Day 18 Assignment, Bootcamp #4 - Blog Review & Social Media

[Jewelry by Kat]

I have learned so much!!!  I know this next step will be hard for me.  And you are explaining fine, I am just slow to connect............Kat

[iCraft Admin]

Ok, here is my feedback.

1. http://www.silverworkshop.ca/chain-maille-jewelry - from Silver Workshop
Great post! Good links to product pages, smart way of incorporating primary keywords and use of alt text on images.

2. https://icraftgifts.com/blog/where-to-find-sea-glass-411.php - from Delightful Suds.   
Sorry Marta, but I found some disconnect between the blog title "Where to Find Sea Glass?" and the actual article story. Only first paragraph relates to the post title. Then the story changes to be more about JaJeJems and less about "Sea Glass".

Also, by adding Crocheted and Lampwork Jewelry to the mix, you will only delude the "Sea Glass" theme of your article.   

Not a big deal, but there were no alt text or links on product images. I fixed those for you. Just keep these in mind for your next post.
Anyway, it's still a very nice post, so good job! 

3. http://www.fairycardmaker.com/2012/10/a-charmed-life-with-jewellery-by-kat.html - from Fairy Cardmaker
If I had to rate, this one would get my highest score. Great Job, Lisa! No comments.

4. https://icraftgifts.com/blog/how-to-make-soap-at-home-409.php - from JaJeJems   
Great, very informative post, JaJeJems! I really enjoyed reading it. 

However, it looks like we have to replace some of the images used in the article, as Janis doesn't own them... Janis, please email them to us and we'll replace them for you. This is a note for everyone - you should always check with the owner of images if it's ok to use them in your post or, at a minimum, give a credit to the owner at the bottom of your article to avoid any copyright issues.

I can't remember now if you had alt text there or if I've added it later. Anyway, I see it's there now, so it's good.

Great job incorporating all 3 Marta's products with links!

5. https://icraftgifts.com/blog/the-joy-of-giving-a-personal-handmade-greeting-card-410.php - from Jewelry by Kat
Very nice post, Kat! Not sure if Lisa helped you at all, but I was impressed. 
Small things: I'd use "Christmas Angel Card" for optimization purposes, instead of "the xmas angel card". Great that you were able to mention all 3 Lisa's products.

I see that you've figured out how to add images and alt text. I'd also recommend adding links on images, as people almost always click on images, when browsing the page. (go to the same image properties pop-up, where you've added alt text, but then click on Link tab). I'll fix this for you on this post. This is just something to keep in mind for the future.

6. https://icraftgifts.com/blog/stand-out-with-a-silver-lining-412.php - from Red Rock Designs
All good! No comments really.

Thanks everyone! I am sure this was a lot of work.

[Jewelry by Kat]

I have been retaking my photos and they are lighter, in between bootcamp homework.............Kat

[Silver Workshop]

It takes a more time than I thought but I'm fine with that since I'm learning lots. It is nice to have an extra day or two for the longer assignments where you have to write things.

[JaJeJems]

Well I have found this experience VERY hard work, especially since it is a whole new world for me BUT it has been very rewarding.  Admin you are a  great teacher and I think we needed to keep up the pace to keep ourselves moving forward.  Can't say that I' m not looking forward to a rest but all in all I am glad I did it.  Congratulations to the team members who have been doing this and working too.  The other benefit to me has been getting to know some other vendors and I must say that I have learned lots from them as well.

Having said all that I still have to look at today's assignment!

Kat I noticed your pictures - they look great!

[JaJeJems]

Admin I have a question about blogging.  I am sure that I read that you shouldn't use it just to promote your product .  We have been writing about each other's products and I think I have a much better understanding now about how to do the anchor text, links etc for someone else.  My question is: if I become a regular blogger like I should and I manage to come up with fresh topics every week, not related to my store what will my anchor text be for those blogs and how does that benefit me in my business.  I hope that doesn't sound selfish but I found writing the blog a lot of work and very time consuming.  Maybe it comes easier with practice.

[iCraft Admin]

Thanks for your feedback guys!

I know it's a hard work, and I don't want to overwhelm you, but at the same time, we have a lot to cover. 
I've been sweating with this Bootcamp too. Actually, glad that only 6 people signed up this time. Not sure I could handle 10, as originally planned.
Well, it's not called Bootcamp for nothing, right? ha ha 

[iCraft Admin]

Kat, I've noticed that all your product photos look better now. Your whole store looks brighter, as if someone turned on lights
Great work and huge improvement!

[iCraft Admin]

Great question, JaJeJems!

• Yes, you can't promote your products all the time through our blog.
  Sometimes is ok, but you'd still have to come up with a good story and then weave your products into it. So it's a soft sell! 
• Also, there is no point to keep writing posts about the same 3 products. You've done all you can promoting those products on our blog. Now you need to move on to other sites, forums, social media sites to do this same work - build links to those and other pages, but from other domains. Remember - Google counts links from all sites as votes. So the more links you have to your pages from various sites, the better!
• However, it still makes sense to blog on iCraft Blog once in a while.
  Even when you are not writing about your own products in your blog post, there is still a link to your store on that page, so you will still get extra traffic to your pages.
• With our Blog posts, we are doing all the promotional work for you - for the first few weeks we are promoting new blog posts on our main Homepage, Community and other pages, through iCraft social media channels, and our Newsletter to Buyers. This is all extra exposure that you get for submitting an article, and this traffic will always be there, as the site grows.

[JaJeJems]

Admin I just emailed you some new pictures for my blog. Thanks

[Red Rock Designs]

Bibi, I didn't find a commenting option on your Tumblr blog. Am I missing something? If you don't have commenting on your blog, can you enable it? Comments are essential to any blog. I'd look into that.

I remember now why I only post pictures.  The free templates on Tumblr don't allow public comments, you have to be a member of Tumblr to post! I changed my template but I still have to install something called Disqus....I have no idea what that is.  Moving forward I'll use the iCraft blog for articles.

[iCraft Admin]

Ahhh... I see. That's too bad, as comments are very important feature on any blog.
There should be instructions somewhere on installing Disqus, a commenting feature, and it's probably not that difficult either. I'd still explore how to do that to enable comments on your older Tumblr posts.

[Delightful Suds]

I do admit, this wasn't my best blog, but I must say I had a very hard time coming up with a good story with that title and yet still incorporating all those 3 products that other than the first one had nothing to do with sea glass..... Yes, I did find this to be a lot more work than I expected, but I did learn a bunch of new stuff and it was a pleasure getting to know the other vendors more.

[iCraft Admin]

Hi Delightful Suds,

So in this particular case, it's better to incorporate less product links (1 or 2 out of those 3 that we wanted to mention) and add other products that fit the story better. Maybe I wasn't too clear in the instructions....   but anyway, we are all learning here and this is something you'll keep in mind for the next time, so it's all good!   

[Fairy Cardmaker]

2. Post comments.
Done.  Only one I could do was Red Rock's first one.  Couldn't get to a place to put comments.  [... ooops, just read your post about not being able to enable it without a plugin of sorts.  That explains it!]

3. List your online Social Media
Gosh, I don't have time to keep up with these things.  FB and Twitter annoy the heck out of me and do not represent my target market anyway.  (In all honesty, offline is a better route to reaching my market.)  I barely kee up with the media I do have and I do not want to have half-hearted contributions by spreading myself thin.  No time.  I think I better choose quality over quantity on this one.  The accounts I do have were conscious decisions.

Here's what I have:
Blogger: http://www.fairycardmaker.com/
Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/102409086076143088255/posts
(I *just* learned how to link my blog to my Google + for the post on Kat, so it appears there.)
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user10010154/videos