Why Content Creation is important these days

The land rush scene from the 1992 movie Far and Away, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. 

In 1889, the United States opened up a huge chunk of land, what is now much of Oklahoma, to homesteaders.  By the order of President Benjamin Harrison, on April 22, 1889, about 50,000 people lined up on the borders of this huge area, ready to grab a free piece of land.  At noon, cannons and guns fired, and trumpets sounded, that was the start signal, and people raced into the region, which is what this movie scene is about.  The deal was,  people would find a piece of land they wanted, and plant their flag.  By doing that, and then registering the claim soon after, these people could claim 160 acres of land.  They had to live on that land, and make improvements on it, for five years.  If the homesteaders did that, they would receive the title of that 160 acres of land, for no money.  This is one way that the U.S. got people to claim the former Indian lands, and encouraged settlement of those lands.  You can learn more about the Land Rush here.

If you own a small business, do some kind of creative work, or maybe are an athlete who makes money from some kind of sponsorship deals, you're ignoring "free land" and free promotion for your business, work, or ideas, if you don't create content on many of the platforms available in today's world.

So what does this Oklahoma land rush of 1889 have to do with the internet and social media?  It's a pretty good analogy.  When you open an account on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, or create a blog or website somewhere on the internet, you're claiming your own piece of the cyber world.  Like the Oklahoma land rush, you're staking your claim and saying "This area is mine." 

Once you have your little piece of the cyber world, you can share your ideas through text, photos, audio, and video.  You can also share other people's ideas and content, drawing attention to that content and those ideas.  When you do that, you're "creating content," as it's now known. 

Why create content?  There are a whole bunch of reasons.  Getting Likes is one of the worst reasons, but a popular one.  Some people just want attention.  Some people want others to like them and validate them.  Everyone has their own viewpoints on many different subjects.  A lot of people have specific info, or some skill or experience in some area, that can help other people learn a new skill, entertain people, expose people to something new, or share ideas. 

For most of human history, there were very few ways for an average person to share their knowledge and ideas with very many people.  But the internet and social media have democratized media, and now, nearly everyone can get their ideas out and make then available to a huge chunk of the people, in the entire world.  For centuries, there were "gatekeepers" who let only certain people have a voice to large groups of people.  The gatekeepers may have been a TV producer, a magazine publisher, a newspaper editor, or someone like that.  Now, in today's world, there are no gatekeepers.  Virtually everyone can put stuff out on the web, or on social media. 

Because of this, there's a ton of crap out there to look at, and there's a lot of really good stuff, too.  By creating content, the best stuff you can put out, you can take advantage of one of the greatest opportunities in all of human history.  But hardly anyone really does it well, or puts much effort into it.  Nearly everyone shares stuff on the internet's websites, and social media platforms, today.  Most people go through their days spitting out mostly lame and crappy content.  But very few, even those people who are trying to promote something, take the time to learn to do this well, and work at creating good content on a consistent basis.  All kinds of business are in trouble, or going out of business these days, because they don't create good content regularly.  With the rise of the internet, social media platforms, and smartphones, people of all kinds now expect businesses and organizations of all kinds to put out good content. 

This has changed the business and social game.  In effect, if you own a business, creating content has been part of your job since about 2000-2005.  Before then it was helpful.  But since about 2005, you're leaving a great deal of money on the table, if you're not consistently creating good content, and a lot of it.  If you want to promote anything; your artwork, your business, yourself as an athlete, your favorite political candidate, your band, whatever, content creation is simply a necessary part of the game now.  If you don't get good at it, the person who takes your place, or puts you out of business eventually, will get good at it.  So that's why it's important in today's world. 

Taking my artwork to Laguna Beach First Thursday Art Walk

 I took one copy of my "I (heart) Sunny Days" VW bug drawing, and went to Laguna Beach for it's First Thursday Art Walk last night.  This is the first time I've hung out in Laguna Beach during the Art Walk, and I wanted to show off my work, and see what people thought. 

I learned years ago that people don't really buy original art for the beauty or look of it, for the most part.  People tend to buy the artist, and the artist's story, as much as the work of art itself.  So I had no idea how people in a city full of all kinds of very good (and some not so good) artwork, would react to the Sharpie drawings of an unknown, homeless guy. 

To my surprise, this simple drawing of a convertible VW bug stopped a lot of people in their tracks.  That's hard to do, and that's pretty freakin' cool.  Most seemed to think it was a painting of some kind as they walked up and saw my drawing at a distance.  When they got closer, quite a few people seemed to realize (because I wrote "Sharpie drawings" next to it), that it wasn't a painting, and it was done with Sharpies.  While most of the people walking by didn't notice, busy with their own stuff,  two or three dozen people stopped, looked closer, and gave me really positive comments.  Two or three people said they'd never seen anything like this (with Sharpies), and a couple called it "amazing."  I said, "Thank you," and told them no one else in the world draws in this style, it's my creation.  So while no one wanted to buy a drawing, or commission one to be done, the reaction from Laguna Beach passers by was really good. 

 I posted up on a bench on the corner of PCH and Forest, in front of an ice cream shop, and this gate hangs on a pole there, about 8 feet out of the ground.  I'm sure there's a story to it, but I don't know that story.

 This guy, who looked a lot like a pre-heart attack Kevin Smith, poured a little water on the ground and busted some dance moves.  Crazy as it sounds, he had some really good footwork, aided by the wet bricks.  He also had some print on canvas he was trying to sell, and showed me a video he edited for some rapper, who was having an online contest to make a video to his song.  Not epic, but quite creative.  There are a lot of weird characters wandering around Laguna Beach, and that's always a good sign.  There's also a lot of really boring rich people.  Gotta take the good with the bad. 

 A lot of people walked their dogs around during Art Walk.  This St. Bernard was the big guy, and the mellowest, of the four-legged bunch.  Remember, St. Bernards were some of the first "service dogs," they carried casks of brandy around their necks, seeking out people who were lost in the snow, in the French Alps, if I remember correctly.  Something like that. 

My little art portfolio sitting below the dog waiter statue beside the ice cream shop, in downtown Laguna Beach. 

Amanda Palmer- "The Art of Asking TED Talk"

I "discovered" Amanda Palmer back in late 2012, I think, when I saw her in CSPAN and she was asked to play her song "Ukulele Anthem."  I loved that weird song at that point, a dark time in my own life, and while I never became a huge fan of her music, I found her way or working in the world as a creative person fascinating.  At some point, I ran across this TED Talk, and it's become one of my favorites.  She later wrote a book called The Art of Asking, and she had a great "Authors at Google" talk about the book, which is a much longer and more in depth dive into these same ideas.  Great stuff.