Today’s blogging 101 task asks us to extend our brand with one of the following: a custom Blavatar, a custom image widget, or a fan page.
Since I already have a Gravatar and lacked the energy to create another Facebook page, I opted for the image widget.
It was fun playing round with my photo using a (mostly) free app called PicMonkey, but the idea of creating a brand is a bit lost on me.
You can see the image widget on the right side of my blog. Of all the lessons over the past few weeks, this was the most challenging, mostly because I just couldn’t see the point.
Have you used the image widget on your blog? How about PicMonkey?
Gardening Nirvana 
No and no. I’m taking a wild stab at this here and guessing the image widget is the daffodil in the square? This is why I flunked out of blogging 101. 😦
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Marlene, you didn’t flunk, you just set it aside for another day. It’s a LOT of work, and I’ve still got one more blog to go.
Yes, the daffodil is an image widget, but I don’t see that it added anything of interest of value to my blog, nor did it tell you anything about me.
It’s been interesting reading all the comments here today.
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I don’t even understand the beginning of this post ‘Today’s blogging 101 task asks us to extend our brand …….’ What brand? I don’t understand any sentence that contains the words ‘branding your image’. What does that mean? And why must we ‘brand our image’? We are not corporations selling stuff people don’t need – which is the only way I can see a need for this exercise….. but I could be wrong, I often am! Do they, at any point, explain what these three words mean in a blogging context?
I do so admire that you completed the task – I believe I would have taken Marlene’s option 🙂
And your daffodil photo is nice too. I have not used the image widget on my blog – like many of the widgets I don’t know what it does and I have never used PicMonkey either. Can you tell I’m not very technology savvy? 🙂
Two weeks to go!! xoxo
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Hello Pauline. Apparently I replied to your comment in my head last night. 😉
My guess is that people blog for different reasons, and for some, a brand is important. I’ve seen some slick, almost glossy magazine-worthy blogs, and they all have a logo (there brand). They also tend to sell products on their site and are recognized by a logo. Since I’m just me blogging about my garden, then I think that is my brand.
By the way, I asked Marlene if there was any chance at all that she could meet us in LA, but alas, it is not to be.
I’ll show you a few ideas on WordPress when we’re together if you are interested. That said, its only for fun. I like your blog exactly the way it is.
Two weeks!!!
xoxoxo
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I used an image widget today for my Award free blog zone text and did a blavatar. Tried pic monkey but never used it for anything. Blavatar? not sure if that is spelled right doesn’t seem like an important thing to me but I tried it and left it cuz it was there. I do want to learn how to put a pic of one thing onto another but that just seems like a lot of work from the tutorials. Anyway nice chatting love your daffodil
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Good for you, Donna. I think the beauty of blogging 101 is that it exposes us to so many features and possibilities that we may not have otherwise explored. I’ve learned quite a bit and I’ve enjoyed the connections I’ve made here, too.
Thanks for stopping by for a chat, and best of luck as you go forward with your blog.
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This blog is a paradise, even the name Nirvana is very spiritual. Thanks. By the way, I can not see the famous widget; or maybe is in front of my eyes and I do not identify it.
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What a lovely thing to say. Thank you.
The widget is the yellow daffodil with the black lace corners in the right margin. Nothing spectacular.
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I am with you Alys. I think the point of blogging is what you want to say to the world not what your marketable image is. But then some people do blog professionally, so the blavatar etc might be useful for them.
Anyway, it’s interesting reading your experience of doing the Blogging 101 series. I don’t have the time to commit to doing such a thing myself right now but it sounds like to are learning a lot, even if you don’t feel you need it all.
As I generally blog from my phone these days, I miss out on all the extra features you get on the web version of WordPress. Ie I can’t appreciate people’s pages in the same way. Even got a revelation about my own yesterday when I managed to go into WordPress at work for a short while!
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Thank you, Helen! There have been so many interesting comments here today. I’ve enjoyed all of them.
I’m incredibly impressed that you’ve been blogging from your phone. Wow, that is amazing. I knew it was possible but it doesn’t seem easy. Kudos!
I’m interested in hearing about your revelation regarding your own blog. Perhaps you’ve already written about it. I’m just sitting down at my own computer for the first time today. I still have one more blogging assignment to go. Have a terrific weekend. xox
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Gosh, the revelation was just that stats are now set out differently, as far as I remember. But then I noticed the same thing had happened on my phone lol.
Basically, working from a phone (or tablet) is very simply. WordPress has an app, which functions much like the website but is adapted for the size and features of these devices. Pretty much everything I need is in one device (eg no need to upload photos from a camera). So it’s very convenient!
Have a great weekend, too xxx
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You’ve lost me today. The image widget is really pretty, but what is it used for? I couldn’t tell you if I have one or not! And branding? I am all for experimenting, but only if I have a reason to! LOL! I think what you write on your blog is more important than all the hype and your photos are always lovely too. Well done for keeping up with the Blogging 101 challenge!
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Thank you, Cathy. You made my day! I think of people’s avatar/gravatar as their brand image (like your cute picture, above) and the supporting brand is the material on the blog (words and pics). The idea was to create a widget as a type of branding. I think that a real brand takes time and talent. FedEx and Amazon and other big names spent lots of time and money on talent to create clever logos. Perhaps because I see myself as a person writing a blog and connecting with other like-minded souls I can’t imagine myself as a brand. I hope that makes sense.
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Your image widget is lovely. I do include image widgets but forget to change them often enough. I haven’t used PicMonkey. And I doubt I have a brand. 🙂
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Thank you. PicMonkey lets you manipulate photos for free, adding banners, frames, overlays, etc. Only about half of the features are free, the rest require a paid subscription. I try to take garden photos that will stand alone, but it is fun from time to time to add graphics are fancy text. It’s nice to have another tool in my pocket, so to speak.
I think Gallivanta is a nice brand. It’s how I think of you when you come to my blog, though I *love* silkandthreades too.
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Everybody has a brand 🌞 It’s just fancy, market-y talk about being clear about who you are and what you like to do and all that good stuff – and then being consistent about projecting that “I am-ness” in your blog, on your Facebook page or wherever else you choose to carry out the ideas you’re sharing. For instance, I really like this blog because its theme and mission is really clear. You’re a gardener a lot like me who finds weird, cool things going on in your yard and enjoys sharing perspectives and projects. No widget needed to appreciate what you do. A blog isn’t going to rise or fall on its “brand” or widget. But it’s fun to play with this stuff, at least for some of us.
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Beautifully said, Cyndi! Thanks so much for sharing your perspective.
I did play around with the Picmonkey because I too wanted to try it out. I also wanted to complete all 15 assignments for Blogging 101. I just couldn’t figure out what ‘my brand’ would be. Your comment brought it all into focus for me. Thanks so much! I’ll come see what you’ve done.
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On my blog http://www.nikitaland.wordpress.com I have created all of the widgets on my sidebar with an online photo editor. I use them to link back to popular posts. When we blog, we do need a brand, or in simple terms, an icon that when people see it, they know it is our blog. Just like when you see that famous “swoosh” you think of Nike. I don’t think that we have to sell something on our blogs, just to have a branded image.
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I just took a look. I didn’t realize those were all widgets. Nicely done.
As for a ‘brand’ I feel like my banner and blog title cover the bases. I don’t have a swoosh or anything like it. Val, what do you consider your brand?
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I agree that your banner and blog title screams “YOU”, and just by looking at your banner it would tell someone that this person loves the outdoors and gardening. My brand, I feel it is Nikita’s puppy photo in my gravatar. Ya know how many times I was going to change it to MY picture, then I said “no, people would not know it was nikitaland if I did”, and I feel that by keeping my same header with Nikita and Bella, that tells people that we have and love dogs.
I made all those widgets in different photo editors, sized them to 300 x 300.
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Cute! Daffodils are so springy. Gravatar or Blavatar ? mmmmm seems redundant doesn’t it? I hadn’t noticed that your gravatar was up there next to your http:/ before but that’s neat. I’ll have to see what I have going on.
I was using a Designer Gal for a while as a Blog Image, but they got sold to someone new and they doubled the price of the service. It was only $25 now it’s $50. That’s too much, considering it’s just an image. So I go with the Bitstrip’s which is free.
If someone asked me what my brand is, I’d have to say it’s the Colour Aqua because that makes my boat float. But in the end, I’m not out to conquer the blogging world, just to have some fun and connect with others…..so far, it’s paying off in spades xoxox
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I really love your image of the daffodil with a little extra…says indeed Gardening Nirvana to me and is that what is meant with ‘brand’? How you present yourself as a blogger to the world? Than I think, you do a exellent job: gardening and more in many ways.
Blavatar??? Looked it up on the WordPress helpsite..did not say much to me. But your blog looks lovely! When I have more time, I will look into this, I find all these posts very interesting. Have a great Sunday, Johanna
ps and thank you for your sweet comments on my Facebook despair..you are so right, blogging is so much more intimate ;0)
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I’m coming into this late, but the title, “branding your image”, made me think of protecting your images/pictures from online thieves using your images/pictures for their own purposes. That doesn’t appear to be the reason you mean in your blog, so…I agree with everyone’s comments about blogging being more about the words than the pictures. I also think that those who blog about photography and food (take pics of their meals) need to protect their “property”, so using a watermark (which is what I thought this particular blog was about), would be a valuable lesson to learn.
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