ArtWorks

The last post on this subject closed with a description of the process but to really make it work we need to look at it as artists. To do so we are going to have another conversation with our friend Sarah who has been struggling to make a living with her art.

” So Sarah, you look particularly discouraged today, what’s up?”

” Well, I just feel forever stuck in a rut of never making enough from my art to support myself.” she said. ” I can’t figure it out…I work hard at what I do and yet I never sell consistently and my friends and family keep telling me I should get a ‘Real Job’ I’m close to giving up”.

” I am sorry to hear that…are you willing to try something different to see if we can get you back into the swing of things?”

“Sure, I’m game for anything that will help.”

” Ok, let’s take a look at some of your beliefs associated with being an artist or for that matter being a creative person. So tell me about your earliest memories of what people said about art and becoming an artist. What pops out…?”

“The first thing that pops out is how often people told me that it was ‘cool’ and they thought I was really talented but that I could never really ‘make a living from it’ . I heard that a lot in grade school and later high school, most of my teachers told me I needed to focus on skills that were marketable and leave the ‘creative stuff’ as a hobby.

My family was sort of supportive but they insisted that I study something ‘real’ in college, although I did get them to let me take art classes if I took their ‘real’ classes as my primary major. Well that didn’t last long…I fell in love with  the art department, I felt alive when I was in the studio. It didn’t matter if I was drawing, painting, throwing pots or pulling prints. So I decided to be an art major in spite of my family.”

“Did you notice any negative beliefs creeping in or was it all fun in the studio?”

“Now that you mention it there was a strange undercurrent type feeling that I couldn’t figure out for quite awhile. It seemed like everybody was always talking about ‘working hard’ on something and our professors were often saying that ‘art should not need to be sold’ that what we create should sell itself. I remember asking a couple of my profs about that and they all said that art was not a business and to think of it like it was would demean and constrain our work.”

“What did they mean by that?”

“Well mostly they would say that it would hurt our creativity and to be really successful we needed to focus on our art and not worry about the business end of things”

“Ok,” I said ” this is starting to look like something…so what do you think was the common message you got. What are your core beliefs as a result?”

” I totally, got the idea that art was not worth much, that at best it would be a hobby. In college I started to have hope but the undercurrent of the art department saying over and over that art and business shouldn’t mix left me confused and feeling like I was forever doomed to being a ‘starving artist’. Now after finishing school I look around and don’t see many artists that aren’t starving ! Also when I do sell my work most people think I charge to much since I don’t do it full time”.

“So would you say that you developed a belief that to be an artist you had to starve and you certainly couldn’t  make a living at it?” I asked.

“yes, that’s about it”, she replied.

“Let’s look at that negative thought… write it down. Now, look at it and ask ‘is this true’ so do you think it is true?”

“Well, yes at least it is how experience it”, she said.

“Ok, now can you ABSOLUTELY without a doubt KNOW it it is true? Can you REALLY know?

Next I want you to answer this question…‘how do I react when I think that thought?’ This is important you’ll need to dig deep and pay attention to your feelings. When you think that thought what do you do? How do you treat yourself and others? Take some time to write down all the ways you react.”

” Here goes” she said. ” I feel angry, resentful and well hopeless. I get mad at buyers or at least don’t put a lot of time in with them. I really get mad at myself for thinking I could make this work.”

“Now ask ‘what would I be without that thought’, who would you be? How would your life be different?’”

“That’s not hard” she said. ” I would be living in a nice house, I would have lots of people wanting my work. When I did shows I would sell out and would easily get paid well for my work.”

“Ok now let’s take that original negative thought and turn it around. The original thought was, ‘you could never make a living as an artist’ now becomes ‘you can make a good living as an artist’ or ‘I can make a good living as an artist.’

Finally, I want you to take that turn around and ask ‘Is this turnaround as true or truer than my original negative intention?’ Then find three good examples that prove the turn around is just as true or truer than the original negative thought.”

“wow!” she said, ” my mind is racing I can see how one thing can lead to another. Can this process be used with my buyers?”

“Yes, certainly, it can help you get out of feeling like a victim and start seeing you buyers in a different more positive light. We can work on that another time you are going to need some time to work just on this part.”

I hope this has been helpful here is another way to get at the negative thoughts and begin the process. Take this list of positive intentions/beliefs and write the first negative intentions that pop up when you read them:

• People will easily pay me for the value of my work.
• When I talk to potential buyers it is easy to get them to sign up for my newsletter.
• People really get my work and see the value it will add to their lives.
• It is easy for me to build a network of supporters and buyers.
• My buyers come back to me often and tell their friends to buy from me.
• It is easy for me to learn to market my work.
• My brand is easy to identify and is the primary driver behind buyer attraction.

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The last part of this discussion ended by pointing out that the two most common ways of ridding ourselves of ANTS (automatic negative thoughts)  through shear  will power will just make them more powerful and likewise denial will also cause them to take over our lives. However, there is hope and there is a way…

A while back I learned about  my ANTS by using a very simple tool developed by Byron Katie. She had been struggling with almost a decade long bout of depression when she had one of those “ah ha” moments that seem to come out of nowhere to slap us upside the head. She realized that she was letting here negative thoughts run her life and when she started really examining the thoughts that drove her to stay stuck she was surprised  to see them disappear. Katie came up with a simple process called “The Work” that has worked with hundreds of thousands of people, helping them refocus their energy and move on to achieve their goals.

In a nutshell the process consists of:

Identifying the negative intention AND committing it to paper so it doesn’t linger in your mind.

1. Ask if the negative thought is “true” or “False” you can ONLY answer “Yes” or “No”
2. If you answer yes or you are not clear then ask “Can I know with absolute certainty if this is true?” Again only yes or no.
3. Now ask: “how do I react when I think that thought” write down what you feel it can be one feeling or a collection. Don’t think about just write down your feelings and reactions.
4. Who would you be if you didn’t believe that thought? Write down who you would be or what would be different if you didn’t have that thought. The key here is to really imagine what life would be like without that ANT.

The final part of the toolset is called “The Turnaround”. Turn the belief around to its opposite. There maybe several iterations of the turnaround. It is very important to understand that these are NOT affirmations, they are alternate realities different ways of  looking at the belief. To validate the turnaround do the following:

• Ask if the turnarounds are as true or truer than the original belief
• Write down some examples of how the turnaround is true
• Write down descriptions of actions that would support the turnaround.

For more information on this process visit www.thework.com. We will also be going into further detail about using this process as part of your preparation for 2009.

Next we will apply this process to common mindset issues that hold artists back.

Was this helpful? Do you know what your ANTS are?

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How often have you gotten excited about a new body of work or a new show and in anticipation of instant acceptance  and sales said to yourself ” this is my best work yet everybody will love it and I’ll sell out” . And how often have you met with disappointing results leading you to thoughts like these:

” People don’t buy my work because they are dumb”
” Nobody likes my work other wise they would buy it”
” People are idiots…they wouldn’t know good work if it hit them in the face!”

We call these ANTS or Automatic Negative Thoughts and we all have them and to some degree we all allow them to run our lives. They come from living, from experiences, and all the people and environments we pass through as we live our lives. ANTS can and often do appear out of nowhere to take over…they start directing what we do, how we think and are the primary factor in keeping us from moving forward. ANTS are largely

To the extent you can stay focused on the Positive Intentions around your work you will be able to avoid being stuck and move forward with your business. Recent studies in Neuro-Science are confirming the fact that our life tends to go wherever we put our focus…our happiness, success and attitudes will go wherever we give power and focus. In other words, your life manifests according to your focus, if you focus on ANTS you can become stuck, you will find it difficult to succeed and even start allowing anger, resentment and resignation take over your life. On the other hand if you focus on positive intentions you experience the opposite…you experience more success, more happiness and more overall satisfaction. The funny thing about ANTS is that you cannot use your willfulness to overcome them, doing so will only give them more power, ignoring them will also let them run rampant with your life.

We will be talking more about ANTS as part of our series around Planning for 2009.
Next will be ways to exterminate your ANTS geared specifically to creatives.

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An idea whose time is come and something I have talked about here on more than one occasion…the importance of getting art into people’s homes and artists getting paid for said art. Today while reading my blogline feeds I ran across a post on John Jantsch’s Duct Tape Marketing blog that took me to a site that is not only leading the way but also far out ahead of anything else… the site is Wall Blank and it is using the principles of Crowd sourcing as described in Jeff Howe’s book by the same title. They are also playing the role of “connector” as described in Malcom Gladwell’s The Tipping Point.

According to their Manifesto…

We are creating a new way for the everday person to buy artwork for their
homes, apartments and offices.
We’re tired of buying mass-produced artwork from stores like IKEA and
Target*. We can’t afford original fine artwork. We value craftsmanship and
enjoy being different and unique. We appreciate those who create. We like
stories and want to know how things are made, who made them and why
they were made. Sure, people can fall in love with a piece of art, but they
can also fall in love with the artist, the story and the inspiration behind the
work.
We are curators. We look for artists who want to share their work yet still
be recognized. Artists who want their work on people’s walls yet still want to
be paid a fair price. Artists who are ok with people who aren’t fine art snobs
buying their art. Everyday people who don’t know the ‘museum-stare’ and
probably won’t ever spend $500 on a piece of art. Yet people who recognize
something they like and want on their wall.

Their approach honors and respects the artist while helping buyers get good original art…in that sense they are not just true connectors they are also educating the public about what we as artists do. The open source part consists of allowing artists to contribute to the project in much the same way that open source software started by setting standards and opening problem solving to whom ever can meet the standards regardless of their creds.

Ok …I do disagree with some of their approach specifically that everyday people will not spend $500.00 on a piece of art. In order for that to happen people have to start seeing value in art and be willing to choose it over the latest shiny toy. Art brings meaning, it brings beauty and with beauty comes hope and a more expansive way of seeing the world. Regardless of your political and economic leanings it doesn’t take a Tarot deck to tell us that a shift is happening…and I think the overall goal of this site is an indication of more of the same to come. Wall Blank is breaking the ground and setting the stage for evolution and revolution in the way artists sell their work, new avenues and opportunities are on the horizon we just have to keep our eyes open and our intentions set.

Despite the doom and gloom served up all to frequently these are exciting times and we as artists can have a hand in moving things along…we just need to show up.

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This time of year is the best time to begin focusing on how you want your business to be next year, what you want to have happened at year’s end, what you want to achieve with your art by the end of 2009, what you want for income, your show strategy, etc. There are several key areas to focus on as you proceed, they include:

• Vision of your business
• Your intentions for the coming year both business, personal and spiritual.
• Marketing and branding strategy
• Business model

Something very important to remember is that all of these are dynamic…able to adapt to changing market conditions. Do not expect to have the right answer or the right plan, it is more important to maintain clarity of purpose and direction and be open to adapting.

Vision of your Business

Envision January 1, 2010…in previous posts I have outlined this process so I’ll summarize it here. Take some time out no longer than 30 minutes and move the calendar ahead to 2010, visualize your business and your art. Do so as if you are already there. Now write out what you saw, you can also just start writing if that works for you. Stay focused on the present (01/01/2010). The result is a picture of your business and what you did to get it there. This is the foundation of your strategies for 2009 and it might look this…

” I have just finished the 2009 show season and my income has doubled from ___ to___. I hired a Virtual Assistant (VA) part time to help with  routine business chores I not best  at doing. I also increased my e-mail list by focusing on engaging with my  buyers as a result I have key contacts at each show venue. I found the buyer who really gets me and set her up as my local coordinator in return she is able to have first pick of my work along with a discount.

I also started blog and have used it to stay in touch with my buyers as a result my per show sales have increased. I use the blog in conjunction with other social media tools to keep each segment of my buyers up to date. Now when I go to shows I have a steady stream of buyers who know my work and come specifically to buy from me.”

You get the idea you don’t need to write a book just a page or less, doing this will definitely help you in the next step.

Setting your intentions

You’ll notice I replaced the word goal with intention…there is a reason for that. Recent trends have shown that using the term goal to identify your desired result leaves a lot of wiggle room for never reaching  your desired result. On the other hand focusing on your intentions puts you in the present and creates a mindset of action.

Your intentions should reflect in words exactly what it took for you to achieve the vision you described above. So lets say in 2010 you saw yourself in several high end shows or exhibiting in high end art galleries your intention might look like…

“My intent is to be accepted into the XYZ , ABC, DEF show/gallery.”
“My intent is to travel only to shows within 100 miles of my studio”
“My intent is to engage my buyers developing long range relationships with them”
“My intent is to develop a new body of work and show it at ABC show/gallery”
“My intent is to become computer literate and start writing a blog”

Marketing and branding strategy

These are the steps you will take to make sure you are seen by the market that will fit best with your vision and intentions. So if in the process of developing your brand you identify your primary market as women in their 50s and young newly married women looking for home decor items. Then you know that doing a street fair in east Timbuktu will not likely work.

You will also know that if your vision has you traveling to shows you will need to develop a network of followers at each venue and exactly what tools will work best.

Business model

How do you have to organize your business to achieve your vision and meet your intentions?The business model should reflect how you want your business to function and what you want it to look like…it is kind of like a road map.  It doesn’t have to be a massive volume full of spread sheets and financial projections. It can be as simple as…

“My business is a single person business my income is the result of attending X number of art fairs, developing additional sales through on line stores, workshops, x number of galleries, and open studio sales. I also receive income from my patron subscription program.

In order to maximize my studio time I have a Virtual Assistant on part time to handle my mailing list and keep up with other routine work. I also use a number of services to automate some of the routine tasks necessary to my business.”

Essentially your business model is a  package made from your vision, branding and marketing strategy.

This process helps you tie everything together so you can be as clear as possible and able to respond to changes without disrupting or veering to far from your original vision. If you do have to make extreme course changes the structure is already there, all you have to do is make the needed tweeks.

Something very important in all of this is to have one or more partners to help you, hold you accountable and provide another set of eyes and ears. For example joining Deepak Chopra’s site Intent will help you get support and accountability for your intentions in fact I have found it extremely useful.

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Thanks to the amazing Joel better known as the “Blog Tech Guy” we are finally back up!!! The problem turned out to be an errant plug-in script that kept running itself in circles by reposting the same articles over and over and over and…..Needless to say that  plug-in is no longer with us R.I.P.P ( rest in peace plugin)!

Thanks for all your patience. Since we were un able to publish this week’s Marketing Monday we will do a double dose this next Monday.

Become a Blogger

Finally I want to remind everybody that the doors opened this afternoon for the Become a Blogger program developed by Yaro Starak and Gideon Shalwick. If you sign up before 5PM tomorrow you will receive some amazing bonuses and a significant discount on the program.

I have been part of Yaro’s Blog Master Mind program and I have to say it is one of the most thoughly thought out programs I have seen…and I’ve been around the block a few times!

If you want to get started blogging and learn from a couple of masters I woiuld strongly advise you to HURRY over to Become A Blogger and sign up

You can also pick up a free copy of his Roadmap to Success in  both PDF and downloadable audio mp3. Depending on how you learn Yaro and Gideon have several choices for you…personally I love listening to the audio segments on my iPod as I walk my dog in the morning.

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The last parts of this series looked at the needs of creatives and tried to match those needs with the tools available. The goal of all of this was to  set out a basic palette of available choices to provide a little background. Everyone does this whether they know it or not when they encounter something new much like a person who wants to build something does to understand how to join two or more parts together….they know there are tools out there to put things together but they don’t know what does what. Imagine knowing you want to join two pieces of wood but you have never seen a hammer or even worse a nail. A visit to Home Depot could be very confusing without the basic knowledge of tools.

This article is a transition from describing the tools and how they meet a need to learning how this knowledge alone is not enough to walk into Home Depot with. Unless you know you need a drill or a hammer just walking into Home Depot and buying whatever strikes your fancy will not help you build a house unless you know that

1. you want to build a house and
2. you know or at least have some idea as to what kind

But even this won’t help you until you know more details like

• What does it look like
• how big does it need to be
• how many rooms
• where is it to be located…

The list can and should go on until you have a clear idea of what it is you want to build. Once you have clarity and focus you can then go into Home Depot and KNOW pretty much what you need to buy, both in materials and tools. Basically, you need to have a goal then broad strategies for meeting that goal then ground level tactics for implementing strategies that will get you to your goal.

So what does this have to do with this series? Well, knowing that Twitter is cool doesn’t help you if connecting many different people in a collaborative way is not something you need. The same goes for Facebook or for that matter a blog, if your goal/s do not depend on what the tool does best then fooling around with it because it is cool will be a huge time suck. So for the purposes of this series I am just going assume you are all small businesses that are based on creating, making or producing art and you have a limited knowledge of capabilities of the internternet and also know that you need to connect better with your buyers.

I am skipping the entire branding process and developing a marketing plan for brevity. What follows is basic strategic information to give you a starting point for your journey.

First things First

The very first thing you can do is to start listening, both in person and on-line. In person talk to your buyers, find out what is important to them, what makes them tick, why they come to art shows or buy art. Find out what problems they are facing what makes them happy what they look forward to, how they live. Then you will be in a position to say to them ” You know I think you might like this doll, if you hang it over your desk it can help you stay focused and centered” or ” you might really like this pot, it is designed to make serving soup easy and drip free”.

While you are engaging your buyers in person spend some time on-line. Find blogs written by artists or other creatives and also read other genres, use that “google thing” and search for subjects that interest you or might interest your buyers. Next go to Twitter.com and search around subjects like, art, visual art, or whatever might be related to your medium, better yet open a twitter account (it’s free) start following some of the people you find interesting. Take note of what they have to say keep in mind …there is no right way here you are trying to find out information and get your feet wet.

Introducing….

Let’s meet Sarah. She is a self described ” luddite”  who until recently has seen little benefit in marketing and in many cases felt that it was cheapening her art. She has avoided the internet for a variety of reasons most of which have to do with not knowing how it can help her. Recently she has realized that she indeed was in business and if she didn’t make a living from her art her ability to share it with others would decline. Last we talked I suggested that she begin “listening” to the web in  a number of ways.

“So..Sarah how are you doing? Have you started ‘listening’ as I suggested last time we talked?”

“Ya” she said, “I had my doubts at first, but then I found some amazing artists who shared their ideas and their work on their blogs and…they didn’t seem to spend hours trying to write the perfect article! I am not sure I can do that. I also found  the more I poked around the more ideas I got…which I wasn’t expecting at all. But now I am even more confused and slightly overwhelmed…where do I begin? I feel like I have way to much to learn and not enough time to learn it.”

“Well” I said,”the best way to get over that sense of confusion and being overwhelmed is to first stop judging yourself and second take little steps towards your goal and be ready to change course if need be. So with that said let’s get going. When we first met you said you wanted to connect with your buyers more  on a personal level…you wanted to make a human connection that brought them into your life… within limits I know! You also wanted a way to keep them abreast of what shows you were going to be in and what you were making.”

“That’s right” she said, ” So how do I get started, what should I do first? What is going to be the best use of my time? And the easiest and quickest”!

“Well, you are in luck because now the easiest and quickest way to begin is through a blog.”

“Why is that? I thought I needed a web site…how will a blog do what I need?” She  said.

“That’s why I said you’re in luck! You see, web sites are static, the content on them seldom changes and when you need to change it, you need a tech person unless you know web design. The other problem with web sites is they don’t get indexed often by search engines since most search engine’s criteria is how often the content changes. So… now the business community from Microsoft to your neighborhood cafe have begun blogging.”

“But if I use a blog won’t I have to write something everyday? I don’t have time to do that…and I don’t know what I’d write about. I get writer’s block even thinking of it! And how will that help me do what I want to do…get closer to my buyers?” Sarah said in frustration.

“First you only need to write when you have something to say which can be everyday or once a week. And you don’t have to write a novel each time you sit down at your computer. When I started my first blog as a photographer I only posted when I had photographs and when I had something to say about an event or a shoot. My blog was a place for potential clients to not only see my work but also my process and approach by reading about the session or event or whatever I had shot. The beauty was that clients could comment on what they saw and read giving me the chance to have a conversation with them. You see a blog is the first step to laying the foundation of a potential two way conversation.

A blog gives you the opportunity to continually show how valuable you are to your readers/buyers. By opening up and being transparent to your potential buyers you open the door for them to get to know you and most importantly know whether they have anything in common with you. It is the first step in separating out your best buyers.”

” Ahhh!!” she said, “the fog is beginning to lift. I think there may be some possibilities here. So how do I get started with a blog? Like, where do I go to set one up? Do I need to know code or are there  simple ways for a Luddite like me to get started?”

“At this point I would strongly recommend the simplest way possible. You have a few choices depending on budget etc. You can go free using services like Blogger or Typepad but free has some limitations which we can cover later. Another free option is to use Wordpress and host your own blog but this might require some help from a tech person. Our time is running out now so here are a couple of resources for you and an assignment. For next time spend some time looking through blogger and blogspot sites, check out what they provide given your needs. Also go here to see how simple it all can be…”

Become a blogger and watch the free videos,

To begin learning about social media  check Chris Brogen out.

Coming next: More converstions with Sarah and possibly a couple of her friends. We’ll be talking in more detail about blogs and some basic social media strategies.

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Welcome to another Marketing Monday. This week we are going to talk about one of the important foundations of your business and your marketing efforts…The 80/20 rule.

About the 80/20 rule

Briefly the 80/20 rule says that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts, translated into business terms it means that 80% of your sales comes from 20% of your buyers. Using the 80/20 rule in your work flow and especially your marketing efforts can help to focus you on those tasks that will give you the best results.

Putting it to use

Here are some ideas on how to get started using the 80/20 rule:

• Look at your sales history see if you can find what is contributing to your highest sales. Is it something you want to continue making? Is it a style or a price point? See if you can identify the unique characteristics that are causing these items to account for 80% of your income.
• Look at your work flow, how you make what you make. Are you focusing on those tasks and processes that contribute to 80% of your outcomes? If not how would you change it?
• Look at how you spend your time overall. Do you batch similar processes? Do you set aside specific times of your work sessions to focus on one part of your workflow? Are you throwing pots when you should be glazing?
• Look at how you display your work. Do you prominently display the work that accounts for 80% of your sales? Do you have your booth organized so that your high sales items can contribute to an upsell of something similar?
• Take a look at your mailing list. Can you identify the 20% of your buyers who account for 80% of your sales? If so what are you doing to develop a relationship with them? How are you staying connected with them? What do you know about them?

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Before we go any further…

I want to point out that what I am describing here is a process, a way of looking at how we create whether it involves groups of people or individuals and what we need in the way of tools and environments to support us along the way. The  concepts and processes are not linear or pretty and admittedly leave lots of room for further exploration and development.

Let’s get going..

Now that we have the creative spectrum somewhat sketched out let’s see how it can work with the social media. The primary element of social media, in fact its’ keystone is connectivity at levels that far exceed what we could have imagined even a year ago. And… this connectivity has different levels of applicability depending on the users intent and goals.  Before we  look in detail at specific social media let’s try to find what  Creators, Makers and Producers  need to succeed, what tools are most useful to them. The brief list below summarizes common tools and methods, some have been available but limited in their usefulness.

• Brainstorming - This is one of the fundamental tools of creativity. While it is possible that it can be done alone,  in this context it is considered best used interactively with 2 or more participants.
• Collaboration -Whether between those working in like media or dissimilar media collaboration is often a tool for generating new outcomes. Often new ways of seeing the same problem/issue or a new direction or concept emerges through collaboration and interaction
• Critique and feedback -In order for creatives to successfully achieve their vision they need to engage the eyes, hearts and opinions of others as a reality check. Given their goal…does their concept or theory attain the desired outcome?
• Moral and professional Support - Just as critique and feedback are important to the creative process so is having access to moral and professional support. This kind of support can be everything from a colleague being a phone call away to a regular mastermind group that provides encouragement and professional mentoring. provide  user friendly  tools for dialogue.
• Background research - One of the early steps in a creative venture is background research designed to find out what if anything has been done before and what the results were.
• Market research - Separate from background research is the particular type of research linked to the branding process. Market research is important in the concept stage as well as the producer stage, however, the intensity of its use may vary throughout the spectrum.
• Client/customer support - Good customer support which can include helping customers use their products, to getting usability feedback is very important .
• Visibility- Visibility contributes heavily to a product’s success…  the more extensive the visibility possibilities generally the better the sales.  For visibility to work it must give the users the ability to be seen by their buyers.
• Customer/client communication -Being able to communicate in a direct and timely manner to  customers  keep them informed and up to date for new developments is a strong determiner of success.
• Market connection - Having reliable channels to connect to markets is also very important to ensuring good communication  with users and being able to respond to changes in market preferences.
• Relationship development - The relative ease with which potential relationships can be identified and developed between Makers and Producers and their markets as well as amongst their colleagues cannot be underestimated. This factor is particularly important now with the decline of traditional interruption based marketing.

Now lets take a more focused look at  these in relation to the Creators,Makers and Producers. A word of caution…this is at best an approximation and for simplicity sake implies that the spectrum overlap areas will also include overlap in social media usefulness.

Creators

Since this part of the spectrum leans heavily towards the conceptual  ( see part 1)   tools that will be the most useful are the ones most likely to enhance creative thought. Their primary needs are:

• Brainstorming
• Collaboration
• Critique and feedback
• Moral and professional Support

Makers

Again as described previously in part 1, this group starts to interact with the market while at the same time providing feedback to the original creators of the recipes and templates they are refining. Their primary needs include:

• Visibility
• Relationship development
• Market and background research
• Moral and professional support
• Customer communication
• Relationship development
• Market connection

Producers

This part of the spectrum’s needs are quite different than the others in that it is heavily market focused. The primary needs of Producers are:

• Visibility
• Relationship development
• Market and background research
• Customer communication
• Relationship development
• Market connection

In summary  the Creative community needs the following environments and tools:

• Interactive to easily sprout and nurture creative thought and interact with peers
• Relationship building to enable easy relationship development with their markets peers
• Market focused to help build and maintain visibility and disburse brand messages

The next step…

is to take a look at social media to see what tools are available and which type of  media works best for Creators, Makers and Producers respectively. Let’s first look at what constitutes Social Media by definition…Wikipedia describes it as

“Social media are primarily Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings. The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, telecommunications and social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and “building” of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories and experiences.”

Organizing Social Media

• Blogs and Microblogs web site that allows individuals or groups to produce an ongoing conversation, microblogs limit uses to small bursts of information.
• Interactive/Social networking networks that allow users to interact directly either in real time of very close to it.
• Social network aggregation sites that gather all of the social media messages and content and categorize it for reading
• Events networks online networks that allow users to organize users around specific subjects and schedule live on-site meetings.
• Wikis a web site that allows collaborative editing of its content and structure by it’s users
• Social bookmarking sites that allow users to save, recommend and comment on web content
• Opinion sites consumer evaluation, review of products and services
• Photo and Video sharing sites that provide a means of sharing organizing and sharing photographic and video content with users
• E-commerce sites that allow users to sell products they created or are re-selling

Matching the needs with the tools

Now lets organize these according to how they can help the creative community with an eye on the specific needs Identified earlier.

Brainstorming - Collaboration

Microblogs / Presence apps Twitter, Pownce and Jaiku
Photo sharing Flickr
Video sharing YouTube,
Interactive Networks shapshifters, deviant art, Behance network. Likemind, Ning
Wikipedia wiki’s, forums and membership sites

Critique and feedback

Blogs & micro blogs Twitter, Pownce and Jaiku
Wikis PB wiki
Photo & video sharing Flickr,YouTube
Social/Interactive networks shapshifters, deviant art, Behance network. Likemind, Ning
Wikipedia wiki’s, forums and membership sites
Opinion sites epinion,ask

Moral and professional Support

Social/ interactive networks Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, deviant art, Behance network Likemind, Ning forums
Event Networks Meetup

Background research

E-commerce Etsy, e-bay
Wikipedia
Microblogs / Presence apps Twitter, Pownce and Jaiku
Social bookmarking Delicious, StumbleUpon,Digg, Mixx, Reddit
Event Networks Meetup

Market research

Blogs
E-commerce Etsy, e-bay
Social/ interactive networks Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, shapshifters, deviant art, Behance network Likemind, Ning
Wikipedia wiki’s, forums and membership sites
Event Networks Meetup

Visibility

Blogs & micro blogs Twitter, Pownce and Jaiku, blog catalogue, good blogs
Photo & video sharing Flickr,Youtube
Social/ interactive networks Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn,  deviant art, Behance network, Ning
Event Networks Meetup
E-commerce Etsy, e-bay

Customer/client communication

Blogs & micro blogs Twitter, Pownce and Jaiku,
Photo & video sharing Flickr,Youtube
Social/ interactive networks Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Ning site
Event Networks Meetup
E-commerce Etsy, e-bay

Market connection

E-commerce Etsy, e-bay
Blogs & micro blogs Twitter, Pownce and Jaiku
Social/ interactive networks Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Ning site

Relationship development

Blogs & micro blogs Twitter, Pownce and Jaiku
Social/ interactive networks Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Ning site
Event Networks Meetup

Part 3…..

will will take a closer look at just what and how Creators, Makers and Producers can utilize social media from Facebook to Twitter to YouTube.

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