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Raise A Little Hell (timotheories November 2016)

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

You know what they say – if you don’t like what you got, why don’t you change it. If your world is all screwed up, rearrange it. Raise a little hell of your own.

That’s been my modus operandi ever since I broke up with my long-term partner in October of 2014. Just over two years ago, I found out she had been cheating on me, and it broke my heart into a thousand more pieces than had happened when I first learned she had a mental illness and would be living with her parents indefinitely a year prior. To put it into perspective, my life got flipped, turned upside down in the summer of 2013, and then once more in the fall of 2014 for good measure.

But from the infidelity and trust broken, I was given the gift of looking at my life as an individual once more. And an opportunity to realize that I could fight it, nay, I could right it. Not the relationship lost, but the identity regained.

So I raised a little hell, and it’s been one of the best things I could have ever done. My life purpose is back on track, and I’ll be rolling ahead at full steam ever since. Don’t stop believing dear readers. That’s right my friends, I’ve got more improvements to make with the timotheories brand, and lots of theories to share.

Let’s tackle that sumbitch named November with a great vengeance and furious anger.

*Disclaimer* As always, every week I purchase an album and movie one week ahead of the actual review release and while I have the best intentions, I don’t always get what I want… so if you follow me on instagram (@timotheories) you can actually see what’s coming.

timotheories summarized – November

Stimulating Sundays – (11/06) Cross Talk Ep. 13, (11/13) Georg Rockall-Schmidt preview interview, (11/20) Georg Rockall-Schmidt interview, (11/27) Cross Talk Ep. 14
Melodic Mondays – (11/07) Tove Lo, (11/14) Common, (11/21) Martha Wainwright, (11/28) Justice
Theatrical Tuesdays – (11/01) The Rocky Horror Picture Show, (11/08) Star Trek Beyond, (11/15) Morris From America, (11/22) Finding Dory, (11/29) Hell or High Water
Wisdom Wednesdays – (11/02) Accelerated Learning – 20 Hour Rule, (11/09) Facebook, (11/16) Housing, (11/23) Scott Snyder, (11/30) Income
Timely Thursday – (11/03) timotheories November, (11/10) Remembrance Day, (11/17) Artwork update, (11/24) Black Friday part 2

The year of all killer, no filler is on it’s last legs friends. Let’s make a final push and ensure that we live fast and die young. We have the capacity to see some really great things if we stick with our regimen. For instance, I already shared the Accelerated Learning theory from Josh Kaufman, but I’ve got some thoughts on Facebook, comic book writer Scott Snyder, and a further consideration of the principles outlined in my previous Postconsumers post.

Oh and you know, I ain’t gonna leave you on the flo, when you want some mo! My first ever international interview is on the books and ready to integrate itself into your nooks. And crannies. Featuring one YouTube personality in the form of Georg Rockall-Schmidt.

What about Cross Talk you say? Episode 13 and 14 are well on their way, already recorded and preparing for the cutting room floor. Maybe we’ll talk about spoofs or maybe we’ll discuss movie breakthroughs, but you can be sure it’ll be a good time. I got an AV guy helping us out for the first time. Oh yeah.

And those are all of the theories I can come up with for now friends. Please leave some comments, to let us know what you want to see in coming months and subscribe to the blog too! Love you creative cuties, keep it real for me.

Tim!

Grow Up And Blow Away (Your Image)

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

Growing up is hard to do.

Or to if I were to rip it off of a writer like E. E. Cummings, it takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. Which is why Peter Pan never did it, why Peter Pan syndrome is real, and it’s also why we don’t all get there.

Also, I’ve never been a large fan of this above meme, but you know what? This seems like an appropriate time to use it, after all, marketing is about communicating a message, and so I’m making a solid point with a message about dummies using a baby to be funny.

Real mature dummies. Way to devalue the importance of marketing.

Hold on a tick, timotheories, are you saying what we think you’re saying?

That’s right, we’re onto post number four in the Importance of Marketing series!

As I’ve already done a few times before, I should start us on the right track by clarifying what an image means in this instance. It could be a representation of the external, whether the form taken is that of a person or a thing. It could also be a metaphor. In most cases it usually means a physical likeness, which can be best demonstrated with a photograph, painting or sculpture.

But what about a mental representation? An idea? a conception? Especially given the weird quality that computers have which allow them to produce an image themselves. And thusly we arrive dear readers. I’m referring to your online image.

An online image is that which houses all of the internet related information available to the public about you, and it can be very unflattering. Your online image is a summation of characteristics and interactions you have with other members of the internet. Most of the interaction happens on forums, content channels, and digital vending machines, but regardless of what you do with your time online, each website builds a profile of who you are and what you do.

Which is why you should learn some basic online hygiene in order to take that road. Yes, I could teach you about branding related image elements, like your logo, mailing list, etc. But upon more reflection, it occurred to me that we can all benefit from the below first, and build up to that level of attention.

So here it is, a short(er) list of things you should do.

Regularly track your Google search results. Are you competing with someone else for name attention? What kinds of URL results come up when someone searches for you and are the results consistent with the image you want to have? Is someone else with the same name in the top results? If you set Google alerts, you can run interference on both positive and negative feedback whenever someone has something to say about you.
Buy all of the necessary social media names associated with your brand. For example, I have YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter locked up. Your personal URL needs to be in sync with your brand too, so look into that as well. Domain names are relatively inexpensive to acquire, and the internet is the future after all, so make a commitment now. And then make your email signature align – add all of the links.
Participate in the above mentioned online social and business related groups. That also includes LinkedIn, Google+, and other ones like ZoomInfo. Your goal is to structure your profiles, replies, and posts so that you can attract your target demographic and send a professional message about your expertise. By connecting with those who already do what you want to do or are on their way too, you’ll gain access to job openings, freelance opportunities, and networking events.
Blogging. I blog because I love it, but Google and other search engines love blogs too. The content is regularly updated, and as you participate in the culture, which means guest posting, commenting on other blogs with your handle, and sharing useful information. And reference other relevant blogs when you can because the community commitment makes all the difference. Of course, if you can fit your blog into a full-meal-deal website that showcases your career, achievements, and portfolio, all the better.
Share your expertise. That means participating in professional associations that have physical and online forums, and take advantage of their networking opportunities. If you go to Yahoo!, Google Groups, LinkedIn, Reddit or WikiAnswers, you’ll find lots of people that’ll appreciate your help. You should also write reviews of relevant books for online publishers like Amazon and Indigo. And of course don’t forget to link it to your personal brand.

But what do you think? Did I miss anything? Do you still never wanna grow up? I know it’s scary out there, but I have a theory that if you follow the above you’ll get where you need to go on your marketing journey. I’m out of theories for now friends, but I’ll see you tomorrow with something timely.

Tim!

What A Sweet Song (Twitter Basics)

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

Today’s post is all about Twitter folks.

Most of you know about Twitter, and the majority of you probably have an idea of how it works, but this post is about the basics of it, what I’ve learned in three weeks of really starting to use the website as it’s intended, and some basics for those of you who avoided it like I did initially.

I have decided to dedicate this post to my 1600+ followers on Twitter – thank you for your initial support, your continued support, and what I believe will be decades of collaboration and mutually assured benefit!

There are a few timotheories admissions to make about the global phenomenon known as Twitter though. At least before I get this post started off right.

First, I thought I understood Twitter when I first heard about it back in 2007. It was already over a year old, and I wasn’t even fully committed to the idea of Facebook so Twitter seemed a little bit superfluous at the time. But to me Twitter represented a quick way to access articles and ideas (no matter how interesting), but I had just finished art school and already had a head full of ideas. Plus a few resources to access content myself. So Twitter wasn’t an option.

Second, I didn’t have a blog yet, and Twitter seemed like a place to market content, but I didn’t just want to post pictures or videos I liked, I wanted to market my art and my own contributions. And then my own art fell by the way side for a few years, and so I forgot about Twitter.

Fast forward to 2013. After a bad experience with art and business mostly forgotten, I was now comfortable with Facebook, learning the ropes of social media in general, and I wanted to start a blog. But due to some personal relationship problems, I never got the account off the ground.

So I worked out some shit, and got my domain name sorted out, taking baby steps as I went. The final quarter of 2014 rolled around, and I started writing.

I had heard all about the struggles of traffic generation, and I knew that blogging wasn’t something you could JUST DO, get traffic and get paid for your art. You had to write good content and build an audience. Which is why I wrote for a few months, one post or two every month, and accepted the slow burn.

Then I introduced some more ideas, interviews in particular, AND set up a Facebook fan page. That got me some more attention, but nothing steady. Next, I tried my hand at a schedule and regular content, again, I started to see a spike in monthly views, but nothing as substantial as I was expecting.

Syndication was just not being my friend. I tried posting to FB group pages and sharing my links on Reddit, and I would definitely see bumps on those days, but the bumps were temporary.

When I finally admitted I knew nothing, and began searching online on how to grow an audience, I kept seeing the same things over and over. Syndication, use all the social media channels, and become an expert in them.

Well guess what? Twitter is number one on all the lists.

This website is micro-blogging at it it’s finest. And according to this article, it’s the SMS of the internet. Which really makes sense to me, almost a decade later.

As I mentioned at the start of this article, this post is about Twitter. The basics that I’ve learned and how I’ve seen substantial growth in the mere three weeks that I’ve become a student of it’s principles.

What have you learned timotheories?

I thought you would never ask, dear readers. Well here are my basics of Twitter, which I hope to expand upon in the coming months.

You only have 140 characters to work with, so keep your word choices succinct, your hashtags relevant (for community building), and your URLs short.
@reply is at the start of a tweet and is between you, your friend, and both parties followers.
@mention appears at another other point in the tweet and is a public post.
Post what you know about to your followers, and share what you care about via retweets
Twitter is not Facebook, it’s public domain. Be particular with what you share, how you write, and be generous with your time.

The other big takeaway of the Twitter experience has been following people that I care to associate by searching for them with key words, and even following their friends. Of course you should also follow back when appropriate, but the only way to organically grow your following is by participating.

And that’s all the wisdom I can share at this time, I’m out of theories. What do you think? Am I on the right track? Do you use Twitter or not? In the future I’ll write another post about how to use the website as an artist, but for now, please comment and subscribe for more timotheories!

Tim!

100% Certified (Space:Nunz interview, Authenticity)

Posted on February 28, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

In what seems to be a backlog of entries… Special thanks to my car problems and computer problems for delaying the last post of this kind, this post, and one more future post.. I have ANOTHER delayed post to deliver up.

One which is now 4 months in the making… That’s right, I’m releasing another featured artist (or should I say artists) on timotheories interviews!

But that’s not all, this is a two-for-one and a first ever experience for us here at timotheories!

So strap in and hold on tight because it’s time to pump up the jams! The Space Jams! Okay, actually that’s not true, I hear the word space and Bugs Bunny immediately comes to mind, damn you Michael Jordan and your well-aging bio-pic that features the Looney Tunes!

This time when I refer to space I’m hyping up a band of nuns from space – Space:Nunz.

They aren’t actually nuns though. It’s just a clever name for a fun and friendly band. You guessed it, our next episode of the timotheories interviews series features this likable and neat act.

You see, dear readers, Space:Nunz are an Edmonton based folk feminist comedy musical duo with big dreams and even bigger hearts. Social justice warriors with a penchant for the atypical topics of the audio arena, Laura Stolte and Nathalie Feehan are making comedy music that is purposefully not sexist, racist or problematic at all. Their humour is part of a refreshing brand of comedy which has been emerging out of Edmonton in the past few years. Though it pains me to write the newness of that mentality here.

Space:Nunz just finished their first-ever curated event this month, and are ready to take the world by storm. How you ask? They manage to ride the line between music and comedy, which lets them operate in both realms and expose all kinds of audiences to their satire.

Think a better version of Flight Of The Conchords and Alanis Morissette and your on your way to understanding their work.

But that’s enough from me, as promised here is Episode 6 of timotheories interviews, featuring Space:Nunz.

And if you want to check out more videos from us, please visit our YouTube channel. Leave some comments and of course subscribe to the feed if you haven’t yet.

Please also check out Space:Nunz Facebook page and like their stuff.

And of course my sincerest thanks for Laura and Nathalie for being lively and neat, logical and noble, lovely and new, and lastly, leaders and nice.

Tim!