Entrepreneur & designer Jennifer Ramos was nice enough to answer some of my questions about her blogging experiences. Her fun & colorful design style is reflected in the cards and posters that she creates for her business, Made by Girl. Jennifer has been featured on tons of websites and recently in Latina magazine. Here are a few reasons why her blog stands out:
1. She has an online store selling her simply-designed (yet totally funky) 100% recycled cards and digital prints. BUT, her blog isn't one big sales pitch. She writes about other blogs, magazines, designers and websites that share her style.
2. Jennifer shares photos of the inside of her house. Doesn't everyone want to see how others live? Especially if your living room looked like this?
3. She shows us behind-the-scenes peeks into her business. Her posts about her booth at the National Stationery Show in NYC is particularly interesting (Part 1 & Part 2).
4. Jennifer has capitalized on her blog's popularity by selling affordable advertising. The ads are not intrusive, and they fit right in with her design aesthetic.
5. Jennifer is super-nice to her blog readers: she offers lots of giveaways of her fabulous products. And, right now, she has a coupon for 10% for her blog readers: HOHOHO2008.
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Here are Jennifer's answers to the questions I posed to her:
What was your blog's "tipping point" (a significant or defining moment)?
I think when I started writing more posts and adding more quality photos about my own products as well as others. Linking up with other bloggers helps a great deal as well. Such as when Holly from Decor8 added me to her friend's list, I received a whole bunch of new & interested readers.
Do you ever get blogger's block, when you just can't think of anything to write? How do you overcome it?
Of course I get blogger's block, in the same way I get designer's block when I'm trying to think up new designs for my MadeByGirl shop. The only way for me to overcome writer's block is to get off the computer and relax. Then come back to it and eventually I will gain some inspiration from something. I always do, so I consider myself lucky.
On the other end of the spectrum, do you ever write posts ahead of time when you are feeling particularly creative?
I don't think I've ever written posts ahead of time....but I think doing that is a great idea. Especially if you know you're going to be busy during a certain time. I could see that being very useful for me in the near future.
What is the biggest mistake you've made since you started blogging?
I don't feel I made any mistakes, but I do wish I had posted more photos for each individual post when I first started blogging.
Do you regularly monitor the traffic statistics on your blog? Do you use a stat tool, like sitemeter.com or Google Analytics? Do you make decisions about blogging based on the results that you see in your stats?
Yes, I monitor the traffic everyday via Google Analytics. I find it interesting to see who is blogging about me and through monitoring I can easily do that. Plus you are able to tell where most of your traffic is coming from etc. Its a great marketing tool as well!
Name a blog that you love and tell us why you love it.
Even though I love design blogs, I find myself reading Hope Dies Last almost everyday. On her blog, Hope delivers a great feeling of intensity within her posts. She writes about her life and relationships. I admire the candidness of it all.
Do you have a blogging tip that you would like to share?
A few tips:
- Create an interesting header/banner for your blog.
- Don't use black as your background.
- Post good quality photographs.
- Have a variety of artists or interiors (whatever you blog about, use variety)
- Don't overload your blog with Etsy artists. I like Etsy and think its a great tool for artists to sell their work...but in my opinion a lot of the artists tend to have similar styles.
- Blog advertising should be MORE affordable, some blogs charge insane fees for a TINY banner. In my opinion, smaller businesses won't have much of a chance to advertise on their blogs due to the outrageous ad rates.
Thanks so much, Jennifer!
P.S. The truth is, I only wrote about Jennifer because she makes cards like these and these and these.
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