The Psychology of Social Media

Just got a great newsletter from MOZ about the latest in Social Media and Content Management. Ah, yes, so boring. And who has the time. But this group has some very serious breadth and depth about how to handle everything from Facebook posting to the psychology of the words you use when you are blogging. I am always interested in research about how we interact, why we do what we do, and how our images influence our lives. So this is in alignment with my current interests.

I particularly liked this link about how one uses a Facebook page to promote a service or product -- or how one avoids common mistakes about the words you use to entice others to come on along with what you are promoting or offering.

To see the full list of there offerings for this month take a look at this site. The author is SEOmoz. I am impressed, and hope you will find a few articles of interest to your particular needs. We are each different. Yes indeed.

For more info about website design...particularly if you are a small enterprise that would like the benefits of a large idea, see http://www.trudythomson.com. Love shaping the message so that each and everyone gets a chance to reach the ring!

Transform a Theme using Wordpress Wisely

Recently I decided to recreate my art website using Wordpress, and spent quite a while closely examining a number of themes to find a presentation of photos that would compliment my art, which represents a number of different mediums. That makes it a bit tough to find a cohesive look and feel. And because I have background in graphic design, I am particular about creating something that not only works well, but looks appropriate for the subject matter.

Original Web Site Designed by Trudy using HTML and Javascript

Quite a while back, when I build my first art website, I had adopted a gallery title of Ferns & Fancy with a tag line: Amidst the Ferns, we create our Fancy -- decorative crafts in various media. Follow different paths of our woodside trail to see our latest twists and turns. Originally I had created a website with a black background and clustered images together in tightly bound tables to represent different categories of my art, including silk, glass, weaving. A bonus was an area where there were many images of my garden and landscaped surrounds.

For my new site, I decided to revamp the entire look and go for a white background with a more minimalistic look and selected a Wordpress theme to use as the container -- so to speak -- for this new vamp or view of the many images I have of my art work. Again, I decided to work with the theme of a garden environment replete with ferns and lovely wild flowers. My home page selection is now called Stroll, because that page let's you stroll through different images of my work -- each photographed within the context of the woodland trails of my garden.

New Web Site Designed by Trudy using Wordpress

So if you are curious, take a look at my latest presentation to view the most recent version, and compare it to my earlier prior introduction to my work .

By the way, for those that are interested in the particulars about web site design, this second link is now housed in a folder under my major hosting site. I purchased a premium account from goddady.com which now enables me to have any number of sites hosted at the same location. By the way, goddaddy representatives were most helpful in making sure that my hosting using Wordpress would also be successful. I have used godaddy for years for my web site clients who needed to purchase domain names as well as hosting services, and I highly recommend them.

For Artists: Marketing Your Art with Manta

Trudy Thomson 

Found a great site that explains way more than anyone wants to know but is very valuable. Everything from how to take the best pictures, how to describe your art, to what steps to take to get more "hits" or "hearts".  So, kudos to the folks that figured it out. 

Here it is: http://meylah.com/meylah/search?terms0=shop

It appears that meylah can also host your creations, let you create a website fast, and get great advice. Now, I did not get into the details about websites because I am a website designer and I do my own thing. If you want your very own personal website, you can find me at http://www.trudythomson.com/web.html.

If you already have a website but you want to revamp and create a fresh new look, contact me. I love visual design and working with artists is my pleasure. My website is: http://www.trudythomson.com 

Also, you can see my art videos at http://vimeo.com/trudythomson/videos

Bimini Viewed through the Eye of Trudy's Phone

Amazing.  Carried a small consumer camera and fancy mono-pod to the bahamas. Got there after hitting many folks in the shins on the narrow airline aisles. Then the battery was drained to nothing and I happened to bring the wrong charger. Woe was me. But I remembered that my iPhone had video capabilities. And did it ever. I shot scads of scenes. Brought them home and uploaded to my Final Cut Pro editing systems and ALL SYSTEMS GO. Created a small fun and very sharp video --

Posted via email from trudythomson's Space

Enjoy! And see more of my videos made for fun and professionally produced for various subjects at my youtube channel. 

Judith Ernst, Ceramic Art

With pleasure I present my latest video concoction. More than that, it is about how one imbues beauty with meaning. This was created by me for one of my favorite artist friends...Judith Ernst. You should see her process; this should not be missed. Here is the link to the video.

Judith Ernst of Chapel Hill - Ceramic Artist at work in her studio

Why Have a Blog?

I received an email from a site named Manta that had some excellent ideas about blogging with success. So I have excerpted it and included it here:


"Blogs are a great promotional tool. But, like anything, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it. If all you are doing is posting information online, what good is that? The real value to a blog is not your words so much as it is the words of your audience. That means you need feedback...conversation....interaction between you and your audience. I recommend you actually explain to friends that you need for them to comment on your blog and help generate "buzz" for it. When people respond to a blog that is on a web server that is highly ranked by Google, wonderful things can happen. For one, not only can your blog become more visible, but the comments to your blog become more visible and therefore become an asset to the person that made the comment.

Many online newspapers function a lot like a blog. Many you will see even included "share buttons" for numerous social networks. Why? So the visibility of your blog can be enhanced. If there was ever a reason to start commenting on blogs, better SEO and visibility through the online world is the reason.


I cordially invite you to put this idea to the test. Visit http://budurl.com/SmallBizExaminer and start commenting on articles. When you conclude your comment, be sure to include your name, business and business website in your signature. Next, go to Google.com and type into the big text (search) box a keyword you placed in your comment. See if the keyword ends up with a link to the article you just now commented on. This has actually happened to me numerous times. Therefore, I know the process can work. 


Commenting on blogs is a great way to life up a businesses and give them enhanced visibility in the marketplace.


If you have any questions about any of this, simply contact me via http://tungle.me/lamarmorgan."

-- excerpted from manta.com

Digital Effect Slide Showcase

Check out these new slide shows I produced about my art work as well as the wonderful gardens around my house.
The first: click here to see the scenes of my hand-dyed shibori scarves.


And for the second example: click here for a flurry through a series of my fused glass pieces.

And for a third show: click here which is a stroll through my garden in the spring.


And contact me if you would like me to make one for you. I can offer a variety of effects as slides come into view. Simple and Reflective or Up Beat and Very