Full disclosure: FineArtStudioOnline has now become an advertiser on EE.
FineArtStudioOnline (FASO) was founded by Clint Watson in 2001 and offers personal artist websites for a monthly fee. Artists choose from a few template styles and colors and can upload artwork and manage the website themselves.
There are five membership levels (although two are “intro” levels which are very limited) with prices ranging from $8 per month to $40. All membership levels have easy PayPal integration and there are no setup fees.
The $8 Intro membership allows artists to upload only 5 images while the Intro Plus costs $15 per month for 10. In my opinion, neither amount is really suitable for artists, and both plans lack key features found in FASO’s more expensive memberships.
Moving up, the Basic membership costs $24 per month and allows 100 images, which is a much more reasonable number for an artist. This plan also introduces Collections which would lets artists group their art into categories like “portraits” and “landscapes.”
The Basic plan also allows access to an email marketing system, (to send out updates or announcements) but limits artists to just 10 email contacts, so in my opinion it’s not really worth it, at least at the Basic membership level.
If you’re willing to pay $28 for the Gold membership, however, you can build an unlimited list of email contacts, upload twice as many images (200) and you even get a blog that’s integrated right into your website.
There’s one more plan as well, Platinum, but it’s exactly the same as Gold except that it costs more ($40 per month) and you can upload 300 images, not 200.
I’ve already explained why I think FASO’s Intro plans aren’t worthwhile, and at the other end of the spectrum I doubt many artists will need a Platinum membership just for another hundred image slots.
I can’t recommend the Basic plan either, because of its extremely limited email marketing possibilities, and even paying $24 per month you still won’t get a blog, which can be one of the most powerful tools for reaching new art buyers online (and building your email list.)
So the only logical membership I see is the Gold plan, but is it worth $28 per month?
If you check out my review of Artspan from a few weeks ago you’ll see that their prices are $12.95, $15.95, or $17.95 per month, for a very similar type of website.
And if you really want to compare the two, Artspan websites will be much more likely to get traffic each month from visitors funneling through Artspan.com. FASO doesn’t seem to be targeting that kind of traffic, leaving you to get visitors yourself, whether through offline marketing, pay-per-click ads (like Google Adsense) or through daily blogging and networking online.
FASO does claim to promote its artists through another website, FineArtViews.com, but from what I can see it’s nowhere near the level of Artspan. And the only thing that really sets FineArtStudioOnline apart for me is the integrated blog.
Personally I’d rather set up a free blog and spend my $28 a month on something else, but if you want that exact combo—a portfolio website together with a blog—then FineArtStudioOnline might be the place for you.