Water Doesn't Help Your Blog Grow

The only way to grow a successful, meaningful blog with consisten visitors (good traffic) is to devote a lot of love and time to the blog.

I have been spending a lot of time learning about these things lately. I've wanted to increase the traffic to my blog - but I want those visitors to be interested in the things I write about. I don't want traffic just to have traffic.
I would like to share a great list I came across on another site. BeJeweled by Candi is a site I'm thrilled to have found. She creates beautiful jewelry pieces (like the one above) and sells them in her Etsy shop, she showcases other artists, provides great blogging and marketing tips, and even sits as the guest editor for "Everything Else" category on the Etsy Profiles blog. I think she needs to do a few more things, don't you??

It was great visiting her site. I had the opportunity to feast my eyes on gobs of delicious art by several artists - and I learned some outstanding new tips. The list below comes directly from her site. It appears to be pretty inclusive and definitely a fantastic place to start. If you are trying to gain readership, follow these tips.

25 Ways To Promote Your Blog For Free

1.Use a lot of pictures
2.Leave comments on other blogs. Make sure they are relevant and useful.
3.Have an RSS Feed
4.Submit to blog directories
5.Add a bookmark link to every post
6.Start a 2nd blog and link to yourself
7.Join BlogCatalog and join communities
8.Join MyBlogLog and join communities
9.Use social bookmarking sites like Digg and StumbleUpon
10.Create follow-up posts to give the original post some added attention. Write a second post to extend the thoughts of the first post
11.Submit your blog to web directories
12.Make sure your blog is indexed on the main search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN
13.Exchange links with blogs of similar interests
14.Create an account with Technorati and submit your blog url
15.Create a Google sitemap on your blog to help get it fully indexed
16.Link out to other blogs in your posts and have a blogroll of your favorite blogs
17.Submit articles to Ezines
18.Create a lens at Squidoo
19.Make sure your blog address is on your business cards
20.Offer an email newsletter by adding a Feedburner subscription box
21.If your blog hosting site offers a place to tag your posts - use them
22.Make sure that your content is good. Be sure to use the spellcheck feature and try to use proper grammar
23.Write your blog posts as if you are talking to a friend. Tap into your readers emotions
24.Use Twitterfeed to tweet new blog posts via a RSS feed
25.Sign up with Entrecard

I think she did a really good job on this - so I wanted to pass it along to you guys. I hope it proves helpful to you. xo

Brriinng! It's Hallmark on the Phone

Awhile ago, Hallmark cards held a contest requesting people send in a picture and a funny phrase to go along with the picture. The card had to be pertinent to "Happy Birthday" - but that was pretty much the only rule. So I sent in this:
I totally forget what I ended up writing on the inside - I changed it several times before finally submitting it. I went on doing what I needed to do, pushing the contest out of my mind.

I was shocked - stunned, I tell ya - when the phone rang and it was Hallmark. Seems my card made it...it won! Can you believe that?! I think the two women who called to notify me thought I had lost my mind. I was more than a little convinced I was being "Punk'd".

I have signed the releases and sent off the legal forms. What does this mean? Well, I won a cash prize of $250...and the card will be printed and placed in Hallmark stores across the country. It should even be available online! I'm so excited!

Right now they are calling the winners of this round "finalists". I feel like I've already won - but there is more. If my card is the best seller this summer, I will win $2,500 and it will become a permanent card in their humor collection. Now, I ask you...how cool is that?!

So, my dear and loyal readers, I have an official assignment for you in the coming months. I need for you all to buy this card - whether you do it online or in a Hallmark store. Stock up on them. Have your friends and family buy them. Hold contests for them. Just get your hands on them any way you can! Since I haven't had a car for awhile now - and it is more than a serious hindrance for a single mom to be on foot! - $2,500 could go far...no, very, very, very far...in purchasing a royal carriage. Besides, it would be awesome to have this card as part of Hallmark's permanent humor collection!

I will update when Hallmark gets a little further into this - right now I think the cards will be available online in March and arriving in stores June 22. I'm still shocked and waiting for Ashton to jump out from behind a stack of craft supplies! If he doesn't, and this is for real, keep an eye out for these. I will definitely run a HUGE giveaway to coincide with this event. I don't know what it will be yet - but I promise it will be big. xo

$50 Gift Certificate Photofiddle.com Winner

I love announcing winners of contests - and I'm especially excited about announcing the winner of this contest. If you recall, Photofiddle.com was kind enough to give one of my rockin' readers a FIFTY dollar gift certificate. How cool and generous is that??

The winner is... #13

Staci(Who am I?) said... 13

I'm now following you too!

January 30, 2009 9:12 PM

Staci, I sent you an email notifying you of winning. Hurry and get back to me so we can get you the gift certificate. I have no doubt whatsoever you will be thrilled with whatever you pick out - they do incredible work. Absolutely the best! And for everyone else, Photofiddle.com continues to offer my readers a 15% discount, just type in the code queen15 to take advantage of the savings. This was a fun contest, although I wish more of you guys would have entered. You don't know what you're missing out on - but Staci will soon be able to tell you! Enjoy, Staci - and congratulations! xo

The Kindness of Others

I have heard people talking about creating with napkins for several years. I've looked at all the local stores for decorative napkins I could use to make some delicious art with. I was surprised that I couldn't find any - well, I couldn't find any that didn't say "Happy Birthday" or "25th Anniversary". Bummed, I had all but given up on creating with napkins.

A couple of weeks ago, while jumping from one artist's site to another, I came across a beautiful blog by Sharon Tomlinson, All Norah'S Art. As soon as I saw the header I knew this was going to be a good blog. I just had no idea how good!

Sharon is an amazing artist. No, I don't mean she's good and you might enjoy her work. I mean she is SO good you need to go check out her site right this minute. I have no doubt you will "oooh" and "aaah" your way through her blog, just like I did.

Her work is beautiful. Breathtaking. It has a wonderful surreal quality to it. The faces and people she draws have a quality about them I can't describe, I only know they draw you in...and won't let you go. Her pieces creep into your mind - without you realizing it -and take up residency. I get lost in her work, studying each line and making up pasts for her creations. Yes, Sharon Tomlinson is that good. I know she has been published in at least Somerset Studio and Cloth Paper Scissors. I'm sure there are probably more, but I don't know about them. And I know she has a fantastic Etsy store, All Norah'S Art.

(I haven't posted pictures of her work because I haven't had a chance to ask her permission. If you haven't gone over there and checked out her work yet, go ahead. I'll wait. Seriously. Well, wait a minute. Once you go over there I have no doubt I'll lose you...so maybe you should wait and finish the post, then go over there. Yeah.)

I need to stop gushing and get on with the point.

So I'm literally gawking at all her wonderfulness, mesmerized by her talent, when something catches my eye. She creates with napkins! Rather, I should say, she uses napkins in her paintings. Adorning many of her incredible paintings are napkin bits. It was like the heavens opened up and...ok, I'm being a little dramatic. It was like, on some cosmic level, I immediately connected with her. Her beautiful work stunned me - and I was floored to find she actually uses napkins. Napkins. Can you believe it?! I emailed her, asking where she would suggest I find napkins similar to what she uses. She mentioned Tuesday Morning - but the only one I know of around here is gone. And without knowing me, she offered to send me some. Wow! I hadn't contacted her so she could send me something, I swear. And holy crown - the napkins she sent are just lovely - a beautiful array of different napkins. Look!
She also sent along a sheet of music that looks like it came from a foreign hymnal. One of our trusty kittens, Noodles, is keeping watch.

(Can you believe how big the kitten is? She and her sister are bigger than Mom now...and are the only two we kept. So I currently have 4 of the 398 kittens I'll need in order to become the creepy, old, lonely cat lady who sits in her rocking chair and drools.)

I'm so inspired. Receiving such a wonderful package from Sharon really got me going. My mind immediately began spinning as soon as I pulled the napkins from the glassine envelope she had carefully enclosed them in. As I ran my fingers over each napkin, thoughts jumped out of my mind. (Good thing I put them back in - I can't afford to lose any thoughts!) I have so many ideas of things I can do with these...and I have Sharon to thank. Not only is she an amazing artist, she is incredibly kind to share her stash with a complete stranger.

Sharon Tomlinson is definitely someone to aspire to be like!

Grand Theft Art?

You come up with a fabulous technique. It's so great, you can't wait to tell everyone about it. You go around posting to all the Yahoo groups you belong to, happily sharing your technique and examples with everyone who will listen. You see a few people try it, email you with how great the technique is, thank you for being the master wizard of art, and your ego begins to grow so big you won't possibly fit through the door tomorrow.

You continue working with your newly "invented" technique. You even begin to create a class around teaching your new technique. You're kind of mad at yourself for posting it all over the place in your excitement...but those other artists are "friends", right? It's fine, you decide. Nothing will happen to your new technique - besides, everyone knows you created it.

Your new Cloth Paper Scissors arrives. Ahhh life is sweet! You happily begin flipping through it...when it happens. You come across a page where the work seems strangely familiar. Looking more closely you realize someone else has written an article about your technique - the one you created. The technique you were going to teach in a class. You continue reading in total disbelief. Surely the person will credit you - or at least mention you - right? Nope. The article concludes, examples extremely similar to what you first created with the technique are shown, and there is not one mention of you. How could this happen??

That is a question a lot of artists find themselves asking. As the Internet grows, and groups made up of people with common interests form, information is shared more freely. Blogs and websites are created so people can share their lives, interests, and passions. People who wouldn't normally find each other, due to location or a myriad of other reasons, have linked up and formed friendships and exchanged information. Does that mean sharing what you've learned from these groups or relationships, goes against the creative code of ethics and morals? Do you need to find out who created every single technique you use, and credit each of those people whenever you create something?

Most artists would say no. However, and this is an important however, there most definitely is a line. Finding out who created a common, well-known technique is ridiculous. No one expects that. Publishing an article that introduces a new technique is a totally different monster. Which is a problem for any artist who "invents" a new technique - and either freely shares it with those in art groups, or teaches classes about it. You see, artists can "invent" a hundred different brilliant, earth-shattering, life-changing techniques...and can't copyright one of them. You can protect a piece of art - but you cannot protect ideas. And that has a lot of artists fuming. Including me.

Without "outing" the person who submitted my idea to Cloth Paper Scissors, I will just say that another artist wrote an article several years ago, describing and identifying a technique I came up with. That may sound ridiculous to some of you...how do you know she didn't just stumble across the same idea? Well, I know she didn't because we discussed my idea - and she came to me with questions about it. I helped guide her through it. Don't get me wrong - I was happy to do it. Until I saw the article. I felt betrayed - and totally infuriated. I realize I don't "own" the technique - but to not even mention me was like a slap in the face.

I stopped speaking to that artist immediately. Funny thing is, I never received another email from her, either. She knows exactly what she did. (Can you tell this still upsets me??)

I haven't brought this up until now because I still seethe every time I think about that whole situation. I decided to bring it up now after seeing another artist post a note in a message board about it. Apparently, she was confronted with the same issue upon opening a copy of Quilting Arts recently. Her anger was palpable as she "thanked" the person who had taken a class from her, learned a technique this artist only teaches in her class, and then wrote an article about said technique, passing it off as her own.

Some of you may be reading this saying to yourself, "Well, the author of this article paid to take a class from this artist, so the technique now belongs to her as well." I won't pretend to know what the legalities are of that situation...but I will say, from the viewpoint of another artist (me), what the article's author did is just plain WRONG. She would not have had that knowledge without taking the class - and the artist supports herself (in part) from teaching that technique to paying students. The author did not seek permission from the artist - nor did she mention where she learned the technique. To the reader it appeared the author came up with the technique. The artist is extremely angry - just think about the monies this artist lost out on due to widespread publication of her technique.

I'm all for the artistic community lending each other a hand, sharing ideas, and collaborating on projects. I'm also all for giving credit where credit is due. Why pass off something as yours when it isn't? Isn't that the same as stealing?

A lot of us make similar items. It's no secret how to use PMC, watercolors, or gel medium. But as a community, don't we owe it to each other to be respectful of anothers ideology?

I'm very curious to hear what my readers think of this issue. Is it morally or ethically wrong to pass off some one's technique as your own? Or is it too bad, so sad - ideas are not "property" and therefore cannot be attributed to a single person? Which side of this issue to do stand on?

Please comment and let me know. I can't wait to read your response!