Wordless Wednesday – Persist

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I know today is Wordless Wednesday, but I have just been told about an offer that is too good not to share – Check it out!

Free Spring Beauty Gift ($106 value) with any $30 Julep Purchase

This Pretty in Paradise Gift with Purchase ($106 value) will be yours FREE with any $30 Julep purchase, today through Sunday 4/17. Get six full-size products including electric iris sheer polish Kayla, summer berry shimmer polish Lainey, Skip the Brush cheek stick in Golden Guava, Julep Lip Gloss in Enchanted, When Pencil Met Gel eyeliner in Blackest Black, all in a handy Julep cosmetic bag. That’s a $106 value!

To redeem your free gift, add the Pretty in Paradise Gift with Purchase to your cart along with $30 of other Julep merchandise, then enter in promo code ONBOARD at checkout.

Offer expires 4/17/16 at 11:59 PM PT, or while supplies last. Promotional code ONBOARD must be entered at checkout, and is valid for 1 free gift per order. To receive free gift, add the Pretty in Paradise set to shopping bag, in addition to $30+ of other julep.com products. Promotion excludes the Jule Box, Savvy Deals, Julep add-ons, Sweet Steals and Secret Store catalogs. Not valid for purchase of julep.com gift cards, gift boxes, Gift of Maven, or Mystery Boxes. Orders placed for the Monthly Maven Reveal (e.g. monthly Maven Boxes, Upgrade Boxes, and add-ons) are not eligible. No exchanges or returns on free gift. No adjustments on previous purchases. Taxes vary by location.

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This blog post is a part of the following blog hops:

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Spring! Wordless Wednesday

Be Inspired

Reading And Taking Action

Many of us have a to-read list for the months ahead. But you merely read or do you implement?

To me, reading lists and book implementation lists are two different things. A reading list is a book list of stories I read to entertain me. They do not necessarily have to be fiction to do so but are more likely to be. Those are the books that I approach with a different mindset than those on my implementation list.

Now, what is an implementation list, and what are these books?

Those books are volumes that I read with the intent not only to learn from them but with the direct intent to take at least one of the points presented and to actively try them out. I seek out these books because I want to learn something, but learning is not enough, it is doing that creates the results. And because I am living in a growth mindset (more on that another time), I am approaching these books with the up-most intend to take an active part from the lessons held within.

For a long time, I was like many people I know – I read, a lot (okay more than the average person), but I never truly followed through on the lessons presented before me. It was easy to say how interesting a particular chapter was but was it enough to change what I was doing, or add a new active perspective into my life? Not really. The truth is, that I meant to take these action, but never followed through.

“Always strive to be better than you were yesterday.” – Tom Bilyeu

But I made a promise to myself that this is no longer an option. If I read a book that has repeatable actions within them, and that I chose to learn something from – may it be because I read a review, found them on a list of a person whom I admire (like this list by Quest Founder Tom Bilyeu), or because its premise leads me to believe that there was value within the covers, I will take at least one of those actions and practice them. Now, I am not expecting to do that if I find myself in the middle of the book and it does not resonate with me at all, of course, but I will do this more often than not, and because I am already picky about what I add on my reading list, which is ever growing, that should not be a problem. Which brings me to my questions for you:

Which book have you read in the last year, and actually implemented something from it – may it be in your personal life, or in your business adventures? What made you take these actions, and why did you pick up this book in the first place?

As we are approaching the middle of January, I am in the middle of implementing some of the goals I have set for the year. I have been lucky to have been encouraged to create some more motivational designs over the last few weeks, and I am especially happy about my notebook collection that ranges from themes of courage to sharing your thoughts with those you love. So check out my truly unique custom notebook collection here. Absolutely, a reason to be grateful. 

It is my pleasure to serve you, so if you have any suggestions about notebooks and journals you want to see in the future, please let me know. I also accept custom orders – and can combine my art with specific messages for you. Simply drop me a line at claudiablanton@live.com or leave me a comment below.

Do It. Motivational Notebooks

I will not be stopped – Notebook

Mom, I want to thank you… Notebook

Meditation Journal

Soulmates – Romantic Notebook

 

 

Have a wonderful week!

Claudia

 

This post is a part of the following blog hops

Thankful Thursday at Pepis Smart Dog

Thankful Thursday Link Up 

No Rules Blog Party 

Reasons To Be Cheerful

Be Inspired

40 Hashtags Every Writer Artist and Creative Should Know And Use

The power of the hashtag is undeniable and constant. May it be to make it easier to find your projects on places like Medium and Wanelo, or the most commonly used hashtags on Twitter, which can make or break your visibility. But which hashtags are the most effective to use for a creative person to get noticed? I have compiled a list of popular, often used hashtags you should use and check out often:

For Writers:

#amwriting

#amediting

#WordCount

#AuthorLife

#writingtip

#writetip

#Ebooks

#AskAgent

#AskAuthor

#AuthorLife

For Visual Artists, Graphic Designers, and Print On Demand Folks

#GraphicDesign

#FineArt

#Design

#artwork

#illustration

#DigitalArt

For Photography 

#photography

#photog

#Foto

#picturesoftheday

#travel

#picture

#photographer

For Bloggers

#Blog

#Blogs

#Bloggers

#MondayBlogs

#Blogging

#Blogpost

#bloggingtips

#problogging

#lbloggers (lifestyle bloggers)

#Bbloggers (beauty bloggers)

#FBloggers (fashion bloggers)

Day Specific Hashtags:

#MondayBlogs

#TopTenTuesday

#WWWblogs (Women Writer’s Wednesday)

#ArchiveDay (Saturday – for sharing your older posts)

#WeekendBlogHop

#SundayBlogShare

I highly recommend that you print out this list, and utilize these hashtags in your postings, but also get actively involved in the communication around these hashtags.

Stay tuned for more tips and tricks on Marketing for Creatives.

Wanelo For Print-On-Demand (POD) Creators

This post may contain affiliate links – see disclosure page for details

If you are a print-on-demand creator on Zazzle, RedBubble, Society 6 and the like, you should utilize Wanelo to market your products.
Wanelo stands for “want – need – love” and is simplistically stated a version of Pinterest that specializes purely in sales. so for any e-commerce business that focuses on clothing, shoes, jewelry, handmade items or home decor, this is the place to be.

You can create boards, similar to Pinterest, but your products are not competing with infographics and other non-product related pins,  follow other people, share your own products and those of others (but not as an affiliate, more about that later), and create “stories” around your products.

Stories are not as fancy as they sound, there are more a commentary or thought you have about a group of your products, which you attach to your written words, and you created somewhat of a collection (see an example in the image above).

As you can see, this platform makes it easy for you to get directly in front of consumers, even though the main customer base is still a younger crowd – which is most likely to expand over time, as it has with many social media platforms. The downfall to the younger age of the people on Wanelo is that they tend to not have as much money they can spend freely  while at the same time this demographic does make more impulse purchases, than an older crowd would.

What Wanelo is not, is a way to make money as an affiliate. They do not allow the affiliate links because that is how they make their money. Every time you post something they get a commission, which is only fair for creating the site, but a downfall for anyone who seeks to make an affiliate income. We have to look for revenue elsewhere.

Four quick tips on how to make the most out of Wanelo:

1. Post often – Top Contributors get featured, and that means you have to post a large volume of content to take advantage of that aspect. Do not just share your own things, create boards for other items as well that might be related but do not compete with your product line. That way you are not limited to posting only the amount of items you have created.

2. Be active – interact with other contributors, just like you would, to gain followers on other social media platforms. Comment on other people’s posts, share their stuff, and follow others.

3. Connect with people that buy in your niche – the best way to do that is to check out your competitors and follow their followers. Those are people who have already saved items that are similar to yours, so you know they are interested in your types of products. Many will follow you back, and you will relatively quickly grow a following of niche-related people.

4. Use hashtags – you can add up to five hashtags to each of your products. Use all of them, and use them wisely. Hashtags make it easier for your products to be found, just like it makes it easier for your content to be found on twitter. Because you are limited to five, you should be very careful about which ones you use.

That’s it for now. I will be posting more tips on how to get noticed as a POD artist.

Find out more about marketing for artists here

Blessings and happy creating!

Claudia

Bay Leaf – An A to Z Challenge Blog Post

B – Bay Leaf

There are two different types of bay leaves, the more narrow-leaved California, and the broader, more oval shaped Turkish version of the plant, the latter being the stronger one in flavor.

Matches well with: beans, lentils tomatoes, soups, risotto and shellfish

Healing properties: Infusions of this herb  can soothe the stomach, relieve flatulence as well as colic pain.

Magical uses: used  to enhance psychic ability, often added to a dream pillow. Also used in exorcism and for banishing, as well as for getting people out of your life, that you need to let go off.

Happy Release Day Everyone! 

Today, “Mixing Spices – A Flavorful Guide to Creating Awesome Herb and Spice Mixes” is available on Amazon Kindle for only 2.99 US$

>>>>>> Check it out here! <<<<<<

Playing With Fire – A Haiku

burning on my tongue
playing with fire, so much fun
creative pleasure

Copyright Claudia H. Blanton 2015

Speaking of fire and spices, I am happy to announce the pending  release my newest book, “Mixing Herbs – A Flavorful Guide To Creating Awesome Herb And Spice Mixes”, on April 2nd! It will be available on Amazon! Here is a sneak peak at the cover.