So many artists and makers hold off on marketing their businesses because they feel like their website isn’t ready or isn’t perfect. But here’s the problem. You put so much time and energy into getting your website ready then launch to… crickets!
That’s because your website isn’t a field of dreams situation. Just because you built it doesn’t mean they’ll come. And if you wait to start marketing until your website is fully ready, you’ll be months or even years behind.
So today, I thought I’d share four ways to market your business if your website isn’t ready. Or if you’re suffering from website shame. Spoiler alert: even if you’re website is up and running, these are still great marketing actions you can take!
1. Add an email sign-up form to your social media profiles.
The best thing you can do if your website isn’t ready is to start collecting email addresses now! That way, you can let people know when your website finally is ready. That means signing up for an email service provider (like Mailchimp) and then adding a link to your sign-up form to your social media profiles, your email signature, really anyplace you travel online!
The idea is that you’re gathering people who are interested in what you do so that when your website is ready, you can let them know right away.
2. Do retail shows.
Yes, retail shows are marketing. (They just happen to be marketing where you make money.) Whether you’re applying to major juried shows or small farmers’ markets, shows can be a great way to get your work out there, and most don’t care if you don’t have a website yet. In fact, not having a website can be a way to help drive sales at a show. If customers know they can’t buy online, they’re more likely to shop in person.
And of course, you can also collect email addresses at shows, so you can let people know when your website is finally ready.
3. Sell to stores.
Yep, selling to stores is another great form of marketing that you actually get paid for. And the best part is, you don’t have to wait for stores to find you! You can research and reach out to stores at any time. (Something I cover in detail in my book.)
And the good news is that you don’t need a website to start reaching out to stores. Now, you will need a way to present your line to buyers. That means either creating a line sheet or setting up on a wholesale platform like Faire. But for many people, a line sheet is much quicker to pull together than an entire website.
4. Pitch the press. (Specifically magazines.)
Yes, I know this one seems a little counter-intuitive because the point of press is to drive traffic to your website. But here’s the deal. Print press, specifically magazines, have a long lead time. We’re talking 4-6 months from idea to print. And you don’t need to share your website when you make your initial pitch. You just need to have a few great images of the product you’re pitching, which you can share in a Dropbox or Google Drive folder.
This is a great way to start getting the word out about your work, and if your work does get included in a round-up or feature, you’ve got a solid four months to get your website ready to go. Plus there’s nothing like an upcoming press feature to get you out of website procrastination mode!
So there you have it! Four marketing strategies you can implement if your website isn’t ready or is still a work in progress. Now, you don’t need to do all of these, but if you’ve been waiting around until your website is done, I recommend picking one or two so you can start growing your audience (and maybe even making sales) sooner rather than later!