Prepared for Sarah Kraning Art
For Sarah Kraning Art

Your paintings turn songs into color. Your emails can turn fans into collectors.

I joined your list, read your welcome email, and walked through sarahkraning.com the way a new fan would. Here are six ideas for the site and the inbox.

See the six ideas Read the welcome emails →
JoleneComfortably NumbMr. BrightsideWeird FishesNothing Else MattersBirds of a FeatherEdge of the EarthThe ProphecyOcean Eyes
First impressions

What a new fan sees today

Four things stood out. Each one is an opening, and each links to the idea that answers it.

“The homepage has no products.”

It opens with a slideshow gallery of paintings. There are no names, prices, or links to buy, so a new fan has to go looking for the shop.

See idea 01 →

“The signup never mentions the 10% off.”

New subscribers get the code THANKYOU10. The form in the footer only says “be the first to know.”

See idea 02 →

“The welcome email is a good start.”

It delivers the code and two buttons. It has no product picks and no story, and one email has to do all the work.

See idea 03 →

“Commissions are closed until 2027.”

The waitlist holds your most serious buyers, and they have a long wait ahead of them.

See idea 06 →
Six ideas

From first visit
to first purchase.

In the order a new fan would meet them. The mockups are concepts. They use none of your artwork, and every word would be rewritten in your voice.

Idea 01 · The site

Put the shop on the homepage.

The first screen should offer something to buy.

Right now the homepage is a gallery. It shows the work beautifully, then leaves the visitor to find the shop on their own.

A products section fixes that: a few featured prints with prices, and the originals that are available today. Someone who arrives from a video can go from seeing a painting to owning one in a couple of clicks.

  • Featured prints
  • Available originals
  • Shop by artist
Homepage, proposed
sarahkraning.com

SARAH KRANING ART

Collect a print

Your artwork
Taylor Swift‘The Prophecy’$50
Your artwork
Dolly Parton‘Jolene’from $55
Your artwork
Pink Floyd‘Comfortably Numb’$50
Your artwork
The Killers‘Mr. Brightside’$50

Names and prices are from your shop today. The color blocks stand in for your paintings.

Idea 02 · The signup

Say the 10% out loud.

You already reward new subscribers. The form should tell them.

Every new subscriber gets a 10% code, and nobody knows that before they sign up. Putting the offer in the form gives people a reason to join.

I’d also move the form up: near the top of the homepage and onto every print page, where interest is highest.

  • Offer in the form
  • Top of the homepage
  • Every print page
Signup form
sarahkraning.com

Top of the homepage and every print page

Join my collector community

Email AddressGet my 10% off

Same list, same code. The only change is that people learn about the offer before they decide.

Idea 03 · The welcome

Turn one welcome email into three.

The code, then your story, then every way to collect.

Your welcome email delivers the discount, and that part works. A short series does more. It gives the code somewhere to go, tells people who you are, and shows them how to buy.

These are the three emails I’d build, drafted in the layout you already use. Start with what you send today, then step through the series.

FromSARAH KRANING ART
SubjectWelcome. Your 10% off is inside.
PreviewPlus where most collectors start.

SARAH KRANING ART

Welcome to my
collector community

Thank you for being here. I paint what music looks like to me, and this list is where new work shows up first.

Your codeTHANKYOU1010% off your first print order
Collect my prints

Where collectors start

Artwork
Taylor Swift‘The Prophecy’$50
Artwork
Dolly Parton‘Jolene’from $55
Artwork
Pink Floyd‘Comfortably Numb’$50

Over the next week I’ll share how I see sound and how a song becomes a painting.

Sarah x

Email 1 · Sent right away

The code, plus somewhere to use it.

  • Keeps your headline and your sign-off, so it still sounds like you.
  • Puts the code in a box nobody can miss.
  • Adds three product picks, so the discount has somewhere to go. Swap in your three best sellers.
  • Tells people two more emails are coming, which gives them a reason to open the next one.
Idea 04 · The list

Let fans follow the artists they love.

A new Taylor Swift piece should reach Taylor Swift fans first.

Your print shop is already organized by artist. Let subscribers pick the ones they care about when they sign up, then send each release to the people who asked for it.

Everyone still gets your main updates. Squarespace signup forms can each feed their own mailing list, so this works with the tools you have.

Try it: pick a few
and more

Idea 05 · The release

Show collectors new originals first.

Three of the seven originals on your site are already sold.

The demand for originals is there. A first-look list rewards the people most likely to buy: they see each new painting 48 hours before it goes public.

It creates urgency without ever discounting your work.

First-look email
FromSARAH KRANING ART
SubjectFirst look: a new original, 48 hours early

SARAH KRANING ART

Your new painting

A new original is finished. You’re seeing it two days before anyone else.

View the original

Public release in 48:00:00

Idea 06 · The waitlist

Keep the commission waitlist warm.

Your most serious buyers are waiting until 2027.

People who join a commission waitlist are the closest thing you have to guaranteed buyers. A year or more of silence is a long time to keep them.

A short series keeps them close and points them to work they can own now, so the waitlist earns while it waits.

Waitlist series
  1. Day 0You’re on the listWhat to expect, and how a commission works from song choice to delivery.
  2. Week 2How a song becomes a paintingA look inside the studio and your process.
  3. Every quarterOriginals available nowWork they can own while commissions are closed.
  4. Before reopeningEarly-release spotsWaitlist members get the first chance, as your page promises.
The plan

The first 30 days

At 5 to 15 hours a week, this is the order I’d work in.

  1. Week 1Audit the businessReview sales, site analytics, list growth, and past email results to see what’s working and what isn’t. Audit the site, signup, and welcome flow against your goals, and learn your voice along the way.
  2. Week 2Quick wins liveThe 10% offer added to the signup form, and the three-email welcome series drafted, approved by you, and running.
  3. Week 3Shop on the homepageFeatured prints and available originals on the homepage, with signup forms on your most visited print pages.
  4. Week 4Build the roadmapA plan for the next few months, in priority order: automations to build, website updates, and the emails and releases to send.
About Me
Victor Smith, founder of Visionsmith

I’m Victor.

I’ve spent more than ten years in email marketing and automation, from learning deliverability and segmentation at a small Brooklyn agency to building lifecycle programs for the brands below.

I design and build the automations that keep customers coming back: welcome series, abandoned cart and browse flows, post-purchase journeys, and win-back campaigns. Today I do that work independently through Visionsmith, so the strategy, the writing, and the build would all come from me.

Brands I’ve built for
  • Disney
  • New Balance
  • Crystal Cruises