Is it weird that a place taught me about blogging? Because it totally did.

A few weeks ago I got the chance to hang out with some of my very best blogging buddies at a retreat, BloggerRefresh, in Carmel, California. It was exactly the recharge I needed. And, in spending some time away from my kitchen, away from my computer, I learned some things about blogging.

I learned that travel can not only rejuvenate the soul, but that by visiting local eateries I can invent my newest recipes. (Baseball sized macaroon hopefully coming soon to a blog near you.)

Have you ever been to Carmel? Mel and I used to visit a few times a year, but I haven’t been there in ages. Walking around downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea had me awash in memories. I remembered the restaurants we ate at, the clothing store where I had my first grown-up “Pretty Woman” shopping experience (minus the hooker part), the gallery with the gorgeous photographs that paid for our honeymoon.

(Both of those stories, BTW, will make great blog posts. See what visiting places can do? I have so many stories to share that I’ve forgotten about!)

Once we ate our way through downtown, the 10 of us drove to Carmel Valley, a place I’d never been. But it’s a place I fully intend to return to. I mean…it was literally like heaven on earth.

(I kind of wanted to go all Sound of Music on those hills.)

Our generous host for the weekend was Holman Ranch, a unique and memorable setting for all sorts of events. The ranch consists of 10 hotel rooms (each with their own bath), a communal kitchen and living room, plus several event spaces for meetings, lounging, and events. The 10 of us took over the entire place, cooked meals for each other, learned from each other, and soaked in the beauty around us.

Holman Ranch contributed to another thing I learned on this trip: photographing things is just as wonderful as photographing food.

As a food blogger, I rarely take photos of anything besides the food. Any photos I take out and about are taken with my iPhone…and not very well. I don’t consider myself a photographer, just a food photographer.

The ranch inspired me to take out my camera and just see the beauty around me.

The gorgeous tree in the center of camp.

The outside of room #4, my home for the 3 days.

The “barn” where I plan to renew my vows some day.

Clearly, we were all inspired by the beauty around us. That’s Amy, shooting more gorgeous trees!

This might sound funny, but another thing I learned about blogging is how much good food other bloggers make. I hardly ever make recipes from other bloggers because I’m too busy making my own. For this trip we each were assigned a meal so I got to taste so many delicious recipes that I can’t wait to make again and again.

Trish’s Blueberry Lemon Cream Cheese Muffins, Amy’s Hash Brown-Crusted Quiche (not pictured), and Tillamook Farmstyle Greek Yogurt for breakfast.

Lisa’s Skinny Margaritas made with Skinny Triple Sec alongside turkey tacos for lunch and Tillamookies for dessert.

A panini bar that introduced me to blackberry, bacon, and brie paninis alongside Cathy’s Sicilian Spinach Salad for dinner.

My recipe assignment was breakfast. I decided to bring my Overnight Cinnamon Rolls made with (along with some Carrot Cake Coffee Cake and Banana Bread) to treat the ladies with. And, because I’m me, I also brought Chocolate Toffee Almond Shortbread Bars and Peanut Butter Gooey Bars along. They went like gangbusters.

The first night we got to have dinner in town, at Will’s Fargo Dining House & Saloon. It was there I learned that if you stand outside the bathroom long enough a waitress will come by and you can tell them that two ladies are having a birthday and they’ll bring you dessert with candles.

I also learned that homemade berry pie is fantastic…but I already knew that because duh.

I learned that Lisa is amazing at taking head shots. She did my new one, which you can see here. I love taking pictures of people taking pictures of people.

With the gorgeous setting, we put on our fancy tops with our yoga pants, did our hair, and took pictures of each other for hours. We laughed, we cried, and we got to know each other so much better than we had only hours previously.

I think the most important thing that this retreat taught me is something I already knew: Blogger friends are real ones.

Just because you only interact on the internet doesn’t mean you don’t have a true bond with someone, it just means you have to plan a retreat to actually hug that person in real life instead of virtually.

Without this retreat I wouldn’t have met Cathy or gotten to realize yet again how awesome Amy is. (Oh, how I wish Amy lived closer to me – our daughters – and probably husbands – would get along so well!)

(I also wouldn’t have learned the term RBF, so that was a learning experience!)

As great as working on the internet is, sometimes you just need to physically see someone. Emails, Facebook, and texting just aren’t the same as road-tripping with Hayley, giving Glory an emotional hug, or having in depth conversations with Mindy.

Reaffirming this fact, that the friendships I’ve created online are real, was exactly what I needed. Because honestly, some of these ladies know me better than my “real life” friends do. And Trish and Lisa, ladies, I have no words for how I feel about you. Hopefully y’all know that.

Oh, and I also learned I have magical selfie arms. So if we ever meet, I’ll take the selfie.

By the way, if you’re reading this and thinking how do I get to go on a fun retreat with my blogger friends??!! then you should do what we did: planned our own. About 6 months ago the 10 of us realized we wanted to get away and hang out with each other. So we planned a retreat ourselves. It was challenging, sure, but it was worth all the work. Find some bloggers, pick a city, and go for it! (And check out this post by Lori, The Recipe Girl, on how to do it!)

Thank you for reading! #BloggerRefresh girls I love all your guts!

Like all blogging events, this one wouldn’t have happened without our generous sponsors:

A huge thank you to Holman Ranch for providing our logging for the retreat, to Jennie-O for purchasing all the food for our weekend, and to Will’s Fargo Restaurant for our dinner.

Thanks for reading!

Welcome back to my series on Blog to Business! We’ve already talked about Blog Design and Finding a Blog Community. Today we’re moving on to something I love and struggle with every day: Food Photography.

When we talked about blog design, I mentioned that the first thing people see when they get to your site is very important. It’s the first impression of YOU. After they take in the top half of your site design, visitors to your site most often will notice the photographs next. Remember, people eat with their eyes first. If something doesn’t look good it doesn’t matter how it tastes, or how your writing is, or how your site looks. You want your food photos to be the best they can be.

Not only do good photos get people to stay on your site and drool, but they are often what get people to your site. Think about it: Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram – all of those social media sites are visual. Sure, there’s text and descriptions of things, but the photos are what really pop. If your photo doesn’t catch someone’s eye, no one is going to click on it.

I don’t consider myself an expert on food photography. I actually feel like I have a lot to learn (don’t we all?), but I do feel like I’ve learned a lot over the past 4 years. I started with an ancient point and shoot and have worked my way through more expensive P&S cameras and a DSLR with a variety of lenses. I’ve gone from not editing any photos to using online software to using Lightroom. Hopefully I can share a little of what I’ve learned with you.

1. Your Camera

Obviously you need some sort of a camera for food photography. A point and shoot (P&S), a cell phone, a DSLR. Most likely you’re using one of those things already.

{If you’re not, um, you need to start. Food blogs need food photos. The end.}

For 2 years I used a P&S camera. I started off with a Cannon Powershot that was about 5 years old. About 6 months into my blog I bought a higher-end Cannon P&S (with super zoom). I shudder at the thought that for only $100 more I would have had a DSLR.

2 years ago, I purchased my DLSR: a Nikon D3100, which is an entry-level crop-body camera. It’s the one I use today and it’s the one I shot my cookbook with. I started off using the “stock” lens, which is an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G. It’s the one that comes with the camera.

In January of 2013 I started shooting with a 35mm 1:1.8G prime lens.

And, finally, in December of 2013 I started shooting with my current lens, the 17-55mm 1:2.8G which is made to fit my Nikon’s crop body camera. This is the lens I shot my cookbook with.

That kind of gives you an overview of my photography over the last 4 years. I’m going to get into specifics in a minute, but I want to talk about the elephant in the room first.

Do you have to have a DSLR to make it as a food blogger?

My answer? I don’t know. But I’ll tell you what I do know. When I used a P&S camera, I think I learned a lot as a photographer. I knew my photos weren’t as good as bloggers with DSLRs so I had to work three times as hard to make a difference. I learned about light and photo editing and reflectors and all of that. And I think I took some pretty good pictures with my P&S. Some of those posts did pretty well. I think you can definitely get good page views and “make it” using a point and shoot camera.

BUT. And yes, that is a very big but.

I think that a time will come when you need to invest in a DSLR. Start thinking about it now. My page views doubled when I got my good camera, because I’d taken all of what I’d learned about making photos better and applied them to, well, better photos. Another argument for a DSLR camera: I started in the “second wave” of food bloggers. The big guns had all been around a few years but there weren’t a gazillion food blogs out there. In the last 4 years I think the food blogging community has grown exponentially. With the onset of Pinterest and gawker sites, photography has become hugely important. To be able to stand out in the crowd, you need to be able to wow people. Good photography can help with that.

2. Light. Use it. Lots of it.

Good food photos use lots of light. That’s just a fact. You need good lighting to get good photos. I am blessed to live in Northern California where it’s sunny a lot of the time, so those winter months aren’t a huge problem for me. I have two good windows I use and, depending on the month (or week or day, sometimes it seems) I shoot wherever the light is best. If you don’t have good windows or it’s snowing outside, then you might need to get some lighting help. I’ve never used studio lighting, but I’ve heard great things about Ego lights. I know a few bloggers that use them and their photos are stunning.

3. Just say NO to the Flash.

So it’s getting dark outside and you want to photograph cookies. My advice: WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW. Do not use the flash. Please. Unless you’re a trained photographer with equipment who knows what they’re doing, please just say no to flash. I never use my flash – even for people photos. The 35mm prime lens I talk about in #1 is great for low light. Flash gives everyone red eyes and causes all sorts of glare and funky behavior. Just say no.

4. Set yourself up for success.

Since light is one of the most important things for your photo, you need to make sure and have a good set-up. A few years ago I read Plate to Pixel and it totally changed the way I photographed. I thought only professional photographers had reflectors but I all of a sudden realized I needed one too. Guess what? You can make a reflector board yourself.

Step one: buy foam core. Step two: wrap foam core board with aluminum foil. Done. All for about $2 + tax if you shop at the dollar store.

Here are some shots of how I set up my photo shoots:

Side lighting: window on the left, reflector on the right, (or window on the right; reflector on the left) backboard behind to hide my ugly kitchen counters. (You can see I use canned goods to hold up my reflectors. I’ve been meaning to by “L” brackets or clamps but I never get around to it, probably because I loathe the hardware store.)

Photo example: Cookies and Mint Cheesecake, taken with my 35mm 1:1.8 lens. Light was on the left, reflector on the right.

Back lighting: window behind, reflectors on each side at angles in relation to the food. I try to get my reflectors as close as possible to the front of the food, because when the light is behind the front tends to get shaded. Get the reflectors as close as possible together but far enough apart you can get your camera in between. (This is when I really like my zoom lens.)

Photo example: Mini Lemon Chess Pies, taken with the 17-55mm 1:2.8G lens.

I absolutely love back lighting. If you haven’t tried it, you need to!

5. GET OFF AUTO.

Seriously, please. Take your camera off Auto mode. You have so many more options available to you when you’re not using auto. Even P&S cameras have the option for different modes. Read your camera manual and make the jump.

When you first click that little dial away from auto, it can be scary. For food photography, I suggest starting with Aperture mode (A or Av depending on your camera). The Pioneer Woman has a whole series on Aperture that helped me a lot when I started. More recently, Karly from Buns in My Oven shared her own secrets on aperture. Play with the dials on your camera, changing the aperture to different values and seeing what works for you.

Then, once you do that, make the jump to manual. It will make a huge difference in your photography. Karly has a whole post on that too. Once you start shooting in manual, a whole new world opens up. ISO, aperture, shutter speed – they all work together to create fabulous photographs.

This was my first photography I ever shot in Manual, about a year and a half ago: Skinny Chocolate S’mores Pie using my 35mm lens.

The second I took these photos I noticed a difference. Being able to control the shutter, the aperture, and the ISO all together makes pretty photos.

Also? This photo is how my cookbook editor found me. So it has a special place in my heart.

Here’s how I shoot in manual:

• My ISO usually sits at 200 or 400 when the sun is shining.
• Aperture sits at it’s lowest setting for whatever lens I’m using. (Currently, f/2.8. In the photo above, about f/1.8.)
• Shutter speed ranges between 1/60 to 1/200 depending on how much light is in my room.

6. What do you do when it’s cloudy outside?

Take a vacation until spring. Kidding! We all have those days, right? Where we need to take pictures but the weather is just not cooperating. If you’re shooting in Manual (or at least Aperture mode) you have a ton of options. The main thing that I do is I up my ISO. I don’t know tons about it (read more here) but when it’s a little gloomy outside I up it to 400 or sometimes 800. You have to be careful when you increase your ISO because it can cause graininess depending on your lens and camera, but it’ll help in a pinch. Increasing the ISO can also help with the blurriness you get in your photos when it’s lower light. Often, especially on Aperture mode, you get blur if you or your subject move at all. Upping the ISO can help that stabilize.

Also, you can try getting a tripod. Using a tripod stabilizes your camera, so you don’t get blur while changing the settings to let in as much light as possible. I have never been successful with a tripod (I like to move during shooting) but I’ve heard Manfrotto makes the best. In listening to others talk about their tripods, this Manfrotto has been recommended several times. (That’s just the tripod. You also need to buy a head for it.) And don’t forget to check the specs on your camera to make sure whatever you buy will fit (and that the weight will be supported.)

7. Shoot in RAW.

Once you take the step from Auto to Manual, the next step is to shoot in RAW. When you take .jpeg photos, some of the information is compressed and lost. Shooting in RAW captures all the information and stores it in each photo. You record all the data from the sensor, so you get a larger and higher quality photo.

A .jpeg photo gets somewhat processed in your camera but your camera is not as good at editing as you are. A RAW photo gives you all the data so that you get to control how it’s edited.

Benefits of shooting in RAW:

• The editing options increase dramatically with RAW photos. When you open a RAW photo in your processing program, more options open up to you to fix your photo.
• You can easily correct exposure. If you’ve under- or overexposed a photo, much of that can be fixed with editing.
• You can easily fix the white balance (temperature) of a photo.
• Sharpening is better.
• Your photos are non-destructive. When you shoot in .jpeg some of your photo is immediately destroyed before you even download it to your computer.
• The files are huge, which make them perfect for large prints…or for saving off for printing in a cookbook.

The downsides of RAW:

• The files are huge. You’ll need an external drive to store them on or you’ll fill up your hard drive fast. Same goes with camera memory cards. You’ll need more than one card unless you want to delete often.
• You’ll spend more time editing. Where you could do a few minor tweaks with .jpeg photos, you have to process RAW photos a lot. But I assure you, after awhile it’ll become like second nature and it won’t feel as slow. In fact, if you ever make a mistake and shoot in .jpeg, you’ll be mad because you can’t edit them the way you want.
• You’ll need a photo editing software. I think there are online sites that let you work with .jpegs, but you’ll probably want to get something like Photoshop or Lightroom to deal with RAW photos.

So your assignment for today is to try and take a few RAW photos, okay? Here’s my suggestion: if your camera lets you take both RAW and .jpegs at the same time (check and see; mine allows it) do that for the first few times you shoot RAW. You’re going to absolutely hate the way they look when you get them off your camera and you’re going to freak out they suck. So have the .jpeg as a backup. Eventually you’ll lose the crutch and just shoot in RAW.

And, BTW. Keep all the RAW files you edit. You can delete the ones you don’t, but keep the others in case you ever need to make changes!

8. Edit your photos.

I always edit my photos. Hardly ever does a photo go on my blog or social media without being edited. I even edit my instagram photos and I may have been known to edit the wrinkles out of my forehead when I post family photos on Facebook.

Editing is one of the most important things you can do to your photos, besides take them.

If you’re working with .jpegs, you can edit in online software. My favorite is PicMonkey. They have a free version, but the yearly plan is not very expensive and opens up tons of options. (Also…they have a nip/tuck tool. Where the aforementioned wrinkles get fixed. Hey, it’s cheaper than Botox!)

If you’re working with RAW images or you want to use a software, I highly suggest Lightroom. In fact, I think everyone should use Lightroom. It’s daunting at first but it’s actually super easy for a basic workflow and your images come out looking amazing.

A couple things I really love about LR:

• You can bulk edit. If you’re like me, you probably take 27 shots at the same time that look the same to everyone else but only you can see the difference. Well, in editing, you don’t have to edit them 27 times. Edit once, then select all and sync them. Boom, 27 edited photos.
• You can export them with your watermark. All of them, at once.
• You can export them in different sizes, different dpi, and all sorts of different things as many times as you need.
• As long as you don’t delete the files off your computer, you can go back and re-edit or re-export or do whatever you want with them. They’re always there.

Now, I could probably write a whole post about my workflow in LR. And, in all honesty, I don’t do 1/10 of what I should be doing. Every once in awhile Irvin will mention some little LR trick and my head explodes and all I want to do is drive to San Francisco to give him a hug and a pie. I always adjust white balance, exposure, saturation, and sharpness. This LR workflow video by Baked Bree got me started.

Do you want me to write a workflow post on how I use LR with shiny images and info? Let me know in the comments below!

9. Styling and Props

This is one of those things I always get stuck on. I’m the kind of girl that rarely remembers to wear jewelry or lipstick and I often buy the same shirt in 10 colors because I like the way it fits. I normally wear the same outfits every week and usually I just pray people aren’t as observant as I am and don’t remember I’ve worn the same blue tank top every Wednesday for a month.

The same goes with my photo styling. I have a full cabinet of props and I only use a handful. But you know what? It works for me. And that’s my tip for styling:

Do what works for you.

I like photos that are all food. I like close up shots with little bits of props here and there, so that’s how I shoot. It’s somewhat minimalist because I’m not good at matching all sorts of dishes and linens. Here are a few general rules I follow (for myself):

• Neutral plates. I almost always use white plates. Sometimes, if the food is white or light colored, I’ll use a colored plate, but not very often.
• Crinkled parchment paper is my best friend.
• Always try to have something in the background. A linen, some bowls, some food that’s in the recipe like a spoon of peanut butter or stack of candy. Let the photo tell the story.
• Double check for dog hair. Seriously, that’s part of my process. There’s nothing worse than getting to editing and realizing all of your photos have hair in them. (I have a golden retriever. Dog hair is probably embedded in my organs.)
• Stack food. I like to stack cookies and bars for better effect.
• Get the gooey inside shot. Gooey sells.
• Don’t use super loud patterned linens. (This might only be specific to me, but I find that super loud patterns and colors take away from the star of the photo – the food.)
• Sometimes all white is not great. The light needs to be perfect for that. When in doubt, use a brown base. It’ll immediately add warmth – especially in colder/bluer shots (like in morning light).
• When in doubt, throw in some paper straws.
• Don’t stress – if you crop in tight enough you won’t even see much styling so it won’t matter!

{Gooey Caramel Pull-Aparts}

And, after all that, you still need to do what works for YOU. If you love accessories and can easily put together and outfit with necklaces, shoes, and a handbag in under 3 minutes, styling is probably easy for you. It’s not easy for me, but I’ve made it easy by using a minimalist approach.

{Funfetti Gooey Bars}

So…that’s all folks. Twenty minutes of reading you won’t get back. But seriously, I hope I gave you a nugget or two about photography. What did I forget? What tips do you have for me? Leave them in the comments!

Don’t miss the other posts in the Blog to Business Series:

Part 1: 7 tips for building your blogging community

Part 2: 11 tips for good blog design

{This post includes affiliate links.}

Hello there! It’s time for part two of the blog to business series. Today we’re talking all about tips for good blog design!

When you meet someone new, what’s the first thing you notice? Their teeth? Eyes? Smile?

When you go to someone’s house what’s the first thing you notice? The outside? The landscaping?

When you go to a new blog, what’s the first thing you notice? It’s probably the blog design. A good blog design can draw your readers in. A bad one can turn people away, even if the photos or recipes or content are perfect. Blog design is the first impression people get when they visit your part of the internet, so you need it to be good.

I think of my blog design here at Crazy for Crust as an evolution. Up until 2013 I designed my own headers, backgrounds, and buttons. Then, in February of 2013 I had paid for my first blog design from Nifty Thrifty Things and just a few weeks ago I again updated to the look I have now, from Purr Design.

From the beginning to now:

You can see how much I’ve changed since the beginning! I like each and every one for a different reason, but my newest logo is my favorite by far. It’s simple, gets the point across, and it’s got turquoise in it.

I’ve learned a few things about blog design over the past few years and I’m going to share some tips with you today. This isn’t a how-to post, but more of an overview of what (I think) makes a good design.

A good blog design is many things. Obviously, it’s a header and/or a logo, social media buttons, blog buttons, fonts, colors, layout, etc. But a good blog design is also much more than that, especially for a food blog. There are so many more things to think about: your photos, recipes, SEO, and on and on.

1. Buy your own domain.

If you still have a .blogspot.com or a .wordpress.com web address, I suggest you read this post and then head over to godaddy or namecheap.com. Buy your own .com and then redirect your current blogger or wordpress.com blog to the unique .com address. People will immediately think you’re more legit if you have your own domain.

I can’t help you actually move your domain – it took me hours and tears 4 years ago before I started. Check these instructions for blogger or these instructions for wordpress.com.

If you’ve been blogging for awhile already, be sure to make sure to check on how to redirect your old blog name to your new one. (Instructions for wordpress.com; blogger is supposed to do that automatically.)

2. Think about switching to self-hosted Wordpress.

I started my blog on blogger. It was great, it was free, and it helped me to grow with less cost. However, when I switched to Wordpress, my traffic increased. I can control my SEO features for each post and I own my own content. There are all sorts of fancy plugins that do all sorts of fancy things, and I feel like it is viewed by some as a “more professional” platform. (No judgements – that’s just what I’ve heard.)

I did a whole series on moving from Blogger to Wordpress and how I did it.

3. Think about getting a professional to design your blog (or at least a logo).

Now, there are lots of ifs and buts in this section, just to clarify.

First, if you’re a brand new blogger and you don’t know what you want or where you’re going with your blog, I suggest you do one of two things:

• Use a cheap or a free template you find from a reputable source. (On blogger this is easy, on Wordpress it’s a little harder.) Use this template until you figure out what you’re doing and where you want to go, then pay for someone to design it for you.
• Do some DIY blog design. This is especially easy on blogger. Ashton has a whole category on DIY design. Play with a few things until you figure out your identity, then go for a real “big girl” design.

Second, the caveat, if and but:

If you have any inkling of you who are as a blogger or you want to turn your blog into a business, hire someone who knows what they’re doing (unless you or your spouse is a designer/techie who knows what they’re doing).

I can tell you from experience – once I got my first “real” blog design in 2013 I relaxed a little. I’d paid for a design and I didn’t have to tinker any more. My blog did what I wanted it to and I didn’t have to spend hours searching chat rooms and help posts and holding my breath while I changed html code.

Now, with this new design, I’m even happier. It’s everything I want in one place, and I have a snazzy logo to go with it.

I know that blog design is expensive, but what they say is true. You gotta spend money to make money sometimes.

4. Simple is better.

(Now this doesn’t apply to everyone, of course. I’m speaking about in general.)

When you’re thinking about actual blog design, simple is better. You want your food and your photographs to stand out – not your background. You want people to be able to see your social media buttons.

Think about it this way: you go to your husbands’ office party and there’s this lady wearing this hugely loud and crazy print shirt with mismatched pants. She’s crying and you ask her why and she says no one noticed her new hair.

The same goes with blog design. Patterns are fine, but subdue them. Colors are great, but don’t let them overwhelm the content. Obviously, my blog is a lot of white. I like simple, clean lines. That’s not the look for everyone (and we wouldn’t want that, difference is what makes us great) but think about what you want to showcase and make sure that stands out.

My biggest pet peeves with blog design:

• Music. Hate to say it – if it’s playing music I close the window immediately.
• Backgrounds that move, like snow. That just freezes my browser.
• Black (or any dark) text area and white (or yellow) words. It makes my eyes hurt.
• Fonts I can’t read. Hey, I love a font more than anyone. But if it’s the text of your post, go with something simple and readable and boring, please.

5. Layout is really, really important.

Okay, so people are at your blog. They stayed around to check out your food. Now you need to make sure they can navigate properly.

Every theme is different, but in most platforms you can at least arrange the order of your sidebar. Make sure your social media buttons are up high, not buried between ads. You want people to follow you – make it easy! And make sure that those buttons open a new window or tab when clicked. As a savvy internetarian, I use right click on every link. Normal people don’t.

Make sure your search bar is up high too. Make it prominent!! That’s one of the things that bothers me the most – when I cannot find the search bar. If I’m looking for your search bar it’s because I want to feature you in a round-up and if I don’t find your search bar in my first scroll, I’m out.

Also related to the search bar: try a search on your blog. What do you get? Snippets? Images? Or full posts? Please – if you’re getting full posts on search, figure out how to have it show a snippet instead. Wordpress search is especially horrid out of the box and when I search I often get full posts so I have to scroll through pages and pages to find what I’m looking for. {Really, I don’t do that. That’s my cue to exit.}

Have an easily readable navigation bar. Have an about tab so I can read about you. Have a recipe page (more on that below). Tell me how I can contact you, with an email address not a contact form. I never know if my email goes through or if it ends up in the Dorothy’s email box in Oz.

6. Recipe Pages are one of the most important parts of your blog.

I’ll repeat: if you run a food blog, your recipe index is probably the most important part of your blog.

People come to your blog to find good recipes. You want them to come read a post, and stay for more. If they can’t find anything else they like, they won’t stay.

Here are my tips for good recipe pages:

Have categories for each type of food: Entree, Breakfast, Drinks, Dessert, etc. In a perfect world you’d have sub-categories (or often nested categories) for each type. Chicken or Beef or Casserole in your entree category or cupcakes or pie in your desserts. I can’t tell you how many times I go to blogs that don’t break out their desserts. I’m a dessert blogger. I eat chicken, but I really just care about your cookie recipes. I hate scrolling. You should know that by now.

If you can, make a visual recipe index. Remember, we eat with our eyes first. Some WP themes have this built in. You guys are lucky. If you don’t have them built in, there are several different tutorials out there on how to do it yourself.

• How to create an automatic visual recipe index for wordpress blogs by Chocolate Moosey
• How to make a visual recipe index by Je Suis Alimentageuse and Part 2.0
• How to create an automatically updating visual recipe index in blogger by Barefeet in the Kitchen
• How to make a visual blog index page by Julie’s Eats and Treats

Or, if you hire a designer, they can do it for you.

7. Printable Recipes are very important.

I’ll never forget when I first started my blog and a mom at soccer told me she pressed print on a recipe and came back 20 minutes later and it had printed, like, 70 pages. That was mortifying. You need a good print option on your blog.

On blogger, this is more difficult. You can use a google doc and link to it in your post. Or, do what Mary of Barefeet In The Kitchen does. Create a second blogger site (title it yourblog-recipes.blogspot.com). Make it look just like your site (install the same stuff, but no ads or extras on the page). Publish your recipe only on that second site, then link to it in your post. See her method in action here. (Scroll down to the recipe and click printable recipe.)

In Wordpress you have lots of options in the way of plugins. The two that come to mind most readily are Ziplist and Easy Recipe. Both have their pros and cons. Either way, you get a print button. And that’s important!!

8. Categorize and Tag, Tag, Tag.

So I told you how important recipe pages are but almost as important are categories and tags. Categories and tags are often how someone finds something on your blog if search isn’t working or if your search returns full posts.

Categories should be broad. Cake, pie, ice cream, chicken, bread, etc. These are the main recipe categories you use for your recipe index. Every recipe should be categorized in one of your many categories. People can find your categories by going to your recipe pages, or by using a drop down category bar on your site.

Tags are more specific. Chocolate, peanut butter, tacos, gluten-free, caramel, etc. Each of my recipes is tagged with main ingredients and then I have a tag cloud in my sidebar. Looking for something? Click your favorite ingredient and you have all my posts tagged with that flavor.

For example, Payday Fudge is categorized as Candy and Halloween. It’s tagged with candy corn, copycat, fudge, peanut butter, and peanuts. Click on any of those in the tag cloud and Payday Fudge will show.

It’s just another layer of searching. Make it easy for your readers to find what they want, and they’ll come back for more.

Want to reorganize your categories and tags? On WP use the category to tag converter.

9. Consider truncating your posts on the home page.

Truncating is a hot-button issue but if your homepage is full of full posts, you’re losing a lot of valuable real estate. Consider a home page like Wine & Glue with truncated snippets. Her home page is coded to look like that. Lots of WP themes are like that too. Or, if a bunch of snippets isn’t your thing, try a page like mine or Averie Cook’s where a lot of the first post is shown, but below are snippets. This is especially important on the blogger platform because unless you truncate or have a theme, your full posts show.

To truncate in blogger you use the “more” tag. It looks like a ripped piece of paper.

In WP, depending on your theme, you also truncate using the “more” tag. It’s that icon that is two rectangles with a dotted line between. You may also need a plugin to make it truncate on your home page. Check with your theme support to make sure it’s done correctly.

10. Your sidebars are valuable real estate.

I’m still in the process of filling my side bars with the things I want, since my re-design. The most important thing about your sidebar (besides your ads) is to keep people on your site longer. Show your recent posts, feature some popular posts. On my old site I had large images in my sidebar, linked to posts. Put a box for your email sign-ups. Have your social media buttons, your tag cloud. Don’t make it too busy, but use that to keep people on your site!

11. My favorite Wordpress Plugins:

• Comment Reply Notification. This is super important. Why spend all that time responding to comments if no one gets an email?
• Akismet + NoSpamNX. Lately Akismet has been missing spam. Since I installed both I haven’t had to filter any!
• RSS No More. This truncates your post at the more tag. It’s super helpful when you truncate your feed for RSS and for emails because I can put the more tag wherever I want and a picture and text will show in feeds. It is so, so important for an image to show in your feed/email. No one will click over if it doesn’t!
• WordPress SEO. This is an essential plugin for me for SEO. You enter your keyword and description and it lets you know if you’re green (aka good to go) or red (aka…not). Also, if you transfer themes or frameworks, it remembers and goes with you. Not all SEO plugins do that!
• Permalink Finder. This has been super helpful for me because I switched from blogger. It re-directs people so they don’t get 404 error pages (also helpful when you’re doing a link up and your link is broken…it finds the right one!)
• Coschedule. Oh my gosh. This deserves it’s own post. This plugin has literally saved my life. It’s $10 a month but it let’s you schedule so much of your social media from in your post. Plus, it’s a calendar so you can easily see what you have scheduled when and move things around. Totally invaluable!
• CommentLuv. I haven’t put this one back yet, but I love it. It’s easy for me to click over and visit other blogs while I’m replying to comments.

And that’s it. My $.02 on blog design. What did I forget? What do you think makes a good blog design? Leave your advice in the comments!

Read the other posts in this series:
Blog to Business: 7 Tips for Finding your Blogging Community

When I first started this blog back in 2010 I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t even really know what a blog was. I read exactly two blogs before I started: The Pioneer Woman and Bakerella. I have no idea how or why I thought about starting a blog, but all of a sudden it was something I needed to do. When I told my husband I wanted to start a blog, I really don’t know if he had any idea what I was talking about…or what would eventually occur.

{Some days I wonder if we went back in time to that moment if he’d say NO DON’T! But I know he wouldn’t….I don’t think.}

I’m not one to think much about divine intervention or any of that sort of thing but I do believe in gut instinct. I believe that the mind is more powerful than we know and that, at times, it knows things subconsciously that we don’t know consciously. My gut told me to start a blog that day four years ago and I’m so glad I listened because my life has been irrevocably changed – for the better – by that decision.

Over the past four years I’ve started a business from the ground up. I’ve learned everything I know about blogging, much of which I’ve taught myself (and I still have so much to learn). I’ve met people who have become huge influences in my life and who I would miss desperately if we didn’t Facebook message every day. I’ve learned how to take photos and use a big-girl camera. I’ve taught myself how to use photo-editing software and some html basics. I’ve learned about LLCs and sole proprietorships and taxes and business credit cards. I’ve traveled – alone – so much that I no longer get stomach cramps for weeks before a trip (#truth).

4 years ago I never even imagined I would write a cookbook. And I did.

Birthdays are really big in my household, often to my husbands’ annoyance. I like to go all-out and usually start planning festivities months in advance. This excitement and birthday elation is why today is a really special day. No, it’s not my birthday (that’s tomorrow). Today is Crazy for Crust’s 4th birthday.

{Cake Recipe coming to the blog tomorrow!!}

In honor of my second child’s 4th birthday (and yes, I do completely think of her that way), we’re doing a new sort of celebration. It’s a party where I talk the entire time. Aren’t you excited?

In all seriousness, I get asked for blogging tips all the time. How did you grow your blog? How do you take your photos? You get paid that much to do WHAT?

That last one usually comes from non-bloggers. All y’all bloggers just laughed. Yes, I get paid for this job. It helps support my family. (So thanks for reading!!!)

But it wasn’t always that way. 4 years ago when I started I posted a really horrible photo and expected people to come find me.

And I waited.

And I waited.

And I waited.

And no one came. And I cried.

About this time, Ashton found me. She stalked me until the lightbulb finally went on that you can’t be a successful blogger alone. Then I stalked her back and I bet, some days, she wishes she’d never commented on all those posts. (Kidding Ashton, I know you love me…right?)

But what she taught me was something invaluable, and it’s something that bloggers starting today kind of already know: Community is important in blogging. It’s actually one of the most important (and most rewarding) things about the job. Which is why part one of my series on Blog to Business is all about how to find and develop your blogging community.

I’m going to preface this series with the following: I’m not an expert. I’m not the “biggest” blogger out there. I struggle to hit my numbers each month just like everyone else. I worry about my stats and my FB shares and my pins and if people like my content. I post too much to keep my numbers up and I am constantly anxious whenever I check my stats. But I do feel like I’ve learned a few things about blogging over the past four years. You might already know all the tips I’m going to share or you may know none, but I’m hoping you come away from these posts with a nugget or two of information you can use to help you. Almost everything I’ve learned has come in nuggets from other bloggers, wether they were meaning to share them or not.

So, first up: community. How do you find it? How do you keep it? It’s much easier than you think.

I relate finding your blogging BFFs to making friends in real life…only it’s easier. One of the jokes I always make is that I blog for a reason: I’m painfully shy. I’m an introvert’s introvert. Unless you really know me (or read my blog) you really don’t know my personality. In fact, if we’ve met at a conference, you might have thought me rude. Or unfriendly. But really? I have a negative physical reaction to talking to people I don’t know. As in, I just can’t do it.

Funny story: last spring I was at BlogHer Food in Miami. I spent over an hour in the lobby of the hotel one evening standing 3 feet away from Ree, The Pioneer Woman. And I did not talk to her once because I was too nervous.

That pretty much sums up why blogging friends are way easier for me to make then in-person friends.

Anyway. Back to community. (See, I often wonder why anyone reads me. I tangent a lot!) How do you find a blogging community?

Find your person…and your people.

When you start blogging you need to find your person. (Think “wingman” or that girl you made go to the bathroom with you at every bar and restaurant because you wanted company.)

So, how do you find those people? The best way? Commenting on their blog. If you comment on a blog enough times, chances are, they’re going to comment back. You’ll go back and forth awhile, then maybe you’ll email or FB message back and forth. Before you know it, you’ll be talking about more than just blogging. You’ll bridge that gap between “blog friends” and “real life friends”.

Because, and all bloggers know, blog friends are real life friends. We just interact with them differently than we do the gal that lives down the street.

I cannot say enough how much the people I’ve met through blogging mean to me. I know of, at any given moment, at least 10 people I could call in an emergency and they’d be there (virtually) to help. I could hand over passwords and add them as admins to any social media or my dashboard and things would get taken care of behind the scenes. And, when I’m having a bad day I know I can hop on messenger and several people will make me feel better within a few minutes.

Find yourself a blog BFF…or 10. You’ll be happier when you do, and your blog will grow because of it.

Respond to Comments and Share, Share, Share

This goes along with finding your person, but in order to build relationships on your blog, you need to be present. If you allow comments on your blog then you need to be responding to them. I have to say, as years have gone by and as I’ve gotten busier, this is one of the hardest parts of my job.

When I first started blogging, I responded to every single comment. I did for a really, really long time. I’d respond to a “Yum!” with a “Thanks!” every single time. Now, as time is scarce, I read every comment and I respond to about 80% of them. If someone asks a question or even leaves a remark about the story I wrote I make sure an acknowledge it. (After all, so many don’t read the story – they’re there for the food!) And if I don’t have a lot of time or I get a lot of “Yum!” comments, I try to visit the blogger and then comment on or share a post of theirs.

And that leads into sharing. We’ll talk more about social sharing later, but I always try to visit bloggers who comment. I may not get you every time you comment, but I try as hard as I can. I try to comment on your post or share to social media. In blogging, like in life, the golden rule applies.

You won’t ever find your person if you’re not commenting, responding to comments, or sharing. Your community won’t grow if you’re not doing those things. So if you take one thing away from this post – that’s your nugget.

Find your Community in Facebook Groups

Facebook groups weren’t around when I started blogging (or maybe they were, but I didn’t know about them). Two years ago Ashton and I started Online BlogCon (now run by the amazing Karyn and her team). One of the things we started with it was a Facebook Group. It was my first group and I cannot even explain to you the world it opened up to me.

{I’m now in approximately 1 billion Facebook groups. So…a lot has changed in just 2 years!}

Facebook groups are like chat forums. You go, ask questions, get answers, cheer people along, support people, you name it. They’re perfect for bloggers because it’s like going to a meeting, except it lasts 24 hours a day. There is always someone there to ask (or answer) questions.

In your Facebook home feed, on the left side, there is a section called Groups. Click on that and search for some. See what your friends belong to, what’s local, what’s suggested. Join a few – and then find a program to time you on Facebook. I’m not joking – whole days have passed and I wonder what I’ve done. Then I remember oh yeah…I was on Facebook.

Find Local Bloggers

Depending on where you live, I bet you can find a bunch of bloggers who live there too. Over the past couple of years I’ve been shocked at how many food bloggers live within an hour drive of me. Check with your local newspaper to see if they have a blogger community section. Search for local Facebook groups. I can’t tell you how awesome it’s been to have a local blogging community. We don’t get together often, but when we do it’s like 3 hours of non-stop blog talk. And it’s amazing.

Blog Conferences

If you can find a conference to go to, do it. (I found this list but I have no idea how accurate it is.) I’ve been to Bloggy Boot Camp, BYBC, and BlogHer Food. Of the three, I learned the most at Bloggy Boot Camp. BYBC was small and intimate and full of friends so it was a blast, and BlogHer Food…well. I come home from BHF with a suitcase of swag and memories of time with friends, but not so much learned information.

Meeting people in “real life” solidifies online friendships. That’s the best part of any conference I’ve attended – seeing friends I never get to see. Actually being able to hug them and talk to them in the flesh. And knowing that we’ll all take pictures of our food before we eat it and no one will look at us funny is kind of a nice perk.

Twitter, G+ (and other social media)

I can’t talk to other social media for this purpose,  because I’m a dud when it comes to Twitter, but if you like twitter, check out my friend Carla’s reasons for Understanding Twitter and why you should use it. G+…same thing. I don’t use it much, but Jenny does and she’s got tons of posts about it.

So you have your community…but why is that important? Now what?

I always scoffed at the term “blogging community” until I found mine. I think people figure that their blog is their blog, so why do you need someone else? There are so many reasons why you need blogging friends and co-workers.

When you’re a blogger, you need people around you that know what you do. It’s like any profession – people make work friends. They call their work wife and complain about their boss or ask for advice. Your husband or wife can only listen to you gripe about blogging so much before their eyes glaze over. (I liken it to when Mel tries to explain fantasy football to me.) A blogging friend is the perfect person to listen to your worries or hash something out with you…and they get what you need because they need it too.

The best thing to come out of my community is support. We can ask questions of each other, bounce ideas off each other, and brainstorm together.

You need community to grow your blog. If I didn’t have loyal friends (fellow bloggers) coming to my site every day and pinning and sharing on social media, my numbers would go down. In turn, I support them the same way. My fellow bloggers inspire me every day to keep doing what I’m doing.

Without the support of other bloggers in my community, I wouldn’t have had the courage to write a cookbook. I wouldn’t even have the courage to write this post! As JC Penny said, every business is built on friendship. And I know that mine is. I think I would have turned into a grumpy person and quit blogging a long time ago if it wasn’t for my friends supporting me.

{So thanks you guys, I appreciate it!!}

Well, that turned out way longer than I thought it would. But, then again, you kind of expect that from me at this point, right?

Here are some of the things we’re going to cover in my (sometimes weekly or … not) Blog to Business series:

• Blog Design
• Finding and cultivating your voice
• Photography
• Social Media: Facebook and Pinterest

If there are other things you want me to talk about, just jot me an email!

And if you want a ton of resources, check out Lori’s post of over 150 links on how to be a food blogger.

Tomorrow? The recipe for that cake!! Have a great weekend!

Okay it’s time for me to share all the secrets behind the Duncan Hines Test Kitchen!

This trip was really the trip of a lifetime. I feel so lucky to have been able to go. In case you didn’t know, I’ve been a Duncan Hines Passionate Blogger since last Spring. Over the past few months I’ve had so much fun making recipes using the Frosting Creations. The spring flavors were some of my favorites, and spawned this pink lemonade swirl cake.

And well, you know Jordan can’t get enough Mint Chocolate!

As you probably know from reading this blog, I am a huge cake mix fan. As much as I like scratch baking, cake and brownie mix are some of my go-to pantry items. I love using the mixes for creating non-traditional desserts, because I know how the mix will perform. Plus, I love the taste of mixes. I grew up on them! Duncan Hines is an industry standard – and my favorite brand.

Remember that giveaway I did, for a trip to the test kitchens with me? Renee, from Awesome on 20 was my winner. It was so great to meet her!

The trip was for the passionate bloggers, their winners, last years’ baking contest winners, and the winners of the 2013 Frosting Creations contest.

We got to sample all of the winning recipes! I ate SO MUCH FOOD that night. (And I must say, my BFF Jocelyn from Inside BruCrew Life – third from the right – made the best fudge ever. I hope she shares in with all of you!)

The big test kitchen day was Saturday. We all got on a huge bus and drove to the Pinnacle building, where the test kitchen is (not just for Duncan Hines, but for all the Pinnacle brands, like Vlasic and Mrs. Butterworth’s.) This is the view that greeted us:

I even had my own star!

And yes, I took it home, and I’m hanging it in my office!

It was so cool to go behind the scenes at Duncan Hines. We got to see where they come up with new flavors and do all their testing on products. We saw their Ideation Room, which is room where the walls are all whiteboards. How cool is that?

Wilton put on a cake decorating demo that showed us how to work with fondant. Did you know that Duncan Hines is the preferred brand for Wilton? All of their recipes are made using a Duncan Hines cake mix.

Then Chef Joe took the floor. Chef Joe DiPaulo is the head chef at the Duncan Hines test kitchen. He did a four hour demo for us on everything from mousse, to molded chocolate, to pie crust, to meringue. Watching him was fantastic – it was like being in the audience on a Food Network show!

He even showed us how to make spun sugar…and some sugar bubbles.

Then he sat around while 40 of us wanted a photo with him.

I would love to spend a day in his kitchen. I’d learn so much!

And I’d get fat. This was what we had for dessert on Saturday night…3 cakes for each table of 10. That baked alaska? SO happening at home.

The entire weekend was incredible, but a few things made it even more so. You may remember that my birthday was during the trip. In fact, it was on Saturday, while we were at the test kitchen. Some of the other bloggers knew about it, but I didn’t expect anyone to do anything. Well, the PR team took it upon themselves to check for birthdays and then they let Duncan Hines in on the secret.

During one of our tastings, they brought out a cupcake with a candle and the entire room sang to me. I almost cried, seriously. It was one of the best ways I could have spent my birthday!

And then well, did you know that some of my most bestest blog friends went on this trip? I have no idea how it happened, but a bunch of us all ended up as Passionate Bloggers or winners and got to all be together on the trip.

{Me, Toni, Liz, and Becca}

{Ashton, Me, Nikki, Kristy}

The Four Musketeers were together again.

{Me, Ashton, Aimee, Jocelyn, and Averie – the first time I met her in person, it was so awesome!}

I learned so much on this trip. I was writing like a madwoman during Chef Joe’s presentation. I’m hoping to bring some of those recipes to you in the coming weeks. You’re going to love them!

One of the rooms at the test kitchen had this quote on it, and it’s so true I had to make a printable out of it.

And, by “dined well” I hope you know I mean dessert.

Thanks for reading!

{Duncan Hines sent me on the trip, and this post was part of the deal…but I would have posted about it anyway!}

I had such a great time at BlogHer Food in Austin last weekend. It was almost an overwhelming few days. There was so much to say, do, see, and hear that I found myself a little insane and brain dead by my Monday morning flight.

I learned so much at this conference – but not all of it are blogging tips. Sure, I learned a lot of those, and I’m sharing some with you right here today. But I also learned a lot about networking, bloggers, and how to attend a conference, so I thought I’d share some of them with you!

1. Make sure you have a posse at the conference. Even if it’s just one other blogger you know well from online, even if you don’t room together. Have someone you know you can hang with, unless you’re one of those super outgoing people. Otherwise, the conference will seem very cliquey. It is anyway, but if you have your own people to hang with, who cares?

Aimee, Trish, Sarah, Hayley, me, Jocelyn, Ashton, Ashley, Chandra

2. Create Twitter lists (either through Twitter or Hootsuite) of brands that you work with (so you can reply or RT them) and for brands you want to work with. If you want to work for a brand, you need to reply and RT them to get them to know who you are.

3. Pinterest: if you want your pin description to auto-populate for people, add the description to the Title AND Alt Title (and description, if you have it – I don’t) fields. In Wordpress,  you do this by clicking on the photo in your post and filling in the boxes. It used to work for just the title, which has been my problem recently. Now I know it needs to be both Title and Alt title!

4. You’re gonna need a tote to carry your chargers, phone, notepad, and essentials. I used my I Heart KICMount tote bag. I also used my KICMount water bottle throughout the conference. I’ve been talking about KICMount for awhile now, and I really, really love the product. The company is family owned and you really need to love them too! Check out KICMount for their magical ability to make an iPad magnetic!

5. Avocados are everywhere in Austin. On food, and on me. As you know, I was part of the AFM Pit Crew, refueling and resupplying bloggers as needed. It was fun to talk to people even more about my love of all things Avocado…and eat as many of them as I could. Check out Avocados from Mexico for all sorts of avocado info!

6. Never put your iPhone in a tote bag with a bottle of water.

7. If you ever happen to be in Austin and need an Apple Store, may I suggest the one at the Barton Creek Mall just a few miles outside of downtown? Matt can help you get a new iPhone so fast, you’ll be back in time for the afternoon sessions.

8. Have an awesome travel partner and roomie.

That’s Hayley, but you already knew that.

9. Bringing a tote bag for swag is not necessary. You’ll leave with approximately 1,234 of them from sponsors.

10. Those super comfortable shoes? After three days of standing and walking, they won’t be so comfy anymore. Bring bandaids to cover the blisters, bruises, and cuts.

11. Bring your media kit, and staple a business card to each one. Hand them out like candy in sponsor alley.

12. Get the business cards of the sponsors you give your media cards too. Write them an email when you get home if you really are interested in working with them.

13. When posting to your Facebook page, don’t just post links. Ask questions, share funny sayings or other photos. Try to get a feel for what your followers want. If you post too much – your reach will actually go down.

14. When you do post a link to your Facebook page, post a vertical photo and use a shortlink (like bitly) so you can track clicks.

15. Learn to schmooze before you go. *This is something I need to learn.* My interactions went something like this: I hand media kit, say a little spiel, they accept it say thanks, and then there’s this horrible awkward silence where I assume jokes are not appropriate, so I just smiled and waved.

16. Yes, you really can fit 9 people in a minivan. I got to get really cozy with Kristin, Camille, and Elyse of the Six Sisters.

16. Reorganize your pinboards on your pinterest profile. But your boards, and the ones you want people to see, up front. Put seasonal boards first, and make sure your photo is the cover photo of the board.

17. Not all bloggers are as they seem. Don’t go into it with any preconceived notions about anyone. I like to think I’m pretty true to how I am online – quirky but shy. In fact, I often wonder if my shyness comes off badly – because I am SO bad at small talk. But just because you’ve emailed/FB’d/Tweeted with someone online, do not assume they will know who you are. Also, the people you may think aren’t going to be receptive to hanging out might be. The ones you thought would be…might not.

One blogger who is amazing? Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.

She was being mobbed for photos and being talked to left and right. But she still was so gracious, sweet, and actually talked to people. As in looked at them while talking, not the whole glance-over-your-shoulder thing to see if someone better is coming. I have a total newfound respect for her, and her shoes. They were amazing.

This is a text conversation I had with my husband after meeting her:

Just like a husband to actually ask if she knew me.

18. Bring a duffel bag or a second suitcase in your luggage. I did carry-on on the way to Austin. I had to buy a duffel bag to get all my swag home. My entire roller bag was filled.

19. Instagram and tweet as much as possible. You never know who you meet that will start following you. And brands ARE watching that hashtag, you can bet on it.

20. The Whole Foods store in Austin is amazing. It’s the flagship store and now when I go to my local Whole Foods, it just won’t be the same. It’s actually got restaurants inside. I bought dinner there and it was seriously the best meal I had in Austin.

Then I spent $19.82 on dessert. I’m not kidding.

And Whole Foods? DOES tweet back. So tag them when you talk about them.

21. If you go, have fun. Don’t stress. Soak up every minute. Then come home ready to implement all you’ve learned!

I’d like to say a special thanks to KICMount and Avocados from Mexico for making my trip to BlogHer Food 2013 possible.

And to Hayley, for putting up with my travel…issues.

Happy Saturday!

I know it’s not sugar, but humor me, mmkay? I just did a ton of research and made my first business cards so I thought I’d share the knowledge! If you need business cards, you’ll want to read my 5 Tips for Blogging Business Cards!

Blog conference season is upon us! There are so many conferences in the coming months, it’s almost overwhelming. I’ll be at Bloggy Boot Camp in Phoenix in April and BlogHer Food in Austin in June, which is probably plenty, but every day I hear about another cool conference I just want to go too!

I’ve only been to one conference, the Foodbuzz Festival, back in 2011. One of the things I learned about at that conference was networking and how important it is to be able to introduce yourself to lots of new bloggers (and maybe even brands). A week before that conference I panicked because I had no business cards and I printed my own. That worked great, but I forgot half of what I should have put on them (um, social media anyone?)

Now it’s 2013 and I’m going to two conferences. I needed business cards and I didn’t want to print them myself. I did some research on cards and where to get them and what to put on them. I’m so happy with the way mine turned out, that I thought I’d share a few tips with you today, in case you’re in the place where you need business cards too!

1. Where to get them?

I ordered my cards from GotPrint.com (which, weirdly, has the web address gotprint.net). I came across a recommendation from them from Julie at Table for Two. They’re the only place I’ve ever ordered cards from, so I can’t compare too much. My experience with them was great. And they were super affordable: it was less than $15 for 250 14lb weight glossy business card, double-sided with color printing on one side and black and white on the other. ($9 for one sided.) The cards are heavy, smooth, and beautiful. The colors were what I was expecting too.

I suggest you get a lot of cards. I’m planning to hand them out like cash at the conferences I’m going too! Plus, they kind of prove I have a job. Good for those moms at the park. {Kidding!}

Other companies I’ve heard about are Moo and Vistaprint. Moo looked great but was significantly more expensive. Vistaprint is a very affordable option but I don’t think the cheap ones come in glossy (that I’ve seen anyway).

Where did you get your business cards? Someplace else? Let me know in the comments!

2. Make them pretty – or at least make them YOU.

Most companies have lots of free templates you can edit for your business cards. However, I suggest that you design your own card. You want it to look like YOU, like your brand. All you need is a .png file of your header, or your graphics from your header. You can also create your logo in a photo program, like PicMonkey, and save it as a .png file to upload when creating your card. People know your blog and your logo more than they know your name or face. If you hand them your card you want them to say “Oh yeah! I know you!”

3. What should you put on them?

Obviously, you need to have your name, blog URL, and email address on your cards. I also highly suggest putting some of your social media accounts on them too. I chose to do Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, since those are the easiest for people to use on their phones or tablets.

Facebook tip #1: did you know that, to save space, you can put www.fb.com instead of writing out facebook.com? It totally works! For example, I put www.fb.com/CrazyforCrust on my business cards, instead of www.facebook.com/CrazyforCrust. It really saves space!

Facebook tip #2: if you can, try to get rid of all those numbers after your blog name in your Facebook page URL. Here’s how:

• Go to your Facebook Page. Click Edit Page (at the top) and select Update Info.
• The second section down is for Username. Select a username – I chose CrazyforCrust because it matched. Luckily it was available! Your old page address (with all the numbers) will now be redirected to the one using your username – and no numbers!

Wondering if you should put your phone number on your business cards? Read on!

4. Google Voice

I really struggled with putting my cell phone number on my business cards. I’m fine with giving out the number to PR people, but on my business card? Who knows where those will end up!

I got a tip from Joanne about Google Voice. I’d never heard of it before, but I’m not surprised Google has it. They have everything, right? Here’s how it works: you sign up with Google Voice, using your Google account. You tell them where you are and they give you a free phone number in your area code. You can have that number forwarded to whatever phone(s) you want. I have mine set to call my cell. It will also transcribe text messages for you and email them, and you can set up voicemail. It really works, I tried it!  (Supposedly it’s free to use unless you’re calling international, and free is good!)

5. QR Code

A QR code is one of those funny looking not-a-barcode things you see all over the place now. You scan them with your phone and they take you to a website or an email or so many other things. Did you know you can generate a free QR code to put on your business cards? I had never thought about it, but thought it was a cool idea. I got my free QR code at QR Code Generator. Just follow the prompts and download your free code.

Now, I don’t suggest putting the QR code on the front of your business card. You totally can, but I think that would take up valuable real estate, where you want your social media and stuff. I put mine on the back of my card and linked it to my blog. That way, when I give out my card, all they have to do is scan it with their phone and they go to my site. Pretty cool!

I hope this post helps those of you who are thinking of getting some business cards for your blog! Once you have them, you’re going to be dying to hand them out! Even if you don’t think you need them, you totally do.

What do you have on your business cards? Any other tips I missed? Feel free to leave advice in the comments!

This post may be linked to: Chic-and-Crafty, I’m Lovin’ it Fridays, Weekend Wrap Up Party, Sundae Scoop Link Party, and all of these too!