It's going to be a quiet week. Even artists take some time off to think of other things, although like most self-employed people work is always there waiting for you. But just in case you want to do something else here are some great tips on maximizing these days, from ScottFox.com.
Check out these projects, starting with:
1. Update your website's "About Us" page. Make it friendlier, funnier, more personal, add a new picture to let visitors know who you are and why they should buy from you instead of your competition.
2. Pick up the phone. Call your 10 best customers to say "thank you". Enough said.
3. Get a new Logo. Redesigning your whole site takes a lot of work and money. But a new logo can help spice up...
Read the whole article: http://www.scottfox.com/2011/12/how-to-invest-your-holiday-time.html
Replies
In the past few weeks I have updated my website and created a SmugMug account. You can see my SmugMug pages here - http://alison-thomas.smugmug.com/ and my website is http://www.serenityscenes.com/. The website hasn't changed much on the surface but I did take some tips from the podcasts that have been on here recently. Behind the scenes the website is much cleaner and neater. I originally created the site with the sitebuilder provided by my website provider and when I got FrontPage I just downloaded the entire site. There was a lot of real funky stuff underneath that looked okay but was a mess to work with. I pretty much deleted everything and started over with the same design. Then I wrote a newsletter announcing it all and set it to be delivered this coming week when people would be back at work.
I'm facing that cleaning up of the html also, Alison, on my seven year old site. Hardly anyone notices the mess underneath, but it is good to clean out the old code and just not overwrite it. Good for you!.
Your site looks great. Who do you use as an email client for your newsletter?
Thanks for taking a look. I use MyNewsletterBuilder. I can send up to 500 emails in a month for $54 every 6 months. I've been pretty happy with it.
Alison--
I see you pay for creating and sending emailed newsletters. You might check out MailChimp (http://mailchimp.com/pricing/free/) for their "forever free" plan, which is what I use. They state: "Store up to 2,000 subscribers. Send up to 12,000 emails per month. No expiring trials. No contracts. No credit card required." I use the free version for my craft biz, and a paid scheme for my day job. It's a great service, with nice templates, an easy form for folks to sign up, and amazing reports. Plus, the folks who run it have a quirky sense of humor, which makes the chore of building and sending a message a bit more fun.
Mail Chimp is indeed attractive, Chris. This fall I started looking around for a different service (I use Constant Contact and it is great for my needs, but when I went over the 25,000 subscriber mark this fall I started shopping for a better price) and after I did some comparison shopping I stayed with them.
Here are some excellent links for anyone who is looking for a service for newsletters:
This one compares 16 services with great detail to help you choose a service:
http://email-marketing-service-review.toptenreviews.com/
And this one is a top four listing:
http://thomasjarmitage.wordpress.com/2010/10/02/best-e-newsletter-s...
Just saw this post, glad some of you are having a quiet week! My father had quadruple bypass surgery on the 27th so while the week has been anything but boring and quiet, he is progressing well with his recovery. In the meantime, we've posted 45 new images of our jewelry items to our website after taking the photos, editing the photos, etc., followed suggestion number 1 above and managed to activate our shopping cart. Not bad for a less than quiet week!!
Oh yeah, we also spent a day driving around the Kitsap Peninsula picking up items from a holiday store and dropping off items for our new gallery that is opening on Jan. 7th. I think I need a holiday from my vacation week!!
Sounds like a typical self-employed person's holiday, Ruth. Hope you'll be able to make some time for fun.
Best wishes to your father and good luck with the gallery.
I like #2 -- even if you don't pick up your phone a note to your best customers is a good idea. I spent a bit of time this year updating my logos and now think its probably time to update my oldest site too. Website upgrading is a continuing project for anyone interested in e-commerce.
I sent holiday cards to every customer that purchased a Gallery Wrap from me in 2011, with a handwritten note on the inside and my 2012 show schedule, website, and email on the back. Customers may delete emails and use business cards to ignite the fireplace, but they remember (and keep!) holiday cards...amazing how many folks find me at shows because of them.
Great idea, Geoff, and a good way to build your customer base.