Categories
BlahBlahBabble

My Favorite Websites & Blogs (30 Days of Lists: Day 9)

This could be a really, really, really long list if I let it be – I like a lot of websites & blogs! So instead, I’m going to list the places where you can almost always find me online first, followed by some of my favorite blogs to read.

– Gmail
Twitter
– The SWPB Group on Flickr
Facebook
– Etsy (beautiful handcrafted goodness!)

I love to read:
Design Sponge
Psychotactics (Business tactics for the small business owner)
The Bloggess
Chookooloonks

And about a zillion others that I would list if I had time to pull up all their URLs and add them here, but pulling up The Bloggess already sent me off into a 20 minute spiral of reading her posts and posting to twitter about Wil Wheaton. He may have angered the Blogosphere back in 2002, but his photo of him collating papers today totally makes up for it!

Categories
BlahBlahBabble

Blog Goals! (30 Days of Lists: Day 7)

Oh goodness, this couldn’t possibly be more timely! As I mentioned before, I’m bad about “living in the moment” and not setting goals. I’m driven enough that this has worked out to be ok for me. Not great, but not bad. Just ok. But I’ve been working with Jeff Jochum on defining different goals, and several of the ones I’m working on involve my blogs.

Yes, blogs. As in I own more than one. This one is personal, but the rest are business focused, so I’m going to break this down by blog.

BigPinkCookie.com (You are Here.)
– Finish up the 30 Days of Lists
– Participate in other writing prompt activities
– Get back to blogging about personal stuff 3-4 times a week
– Before I post something to twitter as a link, write a longer post about it here if it is worthy of it
– Redesign the site, or at least give it a thorough overhaul

Hot Mama Boudoir
– Do my homework from today’s call with Jeff
– Write up my declaration statement
– Write a whole new bio that is more about ME
– Contact more past clients about sharing their sessions online
– Once I have permission for using photos, write up posts – ideally, at least once a week
– Help moms rediscover their true beauty

Christine Tremoulet
– Think more about what my big goals are, my lofty mighty dreams
– Share posts featuring weddings within a few weeks of the wedding date, after the gallery goes online
– Revamp content on static pages on the site, replace the bio, update the FAQs

WhollyMatrimony
– Cheer Melissa on as she has been posting real weddings! Yay!
– Work with Melissa on ad packet
– Fix header image
– Do a weekly editorial post on trends & products
– Work with Melissa on creating a vendor directory within the next 6 months

SLGT Photo Project
– Make sure any pending posts are online
– Check in with clients who haven’t sent PR info for posts
– Schedule outstanding shoots for people who have signed up but never did session
– Find a programmer to change the calendar format for booking to an option to be one of 300 sessions

Some of these things can happen immediately, some with take time, some will require me to work with Melissa on them. Knowing what I want to do helps me focus on getting them done though! Now off to do my homework!

Want to join the project? Check out the 30 Days of Lists site!

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.