Blog Podium Inspiration = House Tour Completion

I had SO much fun at Blog Podium this weekend and learned a ton about how to monetize a blog.  Nicole Balch of Making It Lovely (one of the first blogs I ever subscribed to) gave an honest, relaxed, and informative keynote.  The ever-amazing Lindsay (of Aubrey and Lindsay's Little House Blog) and Jen (of Rambling Renovators) blew my mind with the fun, professional, absolutely-perfect event. Seriously - I want to be them when I grow up - FOR REAL! (as my 4-year-old keeps saying).   I went home with a huge to-do list for Wicked & Weird and will probably be tweaking things for months to come, or until my energy runs out.  Today I FINALLY got a chance to pull together some photos and text for my House Tour page that I made the link for months ago.  Hooray!

There are many great recaps of the conference out there, and if you are at all interested in the busine$$ side of blogging, I urge you to take a look:

1. Interior Groupie 
2. September and Sun
3. Bijou and Boheme
4. My Daily Randomness
5. Adding the Finishing Touch
6. Gallery No. 8
7. The 236

Here are some of the lessons that I will be taking to heart:

• Stats aren't everything  I have never considered to be "worthy" of advertising because I am such a small blog.  However, big numbers aren't the only thing the larger brands are looking for.  They also want to find blogs large and small that are a good fit content-wise, writers who are well connected to the 'scene' and are well-informed with a professional-looking blog, and bloggers who are engaged and engaging, with comments, tweets, and conversations.
• Oh Canada!  Brands large and small, international and domestic are looking to target geographically.  Let readers know right off the bat where you are writing from and that you are Canadian.
• Tweet Tweet Twitter Twitter  Be active and consistent on Twitter.  Many brand marketers are short on time and need to be on Twitter anyway for their job.  It makes things much easier if they can find you where they are and can see that you are engaged with the community.  Have a great Twitter List that shows you are connected with people these brands want to reach.
• Do your homework Reach out to brands you want to work with, don't wait for them to find you in a sea of blogs.  Research their products, their projects, and their style so you can prove that you really know them when you make the pitch and aren't just cut and pasting their name into a generic ask.
• Dress for the job you want  I have always tried to dress for the job I wanted and not the job I had.  I may have been Marketing Coordinator, but if people were looking around at all the coordinators in the city for a Marketing Manager, I wanted them to know in a glance that I was professional and prepared and ready to step right up.  So when Nicole said "Looking bigger than you are is the best way to get bigger than you are" I knew exactly what she meant: have a blog that looks established, that has a consistent feel to it, and write honestly and authoritatively.  
• Don't quit your day job  Errr, too late for me! :)  But I have confirmed my suspicion that while I can definitely make a little bit of fun money from the blog ("Canadian Tire money" as Christine said) I won't ever be earning a full-time income from it.  At least, not in Canada, and not now.  Things may change!

So you may notice a few changes here and there, and maybe a few ads popping up on the side.  (If you are interested in some seriously cheap test ads, let me know!)  I would love to hear if there is something about my blog that makes you come back, something you think I should make sure to keep up.  Likewise, if there are posts you just skip through when you see them, let me know that too!  I am crazy curious about what you all think about the stuff that I put out there.  Maybe I should start paying for comments?  Oh wait... that's actually the opposite of the idea... right.  I guess I won't be keynote speaker anywhere any time soon. :)

Master of my Domain

Like many bloggers out there, I have been inspired by Alt Summit, Blog Podium, and Canadian Design Bloggers Meet-up to put a little more effort and professionalism into my blog.  I started the blog way back in 2008 as a fun way to share cool stuff with my friends without overloading their inboxes.  There is so much imaginative, creative, beautiful, and inspiring work out there I was/am never at a loss for material.  Although I often still have my friends in mind with my subject matter, it has come to my attention that a few hundred other people from all over the world regularly stop by my wee slice of the internet to see what's new - I am honoured (and kind of amazed) by your visits!

It seems like there are a few kindred souls out there who like my "style",  and I thought that it might be fun to find even more of you.  To that end I am following the advice of some generous blogging experts and tweaking the blog to make finding me easier, and visiting more enjoyable.  First, I have invested 10 whole Canadian dollars into purchasing www.wickedandweird.com.  An internet domain to call my very own!  The blogspot address will still get you to the blog, so there's no need to change bookmarks or anything.  It just means new people won't have to remember if I am on blogger or wordpress or something else. Also, it makes my inner nerd SUPER excited.

Next, I am attempting to bumble my way through learning html coding to add some navigation tabs at the top.  This may take a while to complete, since I am also writing posts, taking and editing photos, doing a small contract, oh and raising a couple of kids.  However, I am a Taurus, and nothing if not stubbornly determined, so it will eventually get done!

Next, I now ask of you: any advice?  Pointers? Tips?

Got any insight into my "brand"? ('Cause apparently my blog is my BRAND - yikes!)

Any stuff I post that you really like?  Hate?  Couldn't care less about?

Any other tabs you think I should tackle effortlessly create?

If you have the time to leave me any tidbits, I would love it ever so much.
If not, I now have my own domain, so I'll be ok. :)

And finally, I have to thank you for reading, and visiting, and commenting.  You guys sure make a girl feel great - MERCI!! xox

RRL Autumn/Winter Lookbook

The Autumn/Winter look book from Ralph Lauren brand RRL is sooooo awesome.  Some of it kind of  reminds me of that very cool (and super creepy) HBO series Carnivale.  Sure, you can't always actually make out the clothing... but it sure is evocative.  You can practically hear the clicking of the old film reel and the scratchy, tinny piano music...

via Found Free & Flea

Missoni for Target

Firstly, I am not a huge fan of Missoni.  I know I am in the minority on that, but I just find their colours kind of muddy, and pink, tan, and brown have never been a colour combination I would choose.  Plus all that pattern... do you really need all that business?  However, some of the pieces in their collaboration for target may have me reconsidering - especially as a one-off and especially in the black and white zig-zags.  Here are a few from the website that I thought were pretty cool:

Love the look of these, but they are still too busy for me!

Now these black and white pieces I could go for...

I actually kind of love this last one, especially for a kid's room.  Red and white are just so classic, and I like the sunburst patterm  and add in these pillows below... would be fun without being too overwhelming.  What do you think, anything you would be willing to storm the border for?

Really Big Angry Birds

My friend David sent me this nifty video of what I think is a masterful promotional stunt.  Somewhere near Barcelona, T-Mobile set up this larger-than-life version of the ubiquitous (and addictive) Angry Birds game.  At the event, you could walk up to a booth and pick up a smart phone from the selection provided to play the game. Your moves would be played our in front of your eyes on a massive scale, complete with exploding pigs.  How satisfying would THAT be?

My only knowledge of T-Mobile are Catherine Zeta Jones (wasn't she a spokesperson?  When I hear "T-Mobile" in my head, it is her voice saying it!) and the Tour de France when Jan Ullrich was always-a-bridesmaid to Lance's domination (Jan's team was sponsored by T-Mobile).  In case you care, wikipedia helped me learn that this telecommunications company from Germany is present is 13 countries in the world: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Monenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, the UK, the US, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.  Notice that Germany is missing from the list?  Apparently T-Mobile hasn't been in Germany since 2011 (not sure why) and will also be out of the US, Puerto Rico, and U.S.V.I. as of next year when its purchase by AT&T is complete.

Don't say I never tell you anything.  Just make sure you add "useful." The power of the spot was that I actually just looked all that up, based on a viral video of really big angry birds.  That's clever advertising!

SICO - let's paint campaign

Sorry for the terrible iPhone photos, but I was so excited to see larger than life paint chips greet me in the subway this morning!  What a clever campaign by Quebec-based SICO paints to try to differentiate itself in the highly-competative paint industry. To quote from an article in Marketing Magazine,

The subway station environment makes it easy to demonstrate the power of colour. “With dull grey, a pop of colour here and there acts as a trigger… We want people to think, ‘Maybe I have something to paint,’ and we would like to be their paint partner,” [marketing manager Dominique Pépin] said.

They will also be handing out different-coloured flowers on Thursdays in TTC stations, with a card that sends them to their facebook page for $10 off their new Cashmere line of paint.  Apparently it is available in 22 locations in Toronto (looks like mostly RONA and Home Hardwares).  What do you think?  Would you consider using SICO paints?  I have never tried them, but this campaign sure made me take notice!

Kate Spade Iphone cases

This is one of those things that i reeeeeally don't need but would reeeeeeally love to get.  Kate Spade's iPhone cases are adorable, and I love that they aren't covered with branding.  I think I would go with the navy polka-dotted one, or the red at the end, or the yellow...what about you?  Think you would get sick of the cheerfulness?

Gifted

I am a bit behind on my Google reader, so you may all already be all over this new online mag, but I just discovered Gifted this evening and I love it!  It is published by Ez, the creative genius behind Creature Comforts blog.  There are so many awesome ideas, free printables, and fabulous gift ideas for just about everybody.  But the DIY's are of course my fav, and I grabbed a few screen captures.  Not that I had to - seems Ez is also a marketing genius.  She recruited A-list bloggers to contribute, which of course means mentions and buy-ins from the most read blogs out there.  And I mean this in the most admiring way possible - the stuff from these gals is great, and makes the mag worth reading as well, and the idea is genius.  She also has several cute buttons you can put on your blog to help spread the love, and a whole bunch of blog-ready images on the Gifted flickr page - where you can of course also upload your own take on any of the ideas in the magazine!  I love all of this almost as much as the magazine itself!  Bravo Ez!

Gap logo

Full Disclosure: I love the Gap.  I worked there for a while, met great people there, and love their skinny jeans and basic aesthetic.  I am SO excited that now I can finally shop their brands online in Canada.  But I am truly confused by their introduction of a new logo:

WHY why why???  That blue box has to be one of the most recignizable brand logos out there!  It's like Nike changing from a swoop to a swirl.  I know Gap Corp hasn't been doing fantastically lately, but you would think that the LAST think they would want to do is stray from their tried-and-true logo.  Bizzarre.

Found here via @blackeiffel



Mmmmmm......beeeeeeeeer...........

This. Is. Brilliant.  Or maybe I am just a big ol' music geek who loves beer.  (Or maybe both?)  But seriously, have you ever noticed that after consuming a certain amount of beer, you start to feel 'in tune'* with your music-making skills? (That, and speak French fluently...) I can only imagine the jam sessions that would result after a few of these 6-packs.  Each bottle shows notes on a scale with a corresponding mark up the side - simply drink the beer down to that level and blow across the top to sound the note.  Should you be a little too... thristy, the empty bottle can be played as a washboard with the cap thanks to the bumps on the side, and the box can be turned upside down and played as a tuned percussion instrument.  Musical genius ensues.

Sadly, they are no longer in production, which is too bad because I also love Pale Ale.  But if you wanted to help with production and distribution, I am sure they would love to hear from you.  (Found here.)
*That's for you David.