Sharing My Knowledge

 

I've always been happy to share my knowledge with others.

Last year I joined my local Arts & Craft Society and as I started to get to know people I realised that a lot of members have or want websites, but aren't sure how to make the most of them.

In my day job I work as a user experience researcher, talking to customers and watching as they use websites, so I've got a fair idea of what people are looking for when they visit a site. 

So when the first request came through for members to write content for the newsletter I wrote a piece about things to remember when adding content to your site.  Namely - tell a story so people can understand the artist behind the work and can see it's value.   (" but I can get it half that price on Temu!")

Then just before Christmas I got asked if I would come to one of their demonstration nights, and while the others who got asked were asked to give short demonstrations of how they create their art, I got asked to be there to answer peoples questions about their websites.

I said yes, which is how I was sitting in a community hall one evening this week hoping that someone would come and talk to me.  

 

I wasn't as busy as some of the other tables - how could I compete with lino printing, fusing glass or weaving, however I did have people come and talk to me, and I think we had some useful conversations.

Examples... One chap asked if he needed a website, but when we talked about what he needed it sounded like his LinkedIn profile would work fine, if he updated it.

 One ladies website had some amazing art on it, but none of the stories of her art were on the same page as the art.  I reminded her that you never know how someone got to the page so you can't assume they have read everything on your home page.

And one ladies showed me her site and after looking round we agreed that her navigation needed amending to help people find what they were looking for.

I loved these conversations and I hope it helps these artists to get their work out there and make the sales they need.  Got a question, feel free to ask, just don't ask me to build a site for you!