Art Blog - Mary Lawler

I sat down to write this article about how important it is to keep your site fresh and current when I remembered that my own site hadn't been touched in ages. Shame on me. It's under complete re-construction right now. Here's why:

Your site is your brochure and your business card. You wouldn't keep handing out brochures that were outdated would you? It costs money to print new brochures and business cards but to update your site is FREE.

Is your contact information correct? Review your artist's statement and your bio and see if they still reflect the image of you that you want conveyed. Simply stating that you are an artist who likes watercolors and lives in New Jersey isn't going to cut it. Conversely, including every show you have ever been in since you were six, every class you took and from whom isn't needed. Neither are all your credentials. Your bio is not a resume. Buyers don't care about your illustrious background as much as they care about the quality and presentation of your work.

Speaking of quality and presentation of work, are your images as good as they could be? Are they in focus? Can you see your living room in the background? Is there a big flash reflection in the glass? If necessary, re-photograph your work or have someone do it for you. All imaging editing software that comes with your digital camera will give you the ability to crop, straighten and even enhance your pictures.

Next, all successful retailers agree that moving your merchandise around will make it appear new even if it isn't. If you don't have new work to post, move the order of your images or the order of your galleries around so return visitors don't see the same order. If you move things around people who have been to your site will suddenly see images they never noticed before.

Moving the order of your galleries is not difficult. Move all your images into your Warehouse and delete the gallery. I chose to delete all my galleries and start putting them back in the order I wanted them, beginning with my most recent work. Create a new gallery and move the images out of the warehouse and into the new gallery. All the information stays with the image so you don't have to enter it all over again.

How about those descriptions? Could they use a little freshening up too? The more accurate the information and more filled with tag words the better. See the blog for tips on describing your art.

Are you using your blog tool? Your blog is like your brochure as well. Buyers want information about you. How you work, why you work, what inspires you. What are you working on now? What bothers you? Are you in a show? They even want to know what you look like, it helps them to make a connection with you. Share a process or technique with other artists, ask questions, ask advice. Artid members really do read each other's blogs and leave comments. If you don't get comments it doesn't mean that your blog is not being read. You can share your blog or someone else's with the Share Tool and let everyone know what you find interesting.

New Year, new opportunities, take a minute and get ready.

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