Art Career Experts » Social networking

Follow us on Facebook!

ace — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 02:05:47 +0000

Quite frankly, it is a pain to write articles when our income comes from our art, not our blogging SO in between the business of running an art business, we find it easier to post graphics, hints, tips and comments on our Facebook page rather than log in, add keywords, delete the vast amounts of spam and trash that accumulates (seriously-what do these people do?)

I’ll try to keep up the newsletters but honestly, only those art gurus NOT creating art are the ones who go on and on about how YOU too can be an artist . I like to think that those of us who do live our lives as self employed artists, share the same highs and lows that artists from every previous century have faced. None of them had the time nor was it even an ideal, to wonder about “what is art?” They worked at the craft they were best suited to and that helped them make a living. Period.

So in keeping with evaluating the ROI on our time writing articles on making a living as an artist, it will be easier and more cost effective to share a few things here and there via Facebook. Because honestly, if you have not taken up the challenges to become an artist in the 5 years we have been sharing our knowledge, then you simply aren’t going to. This lifestyle is not for the faint of heart.

SO pop over, add your comments, get inspired.

Theresa and Steve

The Golden Rule of ethics for artists on Facebook

ace — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 14:16:45 +0000

Facebook is one of those marketing areas that is new enough to have vague “rules of conduct.
Most of us grew up with the Golden Rule of conduct, “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.”
And in its learning and growing pains, Facebook is now pro-active in giving us the tools in dealing with lewd, malicious or hateful intent and posts on Facebook. We can report, block, unfriend or otherwise eliminate the offending party.

For artists, photographers and musicians, there is another arena of behavior, along with the Golden Rule, which, although not written in stone, should be observed. It is assumed that if you opt to friend or like an artist or his page, it is because you like that artist or his work. To friend or like an artist with hopes of piggy backing off his possible success is unethical. There are plenty of sites on Facebook that are expressly there to encourage artists to interact with advice, tips and ideas without going through your artist friends pages and hoping to score a commission from their friends.

Observing the following “Code of Conduct” will insure that the respect that you show an artist will be reciprocated. Feel free to add more!

1. Do not post photos of your work on another artist’s page without permission. Private message or email him first. This applies to those 1:00 am posts with photos that will stay up for hours on another artist’s site until discovered.

2. Do not comment/post on another artist’s work and then add links to your work.

3. Do not try to get around #2 by commenting on how you “do it” (work in a articular medium, apply shadows, whatever, etc) in the hopes of having viewers click on your site through your avatar.

4. Do not try to make the artist’s friends “your” friends for the express purpose of showing them your work (in hopes of luring them away or getting a commission.)

5. Never contact another artist’s friends or friends of friends with promises of “doing it better” or “cheaper.”

If you have done any of the 5 “Don’ts” above, either intentionally or unintentionally, start living the “Golden Rules of Facebook for Artists” and keep your friends for a long time!

By respecting your artist friends and their hard work, you are also respecting yourself and what you have put into your art and your livelihood.

Linkedin-is it helpful?

ace — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 11:01:47 +0000

One of our members emailed me to ask if I had found “Linkedin” to be useful.
My response is a No followed by a “not yet”
So do I expect it to be useful? Honestly, who knows?
I had (like many) started a Linkedin profile then let it sit and then a few months ago, someone whose business acumen I respect, asked to join my network. So I thought “What the heck” and did so and so I have done more “joining” in the past 3 months than I ever did the first 2 years of it.

If you follow the ACE blog, blurbs, comments at all you’ll know that I feel the best solution for all the networking sites is to simply participate in the ones you can keep up with. The advent of even more new social networking sites has most of us heaving a big sigh and thinking “what? Another?”

So yes I am on Linkedin as M Theresa Brown. I think I may be on there also as Theresa Brown…..really not sure (Now don’t you feel better?)
The point is, other than the initial activity “I’d like to add you to my network”, nothing else comes of it that I can see. I do not post, do not advertise on it so back to the question of is it beneficial?

Well, rather than giving a flat out NO (my first thought) as you all know, I am a firm believer and experienced user of the “rule of seven” so I see Linkedin , at the moment to be one of those “hear, see, read, or experience” ways of getting your name out
And with that application, it only takes a minute to network here and there so in the course of daily activities, this one ranks low in possibly wasted time.
So immediate benefits? Don’t see any. Long term? Well I will not hold my breath but just to be sure, I’ll continue to add business contacts to my network ! So don’t hyperventilate over the multitude of online social sites. Handle only what you can handle. After all, at some point you have to find the time to create your art!

Theresa

Do I really need Facebook?

ace — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 11:33:53 +0000

We can always use an extra laugh and I thought this funny email making the rounds pretty much said it all! Actually the “over 30″ remember life before it was controlled by electronics and it is always good to remember that we sent men into space without “how to” ebooks

Sent by an over 55 yr old……………..

When I bought my Blackberry, I thought about the 30-year business I ran with 1800 employees, all without a cell phone that plays music, takes videos, pictures and communicates with Facebook and Twitter.
I signed up under duress for Twitter and Facebook, so my seven kids, their spouses, 13 grand kids and 2 great grand kids could communicate with me in the modern way. I figured I could handle something as simple as Twitter with only 140 characters of space.

That was before one of my grand kids hooked me up for Tweeter, Tweetree, Twhirl, Twitterfon, Tweetie and Twittererific Tweetdeck, Twitpix and something that sends every message to my cell phone and every other program within the texting world..

My phone was beeping every three minutes with the details of everything except the bowel movements of the entire next generation. I am not ready to live like this. I keep my cell phone in the garage in my golf bag.

The kids bought me a GPS for my last birthday because they say I get lost every now and then going over to the grocery store or library. I keep that in a box under my tool bench with the Blue tooth [it's red] phone I am supposed to use when I drive. I wore it once and was standing in line at Barnes and Noble talking to my wife and everyone in the nearest 50 yards was glaring at me. I had to take my hearing aid out to use it, and I got a little loud.

I mean the GPS looked pretty smart on my dash board, but the lady inside that gadget was the most annoying, rudest person I had run into in a long time. Every 10 minutes, she would sarcastically say, “Re-calc-u-lating.” You would think that she could be nicer. It was like she could barely tolerate me. She would let go with a deep sigh and then tell me to make a U-turn at the next light. Then if I made a right turn instead. Well, it was not a good relationship.
When I get really lost now, I call my wife and tell her the name of the cross streets and while she is starting to develop the same tone as Gypsy, the GPS lady, at least she loves me.

To be perfectly frank, I am still trying to learn how to use the cordless phones in our house. We have had them for 4 years, but I still haven’t figured out how I can lose three phones all at once and have to run around digging under chair cushions and checking bathrooms and the dirty laundry baskets when the phone rings..

The world is just getting too complex for me. They even mess me up every time I go to the grocery store. You would think they could settle on something themselves but this sudden “Paper or Plastic?” every time I check out just knocks me for a loop. I bought some of those cloth reusable bags to avoid looking confused, but I never remember to take them in with me.

Now I toss it back to them. When they ask me, “Paper or Plastic?” I just say, “Doesn’t matter to me. I am bi-sacksual.” Then it’s their turn to stare at me with a blank look. I was recently asked if I tweet. I answered, no, but I do toot a lot.”

P.S. I know some of you are not over 50 . I sent it to you to allow you to forward it to those who are.
Us senior citizens don’t need anymore gadgets. The tv remote and the garage door remote are about all we can ha

The Power of Social Networks

ace — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 01:30:32 +0000

The Power of Social Networks

Although I have shared my insights and successes about social networking before, (especially Facebook) , there is nothing I can improve upon in the following article from marketing book author, Penny Sansevieri!

I am constantly encouraged at how many artists, once they see their business as a business, discover that ALL businesses operate in essentially the same fashion..and that their business is no different when it comes to the basics such as marketing, social networking, customer relations, etc.

Enjoy this nice, clearly written article from a writer’s perspective and see how it applies to you as an artist!

http://www.jerrysartarama.com/blog/post/2011/04/04/The-Power-of-Social-Networks-by-M-Theresa-Brown.aspx