Friday, September 20, 2013

EXCERPTS OF INTERVIEW WITH DAVID STIER, BUCKS COUNTY ARTIST

EXCERPTS OF INTERVIEW WITH DAVID STIER

Carversville neighbor David Stier is a gifted fine artist, jazz drummer, chef, and natural philosopher.  The following quotes are excerpted from a full interview David gave Philip Stephano of PrimalTweet last week in Max Hansen Carversville Grocery .   David has several paintings on exhibit at the Grocery.  We will post the rest of the interview with David Stier next week. Enjoy!

On Bucks County:
David Stier: “I always got a nice feeling from this area.  From a pretty early age I had the idea that I wanted to live here.”
DS: “All the world is special but there are certain parts of the world that are, for whatever reasons, extra special.  Like many of the painters and artists and writers and playwrights and musicians I was drawn to this area.”  


On his process:
DS: “I draw a lot. If I'm painting outside I like to go to a particular place and I like to spend a lot of time there at different times of the day...I find a place that I feel like intuitively like I can work and then I may spend a LOT of time just looking and drawing...and I may not even be drawing what's in front of me.  I may just go and draw in that space from my imagination and then look up and let things incubate slowly.”


On imagination:
DS: “I work not only from what I see in the visual world but from my imagination. The two inform each other: that is your ability to see and process the outer world informs your ability to interpret and completely reinterpret the world through your imagination. And then as you work from your imagination that also informs how you see the world…”


On light and the seasons:
DS: “Obviously light is really important to me. Every day, every part of the day, every inch a shade in my studio goes up or down changes the light and of course without light we can't see. So of course light reveals form and light has a huge influence on everything conceivable in visual art. It absolutely changes the different time of the year...I love the fall here.”

On abstraction versus realism:

DS: “I will say something about the myth of abstract art versus realism.  I feel that even paintings that are considered more realistically painted, they are first a work about abstraction...even if it is the most clearly painted like Ingres..[it] is sitting on top of many abstractions and as abstract as the most abstract thing you can imagine....underneath.”


On cooking:
DS: “I love cooking. I'm a huge fan. The more I'm in my studio, the more I'm making foods that are just going to nourish me but I'm a huge foodie.   I saw Max has one of those "Green Eggs" those Japanese style ceramic  smokers.  I cook on [my ceramic “Green Egg”] every night during the summer. I smoke things. I love cooking. I cook mostly simple things almost every day.   I don't do a lot of elaborate recipes.”
“I love meat. I'm a big fan of the burger. I like it with poblanos on top. The poblano on the burger with the right bun is some of my favorites.”


On performing jazz music:
In answer to a question about whether jazz improvisation is his “happy place.”


DS: “Um,  Yeah....yeah, if it's not tortured it is happy. (laughs) “


PrimalTweet: It's a fine line?


DS: “It IS a fine line. I think you nailed it. You know, the obvious main difference between being a musician and being a fine artist is, other than when you have a gallery opening, you are not creating while people are watching.  It's taken me years and I'll always be coming to terms with the performance element.  I do slip in and out of loving to perform for people but it is probably not my nature. I'm more of a private person that way.




The author, Philip Stephano, is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County,  PA.  He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

My Year of Living Socially: Ten Tips to Make This Year a Social Media Success

Here are 10 tips on how to make social media work for your local and regional business. 
1) Have a plan- Even a bad plan is better than having no plan at all. What is going to be your landing page? How are you going to drive traffic to that page? What social media channels are suitable to the nature of your business and content that you are providing? What is your online “voice”? How are you going to measure success?
2) Have a brand- If you don’t have this already it is important to have a business name, logo, and a list of brand values that your company represents. Be sure to keep logos and brand values consistent from social media channel to social media channel. Make sure that your posts and interactions and your online persona are working together to reinforce those brand values.
3) Build an online community- Applying a world wide technology to a relatively small geographical location has special challenges. We did NOT just build a community of potential clients such as wedding planners or venues. We focused on connecting with people who are influential on a whole host of topics but who share a passion for this geographical area. They could be into the arts, commerce, social media, history, literature, mountain biking, bird watching, fishing, gardening, ANYTHING!
4) Use targeted posts- When looking to add local SM influencers who are interested in the arts (for example) then post a blog about the local art scene before “friending” them or “liking” their pages. This will make your blog page relevant and increase the likelihood that they will become allies.
5) Provide value to the community- SM is not just about getting a return on investment. It is about providing information, connections, and enjoyment to the community. The promise of the technology is not just to broadcast but to LISTEN. Interacting with the community establishes you as a trusted authority in your field. In time that authority becomes trust and building trust is a key part of eventually doing business with a person or getting that person to recommend you to a friend. Basically, you want to become a local resource to people.
6) Have a landing page- If you abide by the first recommendation and you HAVE A PLAN, then you will want to have one website where you want to drive all your traffic, clicks, and views. We suggest hosting all your blogs, photos, and other content on your mainwebsite. By doing this you will get the SEO (search engine optimization) benefit of back links and keyword optimization on your main page. The idea is that when people are doing a google search for keywords related to your service you will be on the front page of any search.
7) Be consistent- the internet is a dynamic place. Too many businesses put up a web page or a facebook page and then sit back and wait for the telephone to ring. Don’t think of the internet like a billboard or a pamphlet. It is a place for give and take. It is a place for conversations and engagement. By consistently posting new content and consistently promoting other peoples’ content people will come to see you and your business as a local resource.
8) Be relevant- When joining regionally specific conversations it is important to post relevant content. There is no magic formula but the preponderance of your posts should be about issues or topics that are relevant to the geographic location. This does NOT mean that everyone of your posts has to be about YOUR business and YOUR events. It just means that your posts should be interesting, entertaining, or educational to your audience.
9) Avoid controversy- This doesn’t mean that you can’t be provocative (if that is your persona), but no one really wants to read your or your business’ political or religious opinion in their news feeds (unless your business IS making religious or political opinion pieces) . If half the people who read it are going to be annoyed or alienated then why do it? Also, remember to be polite and professional. This may seem obvious to most people but you would be surprised at how many people post rude comments. Don’t do that.
10) Engage rivals You want to engage with rivals and their clients. This concept is called “coopetition”, a neologism that expresses an ongoing relationship with perceived rivals. Why would one do anything to promote a rival’s posts? This last question is interesting. Look at how people read news online, for example. They jump from the Wall Street Journal to the New York Times to the Washington Post. They hop like grasshoppers from “blade of grass to another blade of grass”. This analogy gives one a whole different perspective and attitude about “following” or “friending” business rivals and even reposting their content. In the case of a caterer, he or she wants to be among the two or three companies that a potential client is considering for catering their next event . You want your name and your posts to be appearing in the newsfeeds of all potential clients. Please refer to point # 9 and always be constructive and non confrontational.
There is a lot to be optimistic about when it comes to marketing a small business in a local or regional market. A consistently executed and well thought out social media plan will create real allies and brand advocates. The future of social media is bright. People are more interested in what other people are saying about goods and services than they are interested in being marketed to. Younger generations are already using the search feature on sites such as facebook and twitter to locate goods and services and to vet products among their peers. In a short amount of time this phenomenon will become prevalent among a broader demographic. This last tip is a bonus: have fun!





The author, Philip Stephano, is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County,  PA.  He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano