I’m here at the very first Design Bloggers Conference and yesterday Scott Hanselman gave us a talk on the 32 Ways to Take your blog to the Next Level. Here are a few of them:
1. Moo.com, see all these quotes? Well they are from this great website where you can print business cards with different photos on the back, quotes, the options are endless, and completely affordable. Scott says he gets them printed for special events, etc.
2. Don’t apologize for not blogging enough.
I found a blog once where almost every post started with “I’m so busy and important, so sorry I haven’t had time to blog. . . ” it really didn’t make me want to come back.
3. Don’t be mean.
Unless that’s your job, nastiness has no place. Enough said.
4. Think before you blog.
You can’t delete it, you can never take it down. Archive.org is where you can go and even see what your website looked like 5 years ago.
5. Make it easy to subscribe to your blog, for readers to contact you. . . after all the work you do, don’t make reaching you hard to do.
6. Decide what should be ‘above the fold‘ on your site.
Above the fold refers to placing the most important or most attention-grabbing content on the upper half of the front page of a newspaper. This means your header should not fill the entire page of your screen when you open your blog.
7. Blog interesting or don’t blog at all.
The best tip is this one. He said if you can’t find something interesting to write about a picture ask yourself if it’s a post or a tweet.
There were lots more but many of them were very technical. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, if you want to have a great blog, subscribe to Copyblogger. I don’t know how he manages to have every post be useful and interesting, but that’ pretty much how it is.
This morning Tobi Fairley is giving the Keynote presentation, stay tuned for a recap of the conference!
If you would like your home to fill you with happiness every time you walk in, contact me.
Related posts:
Maria’s Guide to Starting a Design Blog
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Great tips to blog by! Looking forward to reading what Tobi has to say. I saw that she was a speaker -gosh I wish I was there!
Thanks Maria!
love those cards. thanks for sharing those tips!
Great tips, please keep sharing…
Wish I was there! Maybe next time. Thanks for posting the tips. Good common sense. My pet peeve is being excited about a blog and unable to find a way to subscribe. How crazy is that! I also like to know their names and how to email them. If you're going to blog and promote your blog, you have to be ok with people knowing who you are and how to find you. I know you'll have lots more to share, and i look forward to it.
Fantastic quotes and tips. I so appreciate you sharing what you learn from the conferences you attend. Thanks once again!
You are so generous to pass along what you are learning. Typically, thoughtful of you!
As I see it, you could be giving some of those seminars you're going to. I blogged yesterday that you are one of my three favorite design blogs. I gave you an Oscar!
http://diyhomestagingtips.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-oscars-if-i-had-to-choose-just-three.html
Enjoy L.A. I hope you get to relax while there.
Thanks for sharing, Maria! Great tips.
Have a great time.
Teresa
xoxo
Maria-
Thanks for including all of us who couldn't attend!
I just had MOO's mini cards printed up for my blog and the reviews have been great!
Looking forward to more!
Maria, thank for these great and practical tips. One of them is making me head straight to my blog and make one change.
Enjoy your time in California.
Fondly,
Glenda
Such great tips, Maria! Thx for being there and sharing it for those of us who are not!
Love the white room with yellow chairs and flowers!
Maria,
Blogging has evolved and it's always a good idea to evolve with the ideas that make a creative difference. I really appreciation an on site blog post can't get more up-to-the-minute tips than this. Looking forward to more info. Technology is the greatest!
Bette
Thanks for sharing the tips! I would have loved to go but workload said "no!"
Look forward to reading more of your blog, I really enjoy it.
Best,
Amy
Thanks so much Maria for all these great tips! I try to do EVERYTHING that you suggest about blogging..and whatever Brent Riggs writes about too. I'll take any blogging advice I can get and follow it too if it's at all possible.
Well, looks like I better go work on my blog some more. There were some things I need to think about on your list.
I did so appreciate it the day you mentioned making sure there was enough info 'above the fold'. I really think that changed so much for me. :o)
Hope you are having a great week!
xo
Donna @ Comin' Home
Thank you for sharing the information! Since I am new at blogging, I do need to make sure all my friends can find the blog and I do need to make sure I have more info than header above the fold. Have a great time! Wanda
great post! super tips! thanks for sharing Maria!
You are a treasure for constantly sharing the pearls of wisdom that you come across. I found myself nodding in agreement as I read each of these points. Sometimes, the simplest & best things are not always the most obvious ones!
I just love the way your go for it.
Maria,
YOU'RE THE BEST!!!! Thank you VERY MUCH for taking the time to share what you're learning there. It means so much to me.
Have a safe trip back home!
xo
Luciane at HomeBunch.com
Post of the Day: A Seaside Home By Tim Clarke.
Great tips Maria. Glad you are having fun. Although I don't blog as part of my career, I decided a long time ago to try to post original content (my own photos and home plans) and to "be me" (my simple little house and all). I don't have a huge Go To blog, but I do feel I have loyal readers and that my audience likes me for me, so I feel very content in that. I think that is a big part of it – I blog for the fellowship, others for the business, etc. Good to know who you are and why you are doing it.
Great tips and you always have great insights…
xo Terri
great blog Maria. I just left LA. Wish I had know about the Bloggers conference. Maybe next year. Am so excited to get going!
Hi Maria,
Thank you so much for posting these tips! Most interesting. I am looking forward what you are going to share with us in your next post about the blogger conference!
xx
Greet
maria!
your giving/sharing nature…..priceless
thank you thank you. am out of the country and could not make this event. you being our eyes and ears is greatly appreciated
xo
debra
Have fun in sunny LA! Thanks for the tips!
Thank you so much for passing along these great tips since I couldn't be there! Very nice of you!!!
Great tips. Thanks so much for sharing them! You should be a speaker!
I knew I should have gone to the conference. Darn. These are great tips. Thank you for being our ears and taking time to share. best,-s
You already know how to make every blog interesting and useful – I've yet to come across one of your's that isn't! Thanks for delighting me every time I open my email to find something new from you. Linda
Maria–
Great tips! I will check out Copybogger, too!
Loretta
My favorite quote is :"believe in what you do because you may have to do it for a long time before it catches on".
More succinct than the usual 'never give up' the above quote gives the 'why'. And you know how much we like the 'whys' around here!
What a great post – full of helpful tips, especially for those of us that are newer to the world of blogging.
Sounds like a great conference.
Thank YOU for being such colorful eyes and ears for all of us. I follow you proudly! I enjoy your womanly style so much. By your example I'm hoping to become a better person through blogging.
So fun meeting you!!! You are an amazing woman.
xo,
cristin
Good food for thought. Always looking for opportunities to fine tune, shift or adjust my outlook and blogging practices.
I have been reading Copyblogger for over a year now and they really help. From getting ideas for titles and how to make your post look to what to write about and how often to write it. always good advice. Thanks, Maria.
Thanks for the great blogging tips, Maria. I seem to have slipped into a blog slump, so the timing is perfect.
Enjoy LA!
Great advice, and as a new blogger I take each one to heart..some I already know and am learning others are new and worth taking into consideration..thanks for sharing! You have a great blog and I have greatly enjoyed poking around…please visit me, doing a fabulous giveaway two stunning handblow Murano lamps!
http://www.theenchantedhome.blogspot.com
I will be back here!
Maria, I just wanted to say a big Thanks for this post and the recommendation to read copyblogger. I re-wrote my last two posts, just to practice editing. They are much clearer now.
Today I awarded you and several others the Stylish Blogger award. I know you already have it, but I gave Five Tips for a More Stylish Blog and wanted to direct my readers here to see what I meant. :o)
Thank you for a great post!
xo
Donna
PS. Hope you are having fun!
Brilliant post!
Great advice! So many bloggers just post a (sometimes) pretty interior but don't say anything. They don't even tell the designer's name or where the photo came from. All comments are published but only fawning compliments on how stylish the blog is, etc., are acknowledged; questions are ignored. And don't we all hate those "I just dropped by to say you should visit my blog" comments?
Great post, thanks for sharing, I hope to put those tips to practise. Nice blog!
It was wonderful meeting you Maria. That Scott was a funny, genius. So many great tips my head is spinning. It is interesting to see how everybody uniquely summarizes the conference.
Thank you so much for this post
I got my business cards from Moo.com and I love them! Sounded like I missed so much by not going to that conference.