As a creative person, you want your work to stand out, right? So whether you feel like it or not, there’s no question that you should be doing marketing.
In this review of 365 Days of Facebook Success, I’ll tell you about my achievements with the program.
In my starting days as a graphic designer and artist, I always hated the idea of putting myself out there. Advertising was like a swearword and promoting myself in any way felt wrong.
Is it necessary to have a Facebook account? When you have a creative hobby or profession and want to share your work with others, you need to be on social media.
So on which social media do you have to be and how do you make your presence successful?
In this article, I talk about Facebook and in another one, I gave a review of 365 Days of Facebook Success, which is a helpful tool.
If you are starting out building a social media presence, my recommendation is not to start on all the platforms you can find. It’s too overwhelming, trust me. Start with one, and once you get the hang of it, build from there by adding one other social medium at a time.
There are many aspects to think about when you want to monetize your hobby. Where to sell your products is a major one.
When I still was a graphic designer I always joked I should find a new hobby, because I didn’t have one anymore by making a business of my drawing skills.
And in a way, I did find another hobby when I returned to one of my former passions: ceramics. So I have experienced several hobbies that make money and know what difficulties and pleasures might come your way.
Where do we get ideas for hobby products to sell? I have written down 59 ideas here.
Partly these are products I have made or am still making myself. And of course, you can find loads of ideas on the internet. Great platforms for that are Pinterest and Instagram.
And a great way to develop ideas is to brainstorm. Writing this article I did that on my own, but brainstorming with 2 or more people produces a ton of ideas. Start writing down some keywords and from there go on and on. This is such a fun thing to do!
Lately, I’ve been making a lot of collages and cyanotypes on heavy paper. I keep most of them in a drawer where they subsequently rarely come out.
That’s why I was looking for a way to bind the nicest ones into a booklet that I can easily take with me to show to others.
In another article, I described how to make booklets from plain paper, but these methods were unsuitable for thicker paper or single sheets. The Japanese bookbinding method I have tried is perfect.
We do not always need a computer to create our ideas. Whether it is ideas for a design, a new product or a business plan. What opportunities are there to shape our ideas without a computer?
Of course, it’s marvellous if we have a computer with creative programs on it. After all, a computer is just a tool and above all, we should not attach too much importance to it.
Some people get crazy at the mere thought of living without a computer for some time or even a day. Yet we shouldn’t bring ourselves too dependent on technology, don’t you think? Although some of my tips do involve technology. 😉
Stencils are a marvellous addition to your Gelli printing. The possibilities are endless. You can use them as a background or repeat shapes such as silhouettes or letters.
Of course, you can combine a Gelli plate and stencils, yet stencils can also be used on paper, walls or textiles.
Especially if you have several stencils, you can use them repeatedly and still have a different result every time. So stencils are a great addition to your creativity toolbox.
Using layers in any creative computer program is a marvellous way to enhance our creativity. In this article, I will explain how to use layers in Photoshop, applied to an Easter card.
Once you know how to benefit from working with layers, you can use them for any kind of creative expression.
Besides using them for masking, I often toggle between layers to turn them ‘on’ and ‘off’ so I can judge differences. Making variations and looking at which one pleases me most, is easy that way.
The grandchildren are coming for Eastern and I am planning for an Easter egg hunt with them as well as a decoration with eggs. It’s fun to think of different ways to decorate Easter eggs.
A couple of years ago I made the decoration together with them. I had cut eggs from sturdy cardboard and they decorated them on both sides with felt-tip pens. Then we put a hole in it and hung them on 2 cross-linked branches to form a mobile.
They don’t like crafting themselves anymore, unfortunately, so I made the decorations myself and I used real eggs this time.