freshblogtips: blogging tips with a creative twist

How the Hell Do I Use Feedburner?

You've heard about RSS feeds and XML feeds and Google Reader and Bloglines and all of that junk. But do you really understand why you should care about your blog feed? If your answer is no, don't worry - I am going to show you step-by-step how to create a Google Feedburner feed and add it to your blog. It is totally free, in case you are worried about the current economic climate and all that stuff.

I guess you are wondering: Why do I need to use Feedburner? Some really technical people can probably give you a big list of reasons, but I have two:

Reason #1: To Help The Lovely People Who Read My Blog

Feedburner makes my feed easily available to my blog readers. I can click a few buttons and magically get the HTML code that enables my readers to follow my blog in their favorite RSS Reader. And it even lets my readers receive an email whenever my blog is updated. Bottom line: you want occasional blog readers to become subscribers, which means that they will keep coming back.

Reason #2: To Measure How Many People Read My Blog Through a Reader

With Feedburner, I know how many people subscribe to my blog. The number of feed subscribers is one of the metrics I use to measure the growth and success of my blog. Some people might not care how many subscribers they have. These are also the same people who don't look at their blog stats (either through their blog platform, or tools like Google Analytics). Personally, I am obsessed with the metrics related to my blogs, so I want to know how many people are reading them and where they originated from.

So, on with the steps. The first thing you'll do is login to Feedburner with a Google Account. If you don't have a Google Account, you'll need to register first.

Step 1: Burn Your Feed

Don't let the phrase "burn a feed" freak you out. You are actually just letting Feedburner create and manage your feed for you. Your feed is just a simplified version of your blog posts that enables automatic distribution of your content. You can find more info about feeds on this page: Feed 101.

After you login, type in the URL of your blog. For this example, I am using vintagedennison.com, a blog that I use for testing purposes.

 

If Feedburner finds more than one feed, you will be asked which one to choose. I've always selected the Atom feed (which is usually the first one listed).

Step 2:  Name your Feed

Enter the title of your feed, and the address. No spaces in the address.

Step 3: Skip the next 2 steps in the Feedburner "Wizard"

Hit Next twice. You will skip through two screens. The second screen asks if you want to use Feedburner Stats. Don't check anything for now. You can always go back later and turn those on.

Step 4: Connect your Feedburner Feed to Blogger or Typepad.

You've created your new feed, but now you need to link it to your blog's existing feed. Since most of you use Blogger or Typepad for your blogs, I am pointing out the links that describe how to connect your blog to your new Feedburner feed. If you have another blog platform, like Wordpress, this page also lists instructions for those feeds.

So, click the link for your blog host and follow the directions. You will have to go back to the Blogger or Typepad websites to configure the feed. It is very simple, though. Don't be scared.

Step 5: Publish a chicklet to display your feed

If you lost your bearings on the Feedburner website, you can find this on the Publicize tab ("Chicklet Chooser" on the left column).  A chicklet is the little graphic that lets users select how they want to read your feed. I strongly suggest that you keep it simple, and use the standard graphic for feeds:

After you select the standard icon, the HTML for the link will be automatically generated at the bottom of the page. You can add these to Typepad or Blogger blogs by creating a Widget. Or, if you know how to embed HTML into your blog, just copy and paste the code into a Typelist or Blogger HTML Gadget.

You can see my SUBSCRIBE link up there in the right column. Click it and you can see what will happen when you add a similar link to your blog.

Step 6: Activate Email Subscriptions

The Email Subscription service allows your readers to get an email whenever you update your blog. This is helpful for readers who don't follow a lot of blogs and probably don't use a Feed Reader like Bloglines or Google Reader. You need to Activate this service before using it. It is also located on the Publicize tab.

After activation, select how you want your readers to subscribe via email. There are two main ways to sign-up subscribers: through a form directly on your blog where your readers enter their email address OR through a link that goes to Feedburner (the reader enters their email address on that page). I prefer to have my readers go to the Feedburner site via a link because I don't want a form that takes up space on the sidebar of my blog.

Follow the directions on the page according to the type of blog you have. You will add the magically-created HTML code to your blog. As in Step 5, you can use a Widget for Blogger or Typepad. Or, copy and paste the HTML into your blog directly.

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That was easy, wasn't it?  It looked scary with all of those steps, but I bet it only took a few minutes.

Now, when you login to Feedburner, you will see the number of subscribers on the home page. Click on your feed to see the details. Here's mine for my freshblogtips blog:

Click the "See more about your subscribers" for even more info (probably more than you'll ever need) about the feed readers that your peeps are using to read your blog.

I just want to point out one cool thing - if you scroll down, you can see a section that look like this:

 

Click the "Manage Your Email Subscriber List" to see the email addresses of all of the people who have opted to get your blog updates via email. Pretty cool, huh?

There are other fancy things you can do with Feedburner, but I just wanted to cover the basics in this post. You can click through all of the tabs across the top (Analyze, Publicize, Monetize, etc.) and see if there is anything that catches your eye. On the Optimize tab, check out the Photo Splicer, which lets you add your Flickr photos to your blog feed. Perfect for a blog that focuses on photography.

Your final step is to invite your readers to subscribe to your blog. Do it in your next blog post. Sure, you've added the links to your blog, but most of your readers might not notice them right away. So, tell them all about it. And keep them coming back for more!

How to Promote Your Blog on Facebook

Everyone I talk to has been bombarded with Facebook friend invitations lately. In the past month, my entire family (except my luddite father) has joined Facebook. Even my mom. Unfortunately, her status updates mostly consist of praying for people, or the declaration that her "mammo" was clear.

But did you know that you can promote your blog (and/or business) on Facebook? I thought I'd share the things I've done to get my blog noticed on Facebook. Don't be intimidated if you are new to Facebook - I've only been active on Facebook for a few months. I'm no expert, and I was still able to figure all of this out.

Here are the things I've done so far:

1. Create a freshvintage page on Facebook

The steps to create a business page are not easy to find on Facebook (which is not surprising, since Facebook is a usability nightmare). You start by going to this page and selecting the type of page to create. Remember - this is completely separate from your personal Facebook page.

When I created the freshvintage page, I selected the "Brand or Product" option. And then I chose "Website" from the list. There are many other options, depending on your type of business.

2. Provide exclusive content on my Facebook page

You have to give readers incentive to visit your Facebook page. Otherwise, it is just a waste of time. My incentive is posting photos of my home, and other pictures that I've never shared on my blog. I've received comments and emails from my blog readers who have asked to see more photos of my house. So, I thought that this would be a good place to start sharing those photos. I'll use the Facebook page as an "exclusive preview" for photos that may eventually end up on my blog.

Your blog may not be as photo-driven as mine. Maybe your blog revolves around crafting or knitting or recipes. You may want to consider using your Facebook page as a means of sharing exclusive tutorials or crafting ideas that you don't share anywhere else.

3. Invite my Facebook friends to become fans

After I added some exclusive photos, I invited the friends of my personal Facebook page to become fans of my new freshvintage Facebook page. At that time, I had about 20 Facebook friends. I wanted to have at least ten fans of freshvintage before I told my blog readers about it (so they wouldn't feel like losers for joining a fan-free page).

4. Promote my Facebook page on my blog

I didn't want to write a whole post about Facebook on my freshvintage blog, so I included it at the bottom of one of my regular posts about my vintage finds. I emphasized all of the privacy aspects of Facebook, especially for the newbies who might be afraid that the whole world could view their personal information. It was a worry that I had when I joined Facebook, so I assumed that others had the same concern.

When I published the post about Facebook, I also added a Facebook badge to my sidebar. 
 

5. Create an event and notify local fans

My sister and I were planning to sell our vintage finds at an Antiques Show, so I created an event through the freshvintage page. The event is visible to anyone who views the page. 

The cool thing about events is that you can send an event notification to a specific demographic of your fans. Since my event is only relevant for people who are within driving distance of the Philadelphia area, I sent my notification to fans who live in PA, NJ, DE, NY and MD.

What's the Result?

Since I announced on freshvintage one month ago that I created a Facebook page, I've gone from 12 fans (who were friends & family) to 131 fans! That is definitely more than I thought I would get.

I consider this to be part of a long-term communication and brand-building strategy. Right now, my new Facebook page is not driving tons of traffic to my blog. But, I certainly have new readers who are trickling in. When people become fans of my freshvintage page, it appears on their Facebook News Feed for all of their friends to see. Then, one of their friends clicks the "freshvintage page" link, and decides to become a fan. And so on and so on. Many of those people never even heard of my blog. But, because I created this Facebook page, I have a new avenue for driving slow and steady traffic. 

Other Bloggers with Facebook Pages

Here are a few examples of bloggers with Facebook pages:

Lori Marie from Pretty Little Things: Blog | Facebook Page
Vintage Goodness: Blog | Facebook Page
Martha Stewart: Blog | Facebook Page

What about you?

Is your blog on Facebook? If so, leave a link in your comment below and we'll become fans of each other. If you aren't on Facebook yet, is this something that you would try? Do you have any concerns?

How the Hell Do I Make Money With My Blog?

Since I started freshblogtips, I've been asked the same question over and over again: "Can I actually make money with my blog?" I've written a little bit about my experience with earning money through advertising. And if you are an artist or a crafter or a designer or a yard sale-junkie like me, then you always have the option of starting your own online shop. But I am learning that there are many other ways, too. Hey - with the crappy state of our economy, I'm all for keeping an open mind when it comes to money-making alternatives!

One person who has learned to make some dough from her website is Naomi Dunford from IttyBiz. She is a marketing guru whose blog has tons of articles on starting and running a small home-based business. She somehow manages to juggle her own successful home business and a family. But it is Naomi's brutal honesty and her occasional foul mouth that keeps me coming back.

Here's the part where I get a little bit jealous of her. She just shared with her readers that she made $176,000 through her website last year.

Normally, I would be annoyed with someone like that. And call her a braggy bitch. But Naomi is actually sharing her money-making secrets with her readers in a four-part series. FREE of charge! If that was me, I would probably keep my ideas a secret. I guess I'm just selfish that way.

Anyway, you can read/watch/listen to the money-making ideas on her blog, IttyBiz. The series is called "Why We're Broke, and How to Fix It". The first few parts of the series are already under way, but you can scroll down to the bottom of the page to sign up to receive an email notification for upcoming segments.

My favorite segment so far is Part Two. It is a video that details the six ways that Naomi makes money online. This video is a must-watch! After viewing it, I decided that I had to write a post about this because her ideas are largely untapped for creative businesses. During the segments, she discusses her own business as a marketing/small biz consultant and writer. But her ideas can be easily applied to so many other creative businesses. Whether it is knitting, antique-dealing, scrapbooking, sewing, designing, paper-crafting, etc. Whatever your niche, you have to watch the video with your own specialty in mind.

I'm confident that you'll walk away with some fresh ideas for making extra money with your blog! I've definitely thought of a few myself.

Here's the link to the FREE series: IttyBiz.

[Disclosure: If you've been reading my blogs for any length of time, you know that I am honest and open. Hell, I even showed you how I got traffic to my blog, and how much money I was making through ads! I want to make it clear that the above link to Naomi's website is an affiliate link, which means if you buy her next product, I will get a commission. Yes, the video that I think you should want to watch is completely free and I'm not making any money from you watching it and you absolutely do not have to buy one thing from her. I purchased one of her products before and loved it, so I signed up for her affiliate program. Believe me - if she made crappy stuff, I wouldn't be recommending her. And now she is offering free non-crappy stuff, which is even better.]

After you watch/read/listen to it, I would love to hear your feedback. Did you find any ideas that you plan to use? (Or maybe you want to keep it your little secret, too!) Depending on your feedback, maybe I can write a few more posts about these and other income-generating ideas for your blog.

How the hell do I add a background image?

Thanks so much for all of the great questions and comments! It sounds like I have my work cut out for me. If my husband doesn't leave me because of all of the junk in our garage, he will most certainly do it after I am glued to my laptop for an extra few hours a week, answering your questions! Only kidding. We have an enduring love for each other, along with a "don't-ask-don't-tell" policy: I don't ask about the neighborhood poker games, and he keeps his mouth shut about the fact that we will never fit a car into our two-car garage. [That knocks off one of Jessica K.'s 47 questions!]

Today, I'll answer a question that Jillian and emilyruth posed about blog backgrounds. I'll try to answer all the questions that you asked over the span of several posts. But, there are some topics for which I will dedicate their own super-special posts, particularly the subject that most people are afraid to speak their minds on: Awards & Tagging. My sister, Erin, told me I should just sweep it under the carpet, and not even write about it for fear of offending anyone. Hell no. I don't know why I would take her advice anyway. The first words out of her mouth when she saw this blog were, "Wow. It doesn't even look shitty!" Nice, huh? She tried to explain it away by saying that anything that she would make would look disorganized and crappy. But I'm not buying it.

So, how the hell do I add a background image to my blog?

The first thing you need is the actual image. You can create this in Photoshop or a free photo-editing tool that you can find online. Or buy & download an image from one of the hundreds of talented digital scrapbooking designers out there (or find free images). There are many ways to create background images, so I don't want to go into too much detail here. For my background, I just used a fancy font that has graphics instead of letters (also known as a dingbat). It repeats itself to form the background of my blog. Here is my image:

You have to store your image on the web, so that you can link to it. In Typepad, you can upload the file in the Files section of the Control Panel. That is what I did. My link is: http://freshvintage.typepad.com/background1.gif. You could also use a free service like PhotoBucket.com to store your background image. If you upload it to PhotoBucket, the "Direct Link" is the link you will use in the code below.

I'm going to give instructions for Typepad and Blogger, because I know how to change the background in both, and I think that the majority of the readers use one of them. If you have a Wordpress blog, here are instructions for adding a background image.

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Typepad:
In order to do this in Typepad, you have to have a Typepad Pro account. I'm guessing that most people don't have that account level. It costs $14.95 a month, but you might be able to find a lifetime coupon, like I did when I signed up. Try coupon codes ROJO or VRWEBINAR for a 15% lifetime discount when you sign up for a Typepad account.  This might even work if you upgrade from an existing Typepad account, so give it a try if you decide to upgrade. The Pro account is worth it for me, because I like to be able to customize my blog.

1. Go to the Design page of your weblog, and click "Edit Custom CSS" (towards the bottom).

2. Paste this code into the top of the text box:

body { background-image: url(http://freshvintage.typepad.com/background1.gif);
background-repeat: repeat; }

Replace the URL with your own URL (such as http://photobucket.com/myphoto.gif).

If you don't want your image to repeat, then change the second line so that it says:

background-repeat: no-repeat; }

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Blogger:
With Blogger, there is no upgrading necessary to change your background. Just make sure that you make a copy of your template before you edit it!

1. Click the Layout tab, and the Edit HTML link.

2. The code in this box will differ slightly for each blog, depending on the template you originally selected and any changes that you might have already made to your HTML. Look for the BODY section, which should start with:

body {

3. Scroll down a little bit until you find code that starts with "Background:". Mine looked like this:

background: #692 url(http://www.blogblog.com/moto_son/outerwrap.gif) top center repeat-y;

Your code might look a little different. It might say something like "background: #009900". Or you might not even have a background style in your template.

4. Replace that code with this:

background-image: url(http://freshvintage.typepad.com/background1.gif);
background-repeat: repeat;

Replace the URL with your own URL (such as http://photobucket.com/myphoto.gif).

If you don't want your image to repeat, then change the second line so that it says:

background-repeat: no-repeat;

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Pretty easy, right? Leave a comment if you tried it on your blog. Or, if you have an alternative way to changing the background, please share with us!  Also, let me know if it isn't working for you and I will try to help.