Week 7: Blog Hop News, Advice, and Giveaway

Weekly calendar: (be sure to visit these blogs this week to meet these fun bloggers, learn more about them, and see their great tutorials prepared especially for the blog hop!)

July 3

    Di from Willowbeck Designs

    Jennifer from Knotted Thread  
July 5

    Sarah from Sarah Lou

    Catherine from Knotted Cotton

Click here to find links to the awesome tutorials from the last six weeks and to see some fantastic events currently being hosted by blog hoppers. 

This week's advice post is by Sara from Sew Sweetness.  I think I've been a follower of Sara's blog for awhile but she really stood out to me when she made the most adorable dress entirely out of one of my most favorite fabrics- Melody Miller's typewriters.  I've also been visiting her wonderful blog a lot recently to read all the great pattern reviews from Purse Palooza.  Here is what she had to say.

1.  What do you think is most important for new quilting bloggers to know?  Were you given some advice when you started blogging that you could pass on?
  
If you are a new blogger, I would say it's a great idea to join in on a weekly linky party (Canoe Ridge Creations has one, and Freshly Pieced has a W.I.P. (work-in-progress) one, both of which are really good.) The point of a linky party is to post your project for the week, and visit/comment on the other projects that you see posted. That way, you meet other bloggers and become familiar with the people around you.

2.  Is there anything you now know that you wish you would have known when you started your blog?
  
At the beginning, I thought I had to constantly run giveaways to get new followers. Giveaways are great for drawing people in, but they might not always be interested in continuing to read after the giveaway is over. I would say concentrate on sewing great projects that people enjoy seeing and are inspired by, and you'll get your followers.

              Image from Sew Sweetness

3.  What is your advice for growing readership?  Any advice on using social media to do so?

I like the idea of posting your projects/progress across several media outlets. I'm not saying to jump in and do all right from the get-go, because that can be overwhelming. But slowly add another over time. For instance, you've got your blog set up. Start by joining the weekly linky parties. Then, when you're comfortable, whenever you finish a project (or make good progress, or buy some new fabric), post the pictures on Flickr, with a link in the photo's description linking back to the blog post related to that photo. You can link up your blog to a Facebook page/fansite using Networked Blogs, which automatically posts the link to each blog post within minutes after you post it to your blog. You can set the same thing up with Twitter. Pinterest is also great for finding things you like via pinning other people's things (and hopefully they will see your blog and pin something of yours!). I'm not using Instagram yet, but that's another option.


The reason for having access to all these outlets is that everyone gets their fix in a different way. I favor Facebook over Twitter, but some folks are on Twitter all the time. If I spread myself out a bit, that maximizes the opportunities for people to see my blog posts.

image from Sew Sweetness

4.  Do you blog surf?  If so, can you pinpoint a few aspects of a new blog that would make you want to become a follower?  And is there anything that would make you want to never visit that blog again?


I used to use my blogger dashboard a bit more than I do now. I'm so busy, that I rely mostly on Facebook to find new blog posts. Everyone does it differently. I like when a blogger is friendly and replies to comments I leave on their blog (or other social media format) because it makes me feel included. If I've commented or asked questions a few times and don't get a response, it kind of turns me off (although people do get busy, so that's why I saw 'few times').

5.  What types of posts are most popular on your blog and what about those posts is it that make them such?  What is your advice for writing interesting posts?


I think, going in, that you should have an idea of what type of blog format you would like to have, and more or less try to stick with it. From the get-go I decided to write sewing pattern reviews every time I finished a project. My format has slightly changed over time, but I mostly stick with the same types of things I post about. For instance, I don't post cooking recipes, vacation photos, or talk about my kids. Okay, I posted one cooking recipe when I very first started! I've posted a couple photos of my kids wearing something I've sewn, but that's about it. I'm not saying that these things are wrong or bad, but it's just not something I wanted to get into on my blog. I think having a plan for your blog helps keep things looking cohesive. 

6.  What tips would you suggest we include in a blog checklist for new quilting bloggers?

                           Image from Sew Sweetness

-matching blog header/sidebar button (which can also be used for your Facebook/Twitter/Flickr avatars)
-clearly marked link or button for people to follow via e-mail, to follow in a reader, to follow on blogger, facebook, etc.
-clearly marked link or button to contact/e-mail you
-a button someone can click on to see groupings of what you do. For example, on my site I have a 'Tutorials' tab on the top of my page that someone can quickly and clearly see what tutorials I've written. In your case, you might have a tab for 'Completed Quilts' or 'Finished Projects' or whatever. Because as your blog posts get older and move farther down, sometimes someone might miss out on seeing something cool you've done. But if you have a tab or button that they can pull all those items up in, they will be seen again and again. :-)

7.  Thinking ahead:  (a) how and when should new bloggers solicit sponsors and (2) how and when should new bloggers seek out ways to be published.


I have never sought out sponsors for my blog; I don't really do much advertising on my blog (I have the BlogHer advertising at the top, but that's not really sewing-related). If that's something you want to do, I would say wait until you have a significant amount of content/followers to merit asking for a sponsor. You want it to be a mutual win-win situation for the sponsor and for you, not just about you asking for 'stuff'.

I don't think there is a minimum for getting published (if you're talking about in magazines.) If you have a good project, even if you're new, it will get picked up. And sometimes you might have to submit 10 things before one gets picked up. Having a completed project (as opposed to just a sketch) can also help a lot in that area. You also want to be sure you are able to write clear and concise instructions (pretend like you have to tell someone over the phone how to complete your sewing project...as sometimes magazines aren't able to publish many step-by-step photos or illustrations, you will be mostly relying on your written instructions.)

Thanks Sara for all your great advice!

I've created a page with links to all the great posts on blogging by bloggers participating in the blog hop and the advice series.   This page will be updated regularly throughout the hop.  And there will be more to come in this space in the coming weeks.  

And this week is Facebook week.  Check out this post that Claire from Sewing Over Pins wrote for the series to help get you started.  I haven't really used facebook yet for my blog but I'm excited to start - you can click here to see my facebook page.  

Also, one of our newest blog hoppers, Chrissie from Made by ChrissieD, just wrote this post about word verification.

Giveaway:

This week's giveaway is sponsored by Kate Conklin Designs.  Kate has designed several beautiful modern quilts that she sells in her online shop.  And she has offered up 6 PDFs for this week's giveaway  - so there will 3 winners this week and each of those winners will be able to choose 2 patterns from Kate's shop.  What will you choose?
  
To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post.  Leave any comment you want to enter but since it is always fun to have a topic, what about this - how do you use social media in your blogging life?  Any suggestions or questions for other bloggers?

One comment per person for an entry (replies to other comments don't count so reply all you want!)  The giveaway will be open until Saturday, July 7, 2012 at 8pm EDT and three winner will be chosen at random.  And, PLEASE, leave an email address unless you are sure that you are not a no-reply blogger.  The winner will be announced in the Week 8 Blog Hop News on Monday, July 9th. 

The winner of last week's giveaway from Contemporary Cloth is #37 Books_Bound (since replies don't count, all the comments were renumbered and only the first comment made by each person counted.)  Congrats!   

  Anyone participating in or following along with the blog hop can add a link.  Please either post the button or a text link somewhere in your post or on your blog and please visit (at the very least) the person who links up right before you and leave a comment!  For fun (actually, an experiment again), when the link tool asks for your name - write down your favorite dessert instead. We'll do that next week - I must have checked the wrong button - I'll blame it on the power outage!!)