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A peek at SURTEX

Paul Brent and I will be doing a recap of SURTEX on the Ask Paul Brent call tomorrow night (Wed, 5/26) – will you be listening? We have the questions all organized and will get to as many as we can in the hour. As usual, artists have submitted some great questions so it will be another info-packed call. If you don’t have the dial-in details, head to www.AskPaulBrent.com to register. (Just put “no question” in the form, give us your name and email and we’ll get you the details for the call.)

Here’s a quick video I did if you want to see what booth setup looks like in the meantime.

Let’s keep getting social!

Here’s how it can work on Twitter:

During the call, add #ask to any tweets about the call.
If Mary says something quotable or that makes you go “A-HA!” – then tweet it! (don’t forget to add #ask)
If you use TweetDeck, or HootSuite – set up a column to track #ask so you can see and interact with others who are on the call. You might make new friends – I always do! Just remember to set up your columns to track the hash tag (#ask) BEFORE the call starts so you aren’t in a panic!
If you want to make sure I see a tweet, be sure to include @ArtistTaraReed – but I’ll be checking the #ask stream after the call.

If you prefer Facebook:

Login to facebook and go to the ArtLicensingInfo fan page.
Start talking. Just like on Twitter, if you hear something that makes you go “A-HA!” – add it! Comment on what other people are saying. Get to know your fellow licensed artists.
One advantage to Facebook is that the stream stays – it doesn’t limit you to 140 characters and people can go back to it later – almost like group class notes.

Here are the details again… CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A PDF TO PRINT OUT AND HAVE HANDY

I hope you can make it – the call is free if you listen live. If you can’t make it, don’t worry. The audio replay will be a mere $15 through June 5th and $25 after that.

Here’s to talking business!

– Tara Reed

P.S. To see a list of all the past call audios – free and for a small fee – be sure to visit www.ArtLicensingInfo.com/audio-archives.html

P.P.S. Plan ahead for June! Kim Beasley, the WordPress Lady, will be doing the June call on Wednesday the 16th. Head to www.AskAboutWordPressForArtists.com to submit your questions anytime.

Facebook – if you have a fan page, have you registered a good url?

I’ve talked about this before… back in June when they launched the ability to register a username and in September. But I seem to be sending people to the September post a bit lately so I’ve decided it’s time to let it “float to the top” and repost it.

Facebook fan pages can be a great way to connect and build community.

Let’s face it, these days you have to offer your information in several ways and several formats so people can consume it how and where they want to. That’s why I have a blog, a bi-monthly eNewsletter, a forum, a YouTube channel and yes… a Facebook fan page.

As my friends online create fan pages, I keep saying, “Now that you have 25 fans, have you registered a better url?” Of course you can use a budurl, tinyurl or other url compression to make something easier to share, but wouldn’t it be better to have a cool “facebook.com/YOURNAME” url? (The answer is yes…)

SO… here is how you do it. In chunks from past posts…

(excerpt from the June 23rd post…)

Last week Facebook made it easier for people to share their Facebook pages… assuming you grab your name!

Having the joy of sharing a name with an actress presents some issues for me… I can’t get www.TaraReed.com so I had to go with TaraReedDesigns.com. And forget getting my name on Twitter or Facebook either. So I’ve become “ArtistTaraReed” and am using that consistently across social media platforms. I’m now quite happy with it since it makes it quite obvious what I do!

Before the change, this is what people had to type in or link from to find me on Facebook:

http://profile.to/artisttarareed/

http://apps.facebook.com/webaddress/artisttarareed

(end of the June 23rd excerpt)

(here is the Sept 9th post in it’s entirety…)

Way back in June, which is like the 80′s in ‘internet time’, you could do this for yourself. That was all I had and all I really cared about at the time. (you know, back in the 80′s)

But NOW I’m getting on board with ‘fan pages’. Continuing my ‘separation of church and state’ (you might recall I now have a separate YouTube channel just for Art Licensing Info)

I decided to set up two: one for Art Licensing Info (this may replace the ning forum… or not replace it but I might HIGHLY recommend everyone go over there… more on that in another post) and one for fans of my art (Tara Reed Designs.)

But there is a catch to registering a username with Facebook – you have to have at least 25 fans before they let you do it.

So here is what you need to do, as best as I can remember.

Creating a “Fan Page” is just like creating your own page. But you create it for your business. (And you have to have a personal page to get a fan page – login information is the same.) Go to:

http://www.facebook.com/advertising/?pages

(don’t worry – they won’t ask you to open your wallet unless you want to do those little ads down the right hand side of Facebook when you are logged in.)

Click on the Green “Create a Page” button in the upper right. You might want to read through the ‘how-to’ as well. Maybe even bookmark it.

Set up the basics. The “Who”, “What” and “Why”. Make sure you become a fan of your page so it can be found.

Add a link on your personal page. I understand that business pages are a way of letting people know about your business without being your personal ‘friend’ on Facebook, but two things may be true. First, you may already have a cloudy line and have lots of business people as friends. Second, some of your friends (or their friends) may also be interested in your business. So I say, make sure there is somewhere for anyone on your personal page to know about your business page.

To do this, I added links in the “info” box below my photo and all the “contact”, “message”, and “poke” me links. Since your link will have both words and lots of numbers until you can register a better looking username, I put the long url in at http://www.tinyurl.com to create a shortcut.

Now go find some fans. At least 25 to be exact. That is the first magic number because then you can grab the special url.

I found that the ‘ethical bribe’ method got me to 25 fans in 6 hours. (If you missed it, sorry! Maybe next time.) I gave a discount coupon and artists came running. I advertised it on Facebook (of course) and Twitter (again, of course).

Once I had collected my fans and sent out my coupon codes, it was time to register the name. Go to:

http://www.facebook.com/username/

If you already registered your personal name like I did back in June, the screen will look like mine above and say “Your user name has been set”. If not, that is where you can start.

But now that I had my 25 business and art fans, I clicked on the “Set a user name for your pages”. The drop down showed me the pages I owned and if I had the requisite 25, I could pick a name, say I was sure it was the name I wanted (you can’t change them later) and I was all set!

That’s it. Now I just need to add the parts and pieces I want to the pages. I’ve already linked the associated blogs. (I’ll blog about how to do that another day. One thing at a time.)

SO… if you are reading this blog, you just might be interested in becoming a fan here:

www.Facebook.com/ArtLicensingInfo

If you are a fan of my art and want to know what I’m up to on that side of things, I’m at:

www.Facebook.com/TaraReedDesigns.com

I hope this helps! Here’s to your creative success and your successful navigation of pages and name registration on Facebook.

– Tara Reed

Why the Ning Forum will be closing…

About a year ago I took a poll to see if we really needed this forum or if we could use the Facebook fan page. Many here liked that it was not part of the more visible FB platform and asked to keep the forum.

Now Ning is going to be charging for the forums. I simply can’t justify paying for more ‘free’ services so I will be closing the forum on June 15th, Ning becomes fee based in July. I also spend an inordinate amount of time getting rid of Canadian drug and porn “members” who try to join this forum – to the tune of 100-300 per week!

If you’d like to read about Ning’s decision to make the change, CLICK HERE. As they so eloquently put it, “eyeballs don’t pay the bills”.

Every business needs to take time to evaluate whether the free services they provide are generating enough revenue by leading to sales of products, affiliate promotions, etc – ArtLicensingInfo.com is no different. The cost of free needs to be offset by sales – or I need to spend more time on my art which means less free… it’s all a balance!

There have been some great discussions and exchanging of ideas on the forum – but they can be done on Facebook as well. I encourage you to join the Art Licensing Info page and use it to ask questions and share ideas.

www.Facebook.com/ArtLicensingInfo

I posted the basics on the Ning site and one concern was about Facebook being too much of an open forum and giving too much information to advertisers.

Here is my understanding of how your information is used with advertisers on Facebook:

FB does share some info with advertisers but only information that you put on your profile. So if you fill out your age, where you live and if you are married or not – advertisers looking for married women of a certain age in your area will be able to target the ads in the right sidebar to you. You don’t get email from advertisers – it is how they generate targeted ad on your pages, instead of the Google AdWords we have here.

You can limit the details you add to your account to protect against that if it concerns you. Personally, I see it as more valuable than a nuisance. For example, I don’t have to look at Dominoe’s pizza ads every day like my 16 year old son says he sees – he is more likely to buy from them than I am so they target him. I think it’s similar to tv commercials you see on different shows – South Park will attract different advertisers than the Golden Girls because a different audience will be watching.

The way Facebook can target ads is also how they are monetizing the site and hopefully won’t have to resort to pulling all free services as Ning has. You simply can’t support a platform on Google Ads.

Also, from my research into ads, FB doesn’t give the average advertiser visibility of the individual – your name for example isn’t given out – just the ability to laser focus demographics. However, an artist shared the link to this article saying that FB will be selling some information so who knows… everyone needs to make the decision for themselves.

Here’s to your creative success!

- Tara Reed

Here’s what we covered on the April “Ask Tara Reed” call… were you on the line?

Another great call is completed – thanks go out to everyone who submitted questions because as I say every month - YOU create the content. So do you want to know what we talked about? Here’s the run-down…

The burning art licensing questions covered…

Starting out, is it better to have an agent?
How long should it take to get feedback for art submissions?
How much art should I have on a website before trying to find an agent?
How many collections should I have before approaching a manufacturer?
Can I show past work I’ve done for clients to prospects or do I need my own collections to offer for licensing?
How and what do you paint each day?
What was your biggest lesson learn when you started?
Do you ever “give up” on a potential client?
How important is showing product vs art at a trade show?
Please explain “Direct to Retail” licensing
Where do you think art licensing will be in 10 years?
Should you avoid worldwide contracts at all costs?
What file formats do I save art in and do I send it to licensees on CD?

We got social again – it was fun to watch people tweet on Twitter and post on the Facebook Fan Page while I talked – interesting to see what strikes a chord! Here are some excerpts -

Over on Twitter:

Excellent audio stream! Microscope or binoculars, agent or no agent, numero 12 items in portfolio a good number. Thank you!

I always learn something new in these ASK calls!

Biggest Lesson learned early in art licensing @ArtistTaraReed #1 Never give up for more than half a day.

Hanging out on Facebook:

The personal experience about the company she has been sending post cards to since 2005 and just started working with 6 months ago is inspiring.

Listening to the Art Licensing call with artist Tara Reed and Kim the WordPress gal. WordPress is great by the way. Looking forward to her interview and will have some questions for her then.

Thanks, Tara, for a GREAT call! Fun to tweet with the group, too!

Great! As always, powerful questions and answers! I can’t wait till next month!

If you missed the call, the audio replay is now available to purchase.

The cost? A mere $15 through May 1st and then it goes to a whopping $25. Have you looked at the cost of live classes? This is a deal… no, a steal! Get your copy today!

(Plus, to be honest, selling some audios helps offset the cost of creating the infrastructure and time spent on these calls so … much appreciated!)

Here’s to your creative success!

– Tara Reed

P.S. Wondering who is up next?

May 26, 2010 www.AskPaulBrent.com

June 16, 2010 www.AskAboutWordPressForArtists.com

The April Ask Call is tonight – will you be joining us?

Well lucky me… I get to follow the Mary Engelbreit call!

An artist could be intimidated by that… I was when I first realized who I was following. But since I’m very good at finding the silver lining in most things, I decided it was all good. Last month you heard from a woman who has been licensing her art for 30 years… tonight you get me – going on 7 years and much closer to the day-to-day activities of building a newer business.

I’ve decided that that is the beauty of what we are building with the monthly Ask Call series: a variety of perspectives and stages in the business.

Last month was great when many of you “Got Social”. The interaction and feedback was great so I’ve decided we should keep up the trend. Here are the details again… CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A PDF TO PRINT OUT AND HAVE HANDY

Let’s get social tonight!

Here’s how it can work on Twitter:

During the call, add #ask to any tweets about the call.
If Mary says something quotable or that makes you go “A-HA!” – then tweet it! (don’t forget to add #ask)
If you use TweetDeck, or HootSuite – set up a column to track #ask so you can see and interact with others who are on the call. You might make new friends – I always do! Just remember to set up your columns to track the hash tag (#ask) BEFORE the call starts so you aren’t in a panic!
If you want to make sure I see a tweet, be sure to include @ArtistTaraReed – but I’ll be checking the #ask stream after the call.

If you prefer Facebook:

Login to facebook and go to the ArtLicensingInfo fan page.
Start talking. Just like on Twitter, if you hear something that makes you go “A-HA!” – add it! Comment on what other people are saying. Get to know your fellow licensed artists.
One advantage to Facebook is that the stream stays – it doesn’t limit you to 140 characters and people can go back to it later – almost like group class notes.

I hope you can make it – the call is free if you listen live. If you can’t make it, don’t worry. The audio replay will be a mere $15 through May 1st and $25 after that.

Here’s to talking business!

– Tara Reed

P.S. To see a list of all the past call audios – free and for a small fee – be sure to visit www.ArtLicensingInfo.com/audio-archives.html

P.P.S. Plan ahead for May! Paul Brent will be doing the May call on Wednesday the 26th – the week after SURTEX. We’ll have a short show recap and questions. Head to www.AskPaulBrent.com to submit your questions anytime.

Get Social during tonight’s Ask Mary Engelbreit call!

One of my favorite things about Alex’s Teleseminar Secrets class is the social interaction that goes on during the live calls. People are tweeting or posting to Facebook – it’s fun and informative. So if you are up to it – let’s give it a shot tonight!

Let’s get social tonight!

Here’s how it can work on Twitter:

During the call, add #ask to any tweets about the call.
If Mary says something quotable or that makes you go “A-HA!” – then tweet it! (don’t forget to add #ask)
If you use TweetDeck, or HootSuite – set up a column to track #ask so you can see and interact with others who are on the call. You might make new friends – I always do! Just remember to set up your columns to track the hash tag (#ask) BEFORE the call starts so you aren’t in a panic!
If you want to make sure I see a tweet, be sure to include @ArtistTaraReed – but I’ll be checking the #ask stream after the call.

If you prefer Facebook:

Login to facebook and go to the ArtLicensingInfo fan page.
Start talking. Just like on Twitter, if you hear something that makes you go “A-HA!” – add it! Comment on what other people are saying. Get to know your fellow licensed artists.
One advantage to Facebook is that the stream stays – it doesn’t limit you to 140 characters and people can go back to it later – almost like group class notes.

I won’t be able to be tweeting and commenting on Facebook since we don’t want typing noise on the audio and I need my full attention on Mary. But I really hope you all connect and comment – it will be interesting to see what you you have to say and share!

So let’s take these calls up a notch and interact. I’m excited – are you???

– Tara Reed

Multi-Tasking Social Media just got a little easier…

As you know, I’m a BIG FAN of Twitter. But when Twitter first started connecting with Facebook, it put all your tweets and updates on Facebook and frankly, that is just too much info for the Facebook crowd!

So when LinkedIn said you could now add your Twitter account, my initial reaction was “I tweet too much to do that” and ignored the whole thing. But I got this email the other day and now I get it!

We’re delighted to announce that LinkedIn now works with Twitter. Try these new features on for size:

Make your Twitter account visible on your profile
Use #in or #li to share posts from Twitter to your LinkedIn status
Add the Tweets app to share your Twitter activity on your profile
Get Started
One more thing: Be sure to follow @linkedin to hear about new features, advanced tips, and more.

Best Regards,
The LinkedIn Team

Oh! So ALL my Twitter tweets won’t show up on LinkedIn, just the ones I add #in to… got it. This is good! This will save me time!

And I’m guessing Facebook now has the same deal… that’s probably why I sometimes see #fb on people’s tweets… I need to go investigate that because when you can save time and multi-task some of your social media efforts, you have more time to paint, create and prosper!

Here’s to your creative success!

– Tara

Weighing in on Social Media…

Earlier this week I was interviewed for a magazine article about small businesses using Social Media to grow their business. It won’t be a long article but I’m quite excited! (Press! Always a good thing!)

Anyway, I thought I’d blog about my thoughts on Social Media while some of them are fresh in my mind.

Before June 2008 (when I took the class about internet marketing) I was rather blog and social media resistant. The blogs I had seen shared some pretty personal information (in my opinion) and I didn’t want to do that. The circumstances of my son’s conception, inner thoughts on ex-husbands, spats with friends… I didn’t see how that would help me or my business without turning me into another “tabloid Tara Reed”.

But in the class they talked about how it all helps and reminded me of a very important point – I’m the one with the keyboard. If information goes out on cyber-space (at least on my websites, blogs or other social media) it’s because I chose to type it. I share what I want to share and keep private what I think should be private.

Sigh of relief. Duh. Makes sense.

So I chose to climb out of my comfort zone and give it a shot. I signed up for Twitter not really knowing WHO I would talk to or WHAT I would say, only that I’d try it. Ditto Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace.

Fast forward to October 2009 and now I’m hooked. I also have some opinions about how and why to use Social Media. I’ll share my thoughts and maybe they will help you get some clarity if you are hesitant like I was or some more ideas if you are already here.

Why I Joined Social Media Sites

I joined because someone said I should. I joined to see what I could do in the internet marketing space. Connect with artists and share my experience in the art licensing industry.

I have connected with some amazing people. Built a community of artists and non-artists I never would have gotten to know, albeit ‘cyberly’ and not in person in most cases. Although I’ve met more than a few locally because of the internet as well.

How I See Social Media Helping My Business

Connections. Relationships. That is what business, friendships and community is about. “Social Media” is just a way for technology to get involved.

Social Media has helped me spread the word about my products, Ask calls, coaching and more for artists wanting to learn about licensing. It has helped my affiliates spread the word as well so I can ‘share the wealth’ with others. (I do love paying affiliate commissions each month – truly!)

Social Media has given me a sense of belonging. I have never worked in an office. I’ve been a sales person in charge of an entire state and working from home. I’ve been a stay-at-home mom… again, at home. Now I’m an artist and business owner… guess where I work? Yup. Studio in my home. I find Twitter to be like a virtual office. If I need to connect with humans I have but to go online and chat with people in the virtual cubicles around me. Awesome!

A little more detail about my feelings on each platform

Twitter – LOVE IT! Since June 2008 I’ve tweeted over 6,600 times I have nearly 2,500 followers. I’ve made friends on Twitter. Last winter when I took the Teleseminar Secrets class I connected with people on Twitter while listening to the calls. When I went to the “reunion” in March I felt like I was at a high school reunion. Even though I never met these people before you can really get to know them online. Of course some were a little different than I expected but many were not. How much fun is that?

Twitter has been a great resource for me to get answers to questions. I have thrown out questions about software, resources, even “anyone know what font this is?” and 9 times out of 10 get help. Of course you can’t join and have that work on day 1. You have to build the connections first – hmm… kind of like in real life. The friendly, social and helpful people often have a better network to turn to than those who don’t talk to anyone, right? Same thing applies online.

Facebook – also LOVE IT. Facebook is a great mix of everything. From the ability to connect with high school friends you’d never see without it to creating business fan pages to connect with your end user, Facebook has a bit of everything.

Now I may ruffle a few feathers with this next statement but I don’t believe in having your Twitter stream on Facebook. Unless of course, you are rarely on Twitter and therefore missing out on its true potential. You see, in my view, there is a different expectation on Facebook. I can’t tell you how many people will complain about their friends who “just say such random stuff I could care less about and fill my feed!” I reply, “I bet they twitter”. Twitter is about streaming – like texting. Facebook is more of billboard – here’s my deal for now. Of course there are comments and interaction but it’s different. I tweet way to much to stream it on Facebook.

LinkedIn – still learning it. I haven’t figured out how to use LinkedIn as effectively as Twitter and Facebook. I have connected with some people I used to work with when I was selling college textbooks – that was awesome! I have made some connections for my current business too. But I haven’t quite got my finger on how to really tap into it – stay tuned for an update when I do.

MySpace – sorry, I was over it pretty quickly. Once I started getting multiple emails from widowers and men who thought I had great eyes, was pretty and wished they lived in Portland, I got a creepy feeling. It felt way too much like Match.com which I was thankful for for a while but am happy to not need now! I think MySpace is for the younger crowd and have decided it isn’t a good fit for me.

Well this little ‘weighing in’ is getting a bit lengthy so I’ll stop there and do some more in-depth posts soon with more detail. The article will be in the November issue of the Oregon Business Magazine - can’t wait to see what it has to say! (of course my blog post is already double the article word count and I won’t be the only one offering opinions… that’s what I love about a blog. I can be chatty when the mood strikes!)

Here’s to getting and staying connected!

– Tara

Facebook: how and why to consider registering user names and creating business fan pages

I’ve talked about this before… back in June when they launched the ability to register a username. Let’s review: