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Modern Day Artist Podcast 5 | Blogging, Wordpress, And Reality Television

Daryle Dickens — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 19:29:58 +0000

Work of Art, the reality television show by Bravo, art blogging, and Wordpress all covered in this episode of the Modern Day Artist Podcast.

More about Work of Art:

Bravo’s latest stroke on the reality canvas brings Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner Sarah Jessica Parker and her production company, Pretty Matches, together with the Emmy-nominated Magical Elves (Top Chef, Project Runway) and Eli Holzman, to produce Work of Art: The Next Great Artist, an hour long creative competition series among contemporary artists. Work of Art: The Next Great Artist will bring together fourteen aspiring artists to compete for a solo show at the prestigious Brooklyn Museum and a generous cash prize.

Hosting this colorful new series is art enthusiast China Chow. She will serve on the judging panel alongside art luminaries Bill Powers, a New York Gallery owner and literary art contributor, Jerry Saltz, current art critic for New York Magazine, and Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, esteemed curator and owner of Salon94 gallery. World-renowned art auctioneer Simon de Pury adds his voice of experience as a mentor to the contestants.

In each episode, contestants are faced with the challenge of creating unique pieces in a variety of mediums such as painting, sculpture, photography, collage and industrial design. The weekly assignments are exciting, original and will challenge the artists’ to push the limits of their technical skills and creative boundaries. Completed works of art will be appraised by our panel of top art world figures alongside a new celebrated guest judge every week. Through a gallery showing at the end of each challenge, these industry select dictate which artists have successfully mastered the subject matter and creation of their piece, as well as whose concept leaves the greatest impact.

Work of Art: The Next Great Artist, is produced by Pretty Matches and Magical Elves for Bravo. Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, Sarah Jessica Parker, Alison Benson and Eli Holzman serve as executive producers.

Marketing and selling art is not why you are an artist. You are an artist because you want to create, because you posses an urge to express yourself. But creating art requires resources. Materials, money, and time top the list. Selling your work is a way to get those resources.

Art Palaver’s mission is to be a resource of knowledge and tools for artists looking to better marketing and promote themselves and their work. One means to that end is to build a community of artists around this site so that we can learn from each other and support each other. A few months ago I began hosting free live webinars every week to help with that community building. The live event allows for some dialogue so that I can hear back directly from you and learn what challenges you are facing. The featured artist column is also a way to build community. Through the article we learn a bit about an artist and what life is like for them.

And now I present to you The Modern Day Artist Podcast as yet another community building tool. Each podcast will feature a different artist as well as tips and advice on promoting and selling your work. There will also be interviews with those working in the art industry who have insight on how an artist can be more successful.

If you are not familiar with podcasting it simply means an audio file (usually MP3) broadcast via an RSS feed. You can either listen to them directly in this article, on iTunes, or by downloading the file. You are able to load the show onto any MP3 player and listen when convenient. I have been a fan of podcasting for years and I am excited to bring the format to Art Palaver on a regular basis.

Modern Day Artist Podcast
Right click to download.

Or subscribe via iTunes.

Modern Day Artist Podcast 5 | Blogging, Wordpress, And Reality Television is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

How To Install Wordpress Using One Click Install | Video Tutorial

Daryle Dickens — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:50:04 +0000

Installing Wordpress is often the biggest challenge a new user faces. But using the “One Click Install” method makes installing Wordpress easy. (Even for you.)

This is the first video in a new series of videos I will be producing for Art Palaver. I kept this one very simple because I had to learn the software for creating this type of video. Look for more involved videos down the road. I plan to cover many internet tools that artists can use to better promote themselves and sell more art. Feel free to leave a comment about what tutorials you’d like to see.

Wordpress is a great tool for any artist looking to have their own website. Often thought of as “just a blog” WP has really evolved to a complete content management system. These days when you are surfing the web you probably come across many sites that are built with WP but look nothing like a blog. Don’t get hung up on the fact that it started as a blog platform.

I’ve talked to a lot of artists that agree and want to get started with WP but get stuck on the install. They visit Wordpress.org and download the software but then don’t know what to do with it. Understandable, but there is a better way and that way is called “One Click Install.”

First thing you’ll need for this is a web host that offers one click install. (I recommend Site5 <— affiliate link*) Then all you have to do is watch this tutorial and you’ll have your very own website in no time.

Now that you have your new WP site be sure to stay tuned to Art Palaver for more video tutorials on how to secure, customize, and keep your site updated.

*that means I make a little money if you click the link and then buy from Site5)

How To Install Wordpress Using One Click Install | Video Tutorial is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

Wordpress For Artists | Windows Live Writer

Daryle Dickens — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:30:33 +0000

Wordpress blog software is an ideal application for promoting and marketing your artwork online. It gives you all the tools you need to create a professional looking artist website and easily publish fresh content, keeping your search engine optimization… well optimal. And all this leads to more sales of your art. But WP is not perfect, far from it. (Though there are many people always working to improve it.) A common complaint I hear from artists who blog with WP is they have trouble getting their posts to look just the way they want them to. Configuring text, fonts, headlines, images, and video players within Wordpress’s built in post editor can sometimes be frustrating. There are plugins out there to improve the default editor but today I am here to talk about Windows Live Writer.

Live Writer is free blog editing software from Microsoft. It was created for the Windows Live community but it works with a number of blogging platforms like Wordpress, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, SharePoint, and Community Server.

I’ve been using Live Writer for over 2 years now and it is how I manage this blog and all the other blogs I publish. Which brings up another useful aspect of Live Writer, it allows you to manage multiple blogs neatly in one program. And I know a few artists who manage multiple blogs. Writer formats its editing screen to look like the blog you are publishing to so that you are able to see what your post looks like before you publish the post. This also helps me keep my blogs straight.

I like using it because it allows me to work on my blog posts while I am offline. And for me that means less distractions. I also keep my working drafts stored within Writer. This means when I open Writer I get a list of posts I am working on listed to the right of the workspace. Writer also has many easy to use features that are better than the default WP post editor. You can easily adjust the font, text color, text size, numbered lists, and bullet points, just to name a few. The real benefit though comes when you want to add images, tables, maps, or videos. Live Writer makes placing these and adjusting these a breeze. You can also make simple edits to images like rounded corners (which I dig) or sepia tone (which I don’t dig).

Wordpress users are accustomed to using plugins to add function to their blog. Live Writer also has the option of plug-ins to add even more functions to the blog editor. These help a writer incorporate things like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, as well as further customize your posts. I personally do not use any plug-ins in Writer but they are an option.

If you decide to give Live Writer a try you’ll need to make a small adjustment in your Wordpress dashboard before you connect Live Writer to your blog. Under “settings” click on “writing” and look for “Enable the WordPress, Movable Type, MetaWeblog and Blogger XML-RPC publishing protocols.” and check the box, hit “save change” and you should be good to go.

Give Live Writer a try, it is free and makes publishing to your blog a little bit easier. Mac users can check out Blogo which is blog editing software designed for Mac.

Wordpress For Artists | Windows Live Writer is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

Wordpress For Artists | Create A Free Artist Website With Wordpress.com

Daryle Dickens — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:30:00 +0000

Wordpress is a great resource for an artist that is looking to create their own website to promote themselves and their art. I recommend going with the self hosted Wordpress platform found at Wordpress.org. But there are some costs associated with going that route.

First you’ll need to purchase a domain name which is about $10 a year. You will also need to get web hosting which can be $6 to $15 a month depending on the hosting company and the plan you choose. I believe these expenses are investments in your art career and well worth the cost in order to promote you and your work. But I also know that for some artists just starting out these are expenses they simply can not afford.

If you are looking to create a web presence without spending a dime I recommend starting with Wordpress.com. This is a completely free blog service that offers plenty of great features and customization all within a community of other users who are there to help you when you need it. You could head over to Wordpress.com right now and have a website/blog up and running in less than 15 minutes without ever having to break out the credit card. This option takes away any excuse you may have for not having your own artist website.

The great thing about starting with Wordpress.com as your website service is that the content you create on your site is easily transferred to a Wordpress.org site when you’re ready for an up grade. Also Wordpress.com offers paid upgrade options as well to improve your site without ever having to move it. Any time and effort you invest in Wordpress.com is not wasted due to this ease of upgrade that is built in.

Wordpress.com Vs. Wordpress.org

If you are not familiar with Wordpress you might be a bit confused at this point by the mention of Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org. They are two different blogging solutions. Simply put the .com version is a blog service and the .org version is a blog software.

Wordpress.com hosts your blog or site on their servers for free and your domain name is something like artpalaver.wordpress.com.

Wordpress.org offers software that you install on your own server you’ve rented from a hosting company and is then connected to your own domain name. It is what I use here on artpalaver.com.

Wordpress.org is super flexible and can be customized in just about anyway you can imagine to just about whatever you need it to do. Right out the box it is very search engine friendly. There are countless themes and plugins available for free that help you change the look and function of the your site. And there is a large community of avid users found on blogs and forums around the web that will help you when you need it. Those are just some of the reasons I think Wordpress.org is a great solution for a do it yourself” web presence. But I do understand that the approximate $120 a year price tag can be too much for the emerging artist.

Start with the completely free option and eventually move to the better self hosted .org option.

If you do start off on Wordpress.com though one small expense you might consider is buying yourself a domain name. Scrape together the $8.88 needed to secure the name for a year and then have it forward to your Wordpress.com site. myart.com is better than myart.wordpress.com.

Any questions?

Wordpress For Artists | Create A Free Artist Website With Wordpress.com is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

Wordpress For Artists | Stopping Spam Comments On Your Art Blog

Daryle Dickens — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:30:00 +0000

If you publish a Wordpress self hosted blog eventually the comment spammers will find you. Comment from spammers is pretty easy to spot. The comments are brief, generic, and often off topic. Most will contain links to sites selling things that you don’t want to be a part of. The longer your blog is out there the more spammers will find you and the more fake comments will come in that you have to deal with. This can be quite time consuming. Thankfully Wordpress ships with spam protection built in with the plugin “Akismet.”

But I know many artists who use Wordpress never get around to activating Akismet because they get confused when it asks for a Wordpress.com API key.

What is a Wordpress.com API key and how do I get one?

Basically the API key allows your blog access to Akismet’s service to check if the comments appear to be spam or not. There are two simple ways to get your key. You can go to Wordpress.com and sign up for a username only account or you can go directly to Akismet’s site and have them email you a key.

Does not really matter which route you take, they are both very simple. But I highly recommend that you do take this step of getting that Akismet plugin activated. It will save you a lot of time by weeding out the real comments from the ugly comments.

Wordpress For Artists | Stopping Spam Comments On Your Art Blog is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

Wordpress For Artists | Staying Up To Date With The Latest Release Of Wordpress

Daryle Dickens — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:22:42 +0000

Wordpress is software that is under constant development and periodically new versions are released that feature updates and security fixes. This means that one day you sign into your blog’s dashboard and you see a message that states, “WordPress 2.9.1 is available! Please update now.” And for security reasons it is a good idea to update to the latest version as soon as possible. But when you click on the “Please update now.” link you are greeted with a warning that you should back up your data base and files. I’ve talked to enough bloggers to know this warning often stops them from updating. Mostly because they are not quite sure how to back up their database and files.

The default answer when talking Wordpress is “there is a plugin for that.” And that answer holds true for this dilemma as well. The one I use and recommend is Wordpress Automatic Upgrade. Once installed this plugin does all the heavy lifting for you.

Wordpress automatic upgrade upgrades your wordpress installation by doing the following steps.

Backs up the files and makes available a link to download it.

Backs up the database and makes available a link to download it.

Downloads the latest files from http://wordpress.org/latest.zip and unzips it.

Puts the site in maintenance mode.

De-activates all active plugins and remembers it.

Upgrades wordpress files.

Gives you a link that will open in a new window to upgrade installation.

Re-activates the plugins.

This little plugin really helps you keep your Wordpress blog up to date. You can find it at: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-automatic-upgrade/ Or search from it through the plugins page in your Wordpress dashboard for a direct install.

Wordpress For Artists | Staying Up To Date With The Latest Release Of Wordpress is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

Wordpress For Artists | Ten Essential Plugins For Your Art Blog

Daryle Dickens — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:22:09 +0000

I recommend using Wordpress.org to any artist who is looking to create their own site and be in control of their internet presence. I call this your online headquarters. And since I recommend Wordpress I thought it would be a good idea to offer regular tips and advice for getting the most out of Wordpress.

Welcome to Wordpress Wednesday!

Plugins are tools that you use to add function to your Wordpress blog or site. Think of them as upgrades. There are hundreds of them and most of them are free. The following list is what I consider a good foundation for any Wordpress based website.

1. Wordpress Database Backup – This plugin simplifies and automates the back up of your site’s database. The database is where most of your site’s information is stored. Having regular automatic back ups can really save you when things go wrong.

2. Yet Another Related Posts Plugin – Every time you post to your blog this little guy will look at your past posts for ones that relate and add links to them after the post. This helps your visitors to keep reading and stay on your site longer. That is a good thing.

3. All in One SEO Pack – SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and good SEO helps people find your site and you through organic cost free searches. This plugin boosts the SEO of your whole site and blog posts. If you do use this one I suggest checking out the plugin’s site to learn how to really get the most out of it.

4. SEO Friendly Images – Properly handling the images you post to your site can really increase traffic to your site. (As previously mentioned.) This plugin does some pretty geeky stuff to improve your images in the eyes of Google.

5. SEO Slugs – If you can’t tell already SEO is important and you want to do all you can to improve it. This plugin removes common words like ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘in’ from post slugs. Trust me the last thing you want is an ‘a’ in your post slugs.

6. Google XML Sitemaps – One more to help search engines find you. This plugin creates a file that makes for easy reading if your a search engine robot.

7. Wordpress Automatic Upgrade – Wordpress is great but there is always room for improvement. Which is why every so often new versions will come out that contain bug fixes and feature upgrades. This plugin does all the heavy lifting for you when it comes to keeping your site up to date.

8. RSS Footer – Many people will be reading your blog via RSS. That means they will rarely visit your blog. This plugin allows you to include a signature in every post that you can use to brand your posts or to market something specific. If you’re reading this post via RSS you’ll see what I mean below. If you’re not reading this post via RSS you can subscribe (For Free!) by clicking here.

9. What Would Seth Godin Do – Funny name but a great plugin. This one allows you to give a specific “hello” to new visitors who have never been to your site before. A great way to grab their attention and encourage them to subscribe to your content.

10. Gurken Subscribe to Comments – Pretty self explanatory. After someone comments they can get an email when there are follow up comments. Help encourage dialogue between you and your fans.

This list is by no means an end all be all list, just a foundation. Like I said there are many plugins out there that do a wide range of things. I am always on the look out for new ones so let me know of any you’d put on a list like this.

Wordpress For Artists | Ten Essential Plugins For Your Art Blog is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

Wordpress For Artists | Getting Started

Daryle Dickens — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:45:18 +0000

I recommend using Wordpress.org to any artist who is looking to create their own site and be in control of their internet presence. I call this your online headquarters. And since I recommend Wordpress I thought it would be a good idea to offer regular tips and advice for getting the most out of WP.

Welcome to Wordpress For Artists!

This series is just getting off the ground so I thought I would start with some of the basics by answering the most common questions I get about WP.

Who do you recommend for a host of my Wordpress site? I use and recommend Site5 for any of your hosting needs. Because I work with artists developing their sites I have experience with a broad selection of internet host providers and I have found Site5 to be the most reliable and offer the highest level of customer service. Site5 offers “one click” install of WP which is the easiest way to get started.

What theme do you recommend? A theme is the foundation of your WP site. It defines not only the look of your site but also the function of your site. As well as helping or hurting your chance to be found by search engines. I have experience with countless themes because of all the sites I have built over the years. It is important to pick a theme that suits your unique needs and one that you are comfortable working with. But I have landed on Headway as a theme that I have been using on almost every site I’ve built recently. It is a “premium” theme so it will set you back $87 but it can easily be customized without knowing any code and also has great support from the developer, so you’ll get the money you spend back in the time you save.

But there are thousands of themes out there. You can either search for one directly through your WP dashboard, on the Wordpress site, or by doing a Google search. There is usually a bit of trial and error when picking themes so be ready to invest some time in the process. But once you have your theme set it will most likely last you a long time.

What are some good places to look for information on Wordpress? Art Palaver of course. But I realize the Wordpress information on this site is just getting started so I need to point out some other good sources. When you are new to blogging and Wordpress the best place to go is Lorelle on Wordpress. Or if you want to cut right to source The Wordpress Codex is also good. Feeling stuck and need to ask someone a question? Head over to the Wordpress support forums. Chances are someone already asked your question and someone else already answered, so do a search for you problem. Finally if you really want to tap into the vein of all things Wordpress subscribe to the Wordpress developers blog.

I have found that Wordpress has an amazing community of people who are willing to help and share information when you need it. One of the best ways to find answers is to enter your WP question in a Google search. 9 out of 10 times you’ll find what you are looking for.

Wordpress For Artists | Getting Started is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

What Is The One Thing I Should Do Online As An Artist?

Daryle Dickens — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:30:38 +0000

Recently an artist asked me a really good question. She asked…

I find all the stuff on the internet overwhelming. But I know a lot of artists are promoting and selling online these days. If I did just one thing online what should it be?

This question came out of a conversation we were having about the many avenues available to market and promote you and your work online. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, DeviantArt, Etsy, as well as the countless art sites that offer free profile pages for you to display your work.

I believe if you had to pick just one spot for your online artistic presence it should be your own website. And I further believe that the best option for your artist website is a self hosted Wordpress site. This is the Wordpress software that is found at Wordpress.org, not the blogging service found at Wordpress.com. A tad confusing I know.

The difference between those other internet services and your own website is similar to the difference between owning a car or having to depending on public transportation to get you around. Yes buses and trains can be cheap and even free sometimes but you’re at the mercy of their routes and schedules. The same is true of free sites and services online. You’re at the mercy of how they want things done. But your own site gives you the freedom to do what you need to do exactly how you choose. And these days webhosting has gotten quite affordable.

The Wordpress.org software is free but you have to get a web host in order to use it. These days you can find a host in the range of $5.00 to $10.00 a month that will be there for all your needs. You’ll also need a domain name as well. Those run about $10.00 a year. Most hosts offer the ability to register domains as well.

This site and most of the sites I work with is hosted by Site5 and I can not say enough nice things about them. Customer service is the #1 thing I look for in a host and Site5 has never let me down. But there are many solid hosting companies out there. The best bet is to do a little research and find out what hosting people you trust use.

Most webhosting companies these days offer “1 click install” of Wordpress and many other web tools. Back before 1 click install Wordpress needed to be uploaded via an FTP client. Which can be a bit confusing if you’ve never used one before. Now you just log into your site control panel and look for “3rd Party Scripts” or “Fantistico” to upload Wordpress. This route also offers the support of your webhost. If you have trouble give them a call and they’ll walk you through it. If they are unwilling you might want to keep shopping for a host provider.

Now that you’ve uploaded Wordpress you’ve taken your first step into a larger world. A magical world filled with unlimited possibilities and unicorns. Okay not quite but Wordpress does offer some amazing things for an artist who is making their site DIY. Through the use of themes you have the ability to change the over all look and function of the site. And through the use of plugins you have many more options when it comes to function that you can add to your site. 95% of themes and plugins are free. The best part is the support community that is out there to help you when you have questions. I am not saying there is like a Wordpress hotline you can call when your in a jam but if you do a search for your Wordpress problem you are going to find an answer.

That is my short answer to the question of the one thing you should do as an artist to promote yourself online. There is a lot more I could say about artists using Wordpress so I am going to start a new category that features regular tips and advice for artists who are using Wordpress. Thinking of “Wordpress Wednesday,” because it is hard to go wrong with a double consonant.

What Is The One Thing I Should Do Online As An Artist? is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.

Join Me On The Adventure Of Art Palaver

Daryle Dickens — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:49:55 +0000

It can be a bit scary to make the move to full time artist. The idea of generating all your income strictly from your art can be so hard to fathom. Art is often a passion and a true passion just keeps calling to you over and over again. For many the dream of being a full time artist is something that simply will not go away no matter how far out of reach it feels. Of course this applies to all passions.

A few years back when I started this blog I never had the notion that it would ever be anything more than a hobby. It began as a simple information outlet for a webzine I was running at the time. That webzine is now moth balled but this blog remains. And the more I worked at the blog and the more I learned about everything relating to blogs and blogging the more I liked it. Out of that a passion for blogs, specifically Wordpress blogs, grew. I can understand how to many people the idea of having a passion for blogging is odd. Thankful passions are not something we need to justify.

Exactly a year ago I left the security of a full time job to pursue a life of writing. I know at my core I am a writer but I did not know exactly what that life would look like because writers come in many forms. And mind you this was just a week or two before the economic meltdown hit the news. I choose to leave my job, I was not laid off. At first it seemed like horrible timing because I was venturing out on my own during a historic recession. In hind sight though I am thankful that things played out the way they did. If I was at my job when the economy tanked I probably would have hung on to it out of fear of the poor economic climate and not begun the adventure that I’ve been on the past year.

I’ve kept myself and my family afloat this past year by being a wordslinger for hire. Using my skills and my pen to do what ever writing related work I could find. And I am thankful that for a year I have managed to survive. Even while having to endure unexpected auto repairs and very high medical bills the freelance adventure continues.

Through this year I’ve also been working on developing Art Palaver more. Because at the end of the day of all the projects and creative endeavors I have going this site is the one I care about the most. Recently I had a story come through my pen about chasing mountain tops. (Find it here.) That story helped me to gain a sharper focus and a stronger drive for Art Palaver.

I am writing this post today to tell you that I am going for it. I am going to pursue my passion of being a full time professional blogger right here at Art Palaver.

What does that mean?

Good question. Bottom line it means that I must generate income from this site. Before you say anything I want to tell you that does not mean Art Palaver is going to be full of ads. I like the clean and simple look of Art Palaver so I am not going to muck it up with ads hoping for nickels when people click on something. What it does mean is that I am going to start rolling out products and services of my own here on Art Palaver.

My passion for Art Palaver comes from my passion for creativity and my belief that creativity is very important, that it is what makes us human, and we would all be a lot better off if more people worked on their own creativity. It is because of that belief that I started to work with artists of all types in helping them sustain themselves through their craft. So far it has been mostly on the local level but through this site I will be able to help many more artists no matter where they are located.

Going full time with Art Palaver means there will be more posts. It means the site will evolve faster when it comes to design and function. It means I will be available more to answer your questions and reply to your emails. It means more podcasts and videos. It means it will get better and we will all learn a lot more. It means new adventures and new friends. It means a lot to me to be able to write this post to you. I am thankful to be in a place where I can go for it.

So please join me on this adventure that is Art Palaver. Together we can learn a lot, we can go to amazing places, and most of all live very creative lives.

Thank you,

Join Me On The Adventure Of Art Palaver is a post from: Art Palaver The Artist Marketing Resource.