Artist Interview: Maria Dryfhout
Today we interview Greeting Card Universe artist, Maria Dryfhout, who joined GCU in 2008.
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Maria, what drew you to join GCU?
So many friends and family members encouraged me to create cards using my images and verses. I finally took their advice. GCU offers a golden opportunity for me to sell my ideas.
Please tell us who you are, where you are, and what you do.
I live in Holland, Michigan. I am a wife, mother and a grandmother. I was let go from my job after having been there for 20 years. God slammed the door behind me that day and opened a whole new world to me through my camera lens. I thank Him now for doing that. I live in an area where there is so much to photograph. Lake Michigan beach, lighthouse, Dutch traditions, and nature are all around me. The four seasons in western Michigan are beautiful. I love creating and learning new photo techniques. Besides creating and selling cards, I also sell my images on 12 different microstock sites.
Vintage Hydrangea Birthday Card - Maria Dryfhout
What’s your favorite greeting card on GCU that you’ve created?
It is so hard to pick my favorite out of 1987 cards in my store. I do like the old-fashioned textured effect.
Where else can we find you?
You can find me on Facebook.
What would people be surprised to learn about you?
How much time I spend on this computer.
How did you become a photographer?
Even at a very young age, I had a camera in my hand. My favorite subject back then was bears in the zoo. To this day, I still shoot bears. I am now learning that it is more than “point & shoot.” It is lighting, focus and subject.
What or who inspires you? And what motivates you to create greeting cards from your photographs?
I look at everything as a photo opportunity. The simplest things in life can be made into an image for a card. And I love sending cards to people. It lets them know that I am thinking about them. I also believe that if you send a card… you start a smile.
Where do you find ideas for your work?
I find them all over the Internet and some just pop into my head. You have to think “outside the box”. Some days that is hard to do.
What tools do you use to create your work?
Cameras: Nikon D80, Nikon D200, Nikon L110. Lens: All Nikon AF. 18-55mm 55-200mm 80-400mm Micro60mm Micro105mm. Adobe CS3, Adobe Lightroom2, LucisArt, Capture NX 2.
When and why did you start selling your designs as greeting cards?
Beside selling my images on microstock sites, I wanted them to go on cards. I knew there was money to made doing that. I began thinking about this concept in 2008.
What do you do to promote your greeting cards on GCU?
I buy my cards and give them to friends and family. In turn, they see my store link on the backside and order more.
Is there a tip about GCU or promoting your GCU designs you’d like to share with other artists?
Try to be different… think “outside the box”. Buy your cards and give them away.
Name three other GCU artists whose work inspires you or that you admire.
Is there something you’re really proud of having done?
Raised two beautiful daughters who have now given me grandkids to love and photograph.
If you weren’t an artist, what would you be?
Not real sure…happy where I am at in life. Love making cards and money while wearing my robe and fuzzy slippers!
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Thanks for the interview, Maria! If you would like to participate in an upcoming Artist Interview, get in touch: gcucommunity(at)bigdates.com
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GCU Community Newsletter – April 28, 2011
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Issue #2
IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Welcome to the latest edition of the GCU Community Newsletter. Because our inaugural edition proved so popular, we’ve decided to bring it to you every week (on a Thursday because… well… um… because it’s Thursday).
We had a busy week. Our Nuts & Bolts feature about GCU storefront design stirred things up. Rycky Creations was in our Design Spotlight with a touching story about Hope for Cancer. Our guest blogger, Tom Rent, talked about the importance of your artist profile. And Doreen’s regular A Dash of Inspiration – A Cup of Creativity column gave us fantasy themed brushes and a Photoshop manipulation tutorial.
Thanks to everyone who continues to participate by leaving comments, having conversations with fellow artists, and contributing to our community blog, not to mention passing the love around. Keep up the good work!
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Five Steps to Writing a Blog That Get Noticed
In the world of blogging, content is king.
What you choose to write about in your blog and how well you write it will determine how much attention it receives from the rest of the world. If you promote yourself and your greeting cards by using a blog to showcase your work, you’ll need to do it the smart way.
Hidden Gems: Mothers Day - May 8 - Eugenia Bacon
Keep in mind, the more people you entice to visit your blog, the more people will potentially click one or more of your greeting card links, the more traffic you’ll attract to your cards at Greeting Card Universe, the more sales you make. The equation is simple: Interesting blog = traffic = sales. This is true whether you’re writing a blog or a Squidoo lens.
Here are five step that will help you achieve that winning equation.
One – Determine Your Audience: Who are you trying to attract with your blog? If you say “shoppers!” then nope, sorry, that’s not the right answer. You need to look at things from another angle. What you want to do is turn visitors into shoppers. You attract visitors by writing a blog that contains the content they want to read. You give them an opportunity to click on card links IN ADDITION TO your main content. So the first thing you need to do is figure out the theme of your blog, which is going to determine your audience.
Two – Figure Out Your Theme: What are you going to write about? We’ve talked about this before, but it’s worth repeating – write about what you know. Are you into hiking? Write about the walking trails you’ve visited and what you experienced there. Love dogs? Write about your pooch’s adventures. Enjoy gardening? Give tips and talk about your favorite plants. Are you an illustrator? Talk about your inspiration, how you create your designs, what gets you going. The point is, use a subject you’re passionate about as a jumping off point, and tie your greeting cards into that theme.
Three – Write the Right Way: You don’t need a degree in journalism or creative writing to run a blog. You DO need the ability to tell a story. And you also need to write without a lot of grammar and/or spelling mistakes. Whether educational or entertaining, a post should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Make your point. Share your thoughts or opinions. Be concise. Tell anecdotes and personal details to give a human face to your blog. Be original. Choose an attractive title. Then go over your work with your most critical eye. If you were a reader, what impression would the blog post make on you?
Four – Have Fun: Once you pick a theme you love, run with it! The more fun you have, the better you’ll write, the more motivated you’ll become, and the more your audience will enjoy your enthusiasm. Try not to struggle too much, especially in the beginning. As you continue writing, you’ll get better at it – trust me.
Five – Be Patient: This will be difficult, I know, but getting a readership takes time. There are things you can do to promote your blog (we’ll get into that another time). Just don’t expect to make one post and have thousands of people flocking to your doorstep. Consistent posting with attractive content is the key.
While this is a Squidoo lens, not a blog, I wanted to bring up Sher’s Photography Tips for the Beginner as an excellent example of how to integrate GCU greeting cards into your main content. Go have a look and you’ll see content + promotion in action. Way to go, Sher! Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!
For a very good guide to writing blog posts, check out How to Craft a Blog Post: 10 Crucial Points to Pause.
Next time on Time to Blog, we’ll talk about the importance of commenting on other blogs, and how it can lead to more attention for your own blog.
Each artist who writes a new blog post or Squidoo lens containing at least 3 links to greeting cards at GCU will be entered in a random drawing for a fantastic book Art Escapes: Daily Exercises and Inspirations for Discovering Greater Creativity and Artistic Confidence (Dory Kanter). “This title for both beginning and experienced artists gives readers ideas for building an art habit. It contains daily projects for drawing, watercolour, mixed media, collage and more. It aims to help readers increase their skill and creativity and find time to make a little bit of art every day.” Simply make your post on or before May 8th, then leave a comment on this blog (or get in touch by email).
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The title of your blog posts is vital. Not only is it your first (and best) tool for initially “hooking” a reader’s interest, it also weights heavily in search engine algorithms that determine your page ranking. Always include a title on every blog post. Don’t think it’s important? Do a Google search for “untitled document.” That’s right, millions of pages. How’d you like your blog to be one of them? I didn’t think so. Here are some do’s and don’ts to help you come up with great titles that compliment your blog (and get results).
- Don’t stuff your title with keywords. It’s not only ineffective at attracting readers, such blatant tactics won’t get
Hidden Gems: Mothers Day- May 8 -Pattiann Malynn
you far with search engines, either.
- Do figure out the key points in your blog post. For example, if you’re writing about going to the zoo to photograph the new penguin habitat, your key points are likely “photographing” and “penguins.” Since the first words in your title are deemed the most important by search engines, a title like “Photographing Penguins at the Zoo” will be more effective than “Fun Day with Flightless Birds.”
- Don’t be deceptive. If you give your post a provocative title like “10 Seduction Techniques that Work on Women” and proceed to write about baking cookies, your blog will earn a high bounce rate – meaning people are drawn to your site but leave immediately because it isn’t what they’re searching for.
- Do make your titles easy to read and comprehend. Puzzling your potential audience doesn’t make them intrigued; it’s more likely to prevent them from visiting you at all.
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Announcing the GCU All-Star Awards!
You see that happy star over on the right? The one I’ve been teasing you about? Finally, I can tell you the news a little bit earlier than planned.
That’s just one of several award badges we’re going to be giving to the GCU Community artists to proudly display on their blogs and websites (including Squidoo lenses) that they use to promote their work at Greeting Card Universe. How many awards and what do you have to do to earn them? Ah, we’re keeping the answer to that one under our hat. Rest assured we’ll be giving all our “all-stars” their awards as they continue to do cool things to help themselves as well as the community.
Our first batch of All-Stars is:Bright, Doreen, Cindy, Elizabeth, Judy, Peggy, Tora, Robin, Janet Lee, Maryann,
Hidden Gems: Mothers Day - May 8 - Sandra Rose Designs
Moonie, Roseanne, and Sun at Night! Please join me in congratulating our winners! (If you win an All-Star award but don’t receive it in your email, please check your spam folder; if you still don’t have it, contact us).
2011 Reminder Time: Since search engines can take up to 6 months to index new content, you should be working on this year’s cards ahead of time for the following holidays:
- August 1 – Ramadan
- September 5 – Labor Day
- September 11 – Grandparents Day
- September 11 – Patriot Day
- September 29 – Rosh Hashana
We Need You!: If you’ve got a blog, a website, a Squidoo lens, or a YouTube video promoting your cards at GCU, or a Facebook or a Twitter account that you use, we want to hear from you! To join the roll calls here, leave a comment or send an email to gcucommunity (at) bigdates.com. We update the roll calls daily, so you’ll never be absent for long. Do you have suggestions? Features you’d like to see added? Tips you want to share? Send them in!
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The next issue of the GCU Community Newsletter will be Thursday, May 5
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Nuts and Bolts: Storefront Design
Why is the design of your storefront so important? Isn’t it just an extension of your artistic creativity, a way to further impress the beauty of your personal aesthetic on an audience of onlookers?
Um… no, not quite.
You see, those artists who do custom requests already know something you may not – a lot of shoppers don’t understand that Greeting Card Universe is composed of individual artists. No matter how many different styles of card they’re looking at, they believe it’s all just GCU itself. And that’s why I’m passing this tip along to you.
How to put this delicately… let me begin by saying I’m not pointing fingers here, and no names will be brought up, so don’t take anything personally. I’m just stating a fact: some artists go too far when customizing their storefronts. Dark blue or purple background with red text; badly designed, wrong size or distorted banner; an artist profile that’s either the size of War and Peace or full of spelling and grammar errors or both; HTML or Javascript like, God help us, Midi music. That’s what I’m talking about. See my hand? No pointed fingers.
So what? Who cares if another artist chooses to represent themselves that way? Why should you care about another artist’s errors or poor judgment? BECAUSE if a shopper happens to run across such a storefront, they’ll USE THAT STORE’S APPEARANCE TO JUDGE THE REST OF GCU… that includes me, you, and everybody else. Remember, many shoppers don’t understand we’re individuals. If they come onto a GCU page from an outside search (which happens often), then the first store they light upon is the one they think represents ALL of GCU.
Just as we’ve often talked about how an unappealing card design can drive shoppers away, not just from that card but from purchasing any card at all, we need to represent ourselves with a professional storefront. In this day of Web 2.0, Internet users expect to see sites that are clean, uncluttered and attractive.
Put it another way… would you trust your credit card details to an on-line retail company whose website was riddled with mistakes, and was shoddy and unprofessional looking to boot? Of course not.
Here are three examples of excellent storefront design. You’ll notice the banners are clean and well thought out; the background of the pages is white, so as not to detract from the card designs; no weird HTML or Java, no animated this and that. These artists present themselves as professionals, ready to do business with shoppers.
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I’m not saying you need turn your storefront into a clone of these examples. Far from it… as you see, there’s plenty of room for individuality and originality (particularly in your store banner). As artists and as business people – yes, if you’re selling your greeting cards to the public, you ARE in business – we need to give a good impression to the shoppers who visit us, so they’ll have an overall good impression of GCU.
Check your storefront with a critical eye. Look at it closely, not from the standpoint of an artist, but from the standpoint of a shopper who is considering giving her hard-earned money to GCU (and, by extension, to you as well). Ask people you trust to give you an honest assessment. Be aware that your storefront not only represents you, it represents GCU as a whole. What’s your storefront saying? Is it a message you want shoppers to hear?
A word to the wise… a little bird told me the Big Kahunas at GCU are considering removing some of the storefront customization options because of this issue. Don’t panic. The option is being discussed, that’s all. However, if we don’t clean up our act, we may find our toys taken away. ‘Nuff said.
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Design Spotlight: Rycky Creations
Today’s Design Spotlight is on Rycky Creations, who shares a poignant story with us. If you would like to see your favorite and/or bestselling card spotlighted here, get in touch!
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In late 2006, a very special young friend named John underwent surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor. He was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a very aggressive form of cancer at 23 years of age. In 2008, I began designing cards, along with another friend, and selling them on the internet under the name “Rycky Creations.”
Wanting to “do something” not only in John’s honor, but also because I had lost my dad to a brain tumor, I designed a card called “Hope.” The background of the card is done in gray, which is the color that represents brain cancer, and I made the decision to donate any commissions earned to cancer research.
In 2009, we expanded our “Hope” card line to include several other “colors” of cancer. By the end of 2010, we had sold 642 Hope cards with 100% of the commissions going to cancer research. If you have a moment, check out our “Hope for Cancer” blog.
I feel so blessed to belong to such a wonderful community of artists… thanks GCU for giving us a great outlet to share our creations!
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Dash of Inspiration – April 25, 2011
A Dash of Inspiration…A Cup of Creativity by Doreen
Photomanipulation in Photoshop
I love fantasy and sci-fi and I’m always fascinated by the creation process of this type of art. For those of us who are photographers, we can’t photograph what doesn’t exist which is probably what draws me this style of creation. In today’s digital world full of powerful tools, photographers can create ‘something out of this world’ using our own photographs; just like the painter puts imagination to canvas. This week I wanted to challenge all of the photographers out there to create something surreal and fantastic using bits and pieces of your photographs. Today’s Photoshop Tutorial gives you some initial technique and hopefully some inspiration to dip your toes into a whole new world of exploration.
Along with the How to create a fantasy Photomanipulation in Photoshop tutorial brought to us by Webgraphics, I’m also including two Brushes links to help you with your new creations into the world beyond! The first is a set of 30 Hi-Res Fairy Wing Brushes, the other a set of 22 Light Swirl Brushes. These come to us from Obsidian Dawn and should work for Photoshop 7 & up, Elements 2 & up and Gimp, so all of you should be able to play in this sandbox!
How to Create a FantasyPhotomanipulation in Photoshop Tutorial
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Guest Blogger: Tom Rent – April 25, 2011
Today’s guest blog comes from Tom Rent at Comical Captions, one of the most knowledgeable and helpful guys around the community. Thanks for the tip, Tom! — Corrie
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Your Artist Profile Is More Important Than You Think
Yikes! Being lazy one day, rather than typing in my store URL to see if my new cards were up, I just did a Yahoo Search and noticed something interesting and disturbing!
Look how our search results come up! The title line is from GCU, and we can’t modify that, but the first lines of our Artist profile is what comes next. This is so critical in helping the shopper decide to click the link or not – yes, CRITICAL.
I then tried a Google Search and they present the same way but they instead use part of the second sentence! They must know people are gaming the system by depending to much on the first sentence.
Oh man! I think I need to come up with something more inviting and that covers 2 sentences, perhaps with a similar message. I do know it is good to use the store title again in that first sentence to help in ranking high in search, so having Comical Captions has to stay. Perhaps something like “Over 5000 of the funniest Greeting Cards around now at Comical Captions. My funny Greeting Cards are some of the most popular around.” … (and then I’ll get into the personal stuff). The first lines need to be very “catchy.” If they are reading them then the “Real Paper Greeting Cards” is what they are looking for, so the next 2 sentences of our Artist Profile is what they will bite on next so we have to word them just right!
Obviously what we come up with also has to look “OK” to someone reading the artist profile once in our store. We don’t want to drive them away. This could take some noodling!
Just thought I’d share that with the group. You might try to see how your Artist Profile reads in search. Please share what you find out!
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Happy Easter!
Have a joyous Easter, everyone!
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Weekend Recap – April 23, 2011
Well, it was a short week but an exciting one! In just a couple of days, we’ve already helped out some artists with various issues, scattered some inspiration around, and had a great time jammin’ with our community peeps. So in case you missed the fun, here’s a recap of what’s gone on:
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FROM THE COMMENTS
LINKING TRICK:
Corrie (hey, that’s me!) taught a neat trick for linking to a page of related cards at GCU. First, do a site-wide search on GCU for your keywords INCLUDING your artist or store name, such as “corrie kuipers scooter cow.” This should bring up all the cards of YOUR design. Then copy and paste the URL wherever you want. Voila! If somebody clicks on the link, they’ll get that same page of cards, too.
SQUIDOO-BE-DOO-BE-DOO:
Sher gave us the valuable advice that the maximum width of a photograph or other picture you want to put into a Squidoo lens is 25o pixels.
Moonie at Moonlake Designs started a new Squidoo lens about We Love Cake.
Elizabeth has a Mother’s Day for Special Mothers lens.
Bright has a Squidoo lens about Art Appreciation for Kids.
When you make a new Squidoo lens, in addition to using the Amazon, Zazzle, etc. modules to make a little moolah, why not include your GCU cards as well? You can have up to 9 outbound links to GCU per lens, which is plenty to promote greeting cards without seeming spammy. Not sure how? Check out our latest Squidoo tutorial (link below).
NEED FOR FEED:
Want to add the GCU Community blog to your RSS news feeder so you can stay on top of all the latest? Here’s the link you need: https://gcucommunity.com/feed/
DON”T MISS:
This week’s GCU Community Newsletter.
A tutorial on linking GCU greeting cards in your Squidoo lens.
This week’s A Dash of Inspiration…A Cup of Creativity by Doreen at Salon of Art.
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COMMUNITY SHOUT OUT
Thanks to the artists who responded to our request for guest bloggers. If you want to volunteer to write about a subject close to your heart on any topic you think will interest and inform the community, get in touch. We’re also seeking artists who’d like to have a favorite/bestselling card spotlighted here. If you want to get some free exposure, contact us about being in the Designer Spotlight.
If you haven’t already, don’t forget to send in your links to your blog, Squidoo lensmaster profile, Twitter or Facebook so we can add you to our roll calls.
Got a question about GCU you want to Ask Mindy? Send it in to us and we’ll pass it on!
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COMING UP
What’s with the star on the right side of the page, you ask? In a few days, we have an exciting announcement to make about a new community-wide project we’ve been working on. We’ll give you a hint: if you haven’t started a blog to promote yourself and your designs, you’re going to miss out on the fun.
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A PEEK BEHIND THE SCENES
Shhhhh… (peering around)… come closer. I have a secret to whisper in your ear. Are you sure you’re alone? Okay, my spies at GCU headquarters have let me in on a super hush-hush project that’s very close to completion. From what I’ve heard, this new project is just for the artist community, and it’s going to totally rock! I’m already a little verklempt thinking about it. Stay tuned, ladies and gents… I’ll have more breaking news for you as it comes in.
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CONTACT US: You can get in touch anytime at gcucommunity(at)bigdates.com
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Community Shout Out – April 22, 2011
Hi everybody! In case you haven’t heard, GCU is seeking cards for upcoming promotions as these categories are EMPTY. Be the first to design and upload a card – and you get to Fast Track, too, so that’s almost instant gratification!
The categories are:
Holidays >> Mother’s Day >> Co-worker / Colleague >> Work Wife
Holidays >> Father’s Day >> Co-worker / Colleague >> Work Husband
What’s a Work Wife? What’s a Work Husband? According to the definition, a “Work Spouse” – work husband or work wife – is a co-worker or colleague of the opposite sex with whom you share an especially close (Platonic) relationship.
So get designing, people! This is YOUR chance to get YOUR card(s) into a category that isn’t already bursting, so it’s a golden opportunity. Go for it! And when you’ve submitted the card (don’t forget to Fast Track) you can post the PID# on this Forum thread.
Corrie
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Dash of Inspiration – April 22, 2011
Learn . Create . Inspire
by Doreen
A Dash of Inspiration…A Cup of Creativity
Each week I’ll be offering links to tutorials, free downloads and wonderful art & photography that should inspire you to ‘think outside the box’. Every artist should experiment with new tools, new mediums or just new subject matter. The difference between good and great in any field is whether you do an average job or whether you push yourself to do a great job…Every time! Being a great artist is no different. It’s about constant growth, becoming a master at your techniques, and being inspired by something so outside the bounds of your artistic ‘comfort zone’ that you simply MUST create something new!
Today, in honor of Earth Day, I bring you this wonderful exhibit of 40 Terrific Works of Art Made From Common Trash. This is wonderful collection is brought to us by Noupe.com. Look for A Dash of Inspiration…A Cup of Creativity each Monday for something that will spark your creativity!
GCU Community 