Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts

Monday, January 10, 2022

A Novelist Idea: To Newsletter or Not to Newsletter... That is the Question, Do you want to be on Another Mailing List?

Sad to say, but I don't enjoy mailing lists. 

After I get what I want from a topic, I usually unsubscribe. Am I the only one who is like this? 

I am working on getting a newsletter mailing list up and running for Undawnted, but the technology seems to be unsatisfactory. I guess you get what you pay for when the service is free. I am sure that is to push people into purchasing a product/service if they feel they are the reason that the free one doesn't work. It must be me! I need to pay for a service because I am so incapable.

Or, gullible? 

Oops! Did I say the quiet part out loud? I have a habit of doing that. The truth just slips out into the atmosphere from my fingertips. In these times of reactionary politics, that turns into censorship, it is no wonder that I am in the wilderness alone. 

That's a problem. 

I mean, who I am going to outrun if I am chased by a hungry bear? I should probably invest in some climbing gear, or a jetpack. Truth be told, again, I have always wanted a jetpack.  

Okay, back to the need for a newsletter and mailing list. 

I already use my blog for this purpose. Is a blog that unsatisfactory? Do you all hate blogs but love being pestered by email? An inquiring mind wants to know. 

Seriously, let me know on my social media accounts. 

Have a great and auspicious day! 

_____ 

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Thursday, August 3, 2017

Undawnted is Now on Minds

Someone on my social media news feed said that he was on Minds. So I went and checked it out. Minds is a social media site that is based on open source materials. 

An interesting experiment. if you would like to join me, then visit me on Minds




Monday, July 10, 2017

Delilah is a Winner!

The book cover art I did for the novel. Delilah by Kaye Lynne Booth did not make it into the Final Round of the Summer Loving Book Cover Event, however...


...that does not mean, the book cover art I created was a bust. Delilah still walked away with the most votes in the Western category. 

What a feat! 

I am very proud of this cover. It's art. It encompasses the theme of the novel. The cover art does not rely on cheap marketing tricks to be a winner. 

THANK YOU to the person who nominated my cover for this event, the author Kaye Lynne Booth for the support, and ALL the Voters! 

You made the book cover art a success!

If you would like to peruse my other digital creations, please stop by the Art, Cover, & Prints page on Sonoran Dawn Studios for examples. 

Thank you! I cannot wait for more opportunities like this one in the future.

Have a great and wonderful summer!


Saturday, June 24, 2017

Marketing: The Language of Symbols

I have been assisting others lately develop their marketing strategies from blogs, websites to book covers. In reality, what I am doing is helping develop an author's language of symbols. The letters and words I am typing now are in fact symbols.

Did you know the letter "a" is the symbol for an ox? 

Humans are hardwired to understand and translate the abstract language of symbols to convey information in a short amount of time. It is an efficient system, but also one that can be used for negative purposes. Go to any corporations website and translate their symbols, or marketing logos. What does that corporation tell you without saying a word? Then you will understand the language of silent hypocrisy.

As artists and writers, we use symbols to tell stories. When it comes to brand creation, most artists and writers cannot translate themselves into a marketing strategy. That is where I usually find myself: in between the creator and true genesis. 

So how do artists and writers step out of the shadows to show their readership/audience in symbols what they and their products are all about? 

Writing about Marketing today! 
The Undawnted logo is a great example. It has a Saturn motif. Saturn is the old bearded man that likes structure. Yet, if one takes a closer look, I have shadows in the eye of the storm. I like the paranormal so I threw that symbolism in there, but I also like science and science fiction. So the swirl is indicative of a galaxy spinning around a galactic center of beings and perhaps an Einstein Rosenbridge. The rings could be of a Saturn like planet, but in this case, the rings symbolize the expansion of creativity and consciousness across the universe. 

So look how much I said in that logo for Undawnted: Imagination is Fearless, after all. 

There are some unwritten rules about blogs and websites that many artists and authors shove to the side, so I will help translate those items:
  • keep it simple
  • only have 2 to 3 clicks to anywhere on your site
  • declutter, you don't have to put everything in the menus when a link will do
  • white space is golden
  • be conservative
When I explain these items, I get blown off. If I go to sites of artists and authors with their Twitter and social media feeds on the side, that is too much input for me. As your audience, I am looking for YOU... not your feeds. I could care less. 

I want access to your writings or your art pieces. And, I want them as soon as I click onto your site. So take down all the noise and replace the noise with a link. 

A blog/website comes down to what you want me to know... in the first five seconds I am there. Are you trying sell me your Twitter feed or your book/art? 

Symbolism takes a hen peck approach. If your main focus is to sell me your works, then don't sell me the secondaries of Twitter and social media. Prioritize. 

If you write and sell writing services... get two different blogs or sites. You can interweave and link to create a support mechanism for both your inventions. I began with art and writing on this site. When I focused on what Undawnted was all about, I moved the art off and created: Sonoran Dawn Studios. Bingo! 

Now if someone needs design and publishing services, that person goes to www.SonoranDawn.com. 

If someone wants to read something unique from every topic under the sun, that person comes to Undawnted. 

Perfecto! 

Always keep it simple. You don't want your blog, website, or logo to look like a Jackson Pollock painting. You want to look like Da Vinci: with style, grace, and purpose. 

I hope I have explained this topic well. 

When you endeavor on a path of marketing, be sure to visit other artists and authors' websites. See what they have done to market themselves to a wider audience. Have a list of what you like and what you don't like. 

Then sketch out what you want then find someone like me to help you translate your world to the universe of readers and connoisseurs of your unique art form. 

If you can do it yourself, even better. I encourage artists and writers to learn other modalities so they are less inclined to pay for services they don't need or want. Services should be there to enhance what you already have, not leave you penniless. 

So do some basic research. Learn what a great marketing strategy is. Ask for help. Get only the services you require. 

Sounds easy, but takes a lot of work!

Have a great and wonderful day!!!  


Wednesday, June 14, 2017

New Book Marketing Design

How is this for showing off?

More like inspired by. Not too shabby. I think this new design feature will only be available to those publications which have been previously released and leave the soon-to-be released as the normal two-dimensional design. 

So be on the lookout for my publications (with a link to Lulu through Sonoran Dawn Studios) when you see this neat three-dimensional design here on Undawnted.

Have a great and wonderful day!




Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Copyright Overload

I was researching information for a daily minder I created for my personal use. 

Holy moly, people. Some bloggers and webmasters take their writings a little too seriously. I ran into locations that forbade me from even copying and pasting for my own personal use, not to mention websites that disabled right-click as well. 

Excuse you? 

I just did another search and found someone with the same information but was not threatening me over it. I only wanted astrological signs. That was from a Ph.D. too! 

People should realize what the copyright laws are and are not. Copyright laws should never limit information. Especially, no one has the right to limit common information. Common information is data in the public domain. 

What can people see, feel, touch, and taste? The stars, planets, moon, sun are public. Constellations are public. Colors and their meanings are public, Flowers, trees, and other foliage are public. Herbs, spices, fruits, vegetables, meats are public, The different animals are public. Anything paid for with tax money like government studies, photos are public. 

When I write an essay, I use the educational and informational aspects of copyright to cite each of my sources. What I have been running into are people who do not allow others to use their work in a legal and educational manner. 

To me that is affront to the nature of knowledge. If you do not want the public to readily access your intellectual property like poetry, fiction stories, or researched essays, then put those works into books, booklets, and add an ISBN and copyright license to your pieces. It is that simple. 

When people threaten others to read but not touch their websites and blogs, I leave and never return.  That is carrying copyright to a dangerous and albeit ineffectual level. You have knowledge? Then share it! 

But if you are sharing public knowledge without any intellectual creativity that would make that information your own property and telling people its not theirs to take.. well, I have news for you: it's not yours to begin with either! 

If you cannot share like good girls and boys, then why do you have a website or blog? Intellectual property cannot be claimed on public knowledge or information. Creativity can be.

For others who believe everything on a website or blog is free for the taking, not so fast. Everything created and written is under copyright protection. If you want to use something, ask permission first if you are not going to cite the information under MLA or APA styles. As well, research public domain for copyright and royalty free images, photos, and information. 

As for common knowledge, I guess humanity needs to have a talk about what is considered fair use and what is considered intellectual property since some people think whatever is published on the internet is theirs for the taking as well as the converse where some people feel that everything they publish online is so sacred that no one is allowed to use it. 

We need to restore a common sense balance in order to advance human creative and intellectual potential.

Thank you!

Have a great and wonderful day.



Thursday, April 14, 2016

Making the Old New Again

Once upon a time, in a place when i was healthy, I had a website dedicated to all my shite...

I tried getting my information together: biographies, bibliographies, vitaes, and other business like data onto Undawnted, and it didn't feel right. So I sat down to plot out a new strategy.

I have multiple interests that i would like to see take off in the near future: designs, art and writing, and well marketing and selling books, prints, designs, media, and apparel. I did not want several different storefronts. I wanted just one. 

So that is what I am working on. I want to make my old site new again with an updated feel and energy.

I was born in the Sonoran Desert... so that is what inspired: Sonoran Dawn Studios! The outlet for products I want to sell. In time, maybe sell other people's items too that are fantastic and creative! I really do want to edit and sell books by new authors someday...

We will see what transpires! 

So I am here. I am just trying to do too many projects at once, like always, and that means more naps! 

Have a great and wonderful day!


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