Table of Contents
Introduction
This article is a follow up to Guide to the Stars (of Space Economy & Technology Infographics) Part 1.
After researching the infographics for Part 1, a number of content creator best practices stood out. This article captures the best practices of individual creators based on my subjective opinion as a “member of the audience”.
Easy to Discover
The content of creators who maintained a website, or Flickr account, of all their published infographics (with associated titles and descriptions) were more easily discoverable than those who exclusively posted on social media accounts.
Suggestion: For creators on a low budget wordpress.com offers a free tier.
High Resolution
Twitter and other social media sites compress shared graphics and degrade readability. A best practice is to publish a link to a full resolution version of the infographic along with the social media post.
Branding – Logo
Having and consistently using a branding logo on all published content.
Branding – Social Media Account Icon
Consistent use of logo across all all social media accounts’ icon images.
Branding – Style
Using a consistent style across infographics for cases where the infographic is replicated/updated over time; or where the infographic is part of a series of related infographics. The style components include such things as background, iconography, typography, information placement, image dimensions, and colors.
Casting a Wide Net – Language
While English is the most common language online, English is not the only language in the online world –
A best practice is translating infographics into additional languages to increase the potential audience of the content. Translations are typically done using collaborations. In the case of @AndrewParsonson, multilingual infographics are well matched to his European Spaceflight audience.
Casting a Wide Net – Distribution Channels
Posting content across multiple social media channels can increase audience size, e.g. Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, Instagram.
Some statistics for European Spaceflight’s social media accounts as of July 25, 2022:
Subscribers
314
2269
NA
106
9974
Suggestion: Consider using a social media automation service such as dlvr.it to ease the workload associated with managing multiple social media accounts.
Casting a Wide Net – Derivative and Complementary Works
Making derivative and complementary works which leverage components of the primary infographic to increase audience exposure/adoption, e.g. wallpaper versions, text-light versions, text-heavy versions, posters.
High Signal To Noise Ratio
When creators use their personal social media accounts to publish their infographics, the content often gets drowned out by the the “noise” of the unrelated personal postings.
A best practice is to maintain separate social media accounts that are focused only on publishing infographics, and do not have any personal posts in the feed.
Monetizing – Automated Transactions
Monetizing infographics by allowing individuals to support the creator’s work using: Patreon (e.g. https://www.patreon.com/TONYBELA), “tip” money transfer (e.g. PayPal tip jar), go fund me campaign (e.g. to fund a specific infographics project or new equipment), and/or make purchases using an online storefront (e.g. https://www.redbubble.com/people/tonyalpha/shop, https://skrabek.com/)).
Monetizing – Lead Generation
Advertise availability for commercial engagements in social media account(s) description, included as part of infographic, or associated with infographic social media postings.
Provenance
Include the following provenance information on each infographic: date of publication, the data source(s), website URL, and how to contact the content creator(s) (e.g. Email, social media account). For infographics that are regularly re-issued with new data, the same provenance information should be included but with the addition of a sequential number.
Copyright
Selecting and using a copyright license that is matched with intended target audience and use of the infographic. Include the copyright license description in published content, website and pinned content (e.g. © John Smith 2022, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Suggestion: For the majority of infographics published, a Creative Commons License (attribution, non-commercial, no derivatives) may be appropriate.
Professional Profile(s)
Professional (or aspiring professional) creators typically maintain one or more professional profiles on social media, e.g. LinkedIn (e.g. Karl Tate, Tony Bela), Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. In addition, these creators also maintain a dedicated website with: portfolio, example customers, awards, contact form/information, e.g. https://www.tonybela.com/, https://karltate.com/.
Suggestion: Setup and maintain a LinkedIn profile and reference it in all other social media account descriptions.
Closing Comments
Any suggestions for clarifications or modifications are welcome.👍
If you found this article interesting, please like and share!
Additional Information For The Curious
Part 0: Introduction to Infographics Related to the Space Economy & Technology
Part 1: Guide to the Stars (of Space Economy & Technology Infographics) Individual Creators
Part 2: Guide to the Stars (of Space Economy & Technology Infographics) Commercial Content Creators (pending)
Part 3: Guide to the Stars (of Space Economy & Technology Infographics) Non-Commercial Content Creators (pending)
Part 4: Guide to the Stars (of Space Economy & Technology Infographics) Media Content Creators (pending)
Part 6: Guide to the Stars (of Space Economy & Technology Infographics) Social Media Channels Characteristics (pending)
