Blogging and Marketing Resources for the Average Blogger and Business
Posts tagged Blogger
Blog Review: Jody Burdette’s Birdtracks
Dec 11th
Jody Burdette Birdtracks
My first mission in this Ultimate Blogging Toolkit Free Blog Review post is to offer Jody Burdette at jodyburdette.blogspot.com a sincere thank you for her patience. In Yes, It’s Been a While, I claimed mea culpa for being gone for a number of months planning new projects. Now, I’m carving out time to fulfill my Blog Review obligations.
First of all, I’m not going to cast stones about a blog that hasn’t posted anything since October 5, since I just came clean about not engaging for much longer than that. Enough said, since I have posted in the past about Frequency.
Let’s start with the blog’s general outward appearance. In this Minima Series, the sea of green doesn’t provide any “lines of demarcation.” As a result, I’m not sure this selection in Blogger (actually it seems to be custom) is the best. If a simple look is desired, I would try Denim or Rounders. It provides for more structure and boundaries, which leads into my next topic: content.
Blogger Examples
With these template examples, it is easy to see how clearly various types of content can be organized when a simple template is used. If the intent is to have readers return again and again to engage in discourse, it makes sense to create a consistent and familiar environment. Templates such as these “trains” the eye into knowing where to find specific information. For example, the main post is front and center, the profile is upper right, archives are right center, etc. The easier a blogger can make it for readers, the more likely they will return.
More about content (but I’m saving my favorite topic of opportunity for last!)
In the title, Jody indicates this blog is about “Handmade Gifts and Cards.” For any of you who have read the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit for any length of time, you know I’m a big fan of Molly Lee’s Popup Cards, so I was happy to see a handmade cards site. Unfortunately, the first topics I see involves her middle daughter being married September 12, her husband Lane, their fondness for martial arts, and their love of travel. Oh, there it is: Jody has a “passion for making things.”
Please excuse what may appear to be sarcasm. I’m not intending to be mean. My only purpose is to make a point about focusing on a specific topic. Family is important – please don’t misread my sentiment. Many people maintain incredible blogs about family, keeping far away members up to date on what’s going on. It’s rewarding, it’s heart-warming, and it’s down right efficient.
But for getting the most out of her blogging experience, my opinion is for Jody to separate the topics and focus on them separately. For example, create a family-oriented blog that keeps family and friends posted on what’s going on. Sort of an ongoing, living, breathing, Christmas Card Letter all year long. Then create a separate site devoted to cards, creative handmade items, new products, fun craft stores, etc.
Halfway down the front page, the photos in the post, “Cards for a Lifetime,” imply there is an Etsy site based on their links, but I can’t seem to find where there may be a link to Jody’s Etsy story (if she has one.)
In her Christmas Cards in July post, I see wonderful creations – cards that anyone would be proud to give and emotionally affected if received. It’s just a shame I can’t figure out how to order them. Etsy?
I’m coming back to add this paragraph after my original post. A frustration for me was when I commented on Birdtracks was the inability to provide my URL back to the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit. She had her Blogger settings configured in such a way that I was forced to use a Google Account, which does not accurately reflect my Toolkit activity. A courtesy to people who may comment is to allow them to enter their web address of their blog.
Now, for my favorite topic. This is what I consider Jody’s best opportunity to capitalize on the unique nature of her name and the name she has given to her blog: Burdette and Birdtracks. Burd… Bird… Get it?
Burd... er... ah... Bird Tracks
Doing a quick Google Images search for “Bird Tracks” I get this image. Now, I’m a big believer in giving credit where credit is due, so if you click on this image, you will be taken to someone named “MRUPP” and the gallery of that person’s Australia pictures. Any use of photography gathered over the Internet would of course need to be done appropriately, but my point is this: Burdette and Bird Tracks is a great “hook” combination.
Judy’s last name cries out for a bird reference. Tracks, feathers, nests – anything with which she feels comfortable. That visual connection to her content provides her with an identity tool that no one else has. Exploit it!
From what I’ve seen, Jody has beautiful cards, pillows made from T-shirts (how clever) and a wonderful family. With just a bit of work on her blogs, every component of this paragraph will benefit. Go get ‘em, Jody!
Dave
Blog Review: Molly Lee Cards
Jul 25th
Molly Lee Cards
Prolific blogger. Creative genius. The most unique, fun and interesting cards the likes of which you’ll not find anywhere else.
That’s Molly Lee Cards.
Molly Lee’s blog is an exciting and energetic lens into her creative card business. Through her ETSY store (an online “crafters mall), she sells animated cards that are terrific. While I could go on and on about the cards (I’m a previous customer), the purpose of this post is to review her blog. You can visit for yourself and have all the fun I’ve had with her creations. One important note: as you can see from the screen capture, she has broken into Powell’s Books in Portland. (Not literally – her work is so good, they’ve given her a chance to sell her cards in their retail setting. An excellent endorsement of her work.)
Back to her blog.
Molly Lee Cards is housed on Blogger and is a simple, yet very effective design. In previous discussions with her, I know Molly has previously dabbled with advertising on her site, but has simply focused on her work (which is great!) and the art and science of the blogging itself. I might suggest that she reconsider. Here’s a couple reasons why:
Molly Lee Cards is a PR 2!
First, Molly has achieved a Google Page Rank of 2 according to PR Checker. This is no small feet, caused by consistent posts over a good period of time, inbound links and a significant following. With 25 followers registered on her site (and who knows how many more check in regularly) she has a community following on which she could capitalize. Since a Page Rank of 2 includes a fair amount of traffic, Google’s Adsense may make, well, sense.
Secondly, Google has improved Adsense for Blogger users with a more integrated design and more ad placement options. This has made it easier to insert ads between posts and more flexible throughout the layout. One of the topics I’ve posted about on the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit has been to Diversify Your Monetization Strategy. This would be a good time to take advantage of increased visibility and diversify her revenue stream.
In addition to the wonderful cards discussed on her blog, Molly has promoted a Crafty Space Makeover Challenge. Here, she has applied her creativity (and her Industrial Engineering background) into re-engineering her personal work space. Her crafting skills are now unbridled. Look out. But in doing so, she invited some of her crafter colleagues to join her. She inspired them to improve their own work spaces and in doing so, helped them improve their own operations.
It is a treat to see someone who is passionate about what she does, produces a very high quality product of enormous creativity, and inspires others to do the same. I wish her continued success.
Dave
Quality Web Hosting as the Foundation
Jun 28th
BlueHost Hosting is my Choice!
One of the basics I covered early in my blogging journey was whether to use a free blogging platform like Blogger, or to invest in your own hosted space. There are of course pros and cons to each.
In Free Blogging, or Pay to Play?, I touched on some of the decisions individual bloggers need to make about why they are blogging and what they hope to get out of it. I have been clear from the beginning that a hosted domain for the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit (and future projects) was my strategic decision. Now that I have had some time under my belt with a hosting provider, I feel comfortable sharing my views about BlueHost.
Speaking of transparency, regular readers of the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit know that I try to play it straight with you. When promoting something, I’ve tried to be clear as to when I have skin in the game and when I don’t. This time, I do. If you click through any of my ads shown on my blog – and you sign up – I get a commission. But I’ve held off making any assessments until I have had some time to evaluate. After six months, I now feel confident endorsing their services.
In any support role, if it looks easy, it means a lot of work goes into it. That is truly the case with BlueHost. I have been very pleased with the quiet, behind the scenes support the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit has received. There was only one brief outage and when I used their live chat, the agent already knew about the problem and it was corrected in minutes. No song and dance, no excuses, just fixed.
Part of the reason for chosing BlueHost was of course not because they were the least expensive. There seem to me thousands of providers and many are less expensive. I’m taking the long view. My intention is to grow my blogging to a number of projects, and hope they grow quite large. I like the idea that I now have just one provider that can and will provide the support I need – for any number of projects – with any amount of traffic – for one reasonable monthly fee. Paid annually, this is the easiest, safest, most professional, and eventually, the most cost effective solution I could have.
About the endorsement and commission issue. The only area where BlueHost’s process could be smoother is in the affiliate signup process. After signing up for payouts on other advertising, BlueHost seems to be a bit heavy on the forms to fill out. In fact, my PayPal email address wasn’t accepted initially and had to choose “pay with check” to get the affiliate account established. I’ll work on that and the IRS W-9 form they require later.
Don’t let this small inconvenience sway you. Consider BlueHost. They’ve done a great job for me and I expect to be a long time customer.
Dave
Choosing a Domain Name – Part 2
May 21st
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The Rest of Your Domain Selection
In Part 1 of Choosing a Domain Name, I focused on the high level “dot com” as the most common flavor when selecting a domain name. This time, the focus will be on the identity itself – the main part of your Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
Here’s a quote from “How to Podcast Tutorial” that talks about one aspect of domain name selection:
“This is the web address for my podcast tutorial site which launched my brand as a podcasting expert and landed me a book deal. I intentionally incorporated two of the top keyword search phrases for my topic (i.e. “how to podcast” and “podcast tutorial”).
I should point out that the hyphens are there because of some evidence showing that it emphasizes the keywords to the search engine bots. However, as of late it seems that this is not always necessary. I’m tending away from the practice of using hyphenated URLs.”
Just like my last post, clear as mud. In my opinion, why not? If there’s a chance the bots will show some love with the keywords separated by hyphens, why not? If a smooth URL (without hyphens) is needed for marketing purposes, simply redirect it to the dashed version. Best of both worlds.
[Blogger's note: You eagle-eyed readers no doubt have noticed I'm not walking my talk. The Ultimate Blogging Toolkit doesn't use hyphens. Fair point. This revelation was not visible to me as a complete rookie when I started. I'll have to save it for my next project, which is firmly up my sleeve. Live and learn.]
ProBlogger has a lengthy post about choosing your domain name, but there’s one paragraph that rings true to why I decided to create and host my own domain: credibility. They say,
“Having your own domain name is desirable for many bloggers for numerous reasons. For a start if you’re wanting to build credibility and a sense of professionalism around your blog a domain that reflects this can help. Similarly a carefully selected domain name has the ability to enhance the branding of a product, service, business or even person. Domain purchases give the added bonus of email addresses with the same domain (adding to both professionalism and branding) and can enhance your Search Engine Ranking.”
Although I have not yet begun to use my domain’s email addresses due to ease of startup, I knew from the beginning this was to be a serious and professional effort. (My “fun” postings are conducted on my other blog, TheNewBloggedWord.Blogspot.com.)
There are many free, shared domain blogs on the Bloggers of the world that are quite serious in their intentions. Nothing disparaging intended. My only point is that we only have one chance for a first impression. My argument is that the first impression can be the URL – make it professional and effective.
Dave
Entrecard Blog Review
May 16th
Posted by Dave in Uncategorized
4 comments
Trader’s Hub is the name of the site being reviewed here. This is based on the Blogger platform and I have to admit, it is a very unique template. With the essence of a wirebound personal planner, it combines the modern on-line world of blogging with the somewhat “dated” world of Franklin-Covey and Day Runner planning systems; a combination that works nicely. Without some sort of a tag line further describing what the Trader’s Hub is all about, I am struggling (even after reviewing a number of posts) to really gain a sense of this blog’s purpose. Something like “Random Perspectives from Palo Alto” or any such description of the purpose, focus, or lenses through which posts are made would be helpful.
One aspect of the planner layout that is a bit uncomfortable for me is the fact that on a 17″ screen at 1024×768 resolution, there is only 2 inches of the top of the ”planner” showing at the bottom due to a very large header area. Nice picture of a well crafted cup of coffee and a clever search box in the barrel of a fountain pen, but unfortunatly, a lot of space wasted. The title of the top blog post is all that shows – scrolling is necessary to read the post.
As an Entrecard member, I frequent member blogs for two reasons:
My recommendation to any Entrecard member: place your widget near the top of the page. If I have to scroll more than one mouse trackwheel spin, I loose interest quickly. Note that on the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit, the widget is near the top and “above the fold” not requiring any scrolling.
Hats off the the Trader’s Hub for their “Bloggers Unite” section. I do a lot of work with schools, summer camps and our local food bank and appreciate the effort to bring attention to important causes.
The advertising widget from Slide.com is distracting. Widgets like these that scroll the ad blocks when visible on the screen takes my eye away from reading the post. Yes, I know they are supposed to do that, but my belief is that if I want to view the ad and click through, I will when I’m ready – and not pulled to it in an A.D.D. sort of way. My recommendation: no scrolling ads.
The ongoing “planner” motif provides for a long runway for ads. There seem to be so many, that I wonder if the author gets any traction on many of them. In addition, it seems to take several moments for the page to fully load – and I have a good, high-speed connection. A few key ads, places at high visibility areas (top header, top right panel, between posts, etc.) might do a lot better than trying to blanket the site. Take this with a grain of salt, though. While I am a student of blog monetization, I am just starting to get into that arena myself. My comments do not come from direct experience, only what I’ve read.
Since Entrecard is the underlying theme in the blog review it would seem appropriate to assess a releated post about the “Daily Drop List.” Not uncommon – many Entrecard members publish their top card exchange “droppers” as a way to collectively help each other identify bloggers most willing to return to your site and review, engage and drop cards. A good feature, but I have a question.
The drop list starts with:
My Entrecard Drop List
(Start, copy the code and embed this droplist in your blog! It will build up your links, improve your page rank and bounce rate, and increase your blog authority!)
What “code” should be copied? It’s not clear to me what should be copied and where it should be pasted. It then ends with:
Add your site here. Benefit everyone on this list including yourself. Join Today!
Again, not sure what to add and where.
A lot of effort has been put into The Trader’s Hub. In my opinion, if some of the clutter was removed and more emphasis was placed into defining the blog’s purpose and point of view, it could be vastly improved.
Dave