Blogging is a tool. Sure, it’s a marketing tool that we’ve all been told we just have to use. But it’s also a tool for giving your business credibility, keeping you on target & accountable, engaging customers, finding inspiration for new business ideas. Your blog should work for you & your business – you should not work for your blog.

I’ve built a sizable web presence & online business around my blog, Scoutie Girl. While it’s traffic may be smaller than other sites in its niche, I have created a highly influential readership that is as passionate about what I have to offer as I am passionate about what they have to offer! I get a real kick out of helping someone else create an influential & powerful blog of their own, whether to support an existing business or to launch a brand new one!

And with that, I have added a new service to my brainstorming sessions: the Blog Brainstorm & Action Plan. This is a laser-focused type of coaching in which I will help you solidify the goals you have for your blog, critique your current blog, punch up the sales potential, give direction to your content, and identify additional revenue streams you could explore.

The Blog Brainstorm is a 45 minute call, Skype, or chat session where we’ll hash out your strengths, weaknesses, and lofty ideas. Then you’ll receive my personal notes from the call, as well as a action plan in pdf format so that you can work through what we discussed. The cost of the service is $75.

Want the details? Click on over to the brainstorming page for more information on the Blog Brainstorm & Action Plan, as well as the other brainstorming services I offer.

she may not know it, but i am so jealous of victoria klein! victoria writes for all sorts of great print publications, including boho, yogo journal, and craft. her blog is a clean, happy place where she leaves small snippets of information & beauty.

i like

as i just said, i love the clean layout of victoria’s blog. lots of white space puts a major emphasis on content. and content is what will sell your service or product or, well, you!

when you’re first getting started with wordpress or blogger or [other blog platform], it’s so easy to choose a busy theme that makes it look like you’re a web designer. trust me, the less noise around the edges, the more it will look like you know what you’re doing. clean white layout, minimal banner image, readable colors.

speaking of layout, i think victoria’s site is a good example of a 2-column layout too. with room for a few notable exceptions, unless you’re selling something and selling something for someone else (i.e. affiliate marketing or advertising), a two column format is my preference. if you find 2 columns makes your sidebar too long, consider what is really necessary. what can you edit to get more bang for your link buck?

earlier, i discussed how i like to see a small “about” section at the top of your sidebar. in victoria’s case, this isn’t necessary because her blog is incorporated into her website, all that information and much more is available just a click away. victoria instead leads with her feed information – perfect! – and then a number of ways to connect with her further: twitter, linkedin, and formspring. are links that allow your readers to connect with you more casually or quickly prominently display on your blog?

things to improve

i love victoria’s content. vivid images, short but descriptive writing. it’s the kind of blog you can stop by daily and get a piece of inspiration.

but victoria doesn’t have many comments. and i know comments are all something we like to get. my suggestion: ask for them! ask a question, and let your readers know you’d love to read their answers in your comments.

right now, victoria is working her way through the 365 project – taking an image every day for a year. as you can imagine, many of these images are intimate little windows into her life. my advice to would be to use these to connect with readers through asking them to reveal a tiny window into their life.

for example, victoria recently wrote a post featuring the above image. it’s a toy from her childhood. i had the same toy! so i left a comment. but what if victoria had simply asked: what’s a toy from your childhood that meant something to you?

getting comments doesn’t just help your self-esteem. engaging readers and asking questions help your readers to feel involved in your blog, to feel invested in you and your work. when others feel invested in you, they are much more likely to help you to promote yourself and return more often to make purchases.

overall, i adore victoria’s blog, her photography, and her writing. if you’re looking for a personal spot to get a bit of inspiration to start your day, i highly recommend get to know her through her blog!

the next contestant in the blogging game is a volunteer from twitter, @thehouseofheart. crystal runs a sweet vintage shop on etsy and blogs about her life, shares her boyfriend’s art (fabulous!), and brings her creative inspiration to the web.

i like

i like – nay, i love! – the way the branding is carried through from the logo to the smallest detail. kudos! these bold, simple details make her site pop in a very professional way. recognizable branding is a sure way for people to feel more comfortable purchasing from you online. if your blog & shop & email newsletter are disjointed, people get nervous. or, at least, i do. +30 points!

i also really like how the sidebar is organized: search bar at the top, then calendar to search posts by date, then a super categories list, and, finally, the archives (which in my opinion should always be last). +10 points!

oh, and pictures of cute kitties… +10 points!

in addition to the excellent branding through the blog, i should add that there is nothing taking away from that clear visual message either. you may have a great logo or great details – but if there is other distracting visual information, you’re sunk. you’ve just diluted your brand. but crystal has taken her stark logo and carried the white, black, and red throughout the site as the main colors. the only variation is a soft tan for the body of the blog – quite unusual! – and it works well since it softens the harder palette. +10points!

things to improve

if you know me or you’ve been reading along, you might know what’s first on my list here. about page! oh crystal, i had to go to your etsy shop & then to your profile page to even find out that that was your name. i would copy & paste crystal’s etsy profile and just expand on the philosophy of shopping vintage that she hints at there. luckily, crystal uses wordpress and adding a page is just as easy as adding a post! once she’s done that, my suggestion would be to add a small about “widget” to her sidebar that just explain her brand or herself in 1-2 sentences and then invites reads to click through to the about page for more information. -30 points…

next, on to link opportunities. in this post on a coming shop update, crystal missed a few great opportunities for link building! she writes about “her man” and “the shop” – these are both places that are worth links. for a new reader like me, i could have found the information i need more quickly if those little spots were links.

anytime you can link within your blog (from post to post, from post to page…) you should. linking within your website or blog improves your search engine optimization and search authority. of course, it just makes you site easier to use, too!

on the flip side, any time you can link to a related website outside of your blog, you should. that creates a network of websites trading SEO value. and, again, makes your site more useful for readers new & old alike! -15 points…

crystal, thanks so much for volunteering your blog for the blogging game!

what do you think? do you have other suggestions for the house of hearts? maybe somethings you really like about the blog that i should have pointed out? share them in the comments!

i was thrilled and a bit daunted to receive an email from katherine jalaty, the blogger behind making chicken salad, asking to be considered for a blog critique. i found katherine initially from a beautiful mess, where i found her finger knitting tutorial. so, katherine’s going to start with a whopping 30 points for a great linkage!

like it

the first thing i like about katherine’s blog, unusual on a blogspot blog, is her navigation menu located just below her header image. this clearly lays out important pages and guides her readers to special content like tutorials. great content will get new readers to stay for a bit – but without clear navigation you’re apt to see readers click away quickly instead of looking deeper for more information. like where to buy your stuff! +10 points.

here’s a simple tutorial i found to help you add a horizontal nav menu to your blogger blog.

next, katherine has ventured into the world of info products. what’s an info product? it may be an ebook, a craft pattern, a tutorial, an e-course… anything you can dream up to package a piece of information you have and spread it to the masses. sometimes they’re free – sometimes you pay for them. either way, info products are a great source of traffic for your blog because they solve people’s problems. score. +20 points

finally, katherine has a great mission & focus for making chicken salad: “Make the most of what you have (something out of nothing, if you will) by appreciating the people and things in your life, as opposed to what you feel you do not have. This can be manifested differently for each person. I choose to focus my efforts toward family and creative endeavors.” +10 points

things to improve

so, that lovely mission that i mentioned? i can’t find it! it might be there – it is awfully late as i’m writing this – but it’s not popping out. where would i like to see it? probably just under the snazzy picture of katherine on the left sidebar. yes, it will move her product button down a bit… but it might actually help sell the product by letting readers know right away what she’s all about. -15 points

katherine mentioned to me that she really struggles with blogger’s block. she’s working through 52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion which has plenty of tips & ideas to help with that but what other tips are there for this common dilemma? katherine let me know she’s planning to develop at least 2 weekly features. yes. definitely. do it yesterday! that would be my number one suggestion. in fact, katherine, i would challenge you to do a tutorial every week. even if you find a tutorial elsewhere and document how you created the project, your readers will totally dig it!

another suggestion for beating blogger’s block is to not be afraid of the picture post. don’t know what to write? don’t write anything. share a picture you took last week, last year, or last decade.

and here’s a post on problogger about using mind mapping to generate post ideas.

finally, i see an unfortunate SEO omission. it looks like katherine doesn’t title her posts. i’m sure she does this for aesthetic purposes – and i get that. and you might use clever or sarcastic titles. but when you don’t properly name your posts, you are missing out on the number one keyword area in your post. do yourself a favor, get more traffic – title your posts and include a keyword or two. here’s some help from my friend crissy on how to find keywords for your business. -10 points

thanks so much, katherine, for volunteering for the blogging game! i hope you find these comments useful.

to volunteer your blog, just drop me a line with one or two questions you have about blog design or writing!

first up in this series is sarah erdmann from wifemomdesigner & lucky star press. sarah is – get this – a wife, mom, and graphic designer. ya know, most of the time in blogging saying precisely what you mean is *very* important – 10 points for the simple & effective title, i know what i’m going to get.

like it

unless you’re the sartorialist, you’re probably not going to get by with the stock blogspot header. a beautiful or unique or eye-catching – and at the least professional-looking – header is a must. luckily, sarah is a designer and created a beautiful banner that serves as a jumping off point for the rest of her blog design: simple, colorful, and pretty. 20 points for a great header!

the most recent post while writing this is a “meme” post. sure, write too many of these and you’re going to annoy somebody. but memes & projects (something i talk about in 52 Weeks) are a great way to guide your writing, give your readers insights in to your business, and generally make things fun! 10 points for fun.

things to improve

who are you, sarah? i’m totally sad that sarah hasn’t included a small “about” section in her sidebar – at the top. while blogger isn’t my platform of choice, i know there’s a gadget – or whatever you crazy blogger users call your widgets – for adding in an easy peasy about section that pulls from your blogger profile. -10 points for confusion & missed marketing opportunity.

similarly, sarah has a lovely graphic for her design shop (+15 points!). but you have to get through her blogroll to see it… i would put that puppy right under that lovely “about” section sarah’s going to add tomorrow morning! -10 points for missing out on sales.

which leads me to a couple of little pointers about sidebar organization.

• consider the length of your average post. any information & links you want everyone to see should be contained in that average length on your sidebar. many people will only view your blog via single posts, if all your good info is down at the bottom of your sidebar, it’s not going to get seen!
• make it easy to connect with you. social media links – facebook, twitter, linkedin – and your email address or other contact info should be displayed prominently. the more you use it, the higher it should be on your sidebar.

finally, sarah needs to blog more about her own work! don’t get me wrong, i’m all for blogging your inspiration – whether that be other artists, your family, or daily life – fill in the gaps. but don’t be afraid to post your work. of the 6 blog posts on her first page, sarah only shows a picture of her work once.

do you spend 1/6th of your time working?

i didn’t think so. honestly, i read artist’s blogs to find out what they’re working on. show it to me!

oh – one more thing! – sarah let me know that her business is mostly wholesale. she works for new accounts not necessarily for retail sales, although i’m sure she’d be thrilled if you popped over to her etsy shop. so how can she increase awareness of her desire to whole her product? my suggestion is always to post about the stores & boutiques that are already carrying your work. “interview” the owner, do a special “thanks” series – and always include your wholesale contact information at the bottom of those posts.

thanks so much for volunteering for the first blog critique, sarah. i hope you find some of these suggestions useful!