Social media and the arts

Yesterday I attended the 10th Annual YES Artists' Conference. The topics covered were very interesting. One that caught my attention was how you can build your professional profile using social media such as YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. I like LinkedIn because is a professional site with tons of user friendly features and helpful pages to increase your visibility. Michelle Sullivan, Director of Social Media & Digital Communications said that YouTube is a great tool (if used correctly) to help you make your mark and stand out from the crowd.

I found some tactics that corroborate what Sullivan said:
1. Make the videos viral, and spread them to as many websites as possible. 2. Use other social media sites like Twitter and Digg to post your videos.
3. Create well thought out, professionally styled videos that are edited properly.
4. Make sure the sound on your videos is clear and mixed and edited well so users can clearly hear it.
5. Keep content funny, engaging, and informative so viewers will watch it from beginning to end.
6. Try to keep the videos you create clean without too much controversial material.
7. Embed your logo and website into the video somehow. You can do this with text at the end or beginning, or by including your logo or URL throughout the entire video.
8. Have goals for your YouTube videos, but remember that there are thousands of videos on the site, and some have millions of hits while others only have a couple hundred. Set realistic goals.
9. Make sure you have a good camera and editing equipment. If you don't want to sink the money into these things, consider hiring a professional.
10. Keep the resolution of the video as high as possible, so it's as clear as it can be.
Want to read the additional 40? Go to: http://www.susangilbert.com/50-powerful-social-media-tactics-for-youtube/.

Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com