Ah, the Dramatic Form — Even Just the Barest Suggestion of It Encourages Engagement

Short post today.  A family member sent me this web site opener done in flash.  For all you creative designers out there, you’re going to appreciate this.

All it is is a look at a simple ‘over the desk’ view, where you see suggestions of life insinuating itself into the flash opening sequence — a dog casually passing through, a foot showing the presence of a guy who obviously is hanging out.

The point is that these simple gestures are enough to build anticipation.  It got me!  Take a look!

An HD Video Outpost: Vimeo

I’ve just completed a video on two labyrinths in the East Bay (the walks organized by the East Bay Labyrinth group, mostly coinciding on the winter and summer solstice) and had to find a place to park it to prepare for fundraising (If interested, feel free to check them out here: Night Walk during the winter solstice, Day Walk during the summer solstice!).

Given I was among the many who suffered those earlier times when all stages of video production was ridiculously time consuming, I was overjoyed to realize I could upload my Final Cut Pro to Quicktime converted video, and park it on Vimeo very quickly with a quickly generated URL to boot. Mostly no burden, very good quality and free!  Wonderful!

They have one stipulation you need to anticipate however.  Only one HD video upload per week.  It slowed things down a bit and sometimes the uploading caused me pain (I forgot that if I had to redo a video upload, I would also have to redo the description, titling, and key wording) but other than that, things went fine. Vimeo is great, especially if you are not ready for wide dissemination on the level of YouTube, and just want a place to review.

Next steps are to find features on video display sites that allow for making  links that take you to designated URLs (like your donation site).  Not to mention, setting in place some video tracking/usage/video dissemination when you are ready which a site like TubeMogul makes incredibly easy (even for user-generated content that is inspired from your own)!

Attracting New Customers via Mobile Coupons: It’s a winner!

So, all of us are now realizing that we’re becoming, at least in this one way, more like the rest of the world;  our use of cell phones is going way up, and it’s become our lifeline to functioning competently in the day-to-day.  Here’s what I’ve been adopting myself,  either for my personal use or as someone on the lookout for ways to help small businesses establish some presence — sans the obnoxious, ‘in your face’ behavior, of course.  I will cover mobile in the next series of posts.

Mobile Tools that help me save money: Coupons via mobile  are taking off like never before.  From a small business angle, this means that getting involved in coupon opportunities has the capacity to do more than just give my customers a break during these recessionary times.  It also has the potential to build customer loyalty, give you visibility as a featured, local, neighborhood destination, get both interested individuals AND their friends into the act (many coupon tools have social forwarding built in), and even give you a bit more of that “here’s a business that’s hip” persona (translated: you get to to tie into young (20’s-30’s), single, educated women in the way they find is uncomplicated and cool).What I like:  Groupon or Living Social, both of which feature a SINGLE coupon for purchase every day.

It works on the principle that there is power in a collective — that a certain mininum number of people expressing interest will make it financially viable to offer a good deal and ensure that a deal will come to pass.

You might think that collective purchasing would work best for businesses people already know a bit about, but actually, the most active audiences are people seeking new engagements, and a quality business could very well fit the bill.  I know I find many offers showcase the creative or unique, which certainly gets my attention and interest.

One statistic from Groupon shows merchant feedback with the average check size 60% greater than the Groupon’s value, and that most participants are first-time customers.  If this fact continues to be true, it behooves small business owners to be at least as far along as they can be in terms of being able to field excellent service once interest on a couponing site is sparked.

Here’s what I like.  Check them out!

Groupon Contact: 877-788-7858 Ext. 2
Living Social Contact: 202.408.1745 x1117, deals@livingsocial.com

Oh, and for some information on the general state of couponing, here is an excellent article by Mashable.

Building a Creative Living in the Digital Age

Scott Kirsner, a social media maverick, wrote a book I’ve just got around to hearing about entitled “Fans, Friends, & Followers: Building An Audience and a Creative Career in the Digital Age, published a year ago.

What I liked about it is that he went directly to the source: creative people.  He interviewed visual artists, comedians, animators, documentary filmmakers, musicians, writers, and others who have been pioneering new ways to build a creative career online (and off.) It delves into the business models that can support leaving the day job behind. And all of the material in the book was collected in 2008 and 2009.

To check it out yourself, you can download a partial pdf or buy the book.  Here’s the link.  Or read his reviews here.

Creating Books and Buzz — ready to take the plunge?

It’s not like promoting a book didn’t demand a heck of a lot of effort from book authors before. There was always the legwork of book tours, finding individuals and organizations willing to recommend your book to others, putting on ancillary events. But if individual effort was part of the package then, it’s tenfold now.

That’s not a bad thing. For your efforts, you actually get a book published, sometimes with just a three-day turnaround. Your book may lack some of the touches of custom formatting or be published without the benefit of more professional review, but you’ll get it out there, giving you authorship and a good many of the services traditional publishing affords.

For some guidance on this topic, check out 5 Great Services for Self-Publishing Your Book where there is some great information about the major differences among the various services, the new terms promulgated by these publishers, as well as common standards for payment/royalty rates. Self-Publishing 2.0, a blog with some entertaining Youtube videos, concentrates exclusively on POD (print on demand) topics, and provides readers with insight into the hot topics of the self-publishing world. Writers and Editors focuses on both traditional and non-traditional publishing formats, sharing good information about the writer’s circuit with discussion of the POD field as well. And SelfPublishingResources.com offers up the latest trends, some of which can further your thinking about marketing as well.

Which brings me back to the original reason for writing this blog. Once you’re self-published, generating that buzz now falls squarely in your lap as author. AuthorBuzz does a solid job of revealing what actually makes for good “viral effect”, the spread of activities that will spur people to either promote you or be involved with your creation. For example, one suggestion is to buzz readers, booksellers & librarians that you do phone calls with book groups.  It’s a novel idea, and a double value strategy for getting promoted AND getting connected directly to potential readers.  Since every creative professional can benefit from sharing their expertise, self-publishing is an opportunity with the promise of some very enticing returns.

Developing Your Own Portfolio Online

I’ve just visited one of the member’s of the Digital Atelier site, Dorothy Krause, and I noticed she had done something very interesting in terms of displaying her work. She used a flip book where you can click on the edges and the pages, well, flip them, as if you were turning actual pages from a book.  It’s a great use of the application because the images she is sharing all have a similar textural quality and so, viewing her book of images is a fluid, engaging experience.

Flipbooks, then, are great if your work is grouped together as a series.  And they are very easy to create — especially when your website is a blog and you can access tons of plugins that have this feature.  Just check out this flipbook plugin on the Wordpress site, and you’re good to go.  Once installed, you’ll be able to upload your images into it  automatically.  Of course, there are other options you might want to check out too.  I use both NextGen Gallery, a plugin for blog sites when I want to embed an image gallery in a line format into a web page, and a Content template called PhotoNexus with a built-in gallery, when I want to have a dedicated website, that is, when I want just a site that shows images in quick succession and organized by category.  The latter did cost me a small amount but it fit my needs perfectly.

So, don’t be overwhelmed, as if this is a mountain of a technical problem.  It isn’t. There are plenty of ways to scale the mountain of “how best do I present my images exactly!” —  from a simple slideshow, using Smilebox or a show generated from a Flickr account, to the more advanced that keeps your images completely within your own domain, as in the dedicated gallery template I’ve just described above.  Any and all of these options will create satisfying displays of your work.

Somebody told me recently.  We all have our own way to climb a mountain.  Just stick to your own preferences and do it!  I think, in this case, that’s pretty sage advice!

Gallery Grievance: Your social media ideas not gonna work here…

Yesterday, during my walk in a new neighborhood in San Francisco, I popped into a gallery along the avenue. There were some pretty nice paintings on the walls–colorful, professional, rich with storytelling potential (you know, the kind where you can look and make many associations because of  the juxtaposition of symbols, characters,  and other visual elements).

The gallery owner was stoic enough about the loss of people dropping by (hard times, these days), but I couldn’t read what she was after by communicating her disappointments to us. The gist seemed to be that no one was buying and there was only a once a year event where people in any numbers dropped in. She loved the one-on-one exchanges but those were dropping off too, paying rent was no picnic, etc.

Well, hardly the expert but feeling her angst, I wanted there to be a solution for her. Of course, I introduced the idea of having events in the space and promoting them wildly over the net, but as soon as I put it out there as a possibility, she rejected it. “I’ve tried all that. Blogs, emails, getting just a taste of paintings at an online site and thinking they’d seen something already, what a waste of time! My business is a direct, highly personal business. That’s how things have happened before and how they will happen again”.

At this point, my boyfriend was feeling I had spoken a little too long about the glories of web marketing but as he hustled me out of the gallery, I couldn’t help lingering just a second more. I glanced back at all those paintings ripe for discussion, the need for adult community centers where we live, and the what if what was on the web was a very animated discussion about the event itself, featuring a new form of gallery interaction that used the painting space as a means to create deeper engagement with the art and artist?  Perhaps as a nightly series discussion group?  Perhaps as an inquiry into the actual value of making and/or being exposed to aesthetics in our own lives?

What if?  Have you any thoughts about this? Any ideas for a successful intervention?  Or is she right–is the use of the web for this kind of gallery promotion a total waste of time?

Hosting a Kick-Ass Event: insight from the pros

Guest blogger, Sarah Kennon, graciously filled in this week to review a panel of organizers sharing insider tips about hosting events. Read on…

“How To Host a Kick-Ass Event”, a Sandbox Suites co-working program organized by Sasha Vasilyuk, co-founder of the organization, featured three highly successful bay area event facilitators: Edith Yeung from BizTechDay; Myles Weissleder from SF New Tech, and Cassie Phillipps from SNAP Summit. Check out the great tips from folks really practiced in the art of organizing!

What to Consider When Choosing Tools for Event Promotion?

Myles advises: When choosing a tool, leverage all the tools out there, not just one. Find your audience where they already are. Myles uses Eventbrite for sales, Facebook and Twitter for promotion, noting you can’t extract email addresses from a service like Meetup, which he sees as limiting community development for membership-building organizations. The challenge, according to Miles, is to consider what is right for you and realize that it takes time to grow an event audience.

Cassie advises: For events which pull in a sizable audience, it makes sense to use tools like iContact. When her event list grew to 1,500 people she began using this tool. She uses Eventbrite for sales and Meetup for expanding her mailing list and gaining exposure to new faces, but doesn’t find the RSVP stats to accurately forecast attendance.

Edith advises: Keep looking to extend the value of the tools you have available. Edith is constantly experimenting with PR methods, so, for example, she might ask a question to be answered along with the invite to elicit engagement and information gathering prior to an event. Like Myles, she sees a strong need to understand the people you’re serving however you can.

How to Find the Right Location?

Myles advises: An atmosphere that loosens people up really helps to make an event successful. His organization’s venue choice evolved from corporate office space at CNET (which they outgrew) to the Metreon (which they found expensive) to Mighty because the atmosphere is just right for his events. He thinks it helps when there isn’t an audience charge for the venue itself — especially if it’s a bar where you’re bringing an audience who will pay for drinks. In addition, he finds it enormously valuable to poll people after events to take advantage of audience feedback.

Cassie advises: Take advantage of weekday events! She advocates knowing your budget well, and then, when approaching bars and office spaces, to realize quoted prices can be negotiated down to free most of the time because often the space isn’t being used. So, don’t fall for what hotels typically start out quoting, sometimes 35% to 40% higher during an initial conversation –interesting! Cassie also emphasizes thinking through the event format in relation to the space — e.g. do you need something quiet because you’re holding a panel discussion or a place where lots of ambient noise will create more of a party atmosphere?

Edith advises: Take into account what your audience is most likely to appreciate as much as you can. The events Edith organizes frequently take place at the Metreon because this audience of mostly small business owners value the proximity to downtown and public transportation which she took into account early on.

How to Find Speakers?

Cassie advises: To find speakers, use Google and your own networks. She also recommends asking for a personal introduction email to speakers since it provides some needed leverage to get them interested. In addition, she encourages being clear about what you can cover. For example, her group does not pay speakers, but they will provide room and board if people fly in for an event.

Myles advises: When bringing speakers in, it’s smart to realize the value of your own audiences. Speakers, in other words, often see his venue as an opportunity to demo to a large audience of colleagues, and pay him. Seen from the point of view of exposure prior to and after certain events, the expense of the fee ($300) is really just money invested wisely.

Edith advises: Understand what you’re offering speakers, because often, there is the promise of learning for both the speaker and your organization. In fact, sometimes she invites people who have skills she would like to learn. She adds that having reviewed the value you’re adding, you can better express the potential of the event to the speakers. A good place to start is asking yourself: What kind of an audience am I bringing them? Why is our conference the best place that they can participate?

How to Set an Event Price When You Want to Encourage Attendance?

Cassie advises: To get an accurate account of attendees requires some additional steps. For example, he day before and event, Cassie will send out an email to the RSVP list telling them the event is sold out and asking people to respond if their “Yes” has become a “No”. She finds this yields a very accurate response rate.

Other tricks to try:

Myles advises: Charge money if you want people to show up. Even a small fee such as five dollars gets attendees feeling they’ve got to get into the game. He recommends getting people excited about attending. Some ways to do this are:

Edith advises: Set a fee! If there’s no fee, people tend not to show up even if they say they will.

Other tips with promise:

How to Manage Day of the Event Unknowns?

Myles advises: Find an organizational partner.  Myles partnered with Justin.tv to live stream the event. He attested to inevitable glitches initially, but worked them out with his team to a glowing response . Myles also underscores the fact that the things that you might consider catastrophic as an organizer often go unnoticed by attendees.

Cassie advises: Be flexible since speakers will inevitably cancel, and events regularly go differently than what you expect.

Edith advises: Be approachable and be flexible.