Welcome to my new site!

 After much deliberation, success, failure, and trying to navigate the confusing interweb of web page development, I've landed! My blog now lives through squarespace (a blog platform). And I couldn't be more happy about it! One of the things I love about squarespace is if I have a question, they promise to respond within the hour, but are often much faster than that! Blogger never has that luxury, they are impossible to reach and difficult to navigate. Squarespace is also really easy to design within. I had taken a html/css class, but it turned out to be not very helpful when it came to my specific roadblocks. Squarespace lets you design and edit css, but they do most of the coding for you. It's so simple to change and edit to your liking! I'm not finished with my site redesign, but as I switched over my domain name to squarespace, I just had to make the switch! 

I hope that you enjoy it here! Look for changes in the next couple of weeks, too! I'll introduce a few new features as they happen. :) 

If you use to subscribe, you need to re-subscribe by adding: www.joyofallcrafts.com to your reader, or by clicking the rss icon:  to subscribe via reader or email. 

Thanks so much for continuing to follow Joy of all Crafts! 

Alt Summit // Building Relationships with Ad Networks

 The second session I attended was entitled Building Relationships with Ad Networks. Let's be honest, do you see any ad's on this blog? This session was a little ahead of where I currently am, however, it was really helpful to hear from experts to see how they make money at blogging. 

The panel consisted of (from left to right) Sarah of Say Media, Danielle of Sway Group, Erin of Design for Mankind, and Meg of The Practical Wedding. 

Together, they shared lots of great advice. Here is what stayed with me: 

• Build a Media Kit! 
• Provide a service to your community. Find out their need and service your community with that need. 
• Know where you want to be in 2014 and then plan backwards! 
• Practice makes Perfect! If you get an icky feeling with a brand, it's because you know it's not a right fit. 
• Be cognizant of your mobile presence. How does your site look for mobile viewing? Is an app an option? Mobile advertising will triple before 2014. 
• Don't be a travel brochure for someone else's "city". 
• Match ads to your blog the same way you match your shoes to your outfit. 
• Set expectations with sponsors, write a simple contract outlining what you provide and in turn, expect from them. 
• Always ask for an amount of money that makes your stomach hurt. Brands expect to negotiate. 
• Be a media trained blogger
• Build relationships! Know your niche and all of the other blogs within that niche.
• Create a clean premium layout! Focus on content - brands want to know that my readers listen to me. 
• To contact a brand for advertising: google brand, find press releases, find social media, contact that person. Pitch in comment form on sites. 

Lot's to think about! I think the point I want to work on the most right now is to be a media trained blogger and understand all that that entitles! ;) 

Happy Tuesday!