2 Getting Organized

Getting Organized Before You Start

Before you start to build your website you need to get organized. Trust me, you have to do this. I have built websites without doing this step and the process was painful!

Here are the things you need to have ready before you build your website.

Images - You need to have a folder on your computer where you painting images are all stored. If you have hundreds of images you need to select which paintings you want on your website. I am going to use only ten paintings for the website I am building in this class but you will probably want 30 - 40 paintings featured on your site. But you need to place these final images all in one folder. If you have more than one good image of your paintings (such as a photo of your painting in a room setting) then include these two. Be sure and re-name your photo files with the name of the painting and size. Here is what the files look like on my computer:

Additional images - This includes any other images you might need for your website such as photos of you, the artist. A head shot is good as well as an image of you painting. If you have a logo or a photo of your studio, include those too. The more photos you save in this file, the better.
Information on anything else you sell - Are you going to include workshops on your website? If yes, then make sure you have all of the photos, dates, written descriptions, etc. Do you sell prints? Then have that information available too.
Written copy for your website - This includes what you want to say on your home page and everything that will go on your bio page. Hopefully you have already written this for an old website, art exhibit or resume. Just put all of this "website copy" in one document so it is easy to find.
Prices - Make sure you have your pricing information available for all of your paintings.

#2 - Watch the video below and I'll explain how I got organized.

Tip - When you watch a webinARTs video you can click on the letters HD to watch it in high definition. If it's not clear then click on the HD and select the highest resolution available. Also you can click on the expand button (with the four arrows) to enlarge the video and watch it in full screen.