How To Market Your Craft Blog!

image via Google from here

Following on from my very popular (thank you!) post 'How To Start A Craft Blog'

Okey doke. You've set up your blog, it's looking gorgeous, your posting away regularly, tapping on your keyboard late into the night like Carrie Bradshaw, and yet.... no one is coming! Yikes! Why aren't they reading your lovely blog?! Why don't they like you?! Chances are, they don't even know you exist! But don't worry, it's not personal, and there are heaps of things you can do to alert people to your niceness. Here are some of the basics.


Clean Up For The Visitors
No hoover required here, but before you start seriously trying to gather readers for your blog... have a look around. Make sure it looks the way you want it to. Be sure you've posted lots of interesting things. Ask yourself what makes your blog special. If you're not sure, then you might need to do a bit of housekeeping to make it even nicer at your place. Are all your posts nice and neat and error free? Spell-check, neaten up your formatting, align your text - there's company coming!

Remove any crappy photos and put up lovely, clear images (you can look on Flickr for suitable photos if you can't find a good one of your own - just be sure to credit the source). Add a poll or a link to some books you love (check out the Page Element options in Blogger for ideas). Put some photos of your cute house or your knitting project in the sidebar. If you're a crafty rock chick, put a list of your favourite tracks up. Go look at other blogs that you like - see what extra features they've included on their blog and have a think about what might work for you. Put your unique stamp on your blog and get started!

You might want to consider some cute widgets (clever little icons/tools that you can use on your blog) - I like the Etsy favourites widget (found in the YOUR ETSY tab) and the Flickr Profile widget found on Big Huge Labs. Keep your widgets to a maximum of five, so that your page loads easily.

Comment
I hate to tell you this, but if you don't comment all over the place, then no one knows you are there. Yes, you're posting away happily each day... but it's not enough! Get out of your cosy little blogging-haze, and go visiting. See what other people are up to. A great way find good blogs to visit is to go to a quality blog, like Nikkishell's or mine and work your way through their links. BUT don't just say 'good work' or 'nice photo' - you really need to actually read the latest posts (at the very least) and comment thoughtfully. The more you comment about the place, the more other bloggers will say.. 'Oh, there's that Miss Banana-Bread (or whatever your blog name is) again. I must pop over to hers and see what she's all about'.

Profile Picture

It's really important to have a cute picture uploaded to your profile. It's a little thumbnail image - and coupled with a great blog name (and nice commenting), it will help other readers form their first impression of you. It will show up on most blogs each time you comment. So make it a nice image that will look good in teeny-tiny thumbnail size. If you are extra cute a photo of yourself is great, if you're a bit crepe-y-around-the-thirty-something edges, you might want to take a photo of something you love and use that. Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.

Linking
Keep linking to posts you love by other bloggers. They WILL know you are linking to them (they probably check their stats and Technorati too). It's really important to let people know, if you saw a great recipe on Amy Karol's blog - then tell people you did, and why you liked it, and if you cooked it and link to Amy.

It's not just the uber bloggers you should link to - what about the nice people in your own backyard that might comment on your blog, or talk about things that you are doing. Link to them. The internet, after all, is all about links. Be careful, however, not to constantly link to the same person and I would say no more than 5 links per post (unless your post is actually something like 'My Favourite Blogs This Week' with links to 20 nice blogs). Otherwise it just gets a little too intense.

Blog Rolls
A lot of bloggers seem to agonise about getting onto other bloggers blog-rolls (it's the list of links that shows on every page of their blog - you know, featuring all the writers favourite blogs). Blog rolls are an important part of getting people to click over to you - but you shouldn't worry if you're not making it to other people's blog rolls. They probably don't update their link list regularly, or they might only link to their buddies. So don't fret if you're not on many blog rolls. There are other ways of being popular in blog land. Like writing a good blog, for instance.

Having said that - several bloggers run regular meme's (a meme is a day, week, month or even year of themed posts. Think 'This is' on Three Buttons 'On My Desk' at Kootoyoo or 'The Friday Archive's' on Loobylu) Often if you join a meme, the lovely blogger who started the meme will link to you - either in the original post describing the meme them (which they will link back to often) or in their side-bar they may have a blog roll just for people who are joining their meme (like Angela does). This is a great way to get into a blog roll! BUT don't just post along with their meme once, see your name go up in lights on their blog and then bugger off. If you say you are going to join the meme - try to contribute as regularly as you can. No one's checking up, but it's nice to honour your commitment, dontcha think? And its fun too! And it helps get you out there playing nicely with the other bloggers. They MAY even throw the ball to you!

NB - It is not nice manners to ask to be on someone's blog roll. They will put you there if they want to.


Blogging Business Cards
Often, at the old Meet Me at Mikes Stitching Nights, halfway through the night everyone would whack out their Moo cards and swap blog details. If you're going to devote your time and energy to building a good blog, then why not have a calling card you can give to friends, family, nice people you chat to in the library... and let them know how to find you. Moo is a wonderful site where you can print 100 cards for about $30US - and each card can hold a different image.. or you can make your cards all the same. They'll print your image on one side and your contact details on the other. It's a super cute, small, beautifully printed card - and it wings it's way from the UK in no time at all - and they come in a nice box too. So if you're serious about promoting your blog - get yourself a calling card. You can make it yourself, if you are so inclined, as long as it looks super good.

Giveaways
Once your traffic is starting to tick along (you are checking your traffic via Google Analytics, aren't you?!) - give something back to your readers, apart from your witty repartee. Giveaways are a great way to keep people visiting you. Because people love free stuff. Make sure your giveaway reflects the sort of blogger you are. No point offering up four super-bitchen brand new tyres if you're a craft blogger - a pile of vintage fabric would be better. In fact if you do a decent fabric giveaway with lovely fabric - you are guaranteed to get a heap of people vying for the winnings (and reading your lovely blog).

Blog Swap

Nope, not as deliciously distressing as 'Wife Swap', but rather a fun way to share blog readers! Do you have another blogger that you are very hooked in with? You might comment on each other's blogs religiously each day. Why not swap blogs for the week - you post on theirs, they post on yours. It's a great way to pool readers and add a bit of diversity to your blog. You'll need to email your posts and photos to each other - and then you put your blog-buddie's post up on your blog yourself.

Memes
Memes are a good way of getting people to visit you often. If you want to start a meme, then there are a number of things you'll need to consider. Firstly - does your meme already exist?! There are lots of meme's going out there in blog land. In fact I've heard talk of meme-fatigue of late. So be sure that your meme is interesting, unique and positive. The theme of your meme should be open to interpretation in a number of ways - no point starting 'Praying Mantis Party Thursday' for instance - it's too specific and exclusive. 'I'm Going Outside....' would be a better meme, with people posting their favourite images of outside (which might include praying mantises).

A meme can be image based, or it can be a written theme - it's up to you. But make it FANTASTIC, or people just won't bother - and be sure you have a good base of readers before you dip your toe in the meme water. Also, ask bloggers that you love (one's with a fairly good readership) if they'd like to join your meme. If it's a good one, and it's beautifully presented, they'll probably agree. You MUST post a list of meme participants on your blog too.

Content
Yes, we're back to content again. It's really important. You must keep your content fresh, well presented and interesting. Keep telling us who you are and what you like, and we'll keep coming back. Be honest and thoughtful in your writing, and it will be a compelling read. Keep your images gorgeous. Share stuff. Content is paramount. Reward your visitors with good stuff.

Please let me know if there's anything you'd like to add....! I'm super happy to answer any questions too!

xx Mikes