Hello friends!  I am so excited to share my guest blogger today.  Aimee from By Aimee & Co.  Aimee was the mastermind behind my complete blog transformation.  I initially contacted Aimee when Holly from 504 Main had a little blurb about her on her website.  At first, I thought I was only needing some new buttons.  Wrong!  After looking at some of the amazing work Aimee had done, I decided it was time for a complete overhaul, and a long awaited move to WordPress.  We had so much fun coming up with designs and graphics for my new space.  It was like designing a whole new room in my home, and one that I have friends come over to every day, and am so proud to share.  Aimee made the entire process not only painless, but totally enjoyable.  I enjoyed working with Aimee so much, that I am proud to call her one of my good “bloggy friends” now.

Enough about moi, let’s hear from Aimee!

hello Redouxers, thanks for having me today!

As some of you might already know, I am Karen’s website designer & my sidekick JP did all of the awesome custom coding & site development. We had a wonderful time working with her on the re-brand, design, development & launch of her new website & also had the privilege to brand her social media images for her facebook & twitter accounts too.

i’m a Christian. i’ve been married to a U.S. Marine for almost 10 years. we have two sweet pies, Jack is almost 5 and Abby is 2.5. we are currently stationed in Southern California while my hubs is based on Camp Pendleton. in my former life {meaning: before Jack learned to walk, move, shimmy & shake at 10 months old and i was able to work full-time from home while raising him} i was a Fortune-500 recruiter in Washington, D.C. life has changed for us but i remain passionate in helping people make simple changes that drastically change their lives. i am also the co-editor & DIY author over at Fancy Little Things – you can stop by every Monday for my latest sweet little project to cheer up your life.

today I am going to share the inside scoop on self-hosted WordPress.org, blogging smart & the benefits that you & your readers will receive by making some small changes.

 

some basics to being a successful blogger…

#1: get branded // make a logo, buy a logo, put together some fonts & colors and call it a logo – and then use it EVERYWHERE. branding allows people to know who you are without you having to say a thing. be intentional. {oh yes, buy business cards too. lots of them.}

#2: get social // social media is free – create a Facebook page, get a twitter handle, start pinning on Pinterest, join Instagram {an Android app is available for us non-iPhone users} and start building, connecting, sharing and growing

#3: register a gravatar // no longer be a faceless poster or commenter. not sure what i mean? then you will want to check this out!

#4: be fearless // toot your own horn. promote your products, your posts, your projects. if you don’t tell someone, no one will know!

#5: start on WordPress.org self-hosted // it costs more money to move an established blogger or business owner than just to start on WordPress. Hire a professional. Ask for references & then follow up on those references. You’re going to pay a little bit more and maybe even wait for their design schedule to be open but it’s worth the wait! I promise.

some WordPress specific info:

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you picked up a few new tips. if you have any WordPress questions, email me. you can also find me hanging out:

website // facebook // twitter // Pinterest // blog

Thanks Aimee!  As always, you have such great advice for blogging success.