Blog | Ciera Design Studio

Photography 101: Why Blog Photography Matters

November 20, 2012 by Ciera Holzenthal

A guest post from Veronica Armstrong

I’ve been blogging for two and a half years. When I started I didn’t have a plan. I was sending random words and thoughts into the blogging abyss. There’s nothing wrong with that but if you have clearly defined goals and a desire to be a successful blogger planning is essential.

One important element of blogging I neglected was photography. At the time I wasn’t interested in doing much more than sharing funny stories about my life in Vermont. Once I reevaluated my writing and blogging goals I set out to improve my photography skills and increase the visual appeal of my site. It’s paid off tremendously.

One of my first blog photos. Yikes!

Incredible opportunities have come my way thanks to my blog photography. I’ve worked as a blog ambassador for a well-known photography forum and community, reviewed top of the line gear, and photographed a private event at a blog conference. Whatever your goals are if you’re using your blog as a platform to reach them – visual appeal is important.

Blog photography matters because it makes your reader slow down and pay closer attention to what you’re saying. A photo can be used to illustrate a point, tell a story, sell a product or all three. Think of a nice photo as a rest stop for your eyes. Taking a break and letting your eyes linger at a nice looking image gives you time to process the content you’ve read.

Think about the message you want your blog to convey and choose photos accordingly. My blog is about my life as an Ivy League MBA wife and inspiring women to document their children’s lives with photography. The photos one sees on my site are happy, fun, vibrant, pretty and sweet. That is how I see my life so those are the kinds of photos I share. Keep the rest of your visual branding in mind when making choices about which photos to post.

The art of photography is intimidating. There is a mountain of information to learn and at times it seems impossible to keep up. Start small and set goals for yourself. Think of where you want your blog to be a year from now and how improving your photography can help with that. Do you want to increase traffic? Build a larger community? Create content that is curated by top bloggers?

Make a plan and get shooting. Practice is the best teacher. I’ll be back next month with tips on how choosing the right aperture sets the mood of your photos and improves your photography.

About the author: Veronica Armstrong is an Ithaca, New York based writer and photographer who blogs at VeronicaArmstrong.com.

Dom Loves Mary Font [Friday Favorites]

November 16, 2012 by Ciera Holzenthal

Happy Friday! I am SO excited about today’s favorite font! Last week I received this amazing box in the mail presenting a new font from Debi Sementelli and Brian J. Bonislawsky of Correspondence Ink. The font, Dom Loves Mary, was inspired by and created in memory of Debi’s in-laws, Dominic and Mary Sementelli. The package was such a creative way to present the story behind the font and also included some amazing letter pressed note cards from Aerialist Press!

WHAT’S UNIQUE ABOUT THE DOM LOVES MARY FONT FAMILY:

The script and text fonts are lettering styles that were made to compliment each other. The script, with a vintage, classic feel, will add elegance to your design, while the text serves to offer support with easy to read simplicity.

In addition to the standard character set, each of the uniquely styled script fonts includes a collection of flourished ornaments. Use them to create corners, headers or other embellishments to complete the look. And if you really want to fancy things up, they offer two sets of 72 additional flourishes that were specifically made to add to upper and lower case letters for easy customization. Dress them up with one, two or more. It’s like choosing simple pearls or piling on the glitz!

Dom Loves Mary also has a set of the most frequently used add-on words. This set of 66 includes envelope friendly titles including Mr., Mrs. and Miss, as well as words to fill out your invitation suite including RSVP, Respond, Save the Date, Accommodations, Directions and more! Add-on words also include angled words like and, at, to, on, for, from and of to add a special touch to your large groups of copy.

I had some time to test out the font and I just love all of the variations and flourishes it offers! For the design above I used a combination of the three Dom Loves Mary script fonts for the wording (you get all three in the Pro package). The capital N is from the Stylistic version, while most of the lower case letters are from the Contextual version. To encapsulate the saying, I chose two simple flourishes. The top one comes from Flourishes One set, while the bottom is from the Flourishes Two set. To read more about the inspiration behind the Dom Loves Mary font (it is truly a great story) and the diverse packages available for purchase head over to Correspondence Ink on MyFonts!

A VERY SPECIAL DEAL FOR CIERA DESIGN READERS!

Debi is offering 40% off her new font with discount code “bloglove” when you purchase at MyFonts, this is an amazing deal!

I received a copy of Dom Loves Mary c/o Correspondence Ink. All opinions are my own.

Maybe This Inspired That // Thankful Forest Card by Rifle Paper Co.

November 15, 2012 by Ciera Holzenthal

The Art // Rifle Paper Co. always comes out with the most charming greeting cards for every season. Hand illustrated by founder Anna Bond, these paper goods offer a personal and whimsical touch to inspire your holiday.

The Inspired // Fig. 01, Fig. 02, Fig. 03

DIY Autumn Leaf Table Place Cards

November 14, 2012 by Ciera Holzenthal

I love a pretty table for the holidays so today I am showing y’all how to make simple place cards to add a little something special to any decor. This design is versatile so can really be used for any holiday or special occasion but I thought it would be nice for Thanksgiving!

MATERIALS: cardstock / two different colors of paper / pretty font / branch punch / adhesive gel / hole punch / gold brads

DIRECTIONS:

1a. Print all of the names you will need on card stock and trim them to 2″ x 1″
1b. For each place setting trim one 3.75″ x 5.5″ piece of card stock and fold in half to 3.75″ x 2.75″
2. Select two colors of paper for your leaves and punch about 12 of each color
3. Rotating colors, glue down the leaves in rows slightly overlapping them
4a. Hole punch your name cards on each end and insert the gold brads.
4b. Since the hole punch didn’t reach where I needed it on the folded card, I just used the brads to make the holes through the card stock
5. Secure the brads by folding them down on the inside of the place card and you are done!

These directions also work to make greeting cards!

How To Get More Blog Followers with Guest Posting and Collaborations

November 13, 2012 by Ciera Holzenthal

Blogging is an amazing way to grow your brand and get your business out there, but in the beginning it can be very difficult to get people to start following your blog. Today I’m sharing two ways to get your business out there when you’re just starting out and how to get readership when you’ve got no fans or followers. These two ways are guest posting and collaborating.

Guest Posting

When it comes to guest posting, you can either guest post on other blogs or have others contribute to your own blog.

Guest Posting on Other Blogs:

Posting on other blogs has some great benefits. It puts more links to your blog out on the web, which makes it easier for people to find your site in search engines like Google or Bing.

Another way guest posting helps grow your following is by positioning you as an expert in your field. Once you post on another blog, you can add a link to the article and a short description of what you wrote in the Publications section on your LinkedIn profile. You can also add a logo from that blog or link your article to a Press or As Seen On page on your site.

When looking for blogs to guest post on, look for blogs outside your niche that might need help on the topic you’re an expert in. For example: If you’re a graphic designer, try posting on a blog for crafters on the topic of the importance of good logo design.

Having Contributors on Your Own Blog:

Having other people guest post on your own blog can also help publicize your site. When someone posts on your blog, they will most likely share links to the post on their social networks, so your blog is being publicized to their following in addition to yours. Any extra eyes on your site can help grow the number of followers you have.

Collaborations with Other Bloggers

Collaborating with other bloggers, both larger and smaller, on a project is a fun way to grow everyone’s following. Brainstorm some ideas for a project you’d like to work on and make a list of bloggers who might be able to help the project.

Once you have all of the details ironed out, reach out to the bloggers on your list to see if they would be interesting in the collaboration. If they say yes, make sure you take care of all of the details for them to ensure that it is as easy for them as possible. If they say no, thank them for their response and move on to the next person on your list.

For example, you could coordinate a blog series on blogger’s favorite DIY projects. Each blogger you collaborate with would be assigned a week, and you would both promote the post through your social media pages. Then when the blog series is over, you could combine each of the DIY posts into an ebook and give it to each of the contributors to give to their following.

This helps each person in the collaboration because their content is being shared with new audiences as each person helps promote their post.

When you focus on these steps to grow your following, you’ll also notice relationships and friendships being formed with the people in your collaborations, which can lead to bigger opportunities down the road.

Gaining blog followers with guest posting and collaborations will help you go from zero fans and followers to a growing fan base and a growing presence in the online world.

About the author: Mariah is a Graphic Designer/Wedding Stylist who has a passion for helping creative entrepreneurs turn their passion into profit.

On Transparency and Blog Integrity

November 12, 2012 by Ciera Holzenthal

Hey guys! I’m popping in with a little update because I want to be completely transparent with my readers and because my blog integrity means a lot to me.

I blog because I love it. Blogging inspires me to take photographs, make projects, learn new recipes and to document my life in an organized and creative way. I enjoy sharing my passions and obsessions with my readers and I have been blown away by the community around blogging. I love connecting with new people all over the world that I wouldn’t be able to otherwise.

But remember, my ‘real job’ is a freelance graphic designer and while I LOVE blogging, it takes a lot of time away from paid opportunities. For my first two years of blogging I held off on accepting advertisers, sponsors and affiliates because it was important to me that these things didn’t influence my content. I wanted to concentrate on creating unique ideas and giving the blog time to develop. Once the blog was on a steady track I opened it up to sponsorships. For me, this was less about making a few dollars and more about building great relationships in the web world and allowing me to share these new friends with you!

You may have noticed that, in addition to my sponsor spotlight posts, I have joined some advertising networks. This means occasional sponsored posts. Sponsored posts allow me to dedicate more time towards this blog and create original and unique content for you guys! I always have and always will continue to post things I can honestly stand behind. I will never post about something that is not relevant to me or my readers or let compensation influence my special space.

I know there are a lot of people who don’t think blogs should accept compensation and I have so much respect for bloggers who put their time and energy into creating content without having advertisers. I did that for years, but now that I am transforming this blog from a hobby into a part of my business, I now understand the value of these types of opportunities.

I truly enjoy what I do and feel extremely lucky everyday. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email me and you can read my official Privacy Policy and Disclosure here.

xo Ciera

Golden Autumn [Friday Favorites]

November 9, 2012 by Ciera Holzenthal

Although I don’t get to witness the beautiful Fall colors, there is finally a little chill in the air here. I’ve had a very productive week so decided to take an inspiration break and gather some Autumn colors on Etsy today.

1 // 2 // 3
4 // 5 // 6
7 // 8 // 9

See the full Golden Autumn treasury here.

Maybe This Inspired That // CMYK Embroidery by Evelin Kasikov

November 8, 2012 by Ciera Holzenthal

The Art // Design nerds and craft nerds alike will appreciate this amazing embroidery work by Evelin Kaskikov. She takes the basic idea of layering ink colors one step further by creating a moiré pattern out of thread!

The Inspired // Fig. 01, Fig. 02, Fig. 3

Gull Rock Pottery Sculpture Garden

November 7, 2012 by Ciera Holzenthal

On my Maine road trip back in June, we received a tip to check out Gull Rock Pottery. It was well off the beaten path and totally out of our way but I’m so glad we took the trek. It’s a remote in-home pottery studio surrounded by an amazing sculpture garden on the water’s edge. It was really cool to wander through the property and in and out of the juts of land that held the sculptures.

Check out all of the photos from my Maine road trip!

Keep Your Clients Coming Back For More

November 6, 2012 by Ciera Holzenthal

So you’ve been going at this freelance thing for a while now. And you are left wondering, “How do I keep my clients coming back for more?”

It’s no secret that it is far easier to obtain additional business from current clients than to acquire new clients. To increase revenue, business strategists encourage the practice of up-selling or cross-selling. I hate those terms because they allude to selling your client something they don’t need. For example, I never want to “sell” my client on a fancy, cost-prohibitive, printed brochure when their business may reap more rewards from investing in a website redesign. Instead of “selling” your client additional products or projects, how about focusing on selling yourself as an asset to their team?

Here are 5 practical ways you can keep your clients coming back for more:

1. Listen more than you speak

Take the time to truly listen to your clients. Ask the right questions. You may find that what they think they need is very different from what they actually need. Show them that you are looking out for their dollar, and they will value you and your work for years to come.

2. Under-promise & Overdeliver

This is key. Allow me to give you an example. After receiving a signed quote for a logo design, I sent my client a specific production schedule outlining when to expect the first draft, revisions, etc. I allowed 14 days to develop my first round of concepts. It may take me far less than 14 days to design the logo, but this way I build in some cushion for the what-ifs (my child gets sick, a family emergency comes up, etc.). Luckily for me, no “what-ifs” erupted so I was able to deliver the logo concepts 2 days earlier than promised. Result: A pleasantly surprised client. Don’t put yourself in a position where you can’t reach deadlines or are delivering sub-par work. If you set realistic expectations and communicate clear deadlines, your clients will be willing to wait for quality work.

3. Facetime

And no, I’m not talking about the app. You can accomplish a lot over phone and email these days, but nothing develops a business relationship as effectively as in-person communication. Schedule a coffee date to introduce yourself and brainstorm. Your client will not only be invested in the project. He/she will be invested in you.

4. Check in

Don’t be a fair weather friend. Check in with your client a few weeks/months after project completion and ask how things are going. Ask if there is anything you could have done to make the project more successful. Show you care about more than a paid invoice.

5. Blog Regularly

You knew this one was coming. Regular blogging will not only do wonders for your website’s SEO, it will enhance your client relationships. Your clients want to know you as a person, not just a designer.

About the author: Lauren Kaczmarski is a designer & blogger based in Charlotte who loves photography, typography and eating Nutella straight out of the jar.