Blogging Part One: 20 Basic Tips

This post was originally posted by Ruth Crean on her blog Nice Day Designs, and was republished here to help all the members with their blogs.

This will be a 3 part series dealing with basics of blogging, design, and promotion. Today I'll be doing the basics, I wrote an article last year on this for Etsy Ireland  ,some of the info is out of date because of the changes made this year to blogger, but there are still some helpful tips for total beginners. The following post will be published weekly each Monday, so stay tuned!

Firstly you have to decide if blogging for you, lots of crafts people feel that they have to have one because everyone else does, or that it's hurting their business not to have a blog. Now that we have things like Facebook and Twitter there is really no need to start blogging if it would feel like a chore. It's just as easy to share your new creations on FB/Twitter, and there is not as much pressure to write. So if you like writing, would enjoy getting involved in the community of bloggers, and don't mind putting in lots of work for free then you have found your calling as a blogger. I've been blogging for nearly 5 years now, and I started it because I missed writing. In my day to day life there is no reason for me to write, and between the years of finishing college and starting Nice Day Designs the only things I composed were emails. I don't claim to be a great writer, but it's a hobby that makes me happy, so starting my own blog seemed like a perfect forum for my ramblings.

So now you need to choose who to go with. Most web designers and bloggers will say Wordpress , as it has more potential down the line to make it feel more like a website rather than a blog. I went through a phase of being very frustrated with Blogger, but I've stuck with it over the years. With all the developments they have made in the past 6 months it's an incredibly easy to use site, and might be preferable to beginners. I've tried Wordpress and I wasn't really a fan. but that's probably because I'm so used to Blogger. There is a handy table here to show you the comparison between the two to help you decide. Most established blogs seem to switch over at some point to Wordpress, and to be honest I'm still toying with the idea, but it can be expensive to hire someone to do it. I just found this ebook that came highly recommended to help guide you through the switch over process if it looks like your blog turns from a hobby to a more committed thing.

Tips:
1. Think about your content, but don't stress over it. When starting your blog think about what you are trying to say overall and who your readers might be. This will help you come up with new posts when you are having an off day. Example this is a craft blog and I wanted to keep my own personal voice. Which means I have a mostly female readership, which in turn will be interested in things like fashion and handsome men! Hence the addition of things like my 'What I'm Wearing' series and 'Hotty but Notty'. Content is key, you will not keep readers if they feel you are writing it as a chore to help promote your business. I've seen an endless raft of blogs like this and I never go back to them.

2. Post regularly and consistently. If you are a once a week blogger then choose a particular day. Don't have 10 posts in 5 days and then nothing for a month.

3. Choosing themed days might help you with get over any writers block. We used this to great effect on the Etsy Ireland Team blog, there was how-to tuesday, and fab 5 friday. You don't need to catagorise your whole week but it's handy to have an old reliable, and it's also nice for readers too as they know what to expect. I'm a particular fan of mags Pretty Boy/Girl Friday.

4. Link as much as you can when you are talking about something. People who read blogs want information. If you are writing about crafts link to your shop, where you got your supplies, and what craft books you are reading. This is done by highlighting the word in question and clicking the link option.

4. When linking always have the option 'open this link in a new window', that means that you are not sending your reader away from your site. It's very easy for a reader to get distracted in that new site and not go back to yours, whereas if they still have your site open in a window they will most likely go back to it.

5. Refer back to old articles on your blog when you are writing, like above I mentioned yesterday's post and also the article I wrote for Etsy Ireland. This will get people interested in your back catalogue.

6. Another handy tool for this is Link Within, that's the little pictures you see at the end of each blog post show you older and related posts. As a blog reader find these really helpful and have often spent a half hour on someone's site reading their older posts. It's really easy to install with their step by step guide.

7. Please turn off the Captcha if you are on blogger! Loads of people hate them and it puts them off commenting. If you are concerned about security then moderate your comments, or what I do is moderate on comments older than 14 days. I have had spam bots post tonnes of comments, but after I made the older posts moderation I haven't had any trouble.

8. Scheduling your posts is a great way to get posts written for the week when you have spare time. Monday is usually my blogging day and i space them out over the week.

9.Interact with other blogs, when you read an interesting article, don't be silent, leave a comment. The blogger will appreciate it and other readers will click your link and go to your blog. Try to do this a much as possible.

10. Respond to comments left on your blog. I don't respond to every single one, but when a few have build up I leave one comment responding to a few people at once. If you notice a new commenter visit their site and leave a comment on their blog about something they have written, it's only polite.

11.Give credit. If you are not using your own photos, or if you found a great crafting tutorial make sure to link to the original site, otherwise you are stealing the image/how-to. Most bloggers don't mind if you link to their work without asking permission first as it will drive traffic to their site. Again it's about being polite.

12. Please don't have music on your blog, or if you really want it let it be optional. A lot of people read blogs in the office(when they meant to be working) so the last thing they want is an announcement to other satff that they are skiving off. Even though I work from home I find it annoying and distracting, most of the time I click out of the site.

13. Share your skills. Lots of my favourite blogs are informative by either doing craft how-to's, marketing tips or cookery suggestions. If you have a hidden skill people want to know about it. Do you have an amazing recipe for chili, or a genius list of uses for vinegar? Let the world know about it by writing a how-to/guide.Be careful not to spill all your business secrets though, if you teach people how to make all the products that you sell they might not buy from you. Lupin Handsmade balances this line very well.

14. Don't obsess over you visitors numbers, it can take a long time to get established. It's only in the past year that I'm getting a decent amount of hits per day, and even at that they are fairly small compared to other craft site. Remember to be patient, but also remember to enjoy it and not stress over the figures. In later articles I'll give tips on driving traffic9although I'm no expert!)

15. Use lots of photos, number one they serve to break up the text, at heart we are all children who love picture books. I like to upload my pictures as extra large and centred, this avoids tricky formatting trying to integrate them into the text.

16. Link your images where possible, most blog readers expect this(I know I do). For example when I doing an etsy finds post I link the image to the item(by highlighting the photo and clicking link) I also type in a description and price underneath, and I also link this. I tried using the add caption option and linking this but that means that when you click the image you get an error notice. I prefer to put in the extra effort and link both separately.

17. I prefer having a long list of posts rather than having to click older posts repeatedly. It's totally your preference, but I get get bored if the whole rage has to reload every time I want to read an older article. I limit mine to 15 posts.

18. Intersperse weightier more time consuming posts, like this one, with lighter quick posts like my beardy post last week. Otherwise you will be a slave to your computer and not have a life.

19. Mix things up, don't just blog about one thing. If i just blogged about the crafts that I make I would bore myself and my readers to tears. I have other interests so I share them here, it gives a more personal and fuller perspective about who i am. You never know what will appeal to readers, my most popular post of all time is how hot Dave Grohl is.

20. Don't over share. I'm all for letting people in and showing my vulnerable side, but I still treat this site as a face for my business. I don't talk about my sex life, or bitch about people I have issue with. Your blog, especially  business blog, is about putting your best foot forward.

Most importantly have fun!

Stay tuned next week for part two on the importance of design.

Useful Links:
Blogging Your Passion 
Get a more professional looking blog.
The Backlight-loads of blogging tips
Blogging Myths
50 tips to battle writers block
The Art of the Article

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How-To:Tackling Facebook Timeline

This post was originally posted by Ruth on her Blog Nice Day Designs, and was republished here to help all the team members get to grips with the few format for Facebook business pages.

Those of you who run business pages on facebook will have noticed that they are phasing in Timeline for pages. You have till the end of the month until it's mandatory, so that gives you a bit of time to figure it out and play with your page design before it goes live. At this stage I'm a bit of a business page expert, for anyone looking for tips on setting up a page I wrote this article last year on 'Facebook Pages:An Idiot Guide'. Whereas today's article is a bit more advanced for those with established pages who know the basic ins and outs already.

Firstly I cannot overestimate the amount that Facebook has helped my business, it may be time consuming but at the end of the day it's free, and it's a form of advertising that customers actively opt into and pay attention to, you just can't buy that kind of press. I've had my page for about 2 years and it has brought me lots of new customers, real and online sales, and helped me build a personal relationship with the people who buy from me. They get to put a face to my business and I get invaluable feedback, it's a win win situation.

In the past few months facebook have been making lots of little changes that at first seemed very limiting to pages, but now that they have unveiled Timeline most of it gels together very well. The most obvious difference with Timeline is the appearance, it's a much wider 'wall' with two columns instead of one. Older stories are now accessible by date from the panel on the right hand side, giving the lifespan of the page. They have added a new tool which means that you can bump up old posts by 'Pinning' them, this is done by clicking the pencil icon on the right of any post and choosing the option 'pin to top'. This brings this post to the top of your timeline on the left hand column. It's a good idea to regularly pin popular posts that reflect your page so that prospective 'likers' can gauge quickly what your page is about. Once an item is pinned it remains at the top for 7 days.

Another way to make a post more noticeable is to 'Star' it(do this by clicking the star icon on the right of any post) this makes the item double width, and much more noticeable when scrolling through older posts. It's good to punctuate the timeline with a few of the favourited posts to break up the double column layout.

When I first went onto timeline I was disgusted that landing pages were made defunct as there is no longer control over what tab a new viewer arrives on. Previously I had designed a landing page that reflected my business and brought me lots of new 'likes'. Facebook have replaced this with a cover photo, a large image that sits behind your profile picture. It is fine to use an image of one of your products in this window but to get the best results it would be better to have a text and image graphic(similar in a way to the banners on Etsy). Although be careful facebook have some rules about what text can go here, you are not allowed to point towards the like button, include sales promotions or other info that should be in the about section. The dimensions for the cover photo are 851 px wide and 315 px tall, and make your document 72 dpi.

They have also added 'Milestones' to the timeline, which act like starred posts(double width), but are designed to highlight key events in your business like awards, press etc. Your chosen event date will then be marked in your timeline. You can create these in your status bar, next to ask a question, and you can upload a photo with your description, the picture dimensions are 843 px wide and 403 px tall. This new feature can be used to great effect to give the history of a business in a dynamic way, especially for older businesses as they can mark events and trivia through the past decades. There is a lovely example here at Leo Burnett Worldwide.

Facebook have added a handy admin panel at the top so all traffic and notifications are easily available. Thank goodness the days of no notifications on business pages are over, that was a nightmare! You can monitor traffic, reach, and who is talking about your page. They have also added a private message section which is really handy rather than people having to discuss sales on your wall. During my research for this article I found out that pages can directly message their 'likers', although be careful not to abuse this and alienate your readers by spamming them. But you can only message people who have already sent a direct message to your business page, you can not start a new conversation with one of your fans. It would be a good idea to post an update letting your fans know that they can now send you a direct message, as most people don't know the mechanics behind a business page.

You should also note that the amount that your updates appear in peoples news feed has changed over the past few months, someone who interacts with your page is more likely to see your updates that people who don't. This means that you need to post more regularly, and at different points in the day. It is also advised that you post different types of things, not just talking about your business all the time. Use pictures, ask advice, questions, share finds from Pinterest etc (For more info on this large topic head over to this great article).

The magazine format of timeline has meant that facebook is becoming a much more visually based forum, so as crafters we should utilize this. Post pictures from your mobile while you are making something. While shopping for wool/materials snap a picture and ask what colour people prefer. Share helpful craft articles that you are reading online. There are lots of ways to vary your updates, just start thinking outside the box.  You'll soon start to notice your 'talking about' numbers increasing, and afterwards your likers. Try to post information that people will want to share, George Takai (Ensign Sulu from Star Trek) has a great business page where he posts loads of funny geek pictures, he gets hundreds of 'shares'  every day because his content is great.

All in all I'm pretty happy with Timeline now that I've learned all the new features. At first I hated it because it meant that I had to relearn lots of things. One frustrating thing is that they don't have an attach link function anymore in status updates which leaves an ugly pasted link at the end of the update, it seems like a pointless change. But the overall benefits outweigh any clunky problems. Knowing facebook they will come up with a whole host of new changes in another 6 months just to annoy everyone!

Helpful Articles:
Involver
The Drum: 5 ways timeline will impact business pages
CMVLive: Timeline, what's it all about?
How to get more interaction on your business page

My business page

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Make your art go further

In this article, Tanya Bond reveals some great trade secrets about how to make your art work for you.


In the first year of my selling art online it suddenly occurred to me that there are only so many paintings I can paint in a month, and only so many are going to be sold. These limitations didn’t look promising and I realised that in order to increase my profits, I will have to make my art work for me.

My first idea was to start selling prints of my paintings as this would have included new customers who really liked my art but could not afford to buy originals. I’ve tried printing them at home with my inkjet, got samples from local printers and tried online printing companies until I found my perfect quality-cost combination. Adding prints to my inventory immediately triggered my sales and while I was not getting as much as I would get for an original, I was able to sell more and gain profit for something that was painted a while ago.

And I didn’t stop there. I realised that some people might like my art, but just not be in the market for either originals or prints, yet we all use an occasional greeting card or even a postcard, and that’s why I decided to sell these as well. There is much less of a profit margin on cards than on prints, and while it didn’t bring me a fortune, it still brought me some new sales and new customers.

My next move was to attract new customers who were not interested in prints, cards or originals, but would be happy to have my art on a pendant, tote bag, t-shirt or a mouse pad, which also proved to be a success with new sales and new customers. To this date my sales of printed products considerably exceed the sales of originals.

If you decide to start selling side-line products with your art make sure not to plunge into it and take things easy one step at a time. You’ll find that some printing companies offering digital printing are happy enough to print small orders and once things start moving you will be able to see which products with what artwork sell best and justify more investment.

If you are experiencing hard times and there’s little cash to spend around I have some good news for you! There are companies online that are more than happy to print, sell and send out to buyers products with your art, pay you royalty and all that at no cost for you whatsoever! These companies are also known as “print-on-demand” or POD, and the idea behind it is that you upload your images, list it on various virtual products and as soon as anything gets sold POD will make this product, send it out directly to the person who bought it and after a certain time you get your well-deserved royalty. I’ve been using various PODs for the last three years and in my opinion the most user-friendly POD is Zazzle. Whenever things are slow and I have a bunch of time on my hands I list hundreds of products on Zazzle, and while it’s not a “get rich quick” plan and sometimes does not give immediate results, it generates more and more side profit with time. And thanks to PODs there are some folk around the globe that are wearing my art not only on T-s but even on shoes!

You’re not an artist, but an artisan, you knit, sew, create jewellery, work with wood?  There are still dozens of ways to diversify your business, create new products based on what you are doing already and thus attract new customers and make more sales. Next time you are knitting that gorgeous and extremely popular baby hat take loads of pictures of the process, and when you have some free time write a tutorial on how you do it. Teaching other folks to make it will not reduce your sales of that fab hat, but rather attract new customers who know how to knit and would love to learn more. Selling under “patterns”, this category will definitely attract more new customers that are not lurking around your usual “clothing” category.

If you want to read more from Tanya, check out her blog.

Bear Musings

Jacob hard at work

Hello Etsy Ireland. My name is Jacob (aka the big Swede), and I am a big cuddly brown bear living in Belfast. I had a rather quiet life with lots of naps and cuddles, until I suddenly found myself in front of a camera, posing for knitwear.

One rather chilly autumn day, the-person-who-thinks-she-owns-me-but-in-fact-I-wrap-her-around-my-little-paws (just call her Brigitte, ok) decided that I would look rather cute in a photograph wearing her hand-knitted hats, and so I ended up sitting on a chair with a camera stuck in front of my face. A bit of an un-bearly profession, I may admit, but I am cute, of course! I've come to be rather fond of the camera. I like to do my model thang. Smile. Pose. Present the unique knitwear in the best possible light. Attitude. Bear-ti-tude!

I like it a lot when the fanmail comes in. And the treats and the extra cuddles. Wouldn't be a bear if I wouldn't like those!

Being a knitbear model gives me an insight into the trade - and I also get to peek into all those funny books Brigitte's reads to motivate herself. What a strange world this all is.

Being a bear is so much easier.

I've decided to share my beartracks to success with the Etsy Ireland blog readers. Because I'm cute!

• Be yourself. A bear is only his bear-self. Not the self of another bear. And not what other bears want him to be.
  

• Bears are individuals.

• A bear does what she's best at. Wouldn't waste her time trying to cluck when she can growl so beautifully.

• A bear takes breaks. And naps.

• Have you ever seen a stressed bear?

• To do two things at once is to do neither. You can either craft or nap, and there is time for either!
  

• You will never "find" time for anything. If you want time, you must make it, especially for naps and cuddles!
  
  
• Bear hugs. Do I need to say any more?
  
  
• Some days you hug the bear, other days the bear hugs you.

• A bear doesn't dance nor wear a suit. Not even for hunny or a good steak!

• A bear has thick skin. But the weaker the bearskin, the bigger the ego!

• Don't mess with a bear. And don't tickle a napping bear!

• Bears believe in themselves. They've never heard of self-doubt. A bear is.

• If something doesn't work, bears don't blame other bears or themselves. They just try something different.
  

• Bears don't give up!
  

• Most of the shadows of a bear's life are caused when she stands in her own sunshine.

• If a bear walks down the same path every day, he'll get the same thing again and again.
  
  
• The bear dreams of hunny - then she gets out to get some!
  
  
• Who is afraid of the sting never earns hunny.
  

• Make use of your paws, let not advantage slip.
  
  
• A bear is known by the work of his paws.
  

• Know the power of your paws.

• When the going gets tough, the bear gets going (but might have a nap first).

• Money, influence and position are nothing compared to bearskin, brains, creativity and perseverance (and naps).
  

• Sometimes you have to dig deep to get the hunny!

• The bear who doesn't take risks never gets the sweetest hunny.
  
  
• If you stay in the comfort of your cosy cave, you won't eat nor meet other cute bears!
  

• Turbulent times great bears make!

• Elvis was wrong! Let me be your Teddy Bear, put a chain around my neck and leave me anywhere - who was he kidding?
  
  
• Listen to Baloo - he was right. The bear necessities of life will come to you!
  

Bear hugs
Jacob