My artwork takes hours and hours to create and recently a photographer suggested using timelapse. He has done it to document photoshoots. The end result is a short video clip made with thousands of individual photos. You can cover a tremendous amount of process time in a short amount of real time video. Very entertaining.
It takes a little bit of time to get all the technical bits initially set up to get your camera to talk to your computer correctly, but it is worth the effort. I haven’t gotten a finished video yet, but the process is great fun to see my work magically come together in seconds is a hoot!
I’d suggest finding someone who has already done it to give you help with the initial set up. After that it’s pretty straightforward. And don’t forget to set the whole thing to your favorite tune! Any suggestions?
]]>Build a planning calendar of topics/post ideas for your social media. Have topics pre-selected so you’ll stick to your schedule and you’ll have less writer’s block.
Have someone periodically audit your blog or fan pages and give you honest feedback. This is best when you can find a stranger or someone who’s never visited your site, blog or fan page before. Tweet out and ask for a stranger in your area. Buy them a cup of coffee and have them browse your blog. Have an up-front contract with them that you hope to have 90 min. of their time and you’ll buy them coffee, tea or a meal. Have a list of questions ready about their experience. Be open. Don’t cut them off, let them express what they truly felt. You’ll have a great time, you’ll meet a new person, you’ll have objective feedback in the end – and possibly a new friend or fan.
]]>I’d add podcasting as a possible things too – I stopped doing mine but it was very popular. Funny how just listening to a visual artist seems to grab people’s attention. 😉
]]>My life usually produces slots of time I can use for this purpose one week and then my next week is so packed I can barely fit in eating. After this I’m sitting down to do just that – write in my blog some (I’m done eating).
]]>Have a plan before you start to determine your priorities. For example, if you plan to drive traffic to your blog in order to build an audience, building a solid blog and getting use to the time needed to maintain it should be your priority.
Once accustomed to the demands of blogging you might do Twitter next. With your tweets you can drive traffic to your blog.
Next Facebook – my favorite. Now that you have a blog and are twittering there are ways to post the blog and tweets directly to Facebook which saves tons of time. You will also be writing your Facebook updates that help drive traffic to your blog.
Warning, two words – digital addiction! You will find yourself spending far more time that you plan when you first start using these tools. Connecting with old friends and making new friends will steal a lot of time away from the studio. But it will be time well spent. The addiction will probably pass in a few months once you get a rhythm going and the newness wears off. But your world will be changed forever.
For the record: I am a Facebook (3,600+ friends nearly 2,000 fans), Twitter, and Blogging fanatic. I spend about an hour every day maintaining them. Much of it is done from my iPhone while I am taking breaks, eating lunch or walking across campus to a meeting (I work at a university). It is worth every minute of it.
Have fun!!!
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