Tag: blogging

Categories
Creative Geek Social Media

My Credentials, So to Speak…

I don’t normally like to post the same thing on London Seo more than one of my sites at a time. I’m just know it confuses poor Google. I promise, I won’t do it often – but I wrote this late yesterday over on the wedding & boudoir photography site and it seemed like it belonged here as well.

I started making the list below to be a little sassy because I know there is going to be someone reading this thinking, “Blogging Guru? Just who does she think she is?” Then I realized checking up on my credentials is pretty important.

  • In January 2008, I was one of the first to move the blog to the front of the site for my photography site, replacing the Flash splash page that so many photographers have. This completely changed my business model and has rocked my world. I strongly advocate it to everyone.
  • Last month I had over 17,000 visitors on ChristineTremoulet.com. Over 9000 were unique visits.
  • I’ve blogged since 2000 here.
  • I’ve worked for two large web development firms, helping people determine the best fit for their needs when it came to their online presence. I’m an experienced Internet Image Consultant.
  • My sites have been featured in a number of publications, including Yahoo! Daily Pick Site, the New York Times, the Houston Chronicle, and many others. BigPinkCookie was featured a number of times by Chris Pirillo on his Call for Help TV show.
  • I owned a blog hosting company for over 5 years so I’m familiar with how hosting works.
  • I was one of the first 25 or so users of MovableType when it first came out.
  • I named WordPress. Yes, really.
  • I’ve used WordPress for 5 years now.
  • My husband & I have done countless WordPress installations and customizations over the past 5 years.
  • BigPinkCookie.com has been in the Top 100 blogs on Technorati.
  • I used to be the #1 Google result for “Christine”. Just Christine. I’m still in the top 5.
  • I know a lot about SEO.
  • I also know how to code HTML by hand and can tweak CSS to make it nice and sparkly.
  • If you mention my name in pro blogging circles, some people will actually know who I am.
  • I have over 4000 followers on Twitter. I didn’t get them overnight, but instead by engaging with the community since fall 2006 when Twitter started.
  • I have attended SXSW Interactive 5 times in the past 10 years.
  • I spend more hours per week reading and writing about marketing, blogging, using social media, and SEO then I do about photography. Even on photography forums, I can be found talking mostly about the business side of things.
  • I am constantly learning more and more about how blogging, social media, and the internet as a whole is changing how we do business. It never ends.

In other words I’m not just talking the talk. I’m walking the walk. And in case you wondered, I did in fact answer all of the questions in this article correctly. (What is that good ol’ Southern saying? It ain’t braggin’ if it is the truth? I’m going with that one, because that list was actually pretty hard to write.)

I’m working on the last details of the launch pricelist for base services. As soon as it is ready, I’ll let you know! For those of you that have already contacted me to inquire about more information, you guys blow me away. I love you all. I knew this was going to be big – and I couldn’t do it without your support. If you’ve asked for more details, you’re already in line – I’ll get it to you first as soon as it is ready!

Categories
Getting Down to Business

The All New BigPinkCookie!

BigPinkCookie Business Card - BackToday is the day I put it all out there. The big plan. What I’m willing & available to do for you. Are you ready for it? (I am! I’m super excited!!!)

I’ve been blogging now since 2000. You have seen me talk about a lot of different things. And as you saw me post last week, I’ve been having a big debate about where this blog should go. I would say that it has been an internal debate, but to be honest I called in the experts on this one – from asking you to weigh in here, over on Twitter, to emailing Sean Low and calling Regina Holder, Dane Sanders and Anne-Marie the Soap Queen.

I thought I needed advice, but in the process of talking about it I knew exactly what I needed to do. It was solidified when Anne-Marie said it before I even finished my sentence. Dane & Sean both weighed in that it was time to put my experience to good use and to share it with the world. Regina let me talk through it all like she is so great at doing.

It is time to put some geek spice back into the BigPinkCookie.com. A dash of flavor and a lot of love. It is time to share what I know, from writing to helping you build a better blog.

I’ll still be writing on my wedding photography blog, and I’ll still be posting over at PhotoLoveCat and WhollyMatrimony!. But this site is officially changing … well, back to what it used to be. A hodge-podge of things, but mostly my thoughts on many different business related topics – especially where business and the internet collide. (Personal things might pop up from time to time, but those are still far more likely to appear on my Twitter account then they are here.)

I devour all I can all the time about marketing, branding, seo consulting company, blogging tips, and the whole online experience. Things we all need to make our creative businesses grow. Tips & tricks for small business owners. I am constantly answering questions on how to be a better blogger, how to improve your traffic, how to make potential clients take that next step to hiring you. I also often help people install and configure WordPress, set up themes, optimize their blog — and I’m ready to offer my help to a broader audience. (Pricelists coming soon, but for now I’m happy to provide you with a custom quote if you need anything.)

I am so excited about sharing all of this with you – again! I’m not sure what happened, and why I stopped. I do know a lot of it coincided with selling the blog hosting company and launching my photography business, but my love of the topic themselves never ended. I am officially getting my geek on again. My focus will definitely be photographers (because it is what I know), but what I have to share will apply to all different types of creative people, in the wedding industry and beyond.

That is the back of my new business cards for BigPinkCookie.com over there – what do you think? (I adore it, but I think that looking at a cookie for hours on end while designing makes me hungry!)

If there is one thing I’ve learned in the past year, it is to never set a limit to your dreams, because you will be amazed at where they can take you!

I have to say, it feels pretty good to be home. I’ve come full circle, and I couldn’t be happier.

Categories
BlahBlahBabble

June Daily!

My friend Laura has recently challenged herself to blog daily, so I decided to join her on it – my challenge for the month of June is to blog once a day. Now that it is June 1st, I’m trying to work out if it will be once a day at the wedding & boudoir photography blog, or once a day at WhollyMatrimony! and here as well.

Hmmm…

I used to write 4-5 blog posts a day, so I think I could do it. Matter of fact, the photo blog posts are the most time consuming, because I have to choose photos to put up on the site.

Today was Kelly’s first full time day of self-employment, so we agreed while at the Fast Track Photographer workshop that we would celebrate today – we went for brunch with Brittany and Kelly’s sister Kristan, and then afterwards we dropped Kristan off at home and went to Tomball to get a pedicure. We ended up making a trip through Hobby Lobby as well, since it was right there and I needed some crafty things for my new marketing materials I’m creating.

Of course, playing part of the day away was great — but now I’m going to be editing things tonight! And writing blog posts too, it seems. What did I get myself into?

Keep me in line by inspiring me with comments! Who knows, maybe this will be the kick in the pants that BigPinkCookie needs to come back to life? That would be excellent!

Categories
BlahBlahBabble

Word to Your Mother…

I’ll ‘fess up. I sort of love Ice, Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice. Cheesy? Yes. But it is still fun to sing along with. Or rather, in my case, to try to sing along with. Kymberlie & Mike can tell you — I only know the emphasis words throughout the song.

I guess I’ll never be a rapper.

But the Jim Carey parody of it? Off the hook, man! Check it OUT!

In other news … I just discovered that my blog has 4,902 posts and 29,036 comments. I need to figure out something special to do for that 30,000 comment. What should we do? Do you think we can get there within 2009? Oh, the suspense!

Categories
BlahBlahBabble

Wow, is it 2009 already?

How did that happen? I swear 2008 just ZOOOOOOMMED past me, with a flurry of a whooshing sound and *bam!* (sonic boom), it was gone.

That said, it was a pretty big year for me, especially business wise. Yes, it seems like lately my life is primarily about my business, and my business is my life. My biggest goal for 2009? To tip that balance back. I think that always happens to people in the first 12-18 months of a business, as you work through a lot of growing pains. Now that I’m past that point, I have completely different growing pains to do deal with, but they are a LOT more manageable.

I’m also going to focus on blogging more. One small problem? I’m blogging in 5 different places. Here, ChristineTremoulet.com – wedding photography related posts (I hope to add more newborn & seniors in 2009 now), Boudoir Mon Cheri – boudoir photography related posts, WhollyMatrimony.com with wedding planning tips, and PhotoLoveCat.com with photography business related tips. Whew! I know I can do it though. To be honest, I love writing.

My other goal for this year is to get more knitting done! Matter of fact, after we yelled out Happy New Year and kissed to ring in the year, I then went on to knit a round on the sleeve of my sweater that I’ve been working on since August. When I actually stopped and focused on it, it took me just a few hours to finish the sleeve that had been languishing for weeks. So now that I’ve finished a project in 2009, and actually *worn* it (which involved weaving in ends and sewing on buttons), I want to do MORE! I need this Sewing Machine Today!!!!!

The February Lady Sweater is DONE and I'm wearing it to my class today @SewCrafty!!!
Sorry it is a bit blurry. The iPhone was all I had handy before I headed out the door.

I also took a sewing class up at SewCrafty and learned some of the basics of sewing. Thanks to my mom being *amazing* when it comes to sewing, I realized how much I already knew from watching her over the years. I don’t have any immediate plans to sew anything, but maybe once the summer is here and it is too hot to knit this will be a good option for me.

Last but not least – thanks in part to the Kindle, which I *LOVE* – I read the entire The Twilight Saga in a span of just a few weeks. I read the last two books in the series in a matter of 2 days each, I think. I haven’t read that fast, or that long, in ages. We made a specific effort to unplug and read. (Wait, does that count if I read on the Kindle? Yeah, I think it does.) It was nice and relaxing — I must do that more.

Last but not least (the one I forgot until KB’s comment!), I want to make sure I don’t sacrifice time to go to local events to connect more with my friends and the greater Houston community. Or should that be the GREAT Houston community? Either way, I haven’t been getting out enough the past few months – it was hard when my schedule was so full with weddings on Saturdays. We’re going to work on that with the whole “Serenity” thing.

So in a nutshell, my 2009 resolutions:
– Serenity in my life
– Blog more
– Knit/Craft more
– Read more
– Remember to unplug (so I have time for those things)
– Enjoy time with my family
– Reconnect with my friends

What are your resolutions for 2009?