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Post by gazaboo on Jan 22, 2015 13:16:01 GMT -5
We've set up this discussion board to talk about the team blog. It's open to leaders and invited guests. For now we will be asking Kate and Pamela to join us here. I'll contact Kate and Pamela to get them on board.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2015 13:57:12 GMT -5
Thanks Gaz.
Is it possible to get an overall view of who's committed to what?
Heidi
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Post by gazaboo on Jan 22, 2015 14:31:38 GMT -5
That would come from Kate & Pamela. I have sent them the info to join this thread.
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storytellersvintage
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Post by storytellersvintage on Jan 22, 2015 20:54:53 GMT -5
Hi All, The system wouldn't let me register, but hopefully I can quick reply as a quest here.
Heidi - to answer your question, this is the list I have so far. We might have a few more post contributors based on the most recent thread, but I need to confirm.
Member Shop Commitment Mary Lou RushCreekVintage.etsy.com content / post contributor Jaclyn 86home.etsy.com content / post contributor ME owlsongvintage.etsy.com content / post contributor Heidi nachokitty.etsy.com content / post contributor Susan CalloohCallay.etsy.com content / post contributor Laura OceansideCastle.etsy.com content / post contributor Jamie Kolorize.etsy.com content / post contributor Sebastian GentlemanlyPursuits.etsy.com design & content / post contributor Pamela HappyFortuneVintage.etsy.com assistant leader / developer & content / post contributor Kate StoryTellersVintage.etsy.com leader / developer/ scheduler & content / post contributor
-Kate
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Post by Mary Elizabeth on Jan 22, 2015 21:42:32 GMT -5
Hi! Just now getting home so I can get on here. Thanks, Shelley & Gaz! I have several reservations about a paid platform at this point. The reservations and give and take need to be hashed out behind the scenes before we go public. That's why we are here. I have several thoughts, but I'll just start with one. My first concern: Our team has tons of enthusiasm! It always has, but it doesn't always translate into long term, focused commitment. People come and go, a shop that was all about being involved one week is gone the next. They get behind something initially and are ALL about it, then get bored or busy or mad and disappear. Worse case scenario, by next year, we could be down to 20 members and the cost of the blog per person would be higher. Either we would have to drop the blog or one person would be saddled with the exorbitant cost, and we would let it lapse. A free platform would give us a place to start, with less risk. The face of our team is changing and we are becoming more solid and focused. We are working hard to adapt to the changes and position ourselves and I really think we will make things happen. But then again, with the etsy changes, in 6 months teams may be pointless.
That fluid level of commitment is my first concern. I'll bring up the others later.
How hard would it be to start with a free platform and move to a paid one later? That way time and the process of elimination would hone and refine and solidify a blog team.
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Post by Mary Elizabeth on Jan 22, 2015 21:46:19 GMT -5
Also Kate, I'll go back and thoroughly read the thread again so I'll be up to speed.
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Post by shelley on Jan 22, 2015 22:01:08 GMT -5
I will start with my one main concern. Is it possible to maintain a successful blog that can sustain itself if one or more of the main people steering the ship have to leave? I think this is a big question that needs to be answered before we can even consider asking members for money. Asking people to chip in for something implies an enormous commitment. Right now the people on that list say they're in. But we all know how that can change on a dime. What if Pamela and/or Kate have some sort of emergency come up, good or bad, and they need to take a hiatus? Does the blog come to a screeching halt?
Please understand I'm not saying that I question your intentions, because I don't at all. It is a huge undertaking, however, and it's one that I considered taking on in the past. I decided, to be very frank, that if I were going to put that much time and effort into a blog that I should do it for my own personal shop and benefit. (Which I am also not doing.) I hope my point makes sense, though. You are, or seem to be, agreeing to put in far more effort than we would ever ask of a member. You will be putting in far more time and effort than the majority of the team members will be putting in, and those people will be getting the benefit of your very hard work for very little effort. Or zero effort and a few dollars that won't even be landing in your pockets.
It may seem that I'm trying to discourage you, and I am in a way I suppose. I just want to be sure everyone understands how thankless and lopsided this job will be. Not literally thankless, the team will thank you left and right, but I don't know if that will be enough when you're constantly having to chase people about missed deadlines or beg for content. Especially when some people will consider that providing content is as easy as basically taking a theme and creating a collage and slapping it on the blog, which we all know is not what make a successful blog. If it were that easy to be successful, we'd all be doing it.
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Pamela - HappyFortuneVintage
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Post by Pamela - HappyFortuneVintage on Jan 23, 2015 8:25:59 GMT -5
Hi, I tried to register for this forum but got a message that registration was closed. It looks like it's letting me post a message as a guest.
There's no question that creating and maintaining a blog is an incredible time consuming endeavor, and when money and many people are behind the scenes, well it could get complicated and messy very quickly.
I agree with those that feel if we create a blog, we should start it on a free platform. Establish a presence. Experience the reality of what it takes to maintain a blog. We may find that members who thought they could commit to working on the blog can't or don't want to. Conversely we may find a teammate who thought she/he wasn't interested in contributing come forward and shine in the medium. Also, a free platform is just that, free. As they say, "money changes everything."
We could look at the the free blog platform as our market research. What works. What doesn't. How hard is it to drive traffic to the blog, and does that traffic translate into sales in our Etsy shops.
--Pamela
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Post by gazaboo on Jan 23, 2015 9:33:54 GMT -5
Out this morning, back later.
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storytellersvintage
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Post by storytellersvintage on Jan 23, 2015 11:48:28 GMT -5
ME - Here's an article that steps you through switching from the free Wordpress to paid :http://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-properly-move-your-blog-from-wordpress-com-to-wordpress-org/
They make it sound easy, but I'm not sure how easy it would be in reality. The point is that it can be done.
To address the commitment of the contributors, some have already told me they are writing down their ideas and are asking, when do we start! I think those that have signed up to contribute are very excited for the adventure.
Pamela and I have agreed that this will definitely be a learning process for both of us...and since she and I will be working on it from the beginning together, I think if one of us has an emergency or such, the other will be able to take the reigns for that period of time.
I have no doubt that we can make the free sight look and feel just like we want. The paid sight will just give us all of the options we could ever want in the future.
We had another team member sign up last night. Here is the updated list:
Member Shop Commitment Mary Lou RushCreekVintage.etsy.com content / post contributor Jaclyn 86home.etsy.com content / post contributor ME owlsongvintage.etsy.com content / post contributor Heidi nachokitty.etsy.com content / post contributor Susan CalloohCallay.etsy.com content / post contributor Laura OceansideCastle.etsy.com content / post contributor Jamie Kolorize.etsy.com content / post contributor Erika LaRouxVintage.etsy.com content / post contributor Sebastian GentlemanlyPursuits.etsy.com design & content / post contributor Pamela HappyFortuneVintage.etsy.com assistant leader / developer & content / post contributor Kate StoryTellersVintage.etsy.com leader / developer/ scheduler & content / post contributor
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Post by gazaboo on Jan 23, 2015 13:40:25 GMT -5
Kate ~ Jamie from Kolorize left the team just yesterday.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2015 20:17:03 GMT -5
I agree that Jamie is a perfect example. Her leaving came out of nowhere. And it's not because she's dissatisfied with the team or anything we've done. She just wants to focus on handmade. She likely doesn't even remember she committed to the blog.
I strongly suspect we'll lose Susan of CalloohCallay too. She was the powerhouse for the blog for the Etsy Vintage Team and she just got totally burned out by people not following through, not delivering, etc. etc. I'm actually surprised to see her on the list.
Slow and steady is a great way to start. I suggest we get several blog posts in the que before we launch, so we don't look all bright and shiny new when we launch. It'll give viewers something to browse through. Plus, it'll give us a cushion if we can't be consistent.
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Post by gazaboo on Jan 23, 2015 20:39:47 GMT -5
If we're focusing on a free site to get the momentum going, is there any point building off of what we were using? vintageandmain.blogspot.ca/I had mentioned this to Kate earlier, but the idea of starting fresh seemed and may still seem to be the better option. What do the other free blogs offer that the blogspot doesn't? I'm not a blogger. Perhaps blogspot is too amateur? Another though is that the old blog is out there. If an internet search is done for "vintageandmain blog" the above link comes up. Is this not confusing to anyone searching for us? As we move forward, I'm always concern about cleaning up as we go to avoid bad links and avoiding frustrating those interested to finding us.
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Post by shelley on Jan 24, 2015 8:04:00 GMT -5
The old blog wasn't very customizable, I think wordpress is the way to go if we're going to take things seriously.
I think we can still log into the old free blog and make a WE HAVE MOVED post on it to avoid any confusion.
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storytellersvintage
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Post by storytellersvintage on Jan 24, 2015 10:34:56 GMT -5
Wow, okay. I will take Jamie off the list and point well taken! Maybe given everyone's concerns, etc., Pamela and I should look at using the existing blog to start. That would save us the time and trouble of setting up something new, just to have everyone back out from contributing. I'm sure we could give it a fresh new look and feel for a re-launch.
I will do a little more research on Blogger and report back....
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