Cari Stewart http://caristewart.com Keeping the Lights On Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:45:13 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 How to Make Wooden Photo Blocks http://caristewart.com/how-to-make-wooden-photo-blocks/ http://caristewart.com/how-to-make-wooden-photo-blocks/#comments Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:40:57 +0000 admin http://caristewart.com/?p=887 Brooklyn Bridge Photo Block Instagram How to Make Wooden Photo Blocks

A while ago I got a Groupon for Wooden Photo Blocks and I thought, “ I bet I could make that.” So I found a few tutorials online and chose my favorite. This video was my favorite one:

I liked that you could still see the wood grain through the picture, giving it a cool look. I mostly followed her technique with a few variations. Here’s how it went down:

Step 1 – Get Supplies

Wood Photo Block Supplies 1024x768 How to Make Wooden Photo Blocks

Hobby Lobby had the Gel Medium, Mod Podge, and paintbrushes. I went to Lowe’s for the wood. I chose a piece of wood 11 inches wide and about 4 feet long. I had a nice man at Lowe’s cut the wood into three 11×14 pieces.

Step 2 – Print Your Pictures

Make sure to print your pictures on normal paper (no finish) with a laser printer. I’ve heard that pictures printed with inkjet printers will run. I had my pictures printed at Kinko’s on 12×18 paper to make sure my photo went all the way to the edges of the wood. Oh, I also printed the mirror image of my photo so it would be normal once it transferred to the wood.

Step 3 – Sand the Wood

Sand your wood pieces to make sure the surface is smooth enough to absorb the picture. I also rounded the edges a little bit to give them a softer look.

Step 4 – Apply Gel Medium

Apply Gel Medium to Wood 1024x768 How to Make Wooden Photo Blocks

Apply the gel medium on the wood evenly. Make sure to get the edges completely, otherwise the picture won’t stick and peal when you remove the paper.

Step 5 – Place Picture on Wood Block

Place Photo on Wood Block 1024x768 How to Make Wooden Photo Blocks

Place your picture face down and smooth out all the bubbles and wrinkles.

Smooth Bubbles and Wrinkles 1024x768 How to Make Wooden Photo Blocks

Step 6 – Let Dry

I let my pictures dry for a full 24 hours just to be safe. That worked well for me.

Step 7 – Remove the paper

Apply Water to Photo 1024x768 How to Make Wooden Photo Blocks

Wet the paper with water and GENTLY start removing the paper. I used the same fingertip technique the girl used in the video. When you get to the edges, rub toward the edges to avoid tearing or actually rubbing off the picture.

Rub Off Paper with Fingers 1024x768 How to Make Wooden Photo Blocks

Step 8 – Apply Vegetable Oil

Paper Residue on Wood Block 1024x768 How to Make Wooden Photo Blocks

This part is not in the video. I found that once I had removed the excess paper, there was still some paper residue left on the image. When the paper was wet it looked great, but when totally dry it had a cloudy look. The vegetable oil bring clarity back to the photo. I applied the veggie oil with a sponge brush.

Apply Vegetable Oil to Photo 1024x768 How to Make Wooden Photo Blocks

Step 9 – Brush on Mod Podge

Brush Mod Podge Onto Photo 1024x768 How to Make Wooden Photo Blocks

Quickly after applying the vegetable oil, I brushed on the Mod Podge. Once the Mod Podge dried, the surface was still pretty oily from the vegetable oil. So I rubbed the surface with the paper towel and reapplied the Mod Podge. I did this three times and the oily residue was gone.

Let Photo Blocks Dry 768x1024 How to Make Wooden Photo Blocks

 

Step 10 – Hang Your Photo Blocks

Finished Product of Wood Photo Blocks 1024x768 How to Make Wooden Photo Blocks

I attached ribbon to my photo blocks from which to hang them.

Done!

Wood Grain on the Photo Blocks 1024x768 How to Make Wooden Photo Blocks

]]> http://caristewart.com/how-to-make-wooden-photo-blocks/feed/ 2 How to Reupholster A Chair http://caristewart.com/how-to-reupholster-a-chair/ http://caristewart.com/how-to-reupholster-a-chair/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:39:22 +0000 admin http://caristewart.com/?p=860 Instagram Chair How to Reupholster A Chair

I wanted to try reupholstering a chair forever but was way too scared to do it. But my schedule cleared up – unemployment – just enough for me to make an attempt. ☺ Here’s how it went:

Step 1: Find a Chair

Doug had this little Ikea chair he didn’t really like and I thought it was a cute shape.

Before Chair 1024x768 How to Reupholster A Chair

Before Chair 2 768x1024 How to Reupholster A Chair

Step 2: Make a Pattern

I made a pattern out of an old white sheet, so I could write all over it and make notes. I pinned the sheets up to the chair and marked along the seams of the chair. I gave myself at least a 1 inch seam allowance to account for mistakes.

Pattern Pieces 300x225 How to Reupholster A Chair

Step 3: Test the Pattern

Essentially, I made two chair covers: the practice/pattern and the final version. There’s probably an easier way to do this, but I wasn’t brave enough to start cutting into real fabric before I tested everything out.

Sew all the pieces together except the front piece of the arm. Once sewn, place it inside out on the chair and pin the front arm piece to the practice cover.

Chair Pattern 1024x768 How to Reupholster A Chair

Chair Pattern 2 768x1024 How to Reupholster A Chair

Arm Pins 768x1024 How to Reupholster A Chair

Note: When sewing the rounded edge of the front arm piece to the straight edge of the chair arm, sew with the straight edge on top. If you try to cater the straight edge to the rounded edge, it will get all weird and you’ll end up with pleats where you don’t want them. That principle applies to the rounded cushion pieces, too.

Step 4: Alter

Once everything is sewn together (including arm pieces), put your practice cover on the chair inside out. Pin any loose areas to make sure everything fits perfectly. Sew the corrections. Repeat as needed.

Alterations 768x1024 How to Reupholster A Chair

Cushion pattern 1024x768 How to Reupholster A ChairFinal Practice 768x1024 How to Reupholster A Chair

Step 5: Finalize Your Pattern

After everything fits just right, I took my pattern apart and recut my pattern with a ½ inch seam allowance from the final stitch lines.

Step 6: Cut Your Upholstery Fabric

Using your perfect pattern, pin and cut the pieces of your upholstery fabric.

Cutting Upholstry Fabric 768x1024 How to Reupholster A Chair

Note: I found this really good Fabric place in Orem called Home Fabrics. It’s right next to Michael’s on University Parkway. They have tons of really cute upholstery fabric and none of it costs more than $13/yard.

Step 7: Sew Final Chair Cover

Sew your chair pieces together with a ½ seam allowance. Pin and Sew the front arm pieces to the rest of the chair cover using the same technique as the practice cover to ensure the fabric lays right.

To secure the back of my cushion, I used a long piece of Velcro instead of a zipper. I wasn’t about to try to be precise enough for a zipper. The Velcro was very forgiving, which worked out very well for me. ☺

Pin Final Arm 768x1024 How to Reupholster A Chair

Step 8: Staple

I used Doug’s staple gun for this part. If you have real upholstery tools and junk, use that, but staples worked well for me. It’s better to have two people for this step so one person can hold the fabric tight while the other staples.

First, I stapled around the inside of the chair where the cushion sits. Then we flipped the chair over to staple the fabric to the bottom of the chair. If your chair legs can be removed, do it. We were able to unscrew the chair’s legs and replace them after we finished stapling.

Removing legs 1024x768 How to Reupholster A Chair

Stapling bottom 768x1024 How to Reupholster A Chair

Step 9: Final Touches

On my chair, the very front of the chair is actually three separate pieces: two arm pieces and a rectangle piece covering the chair just underneath the cushion. The picture below shows the gap left between the two arm pieces.

Front Section 1024x768 How to Reupholster A Chair

So I just measured the width of the cushion base and added an inch for a ½ inch seam allowance on each side. Then I hemmed both sides and stapled the piece of fabric to the top and bottom of the chair.

Done!

Final Chair 1024x768 How to Reupholster A Chair

Final Chair 3 1024x768 How to Reupholster A Chair
Final Chair 2 1024x768 How to Reupholster A Chair

]]> http://caristewart.com/how-to-reupholster-a-chair/feed/ 4 New York, New York http://caristewart.com/new-york-new-york/ http://caristewart.com/new-york-new-york/#comments Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:46:43 +0000 admin http://caristewart.com/?p=701  

lincoln center new york New York, New York

About a month ago I had the pleasure of returning to one of my very favorite places with a few of my very favorite people. I wasn’t sure how to write this post as it would end up being a boring list of all the things we did. So instead I’ve decided to share one choice – and totally embarrassing – experience with some pictures. Here we go…

Doug and I had just gotten off the redeye from SLC to NYC. The flight was sufficiently horrible. Between the two of us, we probably got an hour of sleep. We made it through baggage claim and got a cab around 5 am.

Around 6 am, we pulled up to my dear friend Monica’s apartment. We were so excited to get in and take a nap but before that could happen, we had to haul our bags up a 5-floor walkup. Naturally.

After napping for a couple hours, we got ready for the day. When I got out of the shower, I thought it would be a fine idea to wear the same shorts I wore on the plane for the rest of the day. So in a tired stupor, I slipped them back on.

Doug and I proceeded to walk EVERYWHERE. We went all over the Upper West Side to check out my old neighborhood, took a short jaunt through the park, went all through the Museum of Natural History, grabbed lunch, then walked back to Monica’s for a much needed second nap.

When we woke up we met Monica when she finished work. We walked through the park and ended our travels in Lincoln Square. The night was beautiful, so we decided to sit and talk on the fountain in the middle of Lincoln Center (you may know about this fountain from such blockbuster hits as Ghostbusters).

The night was truly magical. It made me miss the city so much. Then I noticed something. Something troubling. I felt the back of my thigh and wondered what had happened to me. I stayed calm as not to startle Doug and Monica. There was a long lump going all the way up my thigh. What could have caused such a thing?!

The lump was almost to the bottom of my shorts, so I did a quick swipe with my finger to discover something hidden from my earlier trip … my underwears! Hahahahaha! Yes, that’s right. They had come along for the long ride without my knowledge or anyone else’s, for that matter.

Without telling Monica or Doug, we walked over to a nearby restaurant. While we were eating, Doug had to take a call, giving me the perfect opportunity to tell Monica of my misfortune. She and I laughed and laughed then she was insistent that I remove the foreign piece of clothing. With the sexiest move you’ve ever seen, I pulled them quickly out of the bottom of my short and stowed them safely in my purse. Again, without anyone being the wiser.

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For those of you who don’t know what glass blowing is, I’m about to blow your mind. I watched a documentary a few years ago about Dale Chihuly glass and I have been dying to do it ever since. Then one day I was walking through Thanksgiving Point and found this place that lets you do it!

I was crazy excited about my discovery, so I made Doug go with me for his birthday. ☺ This is how it goes down:

1. They take a pole and dip it in this a cauldron of hot flowing magma/liquid glass. Already the thought of liquid glass is nuts, but it’s even more nuts when you look in the furnace it sits in. It is seriously like looking into the center of the sun. Even though the walls of the oven and the bowl holding the glass are metal, everything in the oven is the same glowing orange color. You’re not really sure what you’re looking at. But you’re pretty sure it will cause you to go blind. Oh, and the oven is about 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. You take the pole out of the oven and start to spin it. The glass is super malleable, so if you hold the pole in one position too long, the glass will start running off the pole. So you have to keep it moving to maintain a round little blob.

IMG 0343 300x225 Glass Blowing

3. Then you add your color. There are little colored glass beads you dip your glass blob in. This is way harder than it sounds. You have to continue spinning the pole while you dip the blob in the beads, without making a huge mess with the beads … Doug. ☺

IMG 0364 300x225 Glass Blowing

4. Once your beads are stuck to your blob, you take your blob to another oven that seals your color in.

IMG 0347 300x225 Glass Blowing

5. When everything is sufficiently melted together, you take the pole and blob over to your little workbench where the magic begins. You start by making your blob into a disc.

IMG 0368 300x225 Glass Blowing

6. You grab giant tweezers and start pulling little pieces around the edge of the disc as you spin the pole, forming the flower. P.S. This was way harder than I thought it would be. The Youtubes made it look like it was pulling taffy, but then you realize, “Hey, this is hardening liquid glass.”

IMG 0351 225x300 Glass Blowing

7. Once you have the shape you want for your flower, you grab the end of your flower and pull out to form the stem. If you want a curling stem, you just hold your flower still while you spin the pole.

IMG 0353 225x300 Glass Blowing

8. Then they take a blowtorch to seal the end of your flower.

IMG 0354 225x300 Glass Blowing

9. Cool down. They put the flowers in ovens that cool the glass at 200 degrees per hour.

When you’re done making your flower, the glass is about 900 degrees, despite the fact that it’s totally hard. Crazy.

There you have it. This is seriously one of the coolest things I have ever done and I insist that everyone tries it.

Here are our flowers. I went a little crazy experimenting with my camera. Sorry …

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Dear Google+,

You should probably think about a new name. Or at least consider spelling out ‘+’ so my punctuation doesn’t look stupid and so I can use an <h1> tag without my theme freaking out. I just hope you’re better than Buzz…

Anyway, I’d like to be the first to welcome you to the social network space and give you a snippet of my initial thoughts about you. That being said, are you going to take the place of Facebook? No way, Jose! But I like what you’re bringing to the table.

Circles

My favorite part of you is the Circles feature. I like that I can update only those in certain circles with information specific to them. Let’s be serious, if I can avoid being a circles where acquaintances say things like “It’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when the walls are closing in on you,” that would be great.

I also appreciate that I can add a person to more than one circle. So I can have my grandma in my “family” circle, my “friend” circle, AND my “thug life” circle. So efficient. I love you can just drag-and-drop contacts where you want them; definitely a step up from trying to create groups and lists on Facebook.

Huddle

If you’re able to get Huddle to catch on, you will singlehandedly take down SMS. Not that it needs to be taken down, it would just be exciting. For those reading my letter to Google+ who doesn’t know what Huddle is, it is essentially a group text chat service. So you can chat it up with multiple people from your phone. I’m excited about it.

Contacts

I’m not a huge fan that I can’t take my contacts from Facebook and integrate them into Google+. It’s going to be so embarrassing when I only have a few hundred contacts when you launch. :/ But I guess that’s Facebook being stingy, not you being dumb.

Search

Since you were invented by the gods of Google, it’s only fitting that search is integrated into your UI. It’s kind of nuts to think that my search results will become connected to my social information. This is just going to make Google a better search engine as they will have more information about my preferences, but it’s also a little creepy. Google, you’re really starting to freak me out. But you still have lots of great.

Despite all your fun features – only a few of which I mentioned – I’m still seeing some holes in the initial snapshot of Google+. However, I’m excited to see where it goes. At the very least, if it gets Facebook to step up their game, I’m all about you.

See you when you launch!

Love,
Cari

P.S. I’m still waiting to hear back about my résumé …

]]> http://caristewart.com/dear-google-plus/feed/ 0 The Correct Prayer-Laughing Technique http://caristewart.com/the-correct-prayer-laughing-technique/ http://caristewart.com/the-correct-prayer-laughing-technique/#comments Tue, 14 Jun 2011 21:53:31 +0000 admin http://caristewart.com/?p=597 praying The Correct Prayer Laughing Technique

We’ve all been there. Something hilarious happens right before the prayer starts or you happen to open your eyes at an inopportune time. Suddenly you find yourself trying to suppress a laugh that does NOT want to be contained.

Your gut reaction is to close your face. Yeah, that’s right. Closing your mouth, and sometimes nose, so tight to ensure no giggles can escape. Some people choose to cover their mouth with their hand for reinforcement.

All your instincts are telling you this is your best option. However, this will inevitably result startling outbursts. These outbursts can be in the form of embarrassing snorts, nose laughing, mouth trumpeting, or a full-on explosion. Once one of these happens, you’re a goner. You just end up giving up and cry-laughing with your arms folded.

So how do you avoid such a disaster? I’ll tell you. It’s quite simple. However, it will require you to do the exact opposite of what feels natural. In the words of Troy Jennings, you have to embrace the laugh to hide the laugh…

Open your face. Yep, keep your mouth and nose open. Now that your airways are unhindered, you can breathe easier while avoiding embarrassing mouth or nose noises.

The key is short, shallow breaths. Again, it seems counter intuitive, but it will keep your breathing quieter and will allow to truly embrace your laughter.

NOTE: This technique is best used only during prayers as people’s eyes are supposed to be closed, preventing them from seeing you do a stupid face.

]]> http://caristewart.com/the-correct-prayer-laughing-technique/feed/ 4 The Cheap SEO Tactic That Builds Buzz and Relationships http://caristewart.com/the-cheap-seo-tactic-that-builds-buzz-and-relationships/ http://caristewart.com/the-cheap-seo-tactic-that-builds-buzz-and-relationships/#comments Thu, 05 May 2011 19:30:43 +0000 admin http://caristewart.com/?p=590 social media The Cheap SEO Tactic That Builds Buzz and Relationships

SEO efforts are meant to improve the visibility of your website on search engines. There are about a pajilion different ways to do this; some a little more sketchy than others. But, the fact is, with Google constantly changing/improving – depending on how your rankings go – their algorithm, the more sketchy tactics don’t work anymore.

Content is King

I’m kind of sick of hearing this, but it’s true.

The latest trend: quality content. I agree with this wholeheartedly, and not just because I am, in fact, a content writer. Content is how you’re found online and Google is a lot smarter in the way it ranks good content.

Most people are only thinking about what they’re putting up on their own site. Then you have those who occasionally tweet or Facebook, which is also good. But what else are you doing? There are a lot of other conversations taking place on forums, blogs, discussion boards, Twitter, Facebook, etc., and you should be a part of them.

Finding Conversations/Web Outreach

K, it’s super simple. Set up Google Alerts and do some Twitter Searches. Done. Well, I guess you still have to do some other stuff. Set up Google Alerts for: competitors, industry keywords, your brand, your product, related products or services, etc.

Make sure you’re checking Alerts and Twitter Search regularly, otherwise they are going to accumulate real fast. Join relevant conversations or comment on related posts in a meaningful and personal way. If people think you’re spamming, it’s over.

Each time you join a thread, make sure you sign your name with a link to your site. And there you have it; backlinks from relevant sites. But again, don’t be annoying about it.

Maintaining Relationships

Once you’ve made contact within the blogosphere and twitterverse, make friends and believers. There’s nothing better than making fans and watching them spread the word for you.  And consumers are way more credible than you. Nobody wants to hear what the company has to say about themselves; they want to hear from the people who have had real contact with the company, both good and bad.

This brings me to my next point. Start some online PR and get involved in both positive and negative conversations. If anything, negative comments are what you should be tackling first. If someone is talking trash about you, find out why and try to fix the problem. Just be real and transparent. Even if you don’t make a fan out of them, they will appreciate the fact that you took time to respond.

Services

As you can imagine, this type of work can be very time consuming and tedious. But it needs to be done. There are companies that provide these services. However, most of them are pretty expensive and for most start-ups, that kind of cost is not in the cards.

For those who have the budget, here are some SEO/buzz marketing services:

Blast PR

We Are Social

Buzz.io

PRMarketing.com

Social Media Management Co.

]]> http://caristewart.com/the-cheap-seo-tactic-that-builds-buzz-and-relationships/feed/ 0 Crying: 4 Tricks to Keeping it on the DL http://caristewart.com/crying-4-tricks-to-keeping-it-on-the-dl/ http://caristewart.com/crying-4-tricks-to-keeping-it-on-the-dl/#comments Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:04:29 +0000 admin http://caristewart.com/?p=582 dawson crying Crying: 4 Tricks to Keeping it on the DL

I have a lot of experience crying. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. Because of my extensive knowledge and frequent bouts, it’s only fair that I share some of my favorite tricks. These tricks are, of course, ways to prevent detection and, therefore, awkward situations.

Trick #1: Don’t acknowledge the tears

This is usually most effective while watching movies or perhaps in church. Just let the tears go and hope that they’ve dried by the time anyone has to actually look at you. Don’t touch your face! It’s a dead giveaway. With this option, you also have to consider your mascara. Prepare ahead: either no mascara or waterproof.

If you’re like me, you have to assume you’ll be crying at some point during the day – “I might be watching Tangled or Fast 5 today, better skip the mascara.” Get it?

This technique can be enhanced with a scarf. With a scarf, you don’t need to worry about your shirt getting wet. All you do is rearrange your throat coat a little bit to hide the evidence.

Trick #2: Let them fall straight from your eyeballs

Best used at a desk or, again, in church. The key is to lean over, resting your elbows on your desk or knees with your forearms parallel to the ground. Just look down at your forearms so the tears can fall straight down from your eyeballs, free of your cheeks. No tear tracks!

I prefer long sleeves with this technique. Your sleeves will absorb the tears without rolling onto your legs.

Trick #3: Breath control

Once you start breathing all goofy, it’s over. All control is lost and people will inevitably start looking at you. Just keep your breathing slow and steady. This can become more difficult if the boogs come. Just stay calm. Grab a tissue and play it cool.

Trick #4: Get a sunburn

“Why’s your face all red?” “Oh, I have a sunburn.” Done.

The key is to let your tears come freely. Once you try to stop them, your face gets all weird and blotchy. Act like they’re not there, and you’re good. These techniques also assist in avoiding unpleasant face contorting.

If you have any other tips or tricks, please share!

]]> http://caristewart.com/crying-4-tricks-to-keeping-it-on-the-dl/feed/ 5 GraphicRiver: Like Having Your Own Designer http://caristewart.com/graphicriver-like-having-your-own-designer/ http://caristewart.com/graphicriver-like-having-your-own-designer/#comments Thu, 10 Mar 2011 22:24:17 +0000 admin http://caristewart.com/?p=571 … for about $10.

graphicRiverLogo GraphicRiver: Like Having Your Own Designer

I feel like I need to give a shout-out to GraphicRiver. It’s totally fantastic. I used it a couple months ago on a project and it totally saved my life and made me look really good.

Me and my partner in this crazy adventure need to get marketing materials – business cards, letter heads, envelopes, folders, sales slicks, CD labels, yada yada yada – ready for a new company super fast. Neither of us are designers nor did we want to pay for a designer to do what we knew would take them two seconds.

This is when GraphicRiver saves lives. They have tons of different designers submit designs for personal and corporate branding materials. You just choose the template you like, pay a few dollars for the Creative Suite files and PDFs and they’re all yours. One thing, you do need to have at least basic knowledge of Creative Suite to be able to personalize the templates. If you don’t know anything about CS, you can use all the internets to find some tutorials.

With our project, we actually used templates from two different designers. One was fantastic to work with. The other template was in weird formats and it took me forever to figure out layers and junk. But, again, it was better than me trying to design it myself.

This is what I suggest for non-designers either marketing themselves or a start-up: get a real designer to put your logo together. If you don’t know a designer, use an online service like Logoworks or 99 Designs to create your logo. Once you have a logo, color scheme, and fonts, find a GraphicRiver template package that works with the brand you’re going for and make the appropriate changes. Done.

]]> http://caristewart.com/graphicriver-like-having-your-own-designer/feed/ 0 The Poor Man’s Guide to Market Research http://caristewart.com/the-poor-mans-guide-to-market-research/ http://caristewart.com/the-poor-mans-guide-to-market-research/#comments Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:32:44 +0000 admin http://caristewart.com/?p=565 target market The Poor Mans Guide to Market Research

Here’s the thing, if you want to be a successful marketer, you need research to help you effectively reach your audience. But many of us may find ourselves lacking the money to pay for thousands of dollars worth of demographic reports or professionally moderate focus groups and in-depth interviews.

So what do you do? You get creative and look for other sources of information that will help you understand your audience. Here’s the information you need:

Demographics

K, you want to know age, gender, race, ethnic origin, and geographic location. This information will tell you where to reach your audience; essentially, it determines your media plan. Their demographic information gives you insights into their media consumption. Are they more dependent on the Internet or TV for their information? Do they read the newspaper? What magazines are they into? How often are they on their cell phones? Etc.

Psychographics

Psychographics is all about messaging. This is where you get into the brains of your target market. You want to know them better than they know themselves. What do they do in their free-time? What movies and TV shows do they like? Are there certain personality traits that connect them all? But the most important question you need to answer is what motivates them? Once you know their motivation, you’re gold.

Now that you know what kind of information you need and we’ve already established you don’t have a pajillion dollars to throw at research, here are some research options:

Online Surveys

Survey Monkey is a free online market research service. You create your own survey to ensure you get the answers you want and the information you need. The tricky thing with this is that you have to make sure your survey questions make sense and are not leading. You definitely need to do some research before you writing an effective survey.

Mechanical Turk works the same as Survey Monkey; you write your own surveys and submit it for responses. However, you have to pay for this one. It’s nice, though, because there is no minimum fee; you pay for how many responses you want. Mechanical Turk then takes 10% commission of your hits.

Online Focus Groups

Here are some options to simulate the effect of a traditional focus group:

· Create your own forum

· Comment on relevant blogs and start a conversation

· Participate in relevant discussion boards

Man-on-the-Street

Just go talk to people. Usually this involves a video camera for documentation purposes, but we’re poor around here, so you can choose to do your interviews with or without a camera.

Hopefully you’ve determined what you’re audience is into, so you know where to find them. Then, you know, you can talk to them. Make sure you have specific questions you want to get answers to. If you walk to enough people, you should start to see some patterns in their responses that will allow you to start crafting your messaging.

Stalking

That’s right kids, get on your creepy shoes, it’s time to do some good old-fashioned stalking. All of these tools are more effective if you have some kind of contact, enrollment, or mailing list to search from, instead of just shooting in the dark.

Spokeo – More like Spook-eo. Yeah, I made that up. K, this is one of the creepiest sites I have ever been on. You just look up a name, specify the city and state, confirm the address and then get all kinds of crazy information. There is a monthly fee, but it’s super cheap for the information you get. It gives you demographic information, interests, income, social networks, relationship status, email, bios, photos. It’s nuts. P.S. if you don’t want your information on Spokeo.com, you can have in removed.

Facebook – Just do what you normally do on Facebook; stalk people. Except this time it won’t be a potential date or old high school friends who are super weird; it will be a potential customer. You can see all their interests, their friends, their pictures, favorite movies and books, pretty much their whole lives. Do you feel really creepy right now? Yeah, that’s a valid feeling.

MySpace – Repeat tips in the “Facebook” section. However, this will only be effective if you are marketing to 13-year-old girls or 50-year-old men who flirt with 13-year-old girls.

Blogs – Blogs can provide incredibly insight into anyone’s brain. Find blogs that fit your audience profile and see what you can learn just from reading blogs. You can also comment on relevant blogs and start conversations. Chances are if your blogger fits the profile, their readership will also have similar characteristics.

Welp, I wish you only solid findings and crazy insights that will make you tons of money and, in turn, allow you to buy real research. icon smile The Poor Mans Guide to Market Research

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