I'm baaaaaaack! Contrary to the rumors, I haven't died of a caffeine or chocolate overdose. I'm just crazy busy and haven't had much time to blog but, I did manage to put together a new wallpaper/calendar for you guys to use in September.
September 2009 wallpaper/calendar (preview)
The image above is a preview of the September graphic. It's another geometry type thing. Very simple, clean and with lots of space for you to add any extra text and/or logo if you'd like to brand it and give it away on your own site or blog.
How to use it....
The image above is how it looks with some slight branding added. The whole idea is not to fill up the space with anything too promotional looking. Most people do not download wallpapers to see advertising on their computer screens so... less is more, keep it simple.
You can either download it and give it away as is or feel free to add your own text, logo or whatever you like.
Close up example of branding...
And this image shows an example of how you can use the "white space" to add your own personal touch with any graphics editor. Just...
- download the image
- open it in any graphics program (it's a standard .jpg image)
- add your text
- save it
- upload it to your blog or website to give away
- it's also a good idea to create a small preview image so it fits well into your blog
Note: You do not need any expensive programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc... to add simple text. You can do this with pretty much any graphics program you have. If you don't have one, there are many free and inexpensive graphics editors that will do the trick. I'll review some in an upcoming post.
Once again, I'm releasing this image into the blogosphere under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license which in plain English means you can use it however, wherever and whenever you like including on commercial blogs & websites, no restrictions
On that note, have a great week and I'll be back soon with more goodies for you. Later...
Finding all the cool, useful stuff on the web can be a major pain. To save you some time, here are some of my favorite resources & reads from the past few days.
110 Fresh Logo Designs For Design Inspiration by Daniel Adams
A Logo is a graphical element that, together with its logotype (a uniquely set and arranged typeface) form a trademark or commercial brand. Typically, a logo’s design is for immediate recognition. read...
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Top Ten Branded Social Media Nightmares by Ron Callari
Success stories of brands and social media surface daily throughout the blogosphere. Since social media drives transparency in a very meaningful way, it forces companies to take a much more collaborative approach in resolving customer service issues... because when they falter...they can fall hard...and unfortunately end up on a TOP TEN list like this. read...
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Translate your tweets with Twinslator
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Top 10 Things the Microsoft/Yahoo! Deal Changes for SEO by randfish
The search landscape is changing significantly this morning, and SEOs of all stripes need to pay close attention. I'm going to do my best to summarize the impact of these changes based on what we already know and interpret what's going to change for the field of search engine optimization. read...
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TweetBlocker identifies spammers in your follow list and lets you easily unfollow and block them right from the TweetBlocker dashboard.
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Are we in a Social Media bubble? by Josh Gordon
You may not agree with this but you can't ignore it either. A recent issue of Media Life lays out a compelling case making the current enthusiasm for social media sound a lot like the "irrational exuberance" that led to the dot com bubble crash of 2001. read...
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What Does Your Twitter Avatar Say About You? by Joel Postman
Tweets are short at 140 characters, but a Twitter avatar must visually represent a user in just 2304 pixels. Choosing the right avatar can affect the way people see you online. Here are some of the most popular avatar types and what they say about the user: read...
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If you're wondering how to customize your blog, take a look at our group's guidelines page for tutorials and graphics that you can download and use on your Active Rain blog .
If you have questions about technology, blog design or building web presence, let me know and I'll try to answer them in a future post!
http : / /twitter .com / garaughty
If you'd like to participate in any of our upcoming marketing partnerships or to stay on top of all the new graphic goodies we'll be giving away , please subscribe to our blog using the button below . . .
For more info about how we can help you stand out from the crowd, contact GiselleStCyr@garaughty.com
TheBlogArtist .com TheArtOfMarketingYou .com The Ultimate Closing Gift garaughty .com
You're back; and you rock! lol. This is awesome. I love it =D Now I think I'll ponder the idea of death by chocolate for a while.... Ahh. Happy thoughts.
Lisa... yeah, still here just insanely busy. Death by chocolate would be my 2nd favorite way to go. ;-)
BEAUTIFUL Graphics! That TWEERBLOCKER sounds amazing..... gotta look it up! Folks will be double teaming you... get ready to DUCK! Blessings to you! .... and THANK YOU AGAIN!
Diane... hi there and thx. There is a whole industry built around Twitter, I love the new economy. ;-)
Marti, I love the September Calandar and it's so nice to see you back! I can only imagine how busy you are knowing how hard you work!
Marti, That is very cool!! Now I just have to ponder how to use it! It is very good that you are busy!! I have been also; you just have to take it when you get it! My mentor years ago told me to enjoy the downtime and I as I get older I realize what wise advice that is.
Marti, very good to see you and your post again! Glad it was because you are busy and not from something else. OK, off to read your links, especially about SEO. I am just feeling like I am getting the hang of things then WHAM... things change. Ghesh..
Have a chocolate bar! On me!
Marti..Happy to see your face
..Glad you are Busy..Look for you daily..Miss your blogs ..Love the BING..Stay busy see you soon..Thank you for the calander..will brighten up my screen until your return..:0)
HELPFULHANNAH
Carole... I keep thinking that things will slow down, I was wrong. ;-)
Marchel... I love my downtime when I can get some, unfortunately this year has been non-stop busy for me.
Andrea... re SEO, tell me about it, it changes as soon as we learn the next step.
Hannah... hi smiley, although I'm busy I know I have sharp cookies like you to keep the group alive! Thx...
Marti, didn't know all that about the Twitter Avatar. You are on top of everything!!
Gary... keeping up with news about tech is a full time job. I wish I had more time. ;-)
Glade you are back-you are so into the latest and greatest!
Cathy... really nice to see you too, I'll be back soon, just finishing up some major projects. Nite!
Boy Marti - I've been sweating the days as my August calender was about to become obsolete - what was I going to do??? Then voila - as always you appear to save us little rainers with your talents and expertise!!! Tee-hee, you know I was glad to see you on my blog board this morn. Make it a great one! And stick around please...
P.S. - I'm off to find my Twitter avatar!
Good to see you and glad to hear you are busy! Obviously we all miss you, but need to share you with your clients. Thanks for all of the great info and I love the graphics. You are so generous! Have a great caffiene-filled day!
Good to hear from you again. Like all the others above, Thank you for the great graphics.
Will need to look into the Twitter avatar.
Glad to hear you are busy and doing well. Nice to see you back! Happy September!
Tina in Virginia
Thanks for all the cool graphics you provide to the AR members.
Pam & Lee... I'll try to get these done sooner in the future but I'll also have other goddies/options as giveaways for your clients once I finish all the biz changes I'm going thru. Have a great week!
Sheila... busy doesn't begin to describe things, what recession? ;-)
Bob... nice to see you as well, thx for stopping by.
Tina... hi T. I hope you're September is equally awesome!
Rebecca... totally my pleasure, a lot more stuff is on the way.
Marti - I hate not seeing you around so much but totally understand how busy you are. Thanks for the TweetBlocker article - I am off to clean up some spammers - god they get on my nerves!
Leesa... eventually things will calm down, I'm finishing up some client projects, rebuilding all my own sites on the WordPress platform and writing a series of tutorials about WordPress for non-techies. I know what you mean re Twit Spam, it's totally out of control lately.
Marti,
Good to see you on duty again. The social media bubble article was very intriguing reading. What about them Habs this year? Lots of new faces.
Esko... I was overdue to check in. ;-) The Habs??? Oh gawd, lets not go there. They have tons of talent but need a few bigger bodies to balance things out with the tougher/bigger teams. But I'm still looking forward to the new season, I'm craving a serious hockey fix!!!
Oh great....now I am going to have to ponder over my avatar (wink;) hmmmm......I liked the idea of a crooked picture...black and whites have been an all time fav of mine...but anime? Might have to think that one over. I know that on Myspace you can customize your avatar so that it is flashing or moving. I wonder if that is an option on twitter?
Nancy... re flashing/moving avatars, I'd avoid it, looks amatureish (i.e. MySpace)
Great Info... and now I'm following you on Twitter
Mehmet... hi, nice to "meet" you. I just connected with you on Twitter as well, thx!
marti, you may be busy but you always find time to help your clients and for that I am very grateful. I'm guessing you also have time for your cats!
Diane... it's totally my pleasure, we make a great team!
Marti, Love the calendar, love the graphics. I feel so many agents try to cram way too much into an ad or webpage. More is not better. More chocolate is better. Thanks from my temporary office in Nova Scotia!
Marcia... hi and thx. More chocolate is always a good thing. ;-)
Marti...you share and teach so many neat things; so glad that your site up and slapped me in the head some months ago. thanks for your tips and treasures.
Marti, for some reason, they thought the same about me. lol Great as usual and glad to see you back.
En annen vakker gave, Marti ... dine kunstverk alltid bringer meg en slik følelse av glede, centeredness og rolig ... SPACE synes å gi oksygen. Takk, alltid, for å puste mellomrom i levende farger.
[Oh I just really, really had to try that TWINSLATER...first time I've seen that---how adorable! ;-) Okay, here it is in english: Another beautiful GIFT, Marti...your artwork always brings me such a feeling of joy, centeredness & calm...the SPACE seems to provide oxygen. Thanks, always, for breathing spaces in living color.
Barb & Sal... nice to hear that, thx.
Ray... I was overdue. ;-)
Mara... cute, thx for the translation or I would have been lost. Have a great weekend!
Hey Marti just stopping in to say hello and check out the great info/links and delish graphics you keep coming our way.....like that new wallpaper/calendar.... Nicely Done!
Blog Artist...
I had to bring you a song just cuzz I can :)
I picked this one out especially for you. Bad to the bone :)
TLW...ROAR!
Teresa... hi T and thx so much, have a wonderful weekend!!!
Billie... you know me too well, check out my comment on your latest post! ;-)
Hi Marti! Gorgeous graphics and thanks for the Tweetblocker article--I have definitely got to check that one and several of the others out (in my spare time)!!
Oh, and I see TLW has stopped by to serenade you with her embeds as well! She is cracking me up with those--and I think I'm a bit jealous because I never mastered that skill of embeding the cool audio player!
Have a wonderful Wednesday...
REALLY! There's something to be said about the way that our grandparents lived their lives, isn't there? None of this fast-paced, can't-miss-a-thing societal demands--or are WE the ones that put those demands upon ourselves?!
Have a wonderful week...and take time to smell the roses!
Debe... re "There's something to be said about the way that our grandparents lived their lives, isn't there?"...
Absolutely, the pre BlackBerry generations didn't have it so bad. When I get too busy I sometimes crave for a simpler life but on the other hand, I can't imagine not living without all the cool goodies we now have. ;-) Have a wonderful week!
Ahhh...there you are and frankly, caffeine and cookies are part of the major food groups, RIGHT? Nice to see you again my friend, I have been busy myself!
Russell... hi there, not sure what happened. I was editing this post and my next one but this popped up as a new post, a system glitch I guess. Glad to hear you're equally busy. I need a serious break, this year has been non-stop crazy for me! ;-)
Marti, I'm glad you are back. You kept showing up at the bottom of my subscribed list and I was wondering when I would see another great post from you. Thanks for sharing.
Gary... hi there, actually I'm working on my next post now. Not sure why this one showed up again. Will have some new stuff out soon. Have a great Tuesday night!
HEYYYY!! I'm ALREADY on this one! (from August)... OK we will wait for your next one. I see from your comment that you don't know how this one popped up again.
Diane
Hi Marti~
Happy you are back, and happy you are busy...and the graphics are (as always) visually compelling with colors that remind me of nature...and that's always good, too
mARTi, You always have so much to share and your generosity is appreciated by so many. Keep creating and having fun..TLW's song is fun but is that really you?
Thanks for checking in... crazy busy is the best way to be. The september calendar is beautiful... take care and hope to see you back soon.
Marti - what the?? I got all excited when I saw you show up on my blogroll... anyway - we'll take whatever you give us here in the rain - even a rerun!!! Hope all is well -
Marti..Happy you are busy..But October is almost here and I miss you! Hope to see you soon..have a wonderful night and day!
HELPFULHANNAH your friend in Philadelphia
Welcome back, Marti! I really like your page background; there's a lot of depth and dimension to it. Thanks for the social media and Twitter links. I always like to discover new sites like these.
Marti,
Just stopping by to say that I'm glad that you're baaaaaaack!
Just used TweetBlocker and got rid of some of those spammers.
Thanks!
Diane... sorry about that, it was a tech glitch, a new post coming soon.
JaneAnne... you have great taste! ;-)
Margaret... guess what I'm doing??? And yes, TLW knows me sooooooo well. ;-)
Joan... I'll definitely be back soon, working on a new post now. ;-)
Lee & Pam... sorry about that, a tech bug happened. ;-)
Hannah... I love your new pic!!!
John... thx JN, the background is just a 3D shadow thing I designed. The extra dimension makes it pop nicely.
Brian... hey Mr B, nice to see you too. TweetBlocker will come in very handy, Twitter is drowning in spam.
Hi marti, you have been missed.
Do you have an invite to Google Wave?
I am trying to get and invitation from folks on Twitter.
Missy... hi there, re Google Wave, what I read yesterday was ...
"Google just officially announced that it will send out 100,000 invitations to preview Google Wave tomorrow. These accounts will go to developers who are already in the developers preview and users who signed up for accounts at wave.google.com on a first-come, first-served basis."
I imagine 100,000 will go fast and/or are probably already given out. I love the integrated concept. Have a great day!
Marti-Thanks for being so generous. Yours was one of the first blogs I subscribed to and have been wondering where your were. Glad you're back and glad you're busy!
Kathy... what a sweet comment, thx and I really appreciate having you as a reader.
Hi, Marti:
Thanks for the link to Josh Gordon's blog post. I feel better now about not being a Twitter or Facebook user. :)
Cheers,
Robin
Robin... I hear you. We all have to do what works best for us, have a great weekend!