities and judge us harshly for them. Sometimes for good reason, because some of those things are downright annoying.
For artists working online, there are a lot of dos and don'ts, but generally most of the don'ts are there because it IS illegal. Don't run off with someone's money without doing the work, stuff like that.
The Don't that I am going to talk about might not seem as obvious as other things, and I do realize that some people will see nothing wrong with it, but the majority of people find it annoying, and anybody who has been selling art for a while would not do this in a million years, because they don't want the stigma, and they KNOW better. It is the Unspoken Don't.
Solicitation.
Soliciting is when you enter someone else's space in order to advertise directly to that single person. It is not the same as general advertisement where you place your ad in a public space, or show and tell about your work on your own page or pages dedicated to advertisement. When someone is soliciting, they tend to leave shouts or send private notes to people who they do not know, telling them that they take commissions, when they were not asked about it. I've heard of this happening with growing frequency lately, and it just baffles me as to why anybody would want to paint themselves in that light.
Solicitation is what JWs do when they knock on your door, give you their pamphlets and try to convert you. It's what telemarketers do when they call you during dinner and try to get you to sign up or buy something. It's what street vendors do while you're on your way somewhere. It's what prostitutes do when your car is parked and you're waiting for a friend. As a consumer, I will automatically dislike someone who solicits me, and will not buy from them, purely out of spite, even if their product is good. I am also not the only one. There's a reason why people hang "No Soliciting" signs on their gates and doors. If you've got something worth selling, customers will come to you. Don't force yourself on them.
For artists working online, there are a lot of dos and don'ts, but generally most of the don'ts are there because it IS illegal. Don't run off with someone's money without doing the work, stuff like that.
The Don't that I am going to talk about might not seem as obvious as other things, and I do realize that some people will see nothing wrong with it, but the majority of people find it annoying, and anybody who has been selling art for a while would not do this in a million years, because they don't want the stigma, and they KNOW better. It is the Unspoken Don't.
Solicitation.
Soliciting is when you enter someone else's space in order to advertise directly to that single person. It is not the same as general advertisement where you place your ad in a public space, or show and tell about your work on your own page or pages dedicated to advertisement. When someone is soliciting, they tend to leave shouts or send private notes to people who they do not know, telling them that they take commissions, when they were not asked about it. I've heard of this happening with growing frequency lately, and it just baffles me as to why anybody would want to paint themselves in that light.
Solicitation is what JWs do when they knock on your door, give you their pamphlets and try to convert you. It's what telemarketers do when they call you during dinner and try to get you to sign up or buy something. It's what street vendors do while you're on your way somewhere. It's what prostitutes do when your car is parked and you're waiting for a friend. As a consumer, I will automatically dislike someone who solicits me, and will not buy from them, purely out of spite, even if their product is good. I am also not the only one. There's a reason why people hang "No Soliciting" signs on their gates and doors. If you've got something worth selling, customers will come to you. Don't force yourself on them.
My urge to reply with a look of disapproval was incredibly high, but I resisted.
Its like going to a store and buying something and they saying they having a sale next week and you should come by
often time its the random out of the blue note or shout where a person saying they are open for commissions if you arent watching em or anything.
Think of your own page as like it is your house.
Think of an artist's page as like it is their shop.
You go to their page/shop to buy something, and see that they have a journal/flyer stating they'll have a sale next week. That's one thing, and that is ok.
You watch them, and get a journal in your inbox about said sale next week, that is like subscribing to their flyer/newsletter, and that is ok, since by clicking the watch button, you knew you'd get their journals in your inbox.
But when they come to your page/house and leave their advertisements there, whether you are watching them or not, that is not ok.
They are saying AFTER they watch them, said person. As in they went to the person store, told them that they like their stuff (the watch) and then later on getting an ad about a sale at their house. Its vastly different from random folks you never met or stores you never been to doing such a thing.
I don't find it different whether I'm watching the person or not. Just because I went into a store, doesn't mean I want the store owner to follow me home and bother me there. And the difference between getting an ad or flyer in your mailbox (journal or submission) and the owner of the store showing up at your house (note or shout) is vastly different.
Consider: I watch a lot of people because I like their art, not because I ever intend to buy anything from them. They can post journals about their commissions all they want, and I'll just delete them without ever reading. But for them to come into someone elses space and ask them to commission them, no matter who they are, is just pretentious. They are assuming that a) the person buys artwork, b) the person has any money to buy artwork, and c) that the person even likes their art enough to pay for it for whatever their asking price is.
It was rude, I didn't even reply to them.
They compliment my art, and then tell me to commission THEM? Not right.
That's just wrong, and especially stupid.
What I don't get is how someone would even BUY from someone like that. o_O
I'm sure this has happened to me online, but I generally ignore rude comments/people... Or just say no thanks lol.
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3552544/ (my journal)
I've had it happen more than the times I commented about in my journal, it is rude and obnoxious. Not really the type of quality I look for in an artist. Not saying that they shouldn't be optimistic about their work, but soliciting is pushing it way too far!
And just so you know, when a JW or any other type of missionary knocks on your door, they aren't soliciting, they're proselyting. There's actually a huge difference.
I wish I could fav a journal... Had this happen recently, and found it to be in very bad taste. BUT! Since I have an absence of a backbone sometimes, I just politely said "I will keep it in mind..."
really?
Now I cant commission you even if you notice I get alot of commissions it tend to be from folks I know or liked their works