She’s Crafty: How to start a crafting blog with no money, no code, little time and toddlers underfoot

Does everyone have a crafting blog except you? It’s time to get your blog online using WordPress. Everything the beginner needs to know to start a blog. How do you choose a name? How do you choose a web host or blogging service? How do you get started writing? How do you get people to visit your blog? How do you get them to keep coming back? All your questions answered in a friendly, jargon-free session. This is a session for beginning bloggers and will focus on solutions that don’t require a lot of technical know-how or a big budget.
Presented at WordCamp Vancouver 2016

Transcript

1. She’s Crafty
   How to start a crafting blog
   with no money, no code, little time
   and toddlers underfoot
   Shannon Smith
   

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2. Shannon Smith
   Web Developer
   Café Noir Design
   www.cafenoirdesign.com
   @cafenoirdesign
   

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3. Budget = 0 $
   

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4. The Finished Garment
   www.finishedgarment.ca
   

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5. The Finished Garment
   www.finishedgarment.ca
   

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6. Getting Started
   

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7. What to say?
   

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8. What is the goal?
   

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9. Consistency is Key
   • Frequency
   • Tone
   • Network(s)
   • Time
   

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10. Everything Starts with a Name
    http://knowem.com
    http://namechk.com
    

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11. Where to Blog ?
    

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12. Optional Yearly Expenses
    • Domain name = 15 $
    • Use your domain name with WordPress.com = 72 $
    • (Web hosting = 120 $)
    

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13. A Good Breakup
    

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14. Choosing a Webhost
    • Ask your friends
    • https://wordpress.org/hosting/
    • Keep your domain name and hosting separate
    • You get what you pay for!
    

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15. Where to Get a Domain Name
    https://www.hover.com
    

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16. Choose a Theme
    wordpress.com
    wordpress.org
    

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17. Take Photos
    

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18. Get Photos
    • istockphoto.com
    • stocksy.com
    • Flickr creative commons
    

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19. Mini-Branding
    • A name
    • A simple image
    • A (free) font
    • A great photo of you
    • A colour scheme
    • Bonus: A watermark
    • Not necessary!
    

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20. Your Readers
    

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21. Find your Peeps
    • social networks
    • comments
    • genre specific networks
    • online organized activities
    • in-person activities
    

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22. Social Networks
    • words vs. images
    • time commitment
    • conversation or broadcasting
    

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23. Active Users (in millions)
    statista.com
    

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24. Where are your readers ?
    

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25. Quantity vs. Quality
    

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26. Cool Sites
    Spool of Thread
    

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27. Cool Sites
    oursocialfabric.wordpress.com
    

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28. Online Events
    kidsclothesweek.com
    

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29. In-person Activities
    gotcraft.com
    

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30. Find your Peeps
    • www.ravelry.com
    • www.textillia.com
    • kollabora.com
    • burdastyle.com
    • sewing.patternreview.com
    • sewcialists.org/firehose/
    • Groups on flickr, Facebook, Instagram hashtags, etc.

    

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31. Être intéressant, c’est s’intéresser
    aux autres
    

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32. Further Down the Rabbit Hole
    

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33. Sharing and Privacy
    

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34. If you aren’t paying for a product,
    you are the product.
    

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35. There is No Undo
    

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36. Editorial Calendar
    

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37. Editorial Calendar Plugins
    wordpress.org
    

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38. Pretty Photos
    canva.com
    

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39. Social Media
    Integration
    • Jetpack publicize
    • Instagram embeds
    • Hootsuite
    • YouTube videos
    

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40. Analytics
    google.com/analytics/
    

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41. Basic SEO
    • Use a featured image
    • Fill in all your image fields
    • Write an excerpt
    • Use categories and tags, 

    ones for people
    • Plugin: Yoast SEO
    • 350 words
    • headings (h1/h2/h3)
    • Search engines are trying to mimic
    people
    

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42. Fill In Everything
    

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43. Getting Paid?
    • Ads
    • Ad networks
    • Partnerships
    • Sponsored posts
    • Affiliates
    • Product sales
    

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44. What was the point again ?
    

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45. The greatest task before civilization at
    present is to make machines what they
    ought to be, the slaves, instead of the
    masters of men.
    Havelock Ellis
    

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46. Shannon Smith
    Web Developer
    Café Noir Design
    www.cafenoirdesign.com
    @cafenoirdesign
    www.finishedgarment.ca

    @finishedgarment
    

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