Here we have second half of our list of tips for creative project promotion:

1. Organize teams to put up posters and distribute postcards and flyers.
2. Ask everybody you know if they have any contacts with press and media.
3. Collect a list of names, phone numbers, addresses and e-mails of all local media, as well as any national media you may want to target.
4. Write press release.
5. Send out press release to your media list.
6. Follow up press release with calls to media you wish to target or where you have personal leads.
7. Prepare and go to any media interviews you procure.
8. Promote your event on any web site or social media site you have set up.
9. Arrange for design and printing of program for your event.  Use this to recognize all participants and sponsors, as well as a promotional piece for you and your work. Be sure to include contact information, so people can get hold of you in the future and any web site address you have.
10. Have a sign-up list at your event to collect names of people for your e-mail and newsletter lists.
11. Afterwards, send out an e-mail to your list thanking all those who attended and helped make the event a success.  Highlight the wonderful things that happened through the creating and showcasing of your project.

Hope you have found this post series helpful!  Please leave us some comments about how you have implemented them, as well as your results.

Promoting your creative projects can be a daunting task, but it is important to put some time and energy into this part of the creative process. There is a saying that says, “If you build it, they will come.” Well, in the art world, you have to go a step further than just building; you have to let people know that you built something and where they can see it!

Here’s a basic list of actions you may want to take to promote your creative work :

1. Compile names of all friends, family, colleagues and work mates who would be interested in coming to your art events. Enter them into a database or create a group mailing in your computer address book.
2. Check with friends who have mailing lists and contacts. Ask if they would be willing to do mailings for your event.
3. Send out e-mail or a newsletter describing your new project and showcase dates.
4. At various points during the project send updates to your list on your progress and accomplishments.
5. In your e-mail updates and promotional materials mention and give appreciation for the help you are receiving from friends and other supporters, along with any sponsors you are able to bring on board. This all helps build momentum.
6. Collect images and write all information necessary for the design of promotional materials (postcards, posters, flyers etc.)
7. Meet and collaborate with a graphic designer for design of promotional materials. (Go to elance.com to access a host of graphic designers available on the internet at a range of prices.)
8. Finalize your promotional material with designer.
9. Proofread! Proofread! Proofread!
10. Deliver and pickup promotional material to printer or photocopy place.

Please join us later this week for the second part of our series on how to promote your creative projects!

Art can be the voice of hope, in even the most desperate of situations. Be sure to check out this inspiring video and transcript which shows how “creativity is the true wealth of Haiti”

Here’s one of the gems contained in this video:

INTERVIEWER: When there are so many needs out there, basic needs, what — what point does literature serve? Why write?

EVELYNE TROUILLOT: Because you need the voice. You need the voice of hope. You need a voice of revolt and resistance. And I think, for me, literature can do that, poetry can do that. And when you are in a situation that is very, very difficult, I think a human being need that, needs the beauty of literature, the beauty of creation to make them go through it and to carry them further.

Go to:

Toronto blogger, Neil Pasricha, whose blog, “1000 Awesome Things”, provides daily inspiration on life’s simple pleasures, in a presentation to TedxToronto, is both amusing and profound. He talks about how attitude, awareness,and authenticity can take us through humps and bumps of life. I love his part about embracing our inner three year old that looks with wonder at the world.

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I love this video both because it both shows  the artistic process of 24 year old ErnestoYerena at work creating his brilliant posters, as well as featuring Ernesto’s comments on the immigration debate in the US, and the way his people have been dehumanized, and used as political fodder.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/9359973.stm

Much may be done in those little shreds and patches of time which every day produces,

and which most men throw away.

Charles Caleb Colto

Where do you have small enclaves of time that can be used for your artistic pursuits? Do you spend too much time watching TV or checking your e-mail? Do hours get sucked up by distractions on the internet? Is your day interrupted constantly, so that you have no time to focus and actually get your main tasks done?

One of my clients, a writer found that she was having trouble finding time for a writing project, and the deadline had suddenly got moved ahead. After discussing this with me, she decided for the remainder of the week to only check her e-mail once a day, and not answer the phone while she was working on her writing.

Now this wasn’t making any dramatic changes. It did however take discipline to resist the temptation to answer the phone or check her e-mails. These small changes allowed her to finish the project without putting a major strain on her life.

Tim Ferriss in the “The 4-Hour Workweek:” has some brilliant strategies for cutting down on the work that tends to consume your time without giving you what you truly want. He has many good tips for eliminating time wasters, and advocates the radical approach of only checking your e-mail once a week, and then replying to all of them at once.

What distractions take you away from your art work? Whaf time can you free up for doing the work you are passionate about? Resolve to reclaim some of your time for what matters most. Little step by little step you can train yourself to resist  the many  distractions of daily life, and carve out more  time for your creative self.

How to have a more joyful, productive life?  Ariana Huffington, in this highly amusing and thought provoking video, argues that getting enough sleep is a new feminist issue, and that sleep deprivation is becoming a virility symbol.

Listen to this brilliant talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love.

It will help you think differently about your creativity, and give you a spiritual framework that can help you weather the emotional and psychological demands of the creative life.

http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

Want to see a stunning video of gorgeous photos of Flamenco dancers accompanied by beautiful music. Take 5 minutes out of your busy day and watch this!

I love flash mobs involving the arts, and just adore the Hallelujah Chorus. Here are the two combined  in this short video:

More on Flash Mobs

My son just asked me what is a flash mob, so I went to wikipedia to check out the definition. Glad I did as my attempt to explain the idea to my son left out several key aspects.  So here’s the Wiki definition:

A flash mob (or flashmob)[1] is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual act for a brief time, then disperse.[2] The term flash mob is generally applied only to gatherings organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails.[3][4][5][6][7][8] The term is generally not applied to events organized by public relations firms, protests, and publicity stunts.[5][9]

I’ve not yet had the chance to participate in a flash mob, although they seem like a great deal of fun. It’s not just the arts ones I’d love to attend/ The mass pillow fights in a public space appeal to me.  Only I think I’d die laughing.

Here’s a list I found of some of the best flash mob videos.  Check them out:  www.listropolis.com/…/24-flash-mobs-you-need-to-see-to-believe-videos/