Lehigh Valley Crafters Guild: Blog & Podcast Links

My wife Sue and I gave a presentation on "Blogs, Podcasts and Other Modern Marvels" last night at the Lehigh Valley Crafters Guild. Sue's a member of the guild -- she designs horsehair and porcupine quill jewelry -- and has her own business, Red-Tail Designs. She spoke about how blogs and podcasts can help artists, from finding inspiration to promoting their work, while I talked about the technology behind them.

Here are some quick notes from the presentation, including links to the blogs and podcasts we talked about.

Blogs
A successful blog has:
• Lots of pictures and some text
• Lots of close up pictures
• A good balance between personal and professional information

Example Blogs
• Art Biz Blog, http://www.artbizblog.com
• Craft Magazine Blog, http://craftzine.com/blog
• Paul Grecian Photography, http://photonz.wordpress.com
• Monkeyfoot Designs, http://monkeyfootdesigns.blogspot.com
• Soule Mama, http://soulemama.typepad.com
• Out West Carving, http://outwestwoodcarving.blogspot.com
• Pottery Blog, http://potteryblog.com
• Quilling, Art and Expression, http://quilling.blogspot.com
• Wee Wonderfuls, http://weewonderfuls.typepad.com
• Wicker Woman, http://wickerwoman.blogspot.com

Blog Hosting Services
• Blogger (free), http://www.blogger.com
• Typepad (fee-based), http://www.typepad.com

Podcasts

What are podcasts?
• Free internet radio that you can listen to whenever you want.
• You can listen to it on your computer or portable music player.
• Doesn't require an iPod.

Example Podcasts
• Art Biz Blog, http://www.artbizblog.com
• Craft Sanity, http://www.craftsanity.com
• Craft Cast, http://www.craftcast.com
• Wood Talk Online, http://www.woodtalkonline.com

Podcast Directories
• iTunes, http://www.apple.com/itunes
• Podcast Alley, http://www.podcastalley.com
• PodcastPickle.com, http://www.podcastpickle.com

Podcast Hosting
• Libsyn, http://www.libsyn.com
• PodBean, http://www.podbean.com
• PodShow, http://www.podshow.com