Comments for Chris Garrett on New Media

Comment on When Should You Start Selling from Your Blog? by Charleen Larson

Charleen Larson — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 19:23:20 +0000

Great post that got me to thinking (again about monetization. I make some cash from AdSense and aff links but I think you are right that my own products would sell better. If only I had any…

For some reason my mind hits a brick wall when I try to think about developing products. Any idea what would help with that?

Comment on When Should You Start Selling from Your Blog? by Megan

Megan — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 17:33:10 +0000

Chris,

Thanks for a very interesting post. I’m a student in #NewhouseSM4, a class exploring social media and theory with @dr4ward at @NewhouseSU. I’ve just subscribed to your blog and have enjoyed reading your posts. My friend has his own blog and has been thinking about monetizing it in some way. Your five points will surely be very helpful to him since he is currently unsure of which direction is the best.

Thanks again!

Comment on Authority Blogging for Artists by Butterfly Jewel

Butterfly Jewel — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 04:54:22 +0000

I thought this was a very insightful article that I am definitely taking note of some of the things mentioned. Thanks for your insight!

Comment on Authority Blogging for Artists by Ron's Copy-e-writing Blog

Ron's Copy-e-writing Blog — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:06:57 +0000

I would say, it is rather easy for an artist to create a following, since anything original does get attention fast.

Comment on Authority Blogging for Artists by Anish Majumdar

Anish Majumdar — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:28:27 +0000

Chris, just wanted to say thanks for offering a truly great and useful blog post. As a longtime journalist and writer who only recently moved into blogging, I’ve been searching far and wide for targeted information on how to make a living doing what I love. Great stuff!

Comment on Authority Blogging for Artists by Momekh

Momekh — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:57:32 +0000

I wonder if the artist under discussion can head over to someone like Trey Ratcliff’s blog stuckincustoms.com.

That is one of the best ways right now to earn an honest living while doing your craft. What do you think Chris?

Comment on Authority Blogging for Artists by Mike

Mike — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:31:36 +0000

I also run a site with the word daily in the title. For a while it kept me posting daily, even when I was past the burnt out spot. I was afraid to not post daily, until one weekend I just did it. I still posted five times a week, but no one commented that I wasn’t posting on the weekends anymore, and my traffic didn’t drop either since I was focusing more on quality articles instead of just churning them out every day. Also, I took the dates off the posts, so a new visitor doesn’t know that it isn’t daily.

Comment on Authority Blogging for Artists by Chris Garrett

Chris Garrett — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:32:44 +0000

I do think those collages have a nice impact so it is good it is not too much of an effort for you

Comment on Authority Blogging for Artists by Brian Dubé

Brian Dubé — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:23:08 +0000

Dave,
Thanks. I do spend some time preparing collages and multiple images. I do so because in talking to readers and observing people looking over my site, I find that most do not click on supplementary photo links, flickr galleries, etc. Often when I do an in depth story and need numerous images to do it justice, I feel compelled to place the images right there rather than risk that few see them. I am fairly quick now at creating collages in Photoshop after doing them for 6 years. I have to process some photos anyway and often it is too hard to make a choice for a single representative photo. Unfortunately, more is my style

Comment on Authority Blogging for Artists by Kathie M Thomas

Kathie M Thomas — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 02:42:09 +0000

Sorry, I meant I have run 3 competitions…

Comment on Authority Blogging for Artists by Kathie M Thomas

Kathie M Thomas — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 02:10:23 +0000

Great information. I’ve recently begun getting another email newsletter from a business coach for artists and she’s been sharing similar ideas – but not all the same. I’m in the same kind of predicament and have been developing products to sell at local markets and to sell via my website and use as giveaways.

Interesting challenge I have though. I’ve not run 3 competitions and had winners, asked them to contact me to organise the delivery of the prizes, and they haven’t. Why is this? Why do people participate in a competition and then not follow through to receive their prize? Seems strange to me. I was using the competitions to grow fans at Facebook, email subscribers at my photoblog and my traffic generally.

Comment on Authority Blogging for Artists by LaVonne Ellis

LaVonne Ellis — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:44:54 +0000

Ooh, perfect timing, Chris! I’ve been working on a storytelling site, http://oneblueberry.com, for the past few months but, other than writing a book and perhaps publishing a magazine, I wasn’t sure what to do. Great ideas, thanks!

Comment on Authority Blogging for Artists by Chris Garrett

Chris Garrett — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:32:40 +0000

He does have some help on hand but those are good points – thanks Dave!

Comment on Authority Blogging for Artists by Dave Doolin

Dave Doolin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:13:03 +0000

Small thoughts, offered as observation more than advice, from the point of view of fulfilling the promise of “daily,” without totally burning out on the workload.

1. Some of the articles have a lot of links, which are time consuming to emplace, test and maintain. From a reader’s point of view, this is not bad. But it does increase the writer’s workload. How many are necessary?

2. Many of the photos are montages (?), that is, several photos presented in a single image. The benefit to the artist is building skill at creating these images, which are very attractive. The risk is the time it takes to get good, and the time it takes to create them for each article. Question: are these type of images necessary for each article, and if so, do they need to be on the front page, or would they be better served via clicking through the “Read more” link to reward the reader?

I may be completely off the mark with these two suggestions, but I do know how much time it takes to create, and the risk of burnout is real.

Comment on Authority Blogging for Artists by Chris Garrett

Chris Garrett — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:10:20 +0000

I love that idea Rebecca – very cool. He could write about anything New York related so everything from restaurants to boutiques and tourist attractions

Comment on Authority Blogging for Artists by Rebecca Caroe

Rebecca Caroe — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:01:44 +0000

Chris, This is one of the best email blog posts you’ve written. I got it from your mailing list.
Thanks for your hard work. Giving insight into your method and how it applies to this site is a fantastic way of showing off your expertise.

I have a small idea to contribute for monetization. Since Brian is such a great storyteller and photographer, I’d suggest he sell ‘sponsored posts’ where he offers to visit your business and do a feature story about you on his blog.

Comment on When Should You Start Selling from Your Blog? by P. Karina

P. Karina — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:32:03 +0000

I’ve been reading these case studies for some time and have always learned something new in each one. I have been maintaining a blog and view it as a platform to practice my writing and update on personal projects that I am currently working on but lately, the cost of the site is becoming a burden. I would like to eventually build up enough traffic so that the cost of maintenance won’t be an issue any more.

Thanks for the post!

Comment on Why You Shouldn’t Drive Traffic by Kevin Blumer

Kevin Blumer — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:59:19 +0000

You know you can drive as much traffic as you want to a blog or a website but the wrong kind and it’s just wasted. That was my biggest problem. I have four blogs and some of them rank well and have traffic and others rank well but no traffic. In interest the blog that doesn’t rank that makes money and it has the least amount of traffic. I am also learning off them people quite a bit at what they want and when they want it. The blog that makes money I try to learn why it makes money it’s by chance did not happen Goggle suddenly started sending the wrong traffic. But it wasn’t I just had never looked at my blog as making money apart from adverts a big mistake. I agree with your third suggestion and I think that is where I am going wrong and going to change that. With the fifth point I am getting there pretty much. I am going to work on the two points I am not doing well on. Its now my second year in blogging the worst thing I ever done was push people to my mental health blog I got spammed I don’t mean one comment either or two I was getting over 250 comments a day. By the way I love genesis too my mental health blog runs on it. Some of the free plugging is great and time saving.

Comment on Why You Shouldn’t Drive Traffic by Lesa

Lesa — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:49:39 +0000

My blog has recently had a spike in traffic and I haven’t yet been able to pinpoint the cause. What I have determined, however, is that those extra visitors aren’t engaging with my content (lots short visits and high bounce rates). Before reading your post, I’d already determined that I was happier with the 27 visits I received as the result of one thoughtful — and contrary — blog post. Those visitors stayed on my site an average of 10 minutes and visited an average of 15 pages. Those are the visitors that I want more of… not those hundreds that come and then click away.

Thanks for the acknowledgement that I’m on the right track with my blog.

Comment on When Should You Start Selling from Your Blog? by John Corcoran

John Corcoran — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:51:50 +0000

Chris: Great advice on getting started early by posting a consulting or coaching opportunity on your blog from the get-go. I wish I had put that up a couple of years ago, but I’ll add it now.