Creative Finder – A social network for and by creatives

This week I’d like to share this up and coming social network for creatives, Creative Finder.  It’s a professional social network just like LinkedIn. You not only create a portfolio of your work, you enter your CV or resume as well as awards and people with whom you have worked.  

TIP: If you have fully filled out your LinkedIn profile just enter that link in the resume/CV area of your Creative Finder profile.

Creative Finder has been around for three years and earlier this year it revamped its layout. Like any social network you can follow others and like what they share. You can also find creatives to hire or as a creative, find a job in the job listings. And Creative Finder is well hooked into all the popular social networks.

TIP: Be sure to connect to your other social networks. You do this by hovering your cursor over “My account” which brings up a menu. You'll see “Connect to social networks” at the bottom of that menu.

Creative Finder is not as smooth as LinkedIn or the other social networks. It does still have some growing to do, but I think it’s another great venue for visual artists to connect with potential buyers, employers as well as fans.

Joanne Elliott of Social SpriteMedia Services brings this column to NWCU every week. If you're a creative seeking advice on spreading the good news about your work, we're here to help!

How to get a Google+1 button on your blog

The Google+1 button is an important addition to your website and blog. The Google+1 button is like the Facebook “Like” button, except it gets into Google searches. And Google reaches millions. “Asked which search engine they use most often, 83% of search users say Google.  The next most cited search engine is Yahoo, mentioned by just 6% of search users.”  (Pew Internet Research)

Here’s how you can get that important little Google+1 button:

Blogger: Go to “Design” in Blogger and click on “Layout” and then click on the “Edit” in the left hand corner of the “Blog Posts” rectangle. Another menu pops up. Scroll down and you’ll see a box you can check next to “Show Share Buttons.” Click and save. Now every blog post will carry the share buttons including the Google+1 button.

Wordpress or website: There is a code for the Google+1 button you can pick up from the Google Developers site. Choose the size and language and then copy the code it gives you. You can then paste it your HTML code box or in the footer. There are also plug-ins for Wordpress to do this for you. It’s suggested you add one to every page of your blog or website.

Joanne Elliott of Social Sprite Media Services brings this column to NWCU every week. If you're a creative seeking advice on spreading the good news about your work, we're here to help!