…until my actual birthday. The gifts of the comments that I have received are the best gift ever. I love this community and the opportunity we have to connect with like-minded souls. It has made the week before turning 56 so much fun. I'll be bummed and lonely next week when you all go back into hiding. 🙂 I'll be randomly choosing the winner of my birthday giveaway on Sunday, November 16th @ 5 pm - the real day I was born, so 2 more days to comment. See my post below for the question of the week.
I spent all morning working on my studio organization and fixing up a way cool new space utilization idea I had this week. More on that later. Then I spent all afternoon finally adding my 2009 workshops to the blog (on the right) and a link for my newest book (on the left). I'm way behind in getting this blog up to speed. I want to either totally replace my website with this blog or do a major overhaul of the website. It's old. Not as old as me, but it sure looks that way compared to most other websites. What are your thought? Does an artist need both a website and a blog these days, if the blog contains all the info on the website? The current issue of Cloth Paper Scissors is on the line – another giveaway! Tell me your thoughts. Drawing is November 20th. Even if you already have the current issue, I'd love to know what you think.
I also have to put time into working on my TRANSFER website where my TAP has been selling very well in spite of my lack of active marketing and advertising. Which reminds me, I need to finish my Quilting Arts ad. Yes! I'll be entering the world of marketing next year, taking TAP into the big time. People keep saying, "This could be BIG," so I'm going to see how big big can be. It's exciting to start a new venture. It's very different from teaching my transfer methods in one class, one student at a time. I'll be sharing more about it here in the weeks to come, but right now, I have to pick out my party dress and great ready for all my kids and granddaughters. They're bringing the party here tomorrow nite. It's a double celebration for me and my husband who turned 57 yesterday. Two Scorpios – together since December 21, 1968..…
  
   
  
   
   
 
OH… LESLEY.. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!!
You stinker.. you didn’t tell us your birthday was RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!!
Hope you day was WONDERFUL!
XO
Okay, so I’m a little late in reading your blog and answering but I do have some thoughts as to why I have both a website and a blog. I hardly ever update my website but like to have that presence for people who want to see my work. I guess on your blog (since you changed to Typepad) you can have a link to Flickr or some such photo site for people to view but I use blogger and having a separate website allows viewers to see my work and then I have a link to my blog for the current “stuff”, the updates of shows and what I’m doing. Does that make sense? I hope so because that’s my world!
Lorri
Hi Lesley,
It is possible to have both website to showcase your work, promote your classes, offer more info on your books/dvds and a blog to give more insight to both admirers and potential clients into your thought processes.
Software is available that allows you to blog AND have static pages. Both of which are easy to update yourself. My website clients appreciate the fact that once the bones are in place, they keep either the blog or website current from one interface. The softwares also come with a multitude of templates so you do not have to pay for custom design unless you want to.
Please don’t get rid of your website! Every now and then I check out your fragments to see if any new ones are for sale and also to get some quick inspiration.
I find that blogs are more personal than formal web sites and tend to go to the blogs more often, esp to those of my on-line friends.
Blogs usually show WIPs, local landscapes,family doings,travel photos and the like while the web sites have galleries, teaching schedules and formal personal statements.
A serious artist needs to have both — each for very different reasons and purposes — and a visit to one often leads to a visit to the other.
Lesley,
Very often I’ll read someone’s blog and click through to their website to see what they’re offering.
I have both but I’m terrible at updating either. My website is mostly for people who want to see samples of my work and to pick patterns for me to finish their quilts.
Have a wonderful birthday celebration this evening and enjoy the woman you’ve become and the accomplishments you’ve made. Good luck on your ad, it’ll introduce you to so many more people.
Eileen
I think that blogs are the new way to go. I have seen artists that have a website with a blog incorporated into it. Like Kelly Rae Roberts. http://www.kellyraeroberts.com/
Blogs do show up more in search engines, especially if you update often.
I think you should follow your instinct. Which one do you prefer and will update more often?
If you’re a business person, I’m thinking that a blog and a website are necessary evils. I belong to a group website, but it’s rarely updated. So, I’m thinking that I’ll start a blog at some time in the new year. That way, I can share my latest and greatest, and have a vehicle for my friends to keep in touch.
Anne Marie
Hello. It’s a good idea to have either a blog or website. I agree with Deb that a website is a gallery, where one sees works hung on a wall, and a blog is similar to a journal, yet the artist can hang their work on their as well. So a blog can serve as both. Definitely one or the other is crucial to promoting one’s work.
I know it’s a lot of work but a blog for more personal stuff and a website for business stuff makes it easier to find information. I am working on Christmas presents inspired by an article in Cloth, Paper, Scissors right now. I don’t have that issue yet, please put me in the drawing. Happy, Happy birthday!
Leslie, I think both are important depending on your goals. I hope to get my stuff out there to as many people as possible and I think it takes a blog and a website to do that job. At this point, I believe there are two different audiences with only some overlap. In addition, my blog is more active than my website and as an artist, I get different benefits from each. Good luck with your decision and happy birthday!
Wow. So you not only turn 56! but have a significant anniversary coming up. Congrats on surviving 40 years!
BTW, if you can exlude me from the drawing (I subscribe to CPS and already have my copy!)
I survive with only a blog, but I do not market my work, just do it for fun right now! A blog is a lot less maintenance than a website.
Happy Birthday to you both!
A website is still thought of as your online portfolio, whereas a blog is a more informal tool that asks for and offers interaction. They are both important and popular for different reasons. Not all blogs allow sales, by the way, so be sure to check their user agreement before you jump in, just in case.
Thanks for the chance to win,
Fulvia at http://www.fulviastudio.com
Something about that photo made me think of Vermeer.
I’ll comment here about the question you posed on the QA list.
More and more, I see my website
http://www.lacativa.com as a showplace or gallery of my major pieces. If you really want to know about me and my process, you’ll have to spend some time with my blog.
I have heard 50/50 (and that’s good enough for me to keep it) that “professional” artists should not blog, as if what they are all about should be kept under wraps to keep the prices (as opposed to value) of their work high. To me, 50/50 sounds like two sides of the same coin.
I have both a website and a blog. I have had them combined in the past. I have links to the other site in both websites. I think that professionally people respect you more if you have a business website. Often they don’t like a blog being part of a website. Other people have very successful blogs where they incorporate everything. I think that if you have specific products for sale, that a business website at least is preferred. People don’t have to sort through the posts, etc. to see your goods.
i’m afraid we need both, but my blog is the only thing up to date right now……. btw- birthday month is a really good concept- it’s good to celebrate!
I’m hoping a blog only is an OK thing..it’s all I have for now. I like the fact that it’s easy to do and the format makes it personal. I looked into having a web site designerd and it was unbearably expensive, with no easy interface for me to update it myself. I’ll be curious to see what others have to say…
I want to be entered in the CPS giveaway.
Also, I think that it is important to have a website AND a blog. A blog is more personal, while a website is more business oriented. If I needed business information I would not look at a blog, maybe a last resort, more most likely would look for a website. Thanks and I hope you have a great day.
CPS-I love it-I read it while waiting for an oil change-always gives my ideas. I may not create anything like the original-I may see a button and think of a spine of a book. I am a margin writer and a post it tabber, and many ideas were sparked.
Website vs. blog. I like blogs. I want to know what you are thinking when you create-it is as important to me as the end results. Blogs are current-blogs are personal-you share your thoughts, life dreams as well as your art. Only my opinion! LOL!!
chris p