Over the last few weeks I’ve observed what typically would have been well received posts garner an ill reception. Posts that would typically rack up over 100 likes and dozens of comments now see a meager 20 or 30 comments and likes combined. Has my quality of post material gone down considerably? Perhaps. Has my timing and people’s willingness to comment on shared content worsened? Perhaps, but not likely.

What has actually happened is that Facebook has changed their rubric. They’ve made it so your post shows up less when you use 3rd party applications like Hootsuite. They want you to use their platform to post and not through someone else’s platform.

What is one to do with this obviously inconvenient piece of news? Bow to the Facebook overlords and begin using their platform more and more.

I’ve made these changes and have already seen significant improvements in interaction numbers.

1. KISS Method: Keep It Simple Stupid

Oh man how this simple rule has made me a better artist and a better person. I follow this rule as much as I can from my art to my life. To start off with I’m a pretty simple guy, I draw, I eat and drink, I draw and I sleep, not much to it. In my art I use the most basic things – pencil and paper – and I draw with the most common shape, a circle, big whoop, that’s it!

How simple can you get? I work hard at simplifying as much as I can, I buy new high quality clothes and I weed out what ever I don’t wear to have only a few shirts and pants. Everyday I get rid of one thing, this one is the big one for you folks who live in clutter, when I get up the first thing on my mind is to throw something into the trash or to put something in the goodwill box. I try not to have anything around me I don’t use. Less is more.

2. Balance

Working 70 to 90 hours a week has its benefits for an artist who is on the right track, but you must balance yourself between many different things to be a successful artist and person. Most people think art is all about painting and having fun and dressing and acting weird and having people say “its ok they’re an artist”. But its not all fun and games, actually very little is fun, but it is a game and if you learn how to play it you can win.

Ok, before you start thinking you need to balance work and the rest of your, life you’re wrong – you need to balance work with more work. Being an artist isn’t something you can turn on and off. As artists, most of us don’t have lives outside art. You can’t spend your whole day drawing or painting, you must get in on marketing and PR as much as you can. You have to put yourself and your work out there as much as possible and as hard as you work on it.

I spend most of my work days right here on the computer on e-mail, myspace, facebook and twitter and about 5 to 10 other lesser social media sites chatting it up with whoever about whatever. Sure I bring up my art as much as possible but I don’t overwhelm people with it, I just let them know if they ever need any art I’m here for them. I also spend about one day every month calling around and talking to all my gallery owners and of course I pound the pavement a few times a month to get out there and meet new people. Every time I meet some one new I make sure they know I’m an artist and I never go overboard with it unless I’m asked.

I also try to spend an hour every morning writing, just getting everything out and most of it ends up on my blog. I work very closely with my wife and we already eat meals together, go for walks and other stuff happy couples do. And somehow I mange to sneak in 8 hours of sleep in there too!

3. Put in the work

The thing that I have learned that seems to work the most is work, you gotta put in the work. I know, I know, you say you put in the time but you need to double that then work a little more. If you wanna be the best at anything, I don’t care what it is, you gotta put in the time. Once you stop or even slow down about a hundred people will pass you up. So if you pick up anything from this blog, it’s to work and work hard. You can rest when you’re dead.

Enter Google’s popular notification technology called Google Alerts. This is a magical service that puts Google to work for you. At the alerts home screen, you can enter your search terms and other specific details like the number of times you are notified and the type of search. In order to get your alert crawling Craigslist, you want to use the search term specification: ‘site:’. For instance, if you’re looking for a Macbook Pro in the San Diego area, you’d want to enter the following search terms: “macbook pro” site:http://sandiego.craigslist.org/.

So play around with that as much as you’d like. Feel free to see what works best for you as you are allowed 1000 alerts at a time. Quickly get a leg up in internet marketplaces around the country!

Check out the site at http://www.practicalraw.com and for your convenience, we’ve included a screenshot below:

Every organization that entered this contest was more than eligible and worthy to win. We wish we could have picked everyone.

Now, without further adieu, the winner is… Servicios de La Raza! The mission of Servicios is to provide and advocate comprehensive and culturally relevant human services primarily, but not limited, to the Spanish speaking community.

We hope to expand the usability and functionality of their site, adding bilingual pages and more interactivity. Currently their site is all image based with limited capacity for frequent updates, we hope to change that and give Servicios staff the chance to change page text, upload pictures easily, and multiple other CMS based enhancements. The target launch date for the new site will be August 27th, 2010.

Thanks again to everyone who participated! Check back for updates related to the next Giveaway For Good contest.

Are you a nonprofit whose website needs improvement or that has no website at all?

Follow the simple steps below in order to be entered to win:

• Step 1: Leave a comment that explains why you deserve to be a part of this contest. Click here!.
• Step 2: Spread the word.
• Step 3: Entries are due by 7 PM Mountain Time on April 25th. On April 26th, we’ll draw a winner.

Up your chances of winning by spreading the word:

• Click here:
  

  to RT this link – RT @denvelopers: 1st Annual Giveaway For Good – We’re giving away a FREE website to a lucky nonprofit http://bit.ly/dnvlprsGAFG

• Share this page on your FB wall.
• Blog about this campaign and post it on your website.
• Send out an email to all your friends (and CC or BCC giveawayforgood@denvelopers.com)

Triple your chances of winning by doing either of the following:

• Create a video of your staff doing a little dance, post it on YouTube, and send us the link (must be at least a two-minute dance session).
• Send a mass email of more than 300 people to your contacts or a list serv (no spamming) and BCC giveawayforgood@denvelopers.com.

As a winner you will receive a full Denvelopers evaluation, the point where we really get to know your organization. Through communicating with you, we’ll know exactly where you want to be after the site is installed. We’ll then hand select the perfect tools to get you to your optimum place online. This will include search engine optimization, social media optimization, and a full WordPress installation and custom design. You will receive full details if you are selected the winner. Contest prize valued up to $5,000. We will randomly select a winner and the winner will be evaluated based on online potential and a mission that aligns with Denvelopers. Details will be provided to the winning nonprofit. Feel free to comment more than once but only one comment per organization will be considered an entry.

What I can say about it is that this contest is open to nonprofits and socially-minded businesses. Also, let me strongly encourage you to find something to record with onto your computer.

Make sure you ask around to see if anyone has a MacBook or iMac that you could be used to record. That is all for now!

Remember to check back here for full details on Monday. Stay tuned.

1. For the nonprofit groups that you work with, how would you characterize their approach to social media? Is it an integrated part of their communications strategy, or are they doing it because they feel they should?

More and more I think the progressive nonprofits are integrating it directly into their communications strategy, however I think many are still very reactionary. This is where I like to think Denvelopers comes in, organizations looking to use those particular outlets to develop some sort of strategy for nonprofits to ensure they aren’t wasting there time. I would venture to guess that the majority of nonprofit organizations and businesses these days aren’t getting on social media because they want to but feel they should. It’s up to each particular entity to figure out if they have the time to spend building up these networks or not. Ultimately, in needs to come down to the quality of time put in, rather than having a presence on every major social network available.

2. In your experience, what is the primary reason that nonprofits use social media? What do they hope to gain from it?

This is a rather tough question with a broad range of answers. Some are interested in networking with like-minded individuals and organizations and many are interested in fundraising. However, fundraising through social media has yet to really stand the test of time. It has been done in conjunction with multiple events in real life but solely raising money through social media seems to be a dead-end strategy right now. That’s not to say it can’t be done but I think the jury is still out and I think nonprofits need to realize that maybe the free advertising and networking could be more valuable. Some hope to gain an “edgier” appearance to their constituency by catering to the 20 something crowd. Again, it is up to the organization to decide if utilizing these tools will be a beneficial use of their time.

3. What are some effective ways that nonprofits can use social media?

Don’t discount real-life interaction, it’s still important. Use social media in conjunction with a dinner party, pot luck, community event, etc. In my experience, making a real connection with someone ensures that that connection online will last. Develop a campaign or coordinate a new website launch, for example. Use social media as a channel for getting a message out and keeping tabs on what people are saying about your organization. By all means social media should not be a replacement for your website, it’s another channel for furthering your message.

4. Do you think that social media can be an effective tool for fundraising? How about recruiting more volunteers?

Since I covered a lot of the fundraising piece in number 2, I’ll address volunteers. I think social media is really good at turning people into evangelists for your particular cause. It promotes a quick passage of information and requires a minimum investment so that’s what you have to expect from someone being connected to your organization through social media. Online volunteers might be a more appropriate term for the people you would recruit using social media. Event organization, planning, and networking can still take place online with a small involvement and I don’t think it’s too much to ask an online volunteer to contribute if they express the interest.

5. Fundraising studies indicate that the number one reason people give to an organization is because someone they know asked them to. Do you think that social media can be used to expand the reach of an organization’s networks? That is, do you think supporters are likely to engage their online networks in support of a cause, so that the personal appeal can be made over Facebook, Twitter, etc?

I think much like I spoke about in question 3, there still needs to be a personal, real-life connection made to truly win someone over through social media. However I think this is changing. When I was working with The 1010 Project, myself and another 1010 volunteer did a 2 day blitzkrieg on Twitter and Facebook to try and raise nearly $3K from our networks and extended networks. Needless to say, it worked. A lot of the donors were people I didn’t know or hadn’t met before but it is safe to assume they saw the message nearly a dozen times and were probably annoyed to the point of giving. It’s so easy to connect with someone on Twitter and Facebook that I doubt the chances of someone giving just because they are a follower or a friend are much higher than if it was a random person. Personal, real-life connecting is still very important.

6. Is online activism, particularly through social media, a means to an end, or do people consider it an end in and of itself? Do you think that engaging in online activism through social media, such as becoming a fan of an organization on Facebook or signing an e-petition, makes people more or less likely to engage in offline activism?

I think a lot of people do think that engaging in online activism is sufficient, and I think that’s ok. A lot of people are wary of that thought but times change and signing an e-petition might be something more than anyone would have ever done if that particular activity were not available before social media. It is still very important to give people specific and timely tasks when talking about volunteer opportunities. At The 1010 Project we saw no drop in offline activism when ramping up our online activism. I think focusing on specific targeted roles was the most important thing we did soliciting help from the community.

Maintaining creativity in a space that is saturated with ideas

The internet is so wide, intricate and layered that it can feel like a no-man’s land—whether you published your very first blog post this morning or if you were in AOL chat rooms from the second you received that first “1000 Hours Free! CDROM Free Trial Disk” in the mail in the mid-1990s.

It’s easy to feel intimidated or overwhelmed by the immediacy and quantity of content on the web. Don’t allow it to stunt your growth. You are authentically you—trust that you do, indeed, have something to add to this wide web of conversation and information. In fact, use all that content to help you springboard into your next project.

Whatever space you inhabit on the internet—whether it’s a company website, personal blog, retail marketplace, or social media account—fostering and renewing your creativity is critical in defining who you are and your scope of influence. Creativity doesn’t have to be an existential experience that strikes you at unpredictable times. You can grow and develop your creative skills daily and weekly. Here are some ways to get started:

• Know your vision – Why do you want to be online? Whether for reasons that are personal, professional or both, consider why you want to be online and how you envision your online future. Need a fun, motivating kick-start? Check out this article on creating your personal manifesto.
• Read – Spend time reading—every single day. Read blogs, online articles, magazines, trade publications, books or (gasp!) newspapers. Shoot, read the back of the shampoo bottle. Or actually read the entire “Terms and Conditions” pop-up you must agree to when you register on a website. (Okay…maybe not.) But reading a one-line photo caption or the collected works of Shakespeare can have the same effect: inspiration. It only takes a turn of phrase or one word to plant a creative seed.
• Look and see – Observe the small and big things of your day. Each day I challenge myself to take a snapshot—usually a mental snapshot, but sometimes an actual photo—of an object, person, conversation, taste, mistake. At some point during the day I make note of why this snapshot was poignant. Often, just the act of scribbling it down sparks a fresh idea. Speaking of snapshots, I just learned about the 365 Project and will be snapping photos to document 2010—another habit to trigger creativity.
• Listen – Have a conversation and listen to someone. Meet up with your brother-in-law, a former boss, your cube neighbor or your yoga instructor. Meet up with someone with whom you’ve shared tweets, comments, or emails but haven’t yet met “in real life.” Invite them to coffee or lunch and really listen. Setting aside a specific time with the goal to listen can be surprisingly different experience than the usual Friday happy hour with the coworkers or the occasional phone call with your best friend. The way these people talk about their own projects, or slide in a funny quip, or tell a tall tale about their last fishing trip may be just the creative prompt you need. Try taking away one concept or word and mind-mapping it—whether online or with pen and paper.
• Take risks – Try something outside of your comfort zone. To stay creative in your online space, you have to take risks. Are you launching a new product? Run a catchy giveaway contest and don’t be afraid to part with a few products—the marketing return will be worth the investment. Have you been thinking of a blog post topic but worry it may be controversial? Draft the post. Sleep on it. Hit the “publish” button. You may receive negative comments in addition to positive ones—but the important thing is you’re creating a conversation. As a dancer, some of my most creative choreography was a result of trying a move I was 110% sure would look ridiculous or weird…but some of those gangly moves ended up working out. Creativity sometimes means feeling a bit squirmy in your own skin. Not every single idea will be your best. That’s okay—just keeping busting a gut.

Every once in awhile, creativity will strike you as an “a-ha!” revelation, but most of the time creativity takes some elbow grease. Put in the time and energy to stay creative in a space that is saturated with ideas. Take on creativity as a work-in-progress skill—one that you can push, pull, prod, explode, rebuild, nurture and expand. Now go get your creativity on!

With all the social media tools available they might feel like the stuff of cold, disconnected, fractured robotic-horrors of every sci-fi story every told, but there is a humanity behind every Tweet, Facebook update, and Blog post. Social Media can be far more re-humanizing than the Luddites would have us believe…

About once a month I get asked, “What is Twitter? Why use it?” or “You write a blog? What’s the point?” There is a short answer to the Twitter Q: Public text messaging across the Internets in 140 characters. ‘Nuff said. And to some degree, the same can be said about blogging, only with more character(s). Yet, it takes a bit longer to answer that last question: “What’s the point?”

Technology that does not re-humanize us is pointless. So, I respond to that question with stories of human connections, of people I’ve come to know that have far more to them than 140 characters.

A year ago I went to my first “Tweetup” – a real-life gathering of actual twitter-users talking to each other in regular conversation beyond electronic interfaces, without #hashtags or acronyms like “LOL” or “OMG.” There were the initial awkward encounters, navel staring of people trying to connect faces with usernames. But this was humanity, the real deal, the face behind the avatars with all the beauty and blemish that goes with it.

Over the year more tweetups were used as fundraisers for various nonprofits – seeking to be more than another cocktail party of self-serving networkism. A community was forming with origins in a virtual reality, but it had graduated to a Real-Life connection. Interactions became more than business card swaps. S.O. Jewett wrote: “Conversation’s got to have some root in the past or else you’ve got to explain every remark you make, and it wears a person out.” Over time, Twitter users made “roots in the past” and continued the conversation that started in the Twitterverse – “How’s your nephew recovering from that accident?” “What are you learning with your new art projects?” “So it turns out we grew up in the same town, what was your experience like there and how did you get here?” A year later, people who were literal and virtual strangers before are sharing life now in a way that is natural to our humanity. Some of those connections are integral in helping find work, or resources for their passions to excel. Some of those tweetups have provided enough money for a clean-water well in Africa, or money towards Cancer research. And if I understand anything, isn’t that the point behind open-source social media?

A few years ago singer/songwriter Matthew Ryan and I exchanged some MySpace messages about how one might use the Internets to better connect with fans at a grassroots level – in essence removing the distant major record label machine from the equation. Matthew left the big label and recently released his 12th album on a label he started with his publicist called The Dear Future Collective. Nearly every bit of marketing for the album Dear Lover has used Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, online magazines, and blogs. Matthew’s third track release, “City Life,” was done via YouTube, making a video of snapshots his fans sent in of all the various places they took a paper cut-out of Matthew – similar to the traveling Gnome made famous in the film Amelie.

In December, I contacted Matthew to see if he would want to do an interview via email exchange as an experiment in promotion for Dear Lover. If I could get other online publications to pick up the interview all the better, but, at the very least, it would get posted at The Ink, my personal blog. The process was quite encouraging and enlivening. Matthew wrote on Twitter and Facebook that it was “one of the purest interviews I’ve been a part of.” A month after I posted the interview on my blog, an online magazine published a portion of it, giving Matthew more landscape in a greater diversity of listeners – some of whom had never heard his music until now.

I get emails and Facebook messages from people all over that are heading to see Matthew Ryan play at their local club, who are buying his album in stores or online – a connection virtual that has become a human connection far grander than I expected.