Building Your Art Mailing List
This was a question that an artist recently wrote in that I thought would be of interest to all:
"How do I get people to sign my mailing list. Now it seems that I have to talk them into it?"
This is an excellent question which most artists tend to ignore. Either they are at an art show selling their artwork or trying to build a mailing list with their website, most do not put an effort into building a list correctly. This is very important to do for it gives you a list of people who have raised their hands saying they like what you do. Put it this way, they liked it enough to sign up on your mailing list. The key is getting them motivated to give you their information in the first place.
Remember when you first came to know my website? I offered you a reason to give me your name and e-mail address. That was a subscription to my complimentary weekly articles. That was the gift I gave in return to have the privelege to mail to you about my advance course. I provide free valuable information and you will eventually see the need to go to the next level, my advance course. The "gift" is the missing ingredient that people forget about.
I have visited hundreds of artists' websites where they have a guestbook with no instructions and with no incentive for someone to sign up. Most people on the internet are surfing around. If they happen to come across your website, you better think of a way to capture their name and e-mail. You can then give additional incentives once they have done that to give you more information, address, phone number, etc. First start with something less confrontational, a name and e-mail. You might want to offer a free e-card of some of your work or some postcards of your work you could send them (this would justify why they would have to give you their address). On my website, www.TheThrivingArtist.com , I start by offering the articles and once the person leaves me that information, I offer a 74 minute audio interview which I did. This captures the other information that I use in my marketing.
Now, don't think everyone who visits your site is going to give you their information. You will have to work on tweaking your offer to increase the conversion. Currently my conversion for people who visit The Thriving Artist is about 32%, which means 32% of the people landing on that page give their name and e-mail. If you are familiar with direct response marketing, that is a great return. Out of those people, 43% give me addresses and phone numbers to get the interview. "Baby step" people to the next level.
As far as art shows, I would recommend doing the same thing. Give people a reason to sign up for your list. At an art show people get to meet you one on one. Always be friendly and helpful. Many artists, believe it or not, sit on a director's chair hidden from their booth and the people visiting them. They miss valuable connecting time with prospective customers. This absolutely does not make sense. Meet and greet is the name of the game. It's so easy to get people to sign up for your mailing list. All you have to do is make them an offer. I would recommend printing out hundreds of greeting or note cards of one of your better pieces. If you are working in a three dimensional medium, take a photo of your work and create the postcard. Put five or so in a pack and offer them to your visitor as a pack of greeting cards that they can get for free for signing up.
In my advance course at www.thethrivingartist.com/vip I cover a whole class in "giving away art freebies" to build your business. This is a great technique to help build a large following of your work. The next part of the puzzle is what to do with the names and information once you collect it. I cover that to in the course. Ok, Ok, that's my sale pitch for you :)
I hope this gets you thinking in terms of "In order to get you first got to give".
Best wishes,
Steve
The Thriving Artist
"How do I get people to sign my mailing list. Now it seems that I have to talk them into it?"
This is an excellent question which most artists tend to ignore. Either they are at an art show selling their artwork or trying to build a mailing list with their website, most do not put an effort into building a list correctly. This is very important to do for it gives you a list of people who have raised their hands saying they like what you do. Put it this way, they liked it enough to sign up on your mailing list. The key is getting them motivated to give you their information in the first place.
Remember when you first came to know my website? I offered you a reason to give me your name and e-mail address. That was a subscription to my complimentary weekly articles. That was the gift I gave in return to have the privelege to mail to you about my advance course. I provide free valuable information and you will eventually see the need to go to the next level, my advance course. The "gift" is the missing ingredient that people forget about.
I have visited hundreds of artists' websites where they have a guestbook with no instructions and with no incentive for someone to sign up. Most people on the internet are surfing around. If they happen to come across your website, you better think of a way to capture their name and e-mail. You can then give additional incentives once they have done that to give you more information, address, phone number, etc. First start with something less confrontational, a name and e-mail. You might want to offer a free e-card of some of your work or some postcards of your work you could send them (this would justify why they would have to give you their address). On my website, www.TheThrivingArtist.com , I start by offering the articles and once the person leaves me that information, I offer a 74 minute audio interview which I did. This captures the other information that I use in my marketing.
Now, don't think everyone who visits your site is going to give you their information. You will have to work on tweaking your offer to increase the conversion. Currently my conversion for people who visit The Thriving Artist is about 32%, which means 32% of the people landing on that page give their name and e-mail. If you are familiar with direct response marketing, that is a great return. Out of those people, 43% give me addresses and phone numbers to get the interview. "Baby step" people to the next level.
As far as art shows, I would recommend doing the same thing. Give people a reason to sign up for your list. At an art show people get to meet you one on one. Always be friendly and helpful. Many artists, believe it or not, sit on a director's chair hidden from their booth and the people visiting them. They miss valuable connecting time with prospective customers. This absolutely does not make sense. Meet and greet is the name of the game. It's so easy to get people to sign up for your mailing list. All you have to do is make them an offer. I would recommend printing out hundreds of greeting or note cards of one of your better pieces. If you are working in a three dimensional medium, take a photo of your work and create the postcard. Put five or so in a pack and offer them to your visitor as a pack of greeting cards that they can get for free for signing up.
In my advance course at www.thethrivingartist.com/vip I cover a whole class in "giving away art freebies" to build your business. This is a great technique to help build a large following of your work. The next part of the puzzle is what to do with the names and information once you collect it. I cover that to in the course. Ok, Ok, that's my sale pitch for you :)
I hope this gets you thinking in terms of "In order to get you first got to give".
Best wishes,
Steve
The Thriving Artist
posted by Steve Popkin at
7:07 PM
