Below is a short excerpt from an email I received this morning:
“Dear David , Thank-you for all your notes. I think that it might not be a bad idea if you looked at my web site http://www.summerscolour.co.uk/ you could then let me know into what direction I should move. I shall be refreshing my site later this year. Your advice would be most helpful. My best wishes to you. I know Costa Rica quite well. Charles.”
Still here in a different time zone, a different world! Fabulous, at a resort known as Punta Leona about an hour south west of San Jose.
I have already been invited back next year and although I have not left yet I will be returning to the UK too soon.
I see your pictures are full of the joy of the sea, I love them. I buy art, although most of my collection is from one artist, Paddy McMerehan (phonetical pronunciation) of Dorset (not featured in Google), although I know he has spent some time in a gallery in St Ives.
You have two great working for you: the values of quality and scarcity. Quality has to be a given and you clearly demonstrate that. Scarcity is key to online sales for most, even though mostly we see discount stores like Amazon on line, this is not your World.
My top tip for you: I see no obvious opt-in on your site. At the very minimum I would suggest that you allow visitors to register their interest – in order that you can advise them of site updates or exhibitions.
There are various techniques you can use to get people on your list and the best are ‘event’ orientated, as there is a build up of anticipation, a focus around a given date. People plan diaries and make plans. You can advise of expected highlights as you get closer to the event.
You can photograph visitors with you when they arrive, publish their photo on a blog or a facebook fan page (known currently as ‘pages’) you can ask them to review your work, tell others what they like about you, invite their friends.
If this appeals you would be put yourself at the centre of the community which you could further build by inviting fellow artists to congregate around a ‘West Country Art’ blog or facebook page.
There is a lot you could do in this area. It all comes down to the numbers about how ‘excited’ you can get and how ‘exciting’ you make it. The excitement could be related to the amount of events that you attend / participate with, or amount of new works that you produce multiplied by the number of fellow artists that you partner / congregate with.
So bottom line, short term, virtually no cost: invite people to join your list. See how the list builds, think of different ways to attract people to join your list and start talking to your fans (not the fans you provide to HRH) to see what they want and how they best can be served.
Your site looks beautiful and everyone should go have a look.
I ran a webinar last week and there was a section in it that was about how not to worry about the technology. I think it would be appropriate of technology worries you for you to watch this video. If you should focus on anything, here are the big four:
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(I have no FTP access in Costa Rica, so this is the wrong picture – I will fix this later. Why am I surprised? Is it wrong to expect a broadband connection in the Jungle? )
I received a lot of emails on Membership sites this week. I would love to hear from you if you think a membership site is a good idea.
Let me know your point of view and if you would like me to have a look at or review your site.
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