by Loretta Fontaine
t’s a marketing mantra: If you want visitors to return to your Web site, it has to be updated constantly. Who wants to revisit a site that’s always the same? Of course, after getting a Web site up and running, this means you, the artist, still have a lot of work to do. But can I suggest a fairly painless way to add new content to your Web site? Add an online guest book!
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Illustration by Dave Fontaine
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My Web site, www.lorettafontaine.com, is updated monthly. I post my latest column, update the guest book and note the “latest news” from my studio. Some months I’m so busy I can barely post my “latest news.” Still, up-dating the guest book is the easiest Web task I have.
I made a new page on my site and asked visitors for comments. All I added was a simple e-mail link. When an e-mail arrives I cut and paste it into my Web page software, and upload the page to my Web provider. It takes 10 minutes. For something more elaborate, use guest book software for your site. Look at iForm (www.limit-point.com) for Macs, or Guestbook*Star (www.webgenie.com) for PCs.
A guest book adds a dash of spontaneity to your site. If a new site I visit has a guest book, it’s one of the first pages I check out. I like to know what an artist says about his or her work, but also what others are chiming in to add. And what others have to add can be charming and surprising.
3/15/05 What a
surprise to read … about the opening night at Taboo Studio. I
live in La Jolla and attended that opening … I remember seeing
you with your sister and as I was about to leave, you asked one of the
customers to take your picture with your sister. I moved to the
side to be out of your way. I am guessing the picture on your Web
site is the one the person took! I remember thinking how exciting
it must have been to have your jewelry in such a lovely store
…”
- L.N., La Jolla, California
9/4/05
Loretta, I picked up my ring today … The ring is even more
amazing than I remember. I love, love, love it … I
don’t plan on taking it off. This entire transaction has been
wonderful, and I dearly cherish the workmanship and the meaning behind
it …
- B.L., San Diego, California
4/20/05 Just
wanted to drop a little note to let you know that your column
“Getting the Story Right” was excellent! I look forward to
reading your next episode! The memories you discussed in your writing
seem right out of a book! So charming …
- D.C., Middletown, New York
Can I tell you how much the above entries brightened my day? I wouldn’t have gathered these engaging stories without my guest book. What fun it was to hear from a stranger at a gallery opening. How heartwarming to get comments from a woman who purchased a ring from a gallery across the country. These stories remind me why I’ve chosen to be an artist, and keep me moving forward on days I want to throw in the towel. And on days when I don’t feel like picking up a pencil to draft out the next Loretta’s Last Line, rereading a few kind words about a previous column can be the inspiration I need to keep writing.
Working in an isolated studio, feedback is important. And a guestbook on a Web site is a great way to find it. What if someone logs in with a negative comment? It might not brighten your day, but there’s an opportunity to make an unhappy gallery owner or customer happy again.
| Are you primarily self-taught in your craft? how does being self-taught affect your work? |
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E-mail me at
lastline@lorettafontaine.com for a future column! |
To encourage more folks to sign in, I’m dangling a cyber-carrot in front of their eyes in 2006: A monthly jewelry drawing for those who sign the guestbook. This month of February I’ll be giving away sterling silver earrings with amethyst beads and miniature photographs of a fern.
And if you add a guestbook to your site? Send me an e-mail and I’ll be the first to log in!
Loretta Fontaine is a jeweler, writer and photographer. Visit her Web site at www.lorettafontaine.com.