by Linda | Jul 28, 2011 | my creative journal
Do you have business cards ready to hand out to interested parties? Do you have other printed promotional materials to help spread the word about your work, especially if you are a visual artist or have an opportunity to really show off your work through photography? Although it may seem old fashioned, traditional printed material is still amazingly effective as a way of marketing your brand and products.
Business Cards
Although the digital age may seem to have pushed print to the waysides in many arenas, the business card is still alive and thriving. In fact, printing business have reported a surge and demand for printed business cards. Huh, imagine that! I get a lot of my printed materials from Vistaprint and they happen to print business cards more than other other one of their products. Although there are many ways to exchange contact information, especially for online businesses…the traditional business card is much more intimate and immediate. Dating from the Victorian times, “calling cards” were the thing to leave for any respectable gentlewoman/man – and I do have a thing for the Victorian days. Did you know it’s also become “a thing” to order dating cards? Yes, your contact information on a printed card to hand out at bars and social events for singles. 🙂
The point is that the business card is here to stay. They are cheap to print and best in small quanities, so you can change the look and update as often as you like. In fact, it keeps things fresh. It’s like leaving a little part of your brand in prospective customers’ hands. I know there are folks who go all digital…but I think you are missing out. In fact, with the overload of digital these days…print has become the all too missed element in real-life interactions. Let’s just say if you are already super famous…then yeah, you probably don’t need or want to be passing out business cards. But I don’t think that applies to most of us creatives…because we want and need to get ourselves out there and known.
Promotional Printed Materials
The same idea applies for other types of promotional printed materials. Notecards, postcards, magnets, calendars…products galore! It might seem real estate agent cheesy, but you seriously stuck that magnet or calendar on your fridge, right? Didn’t you keep that pad of paper to use it for note writing? With the flood of digital and online marketing these days, again we have print looking a bit special. Snail mail coming back strong and honestly…bring back a sense of real human interaction from business to customer. I love getting postcards and notecards from my favorite illustrators and Etsy shops…it reminds me about their work and gets me to go to their shop for sure.
Also, I find printed materials a great way to spread the love and art…again…email blasting an image to your list is different than actually printing postcards and sending it out. You know the difference and I think you’ve felt it as a consumer yourself. I know that there are hardcore digital folks who say they don’t need the old ways of doing things. I on the other end of the spectrum because I love printed materials myself, think that it’s cheap enough these days to actually be more worth the effort and money spent.
What do you think? Do you have a business card and printed materials to help with marketing? Let me know in the comments below!
by Linda | Jul 25, 2011 | my creative journal
This is the final week of reading The Artist’s Way (here’s a link to the copy I bought on Amazon), chapter 12. I can’t believe these weeks have flown by and as I’m scurrying about preparing for our big vacation in August, I’m also finding the time to reflect upon the reading and exercises I’ve completed.
No doubt, I could have put more time into this journey, but I feel like it’s not necessarily a one time thing. The creative life goes in cycles and we all battle with certain challenging topics over and over again. Hopefully, we get better at dealing with them each time and this book has certainly opened up a new perspective for me.
Every once in a while, I have blogged about wanting to loosen up (not necessarily successful at it though). I seem to have this crazy illusion that I can control what is going on… and when it doesn’t work out, it’s like my world is spiraling out of control.
Even though I understand that it is not necessary to control – or truly that it is impossible to control everything. But I still feel the urge and find myself almost automatically lulled into that type of action. I used to be a project manager. I’m a hardcore virgo – the practical girl. For our vacation, I have printed out all the addresses, directions, phone number lists, descriptions, coupons, confirmations and notes… because we might need it on paper.
The mega vacation “brain” book filled with my typed up notes, possible itineraries by day and hours of operation with phone numbers. Yeah, I realize it all sounds a bit too planned to be a true vacation, but I like to know there are options. At least I don’t have things listed by the hour! I just like having a plan. Perhaps I have learned to let go a little bit, just using all that preparation as backup when necessary.
But thinking about my habits has helped me to realize how uptight I can really be… even though it’s all an illusion. Nothing really works out as planned, but I still can’t seem to truly let go. Perhaps not a coincidence that my word of the year is focus. I’ve been trying to tighten up even more, but failing miserably. I long to be able to let go, get loose, give myself freedom… but just can’t actually do it. Is it possible to let go in an orderly fashion?
Maybe I need extreme chaos instead. Pure, total craziness to shake me out of it all – at least one time – so that I “get” it. Because it’s something that I find terribly uncomfortable. No one wants to let go and feel at the mercy…of…whatever.
And I’ve always wanted to feel like we have control of our lives, that we can make a difference with our efforts and merits. I don’t like the idea of just believing in something bigger and it’ll magically happen. I believe in hard work. I guess it’s not one way or the other… it’s a balance of both, right? You’ve got to do the work, but also have faith. It’s not the first time someone has tried to teach me that.
In the epilogue, I think Cameron’s words are so wise… and remind me that it’s a constant process, this artist journey.
Ultimately, creative living – and it’s okay to have bumps along the way – is a bumpy road, not smooth or straight.
I really like thinking of The Artist’s Way as a spiraling journey up a mountain.
Cameron writes, “As we pursue climbing it, we circle back on the same views, over and over, at slightly different altitudes…” A beautiful analogy!
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by Linda | Jul 21, 2011 | my creative journal
Google Chrome, Boomerang and Gmail… yes they go together like magic! I’ve made a cool discovery and definitely wanted to share with all creative entrepreneurs out there. One thing about the handmade business and really, business in general these days…is the connection and relationships we form with our customers. It’s so important to be available, to get feedback and keep updated with how our lovely customers are feeling.
So I’ve been brushing up my Etsy shop process, formulating a checklist for processing orders and revamping every little detail. Have you put some thought into your buyer’s message for example, the email that everyone gets when placing an order? No matter what shop you have, there’s always an order confirmation email. I decided to add some spice to mine, just for kicks. I know not everyone reads them, but when they do – I’m sure they will be amused and hopefully smile a bit! I also thought about follow-up emails to ensure that my customer received the package after shipping. Since I’m located in Italy, packages might take a while to arrive, so it’s really important for me to be able to schedule emails while processing the order…rather than to have a running list of emails to write at a later date. That can get really confusing and time consuming.
Enter Boomerang. It’s a plug-in for Gmail that lets you schedule emails – eureka! Talk about cool. After using it a few times to schedule future emails (and I tested it on myself, pretty sweet!) I realized there’s more functionality as well. You can set it to remind you of emails you have sent out where the person hasn’t responded after x amoutn of days, as well as move messages back to your inbox after a certain amount of time…to keep your emails tidy but functional. No one likes the overflowing inbox! Pretty techy cool, eh? I just love tools that help me get things done more efficiently.
I feel as if now I’ve opened up a new way of communicating with customers directly, opening up the gates for more feedback so that I can improve things moving forward. It’s also a nice way to get you back onto the customer’s mind a few weeks after they’ve purchased a product. I have to admit, I always find those messages a nice surprise and reminder when I receive them! Whether you choose to use this nifty plugin or do it old school, remember the importance of follow-up emails. People are busy and you do need to remind them of things in a non-spammy fashion every now and again. Try it! Hope you’ve enjoyed this marketing tip this week…now back to work 🙂
by Linda | Jul 20, 2011 | my creative journal
If you would like to learn about the Notes to Myself project from the beginning, check out the introduction post here.
I believe that oftentimes we don’t celebrate enough. I don’t just mean big parties for certain milestone events though…I mean all the little things too. A little success here, a lovely family dinner together. Why not break out the wine? As a family, we often break out a nice bottle of wine or special beer and just make it an occasion. Sometimes we experiment and cook a special dish for a Sunday lunch…to have some fun and just celebrate a lovely time together.
Everyone gets really busy and we often feel pressured to throw those big parties for birthdays and big events. But it doesn’t have to be so complicated. You can celebrate with a nice dessert one night or a little something different to make it a special day. We need to celebrate the life we live…all the time. I have had to learn over time that it’s okay to indulge.
For this page, I printed out an array of photos from our little experiments, parties and get togethers. From formal events to just family dinners and lunches…celebrate life! I even kept some of the petal confetti from a recent BBQ we had…my brother-in-law just decided to buy fireworks and confetti poppers. Now that’s the way to have fun 🙂
Are you celebrating life…enough?
by Linda | Jul 19, 2011 | my creative journal
I am an Artist. That is how the chapter begins and it’s a huge statement… especially since so many creative people have a hard time saying that statement with full confidence and pride. It is definitely a journey to self-acceptance and I don’t know if it’s something you can teach someone or help someone with. It is a wholly personal journey.
Reading through The Artist’s Way (here’s a link to the copy I bought on Amazon) and in this chapter, what really hit me is when Cameron wrote, “we need to move out of the head and into a body of work..” because “Most blocked creatives are cerebral beings.” That really stopped me in my tracks.
I’ve always been the brainy, goody, practical, by the rules, the reason behind it kind of person. Decisions based on the pros and cons and planning things out. Jeepers. I’m too cerebral… in a negative sense, I think. There I go over analyzing again. Definitely something I need to work on.
I was inspired to create this design after reading the chapter. My first step to autonomy, acceptance and declaration. Here’s a little design I created…
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