Slappy Cakes - The Extended Version

Dear People,

I think I have already told you about this magical place: Slappy Cakes. It is in Portland. Now, your next question will automatically be, "Where in Portland? What neighborhood?" I cannot help you. You see, I was born without a sense of direction. I do not drive. I do not think about where I am in relation to the larger world. I do not know what the neighborhoods in Portland are called.

I do know this though: The Internet exists and by telling you the name of the restaurant: Slappy Cakes and the word Portland - you will be able to find everything you need.

Here is the most important thing: Slappy Cakes is a restaurant where your table is a griddle and you buy pancake batter by the squeeze-ey bottle and make your own effing pancakes at your table. 

SHUT UP!
I know.

I've been there twice. The first time I went, there was no one in the place but us. The next time I tried to go there, people were lined up outside waiting to get in. I should really stop telling people about this place but I just can't help myself.

These are my friends, Tim and Merritt. They were kind enough to drive me to Slappy Cakes at the crack of dawn. Look how excited Tim looks! p.s. Merritt has a baby inside of her.

This is my friend Marlo. She is also very excited!

This is the table that is also a griddle. Look at Merritt's belly!

We arrived with these other people - literally the moment they opened for the day.

My first pancake attempt. MONEY!

I go for the flip.

I bungle it.

I think this pancake was too complex for my first try.

PAC MAN!

BOOBS!

Unrelated, but these two Slappy Cakes customers cracked me up because they looked like an old married couple reading together at the table, but one of them is 5. Ha!

The end. (Tim wanted less kissed and more PANCAKES!!!)

Submitting your Work to Blogs, Summit of Awesome

I attended a bunch of session at The Summit of Awesome -a three day crafty conference held in Portland, OR a few weeks ago.

I was fortunate to meet Kim Werker from Mighty Ugly and Jena Coray from Modish. They co-led a session on how to submit your work to blogs. When you submit your work to mainstream magazines, keep in mind that submitting your work to magazines is a completely different beast from submitting work to online venues. The biggest difference is the amount of lead time lead time necessary for print venues. It takes months and months to get an issue to print so be sure to check their publication schedule.

If you want them to write a blurb about your work, send them information about what you do, your contact information and a great image. Convince the editor that your work will please their readers.

Press releases are overly formal and irrelevant these days. Be sure to keep everything short and to the point. Your goal is to make the editor's life easier. If your goal is to get more in depth coverage like an artist profile, you want to be an active participant in the community.

The best people to pitch at a magazine are the Assistant Editors. If you can't find contact information for them on the website or in the magazine, contact the Managing Editor to find out where to direct your inquiry.

You want to tailor your pitch to places that share the same aesethetic as your work. Don't send fabulous, edgy indie work to Martha Stewart. If you want to pitch your work to bloggers, make a list of your favorite 20 blogs in order of importance. Pitch your first choice first. Always address the blogger by name in your brief email. Send them a link to your website (always double-check that it works!) and most importantly: be casual and be yourself.

Don't bcc a bunch of people at once. Contact each blog or website in order of importance. Let them know if it will be original content and you have never been featured before. You should only contact multiple folks at once if they don't have the same readership. If you don't hear back after a week send a polite follow up email. Then, contact the next blog on your list.

Keep in mind that above all else, good photography is the #1 reason people get featured. Make sure you take the best pictures possible or hire a photographer. You can have the best product in the world,but if you submit terrible pictures, you will have a hard time getting people to take you seriously.

Now get out there and do it, peoples!

Location:14th Ave NW,Seattle,United States

Summit of Awesome Day 2 (or why am I afraid of Heidi Kenney?)

Day two of The Summit of Awesome. I never want to leave this place. Really. Except that my sweet husband is not here - is trip is perfect.

We got ton the summit in time to have "breakfast" which was basically your choice of plain pound cake, pound cake with nuts or an apple (my only complaint so far).

I was really looking forward to my first session which was with Heidi Kenney from My Paper Crane. She was really engaging and funny but also sort of shy at the same time. As though she can't quote figure out what all of the fuss is about. If you've seen her stuff you know what all the fuss is about.

She talked about how she manages it all. Her first experience writing a book and how she got started in thte craft world before there were really any resources for people. Anyone who started when she did just had to figure it out for themselves. Anyway, I was planning to ask if I could take her picture after her talk...but for some weird reason I just couldn't make myself do it. She's like craft show famous and stuff. So someone go tell Heidi that I need her picture to complete my Summit of Awesome blogging experience.

I also attended a session called "Monetizing Your Website and Online Advertising Basics" by Sara Dick and Christine Ernest from Hello Craft (the two cuties below).




Here's what I learned:

Step One: Develop and define your online audience.

Check out http://www.Compete.com. It's a website (obviously) where you can plug in your URL and someone elses URL and see how your traffic and demographics line up. It is really useful when determining what sites to advertise ON as well as useful information you can provide to potential advertising purchasers.

Other similar resources are http://www.Quantcast.com and http://www.Sitemeter.com

Which stats matter and what do they mean?

Unique visitors: individuals who visit your website. They may visit multiple times in a month, but they are only counted once.

Page views: the total number of pages that are visited on your website during a specific time. This helps determine how sticky your website is.

Step Two: Define your inventory and create ad packages There are basically two types of ads: image and text. Text ads are best used in email marketing campaigns. If you are selling ads in an email marketing campaign you should be able to tell people what your open rate is (the % of people who open your emails).

Step Three: Define Ad specs

Specify what file types you will accept. .jpg and .gif are the most common.

File size: you should specify around 50kb or less. Ad dimensions: what size ads will you accept? Many craft websites and blogs use square 125x125 or 150x150 Check out http://www.Iab.net for standard sizes and advertising specs.

Step Four: Implementation

Think about where you will put the ads and what that means to your advertisers. Ads that are above the fold (shown on the top of the screen so you don't need to scroll down to view them) are more valuable. Also, ads closer to your content are more valuable because people tend to ignore ads in groups. That said, you also have to consider what the experience is like for your users. It's a fine balancing act

Step Five: determine which model you will use.

The simplest is a static ad that stays in the same place for a set period of time.

You can also use Share of voice: # of impressions forecasted divided by # of impressions purchased= sov% you sell sov on a cpm basis - per 1000 (cost per 1000 impressions or number of times the ad will be shown on the site)

Cost per click (cpc) ads are shown on the website until they receive a specified number of clicks.

Step Six: Reporting standards

It is customary to send the customer a screenshot of their ad being displayed on the website once the ad begins running. Check out http://gyazo.com.

Clicks: let your customer know how many clicks their ad received during the time it was running.

Impressions: If available, let your customer know how many times their ad was shown on the website.

Click through rate = # of clicks divided by impressions.

That's the end of your lesson. More soon. In closing, enjoy these pictures from the party tonight at Land during the tour of the Buy Olympia warehouse.

The Summit of Awesome Day 1

Day 1 at The Summit of Awesome and before 6 hours have even gone by I've made my own name tag, attended two sessions, screen printed a t-shirt with the conference logo on it, made my first zine, watched a man receive a Shower Art (http://www.uglybaby.Etsy.com) and become a bit bewildered, stolen a t-shirt from a nice lady and eaten tater tots.

I can only wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Today I attended Danielle Maveal's session called "Unblocking Your Creativity." she put together a little zine handout with some exercises to help you realize your creative potential. One of the tasks was to make a list of the top five reasons you aren't able to do the things you want to do - what is holding you back. Then, you make a list of why each of the reasons you gave is total bullshit.

Touché Danielle. Touché.

I'm leaving the conference with something tangible that I can use to call myself out in my free time. Watch it self!!

Here's a picture of Danielle looking kind of sick of me saying, "Look cuter. But don't move. Nope, cuter." it's a rough process, but just look at the results!


I also attended the session on Getting Press for Your Business with Kari Chapin (author of Handmade Marketplace) and Christine Ernest (Hello Craft).

I learned some great stuff and was relieved to know that I probably don't need to write a really official press release-ey press release but that I can contact folks online and introduce myself and my projects that way.

If a traditional press release is up your alley, here are some tips I learned:

Figure out what your hook is.

Figure out what season you want to promote yourself in. Do your products male great gifts? Are they more of a back to school item? Figure it out.

Depending on the type of publication you are sending your release to, you should time your pitch accordingly. For example, releases to national magazines should be sent 3-4 months in advance (or six months for holiday pitches).

It's important to target your release well. Know who you want to send to and why. Know what you want from them and consider whether you are prepared to receive press. Will you be able to fulfill orders and keep up with demand?

If you are targeting online publications and blogs then great photographs are essential. If you are emailing images to someone, only attach low resolution files and let them know that high resolution images are available.

Create an About page with high resolution images and quotes from customers that bloggers can refer to for more information.

Always follow the submission guidelines to the letter.

Always address people by name.

Make it as simple as possible for them.

If you can find a features editor and make them your best friend, you should. Or, if you can get a gig as a features editor, take it. The compile e products for montages in printed magazines. Look in the masthead of any magazine you think would like your products to find the listed features editor. Write to them directly and introduce yourself.

Make a fact sheet with lots of bullet points about your products. Include lots of white space so the amount of information isn't overwhelming.

In closing, here's a cute picture of Kari. Yay, Kari!

Location:NE 33rd Ave,Portland,United States