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| Another one of my new photos. |
Back to Flying Lessons!
In the second week, the lessons concerned developing an internet presence: websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc. I have all these, sans the website. My wonderful friend Emily, besides being an amazing florist and my #1 creative-biz cheerleader, is handy with web design and has offered to build me my first website. She gave me an assignment -- find some websites I really like and pinpoint the elements I like about them. Surprisingly, this has not been an easy task. I realized that I mostly look at blogs, not actual websites, so I had to go hunting for them. And honestly, it was difficult to find some I was impressed by. Do you have any favorites to share?
I have been thinking about my blog (and Facebook and Twitter too). I feel like I should be writing more "high-value" posts (I can't remember where I saw that terminology, but I mean posts that give something to my readers that they value). I have such lovely readers/friends and I'd love to hear your feedback - what kind of posts do you enjoy reading (here or on other blogs)? What draws you in?
Posts
Hmmmm great questions...:)
ReplyDeleteFirstly - I do not get the website thing. I LOVE looking at blogs and not so much at websites. If Gennine from http://blogdelanine.blogspot.com/ can do so well from a blogger blog, and Etsy and a Flickr, so can you. I love her blog an incredible amount! I am not sure, personally, why a website is such an important part of having an online presence. I pretty much just go to the blog section of any website anyway.
And the reason I like blogs so much is because there is always a part of the person writing the blog in the posts. It is a wee look into the life of that person and that is interesting. I also like to come away feeling inspired and motivated.
Anyway that is just my 2 cents! Hope you have a lovely weekend! xo
Hi there, I heard about your blog through Michele (above) :0) and have to agree with her I look more for blogs than websites. I feel like the blog is more personal and it's also more of a diary of someone's work, you can follow it regularly and see how the artist grows and really understand more about what motivates them creatively. I think a website is probably more valuable from a business point of view so that a first time visitor can get an overal picture about what you are about a lot faster. Perhaps a website that has a blog attached is a way to get the best of both worlds?
ReplyDeleteoh and I just had a look around your blog, love your jewellery, very delicate and pretty :0)
ReplyDeletei love stories...my favorite programs are This American Life and the Moth. So, I am drawn to the blogs that talk about their lives and art and have a lot of visual images.
ReplyDeletei enjoy pictures and words woven together telling a story....
ReplyDeletei am drawn in by authenticity and "realness"....whether it is serious or silly.
i really love my friend Vivienne's website and also Christine Mason Miller's. they are clean and pretty and very true to the artist behind them.
looking forward to popping back and seeing everyone's responses!
xoxoxox
k
ps...your jewelry ROCKS!!
I have to agree with "Pipi La La" that there are not many WEBSITES that are interesting and the two I have found were blogs first:
ReplyDeleteSuperhero Designs
Magpie Girl
Both offer the elements I am drawn to, as Kathryn is: STORIES! and great images at Superhero Designs since she is a photographer...I agree with Kolleen on having both =-)
As for "high-value" content, I think that some blogs do well with simple commentary, such as Simply Breakfast or The Runcible Bin - these are all about the image, with TRB writing a simple line or two about her projects. Sometimes, less is more! Do what YOU are most comfortable doing for now and BE YOU - I think that is what many of us come here for! =-)
Interesting discussion... are websites kind of redundant?
ReplyDeleteWell firstly I'd say that the more internet real estate you have the more you get your work out there so website, blog, facebook, flickr etc etc, the more you have the more people can find YOU. You can also do a cool amount of cross linking between your sites which is so excellent for SE rankings.
So from a technical point of view I say a website is a must.
From a professional point of view I also think a website brings an edge of sophistication and professionalism that a blog doesn't. The website can be your clean and tidy shop, your stylized gallery, your 'best of' portfolio where as your blog can be your place to just write about whatever takes your fancy and let people in on your world. I like that you can cover both those bases.
As an added bonus you can do so much more with a website artistically than you can with a blog, adding beautiful galleries, layouts, and clever use of space and images. Gone are the traditional templates, you can do almost anything now if you think outside the box.
Some good ones I like:
http://www.julianbierring.com/
http://www.breathe.com.au/
http://www.agencynet.com/
http://www.mono-1.com/monoface/main.html
Regarding what you post about, anything and everything that gets you excited, if something is interesting to you enough to write about then its likely going to be interesting to others. I love reading about everything from your process in creating art or jewelery, to what you did today, to the flowers that are blooming in your garden. Your a talented photographer and artist your views on the world through your eyes is interesting enough, you don't need any special topics.
:)
Well...I don't have much insight on websites. I'm more interested in blogs these days. You get a feel for the artist and if you like them you'll want to support them, follow their blog, and buy their art or beautiful necklaces,etc. :)
ReplyDelete