One dilemma that any artist who has a website always runs into is how to get people to bookmark your website so they can come back.

Well, one way to get people to bookmark your website is to tell people to do it. Don’t expect that they will automatically will do it on their own. Remind them to do it by:

1. Including links or buttons to bookmarking websites like del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, and Ma.gnolia on your website and blog posts
2. Including requests to bookmark you at the end of any articles you write on your website
3. Giving instructions on how to bookmark you
4. Placing a “please bookmark me!” note at the top and bottom of each of your web pages
5. Including it in your logo graphic like the one in this post
6. Giving people a reason to bookmark your website

Out of all of these suggestions number 6 is the hardest to do. People aren’t just going to bookmark you just because you want them to. You need to give them a reason to do so. Having work that everyone loves to look at is one reason why people would want to bookmark you. But give them more reasons.

People love to bookmark things like great articles, references, interesting audio and video. People also like to pass along these bookmarks to others especially if the bookmark is funny, useful, or thought-provoking. For more information on how to get more bookmarks to your website, check out this article on getting better bookmarks and links.

So for today, think about it…what kind of things can you add to your website today that will make people want to bookmark it?

P.S. If you’ve found this post useful..please bookmark it. (Hey…just following my own advice )

Well, I’ve been spending most of the week playing around with a website called Squidoo and created a brand new lens called “How Artists Can Market Themselves on the Internet“. There is some advice that artists and crafters can use to promote themselves and their work on the Internet. You can check it out by clicking here.

So what exactly is Squidoo? Basically, Squidoo is a website that allows people to create single web pages focused on a certain topic. Each page is called a “lens”. Let’s say for example that you’re an expert on firing raku pottery, you can create a lens that’s all about firing raku pottery. A Squidoo lens isn’t about creating one page that contains everything you know about a single topic, rather it’s a place that gives you the information and resources where you can find out more.

What exactly does Squidoo means for you as an artist? Isn’t this just one more thing that you have to to that takes up more time? There’s actually some benefits that you can consider.

• Having a Squidoo lens can point people back to your website. If you create a lens on a topic that people are interested in, you can point some of that traffic back to your website.
• A link from your Squidoo lens to your main site will help in your search engine ranking. Search engines give websites a high position in search engine results if they have a lot link links coming to it. They especially favor links from large, popular sites like Squidoo. Creating a Squidoo lens that links to your site will help out with that
• You can make money from your Squidoo lens. Not a ton of it…but even a bit of pocket change is nice
• It’s easy and free. If you can click buttons and type text into boxes, you can build a Squidoo lens. You don’t have to know a lick of HTML in order to create a Squidoo lens within an hour or so (although it’s helpful if you do know).
• It’s another way to get your name out there.

What to know more? Check out my lens (and rate it and email to others if you like it please pretty please and thank you). Plus, you can check out this video tour I made of Squidoo so you can get a better idea of what it’s all about.

P.S. Feel free to pass along this video too… thanks!

Well, it’s the final morning of the Buyer’s Market. Since the show ends at 3 in that afternoon, there is on only one session that morning.

Day 4: Session 1: Impacts of Wholesale
The final session is a panel discussion with artists who have or are currently participating in the Buyer’s Market. There is a whole range of experience in the panel from one artist who has been doing the Buyer’s Market from almost the time of it’s inception in 1982 to a furniture artist who was a Visiting Artist himself only one year ago. This was a great time for the remaining visiting artists to ask specific questions from artists with a variety of experience with the Buyer’s Market. One artist asked an excellent question about how long it will take for artists to start earning a profit by participating in the Buyer’s Market. The consensus seemed to be that the first couple shows will always be your slowest. It seems that buyers want to see that you are in the wholesale arena for the long haul. As you start to become more and more well known, you’ll begin to build a loyal base of galleries that will look for you year after year. The main thing I took away from this session is that your first show will be overwhelming and somewhat frightening everything will turn out in the end.

Mentoring Session
As it turned out, my mentoring session was scheduled for the last day of the program, which I actually found to be the best thing for me. It gave me a chance to absorb everything about the Buyer’s Market and then come to my session with specific questions.

My mentoring session was with gallery owner, Barb McCormick of Poppy. For your mentoring session, you are asked to bring pictures of your work instead of actual samples. Barb turned out to be a great mentor. After showing her pictures of my work, she gave me some great advice on what direction I should go if I decide to go wholesale with my work. Plus she gave me some ideas for changes to my existing pieces and for new lines that I hadn’t even thought about. All in all…this mentoring session was a great way to end a long weekend of learning.

Some key takeaways from this weekend

• If you’re going to go wholesale, you should be in it for the long haul.
• If you’re going to do BMAC, be prepared to be in it for the haul. You may not get immediate results
• If you’re seriously thinking about doing the Buyer’s Market, you should seriously think about attending this program. Almost every long-timer said that they wished that the program was available before they started

Well, that’s the end of the series…whew! If you have any questions about the Buyer’s Market, you can visit the Rosen Group’s website. The next Buyer’s Market will be from August 2nd through 4th…so sign up for that session if you’re interested. Be sure to visit the websites of the great panelists and artists that I mentioned throughout the series.

Day 3, and mom drops me off in front of the Pennsylvania Convention Center again…I’m beginning to feel like I’m back in third grade.

Day 3: Session 1: Relationships with Galleries
Surprise! Today’s session isn’t run by Bruce Baker, but by Nancy Markoe, owner of the Nancy Markoe Fine American Crafts Gallery who discusses how artists can maintain good relationships with galleries. According to Nancy, everything comes down to the fact that artists have to develop good policies and practices for their businesses. The more professional artists behave, the better their relationship with their client galleries will be. So before pursuing wholesale accounts, artists should decide on things like minimum orders, delivery times, consignment policies, payment methods, shipping charges, and exclusivity.

One thing that Nancy stressed during this session is that artists need to take control of their businesses and they need to only partner with galleries that they can work with. Don’t fall into the trap into thinking that you have compromise your bottom line just to maintain a relationship with a gallery.

Day 3: Session 2: Creation and Evolution of a Product Line
After lunch is a very interesting session on how to create and evolve a product line by glass artist Milon Townsend. The first thing that Milon discusses is that for the most part, there are two types of products that artists can create:

1. Create work for existing markets
2. Create a market for existing work

Basically, if you go for option #1, you look around, see a market that needs something, and make your work fill that need. If you go for option #2, you already have work created, now you go out and create a market that needs that work.

So which is the best route to take? Milon puts it this way…you can make money both ways…both ways involve hard work. If you decide to take option #1, you can start making money within a couple of years. If you decide to take option #2, it will probably take 10 to 30 years.

Just so you know.

The rest of the session was spent going through slides of Milon’s many, many, many, product lines throughout the years while he discussed how these lines developed, what factors went into developing his work, and offered examples of how we can develop our own product lines. I loved looking at how his work evolved over the years and the stories about how each line was developed and how and why they changed. He held nothing back…he even showed some of his earliest designs that was…umm…less than perfect? Made me feel much better about some of the monstrosities that I’ve come out with back in the day. The one thing that I took from his session is that artists have to be adaptable in order to serve their markets and stay in business…at least, that is, if you’re doing option #1.

You can check out Milon’s lovely work at his website…plus if you have the chance you can read Milon’s book, “Making and Marketing Better Artwork“, which can be found with some of his other books, CDs, and DVDs at The Blue Moon Press.

Day 3: Session 3: Insiders Guide to Galleries
Next up was a panel of gallery owners that included our friend Bruce Baker, M. Frank Burkhauser from Philadelphia gallery, Spirit of the Artist, and Milon Townsend who was our gallery to artist translator on the panel.

This was a great session where we got to pick the brains of gallery owners to find out what they like, what they don’t like, and how artists and galleries can all get along. There were a great many questions from the artists about what galleries are looking for, what galleries like…and dislike. One of the more memorable exchanges was about how galleries like to be contacted by new artists. One panel member said that they wanted artists to make appointments in advance, another panel member said that if you happen to be in the neighborhood, you can stop by with samples of your work. Another panel member said that they never take walk-ins or cold phone calls and they only make appointments only after you email pictures of your work. Another panel member said that they don’t even check their email and they prefer that you call the gallery.

You could practically see the question marks pop up over everyones’ heads.

Toward the end of the exchange Milon Townsend spoke up and basically told us that gallery owners are just like artists…they’re all different and they all have they own individual likes and dislikes. We artists just need to find out want they want on an individual basis and then meet them on those terms.

Excellent advice.

Day 3: Tour of the Buyers Market Floor
One cool thing about this show is that you have the chance of meeting artists that you’ve heard or read about. Since this was my last day on the show floor, I spent most of my time in the jewelry section. And right in the first row…who should I run into but jewelry artist Kathleen Plate…who I had ironically just read about the night before in The Crafts Report. Kathleen makes gorgeous, hip jewelry out of recycled glass bottles. She is especially known for her jewelry make out of cobalt blue glass Aveda bottles. After doing the required “Hey I just read about you in The Crafts Report” greeting, I spent some time talking to Kathleen about the show. You can check out Kathleen’s work at her website.

Another artist I ran into towards the end of the show was mixed media artist Jan Carson. I had actually interviewed Jan last year for an episode of my Crafting Voices podcast. When I introduced myself Jan said, “Oh, Nicolette! I recognize your voice”. I’ve been a fan of Jan’s work for years. She makes some of the most beautiful tree leaf mobiles make out of dyed silk and wire. I saw one of her mobiles in a gallery in Charlottesville, VA and have been fascinated with her work ever since. Too bad it wasn’t a retail show…because a pretty purple and wine colored leaf mobile caught my eye while we were talking, and I would have loved to take it home to my studio. *Sigh*. You can check out Jan’s work at her website…and you can check out the interview I did of her at my Crafting Voices podcast website.

Some key takeaways for the day

• It’s your art business…you get to make the rules
• Take heart…even the best artists makes some pretty ugly artwork from time to time
• If you make work for existing markets you can make money in a couple years
• If you don’t want money until 10 to 20 years from now, make work just for yourself and create a market for it
• Gallery owners can be just as finicky and persnickety as artists