Advertising: Tips for Bloggers - part I

Hello everyone!  In this first article I'll be answering questions that concern those of you who may be interested in or might already be using your blog to host ads.  Next week I'll be covering the other side...questions posed by those of you who'd like to know more about advertising on blogs for your business.  But first I'd like to start out by saying:

1. Please know that I am not a trained professional in the area of advertising and marketing.  I have learned quite a bit since I first began offering ads here on Creature Comforts, so that is the knowledge I will be sharing with you.
2. This series will be more beneficial to all of us if everyone takes part by leaving comments, questions and feedback from their own experiences as each topic is addressed.  It's okay if you are just starting out and are feeling a bit behind.  I believe that there is no such thing as a stupid question, so please ask away.

Sooo...let's get started with the nitty-gritty, sometimes confusing and important world of advertising shall we!  Let's begin with some of the more commonly asked questions:

"I'm thinking about offering advertising on my blog, but I don't really know how to get started or when the right time is to begin."

Well, I personally waited to offer advertising here on Creature Comforts 
until I felt that there was enough incoming traffic to provide a 
worthwhile service to potential advertisers.  I had also begun 
receiving quite a few queries regarding ad placement, so I decided to 
take the plunge.  I don't think there is a specific science to this...
you really need to do what you feel is right based upon what you know about your blog and your readers.  Be prepared to offer in depth 
information regarding your statistics to interested advertisers as well as provide assistance to advertisers who need extra help when it comes to ad design, etc.

Additional things you may wish to consider:

• Offering advertising changes your blog from a pastime into a business.  Are you able to devote the time needed to keep it functioning at it's current volume?  Will this change be an asset to your life or an unwanted stress?
• Advertisers reply upon consistent content to drive visitors to your site where their ads will be featured.  Will you be able to deliver this consistency over an extended period of time?  What will you do in case of an emergency or other unexpected event?  How will your blog function at that point in time, and how will that decision effect your advertisers?
• How will you respond to advertiser interest?  Will you put together an ad sheet that outlines your rates and stats, or will you simply copy and paste that info in your reply email?
• As a business owner you will need to pay taxes on the money you earn.  Be prepared to apply with the proper agencies and keep careful records on your earnings for tax purposes.
• Do you have a method for accepting payments?  I use Paypal and have found it to be very useful.  If you don't have an account set up, you may wish to do so before you offer advertising.

"I'm not sure how much to charge for ads on my blog."

There is a basic formula that can be applied to help you determine the range that your ad rates should fall within: $.01 per page view per day for a basic ad.  Note: your number of readers is different than your number of page views (it will be lower), so be sure to calculate using the correct number.  Using this formula, if you have 10,000 views a day your ad should be priced at about $100 for a standard monthly ad.  That being said, pricing is completely up to you and in many ways will be determined by the content you feature and the sorts of advertisers who are interested in your blog.  For a reference point - I have intentionally priced ads here on Creature Comforts well below the industry standard.  A large reason for this is my desire to make advertising affordable for the independent artisans that I feature.  Were I to strictly feature high-end products I would be capable of charging more, but that isn't something that I personally choose to do. 

Another route 
would be to contact other blogs with a similar demographic as yours and 
request ad rates from them.  This will at the very least give you a
 good place to start.  Ultimately you will just nee to use your best judgement and if necessary test out different rates to see how the response is.

"I've been offering advertising, but so far I have had little interest or none at all.  How can I get people to advertise with me?"

It can definitely be disheartening when you first start out.  Try to keep your chin up...you can turn your blog into a profitable business with some hard work and planning.  The first two pieces of advice that come to my mind are:

1. Be consistent.  Keep a consistent level of quality in the content you post.
2. Blog often.  The more you post, the more visitors you will have.  That being said, quality does tend to outweigh quantity in terms of gaining loyal readers.  So try to keep both of these rules in mind simultaneously and you will build interest and trust with your readers and potential advertisers.

To break the ice you might try a limited-time special for ads on your blog, or host a giveaway with the prize package including free advertising.  I also highly encourage ad trades with other businesses/bloggers who share similar interests as you.  To do this, you can either approach the bloggers who you have a rapport with and offer to do a trade, or announce your interest in trading on your blog or other social media site such as Twitter and Facebook.  I would suggest limiting ad trades to just a few, and select from those that are the most relevant to your blog.

"What sorts of businesses should I accept advertisements for on my blog?"

Again this will be entirely up to you to decided based upon your personal aesthetic as well as your reader's interests.  It can be tempting (especially at first) to take on anyone who shows interest, but ultimately it won't do much good for either you, your readers or those advertisers if their products are not a good fit with your site.

"What size should the ads be?"

You can offer ads in whatever size you want.  Keep in mind that they
 will need to fit inside of one of the columns on your blog.  If you
 don't know what size your column is, do a search on your blog host's 
help database... they should have info on this for you.  An easy way to
 check on the size of an ad or image on the web is to use your mouse and
 right-click the image (or control click).  This will open up an info
 box where you will see a button titled "Properties." Click this and you
 will see the size of the image.  The image size is measured in pixels.  An ad should be at a resolution of 72dpi (dots per inch) to make it web ready - anything higher will slow your site down.

So that's it for now.  I hope that some of the information here was helpful to you.  If you'd like to print this article for reference and printer friendly version is available throught the link below.  If you have a question not answered in this post 
please feel free to leave a comment below or in the message board and I'll try to answer it as
 well.  Remember, your personal experience and insight is valuable for all of us and I'd love for you to share any thoughts you might have with us.  Thanks for reading!  xo Ez

Let's Get it Started...

Hello and welcome to the Creature Comforts Guide for Better Blogging.  I'm so glad you're here!  When I first thought of the idea for this series a long time ago I quickly pushed it out of my mind...worried that I (a rather technically challenged blogger) might not have enough valuable info to share with anyone.  But as time has gone on and I continue to receive intriguing and challenging questions from readers and fellow bloggers on everything from advertising to product packaging, I've realized that blogging is not just a one-sided affair.  Learning is most effective when it is interactive, and my hope is that through this course we can all share the experience of learning and becoming better bloggers together!  Sound good?

What can you expect with this series?  A whole lot of free tips and insight from my years as a blogger (I certainly don't know everything, but I'm excited to share what I do know), themed challenges to spark posts for your blogs, some helpful downloads, answers to questions that you may have or that may come up because of the series, the opportunity to enhance your blog and more.

I look forward to taking this little adventure together.  If you'd like, please take a moment to introduce yourself in the comment section (it would be great to "meet" you).  I plan to post on a new topic once a week and would love to hear your topic suggestions.  The first article will cover the often confusing world of advertising, and will be coming up shortly.  I can't wait!  xo Ez

Everyday Inspirations: Color Hunting In My Studio

Hello dear ones.  While my blog is certainly infused with a healthy dose of pink, my favorite color of all has got to be aqua blue.  I really can't get enough of the hue and decided just the other day to go on a mini color hunt around my studio in search of lovely little odds and ends to photograph for today's Everyday Inspirations.  It turned out to be a pretty fast "hunt" since my home is filled with the color!

After I took the snapshot above, I used it to inspire this collection of lovely things found from shops online.  Seriously, this color just makes me so happy!    What's your favorite color(s)?  xo Ez

• Waterbirds Linen Pillow - Hable Construction
• Hobbs Brook Silk Sift Dress - John Lewis
• Rosette Bobby Pin - Brydferth
• Cosmetic Case - Jimeale
• Jump 'Bianca' Pumps - Nordstrom
• Classic Tornado Rollerball Pens - Kate's Paperie
• Lotta Jansdotter File Collection - Chronicle Books
• Japanese Masking Tape - Nothing Elegant

Inspiration Daily: 06. 03. 10

Image credits: 1. Untitled, 2. Weekend Finds April 4th: Oh how beautiful, 3. *, 4. Untitled

DIY: Fancy Clothespins

Hello lovelies!  I hope your week is going swimmingly so far.  Today I've put together a little tutorial to show you how to make some sweet Decorative Wooden Clothespins that you can use to adorn inspiration wires, gifts and more.  I hope you will enjoy making your own variations of these pretty little clips. 

Gift giving idea: Clip a row of fancy pins onto a manila tag, strip of decorative cardstock or pretty ribbon and present as a wee gift to someone special.

Version one - Fabric Pom Pom Flower Clothespins:

Supplies needed:

• Standard wooden clothespins - generally found in the laundry supply section at stores such as Target (about $3 for 100).
• Fabric scraps in solid colors or prints - light-weight cottons will work best.
• Needle and thread - color should match the fabric you will be using.
• Colored pencils (optional)
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Scissors

To begin with you will need to follow this awesome tutorial to create your fabric pom pom flowers (follow Tutorial II).  They are rather addictive to make and super easy (even my 11 year old daughter made some.  She turned hers into floral hairbands by stitching the finished flowers onto hair rubber-bands - and I'm planning to make a garland for my bedroom with the extra heap I've been making).

It should take you only about 3-5 minutes per flower.  For a small circular shape you can use an object in your home as a template to trace around, such as a milk cap or spool of thread.  I like how the flowers turn out when the circles are a bit more random, so I cut most of mine out without a template.  Tip: For a speedier project just accordion fold strips of fabric and cut your circle shape through all the layers to create multiple circles all at once).

1. Rub the side of your colored pencil all over the surface of your clothespin until it is coated with color and then smudge with your fingertip to soften.  This will give your clothespin a charming effect that looks a lot like vintage paint.
2. Apply a small dab of glue with your hot glue gun onto the clothespin as shown in the photo above.  Carefully attach your pom pom flower onto your pin by pressing it onto the hot glue. 
3. Clip on inspiration wires, use as gift tag holders on presents, place card holders at your wedding reception or next party, etc.

Version two - Fabric-covered clips:These clips are even easier to make than the first version.  A set of 10 can easily be made in less than 10 minutes.  Fun!

Supplies needed:

• Standard wooden clothespins - generally found in the laundry supply section at stores such as Target (about $3 for 100).
• Fabric scraps in solid colors or prints - light-weight cottons will work best.
• Double-sided tape - permanent
• Scissors

1. Pull out a strip of double-sided tape that is as long or slightly longer than your clothespin.  Attach it to the surface of the clothespin making sure to keep it free from bubbles or creases.  The tape should be lined up evenly along one long edge so that the excess hangs off the other sides (seen in the photo above).  Trim off excess using your scissors - this works best when the tape-free side is facing towards you while you cut.
2. Place your prepared clothespin tape-side down onto the back side of your fabric (make sure the right side of the fabric is facing down for this step so that it will be displayed correctly when you are done).  Turn over and use your finger to press and smooth the fabric onto the tape.  Cut excess fabric off all sides - this works best when the fabric-covered side is away from you while you cut.
3. You're done!

I hope you will enjoy making your own fancy clothespins.  And please feel free to share this project with your friends and family (and blog readers)...maybe you can have a little craft party and make a bunch!  Enjoy!  xo Ez