Learning Interactive web 2.0 tools for artists can be a really Daunting task!

Recently, in the past few months I have been emailing back and forth with a world class woodturner named Terry Scott. Terry is a truly gifted artisan and has years of woodturning experience under his belt. The reason however that he and I started talking was because I was looking for some photos to use on my site, and I had asked him for permission. Terry gladly obliged. Since then I have learned that he and a friend, fellow woodturner Gordon Pembridge were starting a new website to showcase their amazing talent. Terry has since emailed me and even sent me a box of amazing wood from his homeland of Auckland, NZ.
Terry tells me a true tale of which he and Gordon payed a lot of money to get this beautiful site up and running, but the folks who designed it sort of took their money and went up and running as well. This is very common in the internet design space and has led Terry to ask me questions about blogs and other tools that might help out their cause.

So this is the reason for this article. There are many, many ways to get your work out there, and if you have looked at their site you know that this work deserves to be seen. But, how does someone who pours all of their time, heart and passion into their craft have time to share it with the world? Thats where the easy to use web 2.0 tools come in. In years past we put up static websites that were nothing more than glorified brochures. These days we create interactive, engaging, and ever changing websites that allow us to form community around. So lets answer the question; “How do you learn about these tools, and how do you choose them?”

Tools of the Trade & Why use Them?

So, like any other project you need a list of tools. This by all means is not all of the tools you can use, but is the list of tools that I use the most.

The Blog - The blog comes first. Why? Because it’s Home-base. It’s the place where you want everything to funnel to. This will provide you with the google rankings that are so needed in getting your site views. If you have a site already existing, a blog is very easy to add. If you don’t want to play around with the technical side of setting it up, email my good friend Tommy Vallier and he’ll be glad to get you started. The Blogging software that I use is WordPress. Wordpress is super easy to use, even for a dummy woodturner like me. The Wordpress platform allows you to add text for articles, photo’s for a photo journal, video for video presentations, and just about any format of media you could think of.

So Why? Why a blog? Why not just a static website that shows and informs about what I do?
Three Reasons, and again these are simplified reasons to why a blog.

1. Recency - Google and all of the search engines love you to be recent. Google sends it’s spiders out to crawl your site every time there is an update added. Updates can be articles you write, photos you’ve posted or comments that others have left on your site.

2. Relevancy - Again, getting listed well in the search engines requires you to be relevant. You become relevant by posting and writing articles that are relevant to the site that you have. If I write a post on cooking, this may not help me much in fact it might even confuse the search engines. When I write about woodturning though this adds relevancy to my site. Google looks at me as a person adding to the good and relevant content available on the net. The other way to add relevancy is by building up links. When folks link to you, or you link to them this adds relevancy points in the mind of the search engines because you are linking together points of good information. To be relevant you have to be giving.

3. Community - There are many benefits to community. Community adds value to your site through comments. Community gives you word of mouth. Community supports you in your efforts in getting your name out there! A blog is a great place to build community if you work a little at it. When someone leaves a comment on your blog, be sure to email them a thank you. Be heartfelt in your community building and you will find others talking about you all over the place. Type Keith Burtis into google and you’ll see what I mean. Give to your community and they will give back. In fact, if you re reading this blog right now and you have other reasons to set up a blog for artists and creatives please leave me a comment in the comments box below. Thank you.

These are the basic rudimentary reasons for having a blog attached to your web presence.

Question #2 How do I add interactive Multi-Media Content to my Blog or website…and why???

This will be the basis for my next article. I will do a series of daily posts for the next three to four days outlining the ways an artist or creative professional can take advantage of easy to use interactive web tools to help their online presence. In the mean time here are a few links of things that I have done while sharing my passions with the community.

Creating a Dynamic Photo Portfolio
Sharing my Session on web tools for artists at Harvard, Podcamp Boston 3.

See you Tomorrow!
Keith Burtis

I have always said that with a little bit of initiative that you could do anything you set your mind to, no matter how obscure the path may look.

The photo I am showing you above here is a picture of Marc J. Spagnuolo—aka “The Wood Whisperer.“ I first learned about Marc when I began looking for content to put on my Ipod Classic with Video. Of course I searched iTunes for woodturning (none); but woodworking, however, did yield a few results. The one that I gravitated towards was The Wood Whisperer podcast produced by Marc and his lovely wife Nicole. A few months after I had learned of their well-produced show, Nicole purchased a small artisan bowl that I had made to help support my Social Media Miracle in February 2008.

The reason for this post is because I have been a bit behind in the reading of my woodworking, woodturning, and trade magazines. So What, right? Well, turns out as I was flipping through my collection of recently unread copies, I saw a familiar face on the back cover of Wood Magazine, a popular publication among woodworkers. The face that I saw was Marc’s! He is promoting one of his podcast show sponsors, Powermatic, through a free “10 Workshop Tips” video.

You might be asking….who cares? Well I do, and I know for a fact that Marc and Nicole do; but there is an even more exciting thing at play here.

New Media (Podcasts, Blogs Etc…) is rightfully gaining attention from Old Media (Magazines, Television, Radio). Marc Spagnuolo has been able to bridge the gap and blur the line between the new and old media formats.

Marc and Nicole, I know, have worked very hard at creating community around the Wood Whisperer podcast and blog. In fact, they have also created a community called The Wood Whisperer Network, where other content producers can come to share ideas, techniques, articles, and videos. A former teacher, Marc has been able to follow his passions for educating, podcasting, and woodworking, while melding those passions into a profession doing what he loves.

This speaks volumes to me, as I am working at doing a very similar thing in a slightly different niche: woodturning. My live show, Woodturning & Creative Arts, is only about a month away from launching its edited and iTunes-ready version.

So, I say to you now, go check out The Wood Whisperer podcast; and if you’re so inclined, leave them some feedback and let them know how you liked the show. If you know anyone at Powermatic, ask them if they have room for two new media producers. I’m a big fan of their Lathes, however to be transparent, I do not own one.

To close, I would like to say thank you to Marc and Nicole for producing a wonderful show, blazing a path, and sharing their information and passion with us all.

Links:
The Wood Whisperer Podcast (Video)
Woodtalk Online (Audio)
The Wood Whisperer Network
Live Feed at AWFS

If Nicole & Marc are streaming live you may watch it here. Or go to their Live feed Channel to chat.

Free video chat by Ustream

Recently, I co-organized a social media meet-up in Niagara on the Lake Ontario, CA with friends John Meadows, and Bill Deys. I gave my session on Creativity and the use of web tools for Artists. In my session I discuss not only the creative side of art, but how to get your stories across to your customers and community. One of the tools that I love and have previously written about here on the blog is Animoto. Animoto is a simple yet manageable tool that artists can use to share their portfolios in a dynamic and engaging way. I used it here to create a compilation video of photos that I took during the one day conference and relaxed Sunday morning meet at Inniskillin Winery.

I hope you enjoy. For more information about the Niagara on the Lake meet-up please visit the blog and remember to bookmark it for next year if you hadn’t attended this year. Fun was had by all.

A picture of me starts the video off, seems a bit vein? I didn’t mean for that to happen…oh well. Maybe I’ll remix it later.

The Audio track was by a band Named Sweet Heart, song was We Are all Connected.

Friday evening I will be doing a show to honor a good friend of mine, Tommy Vallier. Tommy has been a guru in all things social media as well as my tech advisor 2.0. Without Tommy, the live shows, the blog, and many of the online successes I have had would not have been possible. Tommy and I met at Podcamp Toronto and have been great friends ever since connecting 3-4 times a week over skype since then.

THS SHOW IS BEING MOVED FROM FRIDAY EVENING TO SATURDAY EVENING DUE TO AN INJURY THAT OCCURED AT WORK. SORRY FOR THE PUSH BACK.

So, Friday evening I will be doing a live show on my Blog TV channel that will be fully inspired by the characteristics and traits that I know of Tommy Vallier. I have outlined these traits in my head and now have an artistic vision of what this piece should be. The traits guiding my inspiration are:

A solid foundation of knowledge. Tommy is a heck of a wordpress and website developer. This requires a good base of knowledge in many areas.

Experimental - In this space of web 2.0 you must be willing to try new things and experiment.

Flexible - When you hit a wall you must be flexible enough to maneuver around it.

Caring - Tommy is one of the most generous and caring people I know.

So how will i work all of these things into my art piece?
I guess you’ll have to stop in to my live show.

Friday Evening 8PM EST, Please come, see how I transform a block of wood into a meaningful energized piece of art. I will be answering questions as well as explaining my artistic process throughout the live show.

Photo of Tommy Vallier by Dave Delaney

Ok, so I never really do these blog meme things, but this one seemed a bit interesting to me and it was sent by my good friend Connie Crosby of Crosby Group Consulting. The meme is asking to tell six random things about yourself and then tag a few others so that the meme runs on. Ok, I’m in…..

Six random things you might not have known about me:

1. I’ve been involved with social media for about one year and have been written up in Entrepreneur Online as well as PC Magazine.

2. I worked as a chef for many years, I loved cooking and I loved the creativity, however the hours are not conducive to starting a family.

3. I owned a fitness center until early 2002, the 9/11 tragedy stunned the growth, and my life took a different path after that.

4. I am a spiritual being in that I believe anything is possible, and that everything carries energy. I meditate often.

5. I won a natural bodybuilding contest at the age of 24. I am in fact getting myself back into great shape.

6. Last but surely not least, I have a 16 year old daughter that I love very much, and I am 34.

So…. who to tag?
If I have tagged you and your not into this sort of thing. I totally understand, you will not be offending me by not writing a meme post of your own. Today I am tagging:

John Meadows
Bill Deys
Mark Blevis

These are some friends that I had dinner with the other night after the Niagara on the Lake Meet-up

Buffalo is my hometown. I grew up here born and bread. Buffalo has never exactly been known as a social media hub like Boston or Seattle. However, in the past year or so I have been able to find quite a few like minded people in the Buffalo and Niagara region. I have co-founded a Buffalo Tweet-up group that meets once every other month in the summer and once a month in the winter. Also, to add to the social media pick me up in the area I have also co-founded an event in the beautiful Niagara on the Lake region called the “Niagara on the Lake Podcasting and Social Media Meet-up” We often cross borders for our geek meet-up’s and social events. My Partner in the NOL meet-up is John Meadows from Toronto, and Connie Crosby attended our last Buffalo Tweet-up! There are quite a few social media enthusiasts in the area and the number seems to grow everyday.

So, now that I have provided some context I am going on a bit of a personal mission to have Jeff Pulver to town. Jeff is the co-founder of Vonage, a huge social media buff, a serial entrepreneur, a start-up junkie, and an all around communications and new media guy! Jeff has recently been posting messages on twitter and facebook that he is compiling his social media breakfast schedule for next year and I would like to see him here in Buffalo, home of the Bills, the Sabers and the Chicken Wing!

If you have never been to a Pulver breakfast like myself I suggest you check out some of the YouTube Video’s and blog posts about these Pulver sponsored events in which Jeff brings his truly unique brand of online networking to the offline face-to-face world.

YouTube:

Breakfast in washington D.C.
Breakfast in Tel Aviv
Breakfast in Miami Beach

Blog Posts/Articles

From Jeff himself, man this looks fun! Networking on Steroids!

With Bryan Person, founder of the Social Media Breakfast Series.

Jeff Pulver talking about how a bit of “Social Awkwardness” engaging Harvey Weinstein of Mirimax Films fame helped him create the Pulver Breakfasts and networking events. This is interesting because Harvey Weinstein actually started his career here in Buffalo NY. He used to run a concert and theater promotions company called Harvey & Corky Events. Harvey Weinstein is also a graduate of the University at Buffalo.

So how does this relate or have anything to do with my art? I have been using web 2.0 interactive tools for about a year now. I have spoken to arts organizations and I have spoken at Podcamps on the subject. For me, bringing Jeff Pulver to town would not only help with the visibility of our city, but also prove that the technology is global and boundless. You don’t need to live in the middle of silicon valley to take advantage of the new media tools or social networking. All you need to do is get out there, help others, be selfless, create community, and take pride in what you do.

If this blog post helps in any small way to get Mr. Pulver to come to Buffalo I will be forever grateful, for it would just be another small step in the social media growth of this great reemerging city. So please if you would also like to see a Pulver event here in Buffalo, please leave a comment and let him know that we would love to host him!

Mr. Pulver, I will personally pick you up from the airport myself.

Keith Burtis
“The New Media Woodturner”

Ok folks, I am going to get really geeky, mushy, and philosophical here. For my woodturning and woodworking buds this may be a side of me you haven’t seen, but then again maybe not.

I am asking you guys, the few readers of my blog to answer the question “What has Social Media or the Internet Inspired you to do?” The word inspired in this case can also be replaced with empowered or enabled. If there was ever a time where I am asking for comments, it’s in this post.

As I grew up as a child I was always the consummate dreamer, and so was my brother. In fact I think still to this day at 33 my brother thinks he can jump off the house with his cape on and fly around the world changing the rotational spin of the earth on it’s axis. As for myself I was the “Protector of the Nerds”. I was quite a bit bigger in stature than my fellow classmates and I never liked to see anyone get picked on. If you were a bully picking on the geeks in the class, you had to go through me first! As we grew older we changed our costumes from boy superhero in blue tights and red cape to that suit of reality that we all inevitably have to put on one day. Soon, we start forgetting that piece of ourselves that feels like anything at all is possible, and that the world has the ability to grab us by the throat.

I am here to say that the world has no hands people! It cannot grab you by the throat unless you enable it. My favorite way to keep my neck free and clear from wringing by outside forces is to do two things.

1. Live your life with passion and enthusiasm every day! Even if that means staying up way past your bedtime to write this blog entry

2. Help others and be selfless. This rule along with rule #1 can surely be debated. Nice guys finish last….right? If you help others they will walk on you…..right? Wrong, thats all BS! Life is what you perceive it to be, and we all have the ability to change our perceptions with our attitudes.

So getting back to the question. “What has Social Media or the Internet Inspired you to do?” For me this answer could be a long one and a series of ongoing posts that could last my lifetime, and to be honest I hope it does. For brevity though, I will sum up a few things that social media has done for me.

A. I have made lifelong friends, and real contacts that I can go to for just about anything, and that works the same way for them as well in coming to me.

E. Finally, Social Media has helped me get engaged, co-found a local tweet-up group, co-found a meet-up in Niagara on the lake, and ultimately enable me to express myself in ways not possible ten years ago.

As many of you know I was just able to purchase a new lathe with the help of some of my new media friends, selling items that I made live on my fairly regular web show. This weekend, I have a very special event coming up. I am going to be giving back to a person who I will name later, and that has helped me immensely in this space………..

Ok, I’ll tell you who. It’s Tommy Vallier. Tommy and i met at Podcamp Toronto and have become great friends since then. Tommy has not only helped me in my social media pursuits, but has also enabled me to accomplish the technical side with very little pain. Tommy, is a new media guy and wordpress genius. So this Sunday at 2PM EST on my blog TV channel I will be turning a piece inspired by Tommy Vallier. The piece will have three different elements all found in Tommy. The first element is a solid foundation. The second element is unique and one of kind. The third element is experimental.

So tune in this Sunday to see the “Tommy Vallier” inspired art work and come join the conversation.

I’ve spent nearly all of the the last three days in my shop turning wood. A year ago this would have been fun for me, but not too much fun or engaging for others. Today, we have an onslaught of new media tools that let us take our obscure arts and bring them to the world.

During my “Woodturners Weekend” event I was able to share my woodturning with friends old and new all the while teaching and informing others about the age old craft of woodturning. Friday night I decided that I would try to raise funds for a new lathe. An offer had been made to me by a local woodturner that had a nearly new lathe and that he would be selling it, giving me first shot. As my small lathe has been on it’s last legs for some time now I decided to say yes to the lathe offer and figure out later how to get the money for the new purchase.

This brought me to my “Woodturners Weekend” event, an event I hope to hold yearly from this point on. I would stream my woodturning live to the internet through my blog TV channel, get people involved and see if I could sell my art as well as make a few new friends and acquaintances. Of course, through the good people in my network the event was a great success! Over the course of the weekend I sold nearly $400 in woodturned items generating enough income to give me the ability to purchase the new lathe that I will pick up this thursday night. My birthday is on August third so I guess the timing couldn’t be any better. When i get the new lathe set up I will post photos here on my site.

The picture above is a good representation of the items turned this weekend. I couldn’t fit all of the items in the picture so I pulled a good variety of the pieces I turned. The rest of the items that I have remaining unsold can be found at my storefront and are priced very reasonably.

Beyond the great news of getting the new lathe, I was amazed at the number of folks that came to the live woodturning shows. The connections and relationships I have made through the social media space are amazing. After my last show on Saturday evening I was asked to do an interview with Jim Long @NewmediaJim on Twitter, on how I bring my art to the social media space. Thank you Jim for the opportunity. If you are interested in listening to that interview I have it located at the bottom of the post. Just hit the play button to listen.

I also have many people to thank, and I hope I don’t forget anyone. First off I need to thank “everyone” who showed up to support me at my live stream and I would also like to thank Tommy Vallier for his assistance updating my blog as I progressed through the weekend. Tommy is a Wordpress genius.

Also I would like to thank:
Len Edgerly(@LenEdgerly) who Purchased a set of Sushi Dishes.
Sooz(@Sooz) who commissioned a group of items Friday night before the event started.
Mary Reagan(@MTKR) Who bought a beautiful bowl for a gift.
Alicia Staley (@Stales) Purchased a set of wine bottle stoppers.
John Piercy(@fotographic) Purchased a set of Wine Bottle Stoppers.
Zack Millican (@zackdman) Who purchased two sets of Sushi Dishes.
Patricia Anderson (@pfanderson) Who commissioned a special piece made from Brown Mallee Burl.
Whitney Hoffman (@LDPodcast) For purchasing a Gavel & Stryker Combo.
Christine Taylor (@Mousewords) For her amazing blog post!

And again thanking “Everyone” who played a hand in making my weekend go great!

My Discussion with Jim Long.

Keith Burtis

My Woodturners weekend is going well, but I am going to do some production style wood turning of my Exotic wood wine stoppers today from 12 Noon to 1:30PM EST and I will sell each and every one that I make for only $5.00! Add on Free shipping and there is no better deal to be had.

The Livestream of the event will take place at my Blog TV Homepage.

The items I have already Created for my Woodturners Weekend are HERE.

If you are interested in one of the Exotic Wood Stoppers during the event, my Paypal is keith@magicwoodworks.com. Or hit the Buy now button below.

Learn more about my “Woodturners Weekend” by going here.

NOTE: This is a one time only event. The exotic wood stoppers are always $7.00 plus shipping at my etsy storefront, so act today, and thank you for your support.

Keith Burtis

I have my eye on something shiny and new and I am asking you all for some help. In the last year or so I have been turning my wood art and selling it via online, art shows, and my Etsy store. In that time I have also engaged in social media, spoken at Podcamp Boston 3, Co-founded a local twitter meet-up group, and Co-founding the Niagara on the Lake Meetup coming in August.

This weekend I am hoping to bring the world of my art and the world of social media back together again for an event I am calling “The Woodturners Weekend”. Like any other creative endeavor, as one grows in their art they tend to need new tools, and tend to wear out their old ones. My lathe (the major tool I use) has been good to me over the past few years, but signs of wear are starting to become apparent as my need to increase my productivity and artistic vision rises. It’s just about time for me to retire the old lathe and purchase a new one. Luckily for me a local woodturning friend has a nearly new lathe that he is selling . This lathe will offer me years of good service and literally quadruples the capacity and power of my old lathe. he is selling the lathe for $750.00 which is a literal steal, so I know it won’t be around for long before someone else snatches it up! This leads me to my woodturners weekend. I will be producing wonderful pieces of my woodturned art all weekend, starting this evening and will continue through Sunday afternoon. I will be streaming much of this live through my macbook so that you may watch and ask questions if you so desire.

Do you have a person that is always hard to buy a gift for? A graduation gift that you need? How about a wedding? This weekend I will be taking any requests that you might have, and I will do my best to make it happen as long as I have the materials. Do you know anyone that might be interested in a piece of my handmade work? If you would like to buy a piece, make a request or commission, blog about it, tweet about it, put up a facebook message, or connect with your channel of choice I would be forever grateful.

The power of new media has never ceased to amaze me and I am going to put it to the test this weekend with my Woodturners Weekend. Anyone that I promised a bottle stopper to will get those as well this weekend as promised in my last post.

I am going to get busy setting up the shop for video, and a weekend of art bliss! Thank you ahead of time to anyone spreading the word or that makes a purchase. I will update this post all weekend as I get closer to my goal. Thanks Again. Feel free to connect via email for any requests or leave a comment here in the blog. Keith(at)magicwoodworks(dot)com

Keith Burtis
Etsy Storefront

Items being turned:
Bowls
Sushi Dish Sets
Wine Stoppers
Commissioned Art

Livestreaming Schedule (Will update as weekend progresses)

Saturday Morning 9AM-10AM EST
Saturday Morning 11AM-Noon EST
Saturday Evening 6PM-7PM EST
Saturday Evening 9PM-10PM EST

Sunday Morning 10AM-11AM
Sunday Afternoon Noon-1PM
Sunday Evening 7PM-8PM

I will put a big RED Check next to the milestones as I reach them:

$100 —  Thank you to Sooz! We met at Podcamp Boston 3! She Purchased the Gourmet Chefs Set.

$200

$300

$400

$500

$600- Final Goal

KeithBurtis- Broadcast your self LIVE

This is my Live stream, If you are interested in asking questions or interacting with me via chat room you have to go to my Blog TV Page.