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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 part 3! This rather short segment takes the separate needs of Creator,Makers and Producers and matches up with the  Social Media channels that will best help them accomplish their goals. In the next and final installment of this series we will take a look at how these tools can best be put to work to supplement and bolster your marketing strategy. Once again please note that for simplicity sake the overlap between each segment of the creative spectrum is not being considered here instead it is assumed that overlaps will occur in varying degrees and intensities.

Creators

Brainstorming & Collaboration

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

Critique & Feedback

• Blogs & micro blogs Twitter, Pownce
• 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 & Professional Support

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

Makers

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

Relationship Development

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

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

Producers

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

Relationship development

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

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

Market Connection

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

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

Coming up next…

A look at each of the segments to the best mix for each and to begin more detail examination of exactly how those mixes can work.

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In previous articles I discussed some of the broader issues and benefits related to Social Media/Networking and how this new tool could benefit artists. The first article “What’s up with Social media” I introduced the concept of “ambient intimacy” and how the growth of social networking via the Internet has increased our ability to build relationships with our buyers. In “How to use Social Media” I talked about how social media gives us the ability to engage our buyers, build relationships with them and eventually develop a tribe organized around our art and our values.

This series takes the Social Media examination a little deeper by examining who can benefit the most from social media and what tools are most applicable. And more specifically how each segment of the generalized label of creativity can benefit most from Social Media.

A recent post by Mark McGuinness  on the Lateral Action blog describing the best 10 social networking sites for creatives also carried an underlying theme…collaboration, interaction and feedback are important to the creative process. The underlying premise is similar to one I have argued about here…the elimination of geography, time and other barriers by the internet and most recently by the evolution of Social Media has  made collaborative tools available we could barely imagine even 10 years ago. That said, reading Mark’s post brought up some questions and issues I have been chewing on for a while.

The two questions came to mind:

• Why are artists either resistant or slow to use new methods of reaching their markets?
• Who is using the methods?

As I skimmed  Mark’s interviews I noticed two things:

• The primary users especially of the hard core social network sites (focused on providing collaborative environment) were really true creatives and not necessarily defining themselves through the traditional definition of art.
• The second thing was that I noticed I had been dumping anything and everything however remote that involved creating art into the CREATIVE hopper.

My ah ah moment was seeing that not all art is creative and not all creatives are artists!! Well, you might say DUH!! …but I think quite a lot of people make the same mistake. Dumping everything into the same pot without differentiation creates a lot of confusion and a sense of cultural disorientation. We have no criteria to organize, no boxes to slip things into all the while scratching our collective heads over the obvious  differences we do see within the creative community.

So I noticed that I felt a common bond, a like mindedness with those frequenting the more hard core networks. I could feel the excitement of creative juices. A frame of reference started to emerge …instead of a hopper of creativity maybe we need to look at it as a spectrum with different shades or levels each fading into the other. For simplicity sake I defined the spectrum as consisting of: Creators, Makers and Producers. This seemed to explain for me why I for example thrive on creative interaction and often feel lost without it while others tend to keep themselves isolated. So let’s take a closer look at these parts of the creative spectrum. The graphic below is sort of an abstract representation of how I see the spectrum, there is no significance to the size or color of each section…just in case you were wondering.

Creators

Creators are the original thinkers, the mashers who see possibilities in everything.

• They were born with a vision of their world or they have discovered their unique world view as they matured.
• They also seem to be naturally drawn to one or more mediums for communicating that vision and most importantly they generally seem thrive in interactive environments where they can explore the edges of their visions.
• They are the inventors, the early adapters the experimenters… fear of the unknown is not something they are familiar with.
• They tend to operate in a conceptual/theoretical world.

While admittedly there is a great deal of overlap possible here, those in the creator hue of the spectrum are not necessarily good at translating their concepts into reality.

Makers

That role of translator is given over to…The Makers. The overlap area between the pure creators and the  pure makers is the home of those who can straddle both worlds, they are the ones who understand the concepts clear enough to shape them into reality, they give the concepts form and process.

The pure makers are the ones who can take the recipe and adapt it within the context of their creative medium.

• They develop new ways to throw a particular  type of porcelain clay, or use a particular type of painting surface, or write a variation of a given code.
• They tend to be medium specific, developing a point of view or voice that shapes the techniques they develop and once set their style generally does not vary.
• These are the fine crafts people, who are not so much focused on production of a commodity as they are on giving form to their voice.
• They frequently refine  concepts developed by creators, into an array of techniques for working in their medium.

As makers move closer to focusing on production they slowly become..Producers.

Producers

Producers work from recipes and templates to produce a specific line of product in the creative spectrum they are the factory focused on numbers and replication. Producers are the artisans of the spectrum and also the distributors they bring the efforts of the creators and the makers to the ordinary consumer. In a sense their work is utilitarian it takes the maker’s pot off the mantel or bookshelf and places it on the table for everyday use.

Questions

• So where do you fall on  the cretive spectrum?
• Do these generalized categories work?
• How does each category interact best with social media?

Part 2 of this series will look at just how each part of the Creative Spectrum can use social media and what parts of social media work best with each of the three creative spectrum categories.

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Many of my posts so far have hinted at a phenomenon that has  increased pace of change in the world leading many to wonder often doubtfully about it’s role in day to day life. Much of the doubt comes from those who are mystified by technology and can’t imagine how technology can help them.  Since the phenomenon I am talking about is technology based  but it is and will effect the way we live our lives far more than we can imagine now. Technology and specifically the web has been seen in the not to distant past as an isolating influence on our culture, causing us to lose touch with the world around us as our intimate circle of friends shrinks. There have been fears of a growing social alienation especially in the iGeneration as we have tried to understand the meaning of Facebook, MySpace etc. Not even a year ago I really didn’t see the point of Facebook but that has changed.

Starting to converse

Of course the phenomenon I am talking about is Social Media. A recent article in the NY Times by Clive Thompson  discloses the true nature and value of Social Media both to our relationships and to our businesses. It also hints at the role it can play in creating community…something we collectively seem to be longing for. Joseph Jaffe in his book Join the Conversation talks about the changes in the marketing world that are occuring as the result of Social Media/networking especially as it has hastened the demise of advertising as we used to know it an event which has long been over due.

Isolation moves to connection

Before I go into how all this should concern us as artists let me continue with the thread brought up by Thompson’s article and Jaffe’s book by brining in another player t he guy who pretty much star ted it all, Mark Zuckerberg the college student behind Facebook. You see a couple of years after he launched it he realized it’s major problem was the time it required for users to stay up to date with their friends…so he set out to fix it. Overnight, he set up what has come to be called the news feed that works very much like RSS subscriptions permitting friends to basically “subscribe” to each other’s updates. The next morning saw a  major revolt when users began logging on to their Facebook pages. They flooded Zuckerberg with e-mails wanting the old system back. But Zuckerberg knew his audience well within a couple of days everyone was happy. The primary point of contention was much the same as today when non- social media users as”why would I want to know every time Joe eats a sandwich and what kind he is eating?”  or “why should I care if he broke up with his latest girlfriend?” Well it turns out  that they ultimately did want to know those tidbits and they found that knowing them created a different level of knowing their friends…kind of like having them in the same room.

Ambient Intimacy

What they were experiencing was something social scientists have called ” ambient intimacy” it is in essence similar to the feeling of closeness we have when we sit across the room from someone and watch their quirky mumblings, or gestures. Individually such actions have little meaning but lumped together over time they start adding up to a description of the person’s mood, their inner workings. If you are an unabashed people watcher you know what I mean! Friends found themselves much closer when they met because the time distance had shrunk, they were able to converse as if they had just seen each other…in short they knew more about what was occurring in each other lives and how it effected them.

Facebook,Twitter and the tools for conversation

Facebook is no longer the only game in town, last year Twitter broke the surface followed closely by Friend feed. Both of these services offered one thing, a way to stay in touch a way to be closer to each other yet remain far away. Both services are what has become know as “micro-blogs” limited by the amount of text that can be written they have become a way for people in a particular circle to stay in touch and more importantly to widen that circle or have different circles for different levels of acquaintance.

So last year when I found out about Twitter I joined but really didn’t get it until the last few months. Coupled with my Facebook toolbar for Firefox I now get regular little blurbs that pop up on the bottom of my screen whenever one of the people I am connected with has something to say. That very action has allowed me to get to know what used to be pretty close to complete strangers. As a result, I have several potential partners for workshops or seminars each having a strong skill I am lacking in. I hinted above about communities, again this is one of the things social scientists have found occuring more and more as a result of staying connected with each other. And these communities are no longer limited by geography. Families like mine that are spread across the globe can stay connected and in each others lives much better than an hour phone call every couple of months.

Artists Twitter?

So…how does this help us as artists? Well, in a nutshell it provides us with tools we didn’t have available even as recent as a year ago. Furthermore, it has along with Tivo has played a major role in the demise of traditional advertising. It has essentially changed the way we can help our clients and patrons by giving us the means to develop and maintain conversations that are based on a many-to-many model instead of a one -to-many model. It has empowered our clients and patrons to converse with us and us with them around what we offer and how we deliver it, it allows us to focus more on them and them  on us. As a result, artists can develop networks of clients/patrons everywhere they go and they can stay in each others minds so when an artist travels to an art fair their local follows know to show up and also know what treasures await them.

For the fearful these tools are a threat because they nag at their self esteem, bringing judgmental demons, but they also remind us that our success ultimately depends on us and our ability to adapt and grow. An example of the strength of these networks happened to me last week someone on my Twitter feed saw one of my posts and commented on it…the world is indeed changing as it shrinks the revolution is here and we are it!

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Part 1: The iGeneration revolution

There is change in the air, change that is shaking up the way we see and live in our world, everywhere I go the early adaptors are seeing and feeling it. They feel it in the market place they feel it in the political arena and they feel it in their hearts. While some have been quick to adapt others are proceeding slowly and many others are letting fear blind them.

Old networks new life

The fundamental basis for this change is the continual openings for interaction and conversation brought by the internet. As recent as two years ago or in many cases a year ago interactive choices were still limited, and available choices to expand our networks, to find the products that fit our needs, were just beginning to be available. Facebook, and MySpace were not seen as anything else than a place for kids, the concept of a “Social Network” was just beginning to take shape.

As I write this everything is changing almost by the day. Facebook in particular has become THE place to network, blogs are replacing or at the least complimenting static web sites. Mini-blogs like Twitter linked together through RSS feeds provide real time ways to stay connected with our own network. Old school one way advertising and marketing is almost dead replaced by interactive realtime conversations.

Ageless iGeneration re-combining and creating

These changes have all been spurred by what has been called the iGeneration, initially thought to be limited to the twenty and 30 somethings who cut their teeth on computers and the internet. Their digital literacy opened the doors of curiosity and while we were saying that the web would result in greater isolation they were busy discovering new and faster ways to become connected. They taught us faster ways to find and get information…reliable information. As result consumers now use the web to do comparative product research to make their buying decisions. The mass market approach to commerce is all but dead replaced by an ever increasing ability to find the perfect buyer and to retain that buyer by building a relationship with her through two way conversation and community building. Consequently, the iGeneration can be defined as anyone of any age who recognizes and uses the new interactivity to create and maintain connections, to start and continue conversations

So what does all of this have to do with Art? It has everything because failure to adapt to these changes by hanging on to outmoded beliefs will lead to a disappearance of art as we know it. Art as a cultural lens, as a source of renewal and inspiration, as a source of passion and sharing could change forever. On the other hand, recognition and embrace of this evolution could raise the role of art in our culture to new heights by uncovering new ways for artists to thrive and share their art.

In short the changes brought about the iGeneration are:

• Personal connection is highly valued
• Many to many conversation is valued over one or two way communication
• Community is valued as a way of enhancing mouth to mouth product research
• Locally made and sold goods will hold a higher position than non-local goods
• Environmentally friendly goods and production methods will be a deciding criteria
• Businesses will need to demonstrate social consciousness
• There must be multiple ways of doing business
• While price point will be important the buying decision will be based more on connection and value than on price.

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