pivot

This week I revamped my website. I will be making more changes in the near future, but I feel like I have had my website long enough to have a good idea of what it is and is not doing for me. I originally set it up to be a blog, which I have loved to write. I then added a store to sell my art. The blog was very inexpensive, it may have even been through the WordPress free version, however the e-commerce part of the website added a number of additional expenses. I have enjoyed learning about websites, about monetizing a website, how to create and maintain a website, but the expense has never been outweighed by the sales, and so I made a change. I am not totally sure what this new website will have or what it will evolve into being, right now it’s just my blog posts and a couple of other informational pages.

I have spent the last approximately 5 years trying to sell my art online through my website. I have sold a few pieces, but not even enough to pay for the website for 1 year. I have found other avenues such as social media to be more productive selling points, as well as local opportunities such as gift shops, markets, and things of that nature. Because of those avenues I decided it wasn’t worth my time or money to continue to try and maintain and update a website every time I had a new painting or product to sell.

I have had a number of people ask where to find my new art. I will continue to post what I paint on Facebook and Instagram. I will probably at some point add a tab here on this website with pictures and possible descriptions of my art that can be purchased through direct contact with me rather than through the website. I also have an Etsy shop now where you can go and find my most current art, however I am not planning on maintaining a huge variety of art there either, just my most recent artwork in the forms I sell the most. I have looked into getting a Twitter account but have not as yet done so. Mostly because I haven’t had the time to get it done yet.

The other thing I have decided I probably should do is make a business plan. I have done that a few times in the past but have never really stuck to it. Consequently a lot of what I have done over the years has just been for fun, to try something new, or a shot in the dark. I have learned so much, and I continue to learn as I try new things. But not everything is going to work, and some things really are just fads that come and go. If you’re aware of the market and can jump in real quick in the beginning of a fad it pays off, but you also have to know when the fad is ending so you can pivot to the next fad coming.

So those are my thoughts and my direction for now. I may share my business plan here when I get it done, see if anyone can give me any guidance on refining it as I go along. I also purchased a new tool that I will introduce when I get it up and running that I am super excited to share as well! That might be as soon as Wednesday, but shipping to Alaska isn’t always as quick as they say it is, so we’ll see when my stuff shows up. If you have any suggestions as to what you would like to see on my website, please let me know and I’ll take it into consideration.