Bob Baker's Weblog

The latest news and notes for artists, writers, musicians, crafters, performing artists and anyone pursuing a creative passion

=> ADHESIVE IDEAS AND STICKY STRATEGIES

Stickyideas.com (www.stickyideas.com) is an online resource where you can read articles, promote yourself and interact with others who will light your creative spark. The brain behind the site is Peter Kaufman, the self-described "Director of Infectious Enthusiasm." Articles featured on Stickyideas.com right now include "Self-Promotion on a Zero Budget" and "Sell Your Hobby." Worth a look.

Infectious Enthusiasm Director Kaufman, who is a copywriter and content manager by day, also writes a regular column at ClickZ.com called "The Creative Strategist" (at www.clickz.com/column/tcs.html). The column covers brainstorming techniques, advertising commentary, building a strong creative department, inside the artist/writer's mind, and how the new economy impacts creativity.
posted by Bob Baker 12:00 PM

Thursday, April 26, 2001

=> FREE STUFF TO CELEBRATE MY NEW BRANDING BOOK

This is getting exciting. This past week I turned in the final section of Branding Yourself Online to the publisher. It only took six months and over 100,000 words to get it done, but the research, brain drain and writing are finally finished.

My girlfriend, Lynn, and my 4-year-old daughter, Kelli-Rae, are shocked to find me suddenly chained to the computer only *most* of the time instead of ALL of the time.

The book, which should weigh in at about 350 pages in an oversized (10 x 7 inches) trade paperback format, will be printed next month and available in June.

Having a little bit of free time this weekend allowed me to load up the www.BrandingYourselfOnline.com site with lots of new goodies for you, including the following:

A FREE .pdf file of Chapter 2, ready for you to download (on top of the free .pdf of the Introduction and Chapter 1 that's been there for a while)

A new ordering page: place an advance order now and get a $5 discount, FREE shipping and an autographed copy when the book is published in mid June

An excerpt from Chapter 4: a section called "10 Writing Tips for E-mail Branding Power"

Comments from experts and other authors who got a sneak peek at the manuscript, such as this awesome one:

"Bob Baker's Branding Yourself Online hits the branding nail smack on the head. His book shows you practical and effective ways to use the Internet to market the best product on earth -- yourself. Bob provides state-of-the-moment insights that can be put to work immediately. The book is loaded with wisdom served up in an exceedingly readable style. If I was king of the universe, I'd make the book mandatory reading for every person who owns a computer."
-Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the Guerrilla Marketing series of books

Head to www.BrandingYourselfOnline.com right now and take in all the cool new stuff!
posted by Bob Baker 12:48 PM

Friday, April 13, 2001

=> IDEAS TO IGNITE YOUR PASSION

Here are a couple excerpts from my book, Ignite Your Creative Passion. This first one comes from the section titled "19 Ways to Promote & Sell Your Creativity":

Choose an Attention-Getting Title

Whether your creation is a novel, film, theater production, music CD, book of poetry or art exhibit, give it a name that creates curiosity and excitement. For example, when former SCTV comedic actress Andrea Martin put together her one-woman show, she called it Nude Nude Totally Nude. From what I understand, the reference related more to her baring her soul than her flesh. But you must admit, it's an eye-catching title. Of course, something this outrageous wouldn't work for a symphony orchestra, but there are still appropriate titles that could easily be used to draw attention to any event, performance or other new creation.

Here's another nugget from the section "Jump-Start Your Gray Matter":

Set an Idea Quota

Here's a great approach I got from Michael Michalko's book Thinkertoys (Ten Speed Press). Challenge your brain to go to work on a current problem by coming up with a minimum of five new ways to handle the problem every day for one week.

At first the ideas may come slowly, but once you open the mental gates, they'll start to flow. One idea leads to another and so on. Many of these solutions may be unworkable, no doubt. But the more possibilities you come up with, the better your chances that a couple of them will be true winners!

To find out more about Ignite Your Creative Passion, surf to www.bob-baker.com/qt/ignite.html
posted by Bob Baker 11:10 PM

Tuesday, April 10, 2001

ARE YOU UNSTOPPABLE?

According to Cynthia Kearsey, author of "Unstoppable: 45 Powerful Stories of Perseverance and Triumph from People Just Like You," these are the seven things that unstoppable people do:

1. Devote themselves to their true PURPOSE.
2. Follow their heart's PASSION.
3. BELIEVE in themselves and their ideas.
4. PREPARE for challenges.
5. Ask for help and build a support TEAM.
6. Seek CREATIVE solutions.
7. PERSEVERE, no matter what the challenges.

Kearsey's book was published in 1998, but I only recently discovered it during a trip to a public library. Chapters are divided into sections filled with success stories and advice that cover the seven topics listed above.

In a section called "Tapping Your Creativity," Kearsey discusses the words "Creative, flexible and imaginative -- three words that are almost interchangeable. If you are creative, you can think of alternative ways to work around problems, ways that align with your own skills and reflect your values. If you are flexible, you are able and willing to change and modify plans; you adjust to new circumstances and needs. If you are imaginative, you envision what is not and what can be -- you see in your mind what you haven't yet seen in the material world."

Good advice for art and life. Overall, "Unstoppable" is a book worth looking into.
posted by Bob Baker 10:10 AM

Sunday, March 25, 2001

FAILURE: THE SURE-FIRE PATH TO CREATIVE SUCCESS

Abraham Lincoln once said, "I will study and get ready and some day my chance will come." Here's an inspiring story that demonstrates that your past does not equal your future:

Over an eight-year period, Chad "Chandler" McGrew wrote 13 novels and collected more than 300 rejection notices from editors and agents. Eventually, McGrew went the do-it-yourself route and self-published a novel called "A Certain Slant of Light." He mailed copies to various online reviewers and select bookstore owners. When McGrew sent the manuscript of his latest book, "Cold Heart," to five literary agents he targeted, he included a sheet that featured the best reviews and comments about his self-published novel.

All five agents responded. McGrew then called a sixth agent, one who he really wanted to represent him, to make her aware of his dilemma and ask her if she would read "Cold Heart" over the weekend and make a decision. She called him on Sunday to say she wanted to represent "Cold Heart" and anything else he ever wrote. By Friday of that week, the agent landed a six-figure, two-book deal with Bantam. McGrew has also garnered representation in Hollywood; a prominent director wants to make "Cold Heart" his next motion picture.

Have you encountered mounds of rejection? If so, you may be a lot closer to success than you imagine. (McGrew's story is one of many highlighted in John Kremer's Self-Publishers Hall of Fame at www.bookmarket.com/selfpublish.html)
posted by Bob Baker 10:58 PM

Wednesday, February 28, 2001

DOWNLOAD A FREE SAMPLE CHAPTER NOW

I just uploaded a .pdf file with the Introduction and Chapter 1 of my book, Branding Yourself Online: How to Use the Internet to Become a Celebrity or Expert in Your Field. The book won't be published until June, but you can get a sneak preview right now. Grab your free copy here:
http://www.bob-baker.com/dl/PRBYO.pdf

As you may know, .pdf documents can be read by any computer with the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Your computer should already have it. If it doesn't, you can download the latest version of the Reader free at:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

If Acrobat opens the .pdf file in your Web browser, click the disc icon in the menu bar at the top to save it to your hard drive. Enjoy!
posted by Bob Baker 11:50 AM

Wednesday, February 07, 2001

Branding Yourself Online Coming in June 2001

I'm still writing the final chapters, but I'm really pumped about Branding Yourself Online: How to Use the Internet to Become a Celebrity or Expert in Your Field. This new book will be part of the Poor Richard's series published by Top Floor Publishing. Even though they're paperbacks, the books in the series are huge. I never realized how much energy it would take to string together 100,000-plus words, but it's going to be well worth it.

I'll soon have a free .pdf file of sample chapters to let you download and share with your friends. In the meantime, take a look at my new Branding Yourself Online web page to find out more about it. Stay tuned ...
posted by Bob Baker 3:40 PM

Saturday, February 03, 2001

Get an Earful of Bob

No, that headline is not some kind of threat. It's my way of announcing that I've added a couple more audio snippets to my new page at www.mp3.com/Bob-Baker. Surf there now and you'll be able to listen to the following MP3 messages:

3-Step Formula for Creative Ideas
Stuck in a mental rut? Infected with writer's block? Use my simple formula for generating tons of fresh ideas.

Are You Ready to Take Action Now?
Too many artists come up with handy reasons to put off pursuing their goals. Listen to this audio snippet and obliterate those lame excuses!

Become Successful This Minute
Only you can give yourself permission to succeed. And only you can determine when that success begins. Now is as good a time as any.
posted by Bob Baker 7:44 PM

Thursday, January 18, 2001

An Absurd Way to Overcome Your Fears

Art Sobczak is well-known as an expert on training people who sell by phone. Great, so what does that have to do with you? In Art's latest newsletter, he suggests a way to deal with the fear of percieved obstacles. Even if you don't use his tip for sales calls, it's a helpful way to overcome fears in all areas of art and life. Here's the short article:

Have you ever scrolled through your computer account records or flipped through your file folders while planning your day, and intentionally bypassed one particular account?

And did you continue doing the same thing for weeks ... maybe months, maybe even longer?

If so, you're not alone.

Many of us can trace this reluctance to fear. Fear we'll get blown off the phone, fear we'll sound like Elmer Fudd to this intimidating prospect, fear we won't know the answers to his questions, or fear of anything for that matter. And if we do muster up just enough courage to place the call while in this state of mind, isn't it interesting how our
fears become reality?

In the book, "High Performance Sales Training," by Lee Boyan & Rosalind Enright, the authors state that a fascinating psychological phenomenon is that the more we dwell on what we fear, the more difficult it is to forget it, and the longer it stays in your mind, imbedding its visual manifestation, ultimately turning into negative behavior. (This quite often happens to some golfers when approaching a hole requiring a carry-shot over a lake.)

To overcome fear, Dr. Victor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist, suggests that you turn fear into a ridiculous, absurd event in your mind, and then allow the natural human reaction to absurdities turn it off completely. For example, when you hear of something that is totally off-the-wall, you shrug it off, saying, "No way."

Try this: Take what is hindering your success, and exaggerate it to the extreme. For example,

"I am scared silly of calling the Big Fish Company because my contact, Mr. Mackeral, is actually a demon with supernatural powers. He has on occasion actually transformed himself into digital signals, sending himself back through the phone lines, through the headsets of sales reps, into their ears attacking their brains, turning their minds into useless jelly, leaving their bodies slumped at their desks. In some cases, their managers couldn't tell anything was wrong for hours before they were discovered."

Absurdities are so ridiculous the human mind immediately rejects them. And once we can ridicule our fears, these problems lose their power over us.

Harvard psychologist Gordon Allport wrote that any person who can figure out a way to laugh at his problems is well on his way to solving them.

So, what's anchoring your ability to excel? Create an absurdity through which to view it, and you'll find it truly was ridiculous to begin with!

Reprinted with permission from Art Sobczak's "TelE-Sales Hot Tips of the Week." To subscribe, free, visit http://www.businessbyphone.com/ or telesales@businessbyphone.com with "join" in the subject line, or call 800-326-7721.
posted by Bob Baker 11:25 AM

Saturday, January 13, 2001

Slower Is Sometimes Better

Quick Tips subscriber Denise Turney -- who runs Christell Publishing, which publishes books geared to women -- is glad the Internet boom is slowing down. She feels a more down-to-earth growth pace will allow creative people to focus on building a customer base one fan at a time.

"As artists, we know the value of cultivating rewarding relationships," Turney writes. "An artist's ability to establish a relationship with an audience is often what makes or breaks a career. As you listen to the news about the stock market slump, remember that you hold the keys to your own success. Seek out, cultivate and nuture rewarding relationships with other artists (network), consumers (grow your audience base) and those closest to you (keep yourself in balance). I dare you to do all three then stand back and watch the results. One new rewarding relationship a day will take your career to greater heights at the end of only six months."

Worthy words to ponder. Thanks, Denise!
posted by Bob Baker 10:41 AM

Sunday, January 07, 2001

Ask for Links ... and You Shall Receive

Do you offer useful informational content on your web site? For instance, you may offer craft-making instructions, freelance writing tips or advice on how to make better use of color in your paintings. That's just the kind of info to which other web sites love to place links. Use this suggestion from the book Web Marketing Applied by Joe Tracy: Put a notice at the top of your info page that reads ...

Webmasters - feel free to link directly to this article. The URL is:
http://www.yoursite.com/thisarticle.html

Of course, webmasters could do that on their own without your notice, but adding it might trigger a response and help them realize that your article is worthy of plugging.
posted by Bob Baker 11:44 PM

Wednesday, January 03, 2001

Convert Your Files to Adobe Acrobat Free

Create Adobe PDF Online is a Web-based service that lets you convert a wide variety of documents into Adobe PDF files that anyone can view using the free, widely distributed Adobe Acrobat Reader. Use PDF files to distribute self-published articles and reports, price lists, samples of your artwork, and more. If you're tired of colleagues not being able to view your documents because of software or platform incompatibilities, PDF is a good solution. The full version of Adobe Acrobat will set you back more than $250. An online conversion service is available for $9.95 a month. Best yet, Adobe gives you three free online trial conversions at http://cpdf1.adobe.com/index.pl. I've used this free service to make my Ignite Your Creative Passion and Sell Your Art, Crafts & Photography Online books available in PDF formats (as well as Windows EXE versions). Give it a try.
posted by Bob Baker 11:16 AM

Sunday, December 31, 2000

Talk Up Your Craft Work at Crafter.com

To make a splash with your craftwork online, you need to make people aware of your work. That means you must get interactive. There are at least two opportunities to do this at Crafter.com. First, the site's new bulletin board section allows you to post messages, respond to other crafters' comments and network. Second, you can use Crafter.com's free classified ads page to promote yourself and your crafts. What are you waiting for? Get interactive!
posted by Bob Baker 10:32 AM

Friday, December 29, 2000

E-commerce Tool for Writers and Artists

Two things that really boost the profitability of doing business online are 1) having the ability to accept secure credit card orders and 2) getting other people to sell your creations for you through an affiliate program. But either one can be an expensive proposition. A nifty site called ClickBank can help you do both for a low, one-time fee. The site provides online order taking and an automated system to sign up interested affiliates. ClickBank even tracks all sales and pays your affiliates for you. Pretty cool, huh? However, the site is primarily set up for vendors who offer digital downloads (such as ebooks, sound files and images) and online services. Worth a look.
posted by Bob Baker 2:09 PM

Wednesday, December 27, 2000

Download a FREE Demo Copy

I just published it a couple months ago, but a new, expanded edition is already available. My e-book Sell Your Art, Crafts & Photography Online now carries the subtitle "The 232 best places to promote and sell your artistic talents on the Internet." I recently cleaned out a few dead links and added about 90 new sources to this directory. Along with the expanded edition, you can now download a free demo version of the book that includes a sampling of the sources listed in the full-length version. Go to http://www.bob-baker.com/SellArtDemo.exe to download the free e-book. This is a self-contained executable file that works with Windows 95 or later and Internet Explorer 4.0 or later. Enjoy!
posted by Bob Baker 11:09 AM