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Comments

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  Barbara Pitorak Bloom May 26, 2012 at 4:52pm

  Absolutely agree with the idea of a written record of the journey.
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  jeanne cherry May 26, 2012 at 3:17pm

  ditto everyone else's comments. i agree..not with a giveaway....you dont retain those people. i have built mine (not that i have a ton of readership) by commenting on other similar blogs...i have been lucky and a few well read bloggers have listed my blog on their site, sending people to mine.  i mostly built it by pariticipating in many blog parties ! that really works...and i agree..many more people probably read it than you think...a LOT of people just dont comment, i am always surprised by my stats !

  www.junxtaposition.blogspot.com

  and in the end..even if noone read it..haha..i love that fact that i have a wonderful 'diary' of things i've done and places i've gone..even if it's just for me. :)
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  Barbara Pitorak Bloom May 25, 2012 at 12:19pm

  blogs are amazing sources of marketing . my first suggestion would be link your blog to all social media including facebook and twitter . as you post a new update to your blog I medially something is posted on twitter and facebook . this is a great idea for a new products you've developed and also to inform your public of where you'll be . we had an interesting story last winter regarding the blog . I had been talking and writing about a winter fest we were going to participate in in downtown cleveland . quite an exciting festival they were lighting of the christmas lights on public square ,fireworks ,music ,live performances of choirs ,and the artist village . I never know who's reading my blog so I write to an audience of 1 me . I thought of my blog into cathartic rantings of someone finding their way in this art business . the square was packed with about 8000 people , and the large circus tent we were located in was filled with shoppers . we could see a couple migrating their way through the crowd looking as though they were heading right to us . indeed they were heading to us because they had read the blog . they actually made today a bit by driving down from detroit michigan , which is about 3 and half hours from cleveland . a couple were eager to see my husbands handmade soap because they'd read about them on the blog . thebuy actually I'm sp. ent quite a lot of money that day but I was surprised to know that my blog reach detroit .another incident with the blog involved on my participation in a craft an art show in early spring the promoter I .asked for our website when did small buy a house on her stealing them to our blog . she is featured my cards on the as 1 of the 5 she chose for that show . some woman in florida was reading her blog and made its way over to my blog got so excited she got a plane ticket came to visit me . no mind to it was 20 degrees and snowing when she appeared , having left her warm florida sunshine . this was another case of something when reading my blog so I had no idea of but if she became a lovely supporter . so my best advice is write about your business but know that but some points will be very interesting to people .
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  Britt Hallowell May 25, 2012 at 9:20am

  Thanks everyone for your comments!  I'll be sure to check out all those sites!  Great advice!!
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  Connie Mettler May 24, 2012 at 8:49pm

  Here's a great link, Britt, that should also be helpful:

  10 Best Blog Tools for Beginners: http://www.blogworld.com/2012/05/21/10-best-blog-tools-for-beginners/
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  mea rhee May 23, 2012 at 11:01pm

  You could add a stat tracker to your blog, such as Google Analytics or GetClicky. You might be getting more visitors than you think. I would advise against doing anything gimmicky to attract new visitors, like a contest or giveaway. Those visitors won't become regular readers. Potential regular readers are the ones who sign up for your mailing list at shows. Another reason to grow and maintain a mailing list. When you send shows announcements you can say "visit my blog to read about the funny thing that happened to me last week." When I do this, I get a big spike of visitors. And don't post links to your blog in the comments of other people's blogs unless something you've written is highly relevant. A lot of bloggers consider that spammy. My best advice is to have something interesting to say. Luckily an art business generates a lot of interesting experiences. Write on a regular basis, but not too often. Stay on topic, don't tell your readers how cute your cat is. Be patient and let your readership grow over time.
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  Jim Parker May 23, 2012 at 5:13pm

  To have a good blog, you need to identify your audience, and develop your voice. Reading about how others do it has always been helpful for me. You might want to read what some pros have to say about the science and art of blogging. Here's a couple:

  Darren Rowse's site is a good place to start. ProBlogger.net His course, 31 Days to a Better Blog has helped many.

  Alyson Stanfield has many good tips for marketing and getting the back office together. Her site ArtBizCoach.com has a section on social media and blogging, and her newsletters are informative without being too pressing. She also runs courses for artists on marketing periodically, as well as person to person seminars. I've met her. She's quite personable, and a good speaker, as well as a good teacher.
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  Nick Jager Bottle Art Projects May 23, 2012 at 5:06pm

  Hi Britt, between the both of us, my hubby and I have three different blogs and yes, we can feel your pain. It's very tough to spend a ton of time and effort on building a blog and writing on a regular basis when you feel no one is finding you. Here are just a few of the things we've learned over time. By the way, I enjoyed checking out your blog.

  - Add a photo of yourself to your bio. Your visitors are more likely to interact if they can have a mental picture of you.

  - Make your subscribe button more prominent and move it up higher.

  - Always add at least one photo to your post/article and include relevant title tags. Photos are indexed seperatly from your articles.

  - I see you started to do this. :) At the end of your article ask your visitors to leave a comment and share your content. Don't be shy, it's okay to ask as long as you're nice about it.

  - Find related blogs and leave comments. Ask them if you could write a guest article with a back link, etc. Interact with fellow bloggers and they will come.

  - If you're willing to spend a little money have a giveaway. Share your giveaway on other blogs and sign up on various giveaway sites. I found online-sweepstakes.com to bring in a lot of traffic. Be aware that a lot of people will only come to your blog to win, but if you have interesting and unique content they will most likely come back.

   

  I hope this will help.

  Feel free to take a look at our blogs:

  www.bottle-lamp.com

  www.jagerfoods.com

  www.sexyshoesexpert.com

  Best wishes, Silke