Upgrade to Pro — share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …

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

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

Shannon Smith

August 27, 2016
Tweet

More Decks by Shannon Smith

Other Decks in Technology

Transcript

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  3. Budget = 0 $

    View Slide

  4. The Finished Garment
    www.finishedgarment.ca

    View Slide

  5. The Finished Garment
    www.finishedgarment.ca

    View Slide

  6. Getting Started

    View Slide

  7. What to say?

    View Slide

  8. What is the goal?

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  11. Where to Blog ?

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  13. A Good Breakup

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  16. Choose a Theme
    wordpress.com
    wordpress.org

    View Slide

  17. Take Photos

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  20. Your Readers

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  23. Active Users (in millions)
    statista.com

    View Slide

  24. Where are your readers ?

    View Slide

  25. Quantity vs. Quality

    View Slide

  26. Cool Sites
    Spool of Thread

    View Slide

  27. Cool Sites
    oursocialfabric.wordpress.com

    View Slide

  28. Online Events
    kidsclothesweek.com

    View Slide

  29. In-person Activities
    gotcraft.com

    View Slide

  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.


    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  32. Further Down the Rabbit Hole

    View Slide

  33. Sharing and Privacy

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  35. There is No Undo

    View Slide

  36. Editorial Calendar

    View Slide

  37. Editorial Calendar Plugins
    wordpress.org

    View Slide

  38. Pretty Photos
    canva.com

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  40. Analytics
    google.com/analytics/

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

  42. Fill In Everything

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  44. What was the point again ?

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

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

    @finishedgarment

    View Slide