Stories are Everywhere.
That’s the tag line for Blurb Mobile’s free app that allows you to create your own stories featuring all your personal media from a mobile device.
The catch? That device must be an iPhone, iTouch, or iPad. (based on Apple’s quarterly earnings, every family has at least one, right?)
So, if you have one, and you’re in the art biz, pay attention! This easy-to-use, fun, and cool app can help you market your work.
Blurb Mobile lets you use photos and video shot from your iPhone (or imported from another camera), sequenced ‘as you wish’ into a “My Story”, provides image editing, and you can add audio clips and/or text captions to each photo. Director and producer of your very own short, media presentation.
Imagination is the limit, but for example: My wife and I travel to juried, outdoor art shows…it helps me instantly chronicle show attributes (crowd size, show venue, booth layout, quality and mix of work, etc.) More important I capture highlights of my wife’s work/tent, customer interactions, featured art, etc., then edit it right on the iPhone with the app and hand it to her for audio voice-overs of select images. This adds the personal artist touch and insight to some aspect of the event. The Story can then be shared ‘real-time’ via email, twitter, facebook, to get the word out (like…”hey friends, I’m at a great art show right now in northeast Louisville…Saturday has been busy and I will be here all day Sunday…Come and check out booth 75!”)
Or…
- Send out a Story in your next email newsletter to keep existing customers informed and engaged on your schedule and new work
- Take a series of short video clips of a ‘painting-in-progress’, capturing the process and the inspirational elements
- Information on a new series of art classes offered
Of course, Blurb Mobile works beyond art stories, offering a way to…“instantly create and share from a social setting, travel location, a personal moment, or, an important event.”
I sent my 87 year old Mom a Story one early morning from my porch, cup of hot java in hand, birds humming, flowers blooming, sun rising…took some photos, voice recorded in some personal thoughts, then hit send and shared the moment with her instantly. Too cool. (…Ma, really, it’s there, just click on the little colored link!)
I don’t work for Apple or Blurb, and get zero for this endorsement…just passing along a tip that has worked for us. I used the Free version for about a day to see how it worked and quickly found the $1.99 upgrade a no-brainer, adding greater media capacity…and the freedom to create better stories. With the upgrade you get:
- Images: Up to 15 images per story
- Audio Clips: 1 per image – 2 min per clip
- Video Clips: 3 per story – 30 sec per video
- Themes: 8 additional themes
Check out the details yourself at Blurb Mobile and iTunes App Store. Version 1.3 is now available.
There is no limit to the number of Stories you can create, but, alas…boring content is still boring content. The app is cool…it just doesn’t promise all the Stories will be! 
