Okay, this isn’t strictly about web design, but it is a lot fun. A really neat little Quicktime movie about typography.

Check it out

While we’re on the subject of “About Me” pages, I just “StumbledUpon” one that made me go “Wow!”

Check out the “About” page of multimedia designer, Dave Werner. Using a mixture of video and animation, you’re not likely to forget this page…or this artist….

…and the website’s pretty cool too. Now after that introduction, would you hesitate to hire Dave? I wouldn’t.

While I’m not suggesting that we should all make our “About Me” pages into a multimedia production like Dave did, wouldn’t it be great if we could figure ways to make our bio pages and “About Me” pages a little more memorable? That’s one project I’ll be working on for my own websites in the near future.

One of the podcasts I like to listen to on a regular basis is Media Artist Secrets by Franklin McMahon. While his podcasts are more focused towards those in the digital creative field like graphic design, web design, photography, and video, the advice in his episodes are useful for anyone who’s does creative stuff for a living. His podcasts are usually about 15 to 30 minutes long and always makes me want to run into my studio yelling, “Charge!”

Well his most recent podcast made cringe a bit, because he talks about skimpy About Me pages…that web page that lets everyone know who you are and what you do. I must admit that when it comes to an “About Me” page for my own websites, I don’t give it as much attention as I should.

If you haven’t been living in a cave in the last couple weeks, you may have heard about the launch of Apple’s new iPhone. You of course may have seen the ads on TV, in magazines, and all of the news reports about people camping out in front of the Apple Store so they could be the first to buy a new iPhone. But what caused all of this frenzy in the first place? In the Media Artist Secrets podcast, Franklin pointed out that while all of the advertising and media attention was great, it may not have captured nearly as much attention if it wasn’t for the very well designed, detailed video tour of the new iPhone where you got to see all of the cool new features, how they worked, and saw the iPhone in action…before you even got to see one firsthand.

So what does this have to do with skimpy “About Me” pages? Franklin McMahon puts it like this. The iPhone video behaved just like the perfect “About Me” page that everyone who has a website should have. If you were curious about the iPhone, the video told you all about it. And then it went a step further…it also made you want to have one yourself. Before you saw the video, you were only curious about the iPhone…after the video, you were so excited that you couldn’t wait to have one or at least touch one. And your “About Me” page should develop the same reaction in your visitors.

How many of us have an “About Me” page that just lists a brief biography and a colorless description of the kind of work we do? How many of use don’t even have an “About Me” page because it’s hard to write one without seeming like we’re bragging? How many people go from curiosity to “I gotta have something from that artist!” after reading your About Me page? I know personally that the “About Me” page is not my favorite thing to write, but I have one because I know that visitors to you website trust you more if they can learn more about you and know that you’re an actual person. But, as Franklin pointed out, your “About Me” page should take it a step further and should transform readers into buyers.

If you want to check out the Media Artist Secrets podcast, visit Franklin McMahon’s blog at http://www.fmstudio.com/2007/07/05/media-artist-secrets-episode-69/ and check out the July 5 show. The entire show is about 35 minutes long, but if you want to skip ahead to the iPhone marketing segment, it starts about 22 minutes into the episode. The beginning of the episode also has some pretty good tips on keeping yourself from getting distracted while you’re working…so you can’t go wrong by listening to the whole thing.

It’s great to be back home from San Diego…although I wish I could bottle up the weather and bring it back here…90+ degrees with 75% humidity here today in Virginia…yikes! On my last day in San Diego, I got to walk around in the Gaslamp district with all of the great sidewalk restaurants and neat little stores.

As luck would have it, one of the shops I walked into was owned by leather artist, John Allen Woodward. He makes some of the most beautiful leather belts, wallets, watchbands, and other leather accessories. In addition to the shop, he also has a small studio in the back of the store and he spent some time showing me some of the different types of leather he worked with; lizard, calf, and the more exotic sharkskin and stingray leathers. If you’ve never seen stingray leather before, you should check out his website. Stingray leather has one of the most fascinating textures I’ve ever seen.

While we were talking we got on the subject of building websites. John had previously had a design company make his first website, but ran into a problem when it came to maintaining his website. He would have a picture of new work that he wanted to post on the website, or maybe he needed to change some copy or some prices and he would have to go through the design company to have those changes made….and they were very, very slow. They were often busy with other clients and didn’t have time to get to the changes done quickly or other priorities kept getting in the way. So that changes that should only take a couple minutes could take days to get done.

John is now currently in the process of building a new website and he told me that the most important lesson that he learned from his first site is to always keep control of it. One mistake that a lot of artists make, he told me, was thinking that they can hire someone to build the website and then they can sit back while the sales roll in. They don’t make any updates to their websites or their web designers are too busy to make the changes they request. They don’t promote their websites. Then after two, three, or four months, they’re wondering why their sites aren’t making any sales.

You took the words right out of my mouth, John!

Remember that a website is always a work in progress, and like your artwork you’re always improving it, keeping it up to date with new pictures, new products, more information about yourself and your work. Most importantly, if you hire a web designer to build your site, have them build it so it’s easy for you to make updates yourself. Like John discovered, once your site is built, your designer may not always have the time or the inclination to make updates to it when you need it. You should always have the ability to make changes to existing pages, the ability to add new pages to your website, and the ability to upload these changes to your website. These three skills will give you the power to have total control over your site. Don’t let your website be hostage to someone else’s priorities and schedule.

Thanks to John Allen Woodward for letting me talk his ear off in his shop. If you’re ever in the San Diego area, check out his shop at 431 J Street in the Gaslamp Quarter. And even if you don’t make it to CA, you can check out his website at: http://www.johnallenwoodward.com/. You can buy some of his fantastic leather pieces online.

Hello, from San Diego, CA! I just spent the weekend helping out with a conference at the beautiful US Grant Hotel, and today I’ll be spending the day checking out the city. But I’m being a good girl and writing a blog post before I go!
I did a lot of out of town shows last year and met loads of artists who practically live on the road for 9 months out of the year. If you have email or a blog or a web site that you need to check on or update on a regular basis you’ll need to have some reliable ways to connect to the Internet while on the road. Fortunately, these days, it’s easier to stay connected to the Internet if you’re prepared.

Your laptop- The easiest way to stay connected on the road is to have a laptop that has wireless Internet capabilities. Most new laptops on sale now or ones that were for sale a couple years a go already come with wireless capacity already built in. If you have an old dinosaur though, you’ll still be able to connect to wired services using your Ethernet connection (that hole in the back of your computer that looks like a slightly bigger telephone plug).

WiFi Hotspots- Go to your local Starbucks or public library, and you’ll usually find that they have a wireless connection available. If you’re flying, a lot of airports have wireless access available as well. Some even have business centers where you can connect using your wired ethernet connection. I spent part of a three-hour layover at the Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, NC at the great little business center that had both wireless and Ethernet access. It sure made the time go faster sitting in a nice comfy chair catching up on email and reading posts from my favorite blogs. I just wish our airport in Norfolk had wireless! If you’re staying in a hotel, most large chains also have either wireless or Ethernet capabilities available in every room or in their business centers.

WiFi Finders- If you’re passing through parts unknown where there isn’t a local Starbucks (yeah it’s possible) or large hotel chain, it can also be useful to have a WiFi finder which is a little gadget that indicates when you enter a location that has a WiFi signal. Most laptops will automatically find wireless signals, but you don’t want to walk around with an open laptop trying to find a signal and you sure don’t want look for a signal while you’re driving. Most of these devices are about the size of a keychain and cost between $19 and $30. You can find them at your local electronics store.

WiFi for Free- It’s important to remember that not all WiFi spots are free. If you’re staying in a hotel that has Internet access, you’ll need to check beforehand to see if there’s an extra charge for the service. Usually they’ll have this information on their web sites before you book your room or you can check at the front desk when you arrive. Be sure to check on charges beforehand you log on, or you’ll end up with a unpleasant surprise on your hotel bill. I found this out the hard way, it’s not always apparent to you when you log on that you’re being charged. Some chains offer free Internet access to most or all of their hotel properties. I stayed at a lot of Choice Hotel properties last year because of the free access. (Interestingly enough, I’ve found that you usually have to pay for Internet access at your more expensive hotels…it was about $12 per day at the US Grant. At $200 per night seems like they’d spot you $12 for WiFi). You can also check the web sites of whatever airport you have a layover at to see what they have available.

You can also check out WiFi Free Spot which is a web site that lists airports, hotels, and RV parks and campgrounds that have free wireless access.

Mobile Broadband- If you’re at a spot where you can make a cell phone call, you can also access the Internet by using a Broadband PC card. You can purchase these cards from companies like Verizon and Sprint and then you pay a monthly fee for the Internet access. You can also use this option at home if you don’t have cable Internet or DSL access in your area. Cards usually cost around $50 and your monthly fee ranges from $50 to $70 per month.

Dial-Up- Dial-up may be slow but it is an old standby, especially if you’re not sure about the availability of WiFi at your location or if cell phone signal strength is spotty. As long as you can find a landline phone, you can log on to the Internet. And all you need on your laptop is a regular old modem. Some dial-up companies have a variety of local access numbers so when you’re logging on it costs no more than a local call. Some companies even have 800 numbers, so that logging on is just like making a toll-free call. Dial-up access usually costs around $10 per month and you can get an account from companies like NetZero and PeoplePC.

If You Don’t Have a Laptop- You can always check out the local library to see if they have public computers with Internet access. That will do to check your email in a pinch. Again, hotels also have business centers where they’ll have computers available (most often for a fee). And don’t forget about cybercafés. These are places where you can use a computer with Internet access for a fee. They usually charge by the hour, but you can also buy a day pass if you need the computer for longer. There’s usually at least one in most cities. You can find a running database of cybercafés in cities and countries all over the world at the Cybercafe Search Engine.

Be Prepared- Before your trip, you need to make sure that you have all of the cards, cords, cables, and access numbers you need to log on. Check out your location for availability of Internet access so you can avoid any surprises. You should also make sure that your laptop battery is fully charged before you go. You might not be able to find easy access to an electrical outlet and some places are really stingy with the number of outlets they have. And of course, don’t forget your power cord!

Ok…post done…I’m going out to check out the sights!