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| Photo by Susan Yee of En Pointe Photography |
I've actually known this for a few months now, but for some reason I've been lagging sharing the word despite my excitement. Has that ever happened to you? You are so excited about something that your mind goes numb? And then there's this need to express the news perfectly because it means more to you than posts about bacon or cheesecake.
Yes, news is bigger than bacon or cheesecake- this is big time stuff.
In July I'll be speaking at Dance/USA's 2012 Conference. Lauren Warnecke of Art Intercepts asked me to speak as part of a forum she's heading up about blogging and writing in the dance world. Some of the most successful dance writers, editors, bloggers, etc. in the U.S. will be part of this forum and I am doubly excited, triply humbled, and quadruply scared out of my mind that I'm going to say something incredibly stupid.
For instance, when she asked for my bio for the website, I forgot to include that I was a blogger.
Rule number one:
If you're going to talk about your blog, you should probably remember you have one.
And this is where I need your help:
Since the professional world is going to be listening to my thoughts about blogging, I feel like I should spruce up the blog layout a bit. I want to say thank you to all who have offered, I'm sorry I haven't taken up the offer, and I do love you; it's just that the thought of changing the format and look of this blog is overwhelming.
Where do I begin? What information do I need? What questions should I ask the blog designer?
So I ask you:
What tips would you give someone who is redesigning their blog?
You can see my bio and photo on Dance/USA's page.
They, thankfully, added my blog to it. Whew!
40 comments:
How exciting!!! Good luck with the talk! You should definitely keep aspects of your personality and dancing in the re-design...maybe an illustration of you dancing? I'm sure whatever you have will be lovely x
That is so incredible! Congratulations! You are going to be fabulous so don't even worry about that. I actually quite like the simplicity and clean lines of your blog. The picture of you in your header is perfect and I like that your backgroud is white. If you're thinking about adding color, I love the blogs that do yellow, gray and a shade of blue. Just very calming and easy on the eyes. Can't wait to see what you come up with!
xoxo,
Rachael
That's such exciting news!!! Congrats! You're going to be fabulous, I just know it!
I had my blog redesigned and I just wanted it to reflect me and my style. I told her everything I was looking for and she nailed it perfectly. I would say that you should stay individual, I love your blog's clean layout, and not have a "me too" layout. And I would definitely have some images or illustrations of you dancing. They're always so striking!
Good luck and have a fabulous weekend! xoxo
Thank you, you guys! Illustrations of me dancing is such a great idea! Never thought of that!
Super exciting!
I'm so very clueless when it comes to these things but as The Alternative Wife said, it should reflect you...
I know nothing about blog design, but congrats!!
congratulations!!
keep it simple , but have "you" in it. :)
SO AMAZINGLY EXCITING!
XO
Olya
www.livingnotesfromnyc.com
Oh this is so exciting!!
As far as the blog, I try to visit as many as I can because, well, we all love to get comments.
Love it when a blog is Really readable ie: the fonts and colors are not small and pale pastels.
Images are just as the saying goes...a picture is worth a thousand words.
What is so very special about Blog Land IS the fact that everyone is individually creative and has special passions! So I will end with...Be True to Yourself!
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
By the title of this post, I almost thought that you were pregnant! Whew!
Congrats on your big speaking engagement -- that's SO awesome. Does that mean you're a professional blogger??? I love it!!!
As far as blog design goes... I say take a look at some blogs, and think about what you like and what you don't like. It'll give you a good idea of what type of style you like -- and maybe even what you don't want to do.
I love the illustration idea, but you are SUCH a beautiful dancer with SUCH beautiful lines, I think you should use a photo (or several) of yourself!
Can't wait to see the new look :]
How amazing! Congratulations! of course you're just going to wow them!
A blog re-design can be overwhelming but change is also good. I think you should look at what you have now and decide which elements you would want to keep and also what you might want to add. You can't go wrong if you go with a clean design that reflects who you are.
Rowena @ rolala loves
This is AMAZING–and I know you're going to be better than brilliant! I love the ideas that everyone is throwing out for your blog re-design, and I think photos or illustrations of you would be absolutely stunning! Definitely take stock of what you like, how you want others to describe and feel when they see your blog, and what visual elements are important to you.
Re-designs are tough, but spending time being thoughtful about what's important to you will produce such beautiful results–I can't wait to see it!
Awesome news, congrats!
YAY go us! :)
that is amazing... congrats my dear!!! my advice is to keep it simple and make sure your font can be easily read... some blogs out there have fonts that are too small and hard to read, especially on mobile devices... in this case less is more!
WOW!!! This is so incredibly exciting, I am so happy for you!! I will be following you in this as much as possible (since I won't be there, of course). What an amazing opportunity :)
As for your blog... Since I'm on the same quest with my blog, my 2 cents is not from the perspective of pro blog or anything ;) ... but I really love the clean simplicity of your blog. I get overwhelmed by blogs with colors too bright or too much going on. I think you have a great balance between text and graphics. Really, I think it's great as is :)
Can't wait to hear about the developments of the Dance/USA event!!
xoxo J
Amazing Tiff!!!!! Congratulations on such a huge honor!!! I would say keep your blog looking clean simple and fresh. It needs to have your essence so that it feels like we are stopping by to see YOU! I think big time celebrations are in order :)
Congrats on your speaking engagement! That is such an honor! And I know exactly how you feel about being overwhelmed. I am currently going through a blog overhaul and it's very time consuming!
First, CONGRATS!! This is sooooo exciting, and I'm so happy for you. I totally agree about feeling overwhelmed. I had no idea where to start either. I'll be emailing you over the weekend with my thoughts! :)
super cute POST!
Left-align the text. Centered text is difficult to read and makes the form of the text overshadow the text itself
Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh! That is so exciting!!
I used Steph Anne of Luxe Chandelier to do my blog design but I also really love Sarah of SillyGrrl.com as well.
well congratulations! this is exciting!
i think your blog looks pretty good! one tiny thing....you might want a higher resolution blog header image. other than that i can't think of anything! it is scary updating a blog look. ack! i know i should too, but i haven't had the time or the creative energy to do it in so long. some day. maybe. :)
AND YOU HAVE REALLY HOT LEGS!
AND CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
I'm thinking of changing up my blog too. I think it's so exciting you're going to the conference. What kind of mood do you want to go for--sophisticated, fun, light?
So very exciting my dear friend!!! You truly deserve the honor!!! I think we need to have another ice cream party!!!! I'm so proud...
Wow thats awesome!!!!!
Yes, sometimes really exciting, big things have to be held onto for a while before sharing.
You and Mr. Branflake have both had some great achievements lately.
How very exciting...enjoy!!
Such wonderful news....Congrats, to you a hundred times over. YAY
Congratulations - what an honor and a fitting one as well!
As for blog redesign tips - just think about what you want your blog to portray...what are the few words you want someone to think about when they step in? I'm doing a redesign with that in mind as well!
xoxo,
Chic 'n Cheap Living
OMG, Em-Jae I thought the same thing initially!!! But really I think that the reason you were picked is because of exactly the way your blog is now. To me it is very modern,honest and uninhibited!! I feel like I know you personally, so I say don't change it if anything maybe add to it, like maybe update your headline pic with updated dance shots weekly or something!! Congrats girl, u should be soo proud.
Wow - CONGRATS! That is such an amazing thing to get asked to be a part of!
Sorry, I have no redesigning blog advice... I need some myself!
This is such exciting news! I was quite nervous about getting my blog redesigned. It helped that there were a few blogs that I really liked the layout of for different reasons - font, buttons, actual layout etc and I emailed those to the blog designer. Also having photos of what defines you, things you love really help - especially if you don't really know what you want. By sharing things that inspire you and that you love with the designer, he/she will be able to work with it :)
congrats girl!!! that is sooo exciting!!! i totally need a blog redesign too!!
Congrats!! That's so exciting :) Like some suggested here already, I would love to see more dancing shots!
Oh wow, Tiffany, that's so exciting. I can totally understand that it took you a while to share this information... Re the blog layout - I'd think of how the blog can channel your personality best? Dancing definitely needs to be a big part, I guess :)
congratulations and enjoy! I am loving reading these comments because I am desperate to redesign my blog - i hate the appearance of it at the minute and don't know where to begin. I love the clean lines of yours though and how photos and content take centre stage :) x
Interesting ideas and style concepts!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! what wonderful news! and dont worry about changing your blog! they asked you to participate because they want YOU and they like what they see :) just as your blog (and You) are!
xoxo jillian:: cornflake dreams
Congratulations, so exciting!! I vote to poke around and see what speaks to you (and what's in your budget!) -- I've found that I like design blogs that are clean + crisp with easy navigation tags; wedding sites that have a pretty but *not* busy background; and personal sites that really reflect the person's style -- be it custom-designed work like Ironwood Design Studio ; or Mira Belleza, who I spotted from Girl Friday Events & Design. I also love the free designs from Shabby Blog + Hot Diggity Blog (linked on my blog in my side bar) -- gotta love free :)! Good luck!
I really have no advice--though I could use some myself!
The one thing I do know about redoing a layout, based on reading others and what I've heard from bloggers, is to proof everything twice, both in the layout and the writing! One of my old employers went through a complete web update, and the site looked incredible, until you came across a tab with a misspelled word.
and...congratulations! That's exciting news!
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