1. You avoid making sidebar changes because the idea of dealing with HTML makes you want to pull your hair out.
2. You have 35 plugins that are all out of date.
3. Your spam count resembles the national debt.
4. You’d rather floss your teeth than deal with your widgets.
5. You signed up for Twitter 6 months ago but still haven’t linked it in your sidebar.
6. You need to add a page to your blog, but it keeps ending up at the bottom of your to do list.

Well, guess what? You’re in luck. In an effort to better serve my clients, I’v decided to offer blog design retainer services. This way, I can offer very individualized services for each blogger. If you’re unfamiliar with how retainers work, its a fee paid up front on a regular, predetermined basis for certain services. Here’s what my retainer service looks like:

1. We’ll sit down and chit chat about exactly what you need. Everyone is different, but you’re probably looking at something around $75-$125 per month.
2. Your services can include database/core file backup (WordPress), platform updates, sidebar & page updating, email support, discounted or free a la carte service (like ad buttons, etc., depending on your preference and need), head of queue placement for a la carte services, and free access to How To Blog: Video Tutor library.
3. Each month you’ll be automatically billed via a PayPal subscription.
4. After 3 months, we’ll look at the hours vs. the cost and reevaluate if needed.
5. Retainer can be canceled at any time; no minimum number of months are required.

This is a great option for:

• new bloggers
• business bloggers
• review bloggers
• any blogger wanting to focus on the writing

Now here’s the catch. I can only take on so many retainer clients and I currently have 5 spots available. 5 spots, people! So speak up…if you want to consider this service, contact me!

Now off to the orthodontist…to pay for that other kind of retainer.

Team sports are ending.

The school year is coming to a close.

Summer is upon us and for me that mean one thing…

3 restless, active boys at home for 8 weeks. But this year I’m a little more prepared than most. I have plans to do a whole lot of nothing and a whole lot of fun, all wrapped together. There will be a lot of swimming, Scrabble, cheap theater movies, a few day camps and I’m sure some Wii games. And maybe we’ll throw a few trips to the ice cream shop in there too.

So I may not be around quite as much, though I still plan on posting once a week. There may not be a lot of dissertation and discourse type posts, and probably no giveaways. But I’ll poke my head in here and there to say hi and let you know I’m still alive. I just have to soak up this time with these growing, changing-before-my-very-eyes boys.

I knew you’d understand.

But I cant go before telling you about a new and exciting feature on The Pixel Boutique. Let me give you a tiny bit of background.

As you know, I design blogs. This means working with a lot of different aspects of blogging…the graphics, the coding, the layout and template design on three different blogging platforms. I get tons of questions every week from bloggers and clients that need answers to some rubber-meets-the-road, mechanics of blogging questions. I wish sometimes I could just pop on over, sit down at the computer with them, and walk them right through it. Its so much easier to see it visually than to read it over email…for both of us.

In the past, I’ve done many free video tutorials and they generate a lot of views and interest. It’s clear to me that people want to know more about their blog and how to maintain and modify it, but they don’t know where to find quick, easy and thorough answers for the basic (and not so basic) questions they have.

So born out of that, I’ve decided to develop several video tutorials on many different topics. Without further ado…I present to you…

What’s in it for you:

• Lessons on blogging with WordPress, Typepad & Blogger
• Lessons on Photoshop Elements and other topics on graphics
• How-to tutorials that you can play, pause, rewind, play again, etc.
• A permanent file you can save and come back to in the future
• Easy, step by step instructions as I do the process myself on screen or a minimal fee
  

What’s in it for me:

• An easy way to cover a topic that would take 3 times as long to explain in an email
• The satisfaction of knowing I’ve practically helped you
• $3 per video

Yes, you read that correctly. Each video has an introductory cost of $3. Why, you ask? Well, it takes time to research the topic, create the video and, well…a girl can’t give away all she’s learned and studied over the years for nothing, now can she?

But, because I’m a nice gal, each new video added after today will remain FREE for one week before going into the for-purchase video library. And that’s not all (I hear infomercial music…)! If you buy multiple videos, you get the following discount:

• Purchase any 3 videos = $8.25 (9% savings) – Enter 3VIDEOS at checkout
• Purchase any 6 videos = $12 (17% savings) – Enter 6VIDEOS at checkout
• Purchase any 10 videos = $24 (20% savings) – Enter 10VIDEOS at checkout

As you can see, I have a lot more topics to add…and more beyond what is listed. I welcome any suggestions for topics.

So check back often or subscribe to my RSS feed to be notified when new videos are added.

Happy blogging!

Client: Nicki

Blog: Clear & Simple Stamps

Scope of Project: Portfolio blog design, blog graphics

Focus of Blog: Photopolymer Stamp Company

Platform: WordPress

At BlissDom last year, I met a very delightful lady named Pam. The first thing that struck me was her friendly personality. The second thing, her quick wit. And the third thing, her blog name. With a name like Will Run for Cake, is there any doubt what she writes about? Clever!

Pam and I started working on her blog design, hosted on WordPress.com,  and came up with a clean, simple design illustrating the dual love of running and…well, cake. You’ll love Pam’s sense of humor and perspective on a topic we ladies often take too seriously. “Run” on over and check her out.

lizmonroe.wordpress.com

Liz is a professional photographer in Tucson, Arizona. She is on the WordPress.com plaform and uses the Cutline theme. We tweeked the theme to just one column to better feature her incredible work.

So how do you create a custom favicon? Well, I’m so glad you asked! Its really not that hard.

First you need to creat your image. Its simply a very small image, saved in a file format called .ico. There are plenty of favicon generators out there, but I like to do it myself (with PhotoShop’s help).

(Note: If you are on WordPress.com, skip all of this part and scroll down to the WordPress.com section.) In your favorite photo editing application, select a square image you’d like to use and crop it  (To use PhotoBucket, you have to contact them and request an .ico file to be uploaded). Keep in mind that this is a VERY small size, so keep your icon simple. Sometimes one little section or letter or shape will be more effective than a large, detailed logo. Select “Save for web” and save it as a .gif image at a size of 16×16 px.

Next, see if your application has an .ico format when you choose “Save As”. The later versions of PhotoShop do, and I believe PhotoShop Elements requires a plugin. You can also try the Mac or PC file converters, that create an .ico file for you. Make sure your file name is “favicon.ico”. Otherwise, it wont work in the end.

So now that you have your cute little .ico file sitting there, what you do with it next depends on what blogging platform you are on.

Blogger/Blogspot – I just recently learned that you can indeed add favicons to your Blogger blog. Hurray! You’ll need to first upload your .ico image to a photo hosting service, like PhotoBucket. Then copy the URL (or address) of your file. Then go to your Blogger dashboard, Layout > Edit HTML. Up near the very top you will see a <title> tag that looks something like this:

<title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title>

Right under that line, insert this code:

<link href=’your image url‘ rel=’shortcut icon’ type=’image/vnd.microsoft.icon’/> (making sure you enter your image’s URL where indicated.)

Worpdress.com – If you are on WordPress.com, life is simple for you, my friend. WordPress has cleverly built in a photo editing and converting application, right in your settings. Simply go to Settings > General from the dashboard. On the top right, you will see a box called “Blog Picture”. Simply browse to the image you want (it must be in .jpg or .png format), click upload and crop as needed. That is it!

TypePad – Simply upload your .ico file in the Home folder by going to the File Manager > Control Panel > Files page. Easy enough. But for more information, see the TypePad documentation.

WordPress (self hosted) – A little more involved but not too bad. Upload your .ico file to your media library, noting the URL address. Go to Appearance > Editor  and select the “header.php” file. Navigate to the line near the top that looks something like this:

<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”<?php bloginfo(‘stylesheet_url’); ?>” type=”text/css” media=”screen” />

Insert this code under it:

<link rel=”shortcut icon” href=”yourimageurl“>

Sometimes it takes a while for the icon to show up. You may need to restart and refresh your browser.

Adding a favicon is a simple way to add an extra little touch to your blog!

I had the great privilege of designing a blog for leadership expert, John Maxwell. Dr. Maxwell is an internationally renowned speaker and author who has sold over 16 million books. He is the founder of EQUIP and INJOY Stewardship Services and speaks annually to groups such as Fortune 500 companies, government leaders, and the National Football League.

Dr. Maxwell has entered the blogosphere with his new blog, johnmaxwellonleadership.com. We designed the blog using WordPress. Both the blog and twitter page (@johncmaxwell) coordinate with the design of his website and books.

Head on over and welcome Dr. Maxwell to the blogosphere!