What do you see in the above illustration? Does this look like a flat design armchair? (I looked up armchair – it is truly one word). Does it remind you of any particular profession? What does it evoke?
I have been redoing my website, the main part of my site in which I sell my web services such as WordPress training and small business web development. I decided a little illustration would be nice for my new Services page. Of course, the illustration itself is the hard part … I already fussed a lot over the illustration for the home page.
So one idea is to have little balloons or circles with flat design illustrations that represent some of the businesses or organizations for which I do websites. Maybe one might look like this:
Or like this:
I may just toss the circles all together. Meanwhile, I need to come up with a few more flat icons / illustrations to put together in one illustration. Ideas: pen and ink, camera, piles of books, light source from a lamp …
Anyway, that’s what I’ve been fussing over today (in between helping various clients with various issues). The main question for you is: Does the arm chair illustration remind you of any particular profession? Or can you think of any professions I might illustrate with a simple flat design of some sort?
On Sunday I wrote about how this blog needs a new name. Well, it does, and it will probably have the word “sketch” in the new name. I also wrote that I don’t often write about Highland Park. Well, sometimes I do – especially when the topic is the Sushiana Restaurant.
Way back in March, I posted about a wonderful new restaurant in Highland Park, New Jersey called Sushiana. To my daughter’s delight, they don’t just serve sushi (and so many kinds!), they also specialize in fish & chips and delicious spring rolls.
I have been working on and off on the website for Sushiana since last spring – on Monday the website, http://www.sushiana.com/ finally went live. Enjoy the photos of a large variety of sushi (angry zombie, anyone?) and learn about the Shabbat Special, the Meatless Monday Special and the lunch specials. The restaurant is under the kosher supervision of the Va’ad Harabonim of Raritan Valley. The menu is updated with the help of a great WordPress plugin for restaurants called OpenMenu.
This is an example of work can be fun – I greatly enjoyed working with the owner of Sushiana Restaurant on the website.
Swirly Gigs created in Illustrator – for the sole purpose of putting some swirls on a post
I’m not sure what the above represents – does it need to represent anything? I’ve been practicing swirls in the software program Illustrator. You can also create patterns with Illustrator. Maybe what this design needs is some nice patterned wallpaper behind it. Stay tuned to see if I play around with it more.
On My Blog
– Favorite Books of 2012
– Interview with Debra Walk
Elsewhere in the Blogosphere
- Thinking and praying for Michelle as she writes about her breast cancer. Her surgeon said mastectomy, but “the good news is that there probably isnโt any invasive cancer and that this is treatable by removal.”
- Ilana-Davita has been reading some scholarly posts – check out this one on Hapax Legomenon (and don’t let the title scare you – it’s not hard to understand).
- Lorri has been reading and reading some more – read her review of The Life of an Unknown Man.
- Laura posted Asian Roasted Broccoli – yum, great picture.
- Update: a bloody artsy post has gone up … by the kids of Mrs. S.
Today was the first full day Ilana-Davita had her new header (that I designed) on her blog. And she wrote the post above to introduce the header.
Thank you, Ilana-Davita, it was a pleasure to have you as a client.
I am crazy about snapdragons, so don’t be surprised if every now and then a snapdragon (click to see all snaps) appears on this blog. I really liked the painterly background of this shot. I might have used it for Ruby Tuesday if it weren’t already close to Wednesday.
So, anyone out there using WordPress 3.0 now? So far I’ve updated 5 blogs to WordPress 3.0, and everything went very smoothly. Looking forward to trying out the new default WordPress theme.
I’ve wanted to paint a watercolor, but 1) I’ve been busy like crazy, with work, with family, and unfortunately a young friend needs to have surgery tomorrow. We expect it will go smoothly. And 2) I need inspiration. I am inspired to photograph nature, but not to paint it right now. I like painting Jewish holiday subjects. The next important day on the Jewish calendar is the 17th of Tammuz, which is a fast day when Jerusalem was surrounded many, many years ago. Hmm. Yes, artist block is sort of (or exactly) like writer’s block. I don’t seem to have writer’s block. Probably because on a blog one has permission to ramble. At least on this blog I give myself permission to do so.
So in terms of why I have artist’s block, it’s really more 2) than 1). If I were really motivated, I would be staying up all night working on a watercolor. Or at least spending five minutes on a watercolor.
Will this make a nice textured background for a web page?
Would this make a nice patterned background? Maybe if repeated with smaller flowers or leaves in between the larger flower. I think it would need to be toned down for a background or it would be too busy. Perhaps it would make a nice, simple header for a blog.
The textured pattern was taken from this shot:
Shown is the roof of Dairy Deluxe, the ice cream place we visited on this Ice Cream Bliss post.
The flower was taken from this photo:
The wall is at Historic Cold Spring Village in Cape May, New Jersey.
For more photos with red, visit Ruby Tuesday:
In between everything else in life (I am awaiting the films for the Rutgers New Jersey Jewish Film Festival, getting ready for the Jewish holidays, planning a bar-mitzvah, spending much of my late afternoons doing homework with a second grader, and updating various other websites) I found a theme for http://biz.leoraw.com/ and modified the theme so it would fit the look of the rest of https://www.leoraw.com/.
I hope to write two posts in particular on the new site:
- Choosing a theme, why I chose the “Panorama” theme, and how I modified the theme
- Permalinks: what is the best SEO strategy for permalinks for one’s blog?
There is a lot that goes into setting up a new blog; perhaps I can make a post with a checklist of what one might consider in setting one up. When I feel “Websites for Small Biz” is ready for prime-time, I will link it up with the rest of my site and start tweeting some of the newest posts.
Coming next week (at about this time) to this blog: an interview with the creator of NJ Playgrounds.
What made you decide to set up this new blog? What goals do you hope to achieve?
Over the years I’ve met experienced homemakers who don’t save leftovers or store food safely. And many people never learned how to cook from scratch. I’m lucky to have learned kitchen management at home from the most efficient cook I’ve ever met–my mother Touby z”l.
Cookbooks are usually about buying a set of ingredients and following instructions. I like to look at the whole picture–starting with what you have in the house, then choosing recipes and meals according to your specific needs. I want to teach people how to get from menu planning and shopping through cooking and cleanup without becoming exhausted or throwing away half the food at the end.
I see CookingManager.Com as a legacy to my mother, who died almost twenty years ago. She developed a chronic illness that forced her to work using the minimum number of steps. My mother believed that resources, including time, money and energy, should never go to waste. Originally I thought about a book or a website, but since I’ve been blogging for several years I decided on this format.
Why did you set it up with self-hosted WordPress (as opposed to using Blogger or WordPress.com)?
Self-hosted WordPress is used by most successful bloggers. Blogger has little flexibility and WordPress.com’s free service doesn’t allow advertising. You have to pay for self-hosted WordPress, but you own your own content.No one can close you down, as has happened on free platforms. And WordPress is superior when it comes to getting traffic from search engines.
The difference between Blogger and self-hosted WordPress is like the difference between renting and owning a home: Owning is a responsibility and sometimes a headache, but a good investment and ultimately more satisfying.
Who is your target audience for your new blog?
Anyone who wants to save money and time when making home-cooked meals. It can be for people setting up a kitchen for the first time, growing families who find they spend too much on prepared food, or people on special diets who cannot use processed products.
What was the hardest part of setting up the blog?
I’m still intimidated by coding, design and technical details. Keeping up with my post schedule has been a challenge over the busy summer.
The fun parts?
Writing, and interacting with my readers. I love to help readers with their specific problems, like what kind of pressure cooker to buy or how to use meat drippings to flavor future recipes. One mother of eight wrote that she learns something new with every post. I am still finding my voice on CookingManager.Com, so if you have questions come join the conversation while my audience is still small. ๐
If someone wants to set up a professional blog, how can one get advice on doing so?
Most people offering professional advice also have a public website. Before spending money, spend time on a few different sites to see if the style and focus is right for you. I highly recommend Leora, who advised me on setting up the WordPress blogs and designed the banner for A Mother in Israel. I also like Problogger.net, DailyBlogTips.com, and Nice2All.Com.
Don’t worry about missing a great offer as there will always be another one. If you don’t want to spend you can find hundreds, if not thousands, of free WordPress marketing articles and tutorials including WordPress.org, an active forum that helped me numerous times.
Has using Twitter helped promote your new site?
I haven’t developed my Twitter account much yet,( twitter.com/cookingManager), but I plan to. In the meantime I use it mostly for posting links to new posts. You can follow me both there and at @mominisrael, where I tweet more often.
Are you looking for guest posts for your site? What kind of posts would you like?
Mimi at Israeli Kitchen contributed a delicious chick pea recipe, and I would love to have more. I’m not a “foodie,” but I’ve realized that readers appreciate simple recipes too. And a few have sent me their own recipes to publish. See the tab “Submit Recipe” on the front page.
What are some of your favorite posts on the new site? Why are these your favorites?
Leora, thank you so much for the interview. I’m looking forward to feedback from your readers.
• • •
Leora’s Note: This post was updated with Hannah’s new header and blog layout. The header was designed by Leora.
Eva Abreu, a Social Media consultant, will be giving a series of 4 lectures on Social Media at the Highland Park Public Library.
- Thursday, September 3: Introduction to Social Media
What exactly is Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn? Learn how to cultivate business relationships online. Find out how much time is needed and how you will benefit. Eva Abreu is who will show you how to plan and implement your Social Media Campaign.
- Thursday, September 17: Using Twitter
Learn why everyone is on Twitter, how to set up a profile, and how to choose who to follow. Also, what to “tweet” about using seach features. Finally you will know how to collaborate and connect online and offline.
- Thursday, October 1: Using Facebook
Facebook isn’t just for kids. Learn how to set up your profile, the difference between a group and business page, and how to post events.
- Thursday, October 15: Blogging – How To Start
Why should you start a blog? Learn what the difference is between a blog and a website. Find out about easy blogging tools, how often to blog, and what to write in a blog.
You may register at the library, by phone or register online.
Eva’s latest venture is New Jersey Social Media. Learn more on her site.
On November 16, I will be giving a Twitter Research Workshop at the library. More information on that workshop coming soon, including a blog post on how one can do passive or active research on many current topics on Twitter.
Do ever check your blog statistics and say, huh? That’s what people searched for and found my blog?
One of the most common search terms on my blog seems to be dogwood. OK, so at one point I took a couple of great shots of my neighbor’s dogwood tree in bloom. But that’s the most common search term? Another highly ranked search term is hawthorn tree. I’ll have to accept that one; I did spend a fair amount of time photographing and researching the lovely red berry tree I found around the corner until I was informed it was a hawthorn.
Do you want a little more control over your best keyword, your best link? Here’s an idea that may or may not work.
In the comments, post your favorite link on your blog. Or your favorite link on my blog. Or on your friend’s blog. (You have my permission to post more than one link – but three would be spamming – just to set limits to this little game).
Alternatively,
list 3 keywords that you actually searched for in Google (or some other search engine).
Or do both the link challenge and the keyword challenge.
Next week, I will craft a post (or two or three) that includes a few of those posts. I will then write up some descriptions that have keywords that are in those posts. It will be interesting to watch one stats to see if this has any effect. Of course, if others do the same (if you take three of the posts people liked and write up a post about those posts, including keywords in your title tag and your description), we may see better results. If you do decide to write a post to emphasize certain keywords, please use those keywords in the title tag. Title tags are one of the most important sections in a post that search engines use to determine relevance and ranking.
Regarding the three keywords that you used to search in Google, it would be fun to craft a post based on those keywords. A bit like paper bag dramatics, no?
