Go to www.MaryEngelbreit.com/askME/ to submit your question and get the dial-in details. Deadline for your question to be considered is Wednesday, March 10th. We have so many already it is going to take a bit of time to go through them all and get them to Mary for review!
If you can't make the live call, still submit your info so you are on the list to be notified when the free replay is available. If you have registered for an Ask Call in the past - you'll get the details!
"Please be patient - we are experiencing technical difficulties…" that was one theme last night but it didn't stop the wonderful and understanding artists that were on the line for the Ask About SEO for Artists call! We got through the call but decided to re-record today for clarity.
Of course the technical difficulties persisted as the follow-up email went out before I wanted it to (don't ask!) so I apologize if you get 2 of those as well. Hopefully all the technical issues will be done in this 24 hours and it will be smooth sailing for a while!
Here is what we covered -
What is SEO?
Can I optimize SEO if I didn't create my own website?
3 key aspects to help your website rank well in search engines
Are the "Buzz Words" (keywords) the most important part of optimizing your website?
How to choose keywords.
How do you optimize for more than 1 or 2 keywords?
How are blogs searched and what part of the blog (title, text, etc) is most important for SEO?
How to get links to your blog and why all links aren't created equal.
Can you optimize for store sites like Zazzle and CaféPress?
How do I stand out from others using the same keywords or terms?
If I'm revamping my art and website, what steps should I take to optimize the site for search engines?
If you have ever signed up for any Art Licensing Info Monthly Ask Call in the past, check your inbox and you will have a link to get the free replay.
The system that was the basis for the free call is "The Artist SEO System" by Daniel Tardent.
If you're like many, you might still be thinking about buying this guide in 12 months - and think of all the website traffic you will have missed. Grab the opportunity now and make your website do it's job and help your career!
This product is never discounted because it is high-value & very targeted towards the unique needs of artists. If it was focused on regular small business it would cost $500 or more.
The Artist SEO System is $97, a great investment if you want to maximize the value of your website. I have a lot of SEO knowledge and still found things to help me improve my site SEO even more. I highly recommend you consider this…
CLICK HERE for all the details.* (This is an affiliate link and if you make a purchase I will receive a commission. This helps offset the time and money costs of putting together all the free monthly calls.)
Here's to your creative success and high rankings in search engines!
I love the internet! It has given people access to information and resources never before possible - and much of it is FREE! So much is free in fact, that many have become irritated when they actually have to pay for services and information.
I have been meaning to write this blog post for some time now… not to make anyone feel bad or negatively rant and rave, but to make sure those who don't create and sell content online stop to think about the "cost of free." I have been asked many times, "Why do you do all of this?" "How are you making any money if you give all these things away for free?" and other similar questions.
First let's look at the reasoning behind doing or offering things for free in the first place. I'll talk about myself since really, that is the only thing I can speak of with any authority. I do a lot of things for free in the information side of my business. Here are some examples -
1. This blog. Always free and usually added to 3 - 5 times a week.
2. Videos - promotional and mini-tutorials.
3. Monthly Ask Calls - always free if you listen live, sometimes free even if you don't.
What costs are involved in these free services?
My blog takes time to write and promote via social media. Time that I could use to create my own art for licensing. It is also 'self-hosted' so there is the yearly cost of registering the domain name and paying for web hosting.
Videos take time to create, edit and upload to YouTube - which is free. I recently purchased a new video camera and wireless mic so I could create higher quality videos. I upgraded my computer so I could do better screen recordings for tutorials - some free, some for purchase.
Monthly Ask Calls - this is the most expensive piece of "free" that I do.
• Each "Ask" expert website is registered, designed and hosted by me. (So money and time.)
• I pay for a service that collects your questions - because getting each one in my email was creating a crazy amount of work to sort and select.
• I usually use a free service for the live calls but sometimes pay for a bridge line (the number you call in to.)
• It takes time and software to record and edit the audios. I pay for a monthly service to add and store audios used throughout the Art Licensing Info family of sites.
• TIME - I estimate that each monthly call takes me at least 8 hours of time when you account for all the activities that take place to plan, host, prepare, edit and promote. That doesn't even include the time and expertise of any industry experts that share their knowledge on a call.
Not to mention the time and monetary costs of classes and networking events to learn how to do all of these things!
So why do I do it?
I could certainly spend all of my time creating art and focusing on my licensing. But I enjoy teaching and writing - I really missed it when I was first building my business. I enjoy the rewards of hearing that the resource I am building about art licensing is helping artists to learn and understand what used to be a confusing and mysterious thing.
I offer a lot of free services for two reasons - first, to make information accessible to everyone, regardless of their income or ability to buy information at the moment. I also do it so you get to know me and the other experts who are sharing their knowledge and offering coaching or other services on the site. You will feel more confident buying an eBook, signing up for a teleseminar or coaching if you have an idea of who you are working with ahead of time.
At the end of the day, in addition to knowing I have helped and inspired others, this is part of my business that needs to support the systems that run it and needs to be worth the exchange of time for money.
The internet is a great place to get something for nothing, but an equally good place to find valuable information for sale. Support those who you feel add value to your life and business by also supporting the for-fee part of their business.
Here's to your creative success!
– Tara
P.S. Here's another article HOW TO COMPETE WITH FREE about how companies can afford to offer so many services for free - including FreeConferenceCall.com - the site that helps me offer the free Monthly Ask Calls. Thanks Free Conference Call!
If you recall, I did a video proclaiming 2010 to be my year of "flow" - that's the verb I have chosen to guide me this year. I want to stop resisting and worrying and just go with the flow. The creative flow, the flow of opportunity, the flow of health and happiness... all of it.
And WOW! So far so good! We have some exciting things coming up - many of which I discovered or got a final "yes" to this year.
AskAboutSEOforArtists.com - the Ask Call for February (on Wed. the 17th) came to me via email – "I have this new product and thought it might be of interest to your audience..." Absolutely! What artist with a website doesn't want to know how to make it work more efficiently for them?
Ask Mary Engelbreit – 13 months in the 'wooing' - Mary will be the Ask Call expert on Wed, March 17th - can't wait!
And these are just the amazing things going on on the information side of my business - not the art side. But do you see a trend in these events? They are all opportunities that came from my taking the Teleseminar Secrets Class and learning to connect, teach and inspire by phone.
We're getting to the part where I need good vibes now...
The cool thing about the Teleseminar Secrets Class is that once you are a student, you are always a student and you can listen in every year to learn the new content and brush up on some review. I have 2 really cool things going on during the class again this year.
THE GOOD VIBE REQUEST: I entered the "Teleseminar Secrets Challenge" again this year (this time as a "Veteran" - if you read my blog last year you might recall I was a finalist for the "Newbie" category.) Well I am a finalist again! One of 6 Veterans who will give a 4 minute speech on WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10th to the other students (usually about 500 people are on the line) and tell them why I believe I deserve to be the "Highest Vote Getter" among the 6 finalists.
For some reason I was REALLY NERVOUS during my speech last year - like, crazy didn't-think-I'd-get-each-word-out nervous. The level of it surprised me! I fully intend not to repeat that feeling. (The audio sounded fine but it didn't feel good while I was talking.)
So I would love to know that I have you on my side and sending calming energy to me, OK? (Very new-age, I know!) I have so enjoyed every Ask Call I've done or facilitated since my first call in December 2008 - and it's thanks to the artists and support you give. That was part of the challenge entry that got me into the finals...
I'll let you know how it goes on Thursday, ok?
Another fun Teleseminar Secrets addition - I have been asked to be on the "Faculty" to teach about using Twitter to grow a business. I was just tweeting away during class and posting to the Facebook fan page and suddenly heard my name and ended up on the live call... if you want to hear my basic thoughts and how this came about - you hear it all below...
So remember, none of these amazing things would be happening if I wasn't ASKING (for experts to become part of the ArtLicensingInfo.com family), TRYING (entering the challenge) or LISTENING (to new ideas like the SEO for Artists.).
You don't know what is possible for you or your business unless you try. So I encourage you to take a deep breath and GO FOR IT! The worst that can happen is nothing... the best? Who knows!
Posted by Tara Reed on Jan 29, 2010 in Art Licensing
Well Leapin' Leprechauns I did it! I have talked about persistence on many of the Art Licensing Monthly Ask Calls and if this doesn't prove the power of persistence, I don't know what does!
I have been contacting and updating Mary Engelbreit Studios about the ArtLicensingInfo.com site and Ask calls since December 8, 2008. While I was in Atlanta, I met with the Studio president (who I first met in person at SURTEX, another reason I love that show!). I gave him a few more details about the website, the goals, how the Ask calls work and he said three magic words I can still hear in my head, "She'll do it!"
As I bit my tongue for about 10 days while we got the details and website ironed out, I mentioned to him that "I couldn't wait to let the cat out of the bag!" He replied that if it were a cat and he'd been in charge, the poor cat would be dead. He has also referred to me as the "Queen of Follow-Up" more than once. (I wonder if Mary would illustrate that for me?)
Two great things came out of this - another great example to inspire you to keep going after your dreams and be diligent about follow-up and of course, we get to hear from Mary, a "Queen of Art Licensing" on Wednesday, March 17, 2010. (Yes, St. Patrick's Day.)
If you have plans for St Patrick's Day that you can't change, don't despair. The audio replay will be one of the forever freebies so you won't miss anything. (Thank you Mary!)
Mary Engelbreit is known throughout the world for her distinctive illustration style, imbued with spirited wit and nostalgic warmth. Starting in 1977, Mary Engelbreit licensed her art for a greeting card line and today boasts a list that’s grown to include nearly 6,500 products in all, with more than $1 billion in lifetime retail sales.
What a resource for artists wanting to learn more about how to succeed in the art licensing industry! Mary will be the March 2010 Art Licensing Info Monthly Ask Call Expert... go to www.MaryEngelbreit.com/AskME/ to submit your question and get registered!
I'm not a big sports person and I can tell you I was THRILLED to discover that my birthday does not coincide with the SuperBowl - would have really bummed me out! (Condolences to my friend Sue, whose does.) However, while wandering through a local Party Depot a few weeks ago, I was inspired by some Football Field Goal head gear. It got my brain going into full analogy mode and I realized the field goal posts were the perfect way to explain SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.
According to a study in October 2008 by Netcraft, there are more than 182 million websites on the internet. Sit with that a minute... a little overwhelming isn't it? So how on earth will anyone find you, even if they are looking?
Well how do you find websites? You go to a search engine like Google or Yahoo or Bing... Many are also now turning to YouTube as a search engine - especially if you want to learn how to do something. A quick search of the topic will often find you free video content to help you out. Cool!
Still thinking about your own search habits, when you search a term, you might notice that Google comes up with pages and pages and pages of answers for you - how many pages do you look through before heading off to find the info? Which websites do you assume will be the most likely to give you what you need? Google found 5,250,000 results in .2 seconds for a pretty narrow search term "SEO for Artists"...
That is a bit overwhelming! Who has time to look at all those choices? If you are like the average searcher, you will look at 1-3 pages of results and choose a few of those website suggestions. That is why learning how to optimize your website so you are on those pages when someone searches a relevant term in so important. (That's also why it's called Search Engine Optimization or SEO.)
"But wait!" you say. "I don't want to become a high-tech web designer, I want a website and then to focus on my art!"
Well you can have your SEO and painting time too! With some basic tips and techniques, you can learn how to move your website towards the goal of first page Google page rank without paying anyone thousands of dollars.
When you make your site, you put text and descriptions and keywords (I hope). Those are some of the things Google and other search engines use to evaluate your website and decide if you are inside or outside of the field goal posts when giving results on a search.
Daniel Tardent, an art marketer and artist website designer has created an eBook called, "SEO for Artists". I bought a copy and have tweaked my websites to improve my SEO results - and I was doing pretty well already! He boils the technical topic down into understandable pieces and action items - explaining how to get the best results using art and artists as examples. Awesome! In fact, using these techniques I managed to get the February Ask Call website, www.AskAboutSEOforArtists.com on the first page of Google already.
This, in a nutshell (well, a large nutshell!) is why I think you should submit your questions and tune in to the February 17, 2010 Art Licensing Monthly Ask Call. Daniel has graciously agreed to give us an hour of his expertise so you can learn more about the process and decide if the eBook is something you want to invest in. (I'm glad I did!) If you can't make the live call, the audio replay will be available for free after the call as well. But these calls are made great by questions from you - you create the content.
So I ask you - what do you want to know? Go to www.AskAboutSEOforArtists.com and submit your question today. We'll talk to you soon! In the meantime, here's a video telling you more about it...
– Tara
P.S. Don't forget about the Art Licensing Story video contest - enter by 2/14 and the winner will be announced on the call. There is a $100 coupon or free hour of coaching to be won if you create a video to post at www.ArtLicensingInfo.com/stories.html - not to mention the sharing and inspiring so start recording!
