Category: Steps

Categories
Steps Steps to Create

Magic Tricks are Not Psychic Phenomenon, they are for Entertainment Purposes Only

Tomorrow is TGIF for Some or Mega TGIF for Others

Look. To some this will meaning nothing. To others, even less. But this site has a word in its name that is quite relevant to what is happening tomorrow. Manana is the date of what for me, is a memorable occasion.

Will He Rise from the Dead this Time?

Technically, Harry Houdini (Erik Weisz) died on, what some consider a holiday: October 31. Each year, on the special day, members of the magic group I am a part of, go to Houdini’s grave in Queens and do a ceremony to honor the incredible escape artist, magician and publicity generator. But to be more specific, the actual date this is happening this year, is October 29th, which according to the Jewish calendar (Houdini was Jewish), is the true date of the demise of this marketing genius. Plus, all around the country people gather to attempt to bring from the great beyond.

The Word?

But back to the lead-in of this post. The reason that the domain of this site is connected to tomorrow, is not only because it is about resurrecting Erik. It is also due to the fact that this blog, Artist Steps, has a word in it that is also contained in the moniker of tomorrow’s launch. This website is known as “Artist Steps” and tomorrow represents the debut of the process in which “steps” to create are taken with beneficial results for all who integrate this into their consciousness.

The Impossible Can Seem Possible

Over 50 years ago (how did this happen?!) as a kid, I rejected the idea of “New Age” or “Channeling” or any other of the tools in the kits of spiritualists, mediums and related “vocations.” This was surprising to make such a decision at age 8, since there were several believers among family members. I pledged to myself to follow the entertainer magician’s creed, which was to know the difference between a magic trick and psychic phenomenon. The truth of a magic trick, is that it is just that, a trick. Magicians, as well as Mentalists, do what they do for entertainment purposes only. It is fun to be fooled in a manner in which the impossible seems possible.

Taking Off the Veil

But, and Houdini was all in for this one, if the craft of the magician is misused by anyone trying to appear to have real powers, such as being a “psychic,” they are doing something ethically wrong. H.H. in his short lifetime, dedicated his last years to being president of an organization for conjurers here in NYC, as well as took on a commitment to expose fraudulent soothsayers and the like.

What Would a Numerologist Say About This?

Another point of interest is that of the succession of posts of this blog, you are reading number 33. I kid you not. Pure coincidence of course. Apparently the number “33”has a big place in the symbolism all major religions. Examples include trinities, tripling and more. Among the believers “33” pops up frequently. I have an interest in numerology. Not as something I use to guide my life, but something I find intriguing.

The Point of Connection

At this point I have likely lost many of you. But to those of you who are still with me, I thank you for hanging in. My diatribe at this point has gone full circle back to the original exploration mentioned. I find it quite interesting and fun to mull over that there is the word “steps” in this blog’s name and that tomorrow marks the below radar transition into steps to create a new experience for all.

Categories
Steps

Steps to Create and Promote Your Blog

Do You Want to Increase the Power of Your Blog?

As you’ve probably noticed we are big on steps when it comes to this website. Hence the name ArtistSteps.org. A nice example of steps in action can be found on one of our favorite websites as of late. It is called DIYdigi and they have an article from today that clearly lays out the process to create and promote your blog.

Areas Explored

Do you have a blog? Do you want a blog? Both of these areas are explored in the post.

Offers

Just to let you know, they do mention their own products and services that are available, but there is enough information of value that this concern falls by the wayside. Or who knows, maybe you’ll want what they offer!

Categories
Steps

Another Way to Look at Achieving What You Desire

Looking at How Others Did It

Sometimes it is helpful to look to great leaders of the past and analyze how they achieved what they did in their lifetimes.

“A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.” – Nelson Mandela

Chances are that none of us are going to attain what Nelson Mandela did in his lifetime. You’d have to be superhuman to do so. But one can look at the conviction and focus that he had as well as the steps he took.

Consider Rekindling

Even if you gave up on your dream long ago, you can still rekindle it, maybe even in a different way. Without diminishing your original desire, there might be a new way of looking at what you want. Maybe there is an aspect of your original pursuit that you are better fit for now.

Insights Can Help

For more insights to help you along, please take a look at a post on the DIYdigi website. Here’s another important Mandela quote to live by:

It always seems impossible until it is done. – Nelson Mandela

Categories
Steps

Artists Can Climb the Steps to the Sky

Climb the Steps

It’s never been easier for artists to succeed here in New York City. On the one hand the city is burning up due the looting, rioting and protesting that is going on in our beloved NYC, but on the other hand it provides inspiration for artists to utilize when climbing their steps to the sky.

Integrate It

Think about it. Some of the best work of creators has come from important events and changes of the culture and more of the big cities. You can be a part of that now and integrate it into your work.

Creative Message

Look, current events are not fodder for all artists, but is surely an opportunity for those who want to climb the artists steps. Here is your chance to interpret what is going on and to make it a part of your creative message.

Categories
Steps

New Marketing Tactic Introduced

This fun marketing approach was recently used on an older crowd and everyone won! This is what communication should always do if possible.


New Targeting Method Discovered

We’re always on the look out for marketing strategies that have actionable steps and we’ve found an interesting one at ArtisticPreneur.

Communication and Solutions

What we liked about the marketing approach of ArtisticPreneur is that everyone won in the scenario, including those doing the targeting as well as those being targeted. Because in the end, that’s marketing really is: communication. Trying to connect a communication campaign to those who need the solution being promoted. Also, when communication is in play (especially with making a difference) this could lead to Big Apple Awards nominations for some!

Connecting Through an Event

Another thing that was interesting about the tactic examined at ArtisticPreneur was that it involved a public event. The marketer does not necessarily need to attend the event in order to connect with the exhibitors who are the prospects.

Emails Win

And a fun aspect is that good ole emails are the mode of choice. Social does not work well with this approach but with some effort could likely be tailored to it.

And of Course Transparency

Additionally transparency is definitely happening throughout. The marketer lets the prospect know from the very beginning that the letter being sent to her or him is also published online and a link is given.

Providing Value

A big way that communication is brought in is through encouraging the prospect to give a story in order to gain publicity. Although it is not its intent, those nominated for Big Apple Awards get promotional benefits also. So the prospect is motivated right away because they want to promote their business and are offered a means of doing it that costs them nothing and is of value! ArtisticPreneur.com is known to have used this tactic and have had much success doing so.

Editorial Placement

This tactic is especially useful to those who already have an active blog, because part of the approach is offering editorial placement in a post of the blog.

Categories
Steps

Celebify Yourself


Is Being “Known” for You?

Why not do it? You’ve thought about it. Why not take the big leap to the start of the path that leads you, eventually down the line (could take years), to become famous or at least notorious.

Don’t Do it if You Don’t Want it

We’re just kidding of course. We wouldn’t want to wish unwanted attention on anybody. Read the article here and decide for yourself what you want to do.

Art Gush Article is Good for Those Desiring to be Public Figures

Of course it will take time, but you have to start somewhere. Here is as good as any method. Good luck!

Categories
Steps

10 Artist Steps to Become a YouTuber

How to be Successful as an Artist of Any Kind
Regardless of the art form you practice as an artist, YouTube can be a useful way to help promote your creative career or business.

It seems like almost every day that we here at Artist Steps get the question “what are the best steps to become successful as an artist?” The inherent difficulty here is that the term “artist” can mean any art form. And each art form has its own unique steps to take to become successful. Therefore there is not a one size fits all solution. That is unless you use YouTube. Becoming a YouTuber can help you with your artistic career regardless of the kind of artist you are. Why? Because YouTube is a marketing solution unto its own and is based on self promotion which is the keystone for any creative person who wants to build visibility and earn at the same time. Here now are 10 Artist Steps to Becoming a YouTuber.

1. LEARN FROM YOU TUBE’S OWN STORY. Did you know that YouTube when it was first created wasn’t making any money for quite some time? It wasn’t until it had enough users to monetize the audience these YouTubers had built? Here’s how you can apply the same principle that YouTube used which is to build up your audience. Why is it important to have an audience? Because your value is dependent on the size of your fans.

2. START WITH CREATING GREAT CONTENT. This means that your goal should be to fill your YouTube channel with high quality videos. The good word will spread around and you will be heard by others who potentially will become your fans.

3. BE SURE TO UTILIZE ALL KEYWORD OPPORTUNITIES. Remember Google owns YouTube. So if you want to be found on this search engine then you’re going to want to type text into your video that relates to your art form or expertise or the content of the video. Google will find this text and rank you. Because YouTube is constantly changing their back end format, we are not going to tell you how to do this because possibly by the time you read this it will have all changed.

4. ALWAYS BE YOURSELF ON CAMERA. The idea is that the more intimate you get with your viewers in terms of revealing aspects of your life, the more they will feel like they know you. These are the folks who will become your fans. Be sure to come up with a name for them which relates to your art form or expertise. They will identify with the name if you continually use it when referring to them. This is also a way to build your fandom.

5. CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY OF NOT BEING ON CAMERA. Are you a bit shy and not the type of person who wants to be on camera? That’s fine. An alternative is to use software like Camtasia to record and show your viewers what is on your computer screen. This is especially useful if you are teaching your audience about something that you can demonstrate using your computer. But even if you are simply showing people your work on your computer, this can work as well.

6. YOU WILL WANT TO SET A SCHEDULE. Whether your program is daily, weekly or even monthly, you’ll want to get into the groove with a schedule. This ensures that you continue to create great content on a regular basis and therefore become more likely to rank with search engines and YouTube’s listings.

7. CREATE VALUE FOR YOUR FANS. Whether you teach something or are just entertaining while living out your life story, remember that the reason people will watch you is because they find some value and meaning in what you do. Meaning and effort interweave with themselves. A person needs to decide if putting in the EFFORT is worth being exposed to your show which should have MEANING to them. Your job is to reel them in.

8. DON’T DO IT TOTALLY ON YOUR OWN. This means that you have few people from whom you can get helpful feedback. If your show format is about revealing your life to the viewers you might even make some online friends in the process, these people can then provide you feedback as well are ambassadors for your brand.

9. THINK ABOUT BUILDING YOUR BRAND. In the end YOU are a brand. Everything you do or say is a part of that brand. What is a brand? It is the sum total of all the things about you that are interconnected in some way such that you become memorable.

10. USE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA TO CONNECT PEOPLE TO YOUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL. If done correctly social media can be a great way to build your audience. But remember social media involves one of the words in its name: SOCIAL. So you have to be careful about how you promote your program. One way to keep building your audience is to find the connections between your YouTube videos and those who you communicate with socially online. Point out to them the connections your show has to them and they possibly will become fans and supports of what you do.

Categories
Steps

Steps to Getting New Customers, Clients and Fans

How to Get New Customers Using Podcasts, Blogs and Chatrooms
How to Get New Customers Using Podcasts, Blogs and Chatrooms

There’s a newly minted article on the ArtisticPreneur website entitled “How to Get New Customers.” The step by step system which is revealed works equally as well whether you wish to acquire customers or clients of fans or even all three. It specifically covers how to use podcasts, blogs and chat rooms to achieve this goal.

When you sign up for the free ArtisticPrenur newsletter you will receive weekly step by step tips on how you can use web designing, digital marketing, blogging and more to get new customers, clients and fans for your business or creative career. You can either do the work yourself or hire an affordable ArtisticPreneur approved professional creative freelancer to do the work for you available at DigiRefer.com. Also, the founder of ArtisticPreneur designed and now manages 29 exciting and informative blogs that reach thousands of readers weekly. And since we choose our clients very carefully and believe in them as artists and business owners, as a special thank you to you for working with us, all of our customers get written up in one of the blogs either as a guest blogger or interviewee. It’s a great way to launch a new campaign. And finally, remember, there’s no business that’s not in show business.

Categories
Steps

Yianni Stamas Outlines Steps for Artists to Take Regarding Grants, Crowdfunding and the Selling of Your Art Online Regardless of Your Art Form

grants, crowdfunding, selling your art online
Three more income streams for artists are grants, crowdfunding and selling your art online.

Hi everyone. Yianni Stamas here. Grants and crowdfunding are two of the most daunting challenges that artists can face in terms of income streams and for this reason we thought it was important to take them on in part 4 of our 6 part series “How to Make Money as an Artist: Income Streams for Creatives of All Kinds.”

This week’s sequence of steps can be found more in depth in a PowerPoint video and a PDF file for those of you who are members of the Art Gush Online Education Site. But even if you’re not an Art Gush member, we hope that the abbreviated version of the steps below will be helpful and of value to you. This short series of steps is a part of us guest blogging on a continuing series of different blogs with a new blog entry each week.

Regardless of whether you are a musician, writer, filmmaker, actor etc., the new model for artist success is to be an ArtisticPreneur and to take control of both the business and art of your creative career. In a step by step procedure here on “Artist Steps” we take a brief look at grants and crowdfunding as well as touch on the topic of digitally selling your art online such as through mp3s, eBooks and even movies.

Again, this is a part of a guest blogging continuum that is most easy to track week by week if you are a member of our NYC Create Newsletter for ArtisticPreneurs. Why? Because in each weekly email correspondence we provide you with the latest links to the series, regardless of which blog it occurs on.

While we sort out our policies on GDPR we are not taking on any new newsletter recipients at this time, but will make an announcement once we resume accepting subscribers.

Here now is the next series of steps for those of you who have been following along via the e-newsletter and blogs.

• Another way to make money out of your artistic practice is through grants. It can be tough getting grants since there is a lot of competition with other artists but don’t let that deter you. Get started on the process today! Simply search online for grants having to do with your art form!
• Make notes of all the grants that apply to you.
• Request or download the application you will need.
• The strategy for getting grants is to get to know the people who are offering the grants. Even if you don’t get a grant from these people the first couple of times you try, because they know you, it is much more likely that down the road you will get a grant from them. This is very important to realize and can keep you motivated even if you don’t get a grant for the first couple of times.
• Get into the headspace that you will likely have to try for the grant at least a couple of times before getting it.
• Be sure to be cordial to all the grant givers, even if it is by phone or email and you don’t get to meet the grant giver in person.
• Something to note as you fill out grant applications is that the headache with grants is that they often have very specific guidelines that you need to follow to get them. Don’t make the mistake to not follow their guidelines because your project could get thrown out for this reason.
• Look carefully at all your grant applications. Have you followed directions to the “T?”
• What can you do to make your grant application more attractive?
• Another way to make money as an artist is to do crowdfunding. The secret to crowdfunding is that you have to drive traffic to your crowdfunding page. It is a myth that you can just put up a crowdfunding page and they will come. It does happen in some cases but this is rare.
• Market your crowdfunding effort in advance of actually putting it up on the crowdfunding site.
• Continue promoting your crowd funding effort while in process, and be sure to thank all those who donate to the cause.
• You can use things like social media to build up funders for your crowdfunding venture. But don’t rely on this only. Use email marketing and any other forms of marketing you have at your disposal.
• Although it can feel awkward, the best people to get behind your cause are friends and family. The more “cause” oriented your venture, the more likely you will be to get their participation.
• Call everyone you know. Use social media with every person you know, etc. You must be passionate about your “cause” for this to work.
• A suggestion when crowdfunding is to have giveaways for every level that a funder will give to you. Also you might want to crowdfund with something involving your art but at the same time be something that solves a problem for someone.
• You want to be solution oriented with the product, service or creative project that you are raising funds for. You must make a choice when setting up your crowdfunding platform to help others with your product, service or creative project.
• Create a workflow and schedule for your marketing efforts both online and off. You need to have that entrepreneurial energy and commitment.
• Another way to make money as an artist is to sell your original art regardless of what kind of artist you are. Now in the digital age it is possible, regardless of the kind of art you do, to make a version of it available digitally. You must again focus on how purchasing your art by others helps a cause of some sort.
• We will be getting into selling your art online more in the next Art Gush course, but for now put your attention on how the purchase of the art gives the purchaser a good feeling about helping in some way.
• Again, use all your marketing resources to get the word out about the purchase of your art online being available.
Categories
Steps

Steps for the Prosperous Artist

Are there actual steps that you can use to be prosperous? Yes there are and for the next 6 weeks NYC Create is going to be revealing them in their new blog series entitled “How to Make Money as an Artist.” The first installment focuses on how to profit as an artist through education. Although the idea of teaching a craft you know well is not new, NYC Create gives a comprehensive look at this topic. You may uncover some fresh ideas in this article or maybe will reconsider those that you already know.