Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Blogging for Growth

My current focus in recent weeks has been to increase my blog presence as well as my Facebook fans.  I've spent much of my "down time" reading about blogging techniques and ways to increase my Facebook fanbase. I realize these need to be long term goals, as it can take time to increase one's social media crawl when everyone else it playing in the same sandbox.

So I thought it might be good to spend some time talking about what I have found to work for me, to share my "oops", and to chat with you about your successes, your challenges, and your questions.

Let's get the conversation started, beginning with blogging!

Recently, I completed as redesign of my blog. From the beginning, I used a template - don't we all? I loved the look, but knew it wasn't "mine." My sweetie gave me a new monitor for Christmas, and I love the more rectangular look. So a couple of months ago I began playing with new backgrounds. I don't know what I'm using now is the best, but here are a few things I've learned:

Make sure you're using a design that works with your brand. If you have graphic design skills or can afford a designer, create a cohesive look between your blog, your website, your logo, and all your marketing materials.

Use plenty of white space! We have so much distraction in our
lives, and people find simple designs more refreshing these days. I know we're all advised to use our sidebars for ads, calls to action, subscriptions, etc. But take some time to review what websites and blogs you like. Chances are most of them use their space well with plenty of visual breaks. While you're at it - make sure you're using a light background rather than a dark. I know it's not "artistic" but will be much more engaging for your audience.

Experiment with your settings. My sweetie gave me a new monitor for Christmas, and I love the more rectangular look. I suddenly became more aware of how my newsletter and my blog looked on the new monitor. As technology evolves and old monitors and television sets are being replaced, more and more people are using the more rectangular look. It's time to expand your settings to accommodate these changes. By the way - I found I also needed to increase my font size to keep up with the new design.

Move some of your sidebar items to page tabs. Like most, I had a widget for my Etsy shop and my Pinterest boards. I began to think about my sidebar items as "advertisements" and my page tabs as my website. So I changed things up a bit. My page tabs are more "about me" and ways to move my visitors deeper into my "website". My sidebar items are true advertisements (click here for advertising opportunities!) or calls to action for subscription management, etc.

Always, always, always create your settings for pages other than your own to open in a new window. The goal with any website, and your blog, should be to retain your audience for as long as possible. When you allow a new page to open over yours, you lose the opportunity for someone to stick around. When your viewer is done looking at the other page and closes it, he will come back to yours, and hopefully take some time to see what other great information you have!

Over the past few weeks, I've developed other techniques to increase new visitors, subscribers, and content. I've also found challenges to writing content, to finding advertisers, and to marketing my blog. Goals include writing content for my customer base, writing e-books for download, and always, increasing my subscribers.

What are your successes? What have been your challenges? What are your goals? I'd love to discuss these in the upcoming weeks, as we're all in this journey together! Please comment below with your questions or successes, or email me.


Sunday, May 26, 2013

Sunday Spotlight - Pinar Design

Today's Sunday Spotlight features the gorgeous and creative work of Pinar Kamaci from Turkey. As a fellow crocheter, I am amazed at the detail of her designs. Please take the time to get to know this unique artist, and look for her special offer at the end of the post!



Hi, my name is N. Pinar Kamaci. I design and make Bohemian Chic Crochet Lace Art Jewelry.  Also I make screen-print cotton scarves with ancient art motif. All of my creations are inspired by ancient history and art of Turkey. There is a historical tale behind my each and every design.

I am a graphic designer. I born and grow up in Istanbul, Turkey where is a beautiful and historical city. I have two university degree; Marmara University of Printing Technology and Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts Department of Graphic Design. Also my parents are graduated from same university, Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts. My father is graphic designer and my mother is ceramic artist and sculpture. I have one younger sister. And I love her tooo much, she is my best friend and also big fan of Pinara Design.

Crochet Pendant Necklace

In 2006, I married my husband, Ertan, the love of my life whom I met while working at the same firm. He is also my best friend and source of inspiration of my art works. He is my logic man, my second eye and the other half of my soul. He is a photographer. We have no children, but we have an adorable ginger boy cat. His name is Bucuk. He is 5 years old. And we adore him. He is fun and happiness our life. (And he is a great helper for distract the attention and kidnap my equipment LOL)


I had my own printing and graphic agency for 4 years. Then I worked for a graphic agency as an art director. And finally I worked for an international hr & consultant firm as an art director and manager.

Crochet Collar Bib Necklace

15 years ago I began to make my own jewelry. Because I love wear jewelry. For years I have researched about Anatolian history, ancient art, Turkish lace, vintage crochets, semiprecious stones, authentic fabrics... People around me began to encourage me to share my designs with the world. After my husband and I left our jobs and lives in fast paced Istanbul we decided moved to the seaside city of Antalya in southern Turkey and opened our Etsy shop. This is when my colorful journey begins.

We love Antalya because it's a beautiful city nearby Mediterranean Sea where history and nature come together seamlessly.

Crochet Bohemian Chic Earrings

 My husband and my parents inspire me a lot. When I finish a new design, I immediately share with Ertan. And we brainstorm about. He is my second eyes; show me the different ways to look.
And my parents… when we get together always talk about history and art. They expand my brain; give me the new clues for research. Art is always in my life. I grew with art and at the end I become an artist. My parents always create wonderful things… not only drawings or sculpture… When I was child my mother always made for us puppets, interesting toys and fancy cloths. Thought me how to sew ,thanks to my mummy. When I was 13 years old they made a fiber glass sailing boat and they thought me how to sail… Then they bought a big lemon garden which has an old stone village house in it. They restorated whole garden and house. They made wooden and stone works by their selves. And they are still creating… and give me inspiration always J

And finally history is my basic inspiration. I feel really lucky for to be living at this huge historical country. Turkey is a huge historical country. There are so many different ancient civilizations in our land. Lycia, Hittite, Ottoman Empire, Ion, Urartus, Byzantine, Selcuk… Many many different styles of art and ancient civilizations. This keep me search more with excitement. Find new treasuries from past is a great journey. As a graphic designer searching ancient art and designs give new perspective for create.  I love creative process and researching; matching colors and combine them with different motifs. I feel that I am still growing and learning more with each of my designs.

Crochet Bohemian Chic Earrings

Our intention is revive some forgotten designs of the past by using eco-friendly materials on jewelry and scarves. Diversity of Anatolian history and artistic creations are giving me the opportunity for using different techniques and materials. There is a historical tale behind each and every design such as techniques like crochet, screen print, wire wrap, transfer print.

What's the meaning of Pinara?
Often people ask me that there is any relationship between my name Pınar and Pinara. In fact, these two words look like similar but they are totally different words. Pınar means 'fountain' in Turkish language. Pinara means 'round' in the ancıent Lycia language and it's the name of a beautiful Lycia site in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. It was settled around 5th century BC in the Xanthus valley and one of the important cities of the Lycia Federation. Its name references apparently to the rounded shape of the precipitous hill on which the city originally stood.

Most proud of product is Crochet Bohemian Chic Tulip Pendant Necklace in Red, Green with Emerald, Coral and earrings set.  Short time ago one of my customer wanted as a set with earrings this beautiful necklace.

Crochet Lace Necklace with Tulip

 The crochet motifs that I made for this lovely set is inspired from Hatayi tile motifs of Rustem Pasa Mosque at Istanbul.

This hatayi motif is penç style. Motifs known as penç are derived from natural plants forms. They are stylized drawings of the bird’s-eye view of a flower. Hatayi is one of the main motifs of Tezhip (Illumination). Hatayi is a stylized pattern known as “Chinese Turkestan” origin, vertical and horizontal cross-section view of the flowers. Hatayi motifs have been applied on utensils and architectural tiles ceramics at the middle of the 16 century at Iznik. The most brilliant period of Ottoman Tile art was between 15. - 18. Centuries at Iznik. The most important feature of Iznik tiles are under-glaze decoration technique and coral red color.

The Rustem Pasha Mosque was designed by Ottoman imperial architect Mimar Sinan for Grand Vizier Damat Rustem Pasha. He was husband of one of the daughters of Suleiman the Magnificent, Princess Mihrimah. The Rustem Pasha Mosque is famous for its large quantities of exquisite Iznik tiles.

Follow Pinar here:


As a special offer to my readers, use coupon code BRTHDY001 for an amazing 25% off!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Tips for Dealing with the End of Google Reader

In case you aren't aware, Google Reader will no longer be supported beginning July 1st of this year. Are you scared by this? If not, you should be!

Many of us rely upon Google Reader to feed our blogs to our audience  When this goes away, so do your readers. Unless you have developed alternative methods for your followers to stay in touch with you.
When Google Reader goes away, so do your readers!
It's time for you to take control of marketing your blog! Take a look at your layout. What options are you giving readers to follow you? If all you have is a widget to connect to an RSS feed, well, good luck ensuring your readers will be around on July 2nd. Here are a few ideas to add subscription options to your blog in addition to subscribers!

Add subscription options to your sidebar.
Your subscription options should include Google Friend Connect, Google Plus, and email as well as RSS options. While you're at it, allow your widgets to show your followers and the counts for each source. Success breeds success! When new see how popular your blog is, they will be more inclined to follow!

Pin It!
Add a board to your Pinterest page for your blog posts. Have you ever discovered some amazing blogs when relaxing as a pin-couch potato? They aren't there by accident! You've taken time to write your blogs, now pin your posts so a different audience can see them! Be sure to use a captivating photo and an engaging description. While you're at it, add a Pin It widget to your sidebar so others will be encouraged to do the same!

Use other social media tools.
Post your content to Facebook. Share your story on Google+. Drop a line on LinkedIn. And Tweet. And Tweet. And reTweet. Seriously! Retweet your older content! Unless you're blogging about the benefits of 8 tracks, your content is relatively current and applicable regardless of date. (If you're blogging about DIY projects, this really is a no-brainer!)

Include blog posts in your electronic newsletter.
Your blog posts are usually informational or tutorial in nature, and who better to share this content with than your customers? Chances are your newsletter audience is different from your blog audience. They haven't seen your blog content. So introduce your content with one of your best written articles, and most importantly, include a link!

Bottom line, you're gaining a following. They're on Pinterest, they're on Facebook, and they're subscribed to your newsletter. Use what you've established on other networks to feed that audience into your blog audience.







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