Your PR questions answered: get more newsletter sign-ups

In this month’s edition:

• tips to get more subscribers with your newsletter pop-up

• how to package your business if it has a lot of different components

A quick *final* announcement before I jump in—Tomorrow we’re hosting stylist and creative director, Sandra Chau, for a free workshop all about how to create elevated brand photos that increase your sales.

and! I’m realllll excited about this one, mainly because I miss peer to peer engagement and the critical discourse exchange that happened way back when I was in art school. I’m truly thrilled about the return of this previously sold-out Speed Crit hosted by the Female Design Council on Tuesday, March 5th, from 12-1:30pm. This is a professional development critique open to both FDC members and the full design community who crave direct, expert input on their work. I’ll be leading the workshop to give advice and ensure all community feedback remains constructive and supportive. Sign up here!

Q: I hate the pop up on my website that asks for people’s emails. What your thoughts are on these? Is it worth it?

A: As an internet user, I personally hate them too!

BUT there’s a lot of data that shows they’re one of the best ways to collect emails. As a small business, your email list is one of your most valuable selling tools!

I suggest testing timing to see what performs better. Some pop ups are immediate. Others don’t come up until someone has scrolled a certain % down the page or been on your site for a specific amount of time.

Pop-ups that don’t appear immediately tend to do better, because there’s more of a guarantee that the person is interested in what you sell.

Another option is to add them to some of your pages. If someone's on a product page, you may not want a pop up to distract from your ultimate goal--getting that purchase.

You probably do want a pop ups on your blog posts. If someone has been reading for more than five or ten seconds, you know they're invested in what you're telling them.

In addition to timing and pages, it is SO IMPORTANT to carefully craft your pop up copy and images. No one wants to “Join your mailing list to get news and updates” or to “Subscribe to your emails to stay in the loop”.

Consumers are inundated with digital communications every day, the last thing they want is another update or another email. You have to give people a good reason to *want* to be on your mailing list.

Will they get first drops? Exclusive pricing? Really interesting behind-the-scenes stories? Things like design tips or recipes from the founder?

Q: How should I package my business that has a lot of components?

I do graphic design, collage art, and commissions, like album covers. I’ve worked in the music business, public health, and academia. I also have a pretty compelling backstory as a cancer and stroke survivor.

I’d like to sell my work, get commissions, and share resources for survivors and people doing career changes.

A: This is a really good question to answer with research.

Generally, consumers won’t understand a blog that has, for example, stroke victim resources and also graphic design work. Without knowing your backstory these different themes could be confusing.

I would challenge you to find examples that break that rule. Look for graphic design businesses or art practices where the founder is also an advocate for folks who have gone through significant health struggles.

On the other side, look for people who lead with their health advocacy. See how they are communicating their story, where they’ve come from and where they are now. It's possible that you'll have two businesses or three businesses that live on three different websites. It's also possible that there's some overlap that makes sense.

The about page is a great place to say I went through X, and now I'm doing Y, and I have achieved these things not in spite of, but because of what I went through in life and this is my story.

Always keep your actual customers at the top of your mind. What information do they need about your skills, experience, and products to be confident enough to spend money with you? At the end of the day, those are the people that are going to pay you, which is what we ultimately need to keep our creative businesses (and lives!) afloat.

Your customers will be on a spectrum of caring about your background story to not caring about your story. And that’s totally normal. They may only be interested in the final product that you'll deliver to them.

So, I’d say focus on clarity and what resonates with your ideal customer. Look at successful peers in art and design, how are they communicating what they do? How do they stand out?

Useful tools to help you get started:

Set your business up for more press, sales, & opportunities. A lifetime-access mini course from Wolf Craft (psst- it’s only $35)

7 Big Website Mistakes & How to Fix Them

Make Sure Your Logo Reflects Your Creative Business