Today’s marketing meeting is about keeping your business running smooth. If you sell online, your computer is a vital key to your work and your sales. That’s why National Clean Out Your Computer Day is a day you cannot afford to miss.

At the very least, you should clean out the interior of your computer once a year. You will need a can of air, a hand vacuum, and a electrostatic bracelet. The bracelet is available from office supply stores. It may be over cautious, but if you’re doing this in the winter, your chances of static charges are increased.

First, turn off and unplug all peripherals. Open your computer, following manufacturer instructions. Be extra careful handling the cover. Oftentimes, the covers can have extremely sharp edges.

Use the can of air to blow out dust outside of the computer. Do not point it from outside of the computer pointing in. The can will get very cool the longer you use it. Spray all around the interior of the computer.

Second, go through with a vacuum and sweep up any dust or debris. Run the nozzle over disk drives, ports, and other openings.

Third, wipe off the cover’s inside with a damp cloth. Put it back into place. Hook your computer up and you’re ready to go.

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I’m sure the pet owners reading can relate. When you have a pet in the home, you better be prepared for the hair. It will coat the furniture, end up on your clothes and food. We jokingly refer to Sophie’s little gray hairs as the bay leaves we forgot to remove from the stew.

Another place I find hairs is in my studio. Sophie has been pretty needy these days, in one of her high-maintenance modes. She patiently watches me paint each day.

Well, I was working on a wash for a sky. A good sky either makes or breaks my landscape paintings. If I don’t get it right, the painting becomes scratch paper.

I wash getting ready to drop in some color when I noticed one of those little gray hairs in the middle of my sky. Apparently it was in my brush, unbeknownst to me. The wash was wet enough so I was able to get it out.

Which brings me to my watercolor tip for today. I’m sure that I don’t need to tell anyone to wash their brushes after painting. It comes naturally to us artists. My lesson with the cat hair taught me that I need to rinse my brushes before I start painting too to prevent Sophie hairs from ruining my washes.

It doesn’t take much time. Just fill a bowl with water and rinse and dry them before using because you know those hairs are everywhere.

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I’m sure that I’m not alone in this inconvenience. Today’s marketing meeting is about taking back your blog. For the interim, I’ve decided to stop allowing comments on my posts. It is a temporary measure, I assure you.

Spam comments have increased on my blog so much lately. Writing about marketing is in part to blame. Oh, sure, I have the usual controls in place like Akismet. I don’t allow more than one hyperlink. Yet, that does not stop the spammers.

What is disconcerting is that the comments appear to be from live people, paid to comment on blogs. As a freelancer, I’ve come across these employers, seeking writers to write 10 500-word posts for $5. They are probably the same people hiring people to comment.

I’m hoping that my blog will get off their radar screen, kind of like a bounced email gets you off a mailing list. One can only hope.

In the meantime, let’s all blog and share the knowledge. It would be a much better place though if there were no spammers.

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Today’s marketing meeting is about a lesson I learned over the weekend, albeit painfully. Much to my dismay, our cable Internet went out. Internet outages are not unusual. This time, however, I could not even get through to tech support. Thank you, MediaCom–NOT.

Fortunately, the outage came during my writing downtime. I’m still with the day job, but that will soon be gone. Had it been a month from now, I would have truly been in panicking mode. As it was, I could weather the storm despite the backlog of emails.

Though my Internet was restored the next day, the situation forced me to consider my alternatives. Fortunately, I was able to tether using my Blackberry and Tether for Blackberry. It turned out to be a godsend.

The whole experience left me feeling both prepared and a little trepid. You can manage to keep your business going despite service interruptions. If you depend upon your online presence and have a smartphone, I strongly encourage you to explore your offline options before it becomes a neccessity.

I was able to get online at speeds comparable to my cable connection, making me wonder why I have cable Internet at all. I compare it to my landline. Why pay twice for long distance?

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Today’s marketing meeting is all about selling. While art of itself motivates us, selling is what keeps us in paint and watercolor paper. It’s an added bonus, if you will, of being a self-representing artist.

Our business is unique in that we sell one-of-a-kind originals. We put a lot of effort into our work and sustainability even if you are cross marketing. Anything you can do to boost sales is good for business.

Offer free shipping.
Free is a magic word in marketing. Everyone wants to know that they’re getting a deal. Give them one. Offer free shipping and use it in your sales copy.

Give discounts to repeat buyers.
Unlike other types of sales, repeat art sales are limited in most cases by how much wall space your clients have. Show your best clients that you appreciate their business. Make it easy to say yes to another purchase.

Load up on perks.
For my commissioned art, I include a few notecards from Zazzle as a bit of a perk. More often than not, a commissioned painting has added value for a client. Give your clients opportunities to share your work with others. It could lead to other sales.

Give a discount for client referrals.
Share the love. A client who brings in another sale is a valuable one. Show your clients that you appreciate their positive feedback. Discounts are an investment. Use them wisely.

The most important thing you can do as a self-representing artist is to add value to your work. Doing so will encourage repeat sales and perhaps, new clients.

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