Your Email List is Money in the Bank

Do you have a mailing list? If you do, do you use it? And, do you use it more than once every 2 or 3 years?

Most artists I know make an effort to collect names and addresses of customers for a mailing list. Many of us (including me sometimes!) merely go through the motions.  You know how it is. You talk to someone long enough to ask if they wish to be on your mailing list. They give you their information…and it disappears into a black hole.

Maybe when you get home from the show, you might type the name into a spreadsheet. But since you are so exhausted, you probably just want some pizza and a beer.

Right before your next show, you remember that you have that list. You scramble to get all the information in so that you can send out a quick email about where your next show will be. But there are too many names and you have too many other things to do to get ready.

A lesson was driven home to me this past weekend… it’s time to put an end to slacking off on the mailing list.  My three biggest sales for the weekend were from people who had received my newsletter and had come to the show because of it. Without those three sales, my weekend would have been dismal.

Four days before the show, I cobbled together a quick newsletter. It had a short paragraph about what new art I was currently working on. Then it had information about my next two upcoming shows. I included a map and a link to each of the show’s websites to make it easier for them to find me. It took me about an hour to do this as I had about 10 names to add to my mailing list from my last show.

It was an hour well spent. I think our first inclination is to use that hour to make more product.  Next time, instead of making that extra piece, use that time to craft an email. Doing it really paid off for me…I think doing it will pay off for you.