Do most artists now conduct the majority of their business from their phones/tablets? Like taking payments, maintaining social media presence, maintaining their websites, etc.
Seems like nowadays everyone has a website and a decent social media footprint. The last several events that I attended still seemed largely dominated by "cash only" but did not know if that was due to the event size, regional location or simply the artists preference.
Chris Alexander
RLI Insurance Company
Replies
I do a some posting while on the road so it's from my phone or tablet. I have a chromebook that I edit my website with and print out any information I should need. The last time I checked the analytics of my website the mobile views far out weighed the deskop views so if you have a website make sure it's mobile friendly. For payments from my website and at the festivals I use my lg tablet. I create a hotspot with my phone while at a show so I only have one cell payment. Making use of social media helps to keep your customers interested and engaged. I would say most of my sales are credit cards at the shows. I'm very comfortable with using my mobile devices so it's easy for me to post with them or blast out a discount campaign. Some such as my husband hate tech and have a hard time wrapping their head around how to make use of them. If you don't have a problem using your phone it can only help your sales to make use of social media and post on a business facebook page, it's free and fairly easy to do.
Website is primarily for information because most of my work is custom. There are no direct sales from it. I use laptop at home and ipad on the road for most internet work. I got my first cell phone this year, primarily for safety when I travel to town alone. I have business and personal pages on Facebook. Progress on saddles and custom work posted generate saddle and strap sales from US, Canada, Australia and Europe. Saddles are US$3K to US$6K and I am booked until 09/2018. At art shows in Colorado resort areas, payments are about 50/50 cash/credit cards. I use Clover Go on ipad for swiping cards. Iget follow up sales for belts and holsters year round from art show contacts.