Thanks to Jeff Fisher, I'm quoted in the October Issue of HOW magazine which happens to be the Self-Promotion design Annual. If you are any kind of artist selling your work, this particular issue should be on your shopping list every year. This is a really great article about social networking for creatives and Jeff does a great job of it with his business. I met Jeff on the HOW forum around 8 years ago and he has always been so helpful to those newbies and veterans in the design field. Be sure to follow him on twitter and become a fan on facebook.

I thought I'd share my full interview so you could see how I use social networking:

1. Prior to your involvement in sites defined as "social networking" what
constituted the online presence/involvement of your business? Website? Forum
participation? Online portfolios? Blog?

I've always had an online portfolio and website, but when I first started out, I participated on a lot of forums. I read more than I commented or posted and then moved onto blogging that opened me up to other illustrators who were more on my level (career-wise) and I could connect to them better.

2. When and where did your business first venture into social networking?
LinkedIn? Facebook? MySpace? Twitter? Other?

I've been on LinkedIn for a good while now and have been able to find some good contacts that way. I've also found it to be a great place to update my mailing list. With everything going on in the economy, I've found that a lot of publishers have laid off their creatives so I've been able to see who all is where now.

I've never been on MySpace - it's always seemed so "high school" to me and most of the people I've seen on there have beer parties every weekend!

I joined Twitter in February of this year. It became an instant addiction, but in a good way. I've been able to network with a lot of other artists and it makes it feel like I'm working in the studios with other colleagues. I know a lot of people on twitter just like to have large following numbers and will follow anyone just so those will follow back - I follow people who I'm truly interested whether it be their art, a service or their personality. I don't have time to weed through people I'm not interested in.

I joined facebook a month or so after twitter. I've been resistant to joining facebook because I didn't want to mix business with personal. I didn't want to hook up with old friends (there's a reason they are "old" friends!) and didn't necessarily want to mix my personal conversations with business. I've been able to keep it pretty professional by automatically posting my tweet to my facebook status*.

*Note: since this interview, personal was bleeding over to professional a little more than I liked, so I've started a fan page that is business related. To get all my business "friends" to meet me over there, I posted this status:

"Attn: FB art/design friends: I'm switching business things over to a fan page to separate personal from biz here on FB. Please, don't take it personal if I unfriend you, I just need to redirect your friendship over there -... we can still talk:) To get my updates "fan" me over here: http://www.facebook.com/HOLLiCONGERstudios and "follow" me on twitter. Thanks for understanding guys!!"

Almost everyone has fanned me over there now.

3.What business benefit did you initially see with your initial social
networking experience?

In a way it makes me more accountable. I usually let people know what I'm working on or what I have coming up and since I've publicly mentioned it, I feel like I really need to follow through on it. It also make me feel like I'm working with others in the studio.

4. What social networking sites or tools are you currently utilizing to
market and promote your business efforts?

Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn

5. How do you specifically make use of these resources as a self-promotion
tool?

I mention what I'm working on and link to what I've been working on (usually housed on my blog agirlwhocreates.com). I've mentioned my online shop some (typographyphotography.com) to generate business - but overall I use it for networking.

6. Which social networking resources is currently the most effective in
bringing business to your firm?

I haven't been on twitter long enough to see how it's bringing business my way. LinkedIn lead to a pretty lucrative design/illustration contract that feeds me work monthly. I found the company through another contact and noticed in their profile that they were hiring in-house positions. I emailed them to see if they would be interested in working with me on a freelance basis. They said yes and they have been one of the best clients I've ever had!

7. Have you recently moved away from using certain social networking sites
that you used more in the past?

I don't participate or read many forums anymore. I started finding them less and less helpful to me professionally and there tended to be a lot of nay-sayers and know-it-alls that I just didn't like to be mixed with.

8. What social networking resources do you see your firm making greater use
of in the future?

I love twitter and see myself using that more and more. I like the real-time aspect of it.

9. How do you balance the expression your company brand and your own
personality in your social networking efforts?

I think it's important to show your personality, but I've chosen to have a more professional appearance on the internet as a whole. Everything is searchable and what you say could come back to haunt you! I mention my family, etc. every now and then and talk about by daughter a good bit (she's my studio assistant and I will miss her terribly when she starts kindergarten in the fall!) but don't discuss my beliefs or political views. I have gotten a little more personal on twitter & facebook only because it's more real-time and I tweet on this-and-that that's happening right then.

10: What one piece of advice would you give other creatives as they consider
the possible use of social networking opportunities for marketing and
promotion of their business?

If you're using twitter for your business, keep things professional. Make sure you don't say anything you wouldn't want your client or potential clients to read. Personalize your twitter background. I'm surprised how many creatives I follow that use one of twitters unattractive backgrounds. Take the time to add your style to it. Make sure you link to your portfolio or blog in your profile. I have several artist who follow me and I don't follow them back because they haven't included a link in their profile. i want to know who they are and see their work. Also, take your client list and promo mailing list and see who all is on LinkedIn and Twitter. Maximize your marketing efforts that way, plus it's free!

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Picked some veggies in our garden today and decided to make a school picture of them all. I let the Woog draw her's first and decided who would be in her class. Then I did mine real quick (but didn't name them like she did).



Tomorrow: Art for 3 days to go!

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Didn't get a chance to post things yesterday but we did finger print art. This is apparently what we will all look like on the first day of school (art directed completely by the Woog).



Tomorrow: Art for 4 days to go!

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I've had an iPhone for the last couple of years and this summer upgraded to the 3GS. Yes it is quicker and you can do more with it and these are reasons I why I think every illustrator/designer needs an iPhone:

Email: The number one reason I got it and the feature I use most. Since I want to keep my flexible career, being reachable is key.

PDFs: This was the reason I switch from using a palm phone to and iPhone. iPhones can read PDF files and since a lot of my jobs specs come in as PDFs I really needed this feature. When I had my Palm phone, I would have to wait until I got back in the studio to respond to an email about a job, or while on vacation, I would have to call someone to log into my webmail and tell me what the PDF said. When you work in children's publishing, deadlines are tight so people usually want a answer that day.

Social Media: I stay connected through twitter and facebook through my phone while I'm out of the studio.

Mobile Portfolio: I have a collection of work pieces within my "photos" area that can be easily scrolled though if I need to show someone my work.

Apps: There is seriously a app for anything. The app store is chocked full of great apps and many of them are free.

The only downside I've found is that they are not able to view websites in flash, but I can live without that.

And personal reasons you should have an iPhone - especially if you have kids:

Video & Audio: You can record on the fly and have a record of cute voices forever:

Movies: It also comes in handy for watching movies during those long restaurant & doctor waits (I currently have Nemo, Cinderella, Dora, and various tv shows on it for just those occasions)!

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We headed to the farm Saturday and spent the day. Amy turned me on the polaroid app for the iphone so I went around and took some pictures.

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Bear with me, but this is worth a read. My mom emailed this to me today and I kind of got all choked up!

The Price of Children:

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
- $8,896.66 a year
- $741.38 a month
- $171.08 a week
- A mere $24.24 a day!
- Just over a dollar an hour.

What do you get for your $160,140.00?
- Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
- Glimpses of God every day.
- Giggles under the covers every night.
- More love than your heart can hold.
- Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
- Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
- A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
- A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
- Someone to laugh yourself silly with

You get to:
- finger-paint
- carve pumpkins,
- play hide-and-see
- catch lightning bugs
- never stop believing in Santa Claus.

Have an excuse to:
- keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
- watch Saturday morning cartoons,
- go to Disney movies
- wish on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:
- retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof
- taking the training wheels off a bike
- removing a splinter
- filling a wading pool
- coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
- coaching a baseball team that never wins, but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat in history to witness the:
- First step
- First word
- First bra,
- First date
- First time behind the wheel

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match. In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren... It's the best investment you'll ever make!

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I am determined to have an art filled weekend! I have a promo to do for the Illustration For Kids mailer, greeting card ideas to finalize, some product ideas to compile and send to a manufacturer, plus start junkin' my pumpkin for my annual contest & exhibit (you can follow Pumpkin Junkin' on twitter or facebook for updates)!

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I signed up to organize a Miss Spider tea party for the Woog's class Friday. We'll have Miss Spider there to read her book, plus games & yummy tea party/spider themed food. I've hit about every store I know to find spider things in the Halloween sections and it's been a challenge to find things with "just" spiders :(

If you're not familiar with the Miss Spider character, she is from The Miss Spider/Sunny Patch books by author/illustrator David Kirk. His work is fantastic and he also has some cute outdoor things at target during the summer and then cute cups and plates.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find much of a portfolio online for him but did find this site. He works in oils and I love his color palette. And a cute tidbit, to go along with his nature themed work, all 3 of his daughter's are named after flowers.

His books have also been turned into a TV series which is very popular at our house. You can see it on Noggin:

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I haven't posted to Illustration Friday for a while, but since this week's topic is "pattern" I couldn't resist. I love making repeat patterns and they are quite addictive. If you don't know how, Tara Reed has a great e-book for it and you'll be making patterns in no time!

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Tara Reed has got some really great resources for Art Licensing! I'm a big fan of these and I was so excited to see her email newsletter this morning announcing her latest product: Product Mock-Up Magic. I can not begin to tell you how much time this will save me!! I've struggled with getting images together to mock up and honestly, I just don't have time time. And my philosophy is if you don't have time, get some one else to do it for you, and Tara has done that. I love her "teaching" technique. She is so thorough so anyone not totally familiar with Photoshop can easily follow her steps to help grow a licensing business. The product will ship on October 21st, but go ahead and pre-order it now because you'll save $20. I just ordered my copy and can't wait to get it and start mocking up products. I'm throwing out all my old mock-up because I never really liked how they turned out and these from Tara are so much better. Click here to learn more and purchase.

In the past I have also purchased Tara's repeat pattern e-book to refresh my memory on how to make patterns (hadn't done it since collage and I totally forgot how). I think it is a must-have and patterns are very addictive to make!!

She also has this cool affiliate program with all her products too so you can refer people to her products, get paid for it and use that money to buy more of her resources. So...I'd like to refer you- Go to the bottom of the page, click "affiliate program" and sign-up. Super easy!

Tara also agreed to be one of the judges for Pumpkin Junkin' so she just all around ROCKS!

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This is an older Junk A Doodles® piece but thought of it when I saw this week's illustration Friday topic "flying."

Here are other "flying" pieces in this style:

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I've been working recently on a ton of licensing and children's illustration projects (guess people are back to spending money again before their budget year is up). So above is a sneaky peek of 2 projects. Yeah, I know you'd love to see the rest, but I think I need to hold off for a while.

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For the last year I've been doing some work for Uppercase Living. If you aren't familiar with them, they are a company from Utah that produces vinyl wall expressions. Their products are only available through company reps and are pretty popular all over the country and their Design Manger is one of the best people I've ever worked with!

I've done about 250 design for them so far and just a handful are in the current catalog. More will come out in Spring/Summer and next Fall/Winter. You may be able to point out a few of mine that involve some sort of illustration or hand lettering. I've also done several traditional looking ones. If you had a specific question as to which ones I've designed or want to know if I designed a particular one, just let me know. You can flip through their catalog here.

If you'd like to purchase some of my designs or others you can order them from my friend Rannie - and to comply with the new FTC disclosures, I receive NO compensation for referring you to her :) These do make great Christmas & Housewarming gifts!

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Freshly picked bright and early this morning. I think tomatoes are the only things that's really going to grow well for us this year. We'll do more expeiments next year.

p.s. i've always wanted to do one of those little vegetable faced pictures. Check out Geninne's radishes.

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One last piece of art to wrap up the countdown. This has been in my sketchbook for a while and thought it was a perfect piece for this little series.

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Today's the day!! When I got up this morning I saw that my husband had tweeted some of the lyrics to Martina McBride's "In My Daughter's Eyes." Which was so not cool - trying to make me cry. If you haven't heard it you can here. Prepare for boo-hooing! I kept it together though. She was raring to go this morning and couldn't wait to leave wearing her cute little uniform.

I made her note and packed her lunch (today's ice cream day!):



And off we went to school. Once we turned down the Kindergarten hall, she started getting apprehensive. When we left she started crying and had to leave her that way but we've already heard that the tears dried up when we left. I didn't cry a bit! She's been too excited for me to be sad.

And here's a shot that every parent can get on the new day of school:



Bright white new shoes! Today is the last day they will ever be clean :( To celebrate tonight, we're going to the Rainforest Cafe (her choice)! Thanks for all the well wishes via comments, facebook & twitter. I appreciate it!!

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Well, we're finally here. Nine days away from the first day of Kindergarten so to celebrate (and help us both get prepared & excited) we're doing school themed art everyday until THE day! We haven't nailed down exactly what we'll do, but some days we'll be on our own and others will work on a piece together.

This transition wouldn't be as easy if it wasn't for:

• If my aunt teaching Kindergarten across the hall from the Woog's class


• Knowing that this school is the best school for her and in line with our family teaching & values


• Her being so excited to start school and looking forward to it for more than a year.


• Looking so darn cute in her school uniform.


• Me being excited and geared up with so many ideas & prospects to grow my business even more under a more steady (& quiet!) schedule

My contribution for today's art was to make the series header and little countdown tag above.

You can check out her art celebrating 9 days to go here!

Tomorrow: Art for 8 days to go!

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I've been making lunch box notes for every school day since she was three. She went to Mother's Day out twice a week, but now that she'll be going five days a week, I've got to carve out some time to make one for everyday. I usually make the notes the morning before school, but I don't think there will be time so I'll have to make them in advance. I started photographing the notes but they piled up quickly and haven't been able to shoot them individually yet (my plan is to compile a book of all the pictures, while the actually notes will stay in her keep sake box). You can see some notes here, but here are some of the notes from last year (click on the image to read the notes):



Today we collaborated on a little project. Much to the Woog's delight, they will have ice cream in the cafeteria. So, I decided that she can get ice cream every Friday. I wanted to include a little ice cream cone in her lunch box on Fridays so she would know when she could get it. No note, no ice cream. So she picked out the colors and did some stamping on the ice cream while I put everything together and added more color. I then laminated it so I can reuse it for the entire year:



Tomorrow: Art for 7 days to go!

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Today we visited my MIL and she gave the Woog a bag a school supplies so the entire way home she drew pictures. When I opened the car door, about 30 separate pictures she had drawn in a 1 hour period fell out. She cracked herself up while drawing them all. Most were portraits and the one she did of her daddy as a duck chicken was hilarious. It's isn't school themed but made with brand new school supplies so I guess that counts. You can see her cut drawing here.

Since we were out and about most of the day so I had to squeeze in this little collage while sitting with my grandmother a bit with nothing more than a pen, glue stick and Walgreen's school supply ad.



No bad for a quick 10 minute collage! I'm hoping tomorrow we have more time to make a bigger project together. She's had something in mind all along to make!!

Tomorrow: Art for 6 days to go!

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Decided to do some art on the chalkboard today. I drew the bus and she added "her friends" in the windows and colored the bus some.



While I was getting this post together, I heard her in the kitchen yell "Daddy, come look at my bus, it's better than Mommy's!" So you be the judge (I think it is better).

Tomorrow: Art for 5 days to go!

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Knowing my work, you should have expected an alphabet so that's what we did today. The Woog wrote her alphabet and I used her letters in this design.



Tomorrow: Art for 2 days to go!

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The Woog's allergies finally caught up with her today so she's been resting all afternoon so I decided to do a quick piece on my own.


Tomorrow: Art for 1 day to go!

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