David Airey, graphic designer » Blogs

To the commentators

David Airey — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:41:21 +0000

“In most online communities, 90% of users are lurkers who never contribute, 9% of users contribute a little, and 1% of users account for almost all the action.”

Source: “90-9-1″ Rule for Participation Inequality: Lurker vs. Contributors in Internet Communities

With that in mind, this post is for the 10%.

You’ve taught me a huge amount by sharing your experiences of design, of the Internet, of life. You’ve kept me motivated. You’ve made me feel less like I’m sat at my desk working alone. In fact, I reckon there’s a good chance I’d have quit publishing blog posts if it wasn’t for your perspectives, suggestions, feedback, questions, answers. Quitting wouldn’t have helped keep me in self-employment.

Some blogs don’t have comment threads. Seth’s blog and the johnson banks thought for the week to name just two. Others turn comments on and off depending on the post. I can understand why.

I started blog publishing in 2006. At the time of writing, there are 20,193 comments across 589 posts on this blog, 11,108 across 361 posts on Logo Design Love, and 877 on 85 Identity Designed posts. A total of 32,178, and an average of 18 “approved” comments every day for five years. In addition to moderating, reading, and thinking about every comment that’s submitted, I feel the urge to offer everyone a response, but I like to think you understand when I don’t always have time.

So for all you’ve given me, and for all you’ve given countless others who continue to learn from the insights you’ve shared, here’s to you, the 10%, the commentators.

Thank you.

—

A few interesting posts elsewhere about blog comments:

Commented Out, by Khoi Vinh
Why I don’t have comments, by Seth Godin
All these comments will be lost in time, like tears in rain, by Daniel Gray
Kill Blog Comments? by Oliver Reichenstein

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

From nought to 87,698 in five years

David Airey — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:25:03 +0000

Not really knowing what I was doing, I started this blog in October 2006. In the years since, and according to the FeedBurner chicklet in my sidebar, the RSS subscriber count has risen to 87,698 (the number fluctuates a little each day, usually decreasing at weekends when less people access the feed).

It might’ve taken five years (those looking for a quick-fix should take note) but I’ve learned a few things along the way and want to pass-on some blogging advice.

1/ Focus on what you’re passionate about

Two points there. Focus, and passion. When you focus your content on a general topic or profession, your readers know what to expect, and they’re more likely to subscribe. In addition, unless you’re passionate about what you publish, you’ll get bored long before a few years have gone by.

2/ Share your mistakes

We all make them. But few of us share them. You tend to open-up more when you talk about getting things wrong, and it’s that personal touch that’ll help keep readers interested. Here’s an old post of mine (from 2007) that can still be of use if you’re starting a blog: Seven blog mistakes to avoid. And perhaps one of my biggest mistakes was neglecting email security.

3/ Comment elsewhere

There’s a big world of blogs out there, with a big world of people reading the comment threads. Join the chat. I’m sure you have some good advice or a point-of-view that others want to read. You might learn something, too. I definitely have (thanks, in no small part, to the valued commentators on my blogs).

4/ Make guest appearances

Offer guest articles to blog owners who have already built a solid subscriber base. I did this on a couple of well-known blogs. I sometimes look back wishing I could press ‘edit’, but still, worth doing. One thing to remember, offer your best writing. Don’t hold the good stuff back for your own blog. You only get one chance to make a first impression with the new audience.

5/ Make it easy to subscribe

Seems obvious, but there have been plenty of times when I’ve had to search for a subscription button or link. Put it in a prominent position on your blog. Additionally, not everyone knows the benefit of RSS subscriptions, so offer an email alternative.

6/ Publish consistently

It doesn’t matter if you publish a new blog post every day or every couple of weeks, but consistency breeds familiarity, which breeds confidence, leading to trust, and eventually to sales of some sort. We all have something to sell.

7/ Don’t sell-out to advertising

I encourage you to make money from your blog. It makes sense given the amount of time you’ll invest. But a blog that hides useful content behind blocks of Adsense, popups, and a raft of flashing banners is a sorry sight. Instant turn-off.

8/ Social proof

We avoid the empty restaurant in favour of the busy one next door. To a certain extent the same applies to our websites. Some people think it’s boastful to show a blog’s subscriber count. I don’t. But avoid using the FeedBurner chicklet (or whatever alternatives are out there) until it shows more than 500 or so.

9/ Don’t sweat the numbers

It’s easy to become a stat-addict, constantly looking at numbers, charts, graphs, wanting to see a continual increase and wondering what you’re doing wrong if you don’t. Try to treat each reader/commentator as if s/he’s your only one. This one-at-a-time focus keeps your writing personal, and people will subscribe to your blog because of you.

10/ Be positive

The blogs I enjoy most remind me from time-to-time how fortunate I am. Millions struggle every day to have the life I lead. What do I really have to complain about?

—

A sincere note of thanks to every one of you who takes time to read what I have to say.

If you have any additional tips or advice to share, please do.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Comment threads on portfolio entries

David Airey — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:05:53 +0000

Earlier on Twitter I mentioned I was debating the pros and cons of viewer comments on portfolio entries. Essentially it’s the difference between publishing new work as a blog post, or as a static page.

Ian Devlin tweeted back with, “Depends on who’s doing the commenting! I guess there are more cons than pros though as portfolio pieces are subjective.”

To which I replied, “That’s what I’m thinking, Ian. I like the chat, but when the cons can affect the thoughts of potential clients…”

Ian responded, “Yep, then it’s not worth it. Some people will comment negatively just because they can. It’s not what you want.”

Ben Seven weighed in with, “I don’t like it on Behance — it’s too much ‘Oooo this is nice’, and to me, a portfolio is for prospective clients. You could blog ‘new work’?”

Matteo Pescarin said, “I tend to agree, although an external link with the ability for people to discuss the work could be nice.”

Publishing a short ‘New Work’ post (like this) seems to be a good way to go — with a brief description of the project and a link to the more comprehensive portfolio entry. There are three benefits:

Subscribers are notified of portfolio updates
Comments are kept off the main portfolio entries
There’s still a comment thread if anyone wants it

Although I’m not keen on the extra click it means for you.

I have a question. I want to show a selection of thumbnails from my portfolio at the foot of each project page. Do you know of a WordPress plugin for the job? The thumbnails would need to link to the case studies that are highlighted.

Vintage microphone photo courtesy of Gary Quinton

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Identity Designed half-century

David Airey — Mon, 16 May 2011 09:58:38 +0000

Identity Designed has reached a half-century of brand case studies, so I thought it fitting to give a combined mention to all the beautiful contributors.

Case studies in brackets.

A-Side Studio (MARK)
Anagrama (Theurel & Thomas)
Andreas Neophytou (Outside Photographic)
Andrew Sabatier (Asterisk Investments)
Astronaut Design (Antarctic Voice)
Believe in (Believe in)
Bernstein Rein (Glacé Artisan Ice Cream
Bibliothèque (Flint, Boskke)
Chermayeff & Geismar (Conservation International)
Clinton Duncan (Fred International)
COOEE (NPT)
DBD International (Botanical Bakery)
Designers Anonymous (Ecopod)
Fabio Ongarato (K.P.D.O., ACCA, Social Traders)
Form (Recreation Awards, Virgin Galactic)
GBH Design (Virgin Galactic)
H&A (Black Light)
Heydays (ITI, Berg & Berg)
Hyperkit (Faye Toogood)
Landor (Miller & Green)
Lundgren+Lindqvist (Johanna Lenander)
Make (LM Wind Power, IVA)
Mash Creative (S/O/T/O, 2011 calendar, Royal Mail)
Moving Brands (Watermark)
Mytton Williams (Ink Copywriters, The Halcyon)
Nancy Wu (Offsetters)
Nathaniel Cooper (Glacé Artisan Ice Cream)
Project Projects (Museo Tamayo)
Pryor Design (Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Raw (Think Green)
Rudd Studio (Channel 4)
SomeOne (Wright Brothers, HomeSun, Eurostar, Newspaper Marketing Agency)
Studio Verse (Addition)
Tank Top (Eurosport)
The Click (Burlingham Woodland Walks)
Think Studio (Miriam Haskell)
Unreal (The People’s Supermarket)
venturethree (Little Chef)
Wallzo (McCormack Joinery)
Zerofee (Dezeen Watch Store)

A stunning collection of design talent.

Additional thanks to Blair Thomson for project suggestions along the way.

I hope you’ve been enjoying the features. You have subscribed, haven’t you?

Get updates on Twitter, Facebook, or grab an email/RSS subscription on the site: Identity Designed.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Online advertising earnings

David Airey — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:34:08 +0000

Here are the details of my online advertising earnings and website traffic for March 2011 in the hope that they help to either initiate or increase your own additional income stream.

March 2011 advertising income

Amazon Associates: $200.58
InfluAds: $1,428.00

Total: $1,628.58 (£1,000.86 GBP)

Amazon Associates
I’ve already talked about the commission cheques I receive for helping designers look sharp.

InfluAds
After installation of the InfluAds code in the sidebar of my three blogs, a performance-based payment is received via PayPal upon each month of serving ads. If I see an advertiser that I don’t want to associate myself with, I have the option to block the banner from the within the publisher section of the InfluAds website (that hasn’t been necessary).

My agreement with InfluAds was that I’d receive $1,400 per month. But due to a better-than-predicted performance during March (i.e., higher traffic, more click-throughs) I was paid slightly more — an unexpected bonus that I offered to refund, thinking it was a mistake, but was told to keep it.

You’re probably wondering how much web traffic is needed. Here are my stats from March 01-31.

davidairey.com

logodesignlove.com

identitydesigned.com

Stats courtesy of Google Analytics.

What does that mean?
Perhaps the most important figure is the number of Pageviews (otherwise known as page impressions). This number indicates how many times the banner ad is loaded, or viewed, within the month.

davidairey.com = 502,788
logodesignlove.com = 545,496
identitydesigned.com = 100,561

So during the month of March my three main websites attracted a total of 1,148,845 Pageviews.

By dividing the Pageviews by the InfluAds payment we can see how much of a return was made for a range of web traffic stats.

1,148,845/$1,428 = 804

Meaning that for every 804 Pageviews generated, I earned $1.

Therefore, to earn $10 I needed to attract 8,040 monthly Pageviews.

$1 = 804 monthly Pageviews
$10 = 8,040
$100 = 80,400
$1,000 = 804,000
$10,000 = 8,040,000

To put it another way, and to give you a clearer picture of what you might be earning with InfluAds, for every 10,000 Pageviews received in March, I earned $12.44.

1,000 monthly Pageviews = $1.24
10,000 = $12.24
100,000 = $122.40
1,000,000 = $1,224.00
10,000,000 = $12,240.00

It’s probably not quite as straightforward — the number of clicks on each ad are also likely to be a factor — but it gives you something to relate to.

I’ve been told that InfluAds will be relaunching in May with a greater number of publisher/advertiser benefits. If you want to be kept updated you can subscribe to the InfluAds newsletter at the foot of the InfluAds homepage, or follow the service on Twitter.

Your online revenue streams

There’s a big online advertising pie to taste, but I’ve no idea how my ratio of income/stats compares to others. What ads are you featuring to make money online? Are there any types you’d avoid? I’d love to learn from your experience.

Painted dollar sign image via Thinkstock

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Things Organized Neatly

David Airey — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 15:17:02 +0000

Photo by Moochin Photoman

I’m not the first designer to share Things Organized Neatly.

And I’m sure I won’t be the last.

Those are matchsticks, by Claire Fontaine

The contents of a box of Nerds, organised by size

Things Organized Neatly. Via The Crossed Cow.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Books and packaging

David Airey — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:08:56 +0000

Two additions to my sidebar’s “blog topics.”

A little new year rearranging and editing of old posts.

There’s not yet much in the packaging category (to be rectified), but what design blog is complete without a good dose of books and packaging?

Pelican book covers courtesy of Things Magazine

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Off-topic, in case you missed it, there’s decent chat over on davidthedesigner, about offering free work.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Advertising on blogs

David Airey — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 10:20:05 +0000

I’ve never been overly keen about showing ads alongside my blog content — either because I don’t want to dilute my portfolio, or because I don’t want to align myself with the raft of blogs where it’s hard to find content through the AdSense, banners, and pop-ups.

I think there’s a decent middle-ground, however, and for the past two months I’ve been testing a single ad spot across this blog, Logo Design Love, and Identity Designed.

You might’ve noticed the AdPacks addition to my blog’s sidebar. AdPacks is a service from BuySellAds (BSA), a kind of middle-person between the advertiser and the publisher, that takes the hassle out of earning a little extra income (well, I say it takes the hassle away, but site traffic is still needed).

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Update: March 2011
I’ve stopped my AdPacks partnership and I’m now serving banners from InfluAds. You can see how much money I get in return for how many Pageviews I serve here: Online advertising earnings.

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What attracted me to AdPacks was how the banner is fairly unobtrusive. Rather than having nine or ten ads shown one above the other, the ad spot contains around 10 advertisers inside a single window, rotated upon refresh. It’s a tried-and-tested method brought to prominence by the original invite-only service The Deck, followed not too long after by Fusion Ads. I sent emails to both those other providers, and although Fusion took the time to reply, there was no room at the inn for additional blog publishers. I also chatted with Carbon and the newly-launched InfluAds, but in the end opted for AdPacks due to BSA’s stronger footing in the market.

After we agreed on a monthly payment rate, I became one of the first publishers for the AdPacks banners. As such, I wasn’t entirely sure what advertisers would be shown. So I placed my trust in BSA, and having tested the service for two months, here’s who you’ll see featured.

AdPacks advertisers

Wistia — video tracking and video analytics
Shutterstock — stock photography
Loop11 — usability testing
SiteGrinder3 — Photoshop to HTML
Wix — free website builder
Fotolia — stock photography
Tabs — interface icons
Bigstock — stock photography
Site5 — web hosting
Superhug — website templates
Traction — WordPress theme

I recently asked if there’d be changes to the advertiser line-up (for what it’s worth, BSA have been a great bunch to deal with), and was pleased to know that the current “design/development” advertiser grouping is to be split into “design” and “development,” with my three put in the former category. I’m hoping that’ll help tailor the ads so they’re particularly relevant to graphic designers.

What are your thoughts on blog advertising? At what point does it become detrimental to a website’s content? Do you know of any sites getting the balance right/wrong?

Neon open sign photo credit.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Download my previous WordPress theme

David Airey — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 23:01:58 +0000

For the WordPress users out there, my previous 3-column theme design is now freely available.

View a live demo and download here.

I hired Randa Clay to clean-up my site code, and the theme’s currently pending review for addition to the WordPress theme directory.

I’ve been powering my site with WordPress for so long now that it’s about time I gave a little something back to the community. Here’s hoping it’s of use to a few of you.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Blogging 101: edit old posts

David Airey — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 01:17:30 +0000

I’m not saying that what I write these days is literary gold, but when I browse posts from yesteryear I sometimes want to give my old self a good slap.

David Airey, graphic designer » Blogs

To the commentators

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Related posts on David Airey dot com

From nought to 87,698 in five years

1/ Focus on what you’re passionate about

2/ Share your mistakes

3/ Comment elsewhere

4/ Make guest appearances

5/ Make it easy to subscribe

6/ Publish consistently

7/ Don’t sell-out to advertising

8/ Social proof

9/ Don’t sweat the numbers

10/ Be positive

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Related posts on David Airey dot com

Comment threads on portfolio entries

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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Identity Designed half-century

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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Online advertising earnings

March 2011 advertising income

Your online revenue streams

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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Things Organized Neatly

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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Books and packaging

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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Advertising on blogs

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Related posts on David Airey dot com

Download my previous WordPress theme

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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Blogging 101: edit old posts

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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