Well, they were minor changes so I just rolled up my shirt sleeves and updated the changed sections.

To read all about what Twitter is and what it does, look at the last blog post.  Click here

To get the fully updated and current edition (as of Sept 19, 2008) all you have to do is sign up for my Art Licensing Newsletter and the 17 page, image-packed eBook is yours.  For free.  Can’t beat free!

Click here, sign up, opt-in and unleash your inner social butterfly!

~ Tara

P.S. “Twitter”, the bird, and all screen shots are copyrights of Twitter and used to further the cause, not to harm or confuse it!  I don’t know how I ever lived without you Twitter!

P.P.S.  Do you already twitter?  Let me know – follow me, I’ll follow you.  artisttarareed

Hopefully you learned all about Twitter from my post & free eBook.
If not, check it out:  Twitter Blog

Another great resource for professional networking is LinkedIn.  A fellow art licensor did a great job explaining it and said I could share.  (yeah!)  Here’s the first part, then sign up for her newsletter for the rest.  And a very cool Color Tool Bar — you won’t be sorry!  ~ Tara

Leveraging LinkedIn’s Networking Power
by CHERISH FLIEDER

“I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”

You may have been sent an e-mail with this exact request on more than one occasion by a friend or colleague. If you have dismissed this invitation as just another one of those time wasting, friend collecting sites, then you may be at a considerable disadvantage.

So, if it’s that important, what exactly is LinkedIn you ask . . . and that’s a great question!

LinkedIn, found online at http://www.linkedin.com, is by far the largest and most professional, business-oriented, social media, networking site on the World Wide Web. Although it has only been around since 2002, it has over 25 million participants worldwide and grows at the rate of over 130,000 members each week!

LinkedIn is easy to use and opens the doors of opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with key players of the human race, in a new and effective way. The basic concept of how it works beckons back to the theory of “six degrees of separation.” On LinkedIn it will only show you up to three degrees of separation, but that alone will connect you to millions of professionals once you start linking up with other users. Your network will consist of your connections (1st), your connections’ connections (2nd), and then the connections to which they are connected (3rd). This dynamic function will start to make more sense as you begin see it in action.

It’s a good idea to create and maintain a professional LinkedIn profile page if you want:

• a beneficial way to promote your art brand, products and/or services online
• to meet key players in your areas of expertise
• to discover new business or job opportunities
• to learn about a new industry in which you hope to expand
• to reconnect with colleagues, classmates and clients

5 Things I Love About LinkedIn

• LinkedIn helps me to “stay in touch” and “touch base” with people that are important to me. Often, we get so busy that we never follow up on important connections and we loose out in the long run. LinkedIn is a superior tool for keeping you cognizant of your important connections and gives you an easy way to contact with them when the time is right.

• LinkedIn gives you a visual reference of your network, helping you readily discover commonalities. You can find someone with a skill you desire. You can post jobs or even apply for them online. When you are looking to join or serve with a new company, you can use LinkedIn to conduct preparatory research. LinkedIn makes it easy to discover which connections you have working with that company or who is associated with it, even before you have your first interview.
• LinkedIn is a great way to learn about any industry. You can see what other people are up to, see how they are promoting themselves and view their notable accomplishments.
• LinkedIn manages my database of connections for me. I don’t have to go and look up an e-mail for anyone that is connected to me or even open up my e-mail composer to send out a message. It gives me an instant connection to their e-mail in-box from their profile page.
• LinkedIn makes it simple for each member to keep their own information current for the benefit of the community. This feature helps users quickly access updated job summaries, aspirations, interests, status, website links, and more.

One last thing about social media sites . . . there are so many of them out there. If you are using them for your business you will need to carefully select the ones that help you best maintain professional connections and ultimately keep your brand in front of your clients. Professionally, I use Plaxo, Facebook and Twitter, in addition to LinkedIn. MySpace can be good too, if you approach it with a professional touch. But, if you only choose one, I urge you to go with LinkedIn, as it will give you the most professional online presence and effective online networking available.

10 Tips to Making the Most of Your LinkedIn Profile

> > > > > Wait, there’s more! < < < < <

Get the rest of this article “Leveraging LinkedIn’s Networking Power for Art Licensors” including the “10 Tips to Making the Most of Your LinkedIn Profile” when you sign up for Cherish’s e-zine.

These complementary LinkedIn profile tips and information on how to use them will dynamically shift the way you use LinkedIn. Get ready to turbo-charge your online networking activities and reach out to your industry!

Also, when you sign up for my “Something to Cherish Souvenirs E-zine” for occasional art and info updates, you can also gain exclusive access to the “Cherish COLOR” Trends Toolbar for your Mac or PC. If you are inspired by colors, you will appreciate having this little tool in your back pocket as you use the internet, giving you access to color trend and color mixing information from all of the leading sites on color.

P.S.  Be sure to look for me on LinkedIn … Tara Reed on LinkedIn

According to Twitter:  Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
** UPDATED TO REFLECT TWITTER CHANGES MADE 9/17/08 **

It can be anything from “about to brush my teeth”, “had a ham sandwich for lunch”, “discovered this great new website – here is a link”.

And here’s a catch– you only have 140 characters per ‘tweet’.  (A “tweet” is what they call your update or post)

While trying to explain Twitter to a friend the other day, I came up with a great analogy.   Twitter is like a virtual office – with the people you follow being the workers in nearby cubicles.

If I were in a real office, I could walk to a nearby cubicle and ask, “ Hey, anybody know what font this is?”  Since I work at home, I’d be talking to the wall.

But now that I have twitter, I can talk to anyone who is following me.

I have found Twitter to be a great source of information. My font question was real.  One day I needed to figure a font to use in a book.  I found one I liked but didn’t know what it was.

I Twittered my question, put a link to a sample of the font, and waited.

Within 10 minutes, one person told me the exact name of the font.

Another Twitter friend gave me a link to a website, where I could enter samples of any font and the site would tell me the font. What a great resource for the future!

With more and more people working from home, there is a growing need for ways to feel ‘connected’ and less isolated. Twitter does just that and more.

The TOP 3 reasons I like Twitter:

1. Twitter is a great way to learn about what people are doing.  Twitter helps you feel connected to others in your industry and life – regardless of  physical location.
2. By reading what others are doing and discovering, I too, find interesting websites that can help me with my business.
3. By posting what I’m doing throughout the day, others can learn more about me personally and professionally.  Twitter has led to joint venture opportunities, job opportunities and new customers.

Sounds pretty good, right?

But how does it work?

I will take you on a guided tour of Twitter, complete with lots of pictures!
(I’m an artist, I like to SEE what is going on!)

You will Learn the Six Steps to Becoming a Master Tweeter on Twitter

All you have to do is sign up for my Art Licensing Newsletter and the 17 page, image-packed eBook is yours.  For free.  Can’t beat free!

Click here, sign up, opt-in and unleash your inner social butterfly!

~ Tara

P.S. “Twitter”, the bird, and all screen shots are copyrights of Twitter and used to further the cause, not to harm or confuse it!  I don’t know how I ever lived without you Twitter!

P.P.S.  Do you already twitter?  This is me:  artisttarareed