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

[iCraft Admin]

Today's assignment will have 3 parts. Yes, I know...     things will get more intense now, as we only have 3 days left to cover a lot of ground.
 
Part 1 - Review everyone's posts & provide your reviews below (if you haven't done so)

Please focus on Primary Keywords and the Anchor Text used on links. I have comments for some posts, but as usual, I am not going to say anything just yet.    I want to see if you guys can pick up on what needs to be fixed first.

1. http://www.silverworkshop.ca/chain-maille-jewelry - from Silver Workshop

2. https://icraftgifts.com/blog/where-to-find-sea-glass-411.php - from Delightful Suds.    

3. http://www.fairycardmaker.com/2012/10/a-charmed-life-with-jewellery-by-kat.html - from Fairy Cardmaker

4. https://icraftgifts.com/blog/how-to-make-soap-at-home-409.php - from JaJeJems    

5. https://icraftgifts.com/blog/the-joy-of-giving-a-personal-handmade-greeting-card-410.php - from Jewelry by Kat

6.  https://icraftgifts.com/blog/stand-out-with-a-silver-lining-412.php - from Red Rock Designs

Part 2 - Leave Comments on everyone's Blog Posts

Search engines like fresh content. They also like seeing that pages are popular. Comments achieve those 2 things - new copy added to the page after its been published, refreshes the page. Comments on the page also signal that there is probably a good & popular content.

So the task is to leave as many comments, as you can, on all of those blog posts that you guys posted so far.... and if you have extra  time today, on the optimized product pages as well.   

Part 3 - List or Register New Social Media Accounts

We are going to focus on Social Media promotions for the next few days.
So I need you all to have presence on as many social media sites, as possible - Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube (Vimeo is good too), Flickr and Google + (and any others...)

When you are registering new accounts, pls try to use the same usernames, as your store names. Two reasons. People who know you through your craft business, will be able to recognize you in the social media space, when they see the same name. It's also a good idea to reserve those names, even if you are not using those accounts now, so others won't use your identity either.

So the task for today is simply to list all your social media accounts below (URLs or Handles, so we could find you). Plus, register a few new too.

[Jewelry by Kat]

Here are my comments.  I did not find anything wrong in any ones posts.

Silver Workshop- You used all the keywords for Red Rock but two, but I know your post is not finished.  I like how you are getting ready for the day and take us through chain maille design and style.  I am looking forward to your ending.

Delightful Suds- You used all but one keyword fot JaJeJems. You started with seaglass but I'm thinking that at the end you could have had another seaglass item to tie back to the title and the begining.  Otherwise great post.

Fairy Cardmaker- You used all the key words.  Love the title and I like how you tied into your last post. I like how you tied the history on charms into todays age.

Red Rock- You used all the keywords for the Silver Workshop.  I like how you started with trends and talked about Andree's shop, passion and her pieces.

JaJeJems- You used all of Delightful Suds keywords with a variation on two of them.  GREAT opening picture!! I like the history and how you move forward to now.  You are organized with starting with equipment then the steps.  I like the pictures of the soap you can make.


Here are my urls

twitter            http://twitter.com/jewelrybykat.php

facebook     https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jewelry-and-More-by-Kat/303193426376296?fref=ts

vimeo-         http://vimeo.com/userjewelrybykat

pinterest          http://pinterest.com/jewelrybykat.php

[iCraft Admin]

Thanks for the feedback, Kat!

I fixed your Twitter URL and followed you. But your Facebook URL is not working and I am not sure how to fix it. Could you pls double check it? Thanks!

Pls register for Pinterest, Google + and as many others as you can!

[Jewelry by Kat]

I have tried google and pinterest but they are so confusing.............Kat

[iCraft Admin]

Well, we'll try to help you with all those sites. They are all useful promotional tools.

[Delightful Suds]

Wow, everyone is such a good writer! Those are all great posts!

I've left comments everywhere.

I am a member of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Flickr, Google +, Bizspleaking, LinkedIn....I think that's it.

[Red Rock Designs]

Part 1:
Hi Kat, your post is written well, very sentimental.  Though the photos don’t have any links attached or titles.

Delightful Suds, the opening paragraph of sea glass is what drew me in. And I liked the way you spoke about their technique and construction of pieces.  But like Kat, your photos don’t have any links to the product pages or titles.

JaJe, great post. I love that you wrote about the process & the DIY of soap making… however it does seem quite tedious and I think I would prefer buying!  Not sure if you meant it to sound that way?!  All your links worked, including your photos…they just need titles added.

Silver Workshop and Fairy C done earlier...under Day 17 I think.

Part 2 - done...left positive comments on each blog.

Part 3 :
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Rock-Designs/213914158654539

Twitter: https://twitter.com/redrockdsgns

I signed up with Flickr, through Facebook...not sure how this works...if I upload pic to FB will it show up on Flickr and vice versa?

I've joined Pinterest, but I have no idea how to use it: http://pinterest.com/redrockdesigns1/

[Silver Workshop]

Here are my comments:

Delightful Suds: Linking the words seaglass jewellery to the store would be good since I think that's a keyword, but am not totally sure. Beautiful topic, I love it!

Fairy Cardmaker, I've mentioned it before but you're really good at this, you have many talents! The post is personal and I'm getting to know Kat even more, and you too. Maybe linking "beaded charm bracelets" to their store would have been good for seo.

Wow JaJeJems, you had a great time putting this together. Lots of great information! Keywords look good to me.

Kat, your post is also really really good! You're all such good writers. The only thing I can think of is linking the pictures to the product pages.

Bibi, thanks for writing such a nice post! I think you covered everything, I couldn't find anything outstanding with your post!



Here is my social media information:

http://pinterest.com/silverworkshop/ (new account today)
https://twitter.com/silverworkshop
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Silver-Workshop/207027969310409
http://www.flickr.com/photos/silverworkshop

[JaJeJems]

My thoughts

Silver - very interesting story line but I think  that you have missed two of Bibi's; I like your new ending very much - really wraps it up

Delightful - thank you for presenting all of our products so well - you did a great job;  I don't think that the images have links and something is spelled wrong in the last sentence

Fairy C - you know what I think, one question:  were the spaced out cha cha cha's above the ionk for the cha cha bracelet done on purpose, if so it was very effective!  made me want to cha   cha   cha   !  lol

Kat - I loved the way you treated your subject matter, very well written but I did nto see links on the pictures

Red Rock - I also think you did a great job with the subject, missing link on the quartz bracelet but everything else seems to be there; coudl you do more pictures?

[JaJeJems]

Here are my social media links


www.pinterest.com/jajejems - new
www.vimeo.com/jajejems - new
www.twitter.com/jajejems
http://www.facebook.com/pages/JaJeJems/176831249094460?ref=hl


I hate to say it but I am confused about Google Plus! 

[Fairy Cardmaker]

1. Feedback
Silverworkshop:  I like the personal point of view and the suggestive words: spice, sparkle and sass.  You used the keywords, but I think using "chainmaille" together just once might add to the alternative keywords for alternate spelling?  Not sure.

DelightfulSuds: Not sure, but linking "sea glass jewellery" insteade of "JajeJems" to the shop in your introductory section might be stronger anchor text?  I think you have great use of keywords.  I agree that a tie-back to sea glass would be a stonger ending since your post is titled "where to find sea glass".  Like.. finding it in JajeJems' shop! (your ending is close)  I don't think you *need* to link the picture if you have the full text link nearby.

JaJeJems: Well rereplacemented post!  You have an extra and after the lemongrass soap link: "is a natural stimulant and and astringent."  Not sure, but would it be better to link to her shop or products as early as possible?  It might be good to add caption text to those other photo's from iCraft to disclose the shop names?  I really like how you returned to the teaching part within the recipe part with the essential oils info.

Jewelry by Kat: Lovely post - from a personal point of view.  Since my shop is optimized for "hand made greeting card" (handmade broken in two), it might be better to use that phrase in the first two mentions you have there.  Otherwise, I love the variation: "handmade", "handmade", "hand crafted".  Thanks! Also, the Christmas Angel card link should probably use the actual title, over "xmas" in the anchor text.

You might need a space in "so they know that you arethinking of them?" after the thinking of you card part.

Red Rock: I like the post - it has good keyword use.  I agree, the last product mention needs a link, is all.

[Fairy Cardmaker]

I will have to do #2 and #3 when I return home tomorrow.  I'm keeping my hotel roomate up (not nice on her first pregnancy.)  Logging off.

[iCraft Admin]

Hi Kat,
I don't see any comments from you.

Also, there are no comments at all on some of the posts:
https://icraftgifts.com/blog/reach-out-and-touch-someone-with-a-handmade-greeting-card-406.php
https://icraftgifts.com/blog/more-than-one-colour-parachute-404.php
https://icraftgifts.com/blog/there-is-magic-in-that-silver-405.php
http://www.fairycardmaker.com/2012/10/holiday-style-boost-with-seaglass.html

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.

As part of this assignment was also to leave a few comments on the optimized product pages.

Just wondering if you guys are finding this Bootcamp to be too fast paced for you.
We have only 3 days left. Any wishes of what you'd like to focus on? Thanks!

[Jewelry by Kat]

It is hard so I work harder but I don't understand some of the terms or wordage   Now I understand and I made my comments........Kat

[iCraft Admin]

Hi Kat,

Sorry, if I am not explaining things well. If you don't understand something, just ask. I assume everyone's fine and working on their assignments, when I don't see any questions. Feel free to suggest things too! I want to make sure everyone's getting something useful out of this Bootcamp. Thanks for adding your comments! 

[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

[Fairy Cardmaker]

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.... Roll Eyes  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!   Grin

I had to read the instructions multiple times.  I got that everyone was supposed to make a post that was somewhat related to the other person but we were allowed to make it broader and more from our own initative and point of view.  Except for me, you suggested:

Also, see if you can mention all 3 of Kat's products using either full product Titles or her primary Keywords.

It was indeed a challenge, but I quite like how it turned out - using your history suggestion too!  (I included one other iCrafter's photo with link only because it was taking too long to get to a photo with my long-windedness!)

[iCraft Admin]

Hi Fairy Cardmaker,

There are many benefits to having FB & Tw accounts, other than just reaching your direct customers.

FB and Twitter annoy the heck out of me and do not represent my target market anyway.

From SEO perspective, those sites are adding backlinks to your blog and your store. Backlinks matter in turms of raising your online rankings and getting more visibility on Google.  Backlinks have to be diverse and would preferably come from various social media sites too.

Google changed their algorithm in the last year or so to include social signals as part of evaluation your pages importance.

Another benefit from having links published on FB & especially Twitter is that Google almost immediately adds Tw updates to their index (and displays your pages in their replacement results pages). This means your new or recently updated pages will be crawled (found) by Google a lot faster, because Google robots will follow that link from FB or Tw, especially if your posts on those sites get a lot of Likes and Retweets.

Plus, there has to be someone interested in your products out of combined 1.5 billion people that use Twitter and FB.

Gosh, I don't have time to keep up with these things.

Lisa, if you don't have time to maintain FB & Tw accounts, I'd automate your updates to them, but I would still have those accounts for all those reasons.

[Fairy Cardmaker]

Lisa, if you don't have time to maintain FB & Tw accounts, I'd automate your updates to them, but I would still have those accounts for all those reasons.

But isn't that rude?  To send updates but never log in and reciprocate?

[iCraft Admin]

But isn't that rude?  To send updates but never log in and reciprocate?

Well, most people don't stop to evaluate each tweet or each FB post, or have an idea of how to detect automatic vs. manual tweets. Things move very fast in the social media space!

Actually, if you check some celebrity sites, their tweets and FB posts are done by their marketing departments (some are automated too) and people think they are talking to their fav celebrity for real.  Or check Kanye West on Twitter, who loves to go into a one-way rants without responding to anyone : ) That's rude!  Social Media Fails & Triumphs.

Many companies automate their updates and there are a lot of tools you can get for free or to purchase, that do all that work for you. It's a big business now. Social media is booming, but who has the time to keep up with all of this, right? So don't feel bad about automating some of your updates!

I am only suggesting these things to you, as it's a small investment of time to get additional traffic to your pages. You are not losing much by doing this.

[Fairy Cardmaker]

 

I see those points.  Auto feed sounds attractive.  Missing out on the fad is career limiting.  I don't deny it.  I do accept it.  I am still disgusted by those sites and I have to cut time somewhere and that's what I'm picking.

I know we've had this discussion before.  Your points are valid and I don't mean to knock it as an effective marketing avenue and strategy.  I'm just not in to it and I believe that when you don't have your heart behind something, it shows.

I shall, at the least, do some reading.  (But I am over committed at the moment.  I may not be back until Sunday.)

[iCraft Admin]

I shall, at the least, do some reading.

That's the spirit! 
Ultimately, it's up to you Lisa how and where you promote your business.

I can totally relate to how you feel about those sites. If it was up to me, I'd probably never use as many social media sites, as I do now. I also find most of them confusing and a total waste of my time. But... I know how important they are for growing an online business and, unfortunately, I can't ignore them. 

[iCraft Admin]

(I *just* learned how to link my blog to my Google + for the post on Kat, so it appears there.)

Lisa, can you please share this knowledge with us too? Others might wight want to connect their blogs to their G+ accounts too. Thanks!

[Fairy Cardmaker]

Uhm... actually, Google prompted me to do it when I made a new post.  It had prompted me once before, but I had said no because my profile was different on the blog (shop oriented) versus plus (more me oriented).

So... I'm didn't initiate it myself.  I'm sure blogger has a help article on it.

I forgot to mention, I do have a Flikr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77417594@N03/

[iCraft Admin]

Uhm... actually, Google prompted me to do it when I made a new post.

K, good to know. I guess Google + has additional features available to Blogger users.