We are putting a call out for Artist Testimonial Videos.
 
If you'd like to share your love of GCU please consider creating a video testimonial.  We will choose our top 3 favorite videos to feature on GCU.  If there are too many great ones to choose from maybe we'll use more.  We will also be adding them to our GCU YouTube channel which we are beginning work on.
 
Some tips & ideas...
1. keep it short, 2 mins or under
2. make it fun, you're an artist right?  get creative, show your personality
3. touch on specifics of what makes you happy here at GCU that other artists would find interesting
4. use an attractive backdrop (consider your studio)
5. do a little primping (no need to go to the beauty salon first but do consider your appearance - people are watching!)
 
Not only will these be great for new artists considering joining our community but great fun for other artists in our GCU community to get to know one another better.  Please note these videos are not a venue to promote your store or cards but do mention your store name and feel free to include some cards in your video if you like.
 
Here are some suggested talking points to get you started:
1. Your artist name and store URL
2. When did you join GCUniverse
3. what is your primary art style/technique
4. how would you describe your collection
5. What attracted you to GCUniverse and why did you join
6. How quick and easy was it to get started
7. What about GCUniverse do you like better than other POD sites?
8. What are your top 3 favorite things about GCUniverse
9. What amount of effort do you put into your store and is it a worthwhile venture
 
It's easy just...
1. create your video
2. upload it to YouTube (see tips below)
3. Post here on this forum thread a link to your video on YouTube so we can review and add them to our GCU Channel Playlist
 
Here are some general guidelines when you upload your video to YouTube:  
 
Title: 99 characters allowed, should mention as part of your title GreetingCardUniverse.com or Greeting Card Universe.  Possibly even Greeting Card Universe Review or Greeting Card Universe Testimonial.
 
Category:  apparently this is not a big deal on YouTube but People & Blogs would be the best choice
 
Description: 5,000 characters here, you should write about your video here, what it's about, basically summarize it, ask people to rate it, share or embed your video.  You should also include a link to your GCU storefront.
 
Tags: This is useful for reinforcing the search terms used in the title and description.  Probably want to include greetingcarduniverse.com, greeting card universe, your artist name, store name, paper greeting cards, POD, print on demand, the names of the categories that the video is listed in, there's no penalty for using the entire space.  Think of it like the keyword field when you upload cards.    
 
We are by no means YouTube experts so if any artists are and have any suggestions to share on video creation and uploading please feel free to chime in.
 
Have fun and don't forget to smile  

I did not want to be in a video but i did do one for my Victorian Ladies cards.. my first so don't be too hard on me... check it out if you wish.  feel free to comment.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlGAFmk6h8Y

thank you, Eve.  i wasn't trying to be difficult and not do the type Mindy requested, I had wanted to do one for a while anyway.   I am much more suited behind the camera than in front of it...haha

thank you.    
 
as far as music, it seems to be if you can get by with it use it.....BUT i do not ascribe to that thought.    i searched to find public domain music because i do not want to cross over the copyright infringement line.

If you googlre 'non copyright music' lots of websits come up.  
 
Like you Denise, I am very rarely in front of a camera.

Quote from David_134612 on Sep 26^th, 2010, 6:01am:

 
Yes, we plan to do that too!  Wanted to get our feet wet first on the artist side.  
 
Today you can certainly post your own videos for shoppers on your storefront in your Artist Profile section would make sense.
 
We can see the benefit for artists to promote all of their work and all of the POD sites they sell on.  We have no intent to police videos on your storefronts however do note that for the videos we choose to feature on GCU and our GCU YouTube channel we'll be looking for those that don't mention "the other guys".  I'm sure you'll understand  
 

Quote:

 
 
i did add the other guys to mine today, but i knew i was not in the running for the gcu feature anyway.  later i may decide to take that link out if the gcu youtube channel seems to be effective.  until then i just need to get the word out period.

Quote from Norma_133903 on Sep 29^th, 2010, 12:36am:

 
i admit i didn't read the original post completely,  i automatically assumed the push behind these videos was promotion of the cards here on gcu rather than it being to draw in more artists..... got to read things more carefully next time.  
 
while i understand wanting fresh blood in the creative pool... and the thought that it might  help bring in new buyers, i would like to see the ones that are here already promoted.   and see some of those cards of ours that have never seen the light of day, be able to shake some of the dust off.  
 
and yes i know it is a competitive world and more artists would make us re-examine our work and challenge us to do better, but, i have seen first hand on another of my pod sites that sales for existing artists drop when there is a push for new artists.  
 
cultivate and grow what you already have here  and the garden will flourish ... new buyers and new artists will be attracted to it and the ones you already have will be much happier and productive.  make sure the foundation is secure and doing what it should be first.  growing a bigger artist base when several other issues need to be resolved and some of the wish list fulfilled will only add to the problems.  
it just doesn't make good sense to me.  
 
when the reviewer queue is not getting any shorter and we are already waiting nearly 2 weeks for approvals, add more reviewers, or streamline their work load and help them move the line quicker and more efficiently.   you bring in new artists who are not up on the process and the queue line will be longer and longer as they are "trained" , so to speak on all the ins and outs of gcu.  it will just bog down a process that is not moving efficiently now.  
 
if this were a different type of business i would say it this way.   i would rather see them set a hiring freeze and work on the mechanics of the work flow, marketing, employee base, inventory, and communication than to try to expand and build on top of what needs to be addressed.    hiring more bodies to come in and flounder would not improve the functionality.  just like adding new brick on top of crumbling concrete, doesn't make it more stable.  
 
we appreciate any new features you roll out to help us, but there seem to be several things that are brought up such as the review queue or the simplifying of categories as we try to submit that need attention.  i haven't tried out the new editing feature introduced yesterday, but it is appreciated if it does what it was intended to do.  having just drug a friend along to gcu, and the frustrations she has already expressed, i think it would echo among any new artists and many of the current ones.