#3 - Bringing Your Clients Directly to Your Site

Bringing Your Clients Directly to Your Site

By Chris Maher

Push technology is all the rage in the online world. Simply put, this is just a way to deliver information to a user when the source wants to, rather that when the user decides to surf over and look for themselves.

Every day my e-mail brings me several online news summaries, a couple of annotated lists of URLs that may be of interest to me, weather reports, and a few newsletters and mailing list digests. Once I signed up for them, I don't have to do anything else. Now the information just comes to me, through the Internet.

How is this of interest to working artists and craftspeople? In issue #2 I recommended that you begin collecting e-mail addresses from your clients at art shows now, even if you don't have a web presence yet. Now I'll share an idea that may make that list very valuable.

Lets say you usually create one of a kind pieces, perhaps jewelry. You produce different items, depending on your source of materials, what inspires you, and perhaps with an eye toward what caliber of shows you have coming up. When you exhibit at your shows, some of those piece sell quickly, others go many shows before finding the right customer.

Assuming that Sugarloaf's audience survey data is roughly applicable to all shows, one third of the people who stop and look at your work at a show use the Internet, and have e-mail addresses. Suppose you could show each of them every new piece you have produced, right when you created it? All year long, not just when you do that show in that town?

I've never thought just putting art up on the web, especially expensive items like jewelry, would result in many sales. People who just happen to find your site have no reason to trust you, or really know the quality and value of your work. But if they know you, talked to you, lusted after your work in person, and you continue to show them new pieces as soon as they are done, what then? I think that you will have a very good chance of selling them things that they wanted, but for any number of reasons, didn't allow themselves to buy when they first met you at a show.

This then, is a great reason to begin a e-mail list now. If you could collect 20 email addresses per show, and do 25 shows per year, you could use the Internet to show each new piece you create to 500 interested people by the end of the year. All qualified people who have seen your work in person, talked to you, and would love to own your stuff.

Unlike regular mailings, e-mail lists don't cost more when they get bigger. It costs the same to produce an send one e-mail message as it does one thousand messages. There is an investment of time, but once you are set up, the ease of communicating to many people is unparalleled.

Remember, the Internet is not a mass medium. It is one to one. And those of us who do juried shows for a living have a great opportunity to continue our one to one interaction with potential and past customers long after we have left town.

Start collecting e-mail addresses now!

This page last updated: 09/02/04

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