Brand IT Girl

Brand Styling . Design . Business Coach

Adding a Custom Pin It Button to your WP Site!

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I have recently been exploring the incredible power of Pinterest and let me tell you – it is more powerful than you can imagine! Did you know that many bloggers are claiming Pinterest as one of the main drivers of traffic to their websites these days? Well that’s 100% true and it’s something you need to tap into!

I wrote last week about branding and styling your Pinterest boards and discussed why this practice is vital for growing not only your Pinterest following but also your business and website too. Today I want to talk about another key element in using Pinterest, but this time it’s something you can do on your blog to help drive traffic back to your Pinterest.

The aim of the game is to get your pins and images noticed on Pinterest. The more people share your pins, the more their friends and followers will notice what you are doing and you will start to see a rise in your traffic. But you need to get them to pin your post images in the first place, right?

So in this blog post I am going to show you the easiest way to add Pin It Buttons to your WordPress site! It’s so painfully simple, you’ll be like “Woah, Girl! Is that all there is?” and I will be there nodding. Yes, it’s as easy as this:

1. INSTALL THE PLUGIN IN

Adding a Pin It Button to your blog is simple when we are using plugins on our WordPress.org websites. All you need to do is navigate to:

Plugins > Add New and located jQuery Pin It Button For Images. Install and activate this plugin from the list. Other plugin results will show up too, just find this one and install it!

2. CONFIGURE THE PLUGIN

What I love so much about this plugin is that you can control how it works super easily, saving you time and ensuring you get exactly what you need out of it! To do this you’ll need to navigate to:

Settings > jQuery Pin It Button For Images

This will bring up all the options that you have at your disposal to not only control how this plugin works on your site, but you can also customise the way it looks! You will notice there are three tabs: ‘Selection’ ‘Visual’ and ‘Advanced’.

You won’t need to worry about changing anything in the ‘Advanced’ tab, but let’s talk about the setting on the other two pages:

Selection:

Leave the majority of the settings as the default on this page. However you might want to consider the ‘on which pages the “Pin it” button should be shown‘ settings. I generally select only ‘Single Posts’ and ‘Blog Pages’ because I don’t want the Pin It Button to pop up on my homepage and other internal pages. But this is totally up to you, play around with these settings as much as you like and you can always change them later.

I also change the ‘minimum resolution that should trigger the “Pin it” button to show up‘ setting. This is the restraint that stops people from pinning super small images that you didn’t intend for pinning. I set my minimum resolution to 400 x 500 and again, you can set this to anything you like, or even leave blank if you’re not fussed!

Visual:

I then go into the visual settings and have a look at those settings.

Firstly I consider the ‘transparency value‘. This is where you determine if you would like to apply opacity to any degree on the image when your visitor hovers over it. There are pros and cons of this feature and it’s really up to your personal preference if you want to change the opacity of your images on rollover. I am keeping my images as is, but if you do want a little opacity, try setting it between 0.1 to 0.3 so it isn’t too extreme!

In this tab is also where you set the ‘custom pin it button‘. Check the use custom pin it button box and then upload your image using the upload button. Press refresh preview to make sure you are happy with it!

You can also play with the positioning of your pin it button by changing the ‘“Pin It” button position‘ and ‘margins‘. You will notice my pin it button hangs over the image slightly on the left. I did this by including a negative value on the top-left margin.

Hover over the image below and see for yourself!

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To help you along with your new custom button, I am giving you 6 Pin It Buttons to choose from!

The six buttons offered to you here are completely free! You just need to download the zip folder and get started! I just ask that you don’t resell or redistribute these buttons!

Using one of the Brand IT Girl Pin It buttons? Drop your link in below in the comments, I would love to see them in action!



Freelance Designers: 6 Things New Clients Look For!

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So you are a freelance designer. Or perhaps you own a small, solo design studio. One of your key business activities is to draw in new clients, and let’s face it, there is no reason to make that any harder for ourselves! Each new client will be looking for specific things when they are considering designers for their projects but 6 of the most common things new clients look for include:

1. AN EXAMPLE OF YOUR WORK

Your potential clients what to see your portfolio. They want to see what you have done in the past and compare it against their own brand and the styles they like. This is essentially the main way that new clients judge if they want to work with you. They are constantly asking themselves if your styles match theirs and your portfolio is the best way for them to comfortably make that decision. Display your work in a clear and concise way on your website and be open to answering questions!

2. YOUR BRANDING AND WEBSITE

Your own branding and website is one of the main (and most easily accessible) ways for a potential client to judge if they want to work with you. This happens subconsciously before they even click on your ‘Services’ page or before they email you. If they don’t feel connected with your brand they won’t be contacting you. And worse, if you aren’t putting the effort into your own web and social media presence and branding, then how do you expect them to trust you to put the effort in for their project?

3. TESTIMONIALS AND REVIEWS

Nothing builds trust quite like the words of other people! It’s proven that word-of-mouth is the most effective marketing method, even when the feedback is coming from a perfect stranger! Testimonials work the same way. Ask clients for feedback when you finish a project and don’t forget to ask permission to share their testimonial on your website and social media. The visual presence increases the trust too, so if possible, always include a photo of the person you’re quoting.

I include testimonials on my website in two places: on a testimonial page and on my homepage using the Testimonial Rotator plugin.

4. PROCESS AND DELIVERABLES

Be clear on the process that you will be taking new clients through and what to expect at each stage. Consider the different phases of your project and make this explicit on your website, including what the deliverables are. Consider what file types your client will receive; if they are receiving a mood board and brand board. Outlining the deliverables and how they will be delivered not only builds confidence for you client but will also help you with your workflow as a standard process will be established.

5. WHO HAVE YOU WORKED WITH BEFORE

A lot of clients will ask who you have worked with before them and what kinds of businesses you have designed for. They are making an investment when they sign on with you, so your clients want to make sure they are signing on with someone that understands the market they are operating in. Being transparent about the people you have worked with previously and the scope of business you have worked with too will help to build trust with potential clients.

6. YOUR PERSONALITY

Your clients want to get to know you and what you are like. Ultimately, if you give this person a good feeling and they feel connected to who you are, then they will feel more comfortable investing with you and are more likely to purchase your products and engage your services. Ensure that your brand highlights who you are and how you operate and this will help potential clients to determine if you are a person that they’d like to work with. This is not only vital for your clients – you need to make sure your personality is compatible with the client too. Taking the time to have a Skype meeting or a lengthy email discussion can save incompatibility headaches in the long run!

Some designers are afraid of displaying too much of themselves to potential clients, for fear that they won’t match the clients style or expectations. The beauty of taking these steps to be transparent about who you are, what you offer and produce and how, is that you will only be attracting the right clients for you. Think about it, you can only gain more of the right people by providing all the information that a new client needs to make the decision if they want to work with you. So in the end, everyone wins!

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How would you like a free new client audit worksheet to help clear your head about this stuff! Get clarity with the Freelance Designer New Client Audit sheet that will ask you questions and prompt you to consider how you can improve your situation when potential clients consider you as their next designer!

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Styled Stock Photos and How to Use them on your Blog and Social Media

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I am a huge fan of styled stock photos. In fact, I get pretty excited about Instagram feeds filled with pretty styled desk shots! Who doesn’t love pretty things!

I am helping my friend Alyssa Joy launch her new range of Styled Stock Images today and thought that this would be the perfect time to take a closer look at Styled Stock Photos and how to use them!

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Styled stock photographs are images that run with a particular theme or color scheme, created for bloggers and business to use to help draw in potential customers and readers. These images are offered either for free or for sale by photographers and generally display ‘desk’-like surfaces with pretty flowers, computers, keyboards, magazine and stationary items and beauty products that catch the eye of your visitors. While there are masculine styled stock images, at Brand IT Girl, we love the feminine ones more!

These images can be used for a variety of ways and depending on how you crop your images, you can often use the same one several different ways.

Blog and Website Images

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Blog and Website Buttons

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Social Media Cover Photos

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Banners

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Instagram Images

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Want to know where these cute stock images are from? Get them free here!

CHOOSING TO BUY

When choosing to buy your styled stock images, there are a few things you should be looking for:

  1. Check the quality of the image you are purchasing. Make sure that it is a high resolution and that the image dimensions are big enough for your purpose.
  2. Have a look at the color palette used in the image and ensure that it matches (or at least compliments) your brand colors.
  3. Look at the elements within the image and ensure they are compatible with your brand message. There are some images I can’t use for my brand because the elements within the flat lay are contrary to my brand personality. Just take a moment to really assess if all the items in the image are on brand and avoid confusing your visitors!
  4. Can you edit the image with text over the top and different crops? Have a look at the policy of the store you are purchasing from and make sure the image is appropriate for the way you want to use it. Some stores will have editing restraints and you just need to be aware of it!

PLACES TO FIND STYLED STOCK IMAGES

ALYSSA JOY PD
DIVA GONE DOMESTIC
KATE MAX SHOP
DESIGN LOVE SHOP

MISS POPPY
HAUTE CHOCOLATE STOCK LIBRARY
SHAY COCHRANE
ASHLEY ELLA DESIGNS

After scene stock photography? Check out my blog post about the best places to find those too!

With so many ways to use them, and such great places to find them, why not add some beautiful styled stock photos to your website and blog!

Fixing distorted images on your blog with Regenerate Thumbnails

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Do you have pesky thumbnails on your website that are appearing distorted? This is such a common problem on blogs and business websites and it can make your website look really unprofessional. But it doesn’t have to!

Perhaps you changed the size of your product thumbnail using WooCommerce? Or maybe you manually changed the thumbnail sizes using your theme function.php file? (These are two issues that can arise using Genesis child themes but are really easy to fix!)

FIRSTLY, WHY DOES IT HAPPEN?

Thumbnails distort when you change the thumbnail size because when they are uploaded, WordPress crop them to specific dimensions. When you change the dimensions of the thumbnail display, the now cropped thumbnail will try to stretch or shrink itself to fit and this often results in distortion.

HOW DO WE FIX IT?

Using a plugin called Regenerate Thumbnails, you can easily and quickly regenerate these cropped thumbnail images to preserve original clarity.

Search Regenerate Thumbnails by navigating to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress Dashboard.

Once you have installed and activated your Regenerate Thumbnails plugin, you can access it by navigating to Tools > Regen. Thumbnails. It will only take a few moments and then you can refresh your browser to see your fresh regenerated thumbnails.

Blogger Stock Photos: Top 5 places to find them

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As a blogger, where do we find our stock photos for our blog posts, social media activations and our other communication touch points? There are plenty of free stock photo websites out there, providing hi-resolution photos for you to use on your blog! Here are my top 5 favourite places to find stock photos that are absolutely free!

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