Category Archive

I hate to admit it, but the word of mouth marketing (WOMM) and the peer pressure to be a Web 2.0 amateur photographer is too great for me to resist.

nataliedee.com

Even after my horrible, horrible experience with Flickr, I have finally conceded to sign back on and upload away…even though the process is still slower than molasses (2-3 minutes per photo, if not longer…..this sucks if you have a lot of photos).

BACK STORY: Last November, I forgot my Flickr account password and it took customer service two days to manually reset it. Apparently the merge with Yahoo/SBC Global prevented me from resetting my password via e-mail because of the confusion over whose jurisdiction it was to help me. After making multiple customer service phone calls and e-mails to all three parties, I got an apology and a link to reset. However, after that annoying ordeal, I angrily blogged about my dissatisfaction on my discontinued Xanga (entry is titled “Fuck You Flickr!”) and vowed to never sign on to Flickr again.

REALITY: Unfortunately, when so many people that you know have a flickr account that they update and engage daily, it is really hard to be the odd ball and use something else. So for a trial period, I am going to take Flickr back, but if you piss me off again, so help me………just don’t expect me to purchase a Pro account anytime soon!

So what crazy PR/Marketing campaign brought on this sudden interest in becoming a picture person? Thanks to my photo-taking and design-savvy friends and family who sent me links via IM to two cool new web-base applications and services (see below), I now want in on all the fun.

• Blurb - Scrapbooking for people who hate scrapbooking. Basically, it’s a publishing service that lets you design and print you photos into nicely bound soft/hard cover books with dust jackets. I am currently working on my first book, but it might take me a while to finish as my artistic gene is a bit under developed (the result of a liberal arts education and two years at The Agency).



• Photoshop Express - Photoshop for people who can’t justify buying the real thing. This is a very cool web-based version of Photoshop that’s free and allows you to edit your pictures with Photoshop tools that have been simplified for people like me. Now I too can adjust lighting and clean up a pimply face.

Now for all you newbies and oldies to marketing who are still scratching their heads at how to run a proper WOMM campaign on-line….the IM technique is how it has been done, but for a more cutting-edge way to do it, I suggest that you look into Twitter and master it. So on that note, please stop with the direct mailing pieces and get with the program.

This weekend at Barnes and Noble, I think that I may have found my new favorite magazine, Craft: Transforming Traditional Crafts (www.craftzine.com).

Introducing CRAFT: The first project-based magazine dedicated to the renaissance that is occurring within the world of crafts. Celebrating the DIY spirit, CRAFT’s goal is to unite, inspire, inform and entertain a growing community of highly imaginative and resourceful people who are transforming traditional art and crafts with unconventional, unexpected and even renegade techniques, materials and tools; people who undertake amazing crafting projects in their homes and communities.

If only this “renaissance” in the world of crafts had happened 15 years ago when I was at my peak as a crafter (i.e. I was in elementary school and had all the time in the world to devote myself to glue guns, crochet needles and sewing machines as school work wasn’t that important to me at the time and work was a thing for grown ups to stress about). I suppose I might be thinking too much into it but I can’t help but wonder if I had Project Runway and all the other “hip” design/crafting resources at my finger tips as a child, rather than needing to dig hard and deep for teachers and pattern books that didn’t look fudy-dudy, if I would have gone a different route, career-wise……

Okay, enough of that.

What’s interesting about this relatively new magazine (launched in late 2006) is the sheer range of topics that count as a “craft.” In additional to typical crochet, sewing and gluing projects, there is a recipe for natto (fermented soy beans) and instructions on brewing your own beer. I guess that this might count as cooking, but it sure ain’t the cupcakes and candy on Family Circle.

When I first saw this magazine sitting there on the magazine stand, I thought that it would be another typical hipster crafter magazine, with “edgy” craft designs (personally, just sticking a skull and cross bone in the knitting pattern doesn’t really add much if the basic item still looks kinda fudy-dudy). What I found instead was a more intelligent publication. It has features about different crafters and crafting styles in addition to some really cool and off beat projects. The magazine is short and stocky, that uses a thicker paper with rough texture…..a nice change of pace from more typical crafting magazines (i.e. It feels like it’s of higher quality).

Though I don’t think that I’ll every return to my former glory as a crafter, crochet has definitely made a come back into my life. I am making my first piece of clothing that is not a scarf, a sweater….wish me luck. This may take me many, many days. At the same time, I have also discovered amigurumi. See below:

While I haven’t read through the whole magazine, I think I am sold on purchasing a subscription.