Industry Blogs

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Reported by Kristine Fowler


According to Wikepedia - A Blog (a contraction of the term "Web log") is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.


And...in the scrapbooking and paper crafting industry - they are abundant! Need proof? Just look at the sidebar of the page you're reading right now, listed there are over 100 direct blog links. Plus, in our list of Recommended Vendors and Products - 1/3 of them have blog links listed on their home pages, and within the list of Posts by Topic you'll see the label Blogdump that displays 2 posts (3 if you include this one) where you'll find over 30 more links.


Since blogs are obviously so popular (remember, you are even reading one right now!), I thought I would do some industry blog surfing and see if I can't figure out what might be readworthy (or not!). To be fair, I didn't choose any 'personal' blogs, but focused instead on manufacturers and magazines.


So let's start with the Manufacturers.


Prima Marketing Inc. - Prima Blog
My Rating: 9 out of 10

Sepcial Features:

• Monthly Build-a-Page sketch contest
• Gallery of past Build-a-Page sketches with sample pages linked to sidebar.
• Other contests on a seemingly regular basis (at present there is Build-a-Book)
• Monthly product giveaway (valued at $100o retail) to readers who 'shop' the Prima Sidewalk Sale

Pros:

• Updated daily.
• Both scrapbook layouts and cards are featured so there is inspiration for everyone.
• Detailed supply lists for most featured projects.
• Lots of links in blog sidebars, aiding in blog navigation.
• Posts carry labels although the categories are quite broad.
• Overall appearance is inviting, uncluttered and clean.

Cons:

• While occasionally reader projects are showcased within the blog posts (click here for a darling example), the Galleries seem to be otherwise restricted to Design Team and Guest Design Team projects. It would be nice to see more reader art permanently featured or perhaps provide it with it's own Category so we can find it quickly.

Cosmo Cricket - Cosmo Cricket Blog
My Rating: 6 out of 10

Pros:

• Updated fairly regularly.
• Julie connects on a very personal level with her blog readers - she writes as if we are all her 'friends' and not just folks she's relying on to buy more product - there is a pleasant mix of personal ancedotes with business news.
• Reader projects are showcased.

Cons:

• No project galleries for reader inspiration.
• Posts are not labelled or categorized, so in order to find something specific you need to go back through the archives of all posts.
• I would like to see more pictures of projects created with Cosmo Cricket product -- this blog is a bit text heavy for my taste, and where pictures are included, quite often they are of product or people, not projects. The project gallery on the main website is awesome! Even pulling some of the projects forward to the blog and discussing them in a bit more detail would be a great start!

Papertrey Ink - Capture the Moment
My Rating: 9 1/2 out of 10 (if you're NOT a scrapbooker, considerably less perhaps if you are)

Special Features:

• It looks to me like this blog began as Nichole Heady's personal space on the web, and it has evolved over time to be the place to get news about all things Papertrey.
• The content is awesome! You can spend a great deal of time here, believe me! There are templates, tutorials, seasonal project ideas, instructions for unique cards and more. The best part is that all of this content is available via links in her sidebars, making it very easy to find!
• Each month Papertrey makes a new product release and the release is celebrated with a Release Party Contest. Nichole solicits comments from her readers on a specific theme (September was "What is your favorite holiday memory") and then a Random Number Generator chooses the winning responder. What a great way to get blog readers feeling involved!
• Guest Star Stamper contest each month (for September's rules/regs click here, unfortunately though the deadline is past). Once winners are chosen, they are announced on the blog and their projects are posted permanently in the official Papertrey gallery, the Inkpad.

Pros:

• Regular Updates
• Awesome photos! With some great closeups to show detail when necessary.
• I love the look of it overall - the color scheme is so calming.
• Posts are full of great tips and suggestions regarding how to put their products into play - with a big focus on maximizing your investment.
• Everything is literally a click away with a ton of sidebar links.
• Reader projects are showcased monthly through the Guest Star Stamper announcement.
• Nichole responds to reader requests! Today in fact she posted about color comparisons between Papertrey and SU. She gets so many questions on this, that she's added the post and permanent links in her sidebar!

Cons:

• There is no blog gallery for inspiration - for this, you need to visit the Inkpad. Surprisingly I couldn't find a direct link to the Inkpad on the blog either -- that would be helpful for sure!
• Very little content exclusively for scrapbookers and while many of the stamping techniques can be used in your scrapbook, it would be nice to see a bit more of this.

Making Memories - Making Memories, Be Inspired
My Rating: 8 out of 10 (if you're a scrapbooker), but perhaps considerably less if you're not.

Special Features:

• This one is 'blogged' by the Making Memories design team so there are a variety of contributing styles/approaches.
• There are weekly Designer Challenges and each of the team takes a turn responding somehow. This weekly 'theme' brings a lot of continuity to a line of communication that could otherwise get confusing given that you have several people posting. In a way it's not unlike what we do here at Craft Critique. Here, we tend to group posts also - for a week or two for instance, all the reports are about Coloring Media, and then the next series might be about books.

Pros:

• Lots of guest designer spotlights. From what I can gather, these are regular folks that send their artwork to the blog for consideration of a spotlight spot. In no way are the guest designers compensated for their contributions.
• Despite the fact that there are several blog writers, there is continuity in the content.
• A couple of galleries, but only one can really be classed 'inspirational' as the other do not contain pics of completed projects.
• Some blog posts include labels, and they are linked up to the sidebar - although the categories are few.
• Lots of great ideas are shared for using various MM products - this week in fact is 'Education Week' so there is more right now than usual.

Cons:

• The bulk of the content here is related to scrapbooking. Since Making Memories products can (and are) used by ALL types of paper crafters, it would be nice to see a bit broader of an application on the blog.
• It would be nice to see the Guest Designer series of posts linked up to a permanent place on the blog page!
• Unlike many of the other manufacturer blogs, there doesn't appear to be a lot of regular product giveaways or contests.

Chatterbox Inc. - ChatterBlog Make it Meaningful
My Rating: To new to Tell


Special Features:

• This one is a relatively new entrant to the blog world - with the first post on June 10, 2008. (That would explain my ranking) I will however be following this one for a while, it has intrigued me.
• The overall 'tone' is light and fun, very friendly - makes me want to keep reading! Don't believe me, read this post from last week (Are you ready for some fun?)

Pros:

• Small gallery of layouts, presumably by the Chatterbox Design Team for inspiration
• Reader projects are showcased.
• Great photos! Lots of close-up detail.

Cons:

• Again, there are no categories! This might have more to do with the fact that the blog is new, but am I the only one that thinks these are important?
• Content is currently limited (again due to blog age), but expanding. I think there is a LOT of potential here but only time will tell.
• Updates aren't incredibly regular - a couple of times a week seems to be the norm. I would like to see more!

So that concludes my review of manufacturer blogs, and of course there are tons more out there -- some good, some not so good I would think. If you haven't done so already I would definately suggest popping over to your favorite manufacturer's website, and see if they have a blog link listed (it should be somewhere on their home page). There's a wealth of inspiration out there.



Magazine Blogs

While I have to admit, I'm not a regular reader of any of them (magazine blogs that is), it seems that many of the scrapbooking and papercrafting magazines now have blogs associated with their brand. I guess, like the manufacturers, a blog is quite simply a way for magazine editors to connect with their readership. So let's look at a couple of them.

Memory Makers - Memory Makers Editors Blog
My Rating: 3 out of 10

Pros:

• Updated daily
• The content of each post is truly focused on 'inspiring' the reader to create. On the current main page there are at least 3 posts that are prompting the reader to create. One is based on color inspiration (Yellow and Gray), one is topical (Currently), and one is a template (file folder). There is also a tutorial-type article using digital paint in Photoshop which at it's end prompts you to play with paint (digitally or otherwise) and post your layouts in the Making Memories gallery.
• There is a Search box at the top of the blog allowing you to do a full text search of blog posts if you're looking for something specific.
• Because there are multiple contributors, there are multiple styles showcased.

Cons:

• In my opinion, the appearance is rather drab and didn't entice me to spend much time there.
• My monitor resolution needed to be adjusted in order to view full article text. (Currently I view the web at 1024 x 768 -- and I needed to change that to 1280 X 1024 to view it properly.
• Unlike the Making Memories blog, which also has multiple contributors, there are no weekly (or even monthly) themes so there is no continuity in the disucssions. It's great that you get varied approaches and opinions, but it almost seems a little disconnected.
• The only way to access archived posts is to scroll through the calendar at the top. I personally find that a list of archive months/dates is more efficient, although it does take up more space.
• Other than the calendar archive link, there are no other links in the blog sidebar that are useful for blog navigation. All included links take you 'off-site'.
• No galleries.
• Posts are not labeled or categorized in any way.

Scrapbooks & Cards Today Magazine - Scrapbooks & Cards Today Blog
My Rating: To new to Tell

Special Features:

• Weekly Giveaways - Freebie Friday
• Another 'young' blog site with the first blog post in June 2008 - and there is lots of potential here. I'm looking forward to reading more for sure!

Pros:

• Blog content is very structured so the reader knows what to expect when. This blog post explains it all.
• Daily updates
• Reader submissions showcased every Thursday
• Great how-to project tutorials (check out this super star!) with lots of photos.
• CATEGORIES! Love them! (As you might have already figured out!)
• As the name of the magazine suggests this site will appear to both scrapbookers and cardmakers alike! There is indeed something for everyone.

Cons:

• No Galleries
• While not a con per se, but something that they haven't included yet from what I can tell are sketches. I know they put them in the downloadable mag -- so I think the blog should have them too but that's just a suggestion.

Anyhow - that's about it from me, but as I said before, there are many many more industry blogs out there. Since it would be literally impossible for me to find (and visit) them all, I'm now putting the task out to you. What are your favorites? Why do you like them? Are there any that you just can't go without reading? We'd love to hear what you think!