APP OF THE MONTH: 9 Grid for Instagram

Posted Leave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Social Media
Name 9 Grid for Instagram
Product Description Create beautiful Instagram feeds without photoshop by easily cropping your images into 3×1, 3×2 and 3×3 sections to upload jigsaw grids to your Instagram in the right order every time.
Availability Only Available on Android through the Google Play Store. Similar app ‘Grids’ is available through Apple Store and on Desktop.
Key Features In addition to those mentioned above features include:

·         Numerous combinations of arranging your images on Instagram

·         HD resolution for cut images

·         Saving images to your phone or SD card

·         Adding any coloured text to your image

·         Adding emojis and stickers to your image

·         Giving you a numerical order to upload your images on Instagram to get the desired effect looking good.

·         Uploading your images directly to Instagram into both your feed and direct messaging.

Prices and Plans Free! Although you do have to cope with adverts which are inbuilt into the app and can be a bit annoying but again, it’s FREE!  So, just get on with it!
Biggest Pro It is so easy to use and (so long as you upload your images in a minimum quality of 3240px x 3240px when creating a 3×3 Grid) you get great quality results without the faff!
Biggest Con It is only available on Android.  As mentioned above there are different apps available on Apple.

 

There are plenty of other apps out there which also help you achieve this effect so if you use any others to create Jigsaw Grids, tell us about them in the comments!

How Theatre can Inspire Revolution: ‘First Time’

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Promotion, Start Ups, Theatre

Theatre has a unique ability to inspire audiences.  It can work particularly well when raising awareness about charitable causes.

 

Well, recent winner of a Best Show of the Fringe award from The Stage Nathaniel Hall does just that with his new one man show ‘First Time’ in collaboration with Dibby Theatre.

This autobiographical play explains how Nathaniel contracted HIV from his first sexual partner.  He cleverly uses a variety of storytelling techniques to portray the emotional rollercoaster he had been on from when he first received the news through his journey of coming to terms with his diagnosis.

 

A self-proclaimed activist Manchester based Nathanial aims to speak out for and with those who have previously been unheard or ignored.

 

It is a combination of his immense bravery in telling his own unique story, his natural ability to inspire others to come out and speak openly about their own experiences with HIV and his incredible fundraising drive to work alongside locally based HIV charities offering workshops and talks that have led to some unbelievable (and well deserved) National Press Coverage.

 

This has included editorials in AttitudeBuzzfeed, and BBC News.

 

In fact, flicking down his press page is basically like the perfect lesson in who to contact when developing a press release list for a show like this: the national news platforms, the local reviewers and papers, the LGBT community and theatre-based media companies across the UK.

 

What is particularly special about Nathaniel’s show is how in talking about his diagnosis he has begun the healing process of his mental health and finally he is looking forward to the future. He has used his story to encourage a revolution.

 

You can take inspiration from Nathaniel when developing your own work.

  • Could you get involved with charities that are relevant to the work you’re producing?  This could open up funding opportunities for your own show and help boost donations to the charities you are supporting.

o   ‘First Time’ has run after show parties to raise money for local HIV charities

  • Could you offer specialist workshops or talks to help others learn from the themes in your work?  Could you contribute to the community alongside your performance to help spread your message and could increase your ticket sales.

o   ‘First Time’ has run post show discussions about Rapid HIV Testing.

  • Could you use your work to raise awareness of and openly campaign for an important cause? If you found communities that would be helped with your work this could not only mean sponsorship for your performance but also opens new marketing outlets so that your show is reaching the right audiences.

o   ‘First Time’ aims to erase the stigma around HIV and campaigning for the UN Goal of zero new HIV transmissions by 2030.

 

We would love to hear about any work you’ve done like this.  Let us know in the comments!

 

Nathaniel J. Hall and Dibby Theatre will be touring ‘First Time’ soon so keep your eyes peeled on their website here to check out when where you can see this remarkable show.

How to Manage your Photos

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Administration, Business Skills

A dull as subject which I have jazzed up with this Snazzy Infographic:

 

 

Why bother?

 

  • I’m sure all of you freelancers have been into an office you don’t know and logged onto the desktop to find a completely random file management system in place (or none at all)! So overhaul your administration and filing starting with your photo management.
  • In the world of constantly producing social media content we want to have millions of photos of various events and everyday happenings of what’s going on at our company to add some variety! Wouldn’t it be great if they were super easy to find?
  • When all of your pictures are saved in ‘My Photos’ and have file names DSC000001-DSC999999 it is impossible to know what your looking for unless you spend a solid few hours of your life waiting for thumbnails to load and then flicking through them.
  • The above technique is a universal way to file your images which will only take you slightly longer to implement when uploading images and save you hours in the future.

 

For more information on making the file naming process even easier why not check out our APP OF THE WEEK this week: Adobe Bridge

 

I can’t promise anything, but if you love organisation, you mind even have fun!

 

Do you have any admin advice or queries, let us know in the comments below.

 

APP OF THE MONTH: ADOBE BRIDGE

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Administration, Business Skills
Name Adobe Bridge
Product Description A companion product to Adobe Photoshop designed for file management and cataloguing your digital photo collection
Availability Through Browser at https://creativecloud.adobe.com/apps/download/bridge
Key Features A Digital Assets Management (DAM) or Desktop Media Browser Programme allowing you store and sort your images professionally and easily on your desktop or laptop computer:

·         Highlight your favourite photos and hide the ones you don’t like as much

·         Add keywords to the metadata (basically background digital copy) of your photos to easily find the perfect image you need on search and improve your SEO if you upload your images online.

·         Upload your images directly through Bridge to have them automatically renamed to match your filing system.

·         Add Star ratings 1-5 to your images

·         Use the filter system to search through your images

·         Creating Collections (kind of like music playlists) to regroup your photos into different albums without creating doubles on your hard drive.

·         Preview your images without having to open them in another programme through numerous different ways.

·         Completely customisable workspace/dashboard so you can prioritise quick access to the features and files you use the most

Prices and Plans It is completely free regardless of whether you purchase the rest of the Creative Cloud from Adobe.
Biggest Pro It’s quick and easy freeing up a massive amount of time in the long run, making it easier to track your existing images.  It lowers the chance of losing or accidently deleting images.
Biggest Con At present they don’t have any ability to access the app from your phone which is where most people take majority of their pictures so their isn’t really an option to file your images on the go from your mobile.

 

The Evolution of Scottish Tourism

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Marketing, Museums, Publicity

The National Museum of Scotland boasts exhibits from all over the world including the only place you can see an Ancient Mummy outside of Egypt, limestone sculptures from Ancient Assyria and a dodo from Mauritius.  But what was one of the major complaints I received from tourists back when I worked as an Edinburgh Tour Guide?  It isn’t Scottish enough!

 

Crazy, right?!

 

So, what does the National Museum of Scotland do to combat this?  Well every couple of years, over the summer, which is peak season for tourism, they put on an exhibition that is all about Scotland.

 

And this year they have really hit the nail on the head with their latest paid entry exhibition: ‘Wild and Majestic’ which is about the history of the Scottish tourism industry.

 

It explores how the Romantic Movement during the 18th and 19th century, including poets like Wordsworth or Byron and painters like Knox, captured the imaginations of the world and so the idealised depiction of Scotland was born.

 

Through both artistic perception and real artefacts, the National Museum of Scotland differentiates between what the real Scotland is and the glamorised vision spread worldwide throughout history.  In particular, it explores the monarchy of the UK focusing on both George IV’s royal visit and Queen Victoria’s fascination with the Highlands leading to her eventual purchase of Balmoral castle.

 

The development of Balmoral gives an interesting insight into the overall development of Scotland to keep up with the surge of tourism.  The rural area, which had been untouched for centuries, was now being – somewhat begrudgingly- taken over by the upper classes.  This led to the development of the travel networks and buildings all over the Highlands.  It tells us that in order to preserve the history that attracts visitors, we must also be prepared to evolve.

 

Another brilliant move the National Museum of Scotland has made is to pair up with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig College on Skye, which is part of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI).  Together they wrote copy and content for the displays which were then translated into Gaelic as well as discussing the impact that the language and culture have had on Scotland’s evolution.  This aspect will not only encourage those from the North to experience the Museum but should also appeal to specialist societies and charities looking to preserve this ancient language.

 

In short, the travellers who come to Edinburgh can see their perfect and stereotyped vision of Scotland: everything from Tartan to Bagpipes, whereas the locals can see how Scotland was (and still is) essentially rebranded for the sake of the tourism industry.  An insightful way to make the exhibition accessible to all.

 

Find the Perfect Idea to Start your Arts Business

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Business Skills, Creative Industries, Start Ups

Why Start an Arts Business?

 

It’s terrifying putting yourself out there and letting out your artistic endeavours in the world.

 

I hear excuses almost daily about why brilliant artists and entrepreneurs shouldn’t start businesses in the Creative Industries.  Generally, these people are amongst the most hard-working, inventive and organised individuals but they are scared of the risks often entailed with starting a new enterprise.

 

But, there are numerous reasons to set up a new arts business:

 

  • Creating (or manufacturing) new work (products or services) which can be seen and directly sold, whether that is a new piece of art for someone’s mantelpiece or a performance that you want to be seen by the right audiences.  This type of business can be taken directly to the customer.

 

  • The want to distribute others work – you could be a gallery owner, a receiving house, a fringe venue, a music academy, a poetry publisher, a producer, the list goes on.  You can take this work either straight to the audience or to other businesses so there are two avenues you can go down.

 

  • Running events or finding a product you think someone else will benefit from. Think your Theatre in Education (TIE), art workshops and school holiday activities.  Not for profit organisations or charities come with plenty of perks to like claiming Gift Aid on donations and the ability to claim back VAT.

 

  • Some people are simply on the lookout for business opportunities where an investment, either monetary help (funding or equipment) or through giving time and advice to help others start a business, or in many cases in the Arts run themselves as a business, is traded for a return on their outlays later.  This is the agents and producers of the industry or opportunities like residencies provided by galleries.

 

Most Arts Organisations start out in one of these categories and then quickly diversify in order to turn over profit to drive the main organisation aim. Once you have thought of your initial idea then you can branch out:

 

As an example think of a specialist antique shop that collect their stock and run their business in different ways:

  • Some stock they buy in from markets and sell on
  • Some shelves or sections they rent to clients and sell the stock on their behalf
  • Some products they display for free and split the profits with the owner
  • Some articles are faux vintage bought in new to sell on at a more substantial margin
  • Some items are handmade from recycled antiques
  • Some run a café alongside their shop
  • Some host specialist auctions at weekends
  • Some run courses to teach hobbyists more about antiques

You get the idea.  There are always multiple strings on their bow to help sustain their business and, more importantly, their passion.  So, think about your passion and how it can be funded.

 

Have you come up with your great idea but don’t know where to start?  Or maybe you’ve diversified your portfolio to fund your passion.  Tell us in the comments below!

APP OF THE MONTH: Etsy

Posted Leave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Business Skills, E-Commerse
Name Etsy
Product Description A specialised selling (e-commerce) platform/online shop tailored to vintage and handmade products and craft supplies.
Availability Through Browser at https://www.etsy.com/ and as an app especially designed for sellers from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store
Key Features Unique items sold by small, independent businesses and individuals worldwide through a secure payment system.

The app consists of:

·         A Dashboard in which you can easily see your Shop Overview and any News and Activity from your shop.

·         A Stats (or analytics) section to see your views and visits along with information of where your traffic is coming from and a list displaying the order of your best performing products.

·         An Orders tab where you can see both open and completed orders

·         Conversations (or messages) where you can talk to other members and customers – a great feature of this is that Etsy will save ‘Snippets’ or your personal commonly used phrases to add to your conversations.

·         A place to view listings, your shop, reviews and finances.

·         The ability to shout out about your shop items across all your Social Media Platforms.

·         Etsy Ads in which you can budget what to spend each day in order to rank higher in both Google and Etsy.

·         Links to educational videos and articles about how to get the best out of your Etsy store.

Prices and Plans The app itself is free.  To list an item on Etsy is $0.20 (which with the current exchange rate is around £0.17).  Your listings will be active on Etsy for 4 months or until that item is sold.  When sold Etsy will take a 5% commission and charge a processing payment of 4% plus £0.20 per transaction.  So, if you sell an item for £10.00 Etsy would receive around £1.27.

They now offer Etsy Plus for £8.30 a month which includes 15 free listings, £4.20 to spend on Etsy Ads, a custom web address, email stock alerts for customers and new personalisation options for your store.

Later in the year they will be launching ‘Etsy Premium’ although pricing plans a full spec are yet to be announced.

Biggest Pro Unlike Amazon and eBay on which you can buy anything and everything Etsy is specifically targeted towards sellers of vintage and handcrafted things meaning this is where designers and makers can find their target audience immediately.
Biggest Con Of course, this can also be a con as there is a lot of competition on Etsy.  There is also no way to ‘patent’ your ideas, so to speak, which means similar designs to yours may appear and there is little you can do about it.

 

Find your Perfect Social Network: Part 2

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Marketing, Social Media

 

Platform Name LinkedIn
Monthly Active Users 303 Million
Key Demographic Mainly professionals, but this is the key social platform where you’re likely to find the older generation age bracket.
Pros A great platform for hiring staff, anyone and everyone has their CV or some kind of uploaded imitation of on here.  It also has a great, informative blog platform and a section to advertise job positions.
Cons Due to its nature it means that, unless people are using it for one of the above options, users don’t tend to check it that frequently, hence its low active monthly user figure.

 

Platform Name Snapchat
Monthly Active Users 301 million
Key Demographic Children and Teenagers, if they are your target audience you need to be all over this social media platform.
Pros It’s quick and they have some great AR capabilities.  Especially good if your running a show for teenagers or educational purposes.  Think about appointing a Snapchat Officer when running workshops for teenagers!  They love the responsibility!  Just make sure to get permission slips signed for under 18s to be on social first.
Cons Did you not hear what Kim Kardashian said? Snapchat is on its way out!  Seriously, on the day she shared that the value of Snapchat dropped by $1.3 billion, which probably also tells you a bit about the demographic of Snapchat… I’m saying nothing.

 

Platform Name Pinterest
Monthly Active Users 291 Million
Key Demographic Mainly women, in fact 80% of its users are female.  The median age of Pinterest is also slightly higher than many other social networks at 40 although active users usually fall below this age.
Pros Amazing craft and ideas platform.  The ability to create separate mood boards is genius and I have seen it frequently used by designers and event managers.  If you have merchandise you can create a sales platform on here to.
Cons Very rarely is there citation to who has made and designed the items on here which means plagiarism is common if you are putting up your own work up, although some would argue that Pinterest is about utilising others ideas and coming up with your own creation.

 

Platform Name Soundcloud
Registered Users 76 Million
Unique Monthly Listeners 175 Million
Key Demographic Music fans and podcast listeners
Pros Unlike Spotify you are able to upload your own music and podcast content through Soundcloud to share with the world.  This can then easily be shared either by you or your listeners across other platforms and through your website by embedding tracks in the code.
Cons A low viewership at present means it is one of the least common streaming sites but it is building in popularity, especially amongst podcast developers and listeners.  Also, at present, you don’t have to create a profile to register which makes finding users with specific tastes difficult!

 

Platform Name Vimeo
Monthly Active Users 240 million
Key Demographic A rather small demographic mainly consisting of creatives who prefer a higher quality of video.  Basically, perfect for the arts industry.
Pros The biggest pro by far is the ability to privatise your videos!  If you’re workshopping or trying to market your show to tour promoters but don’t want to spoil it for paying audiences simply send them your video link with a password so they can view it, but no one else can!
Cons Unlike most the social media networks Vimeo has a lot of restrictions in the number of videos you can upload and store when you use it for free.  For £6-70 per month you can pay for additional storage and upload limits (it’s basically like paying for hosting).

 

Platform Name Tumblr
Monthly Posts 1.1 Billion
Key Demographic Another of your younger platforms (although not as young as Snapchat) catering mainly to under thirties.
Pros You can find any different interests on this site which makes it hugely accessible! You can also have multiple blogs which discuss different topics and unlike must social media where consistency is key you can come and go as you please on Tumblr without effective your business.
Cons Due to it’s blogging nature it is open to discussion which can be a feral breeding crowd for trolls!  Think about YouTube arguments but on in parliament, discussing Brexit, on speed.  They’re also super cagey about their visitor statistics so it’s difficult to gauge the kind of reach your getting.

`

 

BONUS TIP: Try to always keep your finger on the pulse with new, up and coming social platforms!  How?  I have found the easiest and most constructive way of doing this is simply seeing what is currently all the rage with my friends kids!  If it is winging its way through the local comprehensive school, chances are it’s buzzing all over the UK.  Obviously if you don’t have access to the fountain of knowledge that springs from the youth you can always listen to a social media podcast or keep your eye out in the news!

 

Do you use any social networks I haven’t mentioned?  I would love to hear about them in the comments.

 

I have tried to pull the most recent user data and demographics from the following websites:

Find your Perfect Social Network: Part 1

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Marketing, Social Media

Find your Perfect Social Network Part 1

Relevant at all times of the year, but also hella helpful for your Fringe residency!

With so many platforms available to you and your business it is difficult to know exactly what platforms you should cover.

Don’t just go mad and join all of them at the same time!  Especially if you’re a one man band.  As we’ve have mentioned in 10 ways to your social consistency is key and you will make your life incredibly difficult for yourself (unless you are a content creation machine!).

We’ve broken down the key stats of leading social media platforms for you to make your life a little easier.

 

Platform Name Facebook
Monthly Active Users 2.41 billion
Key Demographic Basically, everyone and their parents, and often their Grandparents.  Pretty much one third of the entire world uses Facebook so your target audience is bound to be here!
Pros Everyone is on it!  And every community group you could ever want to find probably already exists somewhere.  It is also diverse in the content you can share including live video, gifs, photos, text etc.
Cons Due to the high number of users it means you also have a high number of competition so it can be really difficult to build followers organically

 

Platform Name YouTube
Monthly Active Users 1.9 Billion
Key Demographic Again, a lot of people! But the people who use it for the longest each week are aged 16-24, followed by the 25-34 age bracket.  Also, keep in mind that 70% of users turn to YouTube to learn something.
Pros The Biggest Video platform in the world!  Streaming platforms are slowly taking over from TV and YouTube stars are becoming the new celebrities so if you hit the right market not only will you find your audience but you could even make a living from Vlogging.
Cons Like Facebook you have a lot of competition so do your research and make sure you’re using it to your advantage.

 

Platform Name Whatsapp
Monthly Active Users 1.5 billion
Key Demographic Like many social platforms it is predominantly your younger audience, but it is slowly taking the place of text messaging and its market is growing.
Pros It all runs through the internet so it’s pretty much free, unlike text messaging.  It has multiple ways you can use it for business means including: internal team communications; customer support; marketing and promotion.
Cons Not many companies currently use whatsapp for business.  I think this is really a pro disguised as a con.  What it means is that if you can creatively think about ways you could use Whatspps in your business you can be ahead of the game!  You could set the example.

 

Platform Name Instagram
Monthly Active Users 1 billion
Key Demographic Those in their 20s and 30s, Instagram has, in some cases, replaced Facebook for many people due to its simple, image based interface.
Pros It can be used to direct message other users even if you’re not following each other!  It has built in photo editing software so that even the most rubbish pictures you have taken look amazing.  It integrates tags and hashtags seamlessly.
Cons The focus on photos means users are less likely to read content so find a way to integrate text into your photos.

 

Platform Name Twitter
Monthly Active Users 330 million
Key Demographic Millennials and Stephen Fry
Pros Like Instagram the ability to tag others and utilise hashtags is hugely beneficial.  This means you are easily able to keep up with the latest trends and see what people are looking at on a daily basis.
Cons You can only message people if you both follow each other which, although is marginally restrictive, does make sense because of the number of celebrities who would otherwise receive mountains of spam.  You also have a limited letter count on Twitter so be succinct.

 

Platform Name Reddit
Monthly Active Users 330 Million
Key Demographic Predominantly Males aged 25-34.
Pros A platform which openly encourages discussion on anything and everything it differs to other social networks because of its high levels of interaction.  These discussions are split into categories or ‘subreddits’ to make your subject matter and audience easy to find.
Cons Some people only use Reddit to act as the opposing party so be prepared for what can often be unnecessary and time-consuming debates.  It can be easy to take things personally on Reddit so make sure you spend some time detaching yourself from your online profile for the sake of your sanity

 

Stay tuned for tomorrows post where we will be talking about some of the smaller social networks which can be equally as useful for your company.

APP OF THE MONTH: Canva

Posted Leave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Graphic Design

 

Name Canva
Product Description Amazingly simple graphic design software which allows you to make bespoke posts in the perfect size for any social media platform
Availability Through Browser at www.canva.com and as an app from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store
Key Features Create beautiful designs for your business in a matter of minutes.

Pick from thousands of existing templates to help you on your way.

Ensure your pictures exactly where and how you want them with their photo straightener, cropping tool, transparency feature and photo blur.

Add text or speech bubbles to any photo so they speak to your audience!

Create the perfect photo collage with premade design grids.

Add lines, shapes and images to make your designs distinctive.

Choose from a range of photo frames to make your pictures stand out.

Create a web wireframe or webpage mock-up to show clients what you can do.  This can easily go on to be developed into a fully working model.

Add stickers and custom make badges to stick to your designs.

Learn how to use Canva in a series of online videos provided by the company.

Prices and Plans FREE for the most basic plan which I have found to include everything I have ever needed!  Simply sign up and start making! Then its around a tenner a month for Canva Pro which comes with additional online storage and features.  They also offer discounts and freebies to non-profit organisations, so if you’re a registered charity drop them an email to see what they can do for you.
Biggest Pro Make slick looking online content and designs in a matter of minutes on your own!  No need for a graphic designer, simply become one!
Biggest Con Restricted features like magically resizing your design to look good for any of your social platforms or animated designs are reserved for the pay monthly pro version.