That said, this article, 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business by Chris Brogan, brilliantly spells it all out for you. If you haven’t figured it out yet, check out Chris’ piece and get tweeting!

I would also recommend this article, Web Strategy: The Evolution of Brands on Twitter by Jeremiah Owyang.

Tina Seamonster tweets her life and craft at http://www.twitter.com/tinaseamonster.

At this year’s fair, we are setting up a fun little experiment with the Crafty Bastards Twitter feed. Follow us on Twitter, get our tweets sent directly to your phone, and we will send you special announcements and secret sales throughout the day of the fair.

Not only will you get super secret messages from Crafty vendors and staff, but you will be able to join in on the conversation. The Crafty Bastards Twitter feed will be posted on the Washington CityPaper web site! We will be posting updates all day during the fair. You can join in with your own Twitter updates by just adding @CraftyBastards to your posts. Tell us about all the neat stuff that you are seeing, live from the show!

So, here is what you need to do to join in the fun:
1. Follow Crafty Bastards on Twitter.
2. Set up your account to get our posts via your mobile phone. (Standard text messaging rates apply.)
3. ** Don’t forget to go to the Crafty Bastards twitter page while logged into your acccount and choose to get messages from us on your mobile phone.

4. Turn on your phone during the fair and get super awesome special secret messages.

See you at the fair on September 28th!

A photographer since he was a teenager, Geoff’s love of documenting friends and the spirit of his personal photography is at the heart of his professional work.

Having been friends with Geoff for the last 7+ years, I can’t even begin to describe how talented he is. Here is just a small glimpse into mind of Geoff Johnson, Photographer.

1.) How did you get into photography and what led you to doing wedding photography?
I was first taught black and white photo’y and basic darkroom skills in high school, just outside of DC. after graduating from SCAD, with a degree in graphic design, I worked as a designer and art director, all the while still making photo’y. then about 10 years ago, some creative-minded friends that were getting married asked me to take photos at their wedding.

2.) Many photographers do only wedding photography and many won’t shoot weddings at all. Do you do other types of photo’y?
Yes, I take on editorial projects (such as documenting the always exciting Crafty Bastards)… model and fashion… I love location and travel photo’y… the only thing I don’t do is studio photo’y.

Wedding photo’y can be tiresome, repetitive, stressful work. my work process keeps wedding photo’y fun for me and I think that comes through in the images. I limit the number of weddings I do, travel as often as I can (Jamaica wedding in October) and always make sure that I’m a good fit with the couple. I document real moments as they happen, by working unobtrusively and spontaneously. looking through my wedding galleries (www.geoffsphotos.com) you’ll see an approach that is: part fashion photo’r, part photo-journalist, part travel photo’r.

3.) What other photographers or other artists do you admire most?
The last 2 books I bought were a Joel Peter Witkin and Cindy Sherman. In June I attended the “Festival of the Photograph” (www.festivalofthephotograph.org) an annual photo’y festival in Charlottesville, Va. The 3 key speakers were Mary Ellen Mark, Joel-Peter Witkin and James Nachtwey, all world-reknown with decades of experience. I’m a fan of straight photo’y, as opposed to digitally manipulated, so I’m generally drawn to artists that work that way. I’ve always loved Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sally Mann, William Eggleston, Bruce Davidson, Wim Wenders. and there’s so much great stuff happening today that you can’t even see it all. I look at blogs, national geographic shooters, www.aperture.org, www.magnumphotos.com, www.digitaljournalist.org…

You’ll find Geoff shooting his way through 25,000 people at this year’s Crafty Bastards DC. After the fair, you can check out his handy work on washingtoncitypaper.com/craftybastards.

Geoff Johnson is available for commercial and personal projects, big and small, locally and globally. To contact Geoff or check out his portfolio, go to geoffsphotos.com.

In his fascinating new book, BUYING IN: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are, Walker examines the dialogue between who we are and what we buy. His research into brands like Red Bull, Sanrio and Converse is eye-opening and funny.

Walker will be discussing his new book at Politics & Prose (5015 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.) on Wednesday, August 6th at 7 p.m. Plus — he’ll be giving away 25 of these awesome screenprint posters from Little Friends of Printmaking. He was nice enough to answer our questions about marketing, Etsy, Hello Kitty and more.

Q: What company, in your opinion, is the best at “murketing” right now? Who’s the future “murketer” of the year?

A: I wouldn’t to crown anybody “best,” but I like the idea of “murketer of the year” — it would have to be the kind of thing where it would be up to others to decide whether that’s a badge of honor — or a badge of shame.

A couple of things I’ve read about just recently would be good nominations.

One involves MTV and Sears. Basically they’ve collaborated on a movie called The American Mall, which will air on MTV in the fall; it was shot in a Sears and all the characters wear Sears clothes. Sears will sell the DVD in its stores, and the soundtrack. Characters from the movie will be in Sears newspaper circulars. And of course there will be Sears ads during the show. But basically it’s impossible to tell where the “entertainment” begins and the “marketing” ends. Very murky.

The other is the Chris Brown single “Forever,” currently number 9 seller on iTunes. Turns out the bit where he says “Double your pleasure” is no coincidence: He was hired by Wrigley to update the famous Double Mint jingle. (Other pop star types were hired to update the Big Red and Juicy Fruit jingles.) Once Brown cut his new version of the jingle, he added some additional lyrics and voila — pop hit, courtesy of Wrigley gum!

The music arena is a really interesting one for murketing, because it used to be a site of resistance — people were mad when Nike used a Beatles song in an ad, that kind of thing. That’s really changed. Procter & Gamble may be one-upping this Wrigley thing, because they’ve reportedly cut a deal with Island Def Jam to form a record label together. It’s called Tag Records — Tag being a P&G brand of deodorant. Once upon a time people might have shied away from getting a record deal with a label founded to promote, and indeed named after, a brand of deodorant. Keeping an eye on that one.

And then there was the thing where McDonald’s paid to have its branded iced coffee prominently placed on the set of a news show in Vegas. That one kicked up a bit of a fuss, but I’d say it’s still in the running for Murketing Moment of 2008.

Oh, and I have to note the Dove “Campaign For Real Beauty,” which while not particularly new, keeps adding to its murky heritage: It recently commissioned Judith Thompson to write a play about aging and beauty. So, a theatrical production tied to the brand message — that’s a new one.

Okay, that’s enough of that.

Q: Have brands replaced a lost sense of community in some way?

A: There’s definitely a widespread feeling of lost community, and brands attempt to tap into that, sometimes explicitly; and there are those who argue that Apple and Harley Davidson and so on do add up to community.

But brand communities aren’t real communities, in the way that someone like Robert Putnam (“Bowling Alone”) would define that idea. Community isn’t just about shared interest in something, it’s about shared wilingness to sacrifice for higher ideals, for things that transcend self-interest. Brands communities don’t deliver on that — which is one of many reasons that consumption can be frustrating, actually. We buy into ideas about brands that they really can’t deliver on. And when they don’t, we end up trying to buy something else to find satisfaction, and the cycle repeats.

We’re very often not conscious of all this, or that this is what marketers are aiming for, and that’s a big goal of the book — to give people a look behind the curtain, both at how the commercial persuasion industry works, and at how our own minds work when it comes to our buying decisions.

Q: In your book, Etsy founder, Rob Kalin says, “It’s the Baby Boomer generation that fell in love with the mass-produced aesthetic,” continuing to call Etsy a resurgence with it’s growing customer base indicative of the backlash against the Wal-Marts of the world. Where is the declining economy in this equation? Is he ignoring the fact that it costs more to shop handmade? Is his vision sustainable?

A: Even Kalin wouldn’t say that Etsy is going to turn back mass production. But … what made me want to write about the craft/DIY world (which Etsy is part of) in the book is that there is sort of built into it a different way of approaching consumption. And it’s not just about spending more money.

To me what’s intriguing is that so many participants in that world bring to material culture a different implied critique, having to do with basic questions like: Do I need to buy this — or can I make it? If I do buy it, what can I learn about how its made (what’s it made of, and by whom)? The handmade world can answer those questions in ways that are less alienating that shopping at a mass merchant, where there’s no one to ask, and you can maybe Google up some report but it’s hard to decipher, etc.

It’s certainly true that plenty of people end up on Etsy for totally unrelated reasons — they just see something cute on a design blog, and they want it. That kind of thing may well suffer in a down economy. But if you’re thinking on an individual level, to me the issue is: Whatever brought you into contact with the handmade world, isn’t it getting at some pretty core issues that are worth considering? Our consumer choices really do matter, both to our own personal satisfaction, and to the broader culture (via ecology and labor practices etc.)

It does zero good to just sit around and complain that “we’re all too materialistic.” Nor do I think is denial of the pleasure of the material a practical strategy. So I’m very much a believer in the idea that change happens on an individual level. Maybe it means ending up with fewer things — that are ultimately more satisfying. More satisfying individually, and socially. It’s just a different way of thinking.

Q: You also talk about the “projectability” of Hello Kitty and how she is kinda everything and nothing all at once to people who love her. Do you think it is because she doesn’t have a mouth? If so, isn’t that kinda sad?

A: Hello Kitty — sad?? No way!

Seriously, there is no easy answer to Hello Kitty. I use her in the book as the opposite of an answer — she’s a mystery. The solution to that mystery somehow rests in the millions who have consumed her image, not in the image itself. I do quote someone talking about how having no mouth is the key. But, my view is that “the key” is almost never in the symbol or object — it’s in us, the consumers.

Remember that Sanrio has created more than 400 other characters. And they would LOVE to have another Hello Kitty.

They’ve never come close.

If it was just about the lack of a mouth, I think they woulda done it.

Q: What do you think about whole crop of user-generated/ designed brands (like Threadless). With these companies, the consumer can be both artist or wanna-be artist and thus has even more reason to market the brand.

A: The obsession with Threadless in the business press & business college courses has become almost comical. There’s a lot of creativity out there, for sure. I think one of the interesting things to happen with Threadless is that it’s creating “stars” like Glennz, who has launched is own brand after emerging as one of the winningest designers on the site. I’m keeping an eye on that and wondering if we’ll see more of it, because that scenario seems in line with other examples of indie-preneurialism from crafting to the streetwear scene.

Q: We’ve come a crazy long way from the 1940′s when Pepsi was known to use Skywriting to advertise. They couldn’t have possibly ever conceived the new world of “murketing.” Where are we headed? What will the world of advertising look like 50 years from now?

A: Hmmm. Ever see “Minority Report”?

Q: What do you think of Twitter as a marketing tool? Are people more likely to buy from Zappos because they know what the CEO is having for dinner?

A: People ask about Twitter a lot, but this is actually the first time somebody’s asked me about it in an interesting way. Because it actually might be helpful to Zappos that people can find out what the CEO is having for dinner. In a weird way that kind of plays into something that I think is real, which is that for all the tech “empowerment” going around, and all the talk of “transparency,” shopping remains pretty alienating in a lot of ways. It can be really hard to get the information you want about how something is made, and so on.

Obviously knowing what the CEO had for dinner has nothing to do with that. But it does at least humanize the guy, in weird way. And there’s probably a segment — a small segment — of the Zappo’s audience that responds to that.

That said, a much bigger segment, I’m sure, is attracted by their return policies and the other real aspects of their business. That’s the real key, I assume, to their success.

Which brings up a recurring theme in my conversations with business people and marketers for big companies. They don’t want to make big substantial changes to their businesses, they want to do something quick and easy and totally trivial to change their “image.” Having the CEO use Twitter would be a perfect example of that, actually. I’m sure there’s a consultant somewhere getting paid a lot of money to tell some CEO that if he wants to have Zappos’ success, he should get on Twitter, pronto.

Q: With all of this thinking and writing about buying, are you someone who thinks over every purchase or do you try not to obsess too much?

A: It’s certainly part of my job to spend an awful lot of time learning about new stuff — in stores, magazines, web sites, on the street. A side effect is coming into contact with a lot of things that, you know, I like. (There’s aren’t the things I necessarily write about, because the column has different criteria). The weird thing about the Consumed column is that every single week I’m dealing with some new thing, some object or brand, and often I go through this same cycle — at first I get really excited and think “When I’m done with the column I’m definitely buying one of these!” Then a week later, by the time I’ve finished the column, I’m over it. And I almost never bother to buy it. I’m sort of done. It’s like virtual consumption, I get the vicarious thrill of the encounter with something new, but it’s faded before I’m in a position to pull the trigger. I think this saves me a lot of money! Not to mention cuts down on useless-junk clutter in my closet (and landfill).

In a way this has affected me, in that even when I’m just plain old shopping I think more than I used to about how I’ll feel about something in a week, or a month, or a year. And that’s probably even truer after some of the stuff I learned about writing the book, in terms of how our minds work and the way nonconscious processes can lead us astray. Plus I’ve thought a lot about what I call “unconsumption” — about the end point of the life of a thing. When we throw something away or otherwise get rid of it. I’m more interested in trying to find satisfaction at the end of the process than a thrill at the beginning, so basically I judge the “success” of a purchase by how long it lasts, how long I enjoy it. I don’t obsess over all this — and I still buy things on a whim, and all that — but sometimes it’s helpful to take two second to ponder it.

And … sometimes this process also ends up forcing me to re-discover things I already own, rather than getting something new. I’d love to do an ad campaign for things we already own. I was thinking of making that the sponsor for Murketing.com: “Things You Already Own! Enjoy Them Today!”

***
Thanks to Rob for answering our questions! If you have questions of your own for Rob, you can ask them at Politics & Prose (5015 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.) on Wednesday, August 6th at 7 p.m.

Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft at I Like Seamonsters.com. Her current favorite things are owl pajamas, Odwalla bars and podcasting.

Vickie Howell, host of DIY’s Knitty Gritty and Austin Craft Mafia co-founder, wants to know about you! Her next book, Craft Corps will focus on the craft community and she will be featuring 50-60 short profiles of crafters of all types. On her blog she writes:

Whether you’ve found success selling your handmade sock monkeys on Etsy or you crochet chemo caps for charity, I want to know who you are, what you craft and why you do it. YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE PROFESSIONAL CRAFTERS (in fact, it’s preferable as the book’s other content will focus on that)!

If you’re interested in possibly being a part of Craft Corps, you can fill out the following questionnaire, cut and paste it into the body of an e-mail, and send it to: craftcorps@gmail.com no later than August 15th.

Name:

Age:

Location:

Profession (If you’re in school just put what level of student, ie College Student, Middle School Student, ect.):

Craft(s) of Choice:

Blog (if applicable):

Memory, Story or Anecdote related to crafting in your life (no more than 250 words):

For more information, check out VickieHowell.com

You can always have both an Etsy shop and your own website, and link to your Etsy shop with an Etsy mini. (See example here: www.rebound-designs.com ) Etsy minis can be put on a blog, or a Myspace page as well.

A few thoughts on Myspace and Facebook: These can be useful tools for promoting your business, but they should not be the only online presence you have. If you are sending customers who are attempting to shop to a Myspace page with blinking graphics and embedded MP3s, it makes you look very unprofessional. Use sparingly.

The #1 Most Important Rule of Websites: Have good photos! Your online store is the only way a customer across the country can see your products, so make sure your pictures are well lit, in focus, and show the product properly. There are lots of good tips on product photography if you search online.

Accepting Credit Cards Online
Having awesome photos isn’t enough. Customers have to be able to buy your work easily online. The simplest way to get started with accepting credit cards online is through PayPal. You can do this in several ways. For no set up fee, and no monthly fee, you can use Website Payments Standard. This lets you either install a cart system, or single purchase ‘buy it now’ buttons, which link to the secure PayPal site. https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_wp-standard-overview-outside.

Blogs
This is a huge marketing tool for the craft world. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of blogs devoted to discussing indie craft and design. Some are personal blogs of artists who share their creations, how to tips, favorite things, and so forth. Some are more commercial blogs, with semi- to full-time professional writers keeping up with the hippest new things, and with paid advertisements.

Some of Caitlin’s Favorite blogs include:
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/craftybastards/
http://www.designspongeonline.com/
http://indiefixx.com/
http://poppytalk.blogspot.com/
http://www.ohmythatsawesome.com/
http://blog.craftzine.com/
http://extremecraft.typepad.com/
http://modish.typepad.com/
http://readymademag.com/blog/
http://www.boingboing.net/
http://www.ilikeseamonsters.com

Twitter
Twitter is sort of a microblogging tool, which lets you send out short messages under 140 characters. You can send them from your phone, or the web, and you can include links (tiny url is useful here). You can follow other people’s twitters, and they can follow you. You can twitter about a new blog post, or a new item in your shop, or to let people know about a craft show you’re doing.

Flickr
Flickr is a great site for sharing pictures of your work. You can have a gallery of past work, works in progress, your booth displays, or whatever, and you can tag them so others can find them. You can join groups with similar interest, and this is really the best way to get your pictures seen.

It is against the Terms of Service of Flickr to exploit it for commercial purposes, so just posting pictures of crafts with the intent to sell them or advertise them is not cool. But, you can still drive traffic to your site in many easy, legal ways.

Social Bookmarking
Check out Wikipedia for a good breakdown of this bookmarking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_bookmarking.

Mailing Lists
A mailing list is an efficient and direct way to keep in touch with all of your customers and fans. You can send out announcements for shows you are in, upcoming sales and promotions, shop updates, etc. It’s great because past customers that may have wanted to purchase again often forget, and an email is an instant reminder. Every time I have sent out a mass mailing, I have received orders in return. The best way to send out a mailing list is to have a program that collects, manages, and sends the mail for you.

Overwhelmed?
The most important thing to remember about online marketing is that you don’t have to do it all. Try a few things out and see what works for you. But as crafting as a business gets more and more popular, it will get more competitive, and the more ways you have of reaching potential customers, the more sales you will make. The more customers are personally interested and invested in you, the more excited they will be about your work, and it doesn’t get better than that.

Read more from Caitlin on her blog, at rebounddesigns.wordpress.com.

The Next Crafty Bastards Discovery Series workshop is coming up in August. If you’d like to get the exclusive invite, just sign up for the Crafty Bastards mailing list and you’ll automatically receive the invite about a week before the event. You must have an invite to attend, and our friends at Whole Foods provide the yummy treats… cause you can talk about crafts on an empty stomach!

Check out Hogmalion & Company’s twisted cool at Crafty Bastards Silver Spring on June 28th at Pyramid Atlantic.

Join fellow craft-minded folks, and a great group of volunteers at this party, to get the lowdown on all the festival happenings, and sign up for work shifts. Yummy treats will be provided by Crafty Bastards Sponsor, Jackie’s.

AND…. Bring your own T-shirt to screen! All volunteers will have the opportunity to silk-screen their own Crafty Bastards shirt (bring up to 2). You’ll be the first on the block to own a Crafty Bastards Silver Spring tee and you’ll be able to show it off the day of the fair! Silk-screening supplies and know-how will be provided by Pyramid Atlantic.

While there is no monetary pay for volunteers, you will receive FREE MOVIE PASSES, a FREE CITY PAPER TEE, and get to SCREEN YOUR CRAFTY T-SHIRT FOR FREE at this party. We promise lots of FUN for all volunteers, while working with a great group of like-minded crafty folks.

Volunteer Party: Wednesday, May 28th, 6:30-9:30pm at The Pyramid Atlantic Art Center (8230 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910)

Questions? Email craftybastards@washingtoncitypaper.com.

Are you using video in fun or interesting ways to showcase your handmade goods? Let us know! Email us at craftyupdates@washingtoncitypaper.com.

Chickenpants Adventure #3 – Super Pants

Check out the world of Absolutely Small. These videos are not only cute, but are some of the best examples of viral marketing in the world of indie craft.