As part of our newest blog series, Blogging for Travel, where we interview and spotlight travel companies who are successfully blogging for business, this post focuses on the successes of travel company, Adventurous Wench.

Offering a wide variety of women-only trips and tours, Adventurous Wench provides the perfect vacations for single women and solo travelers.

In the below interview with Deanna Keahey, founder of Adventurous Wench, Deanna shares her effective blogging for business strategies.

Below is the interview:

1. What is the purpose of your blog? Specifically, who is it for and what does it provide to readers?

There are multiple audiences for our blog and various benefits for each of them.

• For our previous travelers, our blog provides an on-going occasional stream of interesting tidbits about the places they’ve visited. This reminds them of their vacation and feeds their interest in that place. For instance, when I recently wrote an article about the Blasket Islands, I got responses from people who had been there on our Ireland trip, remembering how much they had enjoyed hiking around the island.

• For future and prospective travelers, the blog provides a couple of different things. First, it gives them some concrete information about the destination, and what we do on our trips there. For instance, if you’re thinking of going to Sedona, on our blog you’d find a number of articles about the region and about our past trips there. This can give people a better idea of whether this destination and trip are what they really want to do. Second, less concrete but equally important, the blog gives them a sense of our company, approach, personality, and values. Reading our articles on a variety of topics can help convey these intangibles better than a sales page about “our values.”

• For anybody, whether they’ll ever become a customer of ours or not, it can provide the same informational benefits, if they have questions about a place that we cover.

• Also for anybody, I use this as another way to share my general philosophy of life, adventure, exploration, and fun. Along with informational posts, I include some inspirational thoughts and topics. These aren’t about promoting our company, but they are about the ideas behind the company.

2. Why did you decide to blog for business?

I was getting more and more involved in reading other people’s blogs at the time, and I saw a lot of value in it as an informal and flexible means of communication. It gives me a medium to write about anything that catches my interest, rather than having to fit into a structured website. I also like the informal, conversational feel of it. After seeing the benefits on other blogs, I decided to go for it myself.

3. Do you believe that blogging for business has helped you to express your brand message? If so, how has your blog helped you?

Yes, it has definitely helped. I think it helps in a couple of very different ways. The first is simply offering another communication channel to share pieces of that message, which combine to convey an overall impression of the brand. I think people are more likely to read material that is interesting and beneficial to them, with the brand personality and values communicated in a tangential way, than they are to read an obviously self-serving “this is our company” page on a website. It’s less direct but can come across as more honest, if you consistently convey a certain brand personality across many articles.

Second, writing the blog has helped me to clarify some of my own thoughts and develop my voice. Just sitting down and doing it makes a difference. Answering these questions for this very post is helping me to clarify some of my thoughts that were a bit hazy. And the more I write, the more I develop my own style and voice—which ends up being the voice of the company and voice of the brand.

4. How do you come up with your topic ideas?

I get topic ideas from a variety of sources:

• Some posts are about an experience I just had. If I’m in Greece, I might write something about the island I’m on.

• Some are related to a favorite photo. I’ve got thousands of trip photographs, and many of them have a story that goes with them.

• Some are related to a recent event. When swine flu fears were rampant, I wrote about travel insurance and swine flu.

• Some are related to a post on a different site—something I found interesting and wanted to link to and add my own comments.

• Some are “behind the scenes” posts—something about my life and running the business.

• Some are related to an inspirational quote—something I find meaningful and want to share.

5. How does blogging fit into your overall online marketing strategy? Where does your blog rank in terms of the most successful marketing strategy you have?

Blogging isn’t a stand-alone strategy; it ties other things together. One example is our monthly email newsletters. If we have a newsletter about the San Juan Islands, I’ll link it back to various interesting blog posts about trips to the San Juan Islands. The newsletter becomes more multidimensional, while the blog posts get new readers.

Another example is our Facebook page. Our blog posts also show up on Facebook, and we often have more interaction on Facebook than we do on the blog itself. The Facebook page benefits from the content in the blog, and the blog benefits from the exposure on Facebook. Because the blog is so intertwined with our other efforts, I really can’t separate it out for a ranking. I can say that if we cut out the blog, it would have wider ramifications than just the blog itself.

Deanna Keahey

About Deanna Keahey and Adventurous Wench:

Deanna Keahey is the founder of Adventurous Wench, a company with the mission of inspiring and facilitating adventurous travel experiences for women. Find adventurous trips, travel-related products, and, of course, Deanna’s blog, at www.AdventurousWench.com.

Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in our comments section?

If you like this post, you might also like:

1. Where Does Blogging Fit into the Big Picture of Your Business?
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3. Emerging Travel Company Sees Huge Success through Social Media Efforts

Last week, this blog, Copy Doodle, hit some record marks for us on Technorati.

Copy Doodle ranked #17 out of Technorati’s 100 Best Small Business Blogs:

Copy Doodle was mentioned #3 in the Top 10 Authority Movers:

AND our blog post Battle of the Wordpress Themes was ranked #5 in the Hottest Posts on Blogging:

Although we hit these record highs all in one week, we didn’t reach these highs overnight. We’ve worked hard to build our business blog to the lead-generation tool it is today.

Here are a few tips for you to get your blog listed on Technorati:

1) Check it: Technorati can be very picky about which blogs it wants to add to its directory. If your blog is brand-new and lacks a few months’ worth of posts, or you post once every other week or inconsistently or don’t provide valuable content on your blog, you may be at risk for Technorati rejection. It happens, so don’t get discouraged. If you are rejected, try submitting your blog again in a month or two.

2) List your blog with Technorati: Create an account for your blog on Technorati. When you create an account, be sure to describe your blog purpose clearly, add optimized keywords related to your blog, and categorize your blog appropriately. Only use keywords, terms, and phrases related to your post content.

3) Provide valuable content and optimize posts: Be sure to post at least twice a week (be consistent), offer links and valuable content in each post, and make sure that post web copy is optimized for search purposes. Also, don’t forget to use proper tags and create meta data descriptions, titles, and keywords for each post.

4) Promote your blog on social media: Every time you publish a blog post, promote it on all of your social media profiles, and provide a link to the post. And, whenever you have a guest blogger, write on their Facebook wall, or include their Twitter name in a tweet, thanking them for contributing to your blog—and don’t forget to include a link to the post when you thank them.

5) Engage with other bloggers: Whether you comment on another blog, follow bloggers on Twitter and Facebook, or ask bloggers to write a guest post, interacting with bloggers on a regular basis is a great way to get exposure from other bloggers’ readership bases and establish a name for yourself in the blogosphere.

Share the blogging love with your friends on Twitter.

If you like this post, you might also like:

1. Tips for Creating a Business-Generating Blog
2. How Do They Do It? Interview with Successful Business Blogger Hills of Africa Travel
3. 3 Tips to Writing a Blog That People Want to Read and Share

Below, we’ve broken down each blogger on our blogroll to explain to our readers the impact these bloggers have had on the blogosphere and why we listen to their valuable advice:

Brian Solis PR2.0

As the author of Engage and an avid PR guru, Brian Solis is one of our favorite bloggers and offers readers nothing but the best advice in PR and social media marketing. He is truly a genius when it comes to online marketing! http://www.briansolis.com/

Twitter: @briansolis

Live the Magic of Africa

Not only is this blog one of the best blogs about Africa (if you didn’t know, we love Africa), but the bloggers behind it are making a huge impact on Africa itself and in the world of travel to Africa. Hills of Africa Travel, a company that specializes in planning luxurious, customized African safari vacations and honeymoon safaris, is using their blog, Live the Magic of Africa, as an additional resource for travelers who are either considering or planning a trip to Africa. http://www.livethemagicofafrica.com/

Twitter: @HillsofAfrica

MATTFLIES

Named one of the Top 100 Social Media and Internet Marketing Bloggers, Mathew Langford, blogger for MATTFLIES, offers some of the best advice on Internet technology, marketing success, and Web 2.0 trends. Not to mention, Mathew is a wonderful person and a great blogger to get to know! http://mattflies.com/

Twitter: @Matt425

Power to Fight the Big Boys

We enjoy this blog for its excellent case studies and brilliant guest blogger interviews on online marketing and PR. Power to Fight the Big Boys is a business blog designed to help the best small businesses dominate their space on the Internet and provides them with the tips and power necessary to fight the big boys. http://powertofightthebigboys.com/

Twitter: @dscweb

Quips and Tips

We love this blog for its wonderful tips and advice on writing and blogging. Not to mention, the author of this blog, Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen, has an upbeat personality that’s engaging and a breath of fresh air. http://theadventurouswriter.com/blogwriting/

Twitter: @quipsandtips

Sherbet Blossom

As one of our favorite blog designers, Hannah, owner of Sherbet Blossom Designs and author of Sherbet Blossom blog, combines great blogging and design tips with adorable graphics, great photos, and cute craft and cooking ideas. http://sherbetblossom.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sherbet-Blossom-Designs/158812386289?ref=nf

Style Tips and Tricks

Providing advice on everything from professional attire to in-person networking tips, and personal style tips to everyday wardrobe advice, Lee Heyward, author of Style Tips and Tricks, is the perfect resource for business professionals looking to make the ultimate first impression. Lee has also been featured as a guest blogger on Sumèr’s blog several times for her stellar advice. http://charlestonstyleconcierge.com/blog/

Twitter: @StyleConcierge

Style Unzipped

Fashion guru Maggie Winterfeldt (also Sumèr’s wonderful Life after Launch project manager) provides readers with information on the latest style trends, runway shows, and her top style picks. From fun nail polish colors to fashion-forward dresses, Maggie covers everything in her fabulous blog, Style Unzipped.  http://www.styleunzipped.com/

Twitter: @MWinterfeldt

The Bloggers’ Bulletin

As one of the greatest bloggers’ resource on the Internet, The Bloggers’ Bulletin offers advice on everything from enhancing your blogging skills to starting a blog. This blog has a variety of contributing bloggers who all add a dynamic element to every aspect of The Bloggers’ Bulletin. http://www.thebloggersbulletin.org/

Twitter: @BloggerBulletin

The Direct Mail Man

With advice ranging everywhere from direct mail marketing to print collateral tips, The Direct Mail Man is a great blog for businesses looking for direct mailing and marketing solutions. http://www.thedirectmailman.com

Twitter: @TheDMailMan

The Good Stuff Guide

We love this blog for several reasons. In no particular order of importance, we love the woman behind this genius blog, Heidi Farmer, and we love the content and design of The Good Stuff Guide. Every element of this blog is engaging. We also interviewed Heidi for our blog on What a Successful Blogger Looks Like. http://www.thegoodstuffguide.com/

Twitter: @goodstuffguide

Who’s on your blogroll and why? Let us know in our comments section.

If you like this post, you might also like:

1. 5 Bloggers Businesses Can Learn From
2. How to Get Technorati to Notice Your Business Blog
3. How Do They Do It? Interview with Successful Business Blogger Hills of Africa Travel

Whether you’re in the market for a fresh blog design or need to start a blog from scratch, there are many blog themes and platforms to consider. Many clients come to us in a quest to find the best blogging theme to fit their needs. Although we always suggest Wordpress as the blogging platform they should use, we do recommend different Wordpress themes based on specific business needs and personal lifestyles.

This post’s sole purpose is to act as your guide to help you make your Wordpress theme decision quick and easy.

Let’s start with the basic elements of what your blog needs in order to work for your business:

1. SEO capabilities that will enable you to rank in search engines.

2. A look and feel compatible with your brand message.

3. Design that is in line with your blog purpose and what you’re trying to achieve with your blog—in terms of generating business.

4. Backend features that work for your specific lifestyle.

Below I have outlined the features and benefits, as well as the ideal users for three types of Wordpress themes: Thesis, ProPhoto, and premade Wordpress themes.

See the highlights below:

Thesis

**Little Disclaimer: We’re probably a little biased to Thesis as we use it for our own blog and LOVE it! But, that’s not to say it’s perfect for every type of business blogger.

Features and Benefits:

1. Great support: Thesis’ support forum is a collaborative community of other thesis users who use the forum as a place to ask and answer questions. Thesis also has a support and development team who is just a click away if an issue arises.

2. Easy-to-use design panel and font controls: The ultimate in user-friendly design controls, Thesis Design Options enables you to control most of your blog design without any knowledge of code. For example, you can easily add videos and pictures to your sidebar, change sidebar layout and width, and play with font types, sizes, and colors—all without having to know any code.

3. Faster page load times: Search engines look at page load time as an essential factor in page rankings, which is why having a blog that loads quickly is a must in terms of page rank. It’s also important when it comes to your blog visitors who don’t want to wait a few seconds for each item to load on your blog. They’ll leave without waiting. Trust me.

4. Built-in SEO framework: The Thesis creators prefer to call Thesis an SEO-Optimized Wordpress Framework rather than a Wordpress Theme. I would agree with them, and here’s why:

Unlike other Wordpress themes, Thesis has phenomenal, built-in SEO capabilities. No need to find an extra SEO plug-in to optimize your blog. And what’s even better is that Thesis design code is completely separate from HTML code. To understand the benefit of this separated code, you must first understand the basics of blog coding.

Most blog themes don’t separate HTML coding from the design coding. When these themes are used, too much added coding can puff up the code that search engines read. This type of inflammation disables search engines from understanding what your blog is about, and, in turn, deters your blog from ranking.

Because Thesis separates the design code from the HTML code, Google can easily read the clean HTML code and rank your blog. This way, you can do whatever you want in terms of design, and it won’t gunk up the code that Google reads. Also, whenever you want to change the design of your blog, you don’t have to worry about it affecting your hard-earned blog rankings.

5. Affordable: Thesis offers users two options: Personal Option and Developer’s Option. The Personal Option is a onetime fee $87.00 and provides users with the use of Thesis on one live website and one localized development server, access to members-only Answers and Forums, lifetime Thesis upgrades,  and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

The Developer’s Option is a onetime fee of $164.00 and provides users with unlimited use of Thesis on sites owned by the user, access to all-new beta versions of Thesis before they’re released, access to Client Site Options, which allows users to deploy Thesis on sites for clients, access to members-only Answers and Forums, lifetime Thesis upgrades, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Great for business owners who . . .

• Want a customizable design and the ability to change the design and most layout components of their blog without the help of a developer.
• Use their blog as a main component of their online marketing strategy.
• Want an online area to showcase their videos and photos and provide additional resources.
• Desire to decrease the amount of time they have to spend finding SEO plug-ins.
• Are looking for excellent technical support.

ProPhoto

Features and benefits:

1. Easy-to-use design panel and font controls: Changing the look and feel of your blog is super easy with ProPhoto. Similar to Thesis, ProPhoto enables you to control most of your blog design without any knowledge of code. For example, you can easily add flash images to your header and slideshows to your posts, change sidebar layout and width, and play with font types, sizes, and colors—all without having to know any code.

2. Slideshows and Flash: ProPhoto acts as a flash portfolio. Because ProPhoto has a variety of flash features, the tone and design of your blog can have a sophisticated and highly engaging feel. Whether you want slide-out pages, drop-down contact menus, a flash header, or a stylish slideshow, ProPhoto lets users customize their blog flash components easily without having to know code.

3. Faster page load times: As mentioned above in the Thesis description, search engines look at page load time as an essential factor in page rankings, which is why having a blog that loads quickly is a must in terms of page rank.

Great for business owners who . . .

• Are in the field of photography or need to showcase high-resolution photographs in bulk.
• Want to feature slideshows and flash videos within blog posts and / or in the header of their blog.
• Want a customizable design and the ability to change the design and most layout components of their blog without the help of a developer.
• Use their blog as a main component of their online marketing strategy.
• Want to use their blog as an extension of their visual portfolio.

Premade Wordpress Themes

** Although premade Wordpress themes don’t have as many bells and whistles as Thesis, ProPhoto, and other enhanced and customizable themes, they are still a great blogging platform to use.

Features and Benefits:

1. Customizable Style Sheets (CSS): Most premade Wordpress themes allow for design and template changes using a customizable style sheet. A developer is required for changing the CSS and other types of blog coding such as PHP and HTML.

2. Customizable sidebars: Similar to all other Wordpress themes (including Thesis and ProPhoto), premade Wordpress themes enable users to activate widgets on their sidebars to post videos, pictures, and other engaging features. But unlike the Thesis and ProPhoto, you need to have some background in HTML coding to post these features to your sidebar.

3. Plug-ins: When using a premade Wordpress theme, consider getting an SEO plug-in to ensure your posts are ranked by search engines. Also, consider using a Share plug-in that allows your blog readers to share your post automatically with friends on their social media networks.

Be careful not to cram your blog with plug-ins as they can bloat your coding. And as mentioned earlier in this post, because code has a direct connection to the design and layout of your blog, too many extra plug-ins can bulk up your code and prohibit search engines from ranking your blog.

Great for business owners who . . .

• Want to test the waters of blogging before committing to a more advanced theme.
• Have an on-staff developer or designer who can customize the blog.
• Want a minimalistic and more basic look and feel to their blog.
• Don’t wish to use their blog as a main component to their online marketing strategy.
• Don’t have the time or energy to devote to proper blog posting and marketing.

Did you find this post helpful? If so, we’d love to hear what platform you think would be best for your business. Let us know in our comments section.

If you like this post, you might also like:

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2010 shows promising results for the blogosphere.

According to a Technorati study, 74% of self-employed bloggers say blogging has been a valuable asset to promoting their business services and capabilities. And in a recent eMarketer survey, over 104 million Internet readers in the U.S. will read blogs.

Imagine the possibilities if you could reach just a small fraction of these readers.

The good news is that it is possible to create a business blog with a solid base of readers—people who can’t wait to read your posts and people who love to share what you have to say.

But before you can build a lead-generating blog—one that has high readership and influence—you must first understand why you blog, whether or not blogging is right for your business, and how to run your blog effectively.

Whether you are looking to create a blog, are new to blogging, or already have a business blog, I invite you to join me for a FREE webinar I’m hosting Wednesday, June 23, 2010, at 1 p.m. EST on “What You Must Understand to Create a Business-Generating Blog.”

On this webinar, you will learn . . .

• What a blog really is and what it is not.
• If blogging is an effective tool for your business.
• How blogging fits into your overall marketing strategy and helps your business image and your online presence.
• How to avoid boring the daylights out of your readers (and yourself).
• Why blogging for business is easier than you think.

Don’t delay, sign up today.

If you like this post, you might also like:

1. How to Get Technorati to Notice Your Business Blog
2. 3 Tips to Writing a Blog That People Want to Read and Share
3. Tips for Effective Vlogging Practices

2010 shows promising results for the blogosphere. According to a study performed by eMarketer, 31 million Internet users in the U.S. will write blogs and over 104 million will read blogs.

Imagine the possibilities if you could reach just a small fraction of these readers. The good news is that it is possible to create a blog with a solid base of readers—people who can’t wait to read your posts and people who love to share what you have to say.

Below are 3 tips for writing a blog that people want to read and share:

1. Understand what your target audience is interested in reading: This requires you to listen to the online conversation. Listen and answer the following questions:

• What is your target audience talking about?
• What do they want to know?
• Where are they online?
• What would compel them to share your posts with their friends and family?

You need a blog that compels its readers to share content, features engaging copy, media, and images, and provides an expert insight into a particular area of interest. When you tap into your target audience’s needs and desires via your blog, you are tapping into a pool of influential individuals who have the power to broadcast your brand and your voice to other like-minded individuals.

2. Express a compatible attitude: Every blog has a specific tone and attitude—an intangible element that connects a reader to the blogger. If your attitude isn’t compatible with the attitude of your target audience, then your blog will not register strongly with them.

For example, if your target audience mainly consists of successful, sassy, middle-aged female business owners, your blog tone should complement their personality and deliver cunning and witty copy that speaks to their attitudes about life. Your tone and attitude is what will attract them or deflect them from reading more.

3. Feature content that is highly valuable and relevant to your market: Content is always the main powerhouse behind what makes a successful blog. If you want your posts to be shared across the Internet, they must have compelling and valuable content. When readers find a post that opens their eyes to a new fact or point of view, they often have a Christopher Columbus moment. In other words, they feel as though they discovered something brilliant and want to share it with their friends and family.

If you like this post, you might also like:

1. Tips for Creating a Business-Generating Blog
2. 10 Tips for Writing Effective Sales Letters
3. Make a Stellar First Impression: Tips on Editing Your Marketing Copy

Blogging for business requires much more than posting two to three times a week on important industry information. If you want your business to benefit from blogging, you must look at the whole picture of online marketing and discover where a blog fits into your marketing strategy.

Promoting your blog on social media platforms and ensuring all posts offer valuable information and are properly optimized are merely a small portion of gaining exposure for your blog and your business. In order to use your blog to its fullest potential, you must build blogger relations.

Below are five tips to build blogger relations and increase blog and business exposure online:

1. Comment on influential blogs: Search for blogs related to your interests and your industry, and comment on these blogs at least once a week.

Comments should offer additional valuable advice, compliment the post, or provide constructive criticism—with respect.

Also, do not put your website or blog URL in the body of your comment. This often shows up as spam and will not be accepted as a comment. There is a designated area in the comment section that asks for your blog or website URL, as well as your name and email address. This is the only place you should place your blog or website URL.

2. Mention other bloggers on your blog: Mentioning other bloggers on your blog is a great way to illustrate to your readers that you are always staying on top of industry information and building connections with other industry professionals.

Mentioning other bloggers on your blog also shows these bloggers that you are reading their blog and that you put great importance on their knowledge, tips, and advice.

Illustrate your appreciation for bloggers by commenting on their blog and saying, “Hey, just wanted to let you know that I loved this post so much that I mentioned it on my blog. Thanks for the great tips!” This puts you in front of the blogger and is merely a friendly alert that you mentioned them on your blog.

3. Post articles from influential blogs on your social media profiles: When you mention bloggers on your Facebook page, LinkedIn profile, Twitter, and / or StumbleUpon, it not only adds diversity to the content on your page, but it also shows that you seek out valuable information and find it important enough to share with your followers.

4. Ask bloggers to guest blog: When you tie the blogging community into your blog, you are helping to build a name for yourself in this online community. This encourages other bloggers to visit your blog and mention you on their own blog.

Also, guest bloggers will often promote their featured spot on other blogs. This means, you are getting exposure to their list and vice versa. You are helping to promote each other.

5. Become friends with your favorite bloggers on social media: Friending bloggers on social media platforms is another way to stay in front of your peers and target audience. Blogs often have an area on the sidebar that features direct links to the bloggers’ profiles on social media. Take advantage of this by visiting their profiles, adding them as your friend, and leaving a friendly message for them on these profiles.

Do you have any other tips for building blogger relations? Let us know in our comments section.

If you like this post, you might also like:

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Continuing with my successful blogger interview series, I am honored that I had the chance to interview Ronique Gibson, founder of Stagetecture blog.

Stagetecture combines Ronique’s passion for home staging and love for architecture to find great solutions for her readers and their families. Packed full of organization tips, home décor and furniture reviews, and home staging ideas, Stagetecture always provides interesting reading content.

I met Ronique on LinkedIn in a blog discussion forum, and within the first two emails, we’ve really hit it off. I’ve been impressed with her enthusiasm to see her blog grow and her willingness to reach out to other bloggers.

Many of you know I am an avid proponent of building blogger relations and reaching out to bloggers and helping them in return. Ronique understands and believes this as well, and I have no doubt her blog will continue to gain readership and a following.

Here is my interview with Ronique:

Why did you decide to start Stagetecture?

Stagetecture grew from an idea of combining my passion for home staging and my love of architecture. It started off being strictly a home staging business blog that would help everyday homeowners stage their homes to sell. However, as the housing market grew worse, everyday homeowners were already losing money on their properties, and the thought of adding on home staging was daunting. Instead of giving up, I expanded to my everyday hobby of home organization and helping families come up with solutions to everyday tasks.

When did you start your blog? How has your readership grown since then?

I started my blog June 2009, mostly with a few of my friends and family members as readers. Then, I began connecting on social media sites, and my readership grew. Now, the search engines are starting to find me, which is very exciting! Today, my readers are subscribers, social media fans, search engine finds, and still my loyal friends and family.

How did you promote your blog and attract readers when you were starting out?

When I started my blog, my readership was mostly through word of mouth and my Facebook business page. First, I started only putting my posts on Facebook, but realized readers wanted to read about a wide area of home topics. So, I started branching off into décor, do-it-yourself, green living, and other interesting topics.

You have used LinkedIn to build better blogger relations and increase blog readership. What tips would you give other business bloggers on how to use LinkedIn to advance their blog?

LinkedIn is a great tool. I first got hooked through the LinkedIn groups. The concept of reading discussions, news, and other information was exciting and new. In my everyday life, I didn’t know how to reach a target audience with my blog. Through LinkedIn, I have a community of people with like-minded interests, and we feed off of each other.

Recently through LinkedIn, I’ve had great guest bloggers on my site and have even become a contributor on an Architectural / Engineering industry social media site. The best way to start is to jump into some groups of interest, then post some discussions, and link back to your site. Interact with your peers, and visit others discussions. It’s a great place to meet, greet, network, and learn.

Has the design or format of your blog changed since you started? What prompted these changes?

Yes! Originally, my blog was just a gallery of photos of my home staging. Then, I started visiting other blogs and realized mine was boring. I also noticed that I would stay on blogs longer if they had pretty pictures. I adapted the same logic. I began to bring in photos to explain my posts, and then started linking to resources to help readers find what they needed. I’m getting ready to launch my new website in a few weeks, and it is totally different! It will still have the great photos, but instead of only my blog, it will feature navigation through my site By Room, Inspiration, Services, and eventually, downloadable E-books that readers can take to the store with them!

What two pieces of advice would you give to bloggers?

Passion: Choose your area of blogging that you have a passion for, but that also has depth. One mistake bloggers make in the beginning is choosing a topic that they don’t know a lot about, or a topic that is too narrow in scope, and they get burned out. Spend some time going through your daily life and figuring out which subjects you are insanely passionate about, that have enough growth for you and your readers for years to come.

Also, be your own pep squad: This tip is a fundamental one of life, and it’s essential to be able to motivate yourself. If you enjoy what you blog about, keep it up, and don’t lose the drive because no one is leaving comments on your blog. If you are lucky enough to receive comments, but they aren’t as favorable as you would have liked, keep writing. Blogging can be both exciting and lonely, in the same day. Remember, you are your best and worst reader. Motivate yourself to reach deeper, grow stronger, and most importantly . . . have fun doing it!

Where do you see your blog going?

I eventually hope to have more reader interaction. I would love for readers to send in their photos of their homes and ask questions, and for other viewers to rate them. I’d also like to eventually have podcasts that readers could listen to, and do interviews with select readers in their homes. My blog has been a baby for this last year, and it’s getting ready to become a teenager. I want it to reflect me, but also to help the consumer. At the beginning of each day, I want readers to say, “I can’t wait to see what’s on Stagetecture today!”

About Ronique:

Ronique Gibson is an Associate Architect and LEED Accredited Professional based out of Jacksonville, Florida. She uses her background in architecture, home staging, organization, and her unique style of helping families with everyday issues. Ranging from home staging, décor, and organization to helping mom and dad get out of the house on time in the morning! Ronique loves helping you make your home more livable, functional, and beautiful. Ronique and her husband, Garrick, live with their three children Andre, Demetri, and Avrielle.

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Merci New York

Why we love it: The bloggers behind Merci New York know exactly who their target audience is, which is obvious in the design of the blog. With long elegant lines, soft blues and white tones, and flowing script font, the design alone expresses a high-end, sophisticated tone.

We also love the site’s beautiful and professional photographs. The blog design of the Merci New York merely complements these stunning photographs of high-end weddings, chic apartment designs, and stylish party décor.

The Art of Non-Conformity

Why we love it: The layout of this blog is by far one of the best we’ve ever seen. It provides site visitors with easy navigation, and each call to action takes visitors through the site to the next step. Not to mention, each call to action is unique and enticing.

In terms of aesthetics, The Art of Non-Conformity is one of the most beautiful and eclectic. The way it brings in cultural and worldly designs is what makes it engaging and positions the blogger as credible and well-traveled. The coupling of the magazine style layout and the use of foreign language phrases makes this site extremely appealing. It’s as though this blog is an international magazine, bringing cultural observations together into one location.

Traveling Greener

Why we love it: Traveling Greener is comparable to a mini vacation for us. With its relaxing green tones, classic layout, and enchanting photographs, Traveling Greener is a breath of fresh air. We also love the image of the overstuffed suitcase at the top right because we can all relate to the overpacking syndrome. This blog is also a great place to find additional green travel resources and information.

The Travel Provocateur

Why we love it: The header symbolizes exactly what the blog encompasses: art, travel, and cultural diversity. Below the header is a large flash image that changes every several seconds and gives visitors a feel for the topics the site covers. We also love how each continent has its own category for quick access to information on that particular area of the world. The simple navigation is a real treat for visitors, encouraging them to search the site longer and with greater ease.

Design Sponge

Why we love it: Design Sponge’s three-dimension elements make this blog appear crafty, eclectic, and charming. The blog design almost appears as though each element was cut out with scissors and glued into place. It adds an engaging and diverse appeal to the blog layout.

We also love that, beneath all the large photographs Design Sponge, there is a mini photo gallery that enables the viewer to look even deeper into the subject of the post and discover more about the particular subject in the photographs.

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Many bloggers, whether they are part-time or full-time bloggers, would like to receive some form of profit from their blogging efforts. In order to receive money for blogging, you must first establish a strong and semi-large following. This can sometimes take years, so don’t be discouraged if you aren’t seeing results as quickly as you’d like.

Below is a video from WebProNews that covers the important factors associated with creating a profitable blog. In this video, WebProNews interviews Darren Rowse of ProBlogger on his tips for making your blog profitable.

More WebProNews Videos

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