Staying in touch . . . not as easy as you'd think. . .

A recurring problem for artists is finding ways to 

keep in touch with collectors.  Being able to share 

exciting news and keeping them informed 

when new pieces become available is a 

lot trickier than one would imagine.

I use many venues but none of them are 

without their own quirky drawbacks.
The most obvious means of communicating 

should be an email newsletter.  

Due to the necessity of using a double opt-in 

process to sign up for my newsletter, I'm sure 

there are subscribers who have been lost.  

But I'm sure you will agree it is an essential 

nuisance that prevents email addresses from 

being added to the list 

without the owner's permission.  

And then once an email is sent to the subscribers, 

how many of them actually receive the email?  

Providers like AOL consistently mark newsletters 

to genuine subscribers as spam.  

If users employ a local email client like Outlook 

or Thunderbird to get their mail, in many 

of those instances they never see messages that 

are filtered by Gmail, etc unless they log into 

their online email access and 

check the spam folder there.

Facebook fan pages are becoming more 

hit and miss everyday.  Although I have close to 

700 fans there (yes, 700!) most of my posts are 

seen by only a fraction of that number.  

Unless a fan comments or shares or hits the 

Get Notification button, 

Cobblestone Creations may never show 

in their news feeds.  I do participate in 

many groups on facebook and 

try to post in them as well.

And then there is blogging, which unfortunately 

is not the avenue it once was.  I do provide an 

option for you to receive my blog 

posts by email as well.

So, I will be exploring new ways of 

communication as I become aware of them.  

If there is a better way for me to keep in touch 

with you, please let me know.

I have added to both my blog and website 

home page the date of the last newsletter mailing.  

If you are a subscriber and didn't get the email, 

please check your junk/spam folders.