I got an email from Anna with a common question. Sometimes this question speaks up loud & clear, as it did to Anna. And other times it shows up as a never-ending quest of research, consulting, and false starts.

Anna wants to know what she should do if she wants to make Art her life but isn’t an Artist in the traditional sense. She says, “I am not that good at it. I do not knit that well and I certainly do not draw as an artist. I just love to do it.”

I can relate, Anna. I can relate.

People are starting businesses at an unprecedented rate. The changing economy has created an ideal environment for experimentation. The need is great.

And I applaud all those who are trying.

But I’m sick of seeing aspirational entrepreneurs waiting at the sidelines while they try out new skills, develop products, approve drafts of shiny logo images, purchase multiple domain names, and hone their brands. Now is the time to start!

If you think know you have something to offer the world, even if you have no idea what that might be, you have to put yourself out there.

You can’t further your dream in a vacuum.

You need the encouragement, support, and give-and-take of a community.

My guess is that you don’t already have this type of community. You might have some close friends & a loving family but there’s a distinct possibility that – through their love – they won’t “get” what you’re trying to do. In fact, they’ll even discourage you.

So you have to build this community.

You build it around you, your imperfections, your passions, and your big ideas. And you reserve the right to change any of those at any time! You are transparent, exploring, and growing.

People will respect your journey more than they would a misguided stab at entrepreneurial perfection.

That sounds great, Tara, how the heck do I go about doing that?

First, you realize that there are no instructions that I can give you that will make the process of experimenting & exploring easier. That’s all on you.

Next, you get yourself set up with some sort of digital publishing platform (blog) and some social media profiles. But instead of setting them up with a finished product or business in mind, you start them with the mission of learning more about what’s out there and sharing your journey with others.

Document your journey. Share your story. Don’t apologize.

The initial benefit is that you push yourself to talk to creative entrepreneurs – doing interviews, talking casually, and networking… – and learning what they do. You’ll discover opportunities you didn’t know existed! But the subsequent benefit is that you can actually build quite a following whilst exploring your options because people really identify with the unfinished story of your journey.

Then, when you decide to try something more professionally, you already have a waiting customer base. You also have the opportunity to explore writing & affiliate marketing along the way.

There is no need to wait until you have all your ducks in a row. Start now and see what happens. There are more options & opportunities out there than you can know. The only way you can find out about them is to try.

PS. I’ve got a new ebook available. It’s short, sweet, and power-packed. It’s called Making Motion: 7 Steps for Doing More with Your Creative Life. If the ideas make your heart beat a little faster, this book just might be the thing to get you moving.

{image credit: Alice Popkorn}

Blogs are brilliant little things. They allow us to stroke our own egos, diligently record our lives, and provide the reasoning behind countless hours of “shiny thing” browsing. Is that how you’re using your blog?

Oh… maybe not. Maybe you think your blog is about marketing your business. And for certain, it is. It’s a place to put information about your business, why people should buy from your business, how your business was created, what your business is doing next Tuesday. Is that how you’re using your blog?

Eh… that sounds a little boring. Concerned your blog might not be creating a magnet for customers the way it’s supposed to? Keep reading. I bet you’re making at least one of these common creative business blog mistakes.

1.) You don’t ask why.

You post stories, inspiration, pretty pictures, funny links. You love it all and your small business blog is supposed to reflect you, right? Sure it is. But blogging isn’t about posting pretty pictures, it’s about asking bigger questions: WHY? If you fail to ask yourself WHY a picture, story, or link is important to you – and subsequently explain it to your readers – you’re not doing anyone any good. You’re simply adding to the noise of the blogosphere.

Consider why an image moves you… consider what it says about your character, your business goals, or your family. Consider how what little Johnny last Monday resonated with you & taught you a lesson. Always consider the usefulness, the experience, and the “takeaway” of what you’re posting.

The blogs that do that are the ones I remember, the ones I comment on. And they’re definitely the ones I go back to when I’m looking to buy.

2.) You think your SEO is broken.

In my job as a web designer/make-blog-go analyst, I am asked all the time if a website’s SEO is alright. Presumably, they want me to make sure that the right pieces of code are in the right places because the client is concerned it’s not. This is, of course, a valid concern! But more often than having “broken” SEO, a blog just isn’t writing about good stuff, using good words, and attracting the kind of attention that gets good links.

Good SEO happens when you are writing good headlines for interesting stories about relevant-to-you topics and those stories engage, challenge, and entertain your readers enough to want to link back to your posts.

Your SEO isn’t broken – but your blogging strategy might be.

Now, if you think you’re doing pretty good with that part but want to get better at the slightly more technical side, I would highly recommend my friend Dave’s ebook on SEO called Blog Post Engineering. You’ll be smarter & blog better after the first few pages. Promise. You can read my full review here.

3.) You don’t consider the bigger picture of your blog.

Finally, the mistake I see creative business bloggers making is that they haven’t considered the bigger picture of their blogs. You post when you’re inspired, when you have news, when you’ve created a new product. But there isn’t any cohesiveness. There isn’t a sense of anticipation.

To achieve this, you must ask yourself what larger questions your blog is answering. And then answer those large questions by posing tiny ones. Those tiny questions are your posts. As the answers to those questions pile up, you can link them together through simple category navigation, pillar content pages, or free resources.

By the way, if you run an image-heavy blog, this is one of the most important things to consider. How do your images play together between posts? Are you telling a larger story with the images you choose? Is that story calling your readers to action without words?

How’s your creative business blog doing?

Are you making one (two? all?) of those mistakes? Truly, there are many ways to make a blog successful but if you don’t consider the ramifications of the points above, you’re trying to reinvent the wheel. Providing value, actionable information, and true inspiration with your blog is rewarding in more ways that just warm fuzzies (I’m talking $$$ here, people).

What will you do today to remedy the problem?

CMBA Business Growth Planner

Last week, Megan told me she was in the final stages of a snazzy Business Growth Planner. She wanted to create something that would help people FAST – and be ridiculously affordable: $10. There’s lots of great information from someone’s who has grown her business through many different stages. There are also pages of worksheets to print and fill out to keep yourself organized.

As creative people, it can be so difficult to keep our eye on the things that grow a business and keep it profitable. We can pour so much time and energy into our passion but you need that grounding in good business sense (cents?) to keep you on track – or it won’t last long or be fulfilling in the end.

If you’re interested in taking your creative business to the next level – or taking your hobby and truly making it a business – you’re going to love (no, really you will!) the Crafting an MBA Business Growth Planner.

Blog Post Engineering

On the flip side, if you’re ready to get into a completely different kind of nitty gritty, I would highly recommend Dave Doolin’s Blog Post Engineering.

When I’m designing a website for a client, one of the services included in the package is some keyword research and top-level SEO engineering for the site. Well, that’s awesome. But, if you don’t take it to the next level by actively working the basics (and I do mean basics) of SEO into your blog posts, you’re just not going to rank in search engines for the keywords you’d like to hit.

Generally, I like products & information that are geared to a specific group of people – namely, a group that I’m in. However, this ebook really lays the information out in such a way that many people with many levels of expertise can benefit from. If you understand the basics of SEO, start from the back, Dave explains. If you’re looking to start from scratch, start at the beginning.

If you’re completely new to keyword research, SEO techniques, and copywriting for the net, this guide will give you a great starting point and help you to get your brain in the right mindset. If you’re a seasoned web writer looking to gain traction, you can use this guide to jumpstart your search results. And at just $20, it’s way cheaper than paying me to work with you one-on-one on your SEO.

Check out both the CMBA Business Growth Planner and Dave Doolin’s Blog Post Engineering and let me know what you think!

Fine Print: All those links are affiliate links. I really love both these products and think they just might benefit your business too. But I do get a commission if you buy one. Win-win – thanks!

I recently completed this site redesign for Chai at Back to Curly. And, gasp – this isn’t an art or craft site!

Chai sent me a vintage picture that she loved and a few sites that she liked the design of. Then set me loose! The picture had such an amazing color scheme and was so evocative that the whole design was really taken from there. On this one, I did everything from the logo design to the code. I really love the way it turned out.

if you blog, you probably know the feeling that comes from participating in an activity only to think, “this will make a great blog post!”

i was struck by this new york times article about people who photograph everything they eat. not all are bloggers, but the idea is the same. documenting life has become completely pervasive in our digital society. every moment is something to be captured and considered.

and then shared with thousands – or millions – of people.

sometimes i feel like i live for the sake of my blog instead of blogging for my own sake. when you’re constantly behind the camera so that you can document special events for your readers or considering how you might make a profound point out of a humorous situation, life is exhausting. of course, there are many many more ways that life could be exhausting and i’m glad i’ve chosen this one.

on the flip side of making life exhausting, blogging has also forced me to do things i would have never considered before. things like offering consulting & brainstorming, venturing to major craft shows and actually introducing myself, creating a personal brand, attending networking events, and building a successful business. in order to appear more authentic on my blog, i’ve actually had to broaden my horizons – what a great trade-off!

i’m also struck by how many people are interested in the daily routines of people like me – and not at all life me, of course. not only has documenting life become pervasive in the digital society, but the need to connect with people on the most fundamental levels – the things we eat, the things we buy, the way we raise our children, etc… – has become a visceral urge. my blogs have duel purposes, to document my life & thoughts and to share information of value, but other blogs that i read on a daily basis – mackin ink, a beautiful mess, and smile & wave – are almost purely personal. i love it too! i’m so inspired by their lives and their point of view!

so – when you blog, do you think back on the things you’ve done & the way you live?

or do you live to blog?

{image credit: look at my party dress by kilsook}

You asked for it! Basics. I’m going to *attempt* to teach you a few things via video tutorial. This is my very first attempt and I know it needs work – but I also know you need this information!

Fair warning, you’ll need to turn your speakers up.

In this short slideshow, you’ll learn the basic parts of linking & displaying an image – visually.

I’ll be working on more installments soon!

Updated! March 11, 2010

Here’s a second look at the code so that you can reference the structure easily.

How can you use your new knowledge? Great question!

• Edit your images within blog posts to specify “titles” and “alt” text. Simply click “HTML editor” or “Code Editor” on your blog platform’s post editor. Then look for the code that looks like what’s above. Hint: It’s the stuff that’s not the text of your post
• Create “buttons” in your sidebar with images. You’ll want to use a “text widget” in WordPress or other generic widget in your own blog platform. You’ll need to write the code by yourself – but you can do it!

Want an opportunity to play & practice? My very favorite place to learn about & mess with code is on the W3 Schools site. Hey, people, they literally wrote the book on this – they invented it. To practice with image code, go here.

My personal journey from high school to college, college to full-time work, and full-time work to mom to career, has been a convoluted one. I’m flattered that you’d even ask! But if my story can:

1. help you to understand me better. or
2. inspire one person that she can do it too

then it’s completely worth writing.

I didn’t start as a religion major, I applied to Lebanon Valley College as a music education major. To prepare me, I “interned” with my high school band director my senior year of high school. I quickly discovered that I was too big a perfectionist to teach kids music and that I wasn’t talented enough to teach anyone older or more experienced!

So, I entered LVC as a music (trombone) & religion double major.

During my four years, I switched back & forth from one to the other – ultimately graduating with a major in religion, minor (just a few credits shy of major) in music. What I discovered in all of this was a real passion for writing & communicating – oh, and a healthy dose of earth-shaking theology.

My senior year of college, I was completely hooked on religion. I applied to grad school and was accepted on a full-tuition scholarship to Syracuse University to study with one of my theology crushes. Freaking Awesome. I graduated, got a summer job, and waited to move out-of-state and start my life as an academic.

Oh… that summer job… I wanted to be surrounded by my old love: books or my new love: coffee. Luckily for me, I got a job as a barista at bookstore. Sweet! I could buy all the pretentious books I wanted & sip discounted coffee while doing it! I was hooked. A bit too hooked. Oh, and I’m still hooked on the caffeine.

Two weeks before I was to leave for Syracuse, my supervisor quit. Crisis of conscience. I could take a full time job at the place I love & figure out where my life was headed. Or I could follow a path I seemed destined for but offered no clear cut future. Crap. I took the job.

And I worked. hard. and harder. I made my way up the ladder, I took a frighteningly low level of pay to help run a multi-million store, manage human resources, supervise merchandising, and run a coffee shop. The company cut jobs around me and my pay stayed the same even as my responsibilities increased.

When I was 8 months pregnant, my general manager left for a new job. I applied, as I had been trained & groomed for the position. After a killer interview, I had a lot of confidence that I would have a great job & a pay increase to come back to after Lola was born. A week before I gave birth, I got a call from another manager that the position was filled. Not by me.

Obviously, I can’t make any claims that I was discriminated against due to my pregnancy, but I can tell you that that’s what it felt like.

So I had my baby, took my disability leave, stayed out my FMLA, and then quit.

I started out helping my mom with her Etsy business. Learning the ropes of marketing, teaching myself to blog again (I first started blogging in college), and discovering a thriving community of women just like me. In December 2008, my mom gave me the idea for Handmade in PA, my first serious blog.

It thrived! I was on cloud nine knowing that I had created something of value to people. I met Jan, the founder of Scoutie Girl, through Handmade in PA, after discovering through a coincidence of photography, that we lived just two blocks away from each other. We kept in touch, Handmade in PA grew & grew, and all the while Jan’s business grew in a way that made maintaining Scoutie Girl near impossible.

We began discussing the possibility of me taking over the SG side of her business. Slowly, very slowly, the idea took hold. And in July 2009, I purchased Scoutie Girl and took over editorial control.

I still go to the bookstore often. Last time I went, I saw a woman who worked for me & struggled with her dreams, never seeming to make them reality. She asked me what I was doing now: “I write.”

Wow. That’s what I do for a living: I write. I communicate. I call my own shots.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

{image credit: dennis wong via flickr}

Great question! It comes back to my whole theory on using social media (that includes blogging): for it to work, you have to be you! And you define who you are by what you choose to share with your audience.

If you faith is important to you & inspires your work, you owe it to your audience to share it with them. You don’t have to do it in a pushy way or even blatantly, but you should definitely share it.

The same goes for political or social convictions that may be controversial. If you present your views as a part of your art & a part of who you are, few people will argue with you. You can probably even advocate for your own views & beliefs in you are careful to do so respectfully and with passion.

I think I do this on a daily basis – but you probably don’t even realize it! I’m pretty liberal politically – okay, really liberal – and I feel that that informs my conviction to buy & support handmade/independent business. It also informs my desire to buy “green” whenever possible and encourage others to do so, as well.

But I have no misconceptions that you have to be a flaming liberal to hold those opinions.

So I might use that as a barometer for your own faith. Please tell people what informs & inspires your work – but accept – and love! – that others may appreciate your work & ideals without holding the same beliefs.

So, that’s not really true. Everything I know about blogging, I learned through experience and from reading the typical professional blogging blogs like Problogger and [insert your favorite Problogger copy]. The truth is, that kind of information doesn’t really click for most creative type bloggers. Whether your gig is selling your craft on Etsy, writing about interior design, or documenting your passion for gourmet comfort food, the usual tips and tricks don’t pass muster. In fact, most of the time, they’re not even speaking your language.

But I did learn key pieces about this blogging life that I have been able to translate to the world of creative blogging.

And then I noticed that those lessons could have been learned just as easily by taking a good long look at my daughter’s bookshelf.

Well before my daughter was even conceived, I loved looking at the picture books in the bookstore I worked at. Do they even write these things with children in mind? Beautiful illustrations… haunting stories… great literature. Picture books are tiny complete works of art. And I like to think of my blog in the same way – the words, pictures, stories, comments, all come together to form a unique piece of art.

I think if you treat your blog with the same care, humor, and aesthetic eye as a picture book, you’ll be doing your business a world of good.

Here’s what I learned:

1.) Pictures are everything.

In a picture book, even one that is beautifully written, pictures are more than half the story. Whether your blog is your business or you’re blogging to market your creative business, your pictures tell your story. The best blogs feature clear product pictures, well-staged and styled images, and personal photos that add personality to your writing. Your words should complement, never compete with, the story being told in images.

2.) Stay focused.

A 20 page picture book simply doesn’t have the space to ramble. The story has a clear beginning, middle, and end. The characters are focused on a common goal. Do your posts have a tendency to ramble? Is the focus of your blog unclear? Having a clear and narrow focus may seem, at first, to be confining but in the end it brings a sense of comfort both to you as a blogger and to your readers.

If you stay focused, your readers will know what to expect and you’ll be able to stay on track with the purpose of your blog.

3.) Make a statement. Then repeat it.

In a picture book, the lesson to be learned is generally repeated often. Whether the lesson is an emotional or moral one, or simply a new word, it’s repeated often enough to drive the message home. That sounds an awful lot like SEO (search engine optimization: the art of helping search engines understand what your website is about) to me. Identify the topic that you want to bring in more readers around. Then write a post being sure to include that topic and its keywords in conversational – yet repeated – ways.

4.) Write for a variety of audiences.

If toddlers could actually read the books purchased for them, picture books would look very different. But they don’t, they listen as an adult reads the story. The best picture books are those that engage both the adult and the child. When you write a blog, you are addressing a wide variety of readers. Some are experienced, others are reading to gain experience, some are current customers, some are deciding whether they should become customers – each type of reader deserves to be engaged by most of your posts.

Keep in mind those readers who may want to learn more about a subject – provide links for more information. Keep in mind those who may not understand advanced concepts in your field – define keywords and provide links (preferably within your own blog) to catch up on background information. Ask questions and provide plenty of opportunity for engaging your readers in the comments section.

5.) No one else tells the story just like you.

There are so many wonderful picture books. And it’s one of the few parts of the book industry that’s always hungry for new authors. With all that interest, you might think there are a lot of copies. But each author & illustrator brings a unique perspective to a story.

Again, whether blogging is your business or just a marketing vehicle for your business, your blog should tell your unique story in your unique voice. When you blog with that type of authenticity, no one can copy you. And your readers will want to engage your brand more & more.

{image credit: stephanie corfee}

i got an excellent question in my formspring box after last week’s post on comments:

How do you know what blog is a good fit to target for your shop? I feel somewhat like I am shooting arrows into the dark. Do you have any suggestions to make the selection process easier?

this is such a fabulous question. you can comment, submit, stalk, and otherwise engage a blogger for forever – but if her readership isn’t your potential customers… you’re just wasting time. for instance, for everything i cover at scoutie girl, there is a laundry list of things i don’t write about – if you read scoutie girl, you probably have a pretty good feel for what might be on that list – children’s items, beaded jewelry (love it – just too much of it to fairly cover), bath & body, business products, etc…

of course, if you make those type of items, i still hope you read & contribute to scoutie girl.

to find the best blogs to reach your customers, you must first define your customer! this can be scary. because what you really need to do is narrow down a broad idea of who might buy your product into a very focused picture of who will buy your product. is it a mom who wants to feel pretty even though she wears sweats everyday? is it a guy who is buying a gift for his girlfriend? is it a 20-something gal who is obsessed with the 80s and the bangles?

get specific.

once you have that idea, run a google search for your ideal customer and tack on the word “blog.” once you have identified a single blog (or other media!!) that speaks to your ideal customer, take some time to go through their blog roll. the whole reason we have blog rolls is to highlight our friends and the people we look up to. most of those people are going to have similar styles and speak to your customer too.

go from blog to blog roll to blog to blog roll until you’ve got a list. subscribe to those blogs, read them whenever you have a chance, comment whenever something catches your eye, connect with the blogger on twitter or facebook. build a rapport. and then solicit a review or feature. this shouldn’t be a chore because this is the heart of where business, fun, and real life come together. this is why you’re in a creative biz to begin with, right?

spending the time to market yourself carefully and smartly means defining who you are, who your business is directed to, and finding out where they hang out. good luck!

{image credit: unconventional ida}