Whether you’re an artist looking to sell more of your work on the web, or an author or teacher who creates art instructional books or DVDs, how you connect with your website visitor will make or break the sale.
Is your work the first thing they see when visiting your website?
People search the web for different reasons, but they all have one thing in common: they are looking for results and solutions. If they are looking to learn to paint better, that’s a result. If they want to buy a nice Christmas gift for their parents, that’s a result as well. Being too salesy or pushy on your website can turn your potential customer off. When visitors come looking for results, you need to be the solution.
I sold my jewelry at hundreds of art and craft shows over a 15 year career. The one thing that brought more people to my table was my demonstrations. I wasn’t being pushy or salesy: they were entertained and educated by how I created my work. It added an extra value to them being there. I sold more art while I was immersed in my work than when I stood there pitching the sale. As an artist selling your work on the web, use this strategy to attract them: how-to videos.
Youtube is a quick and easy way to not only distribute your artist how-to videos across the net, but it’s a great curiosity builder for people looking to buy. To see how an artform is really created builds extra value that no amount of sales copy can emulate. Youtube does double-duty in its ability to attract the search engines and how you can use the embed code to simply publish videos on your own site.
The embed code can be found just beneath any Youtube video behind the ‘share’ button. Copy and paste the code into your WordPress blog HTML and boom! Instant video.
If your selling instructional books and videos, always put free access to examples (a sneak-peek if you will) to the guides. Don’t let your visitor guess what’s inside, and don’t try and explain it. Free samples work in the food industry and they work on the web. Free downloads only increase the trust between you and your visitor.
Design your website to be visitor friendly. The first impressions should be educational and entertaining, not pushy. If the first thing your customer sees is a giant picture with a giant pricetag without establishing value first, they’ll leave and go elsewhere.