I've been thinking a lot about my other blog, the Wunderkammer, lately. It's mostly a labor of love for me, I don't get much traffic to my store or here from it and yet I have an irresistible desire to have it succeed. I get plenty of heartfelt 'thank you's' from those I feature, but what I really want, is for it to become a coveted honor or daily destination for those it was intended to speak to. So, to that end I've been thinking of ways to improve its traffic, its appearance and, well...it.
Yesterday, I took a small first step and added another element to my picking and posting process. Each item I pick will now be stumbled, stylehived and wist...ed. I can do these things fairly quickly and hopefully they expand the exposure of the items featured. I am also stumbling the wunderkammer entry itself. If you are into that sort of thing, I'd appreciate the adds. So that move increases the exposure for the featured artisan, but now I need something for the Wunderkammer itself. I don't want to join a dozen blogger network sites, because...well, they're mostly annoying. I did apply for project wonderful the other day, though I've not heard back quite yet. If approved, I'll had some ad spots with them to the blog and use any profit to advertise the Wunderkammer elsewhere, though I've no idea if that will help either.
The next thing I want to do is redesign the Wunderkammer itself and for that I need help. I know I have artistic and graphically minded friends out there and if anyone wants to help, I'd be grateful. The idea is to create a more appealing background than the plain yellow, but it shouldn't be distracting. It's also like to create a better logo and banner design using the current font and faded paper look as a base. I want something nice enough to perhaps open a cafepress or similar storefront to sell Wunderkammer merch. I'll be hitting up a few people for help, but feel free to volunteer. Though in the spirit of full disclosure, I'm horribly picky, so don't be offended if I choose someone else for the task. I figured that a small line of stuff might compensate said artist and myself a bit for the time spent, though I've really no delusions of making blogging profitable.
Any help, opinions or random useful advice is gladly accepted, if not openly acknowledged. Now I really must get back to the tatting.
well i tend to re-tweet when you tweet that the post is up, but maybe (not sure if it's possible) but maybe you can add an app to the page that allows "sharing" I've seen it used fairly often, usually shows up near the comments, allows tweeting, digg stumble and a few other things if I remember correctly... just a suggestion :P
ReplyDeleteI actually do have the 'share' button already set up on each wunderkammer post, though I'm not sure anyone has ever used it.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, you could benefit from more contrast. The brown/brown/brown can be eye catching, but right now it sort of all blends in. Just tweaking the colors a little bit would do you a world of good. (One thing a little more red, one a little darker, the other a little bluer..) also, for some reason the type of your header and your tag line renders a little blurry. You really need to find a way to make it crisper- people with eye problems could find it impossible to read. (And people with little screens with bad resolution, which may be part of my problem. Heh.)
ReplyDeleteAs for the other question, of exposure... I'm afraid I can't be of much help. Every time my blog traffic dwindles I just tag something with "gay" an "sex" (Which isn't nearly as bad as it sounds once I explain that I blog about tolerance and homosexuals in the Christian faith. heh.) Anyway, if you want you could easily twist my arm into making you a new banner in exchange for a little link love. I made the banners for http://www.epiclifestudios.com http://shushnow.vox.com and http://lindseywrites.com
Wish I could do more to help. I totally understand the "labor of love" thing, it would be awesome if everyone who deserves a hand up could get one.
I love that blog, I started following it a little while ago.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the featured items, its gorgeous stuff!
If you look at my banner on my blog, and like what I did, I would be more than happy to help you with yours!
Link exchange with some other blogs like Steampunk home and Brass Goggles that get a lot of traffic by people who would enjoy the style here?
ReplyDeleteWe will have to sit down one day and I will build you a website with wordpress integrated. I will even collaborate on design. It is because I love you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the advice guys!
ReplyDeleteJames, I am so hitting you up in the future, but I want you for that 'real' website I'll have one day.