Scrappy Marketing Solutions Blog

Blog Marketing: Start a Cross-Blog Conversation

Here's an interesting idea - WAHM Talk Radio Host Kelly McCausey and fellow Work-At-Home-Mom
Nicole Dean have started a "cross-blog conversation" - an idea they found at Successful-Blog.com.  Here's how they're working it:

Kelly started today by posting a question for me on her blog. (As you can see, we're keeping the tone very intimate and personal - not just business stuff.)

Now, in a day or two, I'll respond here to her question and write her back (including a question for her). She'll respond on her blog and we'll keep the cycle going. So, you'll want to watch both of our blogs so you can see the conversation progress (and so you don't miss any of the fun!)

This is a GREAT way to show off both bloggers' expertise, and let a little personality shine through at the same time.  And help the audience of one blog become more familiar with another blogger's ideas.  Ideally, I would think it would make the best business sense to choose to "converse" with a blogger in a non-competing, but complimentary business, but it could work just as well if you're friendly with a non-competitive competitor.

I'd be game for this idea - if you want to play, post a question to your blog, and let me know I need to answer!  :)

Switching from WordPress to Typepad

If you read this blog via a blog reader (i.e. Bloglines, Google Reader, MyYahoo, et al), you may not notice, but I have switched from using WordPress to Typepad.  To be honest, I got tired of continually having to update the WP program every time a new security patch or version came out - it's a rather lengthy, tedious process.  I've been using Typepad for over two years for The Blog of Me and Scrapbooking Industry News, and even started this Scrapbook Marketing blog there, but...yadda yadda yadda...I've moved my marketing blog back to Typepad. 

I redirected the Feedburner feed to pick up the Typepad feed, so hopefully my subscribers will find that a seamless transition.  Just tonight, I redirected the ScrapbookMarketing.com URL from my servers to Typepad, so that will take 24-48 hours to propagate. (During that time, you won't be able to access anything with the ScrapbookMarketing.com URL).

Now I'm wondering how much to import from the WordPress blog.  There's an export feature within WordPress that is supposed to allow you to create an XML document that contains all the data from your blog, including past posts and comments, but my export document is erroring out.  I know I can post to the WP forums for help, but I'm wondering if I need to worry about it.

Do you ever refer to the past blog posts at my Scrapbook Marketing blog?  I've recreated all the Pages with my marketing consulting services here at Typepad, so I'm not worried about that.  Now I'm just wondering if I should take the time to research how to easily export/import the individual blog posts, or take the time to re-post them, one by one.

I still have access to all the blog content, so that's not a problem.  Just wondering if any of you have any thoughts.

Thanks!

Seeking Digital Scrapbooking Tutorials

We are currently seeking digital scrapbooking tutorials to post on the DSD event blog - you provide the tutorial, and we link the byline back to your site/blog.  If you would like to contribute a tutorial, please email it to digitalscrapbookingday/@/gmail.com. I'll be up front here - we would appreciate tutorials featuring techniques done in FxFoto, but we will consider other programs, in order to fully promote the digital scrapbooking hobby.

We would like to post the tutorials to DigitalScrapbookingDay.com, rather than linking out from the site to other sites.  If it’s already posted somewhere (which is fine), just send us a link to digitalscrapbookingday/at/gmail.com, and we’ll check it out. With your permission, we’d post it as is to the DSD site.

Deadline for submissions is 10/19/07.

I look forward to seeing your submissions!  Thanks in advance for your support.

Potential Topics (feel free to brainstorm your own):

Basics

• remove red-eye
• adding text
• crop/resize photo
• changing to B&W/sepia

Intermediate/Advanced

• adding spot color
• text on a curve/path
• digital tearing
• Creating your first layout in FxFoto

Hybrid Scrapbooking - some tips on just using the computer in general to enhance projects

• journaling & fonts
• organizing digital photos/memorabilia/kits
• scanning
• cutting down on 3D bulk
• creating sketches/plotting out design

Blogging Statistics

Via the Blog World Expo Event website:

• Over 12 million American adults currently maintain a blog.
• More than 147 million Americans use the Internet.    
• Over 57 million Americans read blogs.    
• 1.7 million American adults list making money as one of the reasons they blog.    
• 89% of companies surveyed say they think blogs will be more important in the next five years.    
• 9% of internet users say they have created blogs.    
• 6% of the entire US adult population has created a blog.  
• Technorati is currently tracking over 70 million blogs.
• over 120 thousand blogs are created every day.  
• There are over 1.4 million new blog posts every day.  
• 22 of the 100 most popular websites in the world are blogs 
• 120,000 new blogs are created every day .    
• 37% of blog readers began reading blogs in 2005 or 2006.    
• 51% of blog readers shop online.    
• Blog readers average 23 hours online each week.

Resources cited in their statistics:
PewInternet.org
Sifry.com
AdAge.com (PDF)
Blog Readers Spend More Time and Money Online By Sean Michael Kerner

Scrapbook Marketing Ideas from the Nail Industry

While at the nail salon over the weekend, I picked up Nails, a nail industry trade magazine.  After years of reading Craftrends, Memorytrends, CNA, and Scrapbook Retailer, it was interesting to page through a trade mag from another industry.  A lot of the same topics - how to get more clients, new product launches, industry trade shows. But the difference in market perspective provided another inspiration source -- I may be picking up trade mags from other industries more often.

In just the first few pages, I got two marketing ideas that I wouldn't have brainstormed on my own, based on two short pieces in the mag.

Using nail acrylic to make custom jewelry sets -- Debbie Wilson, of Simply Debbie's Nails in Cave Junction, OR, has branched out to offer jewelry to her customers as well - made using nail acrylics, then hand-painted and embellished (sorry, couldn't find any links or images to save my life).  Perhaps some of you scrapbooking professionals could branch out into jewelry as well? Think rearview mirror dangles and cell phone charms as well. Just have a nice display stand of impulse purchase items by the register.