I Know a Lot and I Know a Little
February 22, 2013 § 7 Comments
For the past two days I’ve worked on a post about the steps I’m taking to get my blog to begin to pay for itself. The trouble, I think, is that this has been the priority, the focus of all my social media research since I fled to self-hosting way back in December. Too much to encapsulate in less than 750 words (usually my goal).
The more I wrote, the more I harkened back to a conversation I had with my good friend Monica (she of The Revelation Project) a few weeks before.
She listened.
I lamented.
She called me a social media rock star (I admit I liked the sound of that).
I told her I didn’t know what the heck I was doing.
And herein lies the problem, and what she suggested that I write about.
I know bucket loads of information in regard to the social media ocean.
For something that started as a hobby, I know way more than I need to. And the technological stuff is what’s caught me off guard.
I thought I’d just be writing some paragraphs that people would read about marathon training. I had no idea I’d get jiggy off of HTML. I wouldn’t have believed that I’d enjoy hours of plugin experimentation. Seo’s and Google analytics and bounce statistics and traffic sources and the importance of email subscriptions (they’re really important, so do sign up okay?).
All of it (even my writing has tightened up) has lit a fire in my soul; lit a match to my entrepreneurial spirit that ignited my dying human spirit. Technology brought me back to life.
I decided, if you are really interested in learning about how to get your blog to pay for itself, go and read katy at katywidrick.com, because she is a wealth of information, totally self-taught, and really, really helpful. I spent two full days referencing her blog as I put together my press kit, which I now sit on, biting my nails and wondering when I’ll have the confidence to go out and sell all of this knowledge and ability?
After more than a year of blogging I know a lot more than I ever expected to, and yet in some ways I know very, very little.
Seat belt tightened as we are now almost four months into year number two. Like watching children grow. Don’t blink. It goes much too fast.
M.
Where are you on your journey in social media or otherwise? Do you find yourself still learning or are you stagnant in your career?
This photo has nothing to do with blogging or getting a blog to pay for itself. This is what you wear to Saturday morning yoga when you let your five-year-old pack your overnight bag.
Today’s Online Shopping
January 27, 2013 § 6 Comments
My 1200 calorie limit per day lasted a whopping fifteen days, before the pull of a 400 calorie Starbucks scone was too delicious on my tongue, and too painful to input into My Fitness Pal.
I haven’t become a total failure in the calorie ingesting department, rather I temporarily quit counting and measuring, though I know this is necessary for long-term weight management.
The good news is that I have shown some semblance of control; I didn’t eat the entire pizza we had for dinner last night, the whole bowl of mom’s buttered noodles at her house on Friday, or the entire container of Brian’s home-made ice cream (Mint Oreo yumminess).
I think this is progress.
But as happens when one obsessive behavior is put on hold, another one likes to creep in and take its place.
Fashion and Internet shopping (not buying, there’s a difference) is the reason that my little bog has turned clothes hungry, my physical hunger momentarily subdued. Have you noticed?
I’ve been so out of the fashion loop, all mixed up with the unsexy stuff that normal life becomes when you aren’t looking (or scarfing down chocolate cake with a fork).
Clothes, for me, are fun. Fitting into clothes is motivation.
It used to be that you could browse higher-end merchandise on sites like Saks and Bergdorf Goodman, but even with store discounts, prices remained so high and quantities so limited that getting your hands on the good goods was still out of reach.
Large online retailers, once our only choice for finding the pieces that couldn’t be found in stores (or remained full-prce in stores), has changed exponentially with the advent of Internet-based boutiques (shoot-offs from brick and mortars; smart business for selling merchandise that may not be moving quickly enough at its location).
Seemingly overnight (or maybe I haven’t been paying enough attention), retailing boutiques have popped up online and are unloading unsold pieces for unheard of prices; getting rid of the old to prepare for the new.
For example, the online counterpart to South Carolina based boutique Hampden Clothing carries labels like Rachel Comey and Alexander Wang (at significantly reduced prices), and has more than 1,200 Twitter followers.
Larger New York based company La Garconne (with over 6,000 Facebook followers) is marking down (plus adding discounts on) lines like Proenza Schouler and Girl by Band of Outsiders; serious designing-know-how, seriously expensive.
Pairing up with clothing bloggers like Grechen at Grechen’s Closet, these companies are giving extra codes, making their prices even more bearable.
The hitch here is that the significantly marked down items are final sale. If you don’t like what you’ve bought, however, there’s a good chance you could re-sell it on Ebay for what you paid, or more (depending on the designer and the piece, obviously).
My newest discovery ChicNova, an online boutique selling reasonably priced, fairly fashion-forward merchandise is also thinking forward and paying bloggers with 1000 followers or more to review clothing that they are given. It’s a form of bartering; one of the biggest forms of payment in social media.
For bloggers with less followers, ChicNova will pay real dollars if said blogger buys a piece themselves, and then blog review their purchase, linking back to their personal forum. Incentive for both to team up and build their businesses.
Social media has changed much in regard to the way the world is run. Not only do we socialize differently, business has changed, and new jobs for bloggers and retailers have opened up fashion possibilities to regular women everywhere.
Regular women like me no longer have to go sleep to dream of wearing a pair of Rag and Bone red leathers. With a little research (hire me… I’ll do it for you), those red leathers can be hanging in your closet in 5-7 business days!
M.
What do you think of this new way to shop? Do you shop online or prefer to wander through stores where you can touch and feel, but maybe not get the same kind of price adjustments?
What about the idea that when you stop a behavior, another one creeps in?
Rag and Bone Wine Leather Skinnies $880.00, but less than $200 with Grechen’s code.
Getting Published at xojanedotcom
January 14, 2013 § 10 Comments
Through excited proclamations at pre-school drop-off and a status update on my Facebook fan page, I tried to spread the word about my article that was published today at xojane.com.
I purposely avoided my regular Facebook page, as I know there are spies there who follow my every move and report back to my soon-to-be ex when they deem something worthy of his attention. Those spies need to find something else to do.
Because of the spies, and the nature of the piece itself, which I entitled, “I Knew My Marriage Was a Mistake,” I questioned whether to publish it under a pseudonym or whether to publish it at all.
I’m sick and tired of writing about divorce. I think I may be done for a while (although another article regarding help for co-habitating spouses is in the hands of another editor at a different publication). Today’s piece has garnered over 200 comments, though, so it appears that it struck a chord with the readers. This is what ever writer wants, so the inner debate continues.
Despite my divorce and the litany of reasons why it had to happen, I really don’t wish any ill will on my daughters’ dad. I know he won’t be thrilled about his role in my story, which is the kittenish reason I have kept it off his radar.
Secrets don’t stay secrets, though, do they?
At some point I’m going to be confronted, at which point I will say something like this, “…and what day are you taking the girls to school this week?” or this,”…the handyman will fix the garage door on Tuesday.”
Avoiding arguments is key when living with a separating spouse (if Babble would publish that piece already you’d know that this is rule number one).
M.
Do you think that some things are sacred and should never be mentioned or written about (assume we agree on with minor or victim protection, of course)?
Totally unrelated, but much more fun to share is my vote for best dressed at the Golden Globes 2013. Nicole Richie in this long-sleeved lavender blue embellished Naeem Khan! Styled with the with blue eye and the House of Harlow fringe bag? There’s a reason she’s a style icon. Source
Building Your Website by Choosing the Right Theme
January 5, 2013 § 3 Comments
Content is key, but so is the place where your precious work lives and breathes. If you are like me, you continue the search for the right theme; the template (or home) where your ideas are held for viewing. Personalization is so important.
If you think about it, which you might not if you are a casual web user, many sites are so familiar that you don’t even realize the careful thought that went into putting them together. Yet there is comfort in knowing you’ve arrived at your intended destination …
Oh look, Perez’s pink and center scrolled content.
Here I am, People(dot)com’s familiar logo and layout.
Poppy’s Style header of pretty poppy flowers.
Bluehost’s un-pretty yet powerful, jam-packed screen of icons (not so scary once you start to click around).
Here’s how it works:
- 1. If you want to blog you need to pick a theme, which is like a template for your work. It’s the first step in building your page (or in my case, the next step in growing a page).
- You install a template and begin to play with customization, as long as there is a customization option. A theme might be visually appealing and exactly what you’re looking for, but the colors may not be (a problem unless you read code and know how to change color codes in HTML). For the beginning blogger who doesn’t know HTML, you are stuck with a theme that isn’t a perfect fit, or keep testing themes until you settle one that you can live with.
- If you find yourself completely stuck, the next option is to start google searching. There are many website designers across the globe who create templates, so the choices are abundant. Some of them are free, but many cost a small amount ($30-$75). If you are lucky (and happy) with the color options and layouts, you’re ready to roll, and your new template is sent to you to be unzipped and imported. You are off and running.
- Another option for finding website designers with pre-made themes is on Etsy. I fell in love with Angie Makes Websites, but after a couple of conversations, realized that the theme I had chosen was made for the Blogger platform. Also, I ran the template past my mom who said it was pretty, but not exactly “me.”
- The final decision, which is usually made after exhausting the other options is to design your own website with the aid of a pro. This can cost anywhere from $200 to $1000; a lot of money for the casual blogger. If your blog is just a hobby, it may not be worth the cost. But if you have big dreams of building a business and/or want to share your knowledge in a way that helps people, it makes sense. If you have high hopes that one day your bounce statistics are lower than 50% and/or you catch yourself daydreaming about ways to get your subscription rates to more steadily move upward, customization could be the best investment you make to a long and fruitful social media career.
M.
Hey bloggers … what route did you take? Have you been happy with a pre-made theme or did you hire the big guns?
Adding an artist’s clip art is another great way to customize your site and make it more visually appealing. This clip art package from Angie Makes on Etsy.
Importing Tumblr to WordPress.org
January 3, 2013 § 3 Comments
What started with a small challenge, to get Skimlinks (a step in monetizing a blog) up and running, made me feel too big for my britches when it was easier than easy. A few code imports and plugins later, I was golden.
What else could I do to my little blog to make it more … more!
I’d been toiling with the idea of adding my Tumblr feed to the marthawills(dot)com blog for a while.
Tumblr, the blog hosting site, which I describe here, is so full of great images that I thought that adding my re-blogs would make my small site much more visually appealing.
After adding a simple plugin, and gathering a few codes, I was able to start the import.
If only it had been that easy.
1. The images that came through were not sized properly leading all 200 of my Tumblr reblogs to come up so teeny tiny that they lost all sparkle.
2. I didn’t even consider the affect on my sharing options. When I received a Facebook message from my aunt a half an hour after I’d started the import alerting me to 76 email messages from me in her mailbox, I shrieked in embarrassment.
3. Upon further investigation, I realized I’d made a huge mess that had to be cleaned up …
a. Every single Tumblr post was reblogged, which meant they were also sent to Twitter. My Twitter feed was full of random (old) posts one after another after another.
b. I received pingbacks (personal messages alerting me that something I’d written had been reblogged – as if I didn’t already know!) for every imported piece that then needed to be deleted (to keep my dashboard from driving me insane).
c. Deleting the pingbacks and the imported blogs themselves meant I had to delete every one of the tweets. If someone had clicked on one of my links they would have been led to a blank page. And we can’t have that.
d. Responding to kind Twerps who couldn’t figure out what was happening in my feed and hoped I hadn’t been hacked.
And the thing that made me abort the mission before it had been finished …
4. As the import was happening I read a small blurb that said something to the effect of, “you will be the author of all imported images.” A copyright nightmare if ever there was one!
I’m not a social media toddler anymore; I’m now more of a rising kindergartener.
The lesson learned is this:
When you’re feeling really great after moving confidently farther into the Interwebz abyss, relish the feeling for a day or so, before jumping into more experimentation feet first.
Your time is precious.
Your blog (and your emailed followers) will thank you later.
M.
Have you learned anything in blogging that could save another social media Kindergartner some time and embarrasment?
I hardly ever reblog cute animals, but I couldn’t resist this guy. See how he comes up small on regular sized screens (he appears to be okay on mobile devices)? It’s because the image was imported directly from Tumblr. Source
A Blogging Thingy Called UMV
November 16, 2012 § 11 Comments
For the third time in as many days I’ve been led to opportunities that require me to disclose my blog statistics, including my unique monthly visitors; the number of times one person clicks on your site, as opposed to overall clicks (if the same person came back 10 times, your UMV would be 1, not 10).
WordPress.com (my publishing platform) is great in so many ways. Primarily it’s easy, and I do have access to my statistics, only not to the UMV. In addition (and much to my dismay), WordPress.com doesn’t allow the use of Google Analytics, which is what everyone off of WordPress.com uses (it seems) to gather such information and more.
Folks in the business and marketing worlds want information like UMV (as well as other numbers like Twitter followers, Pinterest followers, etc.) to help them decide if it’s worth their time to invest in you. The good news is that readership in this little blog is growing as I continue to snuggle into my niche (writing as a practice over a single focus like mom blogging or fitness blogging).
But moving to another platform (like WordPress.org, which would give me more creative freedom and financial opportunities) is daunting and can be expensive. Self hosting can be a security risk, which (let’s face it) would send me straight over the edge should I get hacked.
So many decision must be made everyday. This one’s got me in a muddle.
M.
My purpose was to use the blog as a writing outlet, but if I’m missing out on opportunities, wouldn’t it be wise to make the change? What would you do? If you are a WordPress(dot)com blogger, have you made the switch, or are you happy where you are?
While searching for an image to go with this post I came across Angie Makes on Etsy. Her artwork is amazing. I especially love her flower clip art, which looks a lot like my Twitter background (but prettier). It’s yet another example of how I could have more freedom with self-hosting … To be able to have more creative freedom in imaging across the site.
Well Hello There, Tumblr!
October 27, 2012 § 8 Comments
I’ve recently discovered Tumblr; the tumbleblog platform which hosts shorter blog posts, heavier in multimedia content.
Started in 2006, I am late to the party, and if you’re reading this maybe you are, too.
Tumblr functions much like a regular blog, with some exceptions that make it unique.
1. A larger focus on imagery, images, visual imagination and gif files (shorter snipets of compressed data).
2. Youngins with clever thoughts and the inclination to express flock to the site, resulting in a younger audience.
3. Pretty templates, much prettier than Pinterest. There isn’t the same kind of categorization as Pinterest (boards) either, and when you re-blog a post it goes straight into your feed.
4. Another avenue to expand your reach. We’re not calling it a brand anymore, are we?
5. Many visual artists use Tumblr as their main blog, foregoing more traditional platforms altogether.
6. Some Tumblr blogs serve as communication centers for spreading a particular theme.
For example, one blogger I follow seems to spend half of her time re-blogging every healthy eating post she can find, while committing the rest of her time to openly answering questions about her own exercise and fitness routine. All of this information keeps her feed stream moving, and she’s garnered a pretty large following.
In this way, Tumblr feels a lot more like Twitter, but with the added visual component.
Grow with Stacy posted a great piece about how refusing to add photos to your blog can kill your traffic. In it, she covered a lot of information in regard to imagery that I didn’t know (i.e. how to use Flickr to your advantage), and she’s right; humans are visual and images are important.
If you like the idea of a younger audience, and love the idea of a visual stream of consciousness approach, log onto Tumblr and start to follow the artists who speak to you.
M.
Do you use Tumblr? Will you now?