What Works Online?
Linking Up.

Another Guild member with a blog is Kitty Mead. The Milwaukee Web designer's bitchblog.com is one of a constellation of interlinked sites, each with its own appeal. Ink2Art.com serves as a portfolio site for Web design projects. Artbeatstreet.com is a links page to other illustrator sites, while Fullmoongraphics.com is a resources site, which includes some artwork free for the taking. In addition to generating traffic, Mead says that giving away something for free brings back returns many times over in assignments. "People always want something customized. Free things lead to big things."

One of the ways Mead started online marketing was by aligning with a larger group, DigitalDivas.com. Her association with that virtual network drove traffic to her site and led to paying work. Mead says that all her graphics work comes from people who find her on the Web.

Emeryville, Calif., illustrator Gordon Studer also shares links with group sites. He's listed on 3 collaborative Web efforts. Monsterillo.com is the oldest of the bunch and features Guild mainstays Lloyd Dangle, Bud Peen, and Susan Gross. The group does mailings together and creates special projects. The Buzz Group is another collaboration with a "more serious" attitude, Studer says. Both groups came together because the participants knew each other in the offline world.

Studer's elegantly simple site suggests a disciplined approach to marketing. While one might suppose Studer planned his online saturation, he laughs and says, "I'm lazy when it come to self-promotion. Monster keeps me on the ball."

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What Works Online?
Contents:

Introduction

Building Relationships

Feeding the Beast

Linking Up

Skip Intro, Please!

Chapters Help Drive Traffic