03.18.08
Posted in Uncategorized, networking, marketing, site promotion, advertising, blogs, social networking at 9:58 am by KellyM
Blogging is huge right now! Well, has been for some time and getting bigger everyday. You can’t seem to go anywhere online without finding a blog about something. This is great! Most blogs are informative in nature, presenting you with the latest and greatest news, products, techniques, and how-to’s on any subject imaginable. There are blogs that you can find where personal updates are shared. There are even people who sell their wares from their blogs. However you set your blog voice to be, you’ll probably feel better if you get it noticed, generate a following, and get comments to your blog posts.
You can search for blog topics in a variety of places. You can even join groups of bloggers to catch up on the latest happenings in your niche or area of interst. I want to share a few of the places I keep in touch with the Blog/Web World here. If you know about these sites already, great! If I miss something, you can let me know. If you don’t, maybe you’ll be inspired to join and expand your networking a bit more. I am new to a lot of this and do not pretend to be an expert, but feel that sharing the knowledge I do have is worth quite a bit.
www.bloglines.com A free site where, when you sign up, you get your own blog. You will have the option to save it as private, where only you can view it’s contents, or public, where we can all find it and follow it if we choose. You also can build a list of your favorite blogs based on different categories. I found all of my favorite niche blogs here. The best part is, they are all in one spot! They continue to be updated as the blogger updates their posts. You can add a button to your current blog, if you have one, and others can add you by clicking on that button. No more going from site to site to site, which can take a huge amount of time. One feature I like here is that I can clip/save a blog post here for future reference. The option will be found at the end of every post. Click on it and save it to your clippings folder or blog about it right away. You can view my blog roll here. I have not made my blog on bloglines public yet. Once I get it all figured out, maybe. But you can find this one and my other one on there.
www.del.icio.us.com Free to join. Here you can compile your favorite blogs as well and view them, save them, tag them and read them at your leisure. I have spent a little bit of time here, probably not as much as I should, so not too much of an expert on this site. But if I come accross a blog I like and they have a Delicious button, I click it and it’s saved. Almost along the same lines as above. Here you can follow other people with similar interests as you and they can follow you if they like what you save. Networking for blogs…You can view me here.
www.technorati.com Get your blog posted or submitted here, and get more traffic. I did not submit my blog here, one of you so kindly did. THANK YOU!
www.mixx.com The Mixx, I like. Free to join as well. You set up your user profile and can add tags that you want based on your interests. You can also add your own content, pictures, and site to ”the mixx”, don’t forget to add the relevant tags. This site will show you blogs, pictures, and sites based on those tags and you can vote up or down about the content you read or view and make comments. (This is not the part I care for or about, just a “fun thing” they offer). You can view other peoples profiles and follow them and they you. But the part I like is that I do not have to feel bad or beat myself up if I do not get there everyday to check what’s new. They email me as new posts are submitted to my categories, I see which category it is with only the title showing and I can choose if it is something I need or want to read (this is where great titles come in!). If I choose to read it I am taken directly to the Mixx site, where I can see who voted and how, their comments~if I choose and one more click and I am on that blog reading away. Fast, easy and not a time waster. You can find me here.
I certainly hope this provided some new information for you. How do you promote your blog? What blog networking do you do?
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02.09.08
Posted in Uncategorized, jewelry, fun, hand crafted jewelry, kellymalouf, shopping, networking, marketing, site promotion, advertising, interviews at 8:38 am by KellyM
This is a new segment I have wanted to do for a little while. I have put the word out that I am looking to interview people who design, create and sell their own work. They would be featured here. This will help people get to know the artist behind the work, so to speak. So here is the interview I did with Me!
Name: Kelly
Business: www.kellymalouf.com
Where are you located? Illinois
What do you design? Hand Beaded Jewelry, Clothing, Accessories, Home Decor items and More
Where/How did you learn to do this? I took a Jewelry Making Class a while back and am self taught after that.
Favorite Artist who inspires you? They all inspire me. There are so many talented artists and designers out there, I just couldn’t pick one or two.
Where does your inspiration come from? I get inspired all the time. Just everyday life I guess.
What do you do to combat creative block? I have to step away and spend time doing other things like spend time with my family.
Where do you design your creations? I have a room we all call the “craft room” in my home.
What does your work space look like right now? Right now I have supplies all over my table for a project or two I am working on for my website.
How does your family feel about what you do? My husband and kids are pretty supportive of the time I spend on my business. Sometimes they have to drag me away, but it’s all good!
Do you have any advice for someone looking to make their own creations using this method? I would invest in a class first (either at their craft store or online). And then branch off from there.
Best advice you received when starting your own business? Have patience, don’t give up and stay positive.
Favorite part of owning your own business? Being able to do what I love and still be able to be close to the people I love.
Least favorite? The “paperwork” and reports.
How do you relax? I spend time with my family and friends, read, watch TV.
Favorite color? Purple
Does this color show up in a lot of your work? Sometimes, but it is not done on purpose.
If there were more hours in the day, what would you be doing? Probably catching up on things around the house or still creating.
Samples of Hand Beaded Designs products. To view all of my my products, please visit my website.
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02.08.08
Posted in Uncategorized, jewelry, hand crafted jewelry, tutorials, kellymalouf, networking, marketing, site promotion, advertising, forums, blogs, social networking at 12:00 pm by KellyM
I’ve asked this question myself and I’ve seen it asked a ton of times recently. I know some people guard the answer with their lives, hoping to throw off their competition. But the information is easy to find by doing searches. So, it really is not that big of a secret. I have also seen that answers do vary from place to place. Well, here is a quick rundown of what I know so far….
1. SEO
2. Forums and Blogs
3. Social Networking
4. Write your own Blog
5. Signature Link
6. Pay for it
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is how you get the Search Engines (SE) to notice you. Keyword and Tags and all of that. If the SE can’t find you neither will customers. You can do a search on this and find an abundant amount of results. I have gone to www.seo-news.com and found it to be updated regularly, it’s free to join, it has good links to other helpful information and sites. They do offer services for a fee, but that is for you to decide on.
FORUM AND BLOGS, I would start with your favorite magazines and see if they have forums and blogs on their sites that you can join. Do a search for any that relate to what you are selling or interested in and join them. Try www.craftster.com or www.theswitchboards.com for crafts. These sites will provide you with information for our market and most of all suport. Do not discount the business sites either, www.onlinemerchantnetwork.com through PayPal has a great forum there and you will get a ton of great advice, help, and support from veteran business people from every kind of business. Blogs are very subjective, in my opinion. Search through a forum you join or do a blog search on the topic relating to your website.
SOCIAL NETWORKING sites are great too! Places like MySpace, Facebook, Multiply, StumbleUpon, Squidoo, to name several are all great places to post information about you and your business. Here are the links to my sites so you can see what I am talking about:
www.myspace.com/handbeadedbykellymalouf
www.kelly2u.multiply.com
www.crafterschoice.multiply.com (a group I run on multiply)
www.handbeaded.stumbleupon.com
www.squidoo.com/kellymaloufshandbeadedjewelry
Some of these sites you may need an account to view my information, but that is ok, it’s free to join. Some of these sites may also allow you to sell your items from your site page (there are fees). These sites are a great way to market your product and site to anyone who may be interested. They provide a link to your site from theirs. A way for customers to find you.
StumbleUpon, Squidoo and others like them allow you to have your site seen by the many members who choose that interest in their profiles. Members vote if they like your site or page or don’t like it, and members have the ability to leave comments good and bad.
With these sites you not only get a link to your site, you also have the added opportunity to join groups, forums, blogs and to network.
WRITE YOUR OWN BLOG set up a Blog and connect it with your site. Make sure you are not writing about your annoying neighbor but about your business or topics relating to your business. You need to offer something of value to your customers and potential customers. Check out other Blogs relating to jewelry or crafts to see how they are doing it.
SIGNATURE LINKs in your emails, and in forums and blogs. Anywhere that allows you to put a signature to your site do it. BUT, be carefull of what you write and post in forums and blogs. Some of these become viewable by everyone. Put it on every email account and it will be there everytime you send an email.
PAY FOR IT advertising is something I have not done yet. There are many ways to do this. Google, Yahoo, they all have ways you can pay for advertising and pay for high ranking. It is your decision on how you want to proceed with that. Since I have not done it I can not tell you if it is worth the price or not. I’m sure if you join any forum you may find your answer.
By doing all of this, even some of it, will help. I should tell you though, it is time consuming to join these sites, add your information to them, and participate. But the effort is worth it if it gets you noticed.
I hope this has helped for now. As I find more information I will relay it here. If you have a suggestion or even a comment on what I provided, let me know.
Until then, Happy Networking!
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