We all want to get paid what we’re worth, especially when our blogging evolves into a paying career. However, there are times when giving away your content is a good thing. When you guest blog, your host’s readers will be exposed to your work, maybe for the first time. If they like what you wrote, hopefully they will follow the link back to your blog, like what they see, and become regular readers. This way you increase your traffic and recruit new readers.
It’s one way to get exposure for your blog, though the joke is that one can die from exposure. It’s also worth doing to help out at a friend’s blog or a cause you believe in. Maybe you want to guest post to gain some link love or to build up your blogging resume. (There’s something to be said for getting published on a big site like the Huffington Post.)
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There’s a time in every blogger's life where using the standard blogging platform template isn’t enough. Sure many of us can tweak column sizes and colors with relative ease, and we may be able to add a homemade banner, too.
Still, when you want to take your blogging to the next level, maybe you should consider calling in a professional to give your blog a makeover. So, how do you find a blog designer?
Make my blog beautiful!
In my opinion, there are two ways to find the right blog designer for you. First is word of mouth. Ask your friends in the blog community who they’ve used or can recommend. Get on Twitter and ask for names and URLs. Go to your blogging social network sites and ask for referrals.
The second best way to find a blog designer is to find out who created the template (i.e. the design ) of your favorite blogs. You can either email the blogger and ask, or find the information and link to the designers website at the bottom of the blog.
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Notice how a magazine or newspaper article is usually accompanied by a picture? Well, you should be doing the same thing on your blog.
The eye is naturally drawn to images. Using a photograph or illustration in a post looks more professional, and gives the eye a break from reading blocks of copy. Since most people scan online content, you’ll improve readership by breaking up your written content with images.
So where can you get pictures and how do you use them properly? Part 1 of this series will cover sourcing images. Part 2 will cover how to use them properly – both from a design and a legal standpoint.
Art for sale
Royalty free stock images (either illustrations or photography): Try sites like iStockPhoto and Fotolia. Prices start at $1 for royalty free, small file size photos. (You do not need high resolution files for blog posts, but do for print.)
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Now that you know where to get pictures (see Say it Better with Pictures: Sourcing Images), there are a few considerations on using images on your blog.
Copyright
Photos taken by or artwork produced by someone else is protected under US copyright law. You need to ask permission (via email is fine) to use their photograph or illustration. It is a no-no to post the photo first (even with attribution and a link), then ask permission later. If you're using an image without permission, the copyright owner has every right to ask you to take the picture down.
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I’m off to BlogWorld Expo in Vegas this week after having recently attended BlogHer Food, IZEAFest and Kashi’s Mom Blogger Event as part of my “5 trips in 35 Days” whirlwind social media tour. (My tour ends in November at the FoodBuzz Blogger Festival.)
Call it serendipity, but the same themes kept popping everywhere I went:
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Four years ago I came upon this advice:
If you have a website (like a blog) that you claim copyright for, and the information on that website is updated regularly, then as soon as a change is made on that website, you should update the copyright statement for the new year.
I've proactively updated all my blogs copyrights every January 1st figuring that it couldn't hurt.
What, you don’t have a copyright on your blog? Just add one at the bottom - Copyright © 2006-2011 by My Cool Blog. All rights reserved - or something to that effect. (Remember, I’m not a lawyer and I don’t play on on the interwebs.) While it doesn’t protect you from the jerks who scrape your content, it does make your blog look a teeny bit more professional.
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