BlogTalk: Business Cards

I could probably count on one hand the number of professional business cards I've had in my life. They just never seemed necessary... my jobs never required me to deal with external clients or it was so seldom that I made new contacts in my day to day job that I never needed cards.

And then came the blog.

I've only had a blog business card for the last two years or so. In all honesty, in the beginning it felt really weird to have one at all. A card for my blog? Calling myself a blogger? Wasn't blogging just a hobby? Why would I need a card? 

Then I started being invited to media events and attending blogger meetups and I realized having a business card is a good idea. Like we discussed before, networking is a key component of growing your blog. Hit it off with a fellow blogger you met at a meetup? Give them your card and you may soon be collaborating on a project. Or maybe you had the chance to meet an editor from one of your favourite design mags? Your card can direct them to your blog (and your magazine-worthy home).

A preview of my latest business cards. The lovely Lindsay designed the back, and I designed the front. Printed by moo.com. The rounded corners make me smile :)

But what to put on a business card? It depends. You need to have two things for sure: 1) your name, and 2) a way to reach you. Whether the best way to reach you is via email, through your blog, or on the phone - tailor the card info to the way you work. Beyond the obvious, here's a few other things you might consider:

• QR Code: You've probably seen QR or Quick Response codes popping up with more frequency. These black and white square matrix barcodes can be scanned by smartphones, providing an quick and effortless link to any website. Why make someone type in your url when then can scan your code and arrive there instantly? Here's a site where you can generate your own QR code.


• About.me: If you're like me, you are probably over-connected: Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Flickr, LinkedIn, Google+. But which of these do you include on your business card? You can simplify and create an About.me page where you can link to all your homes on the web. It also gives a you place to provide a personal profile and put a face to the name - a great way to enhance your personal brand.


• A tagline: Taglines are a great way to convey a lot about you in a few short words. They should be memorable and concise. Here's a great example from The Blog Fairy - "dazzling designs for web & print":

Source: Uploaded by user via Jen @ Rambling on Pinterest

• Creative design: In our increasingly paperless world, holding a beautifully designed business card is one of life's simple pleasures, don't you think? I saw a lot of great cards at Alt and some of my favourite trends were




• packaged cards - individual cards in glassine envelopes or little hand-stitched linen bags


• kraft/natural paper - gives cards a nostalgic, old school feel


• gold lettering - Gold is everywhere, not just in interiors. This card is a lovely example.


• painted edges - Aren't these persimmon-edged cards by Jordan Ferney so pretty? I'm sure you could do this as a DIY ;)
  

If you're in need of a bit more business card design inspiration, check out my Typography board, this and this Flickr collections of cards, or this fabulous roundup of business cards from Alt Summit attendees...

P.S. BlogPodium is just over two months away. You'll definitely want to have some business cards on hand ;)

BlogTalk: Advertising

Yay, it's Friday! Its been a crazy week and I've been swamped by all things BlogPodium. I can't wait for my time to free up a little bit and focus more on some DIY projects and planning for Chloe's birthday (how can she be turning 3 already!). But for today, let's talk blog.

I think, at some point, every blogger is curious about our next topic. Once you start spending countless hours working on your blog and building some regular traffic, its natural to wonder if you should take the leap and start monetizing your blog. Its such a hot topic that we've built the whole next BlogPodium around discussing it - how can you monetize, what options are there beyond advertisements, what are sponsors looking for. Its a huge subject but I'll share what little I know about it.

When I started blogging, I never even thought about having ads on my blog. Mostly, it was because writing my blog was a passion and not a money-making endeavour. But as my blog has grown, and I've invested more time and effort into it, I've felt there needs to be more of a return. Blogging takes time away from my family, my friends, and other parts of my life - and if I could be compensated in some way for that, why not do it? Now I find taking on advertising to be a real personal choice. Some bloggers choose to go ad free while others write a blog to make money. I'm not one to judge, but I do think readers are smart enough to know what you the blogger are motivated by.

So if you do want to go the advertising route, what are your options? What are the pros and cons of each? I am by no means an expert in any of this so by all means chime in if you have something to add!

Boutique Ads

What are they: These are individual advertisements from small businesses. The advertisements I have from foc! and Tonic Living on my sidebar would fall in this category.

How they work: Either you actively seek out these advertisers or they find you. You will need to determine your ad sizes and your rates. You will also need to determine your terms - do you have a minimum signup period? Do you offer discounts for multiple months or for renewals? 

Pros & Cons: Setting up these ads on your blog is fairly easy - you upload the ads as image gadgets, you collect your payments. The hard work comes in finding these businesses (who should be a fit with your blog and appeal to your audience) and constantly renewing agreements on a monthly basis. That's a lot of leg work involved! The other big hurdle is knowing what to charge. There is no "standard" rate that bloggers use, however, one average I've heard is charge $20 per month for each 1000 page views per day you receive.

Ad Networks

What are they: Ad networks are companies that connect advertisers to people (blogs) that want to host advertisements. There are different metrics that determine what you are paid; common ones include Pay Per Click (how many times an ad is clicked) or CPM (cost per 1000 impressions. For example, a $1 CPM means $1 for 1000 ad views).

How they work: Ad networks sell your space to advertisers and in return deliver ads to you that hopefully are tailored to your audience. The biggest and easiest ad network to work with is Google Adsense. Other networks you may be familiar with include BlogHer and Federated Media. 

Pros & Cons: These networks make it easy to set them up on your blog. Typically, they will provide you the coding that you need to insert into your blog so that they can start streaming ads to your blog. You can also typically determine ad size, ad placement on your blog, and to a certain extent, ad content. Receiving payments is easy too and is usually done via Paypal or a cheque mailed to you. On the con side, rates vary with whichever ad network you sign up with. The ads may aesthetically not work with the look of your blog, and comparatively, you might make more money through direct sell boutique ads for the same space.

Affiliate Marketing

What are they: This is a practice where a business/retailer will reward you for any customers you bring to them.

How they work: In the simplest terms, if a reader clicks on the ad or link on your blog and buys a product, you get a commission from the retailer. One popular affiliate program is that run by Amazon.

Pros & Cons: I don't know. I've never run an affiliate program on my blog. Anyone have experience with them? Are they easy to set up? Are they effective and do you generate any income from them?

Sponsored Posts

What are they: They are just that - a business pays you to write a post about their product or service.

How they work: Typically, the brand will approach the blogger and ask them to write a post. They will have researched the blogger and found their blog and audience to be a fit with the business' products/services. Blogger and brand will come to an agreement on content of the post, the number of posts etc. and how much the blogger will be paid in return. Conversely, the blogger can also offer themselves up as a willing author and seek out brands interested in sponsoring posts. 

Pros & Cons: These can be lucrative if you work with the right sponsor. However, some blog readers may find them misleading and question the integrity of the blogger, especially if the product/service is not one perceived as something the blogger would typically use.

So that's about the extent of my knowledge on the subject. As you can see, there is no one right to go about soliciting and using advertising on your blog. To be most effective though at attracting advertisers, you should have a Media Kit. We'll have to leave that discussion for another time.

***

Any questions? Have you used advertising on your blog successfully or unsuccessfully? How do you feel about advertising on blogs you read? Have you ever bought something you saw advertised on a blog?

BlogTalk: Think Business!

Is it really Friday already? I swear this week just whizzed by. More and more, my daily calendar is getting filled with all things blogging - BlogPodium planning, projects, media events, post writing, photo editing. It has become clear to me that I need a bit more structure, a bit more discipline, to keep on top of things before they get way out of control. With the ongoing renovation, basement stuff stacked in every spare corner of my house, and a typical almost-three-year old, I already have my fair share of "out of control", thank you very much.

The first seminar I attended at Alt Summit was about The Business of Blogging. Ami, Chris, and Pam talked about how to manage the transition of your blog from a hobby into a business. While my blog isn't a full-time business, I've started to approach it a bit more seriously. I've actually implemented some of the practical tips I learned and found that they really helped and gave me some breathing room in my packed days. Maybe you'll find these tips useful too.

1. Have regularly-scheduled, original content.  


2. Be consistent. When you know what you’re going to write about, your readers know it and your sponsors know it too (and may be more willing to pay you for it!)


3. Structure your posts regularly through the week, especially Monday to Thursdays which are the heaviest traffic days.


4. Most people read blogs around the hours of 8am, 12pm and 3pm. Publish around these times. Have a fresh post up first thing in the morning, just as the East coast is getting ready for the day.


5. Make sure your readers can count on you for their content fix. Have regular features your readers can know and depend on.


6. Set editorial calendars that outline your monthly posting and yearly editorial content. Make your content sensitive to the seasons and holidays. Knowing this ahead of time has benefits like:




• Gives you lead time to find guest bloggers


• Helps focus your creative content ideas


• Shows potential advertisers and brands that you are serious




7. Create a writers’ guideline, a description of what you write about. Good blogs have consistency with their images and writing


8. Be proactive in: building your network, promoting your content, reaching out to advertisers

I know I personally need to work on #6. I usually come up with post ideas on a whim (which would explain why I'm writing this post at 11:30pm! Ha!).

Okay, enough about me. Tell me, are you a super-organized, ahead of the game blogger? If you are, I'm not sure we can be friends anymore ;)

BlogTalk: Personal Brand

I’ve got branding on the brain lately. What IS my brand? What do I stand for? What do I offer my readers that no one else can? I’m guessing many of you have the same questions about your own brand.

I attended the Building A Personal Brand seminar at Alt Summit featuring Camille Styles, Jasmine Star, and Cassandra Lavalle which was jam packed with great tips on how to build your brand. Here’s a few that stuck with me:

• Find a niche and establish yourself as an expert 


• Write a brief 4-word brand statement. Measure your projects, plans, and collaborations up against this statement to see if they fit with your brand 


• Be creative. With your personal brand, you are the content. Make your message high-quality & compelling 


• People choose bloggers, not blogs…Readers want to connect with you as a person, not what you do. 


• Figure out what your assets and liabilities are. Work with people who can fill your weaknesses 


• Create a good brand by aligning with others who can make you look good 


• When you collaborate, you are aligning yourself with that brand. 


• Sponsors on your site are a reflection of your personal brand. They should be in line with your aesthetic, ethics, and goals


• Allow for evolution and growth but stick to your core characteristics 

My big takeaway was that your brand is about YOU – not about the things you do, the places you go, the way you decorate your house. If I could wrap up all those messages in one, it would be this:

I’m on my way to doing just that. This was a good start. How about you? Do you know your brand? What makes you you?