Welcome to Internet for Artists! – Kalispell, Montana Edition

CLH Teaching “Practical Toolbox” in Denver

Hello IFA Participants (and anyone else visiting my blog)!
This weekend (Sept. 29 – Oct 1st, 2012) the Internet for Artists workshop is in Kalispell, MONTANA where I’m joined by my illustrious Co-Leaders Steve Lambert, Ann Marie Lonsdale and Brad Stephenson. It’s gonna be a great weekend!

Welcome, Internet for Artists! Charlotte, NC Edition

Carla giving the “Practical Toolbox” lecture in Charlotte, NC

Hello IFA Participants (and anyone else visiting my blog)! This weekend (May 18-20, 2012) we’re in Charlotte, NC!

Welcome, Internet for Artists! Columbus, OH Edition

Hello IFA Participants (and anyone else visiting my blog)!

This weekend (April 13-15, 2012) I’ll be co-leading the Internet for Artists workshop in Columbus, Ohio. This is my first time in Columbus, and I look forward to making the magic happen with my illustrious Co-Leaders Dread Scott, Blithe Riley, and Steve Lambert.

I’m looking forward to meeting the artists of various disciplines interested in using the internet to take their careers to the next level. This will be a fantastic weekend!

“The Artist Online” Workshop for Pro Arts Jersey

This past Sunday (January 15th) I taught a new workshop that I developed for Pro Arts Jersey City in Jersey City, NJ. This workshop was part of their Artist Career Development Weekend. On Saturday, Pro Arts NJ had a portfolio review, and Sunday was the workshop.

What I loved the most about this workshop was that it included a practical component. For the first half of the day, I lectured to artists on how to promote their work online. After lunch, the participants had to come up with a marketing plan for a real or imagined project or event. I was able to give specific feedback, suggestions, and just plain old encouragement – which you know I love to do!

The workshop was a lot of fun, and Pro Arts is interested in having me back to teach. How cool is that? Yay!

Welcome, Internet for Artists!: Fort Lauderdale Edition

Hello IFA Participants (and anyone else visiting my blog)!

This weekend I’ll be co-leading the Internet for Artists workshop in Ft. Lauderdale, my old stomping grounds. I’m originally from Miami, so I’ll be extending my trip to enjoy some downtime, but tonight is the night that the Internet for Artists magic begins!

I’m looking forward to meeting the artists of various disciplines interested in using the internet to take their careers to the next level. This will be a fantastic weekend!

Hello, Culture Builds Florida 2011!

Today (October 25, 2011), I am excited and honored to present “Untangling the Web: Marketing Arts and Culture Through Social Media” at the Culture Builds Florida conference in Tampa, FL.

I’ll be presenting two social media lectures today on behalf of Creative Capital, and although I won’t have the Creative Capital “Cool Kids” to keep me company, I’m looking forward to meeting the Florida artists who’ll be attending this event. It’s kinda fun and ironic that I was actually born and raised in Miami, Florida, so we have a lot in common. Even though I live in NYC now, I’ll be representing for South Florida!

If you’re a conference attendee visiting my blog, welcome! Feel free to check out this website and leave comments. It’s great to meet you!

Internet for Artists – “You’re only a virgin once” Edition

So now I’m back from my maiden voyage as a course leader with Creative Capital’s “Internet for Artists” workshop, and I’m still percolating on the experience. For one thing, I’m already planning my next trip to Providence, Rhode Island. Providence is a hothouse of creative people and ideas, and I look forward to going back to enjoy it to the fullest with my new friends!

Speaking of my new friends, I’d like to give a shout out to all of the IFA artist participants:

* Marjorie Ball – 2D visual arts (East Greenwich)
* Taleen Batalian – painting/encaustic (Providence)
* Andre Brown – photography (Providence)
* Mia Chung – playwrighting/theater (Providence)
* Maria Alejandra Garcia-Corretjer – visual arts/industrial design/advertising (Providence)
* Orissa Jenkins – illustration (Providence)
* Delia Kovac – multidisciplinary arts (Providence)
* Michele Leavitt – fiber arts/mixed media (Saunderstown)
* Xander Marro – film/installation (Providence)
* Joy McLaughlin – textiles/sculpture (Providence)
* Wanda Miglus – textile design (Providence)
* Kym Moore – theater (Warwick)
* Rebecca Noon – theater (Providence)
* Nora Rabins – furniture design/sculpture (Providence)
* Kareem Roustom – music composition (Providence)
* Duhirwe Rushemeza – printmaking (Providence)
* Ambereen Siddiqui – photography (Providence)
* Keith Spencer – painting (Providence)
* Simone Spruce-Torres – drawing/painting (Bristol)
* Susan Stephenson – painting (Westerly)
* Laura Travis – sculpture/assemblage (Wakefield)
* Toussaint Wallace – architecture (Providence)

Special thanks to Alyson Pou, Ann Marie Lonsdale, and Rebekah Meola from Creative Capital; Caitlin Strokosch, Executive Director of the Alliance of Artists Communities, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), and Rhode Island State Council of the Arts (RISCA). I also have to thank my new co-leaders: Eve Mosher, Steve Lambert, Blithe Riley for their warm welcome to the new kid on the block!

For more information on Internet for Artists, visit the Creative Capital website. To learn more about the techniques taught, feel free to check out the Internet for Artists wiki site at http://ifa.wikispot.org

Photo of Steve Lambert by CLH

Internet for Artists – “But I don’t care what people had for breakfast!” Edition

Today was Day 2 of the Internet for Artists workshop. It was also the day of my first solo lecture, “Practical Toolbox” which is all about using online tools to “work smarter, not harder”. My maiden voyage went well, and the participants were interested. YAY!

So in keeping with the whole idea of sharing info, here’s another exercise to focus your social networking efforts. Underneath each step are my original answers, from when I was an IFA participant in February.

“Who Am I Online?” Exercise

Step 1: Write a single sentence describing how you want people to know you online. Begin with “I am a…”

I am a cheerful, helpful, creative musician and marketing consultant.

Step 2: Write a short list that describes who you want to reach on the web. List 3-4 kinds of people.

* Potential fans
* Other indie artists and creative people
* Music supervisors and licensors
* Music writers and editors

Step 3: Write a short list that describes what you would like to learn about or learn from other people on the web. List 3 things you would like to learn.

* Musical tips/skills
* New tech developments for social media
* Video editing techniques
* Other singer/songwriters in my genre

Once you have these answers, you then have a map to help you decide how you want to represent yourself online, as well as the people you can target.

Twitter is NOT about telling people what you had for breakfast. It’s about building relationships with people. And just about anything you do to market yourself in the real world can be done faster and more efficiently when you have a plan of attack.

If you haven’t tried Twitter or Facebook yet, what are you waiting for???

Photo Source: Susan and Kurt Blog by photographers Susan Shaw and Kurt Hoss. Susan attended IFA in Feb 2009.

Internet for Artists – “For those of you playing at home” Edition

Steve Lambert and Dread Scott, IFA Artist Course Leaders

So yesterday was Day 1 of the Internet for Artists workshop at the Rhode Island School of Design, and we have a great group of artist participants.

One of the main philosophies behind Internet for Artists is that the information itself is open source, and meant to be shared, so if you’re interested in beefing up your online presence, here’s a good introduction exercise:

“What Is My Internet Footprint?” Exercise
(Not the official title of the exercise. I just thought it up ;-))

Step 1: Ask a friend to Google your name, and see what comes up.

This is best done in pairs, so trade off with an artist friend. If you’re in a mastermind or other other artistic community, this exercise is even more effective if the person googling you does not know you that well.

The point of this exercise is to discover what a stranger sees when they look you up online. When googling someone else, ask:

* Do they have a website under their own control?
* Is this person easily found?
* Do they have social media accounts?
* Can you find examples of their work?
* Did you find that artists/people with the same name online made
it difficult to know if you had the right person?

Step 2: Trade the information you learn with your partner.

The results of this exercise enable you to evaluate how you are found online, and what kind of changes you need to boost your presence. Participants of this exercise are often surprised to learn what is “out there” on the internet about them. Sometimes, the wrong info is found, or worse – info they didn’t want people to know about. So it’s good to keep an eye on what can be found about you online.

Step 3: Take steps to improve the quality of your online footprint.

As the internet changes often, do this exercise at least twice a year to see your progress.

If you decide to do this exercise, I’d love to hear about it below!

Photo Source: Lorene McIntosh

Internet for Artists – “I’m not only the president, I’m also a client…” Edition

So do you remember a little more than a month or so when I blogged about taking a kick-ass workshop called “Internet for Artists”?

Fast forward to today: I’m now a new member of the course leader team, and I’ll be making my debut TONIGHT at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)! This time around, I’ll be teaching online marketing methods to visual artists. This is a little different from teaching online music marketing to musicians and music-related companies, but the principles are the same.

I’m totally psyched about working with Creative Capital, and the other Artist Course Leaders: Blithe Riley, Eve Mosher, and Steve Lambert, as well as the 24 artist participants.

If you’re a participant checking out my blog, I look forward to meeting you!