how did you know that you were ready for a website ?

Hi Everyone !i hope this message finds everyone doing well, and painting up a storm ! my question is for all the painters that have a website .... how did you know you were ready for one? I have been painting seriously now for about a year and i have a regular friday nite and Saturday gig at the year round farmers' market here in Grande prairie ! i LOVE my booth, and i am pretty busy with the market and parties and a few events... i have had a few people start asking me if i have a website? i don't really know if i am ready ... how do you know? Lately, i find myself comparing my work to that of others and feeling a little like ..... yikes ! i have a long way to go !! anyone ever feel like this ?

Any thoughts ?
Dawny

I had a website up as soon as I was ready to do a party... you know you can always change the pictures on your site as you get better? You don't have to pay a fortune for one either (you don't have to pay anything at all actually). It's just a way of letting people know you are out there and what you do, it doesn't need to be perfect off the bat... mine is a constant work in progress.

Thanks Perry - i appreciate your feedback !

dawny

I started a website when I felt I had enough photos. I've changed out most of my 1st photos & keep changing them as I get better. www.wix.com is where I got my free website. It had templates where I could just add my test & pics. It was very easy & in a day I had a fairly good website. I'm always working on improving it.

Thanks ! i appreciate the information ... your work is lovely by the way i will check out wix.com tonight ! The market was crazy busy tonight and i had 12 people ask if i have a website .... so - i think i am just gonna go for it and as you and perry have said, i can always change photos as i grow as an artist.

take care Dawny

Once you get it up & running, go to the Advertising (I think that's the area... it's near the bottom)section of the forum & start a topic to cratique your site. It's a great way to get feedback on it.

Ditto - as soon as I had photos/ permission to use them. I do most of my own shopping/ browsing online and get a fair bit of business from my www.

Cat x

I also started my website when I had enough pictures that were good enough to publish.

I created mine on New Year's Eve over five years ago - I was home, bored with nothing to do, so just decided to make it. I spent ALL NIGHT creating it then discovered I'd named things wrong and had to recreate it all over again...

I never thought about it or planned it really, just decided to do it and did it. I had years worth of photos (with permissions) and lots of computer experience.

Just took a lot of time to start with.

Many people wanted to see pictures before they hired me so it's easier to have a site. Plus for some reason I feel more "legit" having one with all my info on there.

Thanks BluAngl83 ! thats's a really great point ! i actually got offered a page on the Farmer's Market Website for the market that i paint at every week ... and it is free ! i think i am gonna take it and just update pics as i improve as a painter !

yeah ! i am "legit!" color me happy !!

Thanks again Dawny

I had my son invite over several (12 I think) friends and I painted my heart out for the first time. I bought them all pizza and soda for their time.

As soon as I was finished painting, I got my website up and running that night, loaded the pics and the rest is history. I was booked for my first gig (an Old Navy grand re-opening) via my website within a week.

My suggestion would be to get a website going even you don't have pics because as you said, it is often the first question anyone asks "Do you have a website?"

Thanks ! What a great idea ! i bet those kids were excited to come to your house ! i do have lots and lots of photos i have been seriously facepainting for about a year now .... i just never thought of myself as needing a website until now... i always figured that i should be "at a certain artistic level" like Lucie Brouillard... She is AMAZING and i admire her work soooo much. But - with that being said, i have noticed recently that most facepainters do have a website so that's when i thought i would post the question ... this has been sooo great !
i am excited to join the ranks of the website facepainters !

happy painitng

dawny

I'm sure you are better than anyone who is looking to hire a face painter, so don't sweat it about your artisitic level. You will definitely book more jobs with a website and that will allow you to get better quicker.

I'm no Picasso now, but compared to when I started last August, it's a huge improvement and it's all because I am regularly working which allows me to continuously improve.

Good Luck!

I made my first when I was in makeup school. And then made a new about each year. It is a great way to let people know how your work looks.

i haven't done my first gig yet and only started painting around 1.5 months ago but have set up a website to advertise/record my progress