GCU Community Newsletter #8 – June 16, 2011

Bah! What a dull, rainy day… I’d take a nap if I wasn’t so busy! I recently purchased a cool piece of software that lets me make slideshow movies, so I’m planning to play with it with an eye towards making some promotional videos. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Hidden Gems: Get Well - Corrie Kuipers

Last week, we enjoyed an Artist interview with Janet Palaggi. The Rainbow Connection featured the hottest colors for men’s fashions 2011, introducing a new palette for artists to use in their designs. With an eye towards helping artists make the most of these new color schemes, Doreen Erhardt’s weekly feature A Dash of Inspiration – A Cup of Creativity gave us links to some excellent color theory resources.  Our Blog Carnival II: SHE SELLS SEASHELLS BY THE SEASHORE will continue until June 18th, so get your entry in! Greeting Card Universe has been in the news. And finally, our Design Spotlight was on artist Natalie Kinnear.

Until next time, don’t forget to pass the love around!

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Writing a Popular Post

Everyone wants every post they make to be the ONE – the one that gains you the most traffic, the most comments, the most attention. While every update you make isn’t going to shake the world, you can create posts that attract readers if you follow these simple rules.

Taking Your Time: Clear your schedule, sit down, and just write. Don’t be in a hurry. Don’t try to squeeze writing your post in between feeding the dog, bathing the kids, and other distractions. Don’t worry about how long it takes, either. If you need time, take it. You’ll be happy you did.

Taking a Shot at a Memorable Headline: Be creative, be funny, be witty – the headline or title of your blog post is your first and best opportunity to catch a reader’s attention and make them want to keep reading. Then you’ll go into…

Taking Your Point(s) to the Highest Level: To keep a reader’s interest “hooked,” you need to make your point(s) interesting. Ask yourself, does this post fulfill a need? Does it speak to a niche? Is it entertaining? Is it educational? Read it aloud to find out where your prose needs work. In addition, emphasize your best point(s) – such as using bold formatting sparingly to make certain words or phrases stand out.

Hidden Gems: Get Well - artist S. Hartfield

Taking a Look: Study previous popular posts. What do they have in common?

Taking Advantage: Don’t forget to use social media like Facebook and Twitter to spread the news about your post. Leaving comments on other people’s blogs may also allow you a promotional opportunity. Don’t miss it!

Using these tips to help you write popular posts will also help you improve your blogging game. The better you get, the more response you’ll receive!

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The Greeting Card Universe fan page on Facebook now posts the daily Design of the Day? If you haven’t “liked” the page, what are you waiting for?

There is a GCU artists’ group on Facebook? We encourage you to join, post cards for your fellow artists to admire, share news, and have fun!

Hidden Gems: Get Well - artist Tom Rent

We’re splashing out with Blog Carnival II: SHE SELLS SEASHELLS BY THE SEASHORE. Just make a new blog post (or a Squidoo lens) about anything beach or sea themed: surfing, clambake, seashells, marine wildlife – you name it, as long as the ocean’s involved, it’s fair game! Use your imagination. Include 3 links to beach or sea-themed cards at GCU and publish your post before June 18. On June 19, I will publish the master post of links to share + announce the winner of a drawing for a $25 AMAZON GIFT CERTIFICATE!  Who will be the lucky winner this time? Who knows, but if you don’t enter, you don’t have a chance! Plus all participants will get a very cool Community Star to add to their collection.

DID YOU KNOW you can “like” this newsletter or any post on the GCU Community blog, or include them in your social bookmarks? Just click the title of the post, which takes you to the permanent link page. At the bottom of the page you’ll see buttons for social sites like Facebook, Reddit, StumbleUpon, etc.

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The next Newsletter will be published on June 23, 2011