Steal Your Face

OK... that headline only works if you're hip to the Grateful Dead... but at least it got your attention and today's post is about stealing or appropriation as we say in the art world.  Sometimes small businesses should look to the Bigger Ones, especially when it comes to how they are using social media.  While the article here is mostly about marketing since it deals with image building, it's also PR related.  But I think they do make some good points in terms of using social media in a strategic way.

Maybe you've wondered what's been going on in my life as it's been over a month since my last post?  Even if you didn't wonder, I'm going to tell you.  I traveled to Cuba as part of a cultural exchange with other photographers from the Santa Fe Photographic Workshop, led by Elizabeth Opalenik.  If you'd like to know about life in Havana (mostly), click here and then scroll back to the beginning of February. 

Where Does the Time Go

Many apologies gentle readers, what with the holidays and travel, I've got egg all over my face when I see that last post I made here was in the beginning of November.  Hope ya'll had great holidays and that your PR tasks are not too terrible this time of year.  For me, this means gearing up for the Portland Performing Arts Festival - gotta get those magazine news releases out - as well as my on-going consulting for Constellation Gallery in Portland.

I also raised money on US Artists for my next photography project which will shoot in February after I get back from a much anticipated trip to Havanna!  I'll be going on a cultural exchange with the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops led by Elizabeth Opalenik.

Fakebook?

With traditional media outlets putting the squeeze on editorial or just plain disappearing, I have been a big fan of social media taking it's place.  Facebook seemed like the perfect site for letting people know what you're doing either via a fan page or as an individual.  Remember how your FB friends howled when they changed the timeline?  Did you notice that you weren't seeing as many of your friends posts as before?  Changes coming down the pike again according to the folks at Dangerous Minds, and it will cost you an arm and a leg.

Learning to Like Facebook

I help out with PR at Constellation Gallery here in Portland Maine.  We're trying to get the word out about our shows and gain a reputation with local media so that when we do have a "big" news story, we might get some ink.  But one of the other things we need to do is to keep up the work in social media. 

Today I met with another member artist (we're a collective or cooperative that runs the gallery) who is going to help by posting our information on local websites and the like.  He's old school and came up through the ranks as a graphic designer and then a journalist in Europe.  He is skeptical about Facebook.  But he also sees how editorial inches and the papers themselves are shrinking.

I think it's that he doesn't like the idea of it.  But it certainly is a way to get information out there.   But there are effective and ineffective ways to go about it.  Just about the whole industry is in a learning curve. 

That's why it's good to listen to all voices out there even if  they're talking specifically about marketing rather than just PR, like the folks at Synapse Marketing are in this article.  

Hear the Little Birdies?

A couple of years ago when I was still living in Sacramento, I joined the PR Association there and went to their annual luncheon.  The food was meh, as usual for that kind of event, but the speaker,  Shane Rhyne of Ackerman PR, was very interesting and talked about social media - Twitter in particular.  Follow this LINK for a very basic tutorial about Twitter and how it can help your PR efforts.  I do agree with Rhyne that I'm more of a editor on Twitter, sharing information among my followers.  Of course there's always the link to the funny cat story, but everyone needs a laugh, right?

PR 101

Every once in a while, it's always good to be reminded of the basics.  One of the most basic things in PR is the event and news release.  Notice the distinction there?  An event release is to inform the media of an event that is happening and that is the news worthy angle.  A news release on the other hand has more "newsworthy" information in it that might entice a reporter to interview the client.  This article (originally posted by Arthur Fink on Facebook) is a gentle reminder that we need to realize how bombarded the media is these days and not to try to make PR mountains out of molehills.

Just July?

Although I try to post more than once a month, it seems as though that's my current posting schedule.  Of course I was very busy this spring and early summer consulting for the Portland Performing Arts Festival and now I'm helping with the PR for Constellation Gallery in Portland. No more excuses.

I have an old (actually I think he's younger than I am) friend in Sacramento who has been doing marketing consulting for many years.  Yes, I'm talking about YOU Michael Boyd!  I first meet Micheal when he ran a small desktop publishing business in midtown Sacramento.  This was back in the day when the archival color printers were still too expensive for mere mortals like me to own.

Today Micheal posted a very good article about the best times to post on social media sites.  Of course I'm not posting this blog at a very good time according to the article.  As a writer I need to write when the spirit moves me however, which is a little different than posting for PR's sake.

I've also almost finished the final rewrite for my PR booklet - Public Relations for Artists, Photographers And other Creatives.  Many thanks to consultant Bob Walters and write Kate Maney for their feedback.  I'm thinking that I will go the Amazon route, but will post more info on that when I sort it all out.