And it's what an artist must do to succeed. Put out little tendrils of hope - blog, enter a competition, update your website, give a workshop, join a great art group, give lessons, design a new business card, try a new technique, send out a press release, write an article, and: keep a running list of all these "ingredients." [...]

You might be thinking... crazy is a strong word. However, when I spend too much time online, I get stupid - I can't remember diddly; I've been forgetful and have missed deadlines. (I never used to miss deadlines)! My brain can only take in so much stimuli before it starts shutting down. I get zoned in on my computer or Ipad screen and my life and responsibilities begin to slide by, while I live in a dream world by viewing what everyone else is doing. In the end, I've got to stop looking at what y'all are doing all day so I can return to my life. [...]

The question you need to answer is this: are you having fun playing with the 20% on Facebook, while ignoring the much larger network of people you can reach via the "dark social network?" [...]

We're busy. We all are. We receive far too much informational stimulus in the form of e-mails, text messages, online links, memos, and physical junk mail. Most of us who have gone through the conventional educational establishment have learned to skim read, and those of us who haven't lived under a rock since birth have additionally picked up on the concept of multi-tasking, to the point that our default mode of thinking is: Successful, dynamic people read and process phenomenal amounts of information quickly, at the same time that they are literally running on the treadmill and listening to the Newsie Chat Show. [...]

Now I'm not telling anyone to stop using or to never use "social media" (FB, Twitter, et al). If you want to or have had success with it, that's fine. I'm just getting tired of those who try to demean blogging as useless or passé. [...]

Social media mirrors your own social circle. Most of the time your friends are not going to criticize you in a public form. The real negativity arises from the different tribes of artists and when they interact on a public forum. [...]

Some changes happened with Facebook.com over the weekend ? changes that you may not be aware of. [...]

Samuel Adoquei said, "The best artists are givers." That is what I see at events - knowledge and talent being poured out by artists so that others could learn from their successes and mistakes. Hopefully as we are inspired by others (and not hampered by FOMO), we will take what we can use for our own personal journeys and simply leave the rest. We've got painting to do! [...]

The interaction between Mattera and the artist raises several questions about how artists utilize social networking for the purpose of art marketing -- and how those efforts are interpreted by online 'friends'. [...]

So what does removing the mask mean? This means communicating to strangers like they are our friends. Don't be afraid to give your personal opinions or tell stories about your personal life. Post pictures of yourself working on your art. And most of all, it means talking to anybody who takes the time to engage in conversation. This means comments on Facebook, personal emails, and reviews of your work. It does not need to be a long response, but just a sign that you are listening. [...]

If you don't make it easy to buy your art then you will miss a lot of sales opportunities. [...]

So if you are one of those crazy seven or eight, sitting in front of the machine, designing that newsletter, when everyone else is out on holiday, look at your calendar. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Schedule that article/newsletter to go when there's actually someone there to receive it. [...]

How can you receive 'honest' constructive criticism for your art? Below are a few suggestions: [...]

Too Much Screen Time ? this is the inability to walk by the computer screen (or ignore the phone, for those of you who don't live in obscure, rural areas where we're lucky to have electrical poles, much less phone towers) without briefly checking your Facebook or your e-mail or gliding through the Internet on a search for musk ox yarn. [...]

In a "perfect" online marketing world, I wouldn't have to throw myself or my work at a seemingly endless list of other sites...or even one other site, for that matter. But many artists are doing that in the name of "exposure," to get their work "seen." In a truly perfect online marketing world, collectors would come to my site and find my work on their own without any prompting from me. But without using any of the above listed options, what chance do I have of drawing that audience? Can I really do it all here on my site alone? [...]

In my opinion, Facebook Timeline looks to be a visual mess -- kind of like dropping a stack of photographs on the floor hoping that some form of order will come from the random fall of images. [...]

But the options are out there, just waiting to be part of our marketing plan, if only we can figure out a way to learn how to use them because it can't be that difficult, can it, when other people, who are about of our level of intelligence, are using this stuff, and using it well? [...]

In my opinion these recent changes will 'kill' Facebook groups for many Facebook users -- groups that are active will be hurt the most... and art groups on Facebook tend to be extremely active. [...]

Could the art market experts and art critics of today be wrong about specific forms of art and the impact they have on the sensibilities of the public? If one looks at Facebook pages it would seem that these influential art writers are blind to the desire the average citizen has in regard to art. [...]

please remember, if the world loses a single work of art you could have produced because you got sucked into playing Farmville, well, that would be, quite frankly, tragic. [...]

please don't characterize this post as me telling you not to use Facebook. [2] If it adds value to your life, use it. In your marketing, just don't forget all the people who don't. They aren't second class buyers and might just be first class ones. [...]

If you're an artist please try this - turn off that cell phone, or better yet, leave it at home (especially if it's one of those particularly dangerous "smart" phones), grab that sketchbook and a pencil, and drive to the park. An artist with only a sketchbook and a pencil can't really do anything else but start sketching with it [...]

And make sure you pay attention to the right prospects. Hint: Looking at your Google Analytics won't tell you who the right ones are. [...]

Even if a social networking site had legal grounds to utilize user generated images on physical merchandise I assume they would be facing so many copyright infringement lawsuits that the loss of court expenses would eat up any profit made from selling the merchandise. It would be bad for business-- and bad for their corporate image. Point blank -- I think artists should be more wary of individual copyright infringers -- such as other artists. After all, those individuals could use the images 'under the radar' for profit, so to speak, compared to a website like Facebook. [...]

A website like Facebook or Google+ would not want to face the public ridicule that would likely occur if the company exploited artists by using their images on merchandise without permission and compensation. If something like that were to happen the story would be picked up by the blogosphere in a heartbeat-- and the media would be quick to report on it as well. There would be protests, boycotts, and so on. It would simply be bad for any social networking giants image. [...]

Point blank -- without the protection of specific terms a website, such as Facebook or DeviantART, would not be able to realistically function. The Internet itself would be a useless void lacking information -- very few individuals and companies would want to risk being sued by providing services that allow content to be spread virally online. That is something to think about when criticizing TOS agreements in general. Do you want the Internet or not? It is your choice. [...]

Forming an alliance based on mutual exposure with like-minded artists can benefit you greatly for selling fine art online. [...]

The final, most important not to use your full-content feed is this: You and I should not be working so hard only build traffic for Facebook (so they can sell Facebook ads). I am working hard to share my thoughts with my audience.....but I want to do it on my site, presented the way I want it presented, and shared in a way that brings people to my website. [...]

This Post is by Clint Watson,  founder of FineArtViews. Follow Clint on Twitter. I started a little Twitter storm today about Facebook. It started with me linking to an article titled Facebook's New Terms Of Service: We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever. Admittedly, I was in a grumpy mood today and tweeted some kind of negative stuff.  Sorry if I offended anyone, but my thoughts were rooted in some real ideas and frustrations. So here's my bottom line: 1.  Facebook appears to be claiming the rights to any content posted.  Theoretically that could mean artwork images, blog posts or any other content.  [...]

Everybody loves free services.  Free is good right? Consider this:  there's an old adage that says, "You get what you pay for . . . ." Free Services are Great . . . . Until they Disappear Recently we ran across a post at Barney Davey's Art Print Issues blog about the death of Blog Rush.   Some bloggers (like Barney) liked Blog Rush and were dismayed to see it go under.  But the death of Blog Rush underscores an important point that artists need to consider when they choose online services to rely upon . . . [...]

If you've sent me a Facebook invitation, I apologize. I'm sure I haven't yet responded. Why not? Because, I've decided not to use FaceBook. For that matter, I'm not using Myspace, LinkedIn, Ning or any of the other countless social networks out there. Why not? Mainly because I see absolutely no compelling reason to use FaceBook. The Internet itself is a social network, using something like FaceBook seems artificial and unnecessary. Perhaps it made sense when it was a hang-out just for college kids but it's a tool that [...]