I've changed hosts and am posting this list as the only thing I haven't been successful in transferring over are the comments for the last two posts.
Tuesday 30 September 2008
Developing your Web Presence #2 - The WWW's and you
This post comes back around to your business cards and other advertising you may do, and why you probably want a domain name all of your own.
The free services on the web are great, they help us get ourselves out there in many ways and are invaluable for networking. Also it's easy to create online links to these things no matter how long and wordy the address may be.
BUT when it comes to your printed advertsing they are not so good. The url's are often long and can be complicated. Imagine you pick up someone else's card and it's got a web address on it that reads something like www.firebrandlampworkbeads.wordpress.com - that one's available and there's a good reason why!
You are mildly interested in what they do and consider visiting their site, but are you going to type all that into your browser? If you do are you going to spell it correctly?
The shorter and more memorable the domain name is the better - I bet you knew that already right! ;o)
Assuming you have some ideas already it's just a matter of checking to see if the name is available.
It's easy and fairly inexpensive to register your own domain name. You can go to a site like whois.com and check the availability of names. Unfortunately Whois.com is geared more towards U.S. domains so you might have to poke around to find one that offers the .ca or .co.uk etc. for the country you are in.
If you are unsure of what domain name you want you can try using a site like Nameboy to generate some ideas. Be prepared for some stupid sounding domain names, but hopefully it will give you some decent ones too! Remember! Using the generator or whois.com does not mean you have to purchase the domain name from either of these sites!
In order to be able to use a domain name you have to have somewhere to 'put it'. This means you need some kind of online hosting that will allow you to have your own domain name. Free hosting packages usually don't allow it, and you'll probably find the webspace that came free from your internet provider doesn't allow it either. Normally you will have to purchase a hosting package through a hosting company. When you sign up with a hosting company they will explain how to point the domain to your hosting package. The best bet is probably to register your domain name through the company you are buying your hosting from. It may not be the cheapest option, but it's the simplest as they will likely set everything up for you.
What hosting company should you use? The best thing is to research! Search the web for hosting companies and then search again for reviews on them before you sign up. Some let you pay monthly, some prefer at least 1yr up front. If you know someone who's using a hosting company, ask them if they are happy with them, ask them if they offer good support, and be comfortable with your choice before you make it!
Next we'll talk a little about 'branding' - I promise it won't hurt a bit!
CLICK HERE FOR #3- Branding - or 'OUCH! Don't come near me with that hot poker!'
The free services on the web are great, they help us get ourselves out there in many ways and are invaluable for networking. Also it's easy to create online links to these things no matter how long and wordy the address may be.
BUT when it comes to your printed advertsing they are not so good. The url's are often long and can be complicated. Imagine you pick up someone else's card and it's got a web address on it that reads something like www.firebrandlampworkbeads.wordpress.com - that one's available and there's a good reason why!
You are mildly interested in what they do and consider visiting their site, but are you going to type all that into your browser? If you do are you going to spell it correctly?
The shorter and more memorable the domain name is the better - I bet you knew that already right! ;o)
Picking a name
Assuming you have some ideas already it's just a matter of checking to see if the name is available.
It's easy and fairly inexpensive to register your own domain name. You can go to a site like whois.com and check the availability of names. Unfortunately Whois.com is geared more towards U.S. domains so you might have to poke around to find one that offers the .ca or .co.uk etc. for the country you are in.
If you are unsure of what domain name you want you can try using a site like Nameboy to generate some ideas. Be prepared for some stupid sounding domain names, but hopefully it will give you some decent ones too! Remember! Using the generator or whois.com does not mean you have to purchase the domain name from either of these sites!
Don't forget!
In order to be able to use a domain name you have to have somewhere to 'put it'. This means you need some kind of online hosting that will allow you to have your own domain name. Free hosting packages usually don't allow it, and you'll probably find the webspace that came free from your internet provider doesn't allow it either. Normally you will have to purchase a hosting package through a hosting company. When you sign up with a hosting company they will explain how to point the domain to your hosting package. The best bet is probably to register your domain name through the company you are buying your hosting from. It may not be the cheapest option, but it's the simplest as they will likely set everything up for you.
What hosting company should you use? The best thing is to research! Search the web for hosting companies and then search again for reviews on them before you sign up. Some let you pay monthly, some prefer at least 1yr up front. If you know someone who's using a hosting company, ask them if they are happy with them, ask them if they offer good support, and be comfortable with your choice before you make it!
Next we'll talk a little about 'branding' - I promise it won't hurt a bit!
CLICK HERE FOR #3- Branding - or 'OUCH! Don't come near me with that hot poker!'
Developing your Web Presence #1 - Being Everywhere and in One Place all at the same time!
This is my first post in what I hope will become a series, designed to offer ideas on how to have a good online presence for yourself or your small business.
Do you have business cards? Advertise in different places? In that case you've probably realised that what you need is one web address to direct potential clients to.
How do you acheive this when you've got what seems like a gazillion different places on the web that belong to you? For example, I have - my blog, which is also my website (where you are now), my Etsy shop, my Beader's Showcase, my Flickr account, my Ottawa Glass Bead Artists' group, Facebook and probably a few others! I'm all over the place - which for once is a good thing!
How are people supposed to find you in so many places, or how are people supposed to find you in one of those places in particular i.e. Etsy?
You need to have one address on the web that you can use on your business cards, at the bottom of emails, and in forums etc.
This single address can be any number of things providing it allows you to have links to all the other addresses. It might be your blog, or maybe a website, or perhaps just a single page that acts as the sum of your presence on the web.
[caption id="attachment_627" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="With one central page clients can find all your other items"]
[/caption]
When you are planning something like this, it's important to think ahead, and also to understand your skills and limitations. This way you can set something up once that will serve you well into the future.
Which one are you -
I think I'm a number 3, I know for sure I'm not a number 4!! If you are a number 3 or 4 you don't need to read any further because you've probably done all this already.
If you are a number 1 or 2 you've got options!
You can use your blog or website to link to all the other things, I'm sure many of you already do this. If you haven't got a website or don't want one you can have a simple one page presence that links to all your other places.
A blog is a good tool as it helps you to get noticed in search engines and can be a central place for viewers to find you. You can add images / videos / slideshows to you blog so it's also a good place to showcase your art, work, product - whatever it is you want to tell people about.
As far as I'm aware if you have a blog that is hosted online - Wordpress, Blogger etc. you are stuck with their url -- i.e. fireseed.wordpress.com I've found out that you can have your own domain name with Blogger see here and also WordPress see here. If you have a different blog - check and see if they offer this feature! If you have your own server space with a hosting company you can install a blog and then the url will be what you choose to register. That's how my site runs. It's a Wordpress blog, but my url is simply www.fireseed.ca
I'm not a guru -- yes, I know, you already knew that ;o) so feel free to comment, tell me if you know something different to what I've posted here, or if you have an idea to share.
That's it for now, next time I'll write a bit about having your own domain name and what you need in order to do that.
CLICK HERE FOR #2 - The WWW's and YOU
Do you have business cards? Advertise in different places? In that case you've probably realised that what you need is one web address to direct potential clients to.
How do you acheive this when you've got what seems like a gazillion different places on the web that belong to you? For example, I have - my blog, which is also my website (where you are now), my Etsy shop, my Beader's Showcase, my Flickr account, my Ottawa Glass Bead Artists' group, Facebook and probably a few others! I'm all over the place - which for once is a good thing!
How are people supposed to find you in so many places, or how are people supposed to find you in one of those places in particular i.e. Etsy?
You need to have one address on the web that you can use on your business cards, at the bottom of emails, and in forums etc.
This single address can be any number of things providing it allows you to have links to all the other addresses. It might be your blog, or maybe a website, or perhaps just a single page that acts as the sum of your presence on the web.
[caption id="attachment_627" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="With one central page clients can find all your other items"]
[/caption]When you are planning something like this, it's important to think ahead, and also to understand your skills and limitations. This way you can set something up once that will serve you well into the future.
Which one are you -
- Little or no knowlege of how to build/upload/maintain websites - (you've probably got much better things to do with your time!)
- Know some .html, can make basic changes, understand how to resize pictures and how to upload or ftp files and images to a site.
- Have a greater understanding of .html, can create websites, graphics, can ftp, understand c-panel and how to install programs etc. with your hosting company.
- Are a whiz, completely up-to-date on everything new as it comes out, code your own sites in 20 different languages and probably make good money doing it!
I think I'm a number 3, I know for sure I'm not a number 4!! If you are a number 3 or 4 you don't need to read any further because you've probably done all this already.
If you are a number 1 or 2 you've got options!
Things to Consider
You can use your blog or website to link to all the other things, I'm sure many of you already do this. If you haven't got a website or don't want one you can have a simple one page presence that links to all your other places.
A blog is a good tool as it helps you to get noticed in search engines and can be a central place for viewers to find you. You can add images / videos / slideshows to you blog so it's also a good place to showcase your art, work, product - whatever it is you want to tell people about.
A quick word on the www's
As far as I'm aware if you have a blog that is hosted online - Wordpress, Blogger etc. you are stuck with their url -- i.e. fireseed.wordpress.com I've found out that you can have your own domain name with Blogger see here and also WordPress see here. If you have a different blog - check and see if they offer this feature! If you have your own server space with a hosting company you can install a blog and then the url will be what you choose to register. That's how my site runs. It's a Wordpress blog, but my url is simply www.fireseed.ca
I'm not a guru -- yes, I know, you already knew that ;o) so feel free to comment, tell me if you know something different to what I've posted here, or if you have an idea to share.
That's it for now, next time I'll write a bit about having your own domain name and what you need in order to do that.
CLICK HERE FOR #2 - The WWW's and YOU
Wednesday 24 September 2008
Postcards for The Ottawa Bead and Jewellery Show
I volunteered David to put together some postcards for the Ottawa Bead and Jewellery Show, we are all delighted with them so I'm going to show them off here. He did a wonderful job of getting everyone's beads fitted in, and I am speechless at the quality of work that's going to be at the show!
Nortel Mfg have very kindly said they will send some out with their orders and they are also going to be distributed at shows here in Ottawa and in Toronto. As well they will be available for customers at local bead stores.
For some reason Internet Explorer has decided not to show some of these images - I've no idea why, I uploaded the same as all my other images and they are showing fine in my Firefox browser, so my apologies if you are getting that nasty red X !
[caption id="attachment_592" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Ottawa Bead and Jewellery Show - card four"]
[/caption]
Nortel Mfg have very kindly said they will send some out with their orders and they are also going to be distributed at shows here in Ottawa and in Toronto. As well they will be available for customers at local bead stores.
For some reason Internet Explorer has decided not to show some of these images - I've no idea why, I uploaded the same as all my other images and they are showing fine in my Firefox browser, so my apologies if you are getting that nasty red X !
[caption id="attachment_592" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Ottawa Bead and Jewellery Show - card four"]
[/caption]
Tuesday 23 September 2008
Things are happening
I'm feeling excited, it seems like a lot of positive things are happening at the minute. My thoughts are exploding in my brain!! Oh wait, that doesn't sound positive does it? Well it is, or it will be once they all get lined up and settled down.
So what is all the excitement about?
So what is all the excitement about?
- I just heard that my submission for the Women in Glass edition of The Flow magazine has been accepted!
- The deadline for Artistry In Glass' next competition is almost upon us! I sent some pictures off for that this morning.
- I am in a treasury on Etsy! Thank you PrettyCheap!
[caption id="attachment_576" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Etsy Treasury"]
[/caption] - I'm so happy to have found Meghann as we've got lots of ideas for future projects including fundraising for local animal charities. Our first joint endeavor will be a donation to the Rideau Valley Wildlife Sanctuary who are going to be having an auction. We are thinking about creating a two piece set - a bracelet and brooch, so I need to get the torch fired up for this!
- The First Annual Ottawa Glass Bead Artist's Show in November is something I am so proud to be a part of. If you click the link you will be amazed at the talented bead makers who are going to be taking part in this event! If you can make it to Ottawa on November 15th - don't miss this event!
- My online Wet Canvas friends have set up a Google group to explore ways in which we can promote our work and I'm finding it very helpful. Online selling is a very competitive thing, but there are lots of tricks and tools to help you get your name and your beads - or other product out there for people to see. One of our members Maxine just made a $100 sale on Etsy! Congratulations Maxine!
Monday 22 September 2008
Ugly Ducklings No More!
Yesterday I went to visit Meghann of Little Studio near Merrickville. Armed with bags of my 'ugly' beads, I was hoping that she might want just a few of them to use in her key chains.
To my delight she took a bunch of them! AND better still, in return is making me some earring wires which I'm pretty darned excited about!
Imagine my surprise when I checked my email this morning and found this beautiful bracelet sitting in my inbox - my ugly ducklings have become Swans! Thank you Meghann! I didn't think it was possible ;o)
[caption id="attachment_566" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Isn't this beautiful!"]
[/caption]
To my delight she took a bunch of them! AND better still, in return is making me some earring wires which I'm pretty darned excited about!
Imagine my surprise when I checked my email this morning and found this beautiful bracelet sitting in my inbox - my ugly ducklings have become Swans! Thank you Meghann! I didn't think it was possible ;o)
[caption id="attachment_566" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Isn't this beautiful!"]
[/caption]
Wednesday 17 September 2008
Women in Glass Edition of The Flow
The deadline is fast approaching for the 'Women in Glass' edition of The Flow Magazine. I've just sent off some submissions for their gallery, one of which is these little guys -
[caption id="attachment_563" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="No Peeking!!"]
[/caption]
I like the way they turned out, the middle one makes me laugh, he's got such an innocent look on his face while the outer two are obviously full of mischief!
I believe the submission deadline is Sept 20th, - if you want to send something to them the link with all the info is HERE
[caption id="attachment_563" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="No Peeking!!"]
[/caption]I like the way they turned out, the middle one makes me laugh, he's got such an innocent look on his face while the outer two are obviously full of mischief!
I believe the submission deadline is Sept 20th, - if you want to send something to them the link with all the info is HERE
Tuesday 16 September 2008
Travelling Monkees
Two little monkees are off travelling, both to California, but to different locations. I wonder if they'll ever run into each other?
[caption id="attachment_559" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="SOLD!"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_560" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="SOLD!"]
[/caption]
Safe travels little guys!
[caption id="attachment_559" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="SOLD!"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_560" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="SOLD!"]
[/caption]Safe travels little guys!
Monday 15 September 2008
I'm on the Jewelry and Beading Blog!
Check out this link! Jewelery and Beading Blog
I'm pretty happy, it's nice to see my work somewhere other than my own site, and I've had a couple of really nice comments from readers about my piece.
I'm pretty happy, it's nice to see my work somewhere other than my own site, and I've had a couple of really nice comments from readers about my piece.
Saturday 13 September 2008
Monkees are everywhere!
Everywhere I go I'm finding monkees,
[caption id="attachment_453" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="one of many monkees"]
- [/caption]
I was trying to find a way to put an image in my email signatures on Google, where do I end up? Greasemonkey - it's an add on for Firefox that lets you install new features. Now I have this little guy 
sitting in the corner of my browser, well he's cuter than this guy actually.
sitting in the corner of my browser, well he's cuter than this guy actually.So - mailchimp, grease monkey -- what next? Driving in the car I hear a story of a monkey that escaped from a wildlife place not too far from here, I arrive at my friend's house and her sock monkey is eyeing me from the chair and when she shows me her knitting magazine I turn to a page that has not one but two monkeys on it. I tell you they are popping up all over the place! I was looking through Halloween listings on Etsy and found this, which didn't seem particularly Halloweenish, but it's so cute it left me wanting a new hat for the winter ;o)
Yep, monkees are everywhere it seems...
Thursday 11 September 2008
I found another Monkee!!
Well this one's a CHIMP but he was cute enough to make me want to find out more about what he does.
His name is Mail Chimp and if you've got a mailing list he might be useful to you! Of course you can pay for his services but if your list is under 100 emails in size and you send no more than 6 mailings a month you qualify for a FREE account! Yes, it will have the mail chimp logo in your emails as advertising, but it seems like a small price to pay when he's so darn good looking!!
Now all I need is a mailing list... I'm trying to figure out who should go on to it.
The site? Oh www.mailchimp.com !
His name is Mail Chimp and if you've got a mailing list he might be useful to you! Of course you can pay for his services but if your list is under 100 emails in size and you send no more than 6 mailings a month you qualify for a FREE account! Yes, it will have the mail chimp logo in your emails as advertising, but it seems like a small price to pay when he's so darn good looking!!
Now all I need is a mailing list... I'm trying to figure out who should go on to it.
The site? Oh www.mailchimp.com !
BOO!!! On Etsy
I've just listed these two spooky friends on Etsy I had a lot of fun sculpting the glass for these two ghosts.
Monday 8 September 2008
Etsy Teams?
Since joining Etsy last year I've been finding my away around slowly, every now and then I hear a new word like 'treasuries' and 'street teams'.
It's like learning a new language, but I'm happy to say I've finally plucked up courage to join two Etsy Teams.
What is an Etsy Team you might ask, well here's my definition -
An Etsy Team is a group of like minded people who work towards promoting the values of their Team. This is an excellent way to raise the profile of your Etsy Shop, meet Etsians with similar interests and network in general. Depending on the team there may be requirements to join, you may have to pay advertising costs or participate in different ways to promote the team. Here's a link to the Etsy list of teams .
Here are the two teams I have joined -
Capital Crafters is a group of Etsy sellers who live in the Ottawa area of Ontario. It's nice, because it's a friendly little group with quite diverse talents, to see what items are available from this group all you need do is search with the words ottawa team within Etsy.
My other choice is EFA (Etsy for Animals) - Artists Helping Animals.
[caption id="attachment_539" align="alignnone" width="360" caption="Artists Helping Animals"]
[/caption]
I'll write a separate post for EFA as this is a large team with a lot of things happening! I can say, I'm really excited about joining this team!
It's like learning a new language, but I'm happy to say I've finally plucked up courage to join two Etsy Teams.
What is an Etsy Team you might ask, well here's my definition -
An Etsy Team is a group of like minded people who work towards promoting the values of their Team. This is an excellent way to raise the profile of your Etsy Shop, meet Etsians with similar interests and network in general. Depending on the team there may be requirements to join, you may have to pay advertising costs or participate in different ways to promote the team. Here's a link to the Etsy list of teams .
Here are the two teams I have joined -
Capital Crafters is a group of Etsy sellers who live in the Ottawa area of Ontario. It's nice, because it's a friendly little group with quite diverse talents, to see what items are available from this group all you need do is search with the words ottawa team within Etsy.
My other choice is EFA (Etsy for Animals) - Artists Helping Animals.
[caption id="attachment_539" align="alignnone" width="360" caption="Artists Helping Animals"]
[/caption]I'll write a separate post for EFA as this is a large team with a lot of things happening! I can say, I'm really excited about joining this team!
Bead of the day
Well, yesterday to be exact. This was fun to do, it involves encasing a bead in clear and then letting the glass sag enough - but not too much!
Saturday 6 September 2008
Local Jewellery Artist Meghann Gervais
It's always nice to find a local artist, and even more so when it's one I have something in common with!
Meghann lives just outside Merrickville and creates beautiful jewellery with precious metals, stones, crystals and yes! glass!
You can visit Meghann's site here, we are hoping to work on some collaborative pieces and I can't wait to see what she'll do with my beads!
Meghann lives just outside Merrickville and creates beautiful jewellery with precious metals, stones, crystals and yes! glass!
You can visit Meghann's site here, we are hoping to work on some collaborative pieces and I can't wait to see what she'll do with my beads!
Wednesday 3 September 2008
Some beads just happen
Sometimes I can struggle, squint my eyes, poke out my tongue, hop from foot to foot, say the magic words and still end up with a bead that is so-so.
Every once in a while everything comes together and magic happens!
This is one of those moments, I'm so happy with the way this bead turned out :)
[caption id="attachment_518" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Cosmic Storm - **sold**"]
[/caption]
Every once in a while everything comes together and magic happens!
This is one of those moments, I'm so happy with the way this bead turned out :)
[caption id="attachment_518" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Cosmic Storm - **sold**"]
[/caption]
Monday 1 September 2008
OH MY!
[caption id="attachment_512" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Borrowed from BBC Radio Bristol"]
[/caption]
Isn't Wallace looking dashing these days! Apparently he's been doing some modelling for the Harvey Nichols store in Bristol. I'm not mentioning her as everyone knows Wallace should be with Wendolene .
Gromit's looking pretty chic, does anyone think that Wallace is looking a little like Neil Tennant in that bottom pic? Or is Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys) looking more like Wallace? Or am I just confused?
[caption id="attachment_494" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Neil Tennant"]
[/caption]And while we are on the subject of look-a-likes-or-not, it struck me that Ed Robertson (Barenaked Ladies)
looks somewhat like my new bead who just happens to be called -- Ed!
Maybe this whole post is just a lesson in how not to write blog posts until after the third mug of tea in the morning.
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Thanks Louise! This is great information.
Thanks for the advise I know I want something more as website or web page with all my places. I’m going to go back and read your blog again. : )
Thanks Tammie and Paula, I hope some of the information I put up will be useful. I take a lot of it for granted because I’ve been working with websites for a while, but I know it can seem very overwhelming if you don’t understand it, and after all - you’ve got better things to do — like make beads! :o)
Thank you louise! this is great! Diane
I was happy to see this discussion mentioned on Beader’s Showcase as I’m in the same situation of having several sites that are not linked - so I’m interested in hearing about ways to do that. My hosting site is 1and1 Internet Inc and I was able to get 2 URL’s through them for free by signing up. Of course all the short names were taken, so I ended up with a longer name http://www.myheartbeadsforyou.com. But the cost is only $5/month for the “home” package which seems to be fine for me right now. I purchased Net Fusion 10 through an offer from my hosting site for about $90 and used this to set up my website. It’s a pretty thorough pkg and I haven’t begun to explore all it does - just set up a basic site with a shopping cart and tied it to paypal. I know how to set up links to other sites, but I’d like to be able to add the html for a button on the home page. Lots of learning to do and so little time.
I’m glad this is sounding useful! I’ll try and address questions and issues that come up in the comments - I’ll have to try polishing up my propellor beanie ;o)