You have a blog. It works okay. You may even be making an income from it. But you need it to look great if you ever want to take it to the next level. For years, I have been instructing bloggers and content creators on various basic graphic design skills. In this post, I will explain why you need a beautiful blog. Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.

I’ve been blogging for close to three years, and designing for five. When I first started, I didn’t understand why some blogs were so hard to navigate, and seemed so cluttered. Their photos were simply not up to par with the basic standards. Then , as I connected with other bloggers more and more, they started to ask me design related questions. I saw questions posted in groups, and some were directed right at me. I realized that, many simply did not know how to do it, or that they needed to.

This brought to my attention that there is very little design direction out there for bloggers.

I decided to take it upon myself to educate fellow bloggers on basic graphic design principles – starting with the WHY.

That’s why I went ahead, and after working on it for over two years I published the book How to Build a Beautiful Blog.

I decided to share some of it with you here.

Why you need a beautiful blog…

1. Your Audience – You are writing to reach an audience. Having a pretty blog means that it’s easier to reach your audience. It means your social media images will stand out OFF of your blog too, pulling in readers, getting you pageviews.

It makes your posts easier to read. Using the right balance of legible text with a clean design will allow readers to stay, read, click around, and subscribe. In my book, I discuss blog legibility, which fonts are best to use, and how to find them in depth.

2. Your Brand – But there’s a lot more to it than that. Your blog is your brand. Your brand is determined by your branding style, the graphics you use as you go along. You want it to be customized to your target audience – to attract sponsors, and of course, to attract the right followers to your blog so that sponsors will want to pay you.

If you plan to earn money off it, you need to have a solid brand in place. You need others to recognize you outside of your blog because they see your face in whatever it is you’re posting. In How to Build a Beautiful Blog I take you through branding your blog, and creating a high quality logo, for a tiny fraction of what it would cost to have one made by a designer.

3. Professionalism – Want people to take you seriously? You need a professional looking blog, following basic and proper design use. You want your “resume” (that is, your social media profiles, top posts, and more) ready and handy so that you show everyone you mean BUSINESS.

4.  Sponsor work – Beyond just showing you have a specific audience by defining your brand, you want to showcase sponsored products in the best light possible. Learning the basic skills for presentable photography, plus some amazing (almost magical) photo editing skills will get you ahead of the game with sponsored campaigns. In my eBook, I teach you the basics of photo editing using Photoshop, and suggest a few free alternatives.
 

 

I see blogs primarily in two categories.

The first hired a professional to design and build it. How to Build a Beautiful Blog will ensure that you know how to guide your designer to create something that suits YOUR brand. It will teach you how to work individual posts, how to capture readers with imagery.

It will teach you how to pull people in via Pinterest – what type of imagery works best for which type of post.

The second is, like me, stuck with little or nothing to invest and is doing everything on its own. How to Build a Beautiful Blog is here to teach the DIYers how to DIY. Learn how to do things on your own so you don’t need to hire a designer, for a fraction of the cost of having a designer even think of doing a job for you. 

It educates – teaching you basic design rules and principles. It will train you in a huge range of design-related skills, as it applies to your blog – from creating pin images that get repinned AND clicked, to fixing up your photos to make them look more professional. It will train you to understand the basics of design programs, while teaching you what to do if you can’t afford expensive software.

The best part? It has a whole section dedicated just to Pinterest!

Purchase How to Build a Beautiful Blog below. 

The post Why You Need a Beautiful Blog appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

Why you might want to start a blog:

There are a number of reasons why a person might want to blog. I know some people who did it just to record their life’s journey, and to keep family updated.

If that’s you, you can skip this as there isn’t really a right way to do it.

I’m talking to those of you who want to blog professionally, earn money and commissions from it, or even just sell a product through it.

A great reason to start a blog is to establish an at-home business, with minimal investment. Another great reason would be to sell a product for an already established business. But to do either of these, you need your blog to stand out among others and to really present a professional, helpful resource. 

It takes some time and some investment (although minuscule in comparison to starting any other business.) But it’s not as hard as it might sound.

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.

Why I started my blog:

It started out on a whim to share deals on both baby and craft products when M was born, about two years ago. But it stopped almost immediately afterward, when I realized just how involved it was, and I deleted my posts.

I kept it live, because I had always wanted to blog about jewelry making, and share some tutorials. I just never had the motivation.

We moved to New York, and I was home all day with my then baby. I wanted to contribute to the household income and needed a way to market my handmade jewelry.

I was told to blog.

What I didn’t understand then was that it’s not instant: start a blog, sell jewelry.

But that’s when I started a disciplined routine of blogging on various assorted topics, with an “Etsy mini” widget in my Blogger sidebar.

Eventually, I learned a valuable lesson: I can help provide for my family through my blog itself. By offering the public my expertise and skills, I can actually help put food on the table. Now THAT is a great direction, and reason to start a blog.

It took me about a year after I actually started my blog to start earning those first few pennies, and a year after I started consciously blogging to start bringing in steady (if small) income. 

But it doesn’t need to take that long, if you do it right.

This leads me to the early mistakes I made, and my advice for those just thinking about blogging (or those of you who have just started out.)

How to start a blog on the right foot: 

1. Have something to offer, and offer that. Write what you know about.

Big mistake #1 for me was that I started out without direction.

Everyone has something to offer. It could be a talent, a unique perspective, or even just the ability to write a compelling article.

Choose your strong point and focus on that. Your focus CAN and SHOULD evolve as things move on, but having a clear starting point can help you attract a relevant audience. Writing about something you’re an expert on will ensure that you put forth quality content.

2. Focus on quality, not quantity. Make each post have viral potential.

Be your own judge, or get others to share feedback. Each niche is different and has a different timeframe. Start with fewer posts a week, but post regularly.

I had that stage where I thought that I needed to post something every day, and the quality of my work really suffered.

Spend more time on each post, it will go much farther than two lesser-quality posts would.

Another mistake in this area was focusing on quantity of followers instead of quality. I wanted vanity numbers on my Facebook page, and in my email list, so I’d offer prizes and giveaways. While giveaways are a great reader incentive, they are not a great way to get active, engaged followers. Many of them just like the page for the prize, have no interest in what I have to offer, and never engage at all – which actually hurts my page.

My energy would have been better focused sharing great content on my Facebook page, similar to my own content, so that people who want those types of posts follow me.

It also pays to invest in a quality blog design and quality images from the start. It will only save you work down the road.

3. Write less, promote more, learn even more. Network from day one.

Another big mistake of mine, as mentioned in number two above, was to try and shove out as many posts as I could. 

This not only causes quality to suffer, but it also neglects one important detail: promotion. Just because it’s out there, doesn’t mean anyone is going to see it.

There are many ways to promote, but one of the best ways is to network. Networking with other bloggers (which I personally do via groups on Facebook) is a wonderful way to learn. You’ll gain valuable information about blogging, as well as ideas and opportunities to promote your content.

A great way to promote from the bottom up is to tackle Pinterest with a set strategy. You don’t need a huge following there to get good traffic. 

I also highly recommend investing in a good blog planner from the start. It will really keep you organized, as well as give you the perspective you need to stay motivated when doing social shares.

4. Set aside an investment, and invest wisely.

When you go into blogging thinking you’re starting a “free” business, you’re going to take much longer to earn money back.

I did this and therefore refused to pay for hosting, refused to invest in CRAFTS SUPPLIES (which is rather sad considering this is very much a craft blog). Even so, I did eventually start, and payback started quickly.

Start a blog with a minimal budget – it can even be $50 a month, or less! If you really need to supplement with income, you can do that by trying to sell content to other bloggers in the meantime. (You can do this also via Facebook groups dedicated to that purpose.)

When you can invest in a decent camera (bonus points for a decent lens too), and learn how to use it. It will transform the reach of your posts!

I wish I had done this sooner, but I needed the push of my dear husband to go behind my back and buy one for me. This leads me to my final “mistake”, and one that I’ve shared with many other bloggers.

5. Self-host, and choose a good host from the start:

A self-hosted blog is one with its own domain name (as opposed to .blogspot or .wordpress) on its own website. You do this through a host.

Almost every blogger I’ve spoken to has made the same mistake: they started out with a free account on another website. Then they moved to a cheap host, which blocked them from growing. Eventually they agreed to pay.

Good, quality hosting for a small blog can cost about $10 a month (that’s the starting rate with my host, Black Chicken). You always need to pay an extra $15 a year for your domain name, and you’ll probably want to add the $10 a year for domain privacy so that your website isn’t listed at your home address.

What happens if you don’t?

Many people want to make sure that the blog will succeed before paying for any hosting. The problem is, that then you do need to move the blog once it does succeed. This can be pricey, time consuming, and slow you down in the long run.

People have also lost content and comments in the process, as well as traffic when redirects don’t go as planned.

As far as starting with a cheaper, unlimited hosting plan: They’re NOT really unlimited, even if they keep promising that they are. You can read more about my experiences/nightmares, but it comes along with lots of aggravation of host downtime, lost traffic, blocked growth, and, in turn, lost income.

All of this tends to happen at the point where traffic lost is income lost. While the limits set by hosts such as mine are scary, they do have a warning system in place when you are approaching your maximum bandwidth. It never happened to me.

I have unfortunately learned this the hard way: if you want to start a blog for income, and to become a professional blogger, start it the right way. 

The next step? How to get started finding sponsors for your blog, and of course, bringing in income.

Do you want to start a blog? What is your motivation? Comment below if you have any questions, or feel free to reach out to me!

Check out the rest of the “Behind the Blog” series! We are a diverse group of bloggers who will be sharing with you this year a monthly post about what goes on behind our blogs!

This month’s post is all about our blog beginnings. You can check out the rest of the posts here:

• Behind the Blog: Robb Restyle Beginnings (Robb Restyle)
• I never meant to start blogging but…. (Arts & Crackers)
• Behind the Blog: The Speckled Palate’s Beginning (The Speckled Palate)
• Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Blogging (The Life of Jennifer Dawn)
• Behind the Blog: Blog Beginning (Twin Stripe)
• “Can I start a Blog?” This is my Story. (The Natural Homeschool)

The post How to start a blog on the right foot appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

I was sure I lost everything.

I hadn’t. 

There were a few strange files, which were swiftly removed. My website was down for just about 24 hours, and while the damage was hard to quantify, I knew it was there. My host was not helpful: insisting I pay more to resolve the issue? What exactly had happened? An expert I spoke to speculated that the host had put it there to get me to upgrade.

Not very many weeks later, things began to happen again. I visited my website, and got a strange message to install Wordpress. 

So did anyone else who tried to visit my website.

It was a nightmare all over again.

So what does a blogger do when a website doesn’t work? I contacted my host, of course. The nightmare just got worse. 

This issue was supposedly caused by “exceeded hourly queries” – something that is hard to explain or quantify, but apparently I was using too many resources. So, while it was re-established within the hour, it kept on happening multiple times a day, for a few weeks, until I had no choice left but to DO SOMETHING.

As bloggers, especially those who rely on their blogs for some amount of income, WE NEED STABILITY, RELIABILITY, SECURITY. We need to be able to have answers and some measure of control over our blogs. 

Now, there are a few things you should know about my second situation, with the “exceeded queries”: 

• I had been experiencing a slump in traffic, so it could not have been related to that.
• When my host told me that’s what it was, and I told them this, they said it was a single plugin causing problems. I performed tests to see which plugins used the most resources, deactivated them, deleted them, and the problem continued.
• I had an UNLIMITED HOSTING PLAN. Now, all hosting plans that are unlimited come with some sort of statement that establishes that it must be within reason. But I was far from a massive blogger, hitting 100k pageviews a month steady. I wasn’t exactly in the millions.  

So what exactly happened there, if I used cheap unlimited hosting plans?

Disclaimer: I am currently a Black Chicken affiliate. That means that if you sign up via my link I receive a small commission. That being said, it’s a service that I swear by, and recommend even without my affiliate link. I was an affiliate with my old host too, and I am NOT sharing those links around anymore. 

It is very hard to tell, but upon speaking to various experts, I learned that these plans aren’t really unlimited. They are bait, to get you in. Once you start getting serious traffic, you’ll start bumping into problems, all of which have one solution: pay more.

When the malware was found on my website, do you want to know what my host told me? You need to pay us for extra security! (I had various security measures already in place, including CloudFlare and others). 

When the “queries” were exceeded? I needed to “upgrade” my plan to include more vague, unidentified queries.

CHEAP UNLIMITED HOSTING PLANS ARE NOT UNLIMITED! THEY ARE JUST LIMITED IN A WAY THAT YOU CAN’T UNDERSTAND.

Naturally, I was fed up. 

I was fed up with not being in control of my own business.

I was fed up with not being able to rely on my website to be up.

I was fed up with having to circulate back ten times, verbally bully and threaten to leave each time I needed customer service.

I was fed up with having to speak to a different rep WITHIN THE SAME CONVERSATION, that was composed of copy-paste repetitive answers that did not answer my unique situation.

I was fed up with not knowing what I was paying for, what I was getting.

I was fed up with not having options and details laid out clearly in front of me.

I was fed up with devious, non-straightforward sales techniques.

So, I left.

I switched to Black Chicken Hosting and I am now paying double the price. I receive an answer within minutes. My plan is limited, yet I have never received that warning that I have used up 75% of my allowance. Oh, did I mention that my company sends a warning if I am approaching my limit?

My website has been down twice, for a few moments, and my new host got it back up promptly. The second time it was literally a few seconds – I only noticed it because I had saved a draft at exactly that moment (bummer.)

So what are the red flags in cheap unlimited hosting plans that are unreliable?

Here are a few things that I noticed in common, among all the sincere hosting recommendations I received:

• They all have a few levels of plans clearly laid out, with pricing.
• They have prompt and local customer service, often very personalized. This is because they tend to be smaller businesses – not huge establishments.
• They are more personal, and have real people behind them (similar to above.)
• Their rates are higher. There is no question about it. 
• They don’t over-promise. If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.
• Every single blogger you ask will recommend them. Every single one.

There were a few hosts that I looked into, and eventually I chose Black Chicken because of rave reviews and competitive (but not ridiculously cheap) rates. 

I always said with my former host (which I will not mention so as not to single out one company when I’ve heard such complaints about quite a few) that I’d be glad to pay even double the price, if I knew I’d have customer service, and if I knew what I was getting. My blog was growing, I knew I couldn’t get away with paying that little forever, I just needed clarity and stability. That’s exactly what I have with Black Chicken. 

The staff helped me figure out which plan was best for me, and transferred me over in middle of the night. My host tried blocking their logins, and gave them issues, so it took longer than expected. They undercharged me, and even billed me for less than the budget I gave them for the tranfer! They also set up CloudFlare for me, at no additional cost. 

I was so pleased with them, that I wanted to write this post right away. I decided to wait a few months, though, to make sure I was really happy with them – and I still am. I am paying $21.99/month for their Rancher plan, which offers me plenty more than I need with just under 150,000 pageviews a month. I have that reliability, and stopped obsessively checking if my website is working.

So, should you avoid cheap unlimited hosting plans?

To tell you the truth, I did enjoy my low bills for a year. And for a blogger who wasn’t earning that much, it was nice not to have too much overhead.

But the aggravation that it caused when my blog was growing was horrendous. 

Ideally, if you could afford it, I’d recommend starting off with a host that you can stay with. 

Since starting off, you can use a smaller plan (Black Chicken’s start from $9.99), it’s probably worth it for most bloggers. That being said, may of these cheap unlimited hosting plans offer lucrative sales for new users. But read the fine print. Those specials last for a year. It costs to transfer your website, unless you’re a pro and can do it yourself. So, in the long run, you won’t be losing that much, if at all. And you’ll be saving yourself plenty of panic and aggravation later on.

That being said, may bloggers are hesitant to pay too much from the start, not knowing if they’ll even continue past the first few days. 

If it’s so important to you to give it a fair try first, you might want to start on blogger first for free. Setting up a redirect and transferring the website that way is much easier to DIY with plugins designed for that reason (though I wish I’d started out self-hosted.)

So, I’m not sure I’d resist those discounts, but if you want to start off with cheap unlimited hosting plans, I’d highly recommend switching over the second you start getting regular traffic. 

It’s just now worth the heartache. 

The post The truth about cheap unlimited hosting plans appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

It’s not just about earning money – it’s about justifying the time spent (for me, all day), and justifying the monetary investment (on hosting, craft supplies, any advertisement that you do, or services that you purchase).

This post offers a step-by-step guide to help you start earning money off your blog, big or small. It’s not about getting to the pro-blogger stage of earning six figures, but it’s the first step toward generating a consistent income.

Please note: This post contains some affiliate links. I have, however, shared my honest experiences with each one, and shared with you the networks that don’t offer affiliate bonuses  that I love too.

Increase your traffic.

The first step toward finding sponsors for your blog is clearly to have people visit. Focus on improving your traffic before tackling sponsored posts. 

Make sure your blog design looks great.

Having a convincing blog design is a surefire way to make your blog look serious enough for potential sponsors. You want branding, a great logo, and legibility above anything else.

IMPORTANT: Make sure you are not using wordpress.com as you may NOT offer advertisements or sponsored posts if you are on that platform. If you still need a free option, use blogger. However, I highly recommend self-hosting using wordpress.org. It’s a lot simpler than you might think, and not that expensive. It also looks much more professional to potential sponsors.

Please be aware: budget hosts that promise unlimited traffic will eventually cap you, but in a more discreet way. I am working on finding a better host now, and will share my recommendation once I have one.

Create evergreen content.

No great blog survives solely on sponsored posts. You want to show brands that you can create a killer blog post, without the pay. 

Create engaging posts that DON’T focus on affiliate sales, or a specific sponsor. 

I’ve seen many posts that encourage you to create product reviews on things that you already own, to convince brands to send you products to review. That is great advice if you have a review blog. However, to get people to PAY you, you’ll want to show that you can create helpful, informative posts in your niche. 

Later, you’ll create sponsored posts that flow seamlessly with that evergreen content. (Here is a great example of a sponsored post I did for Nautica that fits in well with the rest of my blog.)

Get social, be social.

Make sure you are on as many social networks as possible, and then master two. The rest you can automate using various plugins, however, you do want to be there. Many social campaigns will expect you to have a basic presence on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest (read my tips here), and Instagram. Some also require Google+. 

Have a media kit. 

While this is not a must, I have been contacted to work with brands directly via my media kit. 

If you scroll to the top of this page, you can see in my top menu, it says “advertise.” That is easy for brands to find, but not in the face of my readers, and that has all the information potential advertisers need to see if they’d like to work with me.

Advertisements:

Sidebar advertisements are a great place to start! They offer passive income (meaning, you don’t need to do extra work.) They won’t provide a full source of income, unless you have a lot of traffic, but the little bit extra should definitely cover hosting fees!

I don’t recommend selling them yourself, unless you are a local or very targeted blog. Otherwise, you can look into ad networks. Here are some of my favorites: 

• Adsense – is great for those of you starting out! They are my first and foremost network that I worked with.
• Sovrn – I use them to supplement Adsense. So far, so good.
• The Blogger Network – if you have higher traffic, consider The Blogger Network for your ads. They offer higher rates, but do have minimum requirements. I am currently working on switching over to them for my blog.

Join networks!

The best way to start finding sponsors for your blog is to join networks that connect advertisers to bloggers. These networks coordinate sponsored posts within various niches, and with major national brands. Most of my sponsored work, actually most of my blog income, comes from this. Apply to ALL OF THEM that you are eligible for – as your sponsors will likely come from a mix, and the more networks you join, the more likely you are to have a steady stream of sponsors.

Check each network’s individual requirements. If you don’t get accepted to one, see what you can improve, and try again a few months later! I was rejected to Pollinate when I first applied. I re-applied after my blog re-design and got accepted. 

Here are some favorites:

• Sverve – They were one of the first I worked with, and offer multiple opportunities at a variety of price points.
• WebFluential – I just joined this one and it looks promising! Their network basically creates a media kit for you that’s connected to your social channels, so that it auto-updates. Their estimated pay on tweets for my not-too-huge account is very decent.
• IZEA – This is possibly one of the best networks, as you can more or less set your own rates. They also offer sponsored social media posts (such as tweets or Facebook status updates.) I’ve found that upgrading my membership with them more than paid for itself, however even if you start out with the free option, you should find opportunities with them. This network is great for international bloggers too.
• TapInfluence – I’ve been using them a lot lately. You also get to set rates, though I started really getting jobs with them once my pageviews got higher. They also offer sponsored social media posts. 
• Clever Girls – I LOVE their campaigns! They also have some social media campaigns that pay well. They have a minimum requirement of 10,000 monthly impressions.
• Social Fabric – They have fun campaigns, and a few new ones a day to apply for. The pay doesn’t go too high once you are overloaded with assignments, but to start with, they offer a reliable, steady stream.
• WeaveMade  (7,500 pageviews minimum) / Pollinate (2ok pageviews minimum)  – these sister brands are geared toward different size bloggers. 
• Influence Central – I have yet to be accepted to a campaign of their, but you might as well try. I have some blogging buddies who do get regular sponsored posts with them. 
• iConnect (formerly Double Duty Divas) – with their re-brand, they started paying okay too! I like working with them because their campaigns are fun.
• Mom It Forward – Most campaigns have high minimum monthly visitor requirements, however they do pay accordingly.

Use affiliates.

Don’t underestimate the power of affiliate links! They are also more passive than sponsored posts. You have more control over them, so that you can decide how to use them.

Their use is always disclosed, however you can make it blend really seamlessly. For example, when I list craft supplies, I include the links to them as affiliate links. Then I let it sit, and the little bits add up. Some favorites include: 

• Amazon – because they sell anything and everything! Sometime people buy what I linked to, other times they buy other essentials. 
• Escalate – this is great for anyone who wants to focus on higher – paying commissions on individual links. The possibilities are more limited, however it’s worth incorporating their links into some of your posts. 
• Ebates – This cash back website has a basic “refer-a-friend” program. It’s definitely worth incorporating a few of their links on your blog. 
• Shareasale.com – you can choose to join individual programs via this website. Choose the ones that most fit your niche. Commissions are usually higher than on Amazon, and the cookies last longer (meaning the time frame that they have to purchase from that website for it to be considered your referral). 

Some great programs to join on ShareASale: 

For craft bloggers: Craftsy is a favorite – they have a “lead” commission too, which works for referring new people to their free courses too.

For parenting/kid fashion bloggers: Tea Collection is my highest earner to date. I love sharing about Gymboree, as it’s a favorite of mine. Shutterfly is also a popular choice.

For lifestyle or fashion bloggers: Julep is great because you get a bonus for referring people to their free trial too.

Disclose!

Whether you’re dealing with sponsored posts or affiliate links, always include a very clear blurb on your posts that notifies readers of the relationship with the brand, as I did in the fourth paragraph on this post. 

WHAT ARE YOUR TOP TIPS FOR FINDING SPONSORS FOR YOUR BLOG? DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? COMMENT BELOW, AND I WILL REPLY SHORTLY!

The post HOW TO GET STARTED FINDING SPONSORS FOR YOUR BLOG appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

For me, blogging is a full-time job. That means I do a LOT from my phone. 

These apps provide me with the most functionality  I can get out of it. 

Heads up: these are NOT affiliate links, and they are all for Android phones. They are simply the apps I use in my day-to-day blogging life. (some of the website sign-ups are referral links that give me more storage, because why not? But the apps are all those I personally have on my phone right now. as we speak.) If you’re looking for apps for bloggers for you iPhone, check out this great list by Singing Through the Rain.

Yes, this is the geek in me talking – I absolutely love writing about apps, and even though this isn’t a tech blog, I do try to introduce you to my favorite ones that can fit into your lives. So heads-up bloggers, your lives are about to get just a little bit easier!

16 Must-have apps for bloggers: 

1. Gmail – What? Gmail?

As a blogger, you probably get lots of email, and being able to take care of those on-the-go is a huge time-saver! If you upgrade to the latest version of Gmail, you’ll see that you can actually add your blog email account too! Isn’t that cool?

2.  Analytics – if you are an analytics stalker like me, you’ll love this app! It gives you the basic functions you need to see how traffic is going. I’ve also experimented with the gAnalytics app too. I like them both, but kept the first. 

3. Pinterest – I am a heavy pinner as you might know, and do NOT schedule out pins! I like to pin them live… Pinning on the go not only saves time, but I also find the app much easier and quicker to scroll through than the website. 

4. Facebook Pages Manager – I’m not sure this extra Facebook app is necessary (unless you ONLY have a page, and no personal profile) but I do like having it. That way, I know that I’m not accidentally liking or replying as myself. I also like the ease of replying to messages via the app. 

5. MailChimp – I used to just let my newsletter pass me by without knowing who opened or how many clicked. Now I check in quickly on the MailChimp app. If you don’t use MailChimp for your newsletter, you might want to try! I find it easy to use and I get views to my blog by having a weekly RSS feed go out. 

6.  Adsense – if you use Adsense for your ads, you can keep track of revenue using their app! Again, I prefer their at-a-glance display options over the website’s interface.

7. Crowdfire – This free app has so many uses! You can use it to find out who you are following that isn’t following you. You can also make use of it for scheduling tweets AND for reminding you to post photos on Instagram. That’s the closest I’ve gotten to Instagram scheduling. 

8. Statcounter – if you’re REALLY obsessed with your stats, like me, you might want Statcounter. It has a feature that Google Analytics doesn’t have – tracking EXIT LINKS! So you can see WHO you are directing traffic to, how many times they click your affiliate links, or banner ads. 

9-10. Package tracking – Whether you focus on reviews, or you want to know when the product for a sponsored campaign is on the way, both FedEx and UPS have tracking apps that allow you to find out when a package is supposed to arrive. 

11. Flipagram – If you’re an Instagram user, you’ll love Flipagram! It makes it easy to create stop motion type videos from a series of images. You can see what I did with Flipagram below. (Note: this can help you out with some sponsored campaigns).

 

A video posted by menucha (@menuchadesign) on Jul 1, 2015 at 7:33am PDT

12. Image editing – While I usually use Photoshop for image editing, and I will not deny that I can NOT do without it, I sometimes like to do something quick and spontaneous (such as a cute captioned image to share on Facebook).  I recommend having at least one app for that. Befunky is my go-to for mobile image editing!

13. Evernote – If you don’t use Evernote for blogging, you’re missing out. Like, really missing out! I should probably write a whole separate post on ways to use Evernote for blogging, but for now, I’ll leave you with: drafting blog posts, clipping articles to read, keeping track of where you share posts, sharing documents with other bloggers, creating reminders, taking and annotating screenshots, taking notes and storing tickets for conferences… I have Evernote on my phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, husband’s tablet, spare phone… so that I have the information wherever I am. 

14. Pages manager – This separate Facebook app for pages does make it much easier to share and schedule posts. 

15. LinkedIn – it’s the face of professionals – including professional bloggers! I just started using this as I’ve been neglecting sharing my posts to LinkedIn. Having the app handy makes it much easier. 

16. Cloud Storage – Which blogger doesn’t use cloud storage? While Evernote (see above) does work to some extent, it’s a note format, not a file format. I use both Drive (mostly for shared files) and Copy (my go-to for storage, for transferring files from phone to PC and vice versa, and for sharing too.) Copy offers lots of free storage.

Which apps for bloggers do you use? Comment below!

The post 16 Must-have Apps for Bloggers appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

I figured, I’ll be explaining to many people how I did this, when I did not have access to my website or plugins. Some hosts have the ability to back up from the back end, some don’t. FireFTP allows you to place it in any folder you want, as long as you can login to your website. You do not have to have access to Wordpress to do this. 

I use FireFTP primarily because that’s what I was taught to use when I studied web design. There are other options, but I find this one very reliable, easy, and convenient. 

Yesterday, my host suspended my account, due to some infected files. That means, that I was not able to reach my Wordpress dashboard to find my backup plugin. I wanted free access to my files, to back up my blog before I removed those files to make sure they wouldn’t affect my site. They are now safely removed. But having the ability to create a totally new update of my blog, including the post I had published the day before, and the draft I had written five minutes before,  meant the world to me. 

How to back up and restore your blog using FireFTP:

1. Download FireFTP FREE here. Follow the instructions to add it to your  browser, and then restart it.

2. Open FireFTP by clicking on options – the lines to the top right of Mozilla FireFox. Click on “Developer”. There you’ll find FireFTP. It opens in the browser window.

3. Connect your blog! In the top left corner, you should have a drop down menu. Click on it, and choose the option to add your blog. The account manager screen will pop up.

Name your blog (this doesn’t really matter – it’s for you.) Your host should most likely be ftp.your blog name. Fill in your username and password. This is the one assigned by your host, not your Wordpress account. Click OK. In the white area at the bottom, with the blue and yellow text, you will see updates.

4. You have a split screen. The left side is your local folders on your computer. The right is your website. Be very careful – don’t delete or modify anything from the right side! 

To back up your blog, create a new folder somewhere you’ll find it on your computer. Find it among the local folders. Click the TOP button (should say “download” when you hover) to download your entire website build to that folder. 

If you need to restore for whatever reason, click the upload. But be wary of deleting everything on your site. Only upload a clean copy if you need to!

You’ll see the status of your backup on the bottom. Note: it takes a VERY long time, as your website is full of great content! It can also add more time once you thought it was done, if the amount wasn’t calculated properly. It took me nine hours to backup my site yesterday…

On a final note, make sure you do backup regularly! Hacks, malware, and spam can happen to anyone.

Also, make sure you update plugins, themes, and anything else regularly, and don’t click on any links that you don’t recognize.

Stay safe and happy blogging!

Got questions on how to back up your blog using FireFTP? Ask away!

The post How to back up your blog appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

Now for an exciting announcement: I will be starting to redesign Moms & Crafters! When I started it, everything just “fell together” and was not planned out in the least. Going through this series made me realize how much I need to change to have a really well designed blog.

I will be using this as  a checklist for myself as well and can’t wait to show you the results!

11 Steps toward a well designed blog:

1. Know why it’s important that your blog be beautiful. Learn what pixels are, and some other little words you’ll need to know. Start saving your graphics in an SEO optimized format from the start.

2. Start planning out your branding. Yup, if you want people to remember you, you need to be well-branded!

3. Start creating your elements! A logo is the perfect place to begin. Make sure to follow some basic guidelines to ensure your logo is clear and professional looking.

4. Design a seamless background to match your branding! I’d recommend going with a non-intrusive, subtle pattern.

5. Add social media icons that match. You’ll find a huge list of free ones for commercial use here, including a tool to customize it. Or you can use the ones I designed for you.

6. As you customize your theme, choose colors to match your branding, and fonts that work well. 

7. Get posting! Make sure the visuals on your post are stunning to grab those readers. Start by improving your basic photography skills and learning how to enhance your images just a bit. 

8. Sometimes you just need a good stock image, and you can even get it free! Just make sure to check your image licenses (it’s not that hard).

9. Make sure to feature images on your blog posts in sizes that make them easy to share, and that will have the most impact when you share it.

10. Pinterest is a major traffic source for me. Make sure to have a Pinterest-perfect image on every blog post. Use online software such as Befunky to make it.

11. Use your design skills for actual site content! People love free things, and you can give one out digitally. It’s a great way to get people to subscribe, write a quicker blog post in a fix, and make your existing followers happy. Make sure these are in the correct format for print. Create it using programs such as Photoshop or Publisher, and then offer it in a new blog post. 

Want more info? Recommended reading

One of the best ways to expand on this knowledge is to read up on the subject! Here are some awesome books on the various subjects discussed. Note: I haven’t read these personally (I took a course) but the ratings are great both on Amazon and other sources. These are affiliate links.

• WordPress Made Super Simple

• Blog Design For Dummies

• Logo Design Love

• Brand Identity Essentials

• Designing Brand Identity

• Photo Editing in Photoshop

• Editing Digital Photos For Dummies®

• BetterPhoto Basics

I’d love to see what you’ve done with yours! Comment below with your well designed blog OR your tips for a well designed blog!

The post Steps toward a Well Designed Blog appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

 Disclaimer: Due to some backlash I feel the need to explain: I am not a pro blogger, an expert, or anything of the sort. I am writing this to share my personal experiences so that you can try it too. I have told so many of my blogger friends to try this, and those that have have seen their numbers going up. I have been at a slow and steady climb, with CONSISTENTLY high numbers and that is what makes me happy. Having consistent and reliable traffic  (that doesn’t rely on other larger bloggers sharing my content) is what makes me happy and secure in my blogging world.

I have shared my traffic stats openly so that you can see where I am, to be totally open and transparent, and not to pretend that I’m something that I’m not. If you are going to look at my numbers and decide that I have nothing to tell you, skip this. If you have greater traffic than me, but not from Pinterest, you may want to consider this good advice. If you’re ahead of my game, feel free to contribute to the discussion so that we can all learn. Even it’s Facebook or Twitter that you’ve mastered (you can see from my stats that I haven’t).

And if all you’re looking at is the final number, and not my growth rate (I had just 2000 followers a few months ago, and 10,000 pageviews) and my pageviews in relation to the age and size of my blog (I have about 150 posts and not all are relevant and updated), then you have unfortunately missed the point. 

Okay, so Pinterest strategy isn’t really about blog design… except that it is! The first step of your Pinterest strategy should be having great Pinterest graphics. I have two tutorials on that, plus some great photography and editing tips.

The next step is HOW you’re pinning – and WHAT you’re pinning.

Part 1. Is Pinterest strategy even a thing?

If you haven’t specifically searched “Pinterest strategy”, you may think it’s ridiculous – and even an exaggeration. Really, does everything have to have a strategy, a tutorial, and a set of instructions?

Here’s a little peek into my Google Analytics from this past month. It’s a pretty average month for me – I’ve had better and worse.

As you can see, about two-thirds of my traffic comes from Pinterest. Since this dashboard counts sessions from each source, and not actual pageviews, each visit from Pinterest leads to ever more pageviews than the sessions listed.

My traffic is still not huge. It’s pretty small-medium if you’d say, however it’s viable. It’s what brings traffic, allowing readers to then click around, subscribe, and remain regular visitors. It is what brings traffic to sponsored posts, which then brings me more.

All this started when I started having a Pinterest strategy. So that would be my first piece of advice: HAVE A STRATEGY!

Part 2. Which types of posts succeed on Pinterest?

There is a bad name out there for Pinterest among the un-crafty, and men. Contrary to popular belief, the most popular posts on Pinterest are NOT undo-able DIY projects, 10-word-long recipes, and ridiculous beauty hacks.

Pinterest is a place where people who tend to be more visual (which is almost everyone these days) search and browse for things that interest them. That includes parenting articles, app roundups, product reviews, and anything helpful. Yes, helpful is a key word here. People on Pinterest are looking LESS for stories and MORE for solutions. 

2 reasons DIY is not necessarily the traffic-driver on Pinterest: 

1. People sometimes just stop at the visual inspiration. They can learn a lot by just looking at the photo. (Note: this is another reason there are so many “Pinterest Fails”. People stop at the photos and don’t click through for actual instructions.)
2. They often tell a story, rather than solve a problem.

Some Pinterest DIYs that DO solve problems include:

1. Roundup posts: since they are based on a particular theme (a particular “problem” – such as how to entertain teens, as opposed to a one time experience that entertained a teen).
2. Seasonal posts: Since that is a common “problem” at the time and people are seeking a solution.

Here is another screenshot, showing my top 10 performing posts on Pinterest (from the last quarter):

Not a single craft. While crafts and recipes DO receive Pinterest traffic, it’s harder to earn, and not in the same bulk. They can get LOTS of repins, but fewer people click through.

My primary way of increasing Pinterest traffic to crafts is to include them in roundup posts. 

So, my big tip here is to CREATE A BEAUTIFUL “PINNABLE IMAGE” FOR EVERY SINGLE TYPE OF POST. MAKE THE TITLE OFFER A SOLUTION TO THE READER. 

Part 3. How does success on Pinterest work?

To develop a successful Pinterest strategy you need to know how Pinterest works. The key here is to give it time. Here is a screenshot from Google Analytics of the same stats as above, except with different dates. I chose the dates based on the publish date of my most popular post above: “10 Great Finger Foods for a First Birthday Party“. It starts the day that was published and counts three months in.

That post didn’t even make the top ten. One reason is that I did not yet have a strategy then. The main reason, though, is that it was a single pin that randomly “took off” months after it was pinned

That’s not the only one it happened with. Every single one of my top pins in the first screenshot took off later on.

So Pinterest traffic happens in two stages:

1. The immediate traffic from pinning a post as it’s pushed out to feeds
2. Momentum that both builds up with time, and seemingly random pins that “take off”.

Those two are usually unrelated, with the first being easier to predict (according to what I mentioned above). The second usually includes those that did well immediately, however it’s much more random.

The second is what “makes your blog”. While I was away for two weeks, doing NOTHING for my blog, my traffic hardly went down. It dipped only by a few hundred a day that I was losing by not having immediate pin traffic. But I still had over a thousand daily visits from my “viral” pins.

You’re aiming for both types of traffic: 

The immediate traffic adds up and is essential to your blog. That depends mostly on the following you have, the size of your audience, as these pins show up as new pins in followers’ streams. So you want to expand your audience. One way is to join group boards. This is a great way for a smaller blogger to get a huge audience quicker.  The best way to expand an audience on Pinterest is to pin consistently, every day, high quality pins. 

The viral pins are important as well, as they bring in more organic traffic, without requiring active work. While there are a few key elements here, it is mostly random, and sometimes even come from boards with few followers, as shown below.

To start with, make sure you have proper keywords, great images, and that you are pinning to appropriate boards. Make sure your boards have relevant titles and descriptions with matching keywords. This helps you rank in searches, and gives you a big boost. Try to get as many repins as possible to give pins that are already performing well a boost. Join pinning parties. Network with other bloggers. Get rich pins.

TRY TO GET AS MANY PINS ON YOUR POSTS AS POSSIBLE – the more you have, the more likely it is that one of those will take off.

Part 4. The bottom line: My Pinterest strategy

1. I pin all day, every day. Every time I see an interesting article that I like, I pin it.

2. I try to go on “pinning sprees” during key times. These are different for everyone. You can find it out by seeing at what time your traffic is highest. I usually do mid-afternoon and evening. During these sprees I pin OTHER PEOPLE’S CONTENT! This is what helps me build my audience. Which essentially leads to more traffic for me.

3. I pin only  high quality pins whenever possible. I pin to relevant boards. I make sure all my pins lead to relevant links, and not to spam. The quickest way to do this is to pin rich pins only (the kind where you see a little preview, with the website’s logo). If I really like something and it’s not a rich pin, I’ll just click on it to make sure it’s not spam.

4. When a post first goes live, I pin it first to my blog board.

Follow Menucha @ Moms and Crafters’s board Moms and Crafters: On the Blog on Pinterest.

5. I pin my own content daily. I do this by repinning one of my own pins from my blog board. I keep track of pins in a messy list, making sure to spread out the frequency of a single pin, and not to pin a single post to the same board for a while (to avoid spamming).

6. I only pin one of my own for every 5-10 I pin for others. This is very rough, and just a vague number to keep in mind.

I’ll admit that occasionally I lapse for a day or two, but I do this most days of the week to keep up the momentum.

Pinterest can be a major traffic source for any type of blogger. There is lots more I have to share, but I’m not about to start a new series on this, as I do have to go back toward what my blog is really about (I have some great awesome, doable crafts just waiting to be posted…) If you have any questions, ask them below and I’ll be happy to answer – usually within a day or two. 

The post How to Develop a Successful Pinterest Strategy appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

Pinterest can be a real driver of traffic. Without Pinterest, Moms & Crafters would have about a quarter of the traffic that it currently has. You probably found this post on Pinterest too. It took a while to get here. Next week I will be taking a break from the series (here’s your heads up). After that, I will share my pinning strategy that is working out great, in addition to more information on the power of Pinterest. The first step, though, is to have a perfect Pinterest image on every post.

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.

How to make a perfect Pinterest image: 

1. Vertical

This is possibly the most popular tip you’ll see. Your image should always be vertical – meaning portrait mode. You can see from the way the feed is set up that vertical images stand out, and have more real estate, since Pinterest first limits the width.

You can also see that it limits the height eventually too, so making crazy long collages no longer will “conquer the feed.” You can see the ideal sizes for Pinterest and all social media images here. 

2. Great photo/imagery.

It should be sharp, clear and bright. See how to take better blog photos here, and my favorite blog photo editing tools. You can also look toward BeFunky for fixing the images.

For non-craft or recipe posts, you might want to use a descriptive image, or a great stock photo. 

3. Clear Agenda

Your cover/hero image should sum up your post, giving pinners a clear message of what to expect. The issue with very long images is that the bottom is often cut off. If you want to make a super-long collage graphic for Pinterest, make sure to START with a clear, bright image of your final product.

If your post is a roundup of multiple things – show it. For example, a roundup of multiple product suggestions should show more than one product. A roundup of various crafts should show a few crafts. It does not need to have every one, but multiples already show the pinner that there is more to be seen.

4. Don’t disclose everything

You want your repins to end up with clicks through to your blog. Make sure you don’t give everything away in your image! The truth is, for many crafts this is hard, as people can somewhat figure things out by seeing it. But if you include images of the steps for making it, thy  most definitely don’t need to click through!

Another example of disclosing everything is an infographic, or similar image that gives away actual information for an article, such as the image below. This is great to make for fun, but not to rely on actually driving traffic to that specific article.

5. Be Bold

Make a Pinterest image that stands out and is bold. I have read in the past that red-toned/warm images get more repins. I have not seen that in action, however I do know that those colors are bolder and stand out more. Bolder images I HAVE seen get much more action.

6. Text that stands out. 

Text is a bit of a controversial issue here, so I will speak as a pinner, not as a blogger. I like to know what your post is about, especially with handmade goods that look professional… I am careful not to pin handmade merchandise as “DIY” so I would love to see text that shows that it is indeed a link to a “DIY” or craft.

Text helps you big time with #3, especially when you’re dealing with an article, not a craft or recipe. The boldness of the text should depend on what kind of pin you’re dealing with. A craft can have subtle text, and an article should have bold text. A recipe doesn’t need any text in my opinion, but as a pinner I still like to see it.

Make sure your text stands out on the background. You can do this by using an outline, drop shadow, or a shape behind the text when it does not occur naturally.  Make sure to retain legibility. 

Images that illustrate these steps: 

I will include some case studies from my own blog, so that you can see the points above illustrated. These are some of my top performing pins (as measured by visits to my blog). Some are continuously top pins, and some were at one point. I have linked to them for your convenience.  These are my top referring pins of all time:

It has a clear agenda, is bright, but does not disclose everything. The text is bold and understandable.

The above post did so well, it inspired this follow up, which follows the same rule and is also doing very well.

This one is a bit of a mystery to me. It was an old pin that suddenly took off like crazy. Today, I would probably include a couple more foods in the image. But I can attribute its success to very bold text and a very clear agenda. It also doesn’t disclose too much.

This new-ish post has taken off to a great start! It contains subtle messaging in the image and a clear agenda. It doesn’t give away too much.

I attribute the success of this pin to the bold imagery involved. I made it by finding a simple photo, outlining the basic lines in Photoshop, and filling it in.

Once again, a bold image that I took (but it could just as well have been stock) gives a clear message, with the text supporting it in a noticeable way.

This one is mostly text, with a quickie Photoshop background I made. And it’s bringing me hundreds of visitors daily.

And finally, to include one of my best craft posts, this one has been bringing in consistent traffic too. It’s from Valentine’s day, but due to NOT being branded that way, it is still alive and thriving. I did not have a good vertical image, so I made a collage without the steps…

Some bad examples: 

Yup, there was a time before I “lived and learned”. Here are some of my lessons I learned the hard way:

This image totally sums up the post… but a little too much! It gets repinned a lot, but people have little motivation to click through.

This links to the same “top tips” post, but does NOT sum it up. It gets little in the way of visits to my blog, but has plenty of repins.

And finally, this gives away a little too much… While I would still include these graphics in my post as they are GREAT visual references, on a blog that tries to be as visual as possible, I would not rely on them as my Pinterest image.

And one final tip for today:

Think of the perfect Pinterest image as the “cover” of your blog post. It sums up its story in a clear, aesthetic way, but doesn’t TELL the story!

Do you have any tips to add, any success stories, or questions? Comment below!

The post 6 Steps toward a Perfect Pinterest Image appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

The key to driving traffic with Pinterest is magnificent, eye-catching images, with a clear agenda. Next week, I will elaborate more on the key factors of a Pinterest-perfect image, and the kind of traffic it drives. For now, I will offer a step by step tutorial on how to use the BeFunky app to make one.

About BeFunky:

BeFunky is a web app and mobile app that has some amazing photo editing capabilities, as you will see. It has an artistic edge to it and is extremely easy to use. There are both free and paid options. As a blogger, you probably will want to pay, however you can play with the free version first. I am extremely impressed with the pricing, and find it affordable even for bloggers who are on a tight budget.

Ease of use: I found BeFunky very quick and easy to learn. A simple and clean interace keeps away visual tension. Discreet but clear hover notes ensure that you know what each symbol represents. And my favorite: a generous work space gives you a much better experience.

BeFunky has both a web app (use it online) and a mobile app. I personally prefer working on blog images on my laptop, where I blog from, so that I don’t need to worry about transferring images back and forth. The mobile app, though,  is great for when you want to accomplish on the go, and for processing images you took on your phone.

How to Make Pinterest Images using BeFunky: 

Open the BeFunky app, and choose a photo to upload. This can be a photo you took of a craft you made, or a stock image for an article.

If you image is in landscape, you’ll want to crop. Start by resizing. You’ll find the options under “Edit” in the toolbar on the left. Make sure your aspect ratio is locked, and set your HEIGHT to the height you will want. You’ll be cropping from the width.

Next, choose crop. You’ll notice, while you are in editing mode, there are two symbols to the left of your options. One has a serious of lines (takes you back to the original toolbar); the other a series of squares (takes you up one).

Make sure to select “portrait” and then unlock your aspect ratio. You can now set your ideal pixel width.

After each step, once you are satisfied with results, click “apply”.

BeFunky has a vast array of enhancements and effects. I decided to use a new one for this tutorial’s cover. You can play around with the various effects to gain the look you like.

Note: I only recommend using effects when you are enhancing an illustrative image, not a descriptive image. Meaning, you an use an effect on a stock photo for your parenting article, but not on the image of a craft you made.  (I will elaborate more on this next week). For those, I will show you soon some enhancements you can do to get eye-popping images.

If you navigate back to the main tool bar you can add text. You have a choice of using your own (fonts on your device), or theirs. You can add outlines or a background color to make your text stand out.

If you are creating an image for a craft or recipe, you’ll want it to be a sharp, bright image with no effects. My favorite enhancement to start with is the “beautify” option. You can play around with the strength to get the most realistic, but most vivid result.

I followed that up with brightness, contrast, and temperature adjustments. As you go along, you can compare results at various stages! Simply click on the history button – the middle button above your image, and you can step back to any stage. This helps you avoid over-processing your image.

Click the save icon above your image. If you plan to use this in a collage later (or if you want to store it in your account), choose to save to BeFunky. If you are done and ready to publish, you can save to desktop. Choose the file size that is smaller when saving for the web. 

Sample Results: 

Here are some “before” and “after blog post covers, all made using the BeFunky web app. Which one would you repin?

How to make a collage with BeFunky:

I recommend collages mainly when doing a roundup post, however, they are popular for all sorts of crafts and recipes. The trick is: Don’t disclose everything. Make sure potential readers have a reason to click through.

Once you’ve enhanced your photos, you can easily switch to the collage maker via the “B” symbol in the top left corner.

You have various templates you can choose from, including some valuable social media options. Choose Pinterest. You can now also choose “create your own” to make it the way you want it.You can also impose images on top of each other.

Select the layout that works best for your project. I chose a long one with fewer images. Since this is not a roundup,  I don’t want to give away too much in the picture.

If you photos are not yet uploaded, choose that option.

You can choose to auto fill, or place your images by dragging and dropping. I always put a descriptive image at the top, so that pinners can right away know what they are looking at. I left one slot blank for text.

Add and format your text the same way you did above. Here, you’ll want to choose a style with a  background, and make sure it fits nicely in the slots you left for it.

You can set border size, color, etc. At any point you can click on an image in the collage to open it in the image editor. When you are satisfied, save your final image.

There are many more features that you will discover as you go along. The Pinterest tip image above used various blur and colorizing effects. You’ll have the time of your life playing around with it, and you’ll love the usability and the final results.

Access the web app, or download for mobile.

Have you tried the BeFunky app yet? Comment below if you have any questions about the features. Follow along so that you don’t miss next week’s installment on making these images the stars of Pinterest. 

Disclaimer: This tutorial has been sponsored by BeFunky. The user experience, and any opinions described above are solely those of Moms & Crafters.

The post Make Pinterest images that drive traffic: BeFunky Tutorial appeared first on Moms and Crafters.