I thought about writing a recap of my session but after reading the coverage on the blog of NVI, I will simply invite you to go read theirs. Thanks Wes Walls, you captured the main message and highlighted the key points I made during my presentation.

I worked hard over the last months at exploring how I could expand my brand. I decided to add a community site to my At Home in order to grow my traffic. I see the limitations of the blog and wish to provide more useful tools for my readers. Every blogger faces a more vivid competition not only from other bloggers but mostly from social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. For all of us, it is getting harder to grow our traffic.

I showed best practices and must-have features from a series of niche community sites. I think that you should look at the heart of what you do, your strength, and the culture of your brand to determine what features and tools to implement.

If this interested you can download the slides.

+ PodCamp Toronto: Kim Vallee Talks Community

You might also like these posts

• Catch The Business of Online Communities for Women at podcamp Toronto
• My Next Speech at PodCamp Toronto 2010
• Future of ecommerce according to Jerome Paradis | PodCamp Toronto
• The Schedule for PodCamp Toronto 2010 is Out
• Sharing My Top Blogging Tips at PodCamp Montreal 2009

Balsamiq Mockups is one  tool I use to build my upcoming community site. Following a tweet I made last week, I saw that many of you were curious to know what I was thinking of Balsamiq Mockups. So, here we are.

Before you build any software, Web site or even a blog, you need is to draw mockups of the interface. This step is not about being pretty. This step is about defining how the Web pages will operate. Plus, you identify what content and how it will be shown to the users.

I used many tools and methods to create wireframes/UI mockups over my UI and Web design career. The most efficient I found so far is Balsamiq. It feels natural and you work fast.

How Balsamiq works?

Using Balsamiq Mockups feels natural since it reproduces hand drawing on a piece of paper done but quickly done with a computer. Once you learned where are the 75 pre-set controls, it goes fast to create your interface. You have access to more than 150 icons. For the expert users, they are plenty of keyboard shortcuts.

The pre-set controls come with context-sensitive properties to give you more options. You can import an image if there is no ready-to-use controls that fit your need. Plus, you can download custom control made by the members of their Mockups To Go community.

In team meetings, you could easily modify and create new mockups while you are having a discussion. For all these reasons, I love it!

+ Balsamiq Mockups
+ Google Maps Mockup

You might also like these posts

• My Next Speech at PodCamp Toronto 2010
• Quick Tips to Find Story Ideas for Your Blog
• Mr. Tweet may be useful after all. We will see
• Simple Way to Add a Background Image to a Wordpress Blog
• Dilemma: Magazine Style Vs Traditional Blog Layout

I hope you plan to come to PodCamp Toronto 2010. I already told you about my individual session. To pursuit further the discussion on niche communities, I will sit on a panel with the popular Erica Ehm of Yummy Mummy Club.  We will exchange on the business of online communities for women. A savvy girl on social media will moderate the talk. It is Eden Spodek who is the editor of Barganista.ca and the Digital Strategist at High Road Communications.

I hope to see you there. Discover the other sessions at PodCamp Toronto 2010. And do not forget to register if you wish to attend this free unconference.

You might also like these posts

• My Next Speech at PodCamp Toronto 2010
• Updated Look at Women and Social Media Presentation: Statistics – part 1 of 3
• Presenting at PodCamp Toronto 2009
• Recap of my Niche Community Building Session | PodCamp Toronto 2010
• The Schedule for PodCamp Toronto 2010 is Out

A quick note to tell you that I will be giving a session at the next PodCamp Toronto that will happen on the weekend of February 20 and 21st, 2010.

I started working on adding a community site to the KimVallee.com brand. I analyzed many angles to make sure I get the right ingredients. My session will explore what you need to consider before building your own community site. I will tell you why, what, and how I will expand my blog with my upcoming community site.  I will deliver food for thought, practical tips and a toolkit. I would be honored if you put it on the agenda. The exact time and date will be revealed later.

+ Register to attend PodCamp Toronto 2010

You might also like these posts

• Catch The Business of Online Communities for Women at podcamp Toronto
• Recap of my Niche Community Building Session | PodCamp Toronto 2010
• The Schedule for PodCamp Toronto 2010 is Out
• How to Use Twitter to Raise your Personal Brand
• Updated Look at Women and Social Media Presentation: Statistics – part 1 of 3

Bloggers continue to grow their influence. More and more traditional print media recognized how the blogosphere and social media forced them to evolve. As an avid magazine lover, I am happy that they embrace the Web.

We can co-exist and support each others. Margaret Russell pointed out in her January/February 2010 Editor’s page the contributions of bloggers in providing insights about what people like:

And design bloggers have stimulated an animated and powerful dialogue based largely on images published in magazines. They are our treasured partners, and the conversation they engender and sense of community they encourage benefit us all.

At the end of the day, we all enjoy more great design ideas. I encourage you to read her editorial article.

+ photo: Elle Decor

You might also like these posts

• IDEO’s Innovative Ideas on the Future of Journalism
• US Women Are More Present in Social Networking Sites
• Updated Look at Women and Social Media Presentation: Statistics – part 1 of 3
• Time is Money, even for Bloggers
• Recap of my Niche Community Building Session | PodCamp Toronto 2010

It is no secret to everyone who knows me a little that I love Etsy. I bought items on Etsy. I feature my favorite Etsy sellers on my main blog, At Home with Kim Vallee. When I talk about the business opportunity of the Web, Etsy always comes to my mind. Etsy opened the doors to many women, and men, by giving them access to a suitable marketplace. The past business model was solely based on local market and exhibiting at flea markets and fairs. By running an online store, more people could buy their products.

Let’s be clear, most Etsy sellers do not make a good living and will probably never will. But with hard work, a business plan and perseverance, you can do it. The New York Times published a good article on how people turned their hobby into a business on Etsy. Towards the end, the article missed the boat. Being a small entrepreneur asks for sacrifices at first. As a Web developer, I recalled doing rush jobs once in a while that meant working 16 hours a day.

Starting any mom and pop shop requires a lot of work, regardless of the products or services you sell. The sellers mentioned on the NY Times articles seem to be at a transition point where they moved from a mom and pop shop to the SOHO stage. Once their employees or freelancers are trained, they will be able to get more free time. In fact, this already happened for Ms. Vasquez.

Mixing Life and Business at Home

About that quote “At dinners, she and her husband talked only about business.”, it is normal at this stage. It requires discipline to find other topics to talk about. For the last 15 years, I have a business with my husband. We make sure to find time every day to talk about something else. We make sure we have hobbies outside our business. But it is also good to exchange about our respective business projects, where we want to go and to dream together of a successful outcome. It energizes us. Plus, talking about it ensures that we are both comfortable with the way we live together.

But you also need to network to grow your business and for your well-being. Meeting people provides new conversation topics. If you do not go out enough, it is not healthy.

Why Etsy?

If you are thinking about selling handmade products online, I suggest to any creative sellers to do three things:

• Have a blog where you not only talk about your products but also about other people products, design ideas that you like. There is an Etsy widget that will allow you to feature on the sidebar a few products from your Etsy shop. Make sure to add the Etsy widget to your blog.
• Open an Etsy shop. Bloggers love Etsy and being active in the social media community is key for promoting your shop.
• Use Facebook and Twitters. Make connections with people online and offline.

SOURCING:
+ photo: The Journey Journal by Cracked Designs on etsy $12 USD
+ That Hobby Looks Like a Lot of Work on The New York Times

You might also like these posts

• Rethinking the “New Collection” Media Events for Bloggers
• How Software Can Enhance Storytelling
• Consumer Brands Need to Be on Twitter
• Recap of my Niche Community Building Session | PodCamp Toronto 2010
• Balsamiq Mockups Feels Like Hand Drawing your Interface

It is not really a surprising news if you ask me. First of all, I told you about the female Internet in autumn 2008. At the time, I reported that Women’s community was the most visited and fastest growing Internet category, tied with politics according to ComScore Media Metrix’s year-end report.

I attributed these statistics to the fact that women are the ones who typically lead conversations, share information amongst themselves and create relationships with their peers. This is basically what social media is all about. What surprised me is what age groups haves the most users. As you can see, it is either 35 to 44 years old or 45 to 55 years old.

I added the more popular age group on the graph produced by Information is Beautiful. The data were compiled by Brian Solis.

+ via a tweet by Miss Rogue

You might also like these posts

• Defining Social Media Etiquette One Step at a Time
• Updated Look at Women and Social Media Presentation: Statistics – part 1 of 3
• A Quick Look at the Twitter Community And Services
• Catch The Business of Online Communities for Women at podcamp Toronto
• Design Blogs Influence Elle Decor

We installed BackType Connect to integrate related Twitter conversations into the post comments. It is not hard to do by yourself. Adding a plugin in WordPress usually works like a charm.

Since we are perfectionists, I asked my tech guy to fine-tune a few things that required his programming skills. One thing, Jerome did what to add the @ character before the username of every tweet (see the arrow on the image). This way, it is easier for you to notice that the comment originated from Twitter.

If you are a blogger, you probably notice that comments on blogs are broken. They are because many people say they like your post on Facebook or share their opinions about your posts on other social networks. I personally concentrate my efforts on Twitter and Facebook. Since Facebook is a closed network, we cannot export the comments and likes.  For Twitter, you can retrieve the relevant tweets. On tools that enable you to do this is BackType Connect that works for WordPress blogs.

Besides Twitter, your can include comments from Digg, FriendFeed, Reddit and Hacker News. Here is a small description from the information BackType is gathering per social networks.

• Twitter – whenever someone tweets one of your posts
• FriendFeed – whenever someone comments on an entry for one of your posts
• Digg – whenever someone comments on a submission for one of your posts
• Reddit – whenever someone comments on a submission for one of your posts
• Hacker News – whenever someone comments on a submission for one of your posts
• Other Blogs – whenever someone comments on a post that links to one of yours (I do not recommend this option)

For my blogs, I feel that only tweets are making sense. Analyze what it is best for you. There are a few preferences amongst which I choose to:

• Not include retweets with no additional comment
• Do not include connected conversations from my own blog
• Mix comments by time stamp. Since I believe in the life stream effect, I feel it is easier for people to follow conversations as they happen. The other option is to separate the tweets from the blog comments.

The only thing I wish there was available is to eliminate my own tweets. Since I promote every post on Twitter, I feel it adds noise.

You might also like these posts

• A Quick Recap of My Experience at WordCamp Montreal 2009
• How to Add a Related Posts Section for each Post
• Need for More User Control with Mashups
• My Top Tips To New Bloggers
• The New Blogger Template Designer

I put that story on hold after the long weekend. Plus, the summer vacations are at our door. I am writing this now because it is always after a vacation or a break that it is the hardest to get back to our blogging schedule.

People often ask me if I get the writer’s block. I don’t! I always have more stories than time on my hands. Many elements contribute to that fact. Let’s explore the ones that could be useful to you.

Frequency

The main reason in my mind is the fact that I write every day. The more you write, the easier it gets but most importantly, the more ideas pop up. But that does not mean that you have no chance to succeed if you do not write every day. There are other ways to achieve frequency.

You can write a few tweets about your topic every day, have a conversation with peers, post a few comments on related blogs. The idea is to concentrate on your blog topic for at least 15 to 20 minutes every day.

Do not waste any ideas

Develop a fast system to track potential story lines. I use the notes on my iPhone to do that. Audio notes will work too. Before my iPhone, I used the old fashioned way where I scribbled my thoughts on a pocket notebook that I carried around everywhere.

When you are hooked to your computer, create a draft post on WordPress or Blogger for each future topic.  They will be there whenever you need it.

If you do that daily, it is enough to keep the creative flow active.

RSS Feeds

When I started blogging four years ago, I used to read my RSS feeds every morning before writing my first post. I bookmarked my favorite posts. Sometimes, I would write a post about the best of what you read that day. Most of the times, simply reading your RSS feeds puts your brain in the right set of mind and a story will emerge from nowhere.

Be sure to select a wide enough niche

The key to my inspiration is not only that I write about what I am passionate about. The fact that my topics (home design, entertaining and social media) are very dynamic universes helps a lot. There are always new ideas, new products, practical tips or solutions, sharing experiences to talk about.

If you have problems finding good stories all year long, ask yourself if the angle of your blog confines you. Analyze if it would be appropriate to add a new dimension to your talk.

With everyone having a busy life, people are also looking for curators. Examine how and if you can write useful short posts (75 words or less) a few times a week. Ask yourself what will be useful to your readers may be the only question you should answer to release the creative juice.

For a boost of creativity, watch the handmade video portraits of an inspiring etsy seller, birdhouseaccents.

PHOTO CREDITS:
+ Birdhouses created by Fred and Lynn of Birdhouseaccents on etsy

You might also like these posts

• Every Blogger Needs A Blog Bible
• Why I am going back to reading RSS
• Balsamiq Mockups Feels Like Hand Drawing your Interface
• My Next Speech at PodCamp Toronto 2010
• 7 Blog Design Rules To Know Before Selecting a Template

Newspapers are endangered species. Like many industries, it must adapt to its time. Although it is easier to read a print media, the hyperlinks, the velocity of the news and the multimedia power of the Internet clearly highlighted the weakness of the print media. Look at how this article I read on the San Francisco magazine is enriched by simply putting the hyperlinks.

Journalism is not dead but to survive these professionals must adapt. San Francisco is known for being a bed of fresh ideas. San Francisco magazine produced two excellent articles this July on how journalism could adapt to better serve their communities.

IDEO explores how we might someday experience the news

I particularly like the conclusions from an IDEO retreat on the future of journalism. If you do know them, IDEO is a consulting firm renowned for its creative problem solving. They take a design approach to create human-centered innovation and how to experience products and services.

The Power of Being Hyperlocal

People care about what happen in their communities. Readers said over and over that they want hyperlocal information and coverage on niche topics. They care about what affects their daily life. The Web enables anyone, including news media, to deliver specific choices to people. But the local newspapers cannot afford anymore to properly cover the news by neighborhoods. Many blogs have filled that gap and gained the trust of their readers.

Blogs are an affordable way to cater to a specific crowd. By establishing partnerships with residents, passionate bloggers and citizen journalists who concentrate on niches, local newspapers could aggregate these local stories. Then, the local newspapers could concentrate on more global stories. This is one way they can modernize their process.

Social media offers great ways to deliver the news. Anyone in the community could report and comments on facts and events. Non-profit news agency could provide fact-checking services that even citizen journalists could afford.

Multimedia Storytelling

Some journalism schools are starting to recognize the current challenge and the need to prepare their students for the new reality of journalism.

Berkeley provides a Digital News Project where 60 students participated so far. Thanks to a $500,000 grant from Ford Foundation, they produced 7 hyperlocal news Websites where they put in practice multimedia storytelling.

The content is excellent and well researched. In fact, Mission Local, on the most popular site, repeatedly scooped the San Francisco Chronicle on breaking news stories in 2008. There is a bright future for journalism.  And I wish that citizens and bloggers could collaborate in this adventure.

MORE:
+ Ignore the clutter by Caroline Lea
+ Newspapers are dead. Long live journalism! by Nina Martin
+ News Flash from the Future produced by IDEO
+ Credits: Shown Illustrations by Tom Manning for IDEO

You might also like these posts

• Design Blogs Influence Elle Decor
• US Women Are More Present in Social Networking Sites
• Why Businesses Should Embrace Social Media
• The City of San Francisco fully Embraces Social Media with Twitter
• Updated Look at Women and Social Media Presentation: Statistics – part 1 of 3

San Francisco is known as a city with a diverse pool of Web 2.0 professionals. So maybe it is not surprising that the City of San Francisco launched a Twitter application where anyone can send direct messages (DM) to report a problem or send a request to the city’s customer service hotline.

Twitter became one more point of contact with the 311 Customer Service Center. View “Sample Tweets” of their most requested services to help ensure you provide the information needed to properly service your request. 311 can help with:

• Street Cleaning
• Graffiti Removal
• Pothole and Sidewalk Defects
• Abandoned Vehicles
• City Garbage Can Maintenance
• Department Information (office hours, location, phone numbers)
• … and much more!

Added Value of Attaching Pictures to Your Requests

Like any direct message that you send on Twitter, you can attach a picture. This is an added value of the Twitter reporting.  Seeing the pictures help the City gives a round estimate of the problem. With that added information, the City could better and faster prioritize every request.

If you are not on twitter, know that San Francisco residents, businesses or tourists wishing to get non-emergency information or request services pertaining to San Francisco government may call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year by dialing 311 and talk to a real person.

+ Via RT @jeromeparadis : RT @mathewi : @craignewmark

You might also like these posts

• US Women Are More Present in Social Networking Sites
• Quickly Share How to Get to a Place on Twitter with TwitArea
• IDEO’s Innovative Ideas on the Future of Journalism
• Why Businesses Should Embrace Social Media
• Mr. Tweet may be useful after all. We will see

Each pet has its profile page. It starts with community members assigning a cuteness level to pets in Cute as Hell. If you are up for the challenge, you can enter your pets in the Thunderdome which is a big tournament to find the Cutest Pet of All. The winner get a prize.

Cute as Hell’s business model involves a pet store with 1300 products right now. You can also vote on pet products.The fourth element of Cute as Hell will be launched in a few months.  It is a directory of pet services from animal shelters, groomers to veterinarians.

Animals are divided in birds, cats, dogs, fish, reptiles and others. I also like the design of the site. We live with two beautiful and adorable cats. We will grab our camera and go in search for the most lovable pictures.

+ Via Mashable

You might also like these posts

• Recap of my Niche Community Building Session | PodCamp Toronto 2010
• Balsamiq Mockups Feels Like Hand Drawing your Interface
• Catch The Business of Online Communities for Women at podcamp Toronto
• My Next Speech at PodCamp Toronto 2010
• Design Blogs Influence Elle Decor