Why does your social media presence need a dose of “sanity”?

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Amanda McCormick

I was first inspired to write “Sane Social Media” because of something I kept hearing from friends and readers.

These were creative, self-starting people, but they were overwhelmed with the choices available to them in the digital space.

They knew that outlets like blogging, Twitter and Facebook had catapulted interesting, creative people to new careers and fulfilling livelihoods but weren’t sure how those people leveraged those tools and in what combination.

They wanted a roadmap, or a cheat sheet.

Sane Social Media is that cheat sheet. It’s a quick read, with just the essentials of what you need to know to “get sane” about the way you present yourself on outlets like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Writers, Bloggers, Blogging, Brilliant + free, DIY, Google+, Micro Marketing, Nonprofit/Cultural, Quotable, Resources, Sane Social Media, The Work, Twitter | Tagged sane social media | Leave a comment

Free and ultra-cheap music, stock footage and imagery to enhance your multi-media projects

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Amanda McCormick

If you’re an indie type, where do you find music to put into your videos that won’t cripple your budget? Where can you find stock photography that won’t break the bank?

A dog that certainly deserves fame and fortune

These are things I’ve asked myself over the years working on a variety of multimedia projects. It’s true that while working on projects that have 0% of turning a profit (like a music video I made starring my dog), I have been a little, shall we say, flexible about sourcing, when working on business-related projects, I’m absolutely scrupulous about being on the up-and-up.

Why? What if your video or book becomes massively popular? You don’t want someone to come and hunt you down for the rights to their song or photograph.

So please, look into permissions, and credit where credit is due. That said, for those of you out there working on an absolute shoestring budget, here are some awesome resources that might help you: Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Writers, Brilliant + free, DIY, Micro Marketing, Nonprofit/Cultural, Resources, Roundup, Small is Brilliant, The Work, Video | Tagged creative commons, flickr, itunes, jamendo, prelinger archive, royalty free music | Leave a comment

Visualizing Ideas: Fun with Google Drawings

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Amanda McCormick

Matt Moran, a colleague of mine, recently introduced me to Google Drawings, an unassuming part of the free package that comes with your suite of Google Apps.

I guess I remembered how hideous the pictures I made with various drawing programs of yore were so I never really thought about using this component of the Google package.

But after I was shown the ropes by a more seasoned user, I could appreciate what I had been missing: Google Drawings is not for making drawings per se, but instead is a really awesome tool for visualizing things that you want to make real. Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Writers, Blogging, Brilliant + free, DIY, How-to, Resources, Roundup, Small Business, Small is Brilliant, Small List, Social Media, Social Media @ Work, The Work | Tagged Google docs, Google Drawings | Leave a comment

What to do when your business’ Facebook or Twitter account is hacked, disabled or otherwise compromised

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Amanda McCormick

Image via one of my new favorite sites: ScreenshotsofDespair.tumblr.com

You go to log in to the Facebook or Twitter account that you use daily to support your business. Poof, it’s gone.

You contact support, search on the web for answers, and come up wanting. You’re not a spammer, or doing anything particularly unusual. So what happened? Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Writers, Bloggers, Blogging, Brilliant + free, DIY, How-to, Resources, Roundup, Sane Social Media, Social Media, Social Media @ Work, The Work, Twitter | Tagged sane social media | Leave a comment

Free Advertising $$$ from Twitter and Amex: Here’s How to Get It!

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Amanda McCormick

Twitter has a new self-serve advertising solution for small business, which is reason enough to rejoice. For a long time, Facebook and Google Ad Words were the only game in town for scalable advertising that could fit a low budget and produce actual results. Continue reading →

Posted in Analytics, Bloggers, Brilliant + free, Micro Marketing, Nonprofit/Cultural, Resources, Small Business, Small is Brilliant, Social Media, Social Media @ Work, The Work, Twitter | Leave a comment

Sane Social Media: Sign Up Now for the FREE ebook launching 4/15

Posted on March 21, 2012 by admin

We’ve talked in the past about epublishing and interactive books as our latest ~~preoccupation~~ obsession.

Now, of course, we’re keen to road test all we’ve learned in the past few month in the form of a FREE ebook coming to you this April 15th!

Here’s the gist: Continue reading →

Posted in Brilliant + free, Content Discovery, Literature Unbound, Quotable, Resources, Roundup, Sane Social Media, Small Business, The Work, Twitter | Tagged ebooks, sane social media | Leave a comment

Trying Out the New Facebook Timeline for Brands

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Amanda McCormick

As many of you now know, Facebook is rolling out Timeline for brands by the end of the month.

I recently switch over for my Jellybean Boom fan page, and have to say I have mixed feelings.

On the one hand, I like the highly visual top banner. I think it helps brands infuse a lot more personality into their Facebook presences. On the other hand, Facebook makes a lot of stipulations about how you can and can’t use the space. Promotions? A no-go. Text? Dicey. Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Writers, Bloggers, Blogging, Nonprofit/Cultural, Resources, Small Business, Social Media, Social Media @ Work, The Work | Leave a comment

Learning Curves

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Amanda McCormick

Last night I went to my first “Transmedia” Meetup at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.

Not familiar with “transmedia”? It’s the somewhat unfortunate catch-all moniker for storytellers who are working across media — so a novel that moves into video, or a movie that involves a real-life or app-driven game. Historically, it’s a movement “owned” by the filmmaking community, though regular writers are in there, as well as media specialists, people who have knowledge of programming. Obvs with all my keen interest in the future of books, I very much wanted to mix it up with this scene. Sitting there, amid the glowing screens, I felt that I was a part of something that is not exactly well-defined, but exciting nonetheless.

Last night’s presentation was a break-out workshop from StoryCode, which was meant to help empower members with knowledge about the tech side of digital media creation. Continue reading →