The artist you are meant to share with the world is dying to come out. You’re ready be able to touch people with your art and yes…be able to make a living doing it with more consistent art sales.
The problem is you’re still not sure what the heck you’re doing. Your website is a mess and you feel like you’re throwing darts blindfolded trying to do it the ‘right way’.
I can’t write your website for you in these few paragraphs, but I can help you start unraveling what you’re missing so you can devote more time and energy to other things.
Here are five easy fixes for you to help people who run across your website see you as the professional artist you are ready to be.
#5: A Way to Collect Email Addresses
On average, a potential art buyer needs to interact with you seven+ times before they will decide they are ready to make a purchase.
Statistically, most people who visit your website will never come back. Social media is constantly changing to show your posts less and less. What are you supposed to do?
Collect their email address so you can stay in touch. You’ve heard it a million times, now it’s time to start.
This will become an invaluable list of people you already know are interested in your work - aka YOUR PEOPLE - the ones you are always searching for.
And you have a way to contact them, right at your fingertips!
If they show they are interested enough to share their personal contact information, you can consider them a potential customer.
Read more: How to Create Your First Mailing List with MailChimp
#4: Pictures of All the Little Details
The BIGGEST factor in whether or not someone will decide to buy from you (an online person they don’t know) is if they trust you.
There are many ways to increase their trust but one is this: Make them feel like they can see your art in person.
Show the whole image, close-ups of the art, the back of the art, how you fold your canvas corners, the texture of your canvas, how thick the sides are, your signature, what the hanger looks like, etc.
I don’t care if one of the canvas corners is folded at 60 degrees and the others are at 90. Show it anyway. Heck, maybe that will help your customer feel it’s realness.
Make it clear exactly what they are getting so there are absolutely no surprises when it arrives.
Read more: The #1 Reason People Aren’t Buying Your Art
#3: A Frequently Asked Questions Page
Link each one of your pieces to your FAQ page so there is no question unanswered. Don’t make someone contact you to find out what your website could’ve already told them. That is:
- 1A waste of your precious time to answer the same questions over and over (or even once!)
- 2A good way to lose someone who might have been interested.
You can include things like your shipping costs, what happens if the art is damaged on arrival, how you package your art, what materials you use, how to take care of the art, etc.
Save your inbox for more specific questions you couldn’t have answered in advance.
If you are asked a question you hadn’t thought of, go ahead and add it to your FAQs page immediately.
Which brings me to…
#2: The Best Way to Contact You
You’ll also want to include a way to contact you in case other questions come up. Link this to your main menu, but also at the bottom of your FAQ page.
I recommend highlighting the way you like to be contacted. Say something like, “I don’t always have cell phone service, so you’ll get a quicker reply via email.” You’ll be more likely to follow up quickly (earning points on the trust scale).
You’ll also be a happier camper when you don’t have to type out emails when you’d rather answer quickly on the phone.
Read more: 11 Tips to Write an Outstanding Contact Page
#1: A Button to Buy on the Product Page
This is a big one. Don’t display an image for sale without having a SIMPLE way to buy it.
If you have to send them to another site to buy, it’s likely you’ll lose the sale. People have a million things going on all the time - make your buying process so simple they won’t have a chance to get distracted.
Every website builder has a way to incorporate buy buttons. If you don’t want to pay for the store option of the website builder, many times you can insert a Paypal buy button on the page. Paypal will take a percentage, but so will most anyone.
Don’t do everything else right just to lose a sale over something as simple as a button!
YOUR TURN!
Is there anything on this list you hadn’t thought of? Or perhaps something I’ve convinced you you need? Something else you think is vital? Let me know in the comments below.