Evaluating Software for Running an Art Business

Well, I've been busily at work in preparation for evaluating the different software packages for running a business marketing and selling my art. So I've set up a computer in the basement, and have installed demos for each of the products below:

Art Affair
Art and Craft Business Organizer
Art Look
Artful Butler
eArtist
Flick
Museografic for Art World
My Art Collection
Working Artist

So far each has their idiosyncrasies, some seem to have advantages in specific niches, and a couple stand out for my purposes. One thing that each has in common is the capacity to track a portfolio and add additional information about each work, but beyond this are many differences. I've been working on a matrix in order to evaluate each of them individually.

There are three other products which I won't be reviewing. One, Marketing Artist, is a web application that seems to be shutting down. This would have been my principal reservation in using their service-- that the company might cease operations and I would lose access to their system.

Two others, Gyst and Artworks Pro, don't have demos. I looked over their sites to get some idea of their products.

The Gyst site is intriguing. The product supports both Mac and Windows PCs, and the comprehensive features read like a syllabus for a course in marketing art-- press releases, inventory management, goal setting, checklists, contracts. In fact, the company also seems to run seminars on selling art. However, when talking about the software, they don't actually show any screen captures or program details. This makes me a little suspicious whether it is a well integrated product or a set of unconnected document templates. Under support information they indicate that they have identified a compatibility problem with Intel-based Macs that could be corrected by recompiling on the new platform, but they haven't fixed it. This is strangely casual. This could be a great program, but I remain uneasy about some of the loose ends.

The Windows application Artworks Pro has gotten some great word-of-mouth from art forums, and the product has a low "promotional" price. Their site has a lame video and minimal specifics about the product, but there is one thing I really dislike about them. They crow the misleading claim of being Mac compatible on their site, when this compatibility would require a big investment in emulation software, Windows license, and knowledge of Windows. All of these products are Mac compatible under those terms. I have a big trust issue with this company for using that kind of deceptive marketing, and there just isn't enough information on their site to counteract that reaction.