Lucy, Meet Blog. Blog, Meet Lucy.

by Marian Schembari on October 5, 2010

There is no better way to start this post than to say, “Screw you, Cyberbullies” and “I love you, Readers.”

Because of your generosity and the willingness of my family to match all donations I was able to turn off Sally and turn on a MacBook Pro. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce…. LUCY!!

I am blown away by the whopping $807 contributed towards Lucy. She and I are very much in love – oftentimes posing in photo booths, spinning in the grass or relaxing in front of the fire after a long day at work.

To celebrate my new found productivity on a computer that doesn’t take 53 years to load, I’m launching a slew of new services AND a week’s worth of discounts. Check it:

“Critique My Profile” Just Got Bigger

For the past few months I’ve been offering Personalized Twitter Strategy, aka Critique My Profile, a video critiquing service.  It’s a way for Twitter users to improve their presence and reach their goals without shelling out major cash for a full-fledged campaign. I cover everything from aesthetics to content to bio analysis. So far clients have done nothing by rave, with critiques resulting in a “noticeable increase in responses and engagement.”

Meaning the next logical step was to offer critiques for all social media platforms.

The internet is the limit folks and I want to help you rock it.

Why pay money to have someone rip apart your profile? Because there’s an insane amount of social media information out there and you can learn all of it and still not quite master how it applies to your business. Unless an expert actually sits down and evaluates your efforts, it’s impossible to know if what you’re doing is right, let alone right for you.

You don’t want to be another cookie-cutter company or “personal brand.” You don’t want to be so self-promotional people think you’re sleazy, but you also don’t want to miss out on a valuable opportunity to spread the word. I help get the balance right.

Video consulting is a unique service, and you can’t get this type of critique anywhere else. Social media is just as much a visual endeavor as it is content-related, and what better way to learn than actually seeing the steps you need to take? Your 30-minute video is easily digestible, visually dynamic and the perfect sidekick to my written notes.

Sample Blog Critique

I recently critiqued the blog of Ashley from The Book Fetish, who agreed to let me post her video here so you all can see first-hand the kind of service I provide. This 40 minute video is chock-full of helpful information that’s been tailored to Ashley’s needs. Ashley said of her critique “Marian took the time to understand what I want out of the blog, as well as my style and what I like to write about. Her advice is straightforward, in her trademark style, without making me feel like an idiot. I feel like the blog already looks more streamlined and readable.”

Watch her video below:

If you don’t want to spend 40 minutes watching my pretty face, I’ll just get on with the specifics of this week’s Lucy Celebration:

For ONE WEEK ONLY I’ll be offering 50% discounts for aaallll Critique My Profile services!!

Blog CritiquesOriginally $150. This week only $75!!

Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter Critiques – Originally $100. This week only $50!!

I have, however, learned my lesson when it comes to sales. A few months ago I offered up my services at too generous of a discount and was bombarded with 30 orders in one day. Never again.

So I’m putting a cap on orders this time. While this sale will go on for one week (ending Tuesday, October 12), I’m limiting the discount to no more than fifteen people. My traffic has doubled since the last sale so I’d jump on this offer sooner rather than later.

UPDATE: Thanks everyone for signing up! I was going to have the sale last a week but all 15 spots filled up in 24 hours! You can still sign up for a critique though. Click here to find out more.

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  • http://www.theemotionmachine.com Steven

    Congratulations on the Macbook! I have had one for almost 4 years now and it has served me really well. The guys at the genius bar are really helpful too!

    I also watched some of your 40 min lecture, I can tell you give lots of good tips and information. Keep up the good work and I hope to read more from you soon!

    • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

      Oh man, it’s an obsession. Lucy and I are never apart – she is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

      So glad you liked the video – it’s definitely on the long side so am creating a little highlights reel at the moment. Keep your eyes peeled, will be posting soon!

  • http://twitter.com/marianschembari/status/26449280756 Marian Schembari

    Here's the big announcement!!! {latest post} Lucy, Meet Blog. Blog, Meet Lucy. http://bit.ly/9bR1pb

  • http://twitter.com/mybookfetish/status/26452450870 Ashley Williams

    The brilliant @marianschembari is critiquing my blog on her site today. A bit nervous. You can watch her critique here: http://ow.ly/2OEcb

  • Anonymous

    Fantastic video Marian, I watched all of it and will watch it again.

    http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

    • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

      Thanks Z! So glad you got good stuff out of it :) Am actually putting together a highlights reel as we speak so it will be easier to digest for all of you.

      • Anonymous

        The whole video was highlights, seriously very informative. You’ve mentioned several times for me to switch to WordPress (I resisted because it’s another bill) but this video has pushed me over the edge. I’ll probably need your services once I’m up and running for several months.

        By the way, who’s the lady in the pictures? :)

        http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

        • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

          Wow, what an endorsement! Thank you so so much for your kind words. And you need to GET ON that WordPress bandwagon, no joke. The sooner the better because then you can work on building up your SEO juice.

          Ha! Are you talking about me or Lucy? I know we’re both pretty attractive ;-)

  • http://twitter.com/cassie_wallace/status/26456880827 Cassie Wallace

    RT @marianschembari: Lucy, Meet Blog. Blog, Meet Lucy. http://bit.ly/9bR1pb

  • http://twitter.com/annnyberg/status/26457453558 Ann Nyberg

    RT @marianschembari: Lucy, Meet Blog. Blog, Meet Lucy. http://bit.ly/9bR1pb

  • http://twitter.com/marianschembari/status/26472444239 Marian Schembari

    Site is back up!!! Yippee!! Here's the latest: Lucy, Meet Blog. Blog, Meet Lucy. http://bit.ly/9bR1pb

  • http://twitter.com/manoflabook/status/26474375788 Zohar Laor

    Fantastic video by Marian Schembari on her new post – well worth watching RT @marianschembari. http://bit.ly/9bR1pb #bookblogs #bloggers

  • http://randomchickblog.com/ Random Chick

    HI Marian!

    Been reading your blog and following you on Twitter for about a month now. Congrats on Lucy! I’m going to sign up for both the blog critique and Twitter critique either today or tomorrow. I’ve got LOTS of questions for you so get ready! You’re not busy or anything, are you? :-)

    • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

      Do it! Do it! Like I said, I’m only offering the discount to the first 15 people who sign up, but if you DO sign up you can take up as much time as you want – I love this stuff :)

      Looking forward to it!

  • http://mycustardpie.com/ Sally2hats

    Really interesting Marian. As usual I respect your honesty about yourself; where you say about being indecisive….it’s not always 100% clear where you should focus from the outset (so many interesting directions to follow).

  • http://twitter.com/marianschembari/status/26487239102 Marian Schembari

    Wasn't expecting this response! Only 5 spots left for My Profile sale. Y'all need to get on that asap if you want in http://bit.ly/9bR1pb

  • http://twitter.com/melissabreau/status/26487649275 Melissa Breau

    Get on this asap if u want in RT @MarianSchembari: Wasn't expecting this response! Only 5 spots left – My Profile sale http://bit.ly/9bR1pb

  • http://twitter.com/marianschembari/status/26558000209 Marian Schembari

    Only 3 more spots left!!! http://bit.ly/9bR1pb

  • http://twitter.com/dianeshipley Diane Shipley

    Congratulations on Lucy :) (Critique, critique like the wind!)

  • http://twitter.com/marianschembari/status/26585938530 Marian Schembari

    Only one spot left for my crazy discounted critique services… Going once… Going twice… http://bit.ly/9bR1pb

  • Selina Yankson

    Absolutely brilliant! I have over 40 helpful pointers. Marian – Awesome and thank you.

  • http://twitter.com/Yakezie The Yakezie

    Congrats on raising the funds Marian! Just wondering, do you think you will be asking to raise funds again? If so, what do you think the right timing should be?

    Thnx

    • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

      Thanks! And no, I highly doubt I’ll have to ask to raise money again. The whole point of getting Lucy was to help grow my business and there’s already a waiting list for my critique services. Hopefully the business will keep growing!!

      • http://twitter.com/Yakezie The Yakezie

        Sounds like a good plan! Seems like everything is all moving along well. Let’s hope Lucy lasts a long and useful life!

  • Leon Aldrich

    Helpful hints:1) The reason you wan’t your social connections at the top/right (what is called above the “fold”) is it is the KEY eye-ball location for getting subscribers. All the TOP bloggers do this and they do it for a reason.2) Once you get a self hosted domain, there is a way to convert your existing blog over to this self hosted WP site. Changing logo/theme colors etc are fairly easy. I’d head over to Maxblogpress and look at WP Wizard 2.0 (they cover everything imaginable.) 3) I love RSS feeds. My inbox is already full with other email. I prioritize my list in order of importance; to me this is a huge time saver vs. filtering email settings. (The goal is to provide as many options for you readers to connect with you as possible through platforms they use: twitter/facebook/email/rss/youtube/etc.)@Marian I found your site via IncomeDiary. And I will be subscribing (I am fearless that way).p.s. I dislike DISQUS mainly because it doesn’t allow me to see my entire comment before posting. I like to review, check grammar, spelling and content. DISQUS imho is not commentator friendly.

    • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

      I’m going to disagree with you on the Disqus thing. Just because you can’t preview the comment in an official “preview” doesn’t mean you can’t read it over to check for grammar, etc. I love Disqus so much because you get email notifications when someone has responded to your comment (something I take pride in doing for all my commentators). This, in MY opinion, is the most important thing about a blog – continuing the conversation and reminding readers that there’s a person who cares behind the posts. Most bloggers miss out on that as very few comment systems provide that level of reminder.

  • http://www.anencouragingbird.com BirdyD

    Thank you SO MUCH for the reassurance that, yes, upgrading one’s hardware can make a huge difference in productivity.

    My husband & I aren’t quite there yet, but thankfully, the time is drawing near!

    Found your blog through your post at Men with Pens – enjoying my stay – lotsa good stuff here! :-)

    • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

      So glad to have you here, Birdy! WordPress is genius – I highly recommend everyone switch over!!

  • http://twitter.com/Sandra_Gulland Sandra Gulland

    Loved the critique, took notes, I’ll be back. I’m on the verge of moving from Blogger to WordPress, a process I’ve been dreading, but am now looking forward to. Thanks!

    Sandra Gulland

    *****
    Website: http://www.sandragulland.com/
    Blog: http://sandragulland.blogspot.com/

    • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

      Whooo hooo! Do it! Seriously, you WILL not regret it.

  • Jessica Lawlor

    So I know you posted this months and months ago, but I starred it because I was interested in your feedback to a fellow book blogger. All really good advice, but wanted to share my opinion on something I disagreed with in regards to the google friend connect followers. For some reason, this is HUGE in the book blogging world. I personally don’t read blogs through GFC, but I have it on my site because I know a ton of book bloggers do. Also, I’m pretty sure this is one way publishers decide who they are going to send out review copies too. Sometimes it’s important for book bloggers to be transparent about their numbers in order to help a publisher find the info they need quickly. Like you said, it doesn’t like good that she only has like 13 followers, but everyone has to start somewhere :-/ If I were her, I’d be commenting galore on other book blogs to help build those relationships. Just my two cents :) Hope all is well!

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