In our FASO system this week, we've added a new behind the scenes feature that, in some instances will speed up the performance of your web site (assuming you are a FASO customer) by up to 800%. We have added a Caching system to the FASO web sites.  This means when you update your site, the system knows that there is new information on your web site.  The very next visitor to your web site will experience the normal page load time, but, at that point, the system makes a COPY of the page to keep handy for speedier access.  Until [...]

Admitedly, this post is more for the geeks.  We've begun adding CAPTCHA tests on forms throughout our systems.  CAPTCHA is short for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart."  The Turing Test is designed to differentiate humans from computers.  In our application, the CAPTCHA is in the common form of a series of twisted numbers that must be entered into a form for the form submission to be considered valid.  The idea is that humans can figure out what the numbers are, but spammers' computers cannot. We are adding this to all artist contact forms in the FASO [...]

While Ebneezer’s mind raced with thoughts of Tiny Tim.  A third spirit appeared.  It was nothing but a large black canvas with a small message that read “Touch me here.”Although Ebeneezer was afraid, he could help admire wonderful artistic concept.  A black canvas!  Why hadn’t he thought of that?Ebeneezer touched the canvas and the scene changed.  They were standing in a great museum.  It was HIS museum, in the future, they appeared to be in the newly contructed Ebeneezer Scrooge wing.  There were nothing but black canvases on the walls.  The sign above the door read “Death.”It was cold.  Ebeneezer was [...]

Ebneezer blinked.  Andy was gone and a new apparition appeared before his eyes.  The spirit said, “Touch my garment, Ebeneezer, I am the art ghost of Christmas present, come and see things as they are. . . .”  Ebeneezer reached out his hand and touched the ghost’s robe and instantly they were hurtling through the air, flying above the streets of New York.  They flew over the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, over Central Park, over the SOHO galleries.  Out, out to the suburbs. They came landed in front of a small home.  There was a mini-van parked in the driveway.  [...]

Ol’ Ebeneezer, Curator of the Outrageously Politically Correct Museum of Art, placed the key in the lock of his Manhattan loft and thought “Bah! Humbug!”  He still couldn’t believe that his assistant, Bob, would have the audacity to suggest mounting a Christmas exhibit featuring pieces that depicted truth and beauty! Bob actually wanted to display pieces in the styles of realism, impressionism, expressionism, and even beautiful abstracts!  Who ever heard of such a thing?  Ol’ Ebneezer congratulated himself as he climbed into bed.  “The museum is lucky to have me” he thought, “I mean, what kind of funding could we possibly [...]

What the heck is a "meta description" tag?  Think of it as a short "advertisement" for your website.  It is a headline for your web site and needs to be descriptive and enticing.  You want to write it in a way that will make the reader want to visit your site, but, most importantly, it needs to honestly describe what your site is all about.Where does a "meta description" tag appear?It appears under the link to your web site in the search engine results.  Here is an example from one of our clients, Noe Perez.  He has written his meta description [...]

An Overview of New FineArtStudioOnline.com Features - Blogs, RSS and MoreLast week we promised an announcement of FASO blogging coming "soon."  This week we're happy to say that "soon" is now.  FASO now offers integrated blogging to all Gold Plan and higher members.  It is in your account now and if you've ever wanted an easy way to integrate your web site and your blog. . .it's here.  This week we've chosen to focus our member newsletter on an overview of new FASO features.BlogA full featured blog is now integrated into your control panel.  Simply select "Blog" as a category for [...]

A reader posted a comment regarding prices (Would You buy now without knowing the price?):I agree, prices should be listed on an artist's site and I do list mine, but I wonder how other artists handle this problem. On your site you have an 18x24 listed at $1,000, now that piece has been accepted into a show that takes a 40% commission, & shipping is your responsibility. Your work is now priced at the exhibition for $1,700 but prospective buyers at the show could buy it from your website for $1,000, why would they pay $1,700 at the show??? How do other artists handle this?I would like to [...]

Think of this post as a preview of upcoming topics.  I plan to cover blogs in depth in my member newsletter, however something just too timely to resist has happened.  This illustration will make the point more eloquently than my newsletter.  Last week I wrote about links - how to use links to improve search engine results:A Look At LinksIn the article, I discussed a fictional painter who specializes in "Red Frog Paintings."  Since a good bit of my post was devoted to discussing how John Q. Painter could optimize his links for the terms "Red Frog Paintings", I developed a [...]

What are links?The word link is short for hyperlink, which is active text that you can click on to go to a web page.  There are three types of links that are important to your web site: site navigation links, outbound links, and inbound links.  The importance of linksMost people try to find information on the Internet by using search engines.  The big three are Google, Yahoo!, and MSN.  But how do the search engines determine the most relevant pages to return for a given search?  That’s a topic in itself, however, a lot of very smart people at these search [...]

Here's a question that comes up surprisingly often that we admit confuses us.  Clients occassionally ask if we can reprogram our software to display "Buy Now" buttons even if they have not entered prices of their artworks.  We don't understand this question.  If the artwork is not priced, how could (and why would) a client possibly "Buy Now"?  How much would they pay the artist?  It seems to us that if the artwork is not priced, price that there is no such thing as "Buy Now."  The only thing the customer can do is inquire about the artwork and guess [...]

A columnist that I regularly read, Robert Ringer, recently wrote, "Each of us has a special gift, but all too often we overlook it. And the reason we overlook it is because we tend to take for granted that which comes easy to us. Learn to appreciate yourself and focus on that one thing that you do really well."  He goes on to say, "Tomorrow, when you walk into your office, vigilantly focus on your special gift to the exclusion of everything else — even seemingly important matters. Above all, don’t work on your problems until the end of the day. [...]

Some links on pricing art:Pricing Your Art: 10 Rules by Alyson Stanfield:http://www.artbizblog.com/2005/08/pricing_your_ar.htmlPrice Your Art Realistically (ArtBusiness.com):http://www.artbusiness.com/pricerealistic.htmlPricing for Joy by Robert Genn:http://www.painterskeys.com/letters.asp?let=050705Ask Mark Kostabi: http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/features/kostabi/kostabi5-24-05.asp Pricing Your Art by Sylvia White:http://www.artadvice.com/advice/article10.phpSell 'em Cheap as Possbile for As Long as Possible by Clint Watsonhttp://www.clintwatson.net/dataviewer.asp?page=fineartviews&keyvalue=126&subkeyvalue=331 [...]