Ask The Experts
As Armchair BEA comes to a close, today is "Ask The Experts" day.
I've only been blogging for about a year (which is like 5 minutes in the blogosphere) and I still have TONS of questions!
Today is my chance to ask them. *claps excitedly* Feel free to leave links, advice, etc. in your comments and know that I will
a) love you forever just because you stopped by
b) be so very thankful for any help you share
c) think you're made of awesome
d) all of the above (this is the correct answer just in case you forgot to study.)
Here goes...
1) How do you make a blog button? (If you look around here, you'll notice I don't have one to "grab" because I don't know how to make one. *hangs head in shame*)
2) Are the images you use in your blog buttons free or did you have to pay for them? Have to register/trademark them?
3) What's the best way to offer advertising to sources other than Google Adsense or Amazon?
Now, as for offering advice to you...well, the best I can do is share my "Reviewer Golden Rule" (this works well with any kind of blog, not just bookish blogs.)
"Review unto others as you would have them review unto you."
Thank you to Armchair BEA!! This has been a fun week and I've "met" some fantastic new blogger friends! *waves* Hi to new blog & twitter followers!
I wish I could answer your ? but I can't. I don't have a button and never gave it much thought before this week.
ReplyDeleteNow it's gonna bug you, isn't it? It will be all my fault too. ;D
DeleteThose are some great questions!
ReplyDeleteI hired a designer to create my template. I'd suggest doing that if you have the money. Or else you'd have to create your own and then have the image hosted.
The image it's self I paid for and had the designer modify and personalize for me. :) Images aren't terribly expensive so I think it's worth the price.
I think it's extrememly important to brand yourself. I know it's not fun to sink money into some intangible but I promise it'll pay for it's self in the long run.... I can't express how amazing it feels to be told how much someone loves the look and feel of my blog!
I recently put BlogAds on my site (right hand sidebar) but haven't seen any ads go up yet. No big deal, just something I thought I'd try!
And I agree with your golden rule. :)
Here are my posts for Armchair BEA:
Day 1 | Introduction
Day 2 | Best of 2012
Day 2 | Giveaway | Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Day 3 | Networking
Day 4 | Beyond the Blog
BEA 2012 | Take Home Results
Day 5 | Blogging Advice | Give or Take
Thanks so much for the help! :)
DeleteLOL I love your golden rule! I would completely have the exact same questions about the button, but I am having someone give me a blog makeover so I think it is included. I had to have someone do it for me because I am so clueless about those things. I hope you find someone to help! :)
ReplyDeleteMy BEA post
I need to find someone I can pay in cupcakes. ;P
DeleteI don't have any images or buttons either. I don't know how important it is but it's something to look into for the future. As for advertising, I just switched to self-hosted so there are a bunch of ideas. I'm not sure what you can do with Blogger but affiliate programs are a good place to start. Lots of bookstores have them (Indie Bound, Powells, Barnes & Noble, etc.) so you could start there. Hope that helps!
ReplyDeleteI had my husband make my button, because he's a web developer and knows how. I have no idea how he did it :-( And all my graphics are photos of me that he manipulated in Photoshop, so I own them.
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of bloggers who do design work that could probably make you a button/graphics for not too much money. Parajunkee is one. Icey Designs is another.
And I'm absolutely no help on your last question!
Great post! Here's my Armchair BEA Ask the Experts post.
I did not make my blog button, but I mentioned I wanted one and a friend helped me out. I don't have it on my blog, though. I should fix that.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for taking the time to comment and for your help. :)
ReplyDelete