It’s like running into a brick wall. A website has great information and would make a great addition to Crafty Tips or any other site for that matter. They might even have several pages of their own favorite sites but when it comes to linking to them, there’s absolutely nothing. No logo, no banner, no text, not even the suggestion to link to them.
Don’t make this mistake!
Invite people to give you backlinks. You might be surprised how effective this can be. more…
There is a charming new trend where hand-crafted items of the cute variety are given names and even personalities. But, these too cute for words descriptions are missing the point of how things are bought and sold on the Internet.
Using the crochet bear from my last post as an example…
Robby is a cute little fellow just waiting to be adopted by the right person. He loves cuddling and hiding in pockets. He isn’t afraid of letting you know when he’s unhappy or has something to say. He even comes with his own little protest sign. Robby will be shipped in a gift box and would make a perfect gift for someone who loves little things.
What’s missing? Just the key phrases that someone looking to buy Robby might use in a search engine or shop site’s search field. What’s the chance that someone wanting to buy a stuffed animal or crochet bear will enter “Robby” as their search phrase? more…
I’ve been visiting more blogs in the past few weeks than I think I did all of last year. I don’t know if this is someone’s misguided “good idea” or some sort of coding mistake but how could anyone think it’s a good idea to not include a link at the bottom of their blog to “previous posts”?
I mean really, do they think it’s a good idea not to encourage their blog visitors to stick around? Do they somehow think older posts have less value? I really don’t get it.
It also seems the blogs ascribing to this design do not offer post categories either. The only navigation is a list of months and the number of posts made in each month. But, there’s the rub. Go to one of the months that has a decent amount of posts and there’s still only access to the newest 2-3 posts.
Why? Why would any blog owner use a template that does this? Is there some strategy I’m just not seeing? All I’m seeing is a blog owner who is being really foolish and failing to recognize the value of their previous posts. All I’m seeing is a blog owner practically shouting at their visitors, “Go Away! You’re not welcome here!”
I can make that! I wrote that! My daughter wrote that, ain’t she smart?
It seems like an endless battle to fight the scammers, thieves and other no-good-knicks that STEAL from others.
Just when I thought I had gotten the content theft occurring on my Foods Not Safe for Pets article under control, I found yet another cretin posting the article in it’s entirety on Yahoo! Answers. And for good measure, she claimed her daughter who was attending veterinarian school provided the list – ah nice, a liar and a thief.
According to one of my new Twitter friends, in a recent Etsy feature on weddings, one of the “artisans” featured populated her shop with stolen photographs and created listings using them stating that they could make a copy of the designer dress in the image for some fee. Under mounting pressure from the Tweets, comments and other discussions; Etsy has apparently closed the offending shop.
Well, that’s one for the good guys. Now I’m off to see about yet another DMCA notice and updating that page to make it clear that people should stop posting my entire article on Yahoo!
Dear Blogger Without an Informative About Me Page,
You might have the greatest blog ever. Your posts might be witty, informative or otherwise link-worthy. You might have designed the bestest-ever tutorial to make something. People enjoy your blog and often return to read more. And yet, after all that effort, you failed to provide any information about who you are and make it easy for people to help promote your site.
Think about someone blogging about cats. Are you more likely to trust information from someone who has three cats living with them or someone who is basing their comments on what other bloggers say about living with cats? Crafting is no different; particularly if you are selling what you make.
Most blogging software makes it really easy to create an About Me page. Yet, you either didn’t create an About Me page or you posted something meaningless.
May I offer a few suggestions to get you started…
While you do not have to say exactly how old you are, it would be nice to know if you are say under 30, a working mom or a much loved grandmother. Even having a vague idea of how old you are can help people get to know you and appreciate where you are coming from.
If you write a blog about sewing, while it is nice to know that you have a wonderful husband and the sex and number of children you have, prospective buyers of your items or people like me who want to exchange links would much rather see stuff about how long you have been sewing, what inspires you and perhaps from whom or how you learned to sew.
Large corporations create Press Kits so that when someone wishes to write a piece about their company they have some background information to draw from. While most bloggers will never need a full-blown press kit it would be nice if more of you thought more about promotion when it came to putting something on your About Me page.
Signed,
Michele
owner of
Crafty Tips Arts & Crafts Directory
Yes, today’s post is a bit of a rant. Drives me crazy when folks are so busy trying to avoid providing personal information that they fail to provide trade or professional info. It’s so much easier to add sites to Crafty Tips when the site owner has taken some time to provide some information about how they came to be making what they do.
Would you rather have a link with text that says,
Blog about knitting with both free patterns and patterns for sale.
or
This self-taught knitter has been creating custom knitwear for over 20 years. While she no longer makes sweaters for sale, she shares her knowledge and expertise on this informative blog about knitting techniques and provides a number of free patterns and patterns for purchase.
So, if you are blogging in cognito and particularly if you are trying to promote your online business, get serious information on your About Me page so other bloggers and people like me can help you!
To learn more about writing about me pages, please visit my earlier post which includes ideas and tips for what to include and what to leave out or you about me.
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