Focus on What You Have!

By Piper Toth. Photoography by Niki Lynn.

Today I wanted to share one of the best things I have done for my online store and site. I stopped focusing on traffic, analyzing it constantly, and fretting about how to increase those numbers. Now I know what you're thinking; “isn’t that important?” Yes it is, but it’s definitely not the be all, end all. If you want to build a loyal following and consequently, high word-of-mouth traffic, the best thing you can do is focus on the customers and readers you actually have. That was the best shift in thinking I made as a shop owner. Even if you only have 5 customers, making them happy and focusing on their needs will keep them coming back to your site. More often than not, they’ll start raving about your site.

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Editorial Calendar Links

By Chris Gardner. Photo by Henri Lachambre, Library of Congress.

Here are a few links for ideas and techniques for creating a meaningful and practical editorial calendar for your site: 

• Some tips for brainstorming and planning your content up to a year in advance
• How to Build an Editorial Calendar for You Blog
• The bloggers behind A Beautiful Mess offer some “trade secrets” on how they plan blog posts
• A podcast by CraftyPod asking “Why Should You Plan Your Blog Posts Ahead?”
• Free downloads! The blog post planner and calendar
• Squarespace users should check out their free calendar plugin for planning posts!

Promote With Purpose

By Melanie Biehle. Photography for Ruffled.

Supporting other bloggers is good
Sometimes the green-eyed monster gets the best of even THE BEST bloggers. But think about how many people there are in the world - how many companies, how many brands, and how many products. There are so many different interests, personalities, and ideas out there. Supporting and encouraging other bloggers is a positive thing. We’re not all right for every brand, job, or reader out there. The more the merrier!

Promote other bloggers
What does it mean to support other bloggers? Being there as a friend to offer advice and encouragement is part of it, but the other part is helping promote their work. This is not just good for them, it’s great for you. No one wants to read Twitter feeds that are just full of your own posts and work. How cool is it to have awesome posts to share from bloggers you respect and love? Super cool. Your followers will love you for it. It’s a win/win/win.

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Tips for conducting interviews and growing your blog audience

By Monica Lee. Photography by Darcy Miller for Design Sponge.

Interviewing people on your blog is a great way to increase traffic and add content to your blog. When I started Smart Creative Women I didnʼt even think like that. Sure I wanted an audience, I guess? The real story is that I was immensely curious about how some creative women seemed to be rockinʼ their businesses and others seemed to be spinning their wheels. If you are thinking about adding interviews to your blog here are some things you might want to do:

1) Be efficient
When you are contacting a potential guest for an interview understand that they are busy. Really busy. Long emails with long introductions and explanations take a long time to read, and someone might say no simply because they think it will take too long! Be concise in your contact. You might tell them how many questions you are going to present to them so they will know what to expect so you acknowledge that their time is valuable.

2) Be interesting
When you are asking guests questions, weave the story for them. I have asked designers on to my show to not only highlight their products, but also to highlight how they handle their social media. People are thrilled to realize that you see good things in them, things they often donʼt even see in themselves. If they are a popular figure, and most people know their back story, skip that aspect and ask something new. This leads me to the next point which can make or break your interview.

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A Blogging Office Makeover

By Chris Gardner.

Sometimes, when I hop on my soap box and go on and on about how essential an editorial calendar is to every blog - no matter the size or topic - I begin with this photo:

This is my office when I was still working a full-time, non-blogging job. I was lucky enough to have a dedicated space to work on my blog posts, original DIY and craft projects, but my work looked like my desk.

I’d publish whenever I could, on evenings and weekends. I’d publish as many things as I could at once, this way I could make sure to get them up while I had the time, blasting off all kinds of new content in a row. And I’d work on things as soon as I could, hopefully getting them published while their information was still relevant, seasonal, and contextually appropriate. (Read: before the actual holiday or even the celebration).

This is my office now. And I share this not because I think having a clean desk is essential to blogging success, but because I do think that setting yourself up to work consistently and efficiently is the best way to help grow your blog and your readership.

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