Painting and Drawing Secrets by Alfred Daniels
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Since purchasing the Get Paid to Draw system and both products created by the two final contestants on The Next Internet Millionaire I've been following a trail of marketing freebies, ebooks, software and one time offers to teach you how to do anything, fast!
You've probably seen many of them, even amongst the Google ads on my blog; 'Learn how to create massive wealth', 'How to make mega money from home', you get the idea. Clicking on these links takes you to what's known as a 'squeeze page' which is usually a lengthy sales message with examples and testimonials explaining why this product will do everything it claims. Just enter your name and email and we'll give you a truck load of free ebooks as well.
I've got a pile of free marketing information clogging several folders on my hard drive so I've pretty much stopped following this marketing trail, however I continue to stumble across more art related products sold in this over hyped fashion.
The latest one is an ebook titled Painting and Drawing Secrets by Alfred Daniels. Alfred Daniels is not actually selling this product however he is attributed as the author of the ebook which claims to be a re-discovered manuscript that is the secret resource many top artists used to perfect their drawing and painting with oils and watercolors.
I'm not an affiliate of this product, nor am I recommending you purchase (or don't purchase) it. I already know how to draw or paint with no help from Alfred's manuscript so I have no reason to buy. I would be interested to know if you have purchased this product and whether it was good value for money.
I've read the sales message on this and personally I've never heard anyone make these stated complaints about art books teaching you how to draw or paint:
Frankly, the most common complaint amongst art students is study books containing a minimum of useful information offered at the maximum price - much better for ornament than for use!
The big problem is that most books on the subject are filled with boring description after description, and not enough nitty-gritty, nuts and bolts information with clear illustrations and drawings.
Most books I've come across have been extremely useful with plenty of nice step by step pictures without too much boring description. The only thing I would agree upon is the 'maximum price' applied to some books.
Something I do find amusing about the sales pitch and, again, something I've never heard from any art student is this quote from the list of free bonus items:
eBook - How To Draw Parts Of The Body. Starting with the most asked question "How do you draw a woman's breast?"
I've heard artists say they have trouble drawing hands, feet and even faces but I've never ever heard a single person, even someone who can't draw, ask, How do you draw a women's breast? Honestly, even complete drawing novices usually have little trouble drawing boobs!
It's not my intention to knock this product I just find it fascinating that a book such as this is being sold as a revolutionary system in this over hyped and tacky approach.
If you really want to see an art site that features boring description after boring description why not check out Art and Design Web, the publishers of Painting and Drawing Secrets. Page after page of excerpts from Wikipedia on all kinds of drawing and painting related subjects with strategically placed Google ads. Hopefully the ebook has better content.
Working out how to install a Car Stereo
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Many months ago - maybe even more than a year ago - my partner's son asked if I could help install a new car stereo system into his first car. I've never installed a car stereo system before but, like most things, I can usually work it out so I said I'd give it a go.
Unfortunately, before I got started, he took it upon himself to pull out the old system without making any notes about what wire connected where. This pretty much set back my ability to work things out quite drastically.
I did give it a really good try but found the instructions on the new system difficult to follow (due to them being a poor translation into English from either China or Japan). Plus the wires on the new system didn't seem to match anything that was left in the car after pulling out the old system.
Teenage boys, being like they are, things have to be done now. I was being overly cautious because the stereo was new and expensive. I didn't want to accidentally short something out.
In the end he got a friend to install it and I never saw how it all went together. Though I understand I was on the right track with what I had done up to that point.
Fast forward to the last couple of days and my trusty little Galant which I introduced to you in my article Wheels Again.
Shortly after my partner bought this car for me she also bought her son's old car stereo, main unit to put in it. No speakers though as her son no longer had his.
I hadn't installed it yet as the main unit was not unlike the one I'd tried to install months before. Plus, even if I did install it, I wouldn't be able to hear anything until I bought some speakers.
This weekend, I didn't have much work on so I decided I'd give it a go. The Galant had most of the wires in place already from a previous stereo installation. It was just a case of working out what wire went where.
An added bonus was I also discovered the the Galant had one speaker still in place, located right in the middle of the dashboard. The speaker looked a bit past it's use by date but I was hoping it would still be okay.
I'll spare you the blow by blow account but some highlights included:
Ending day one with evidence of power getting to the stereo but with nothing else working.
Learning that as well as a red wire going to the ignition via a fuse and a black wire going to the car body, there needed to be another yellow wire going to the battery. Presto! All the lights on the radio worked... pretty!
Seeing a nice sparky flash when the wire running from the battery made contact with the body of the car (note that disconnecting the battery is always a good idea before installing a stereo).
Lots of very sticky red binding tape from the previous installation needing to be removed and getting sticky goo all over my fingers.
Researching internet sites for wiring diagrams and discovering an interesting history of the Galant.
Spending all day twisting and contorting trying to install the stereo from under the dashboard then discovering a panel right at the top centre of the dash, directly above the stereo, that could be removed. Wish I'd have found that earlier!
Discovering that the single front speaker still worked thus enabling me to hear the radio as well as admire all the pretty lights.
All up, this whole installation took me about two days. I didn't have the benefit of instructions and things like the Yellow wire going to the battery was actually a blue wire from the previous installation.
I'm sure someone, who knew what they were doing, could have finished the job in a couple of hours but I just wanted to show that, given enough time, I usually can work out how to do most things.
I'm sure my little Galant goes just a little bit faster now it has a stereo!
The series is similar in format to Donald Trump's series, The Apprentice. A group of moderately successful internet marketers compete through various individual and team challenges for the chance of winning a $25,000 dollar cash prize and the opportunity to be Joel's next Joint Venture partner (presumably a millionaire opportunity). Each episode the losing team ends up in the judgment room where one or more contestants is eliminated.
At the time of writing only episodes one through four were online so this is all that I've seen. In any case this post isn't so much a review of the show as an observation of Joel Comm and his marketing approach - as you'll soon read.
Joel runs a highly informative Youtube channel, which is what prompted me to watch his show. There is no doubt from Joel's videos that he clearly knows his stuff and provides no nonsense, down to earth advice for anyone looking to earn a decent income online.
That said, The Next Internet Millionaire is rather a lot like The Apprentice in that, as far as useful information goes, it offers sound bites of valuable ideas but never really explores them deeper. In fact, the useful part of the show, where a guest speaker explains the key theme for the team challenge seems little more than an opportunity for one of Joel's marketing mates to pitch their key marketing idea. However the viewer (i.e. us) is not party to the details of that message.
This is fairly understandable (I assume these experts usually charge for their knowledge and time) but it does reduce the shows usefulness to that of a game show and a platform for Joel and his mates to make their sales pitch. Kind of goes a little against the 'Content is king' message that Joel himself promotes.
Since discovering Joel his advice has played a big part in recent changes I've made to this site - which appear to be showing some early, positive results. Naturally I signed up to his mailing list. Unfortunately that has soured the relationship some what.
Whilst Joel knows his stuff and no doubt can run rings around me with his marketing abilities he does come from a really old school of internet marketing. The school of personal selling emails and web site landing pages explaining why you should sign up for whatever Joel's latest offer is. I hate that kind of marketing.
Daily emails, addressing me by name, with a sales message and perhaps a free offer thrown in, directing me to a bloated single page web site that scrolls forever with reason after reason explaining why this offer is so good. It's soooo... web 1.0.
I can't stand those landing pages. If I do take the time to look further I usually scroll straight to the bottom just to find out how much accepting the offer is going to cost. Nearly every time, if I could afford the offer I wouldn't need it.
Joel is proof that this technique works and can earn you a lot of money but I didn't sign up for a sales pitch I signed up for content. Even in the course of writing this article, exploring Joel's blog lead me to various landing pages with a sales pitch.
I really don't want a business in a box, web site templates or yet another report on how buying this latest product can increase my earnings. All I want is help and advice on how I can make what I do earn me an income that will pay my bills with a bit left over for savings.
I have all the skills already. What I need is help in finding out how all the pieces fit together. Joel says to make money from a web site you need to do something that you're passionate about. That's what I've done. Why then does he keep pushing all these other products at me?
Just give me some useful advice that directly relates to running an artist web site.
Beauty Fades. Dumb is Forever.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
The title of this post is a classic Judge Judy quote which, is really only half true. Dumb doesn't have to be forever. All over YouTube a debate is raging about Miss South Carolina's incoherent answer to a question at this years Miss Teen USA pageant. She was asked to give her opinion on why it is that recent polls show that one fifth of Americans can't find the USA on a map?
She started out by saying that many US Americans (as opposed to non US Americans?) don't have maps... and it all went down hill from there with a monologue that, at best, could be described as words that might have been a useful answer if they were arranged into their proper order. Watch the video below for the full story and Miss South Carolina's attempt to redeem herself two days later on the Today Show.
Now, I can accept that she was probably very nervous and we've all been in a situation where we can hear ourselves talking but have no idea if we're still making sense. Her answer on the Today Show is certainly an improvement and may well have got her first place instead of third runner up (what did fourth and fifth place getters say to be beaten by her answer?).
Perhaps I should stop rambling like Miss South Carolina and get to my point. What this represents is a poster child for better education of young people. It's all very well to think looks will get you a long way but looks and brains will get you even further. In today's society people seem genuinely surprised when good looking people have brains too. Something that should be a given not a surprise.
Many young people seem to think that school is a waste of time because they are almost forced to learn about things that don't interest them. These young people have missed the point of school.
School is not just about learning stuff. It is also about learning how to learn. Learning how to teach yourself stuff that you have little to no interest in whatsoever. In life you will need to teach yourself all manner of things that you have no interest in but are necessary to live in todays society.
Nobody likes reading contracts (well most people don't anyway) yet in life you'll need to read and understand all manner of contracts. Tax laws and Tax Returns - mind numbingly boring but you'll need to know. Employer/Employee agreements... Superannuation, life insurance the list goes on. Are you smart enough to teach yourself these things or will you forever be looking for someone to explain it to you... like you were a four year old?
Looks maybe valued highly in the modern world but education is still much more valuable. For every good looking, brainless celebrity out there, there is a very smart agent earning a killing off their clients stupidity.
No matter how old you are you should never stop learning. Beauty may fade but dumb doesn't have to be forever.
I am South Australian Artist, 'TET' or 'The Extraordinary Tourist'. Read about things that interest me, particularly art, social commentary, humour and life observations. Please feel free to leave a comment by clicking the 'Comments' link at the bottom of each entry.
I'm a creative person trying to make a living selling my art online. Visit my shop to find out if owning a print of my art is right for you. Watch for my ebay auctions of original artworks too!
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