Your Weekly Dose of Blog Design Inspiration!
This Friday Faves is going to be a tad bit different from those in the past. Since it’s been a while since #17 was published, I have so much to tell you!
But in true Friday Faves fashion, I’ll still share with you some awesome freebies and resources below.
Although don’t forget that the best place to get up to date info about freebies (especially those that are only good for that week) is to like my Facebook page. Then to be sure you don’t miss anything, hover over the “Like button“, then click “Get Notifications,” so you’ll always be notified whenever I post something new. I think it will be worth your while if you like FREE stuff!
DYOB Update
Ok so Wow! I am SO excited for 2014! It’s only the second week of the new year and already so much has happened in the land of DYOB!
First of all, will you allow me to gloat just a little?
I swear I’m usually pretty humble, but I am so gushing about this piece of news because it’s not something I ever thought would happen to me AT ALL. Least of all only 6 months after launching this blog!
If you haven’t already heard, I was recently named one of 7 Cool Bloggers to Watch in 2014 by Mary Jaksch! If you haven’t heard of Mary, you should check her out, she runs two very popular blogs, Goodlife Zen and Write to Done. She also started the A-list Blogging Bootcamp back in 2009 with Leo Babauta of Zen Habits fame. So I really don’t take this honor lightly.
The Biggest Bookclub Ever!
The Desire Map Bookclub
Another thing I am super excited about is joining a Desire Map Bookclub. Have you heard of Danielle LaPorte? I actually first heard of her several years ago when she published her Fire Starter Sessions. I bought a sample of it and thought it was amazing, but then I got caught up with life and kind of forgot about it.
Then about a month or two ago, I saw an interview with Danielle on MarieTV and I was like…. she is amazing. Then just last week, the opportunity to join a local bookclub on her book The Desire Map presented itself to me so I joined. The bookclub started world wide on Tuesday night and oh my wow! Danielle talks about creating Goals with Soul instead of boring goals that everyone gives up on by February.
It’s not too late so I highly recommend you find a bookclub near you and join in asap. I don’t get anything for suggesting this, I just think it’s THAT good. It’s just another amazing way to start this year off right!
Are You Thinking About Creating a Product this Year?
How about getting it over with right now by joining Fizzle’s 30-day “Just Ship It” Challenge! It’s free, it starts right now and when you sign up, you’ll get an email with an action item every 3 days for the next 30.
The Fizzle guys are amazing and very smart so if you need a kick in the butt, I recommend trying this out! I signed up, but because I have so much going on (including a pending secret project) this month, I might have to push off the action items til next month. :[
Recent Posts
Holiday Photo Challenge
I realize this is a bit late, but it’s been a while since the last Friday Faves so I wanted to mention that our Holiday Advent Photo Challenge is over (duh!) and we had so much fun! To see the photos, click here. Hope you join us next time!
Custom Opt-in Form Tutorial
If you haven’t yet checked out the 4 part tutorial on How to Design a Custom Opt-in Form for your Blog without a Plugin, you should. I’ve gotten so much amazing feedback on this series, that I will be concentrating on more tutorials like this in 2014.
So if you have something specific you want to learn about blog design, please let me know. The sooner the better too! Just leave a comment down below.
Favorite Friday Font
It’s been a while since I shared a Favorite Friday font, so I won’t disappoint this week!
Summit is a really cool free display font that you build with layers
Free Downloads
Huge set of labels/badges, perfect for logos or special deals on your blog!
Got a cooking or party blog? Download these free food icons!
Free or Cheap Blogging Resources
picjumbo
Another free image resource! Btw, stay tuned because in March, I’ll be posting a 3 part series on every single source where you can find free stock photography for your blogs!
2014 Planning
I’ve been planning out 2014 by using an Editorial Calendar for the first time. This has really helped me to focus on what to write and when over the next few months.
Check out some online editorial calendars on Google Docs. The one I’m using and like so far is this one.
I’m also making some goals and one of my goals is to create a Media Kit this year. Check out Blog Maven’s Media Kit Examples for ideas.
Is this the year you start your blog?
If so, I highly recommend you check out my free quiz and infographic on choosing the best blogging platform for your needs. Start a blog now!
Friday Funny
Shopsaplingpress on Etsy has the most hilarious letterpress cards and this is just one of them. Check them out.
Funny letterpress cards from shopsaplingpress
Have a Lovely Weekend!
For more Friday Faves posts, click here.
If you like tips like these, don’t forget to follow my Facebook page and Pinterest boards where I share a lot more of this cool stuff every single day!
Your Turn!
Don’t forget to let me know what tutorials you want to see this year! Leave a comment below!
As always, please share this with your friends!
Google Drive links only work if you’re logged in already. Can you make these public?
Hi Karl, these aren’t my documents so I’m not sure how I can make them public. I think they have to be used within Google docs, no? If you know how to do this, let me know and I’ll be happy to at least share the one I’m using.
Thanks Marianne, amazing post like always full of great ressources!
And congratulations on your nomination! well deserved! 🙂
Thanks Ophelie! Glad it could help and thanks for your kind words 🙂
So many great tips and resources! I’m off to research Danielle LaPorte!
Hi Kylie,
Thanks so much! And I’m very excited to hear what you think about Danielle. 🙂
I’ve just started reading The Desire Map as well. Searching for a book club to join but either way, looking forward to reading it!
There are so many clubs, I’m sure you can find one. And they didn’t all start the same day. If you can’t find one, consider creating your own with your girlfriends (or guy friends) 🙂 It makes it more fun to do it with others and talk about it.
Have fun!
Great post! I had been trying to figure out how to have a editoral calender without needing to print an actual calender and I don’t have excel on my computer. Thankfully those can be used and edited all online. I never thought of using those so thank you very much! Now I can get more organized with my posting! (And stay on top of it as well.)
So glad the calendars are useful for you! It’s definitely nice having it online where you can access it from any computer or your smart phone.
Thanks for the valuable suggestions… for a newbie like me..
You’re welcome Pratikshaya, thanks for stopping by!