Goals – The Last 2 Weeks

Goals Goals Goals!

So lets start with the week before last. I had a great week that week, seriously. Awesome!! A total of 708 views, which was mind blowing! A lot of it had to do with my features that week. Several successful Etsy sellers shared their financial experiences with my readers and were able to help a bunch of us our with their advice and stories.

Also that week, several of my fave bloggers stopped by to give their advice in blogging.

It was a great week!

And now to last week. Another good week, consistant and that’s always a bonus. The KJ Blog received 374 views which is 24 above my goal of 350! I loved looking at my stats and seeing them consistantly around the 50 views per day. Just what I’m looking for!

More to come today!! I finished another bag last night so there’ll be pictures!

Blogging on a Postcard

 

                            

This post is a guestblog Damien Riley from Postcards From the Funny Farm. Thanks Damien!

A blog can be a great way to network with other people.  It can also be a way to build an audience.  Both these blog traits can work to make you money if you are diligent.  If you are here at Katelyn’s blog I am sure you have some interest in the blogging life.  If not, this post might not apply to you.  Either way, I hope you’ll read along as I explain adding value to your blog experience.  Knowing how to tweak images in your theme as well as in your posts will make more valuable posts ergot a more valuable blog.

Putting pictures in your posts. Pictures are simply stored bits of information that are “decoded” by a browser for your readers.  If you see them as files and bits of code you may be able to understand how to wield them better in your posts.  While Blogger, WordPress, and most blogging platforms out there have instant insert options, these will sometimes malfunction so it pays to know the raw code of html image placement.  Below is the code for this small coffee cup image:
<img src=”http://damienriley.com/images/cafe.gif” alt=”” />
<img src=”http://damienriley.com/images/imgcode.png” alt=”” />
Excellent html image insertion and tweaking help can be found at this site.

Putting images in your theme. I love changing out images in themes.  You can make a theme look totally different and it doesn’t require much skill or background knowledge.  Basically, you just right click on any image in your theme.  Once you know the filename, save or ftp out the image(s) and either replace them with the same sized one you want or edit the one that is there.  In either case, save them and ftp them back into the images folder of your theme.  I recently wrote an advanced tutorial on how to make a descending sidebar picture continued from the header in the WordPress default theme. It’s actually a useless project, but I learned a ton.  Check it out.

Images can be frustrating.  They pixelate if the height and width are wrong and do other annoying stuff.  Don’t let these things get you down.  If you have to, bypass the native image insertion of your blogging software and use raw html like the basic starts above.  Also, have fun tweaking themes.  It shows your reader you value your blog when you tweak it a little (or a lot as the case MAY be).  I hope this helped someone out there starting.  Blogging is great.

Goals

                                    

Another week has passed and life on the KJ Blog seems to be getting better!! Within the past week I featured blog entries on money managing techniquesfrom successful Etsy artists, as well as Blogging Techniques with opinions and comments from successful bloggers.

There’s a trend I’ve noticed: When I post entries on “How-To”, the views always shoot way up. I love reading them on other blogs, “how-to promote”, “how-to sell”…so I figured I would do more of that on my blog. Guess what, it up’ed my views with minimal promotions. A really cool thing to see!!

My views for this past week got up to 399 without me really trying that hard!

Goal for Blog:

• To have more “how-to” entries!

Ps: That lady is coming to the house tonight to look at my new bags…which reminds me I have yet to show you my newest rendition of the KJ Bag!!…hopefully I’ll make a sale or two! Cross your fingers (:

Blogging Techniques 3

This blogging techniques entry is from Damien, from Post Cards from the Funny Farm, a mentor of mine in the blogging department. Damien was the blogger that encouraged me to look into getting my own domain and has mentored me through that process. Here’s the question I sent Damien: How did you start blogging and what promotions etc. have you done to get to where you are now? A: My first “touch” of a blog was through Blogger (also referred to as “blogspot” and now owned by Google).  I started a blog but had no idea what all the bells and whistles around me did.  I knew how to write though so I kept an online diary sending the link to family after I saw movies, went to events etc.  I started doing that in 1997.  After that I started a FORUM, which is kind of like a blog.  I used to chat on a local forum and the moderators got really Draconian so I decided to start my own (sorry for the long boring answer, I am almost finished).  In the time I was on the forum I learned a ton of html a little at a time: ie; How to make a signature photo appear etc.  This would later prove very important for me in blogging. The beginning of blogging for me was in December of 2006 when I started Postcards from the Funny Farm.  I could say a lot more that would probably help people starting but maybe you could interview me sometime 😉   The promotions I have done to become an established and lucrative blogger are legion, but if I had to whittle it down to the I feel would most help a beginning blogger, I would say these (if you’re serious): Write for Blogcritics Hire a more established blogger to analyze your site and give you suggestions (I charge 5 bucks for a thorough list of suggestions) BTW, I’ve hired a few myself so this isn’t just lipservice. Advertise your blog through Entrecard Networking (free) Join BlogCatalog and particpate in the discussions often. Sign up at BlogRush and put a mutual networking widget in your blog. Ask other blogs to host a guestblog of yours (archive of mine for examples).  Return the favor.  Both benefit both times. Unlimited times. Okay, better stop now — doing all that will take you weeks.  Come over to my online diary if you have any more questions.

 

Thanks Damien!

I hope everyone got something out of this Blogging Techniques series! Thanks to all the bloggers that gave their opinion and advice!

Blogging Techniques 2

                             

 

For a while now I’ve been reading a blog called Make It. Shannon, the author, writes several times a week on her business ideas, plans for the future, and different projects she has been working on. It’s fun to see her different strategies and to see her progress in her stationary business!

Here’s the question I posed to Shannon: How do you build your brand in blogging?
A: Establish a personal style. By this I mean a visual style for your blog (custom banner image, consistent photo size, etc.) and a personal point of view. The amazing thing about blogs is that they can be about whatever you want and it’s your personal space to do with it whatever you want. But I do recommend having a common thread running through most of your posts. So decide what you want your blog to be about and have that be the focus of most of your posts.

It’s really important to be consistent and regular with posting. The more the better, but I’d say 3 – 4 times a week is a good goal to shoot for. The more you write, the more readers will check in and as a result your audience will grow.

Photography is so important for blogs. I read several photo-only blogs, but I don’t read any text-only blogs. We’re not all professional photographers, but do your best to post the best photos you can. (If you’re pulling images from other sources online, make sure to give credit to the source.) If you do develop a signature photographic style (or a signature way of laying out photos gleaned from the web, i.e. in a photo collage) that’s another strong way to establish a blog identity.

Mostly, a blog is about expressing your opinions and interest with a group of like minded readers. Once you set up your own blog, you will naturally find yourself leaving comments on other blogs and getting the word out about your own. Blog readers and writers are extremely savvy and really respond to when people are genuine. So go ahead and express yourself, play nice with others, and your blog will grow in the most natural way, because it will be an extension of you.

Blogging Techniques

Doing the Business Techniques series (hopefully I’ll have more entries on that shortly!) really got me thinking about how much pieces of advice from successful individuals really is inspiring and helpful. I took a lot out of what the seller said about their money managing techniques. I decided to do something similar with Blogging Techniques.

I asked a couple of my favorite bloggers about their blogging techniques or advice on blogging and I’ll be posting their advice in a couple different entries.

My first question went out to Blaze who is both a fellow blogger and Etsy seller: How have you found success as a blogger?

Blaze answered:  I have found, through blogging for almost a year, that a lot of wonderful things come from blogging. I have found amazing friends, and a community that spans over seas and mountains. 🙂 Not only have I found inspiring folks that are kindred spirits, I also have had a wonderful time inspiring new friends and building relationships over pretty things.

Here are a few things I’ve learned from others and from my own experience:

1.) Presentation matters. My favorite blogs to visit are always enchanting and aesthetically pleasing. I love when each post reflects the personality of the blogger, and favorite colors become very obvious. I love thinking about how each post will look with my header, so when a newcomer visits, they’ll see a balanced and pretty sight. It’s important to take extra time to take crisp photos, and write strategically to your goals. Every time before I hit “publish” I ask myself if my post is achieving my overall goal to inspire creativity, bring about old memories, and bring out the feminine, nostalgic, whimsy in all of us. 😉 Not to mention, feature all of my own artistic endeavors. 🙂

2.) Don’t apologize. A lot of times, I read about artists who are sorry or apologetic for their lack of posts, their artwork, or their shops. The best blogs I’ve found are confident and cheerful, seeming purposeful in all their activities. Of course, it’s important to explain long absences, but overall, it’s your blog. You don’t need to answer to anyone. 🙂

3.) Comment much. I LOVE commenting and receiving comments. 🙂 That’s the whole purpose of blogging (at least to me!), and networking is super fun. I have slowly built up quite a few dear friends who check in regularly, and every once in a while I’ll comment on about 50 random blogs. That way, I’ll make a few new friends, who will hopefully become regular visitors. It also keeps expanding my circle, and a lot of doors have opened for me this way. My friends are a great source of encouragement and advice, and I don’t think I would enjoy blogging if it weren’t for them. Of course it goes both ways, and I love catching up with their doings as well. (There are even some people that I hope very much to meet someday!!)

I have learned to love my blog very much, and I think it’s a great way to make wonderful friendships, as well as a way to keep people interested in myself and my artwork. I recommend it very much. 😀

Must Do & Goals

• Think about advertising
• Make a budget for sale funds
• Update Etsy store
• Submit Etsy store link to Poppytalk Handmade and Trunkt

Well, my goals were good to me last week! 504 views and many many comments! I’m really pleased! I know that quite a bit of these views were from my entries on successful Etsy sellers and that’s really helpful to know. My views / comments seem to skyrocket every time I have articles about tips with selling on Etsy or “how to’s” regarding Etsy…so I guess I should do that more often!

The week before last (I’ve been so busy at work lately, I’ve been forgetting my scheduled posts!) I did pretty good too, 314 views. Just caculated: In the past five months, this blog has received 4,040 views!! Crazy!

Have you checked out my new site?? There’s still quite a bit of work I need to do on it, but it’s getting there. My very OWN domain!! I’m so excited! I’ll be changing the decor on the new site every now and then, let me know what you think!

Business Techniques

I started a forum post on Etsy the other day, asking for suggestions for successful Etsy sellers. I got a huge response and it was really interesting looking through the shops that have made it big!

The reason for me looking for successful Etsy sellers was that I was looking for someone to answer a question I had. Since I’ve started making more money with my bags lately, I’ve been wondering how much of that I should be putting back into the business and how much I should be saving. I thought if I could ask someone who’s already established this question, it might help me out some! Better yet, why not get a few opinions and see which might suite me better.

I convo’d a few of the sellers suggested, some of them being sellers I had already been in contact with about featuring in the blog etc. Ahpeeleis one of these sellers, and seriously…I love these guys! Their shop is amazing, they are so helpful and nice…just friggen awesome. And they’ve hit the big times, it seems (congrats guys!!).

My question was: Q: What is your formula for your earnings? How do you work out how much to put back into the business and how much to save?

And they answered: it’s a good question
unfortunately we dont have an exact formula
for the first few years we put pretty much everything back into the business
except what we needed to eat and keep the lights on
we learned to live really cheap, take walks for fun, and cook all our food
it was a game to see how little money we could live on
then everything leftover we spent on tshirts and silkscreen stuff
it helps that we really love making stuff
so we dont miss the mall (we hate the mall)
though we are able to save some money now
we always have goals that we are saving for
the goals are the most important part i think
they give us direction and motivation.

Their answer doesn’t give any definite “You need to do this” stuff, but it’s awesome knowing that they started out counting their last pennies into the business and not actually making much for the first couple years. It’s really encouraging to know that it takes a while to get properly on your feet and profitable!

Also, have you read their Success Story? Just a bit more about their business and how they started…really interesting!!

 

I’ll be posting more of the answers I received to this question during the next couple days…hopefully you find them as helpful as I am!