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Don’t Miss This Bloggertunity: A Giveaway

By Nicole

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

UPDATE: The winner for this giveaway is #28, Heather! Congratulations. You can still take advantage of the 15% discount. Simply purchase the eBook here and enter the discount code: ‘mamasave15‘ at checkout.

Have you always wondered what “RSS” means, but where too afraid to ask?

Do you want to start approaching companies for product reviews or advertising on your blog, but not sure where to start?

And do you have a vision for your blog to make an impact on your community and your world and need a little motivation and guidance?

If you answered yes to any of the above, you’ll be glad you happened upon this post.

My good friend Stephanie from Metropolitan Mama has just recently published her first eBook, Bloggertunity: A Mom’s Guide to Blogging.

In this 85 page book, Stephanie gives you simple but thorough step by step directions on creating a successful blog. The book is available for $19.99, with 20% of the proceeds going to World Vision, a humanitarian organization that is dedicated to building a better world for children effected by poverty.

I mentioned Steph’s book last week in my Stroll Around the Blogosphere and guess what? She has been kind enough to offer a 15% discount to the fabulous readers of The Pixel Boutique! Simply purchase the eBook here and enter the discount code: ‘mamasave15‘ at checkout.

And? You also have a chance to win a free copy! One reader will be randomly selected for a download of the eBook.

Here’s how to enter:

Tell me in a comment below, what one aspect of blogging totally baffles you…a concept that alludes you. Or…if you’re a smarty and know everything, what blogging tip would you like to share with other bloggers?
For extra entries, tweet about this giveaway up to once a day and leave a separate comment for each tweet.
Giveaway ends Friday, Oct 2 at 11:59 p.m.

Q & A: Photo Hosting Options

By Nicole · Comments (1)

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

Thanks to all who entered my Q & A Twitter design giveaway a few weeks ago. You all gave me some great material, and helped me learn what people really want to know when it comes to blogging.

The first question comes from Liz at Goddess In Progress (who has a fabulous blog about raising twins!). Liz asked:

What do you think are the pros and cons to using a photo hosting service like Flickr or Photobucket, versus just uploading them to your hosting provider, be it your own domain or something like Blogger?

Well Liz, that’s a great question and I had to do some Googling because my first thought would be to say there’s no difference. Let me share with you what I found out.

There are several good options for free photo hosting services. PhotoBucket, Flickr, Webshots, SnapFish and ShutterFly are just a few of the many options on the web today. There are several advantages to using a photo sharing service.

1. They’re free. This may be a mute point, because if you have a blog, you already have free hosting or paid hosting. However, if for some reason you had a limited amount of space and a lot of photos, it might be helpful to host them elsewhere.

2. Editing features. A lot of people don’t own the latest, costly, version of PhotoShop. One great feature of these services is the photo editing capabilities that come with them. You are able to make some simple changes to your photos after uploading…for free! You can crop, change contrast/brightness, etc. This is a great option for bloggers.

3. Extra exposure. If your photos are a big part of your blogging practices, its probably beneficial to have them on a photo sharing service that will increase your exposure and traffic. You can add tags to your photos and gain that much more visible for yourself and your blog.

4. Sharing. This is somewhat related to the above point, but its handy to have your photos already hosted on a sharing/hosting site so you can share them with family, order prints or design photo gifts. I’ve used SnapFish for years for this very reason.

Now, two Cons…that aren’t really cons. I initially was going to caution you about the fact that most services are open to anyone and your photos can be copied and used without your permission. But as any blogger knows, you take on this risk the minute you add your first photo to a post. The best bet for protecting yourself and your photos is to add a personal watermark. A great example of this is what Beth at I Should be Folding Laundry does with hers. She has a photography business and obviously doesn’t want her beautiful pictures used without her permission. She adds a tasteful watermark to her photos in a non-distracting way.

Lastly, one may think that there is risk of a photo hosting server going down and your photos not being available when needed. But again, its a mute point. Servers are servers and they all have the potential to go down at some point.

Liz, hope that somewhat answers your question…in a long winded sort of way!

So what are your thought on photo hosting services? Have a favorite? Something to add?

Comments (1)

The Truth About Type

By Nicole · Comments (0)

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Have you ever visited a blog and left early, simply because of the look? As a designer, I try not to be a “design snob” and pass judgement too quickly, but the overall look and readability of your blog is extremely important. Your blog’s first impression will be made (and your blog judged) in the first few seconds of a visit.

There are many factors to getting the best first impression out of your blog, one of which is the use of type.

Way back when in design school, we spent a whole lot of time on typography and the theories of best practices in using type. Tons of research has been done on what font, size, justification should be used when.

Here are a few tips for getting the most out of type on your blog.

1. Don’t center your posts. There is nothing harder to read than a large block of centered text. Small phrases or titles are fine, but not whole paragraphs. You tell me; which is easier on the eyes?

Typography is the art and techniques of arranging type, type design, and modifying type glyphs. Type glyphs are created and modified using a variety of illustration techniques. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters (tracking) and (kerning) adjusting the space between pairs of letters. ^[1]

So do the blogosphere a favor and left justify your posts.

2. Pick a readable font. There are two types of font for the use of body copy: serif and san-serif. What is a serif, you may ask? Serifs are the little “feet” or extensions on a letter. Here’s an example.

This letter is a serif:

This letter is a sans-serif (“without” a serif):

Your best option for the body of your post is a readable font, either serif or sans-serif, such as Times, Helvetica or Arial. Not only are these readable fonts, they are all very common and probably installed on most computer systems. If you found a font you just loved so much that you had to use it, chances are good that it would be replaced with a default font on your visitor’s computer anyway. So stick with the web-safe, standard fonts and you will be loved. For more on standard web font, go here.

3. Use contrasting colors. Avoid using similar colors for your background and type, like blue on green. Often bloggers will use every color in the rainbow in their blog. Not only is it unappealing, but it is difficult to read. Stick with a light background with dark text or vise versa. You dont want to tire out the visitor’s eyes.

4. Use a readable font size. As I near 30 + 10, my eyes are definitely not what they used to be. I’m finding I squint at a lot of blogs. On whatever blog platform you are on, you control the font size on virtually every section. Choose a font size for your main blocks of text that is no smaller than 11 pts. That way you’ll be sure to not turn off your old mature experienced readers, like me. Trust me. You’ll be here sooner than you think.

5. Be cohesive. There are literally hundres of thousands of fonts out there. And for some, its tempting to use all of them. But please, don’t. Between your titles, sidebar items and posts, try to be cohesive with your font faces. Don’t use too many different fonts on your blog. In this case, less is definitely more.

1. Pipes, Alan. Production For Graphic Designers 2nd Edition, Page 40: Prentice Hall Inc 1997

Comments (0)

Q & A Kickoff

By Nicole · Comments (0)

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

When I first started blogging I was O.Ver.Whelmed. There is just so much to learn, so many styles, so many choices to make. I’m still navigating my way around sometimes and don’t know that one can ever learn all there is to know about blogging because something new is always on the horizon.

Even with 15 years experience in the graphic and web design industry, there was still a learning curve that took place before I felt somewhat comfortable with it. And resources like ProBlogger, Blogging Basics 101 and my blogging mentor, Metropolitan Mama were a few of the many resources I went to to find the answers to my questions.

Therefore, one of the weekly features on this here new blog o’ mine will be a Q & A series every Thursday. And, yes, I fully realize I am posting this at 9:19 p.m. on the very first Thursday of the series. I’m a mom, ok? I have kids to nag chase nurture. And they will always come first.

So if you are new to blogging, or just have a burning question, please send them my way. Anytime. Not just on Thursdays. You can Twitter me too. I will pick one or two a week and feature them (and you) in a post and hopefully (*crossing fingers*) will be able to answer your question. And if I cant, I’ll make something up. Just kidding.

So ask away…anything goes (Well. you know…)