Thank you MidAtlantic Pastel Society!

Thank you MidAtlantic Pastel Society!

Thank you to the MidAtlantic Pastel Society (MAPS) for inviting me to present Building a Dynamic Web Presence during their member meeting this week. Founded in mid-2016, MAPS is dedicated to promoting and understanding pastels as a fine art medium. The society provides members with fellowship, support and growth through bi-monthly programs, workshops, critiques, other educational training, and opportunities to exhibit. Interested artists can learn more about becoming a member here.  

Are you interested in scheduling a presentation for your artist organization? Please get in touch with me at becky@artisan-advantage.com

Happy New Year

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! We’re a week into the New Year, and hopefully, you are motivated and excited about the year to come.

Sometimes the end of the year is so hectic that it is helpful to sit down and review upcoming plans for the next twelve months after the start of the year. I have an annual subscription to Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus Planner. Being a subscriber, I receive regular emails with advice for planning, goal setting, and more. This week I received an email about the concept of an annual preview that might be helpful for your visual art business. If you’d like to learn more about conducting an annual preview, you can listen to this episode of the Lead to Win Podcast.

Do an  Annual Preview for Your Visual Art Business

Some of the things you can do to preview your art business for 2022 include:

List your biggest wins. Wins could include reaching sales goals, holding a fruitful show, receiving an award, or anything else you consider a success this year.

Make a list of all the things that worked for you this year. Then, make a list of things that didn’t work. Is there any particular social media platform that is working better than another? Are there activities that are panning out into opportunities or sales for you? What do you want to keep doing in 2022? Likewise, which actions should you reconsider or stop doing?

Did you have written goals in 2021? Have your reviewed and rewritten them for 2022? If not, do it now.

Review your calendar for the upcoming year. Map out the significant events and milestones you need to hit during the year. Make sure you list out all events, exhibitions, and deadlines to map out your preparation.

Consider your daily rituals. What can you do at the beginning and close of every day to keep your business on track?

Consider your ideal workweek. Can you map out what you should do every week and when you should do it to keep your business on track and reach your goals? For example, you can map out studio time, marketing time, and any other activity that will get you closer to your goals.

Doing this review and giving thought to pre-planning will set you up for more likely success in the year to come.

Check out the Full Focus Planner

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I am a big fan of the Full Focus Planner. If you are looking for a planning system, I recommend that you give it a look.

Stay in Touch

I’d love to stay in touch this year.   Join my weekly newsletter here.  

The Home Stretch

The Home Stretch

It’s December 1st! Make this last month of the year count.

Year-end reviews and planning for next year are always a hot topic this time of year, and I encourage you to do that.

In addition to a year-end review and planning for the next year, there is one critical activity I’ve got in the habit of doing every year.   This activty ensures that I hit the ground running in January. It also helps me stay on track during a month typically filled with holiday events, parties, and travel.  I like to refer to it as a “home-stretch” plan.

What does this “home stretch” plan entail?

As the year is coming to a close, a home stretch plan is simply a quick list of things that I would like to accomplish before the end of the year. I consider outstanding projects that I would like to wrap up. Then, I think about things I would like to have in place when I hit the ground running in January.

Before Thanksgiving, I sat down to figure out my “home stretch plan” and came up with the following priorities for the next four weeks.  Some of the things on my plan included:

Make health a priority with healthy eating and exercise, mindful of the many opportunities coming up to indulge.

Helping my daughter tie up some loose ends regarding her post-graduate plans after high school.

Finish a product that I’ve been working on for too long now. It’s time to get it done.

Finally, make headway with or possibly (but realize it might not be realistic) complete my new website.

Keep it Simple

I like to keep it simple. Yes, I have holiday planning and other things to do, but these are the four things that I am focusing on going into the New Year.  I use it as a reference to make sure I make time count during this busy month.

It doesn’t take long to do.  Give some thought to your “home stretch plan” today so you can make these next four weeks count and hit the ground running in January.  Leave yourself plenty of room for rest, relaxation, and holiday cheer, but help yourself get a leg up so you will feel ahead of the game on New Years Day.

 

Photo by Miguel A. Amutio on Unsplash

 

Are You Ready for the Holidays?

Is your Artist Website Ready for Holiday Sales?

Halloween is over, and thoughts have turned to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

With news of shortages on the rise, holiday shoppers will reportedly get started earlier than usual this year. So make sure your artist website is ready. Here are some things you can do to make the most of the 2021 holiday shopping season smooth rather than chaotic.

 

First, Get Your Web Pages Ready

Update your How to Purchase page. If you don’t have one, devote a page to holiday shopping providing information such as cutoff dates for sales. Alert your customers trying to receive their order on or before December 24th of important dates for that to happen. Make sure you keep in mind shipping carrier deadlines. December 15th is a pretty good bet if shipping within the US, but make sure you research your particular situation. You could format this page in a Frequently Asked Questions format.

Make sure all of your work is listed on your site and up to date. And, if you are using a shopping cart, make sure the buttons are working.

Consider offering gift cards, which can be done through providers such as Square, or you can create your own.

Then, Prepare Your Blog Posts

Your artist blog is a perfect place to promote your products and services this holiday season. Here are some examples of the kinds of posts you can share to help your readers and maximize holiday sales.

Share new work to stay top-of-mind as people are browsing the internet for gift ideas.

If applicable, highlight different price points that might accommodate different pricing levels.

If there is any way to draw upon seasonal elements, do it. For example, if you create functional pottery, show images in holiday settings. For jewelry artists, highlight your creations paired with festive outfits.

Don’t forget customary campaigns like Black Friday and Cyber Monday and write some blog posts around these themes.

Share pertinent shipping dates in a blog post.

If you have a large local or regional following – consider highlighting local events that your followers may be interested in attending.

Don’t forget a plan for thanks and seasons greetings. At Thanksgiving, post a blog thanking your customers, followers, and fans. You might even want to send cards or offer a small token of appreciation for larger clients, but even a blog post will do. Just do it. You can do the same for Christmas and the New Year.

Get Ready for Art Sales

For all of these ideas, prepare them in advance! You will likely be too busy to focus on them when the time comes for them to post.

Share Your Ideas

Do you have an excellent idea for a holiday blog post? Share it by sending it to becky@artisan-advantage.com.

 

 

 

Photo by Artboard Studio on Unsplash

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