2010 23/01

Proud to Announce the All New, EricaSays.com

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Wow! After more than three months of brainstorming, searching, waiting, planning, and tweaking, here we are, ready to greet the world!

The makeover of EricaSays.com has been a major undertaking, and perhaps one of the most anticipated legs of my online journey. I’ve never been more excited about the future of any of my sites!

I feel like those lucky folks on the Extreme Makeover – Home Edition

The Old Theme was so boring, dark, and stifling. I was almost embarrassed of it. After blogging for five years, and getting mostly nowhere, I knew it was time for a big change!

The New Theme is open and freeing. When I preview a new post on the made-over site I sigh with relief… finally my site is deserving of my content, and of all the amazing people who visit it! Now when you come a-visiting I’ll feel confident swinging the door wide open and inviting you in instead of hiding behind a half-cracked door and wondering, ‘Can they see the mess inside?‘ I’ll also feel more confident about guest blogging on other sites, knowing that when someone clicks thru on that link to my site, they won’t find a trace of the old mess!

Credit Where Credit is Due!

My dreams for this site could not have been made a reality without the amazing work-from-home mom, Julie, of Mason Jar Holdings. This woman took a really crappy picture of me and turned it into the perfect silhouette you see here. Maybe some day I will feel confident enough to show you the original photo… but today, you get Julie’s rendition! (Trust me, it’s much prettier!) You can see the full silhouette on my newly updated Twitter Profile!

Re-branding is about so much more than throwing up a new logo on your WordPress theme… the work that goes into choosing the colors, the words to use, and then updating across the board takes a lot of time and effort!! I’m exhausted, but happy! And, I couldn’t thank my friends enough for all their help, critique, support, and praise along the way!

So, tell me, what do you think of the new layout?

  • mjroberson5

    It looks great, Erica! I love it! :) Congrats!

  • readingtofour

    Congratulations on the fun new look! I like it!

  • http://www.mikeslife.org Mike CJ

    Cool! Looks like we're all at the redesign game at the moment. I like it!

  • justinmatthews

    Site looks great, I can't compare to the old one, but I will be back to read more!
    Justin

  • http://jimijones.com/ Jimi Jones

    Great look with and open space feel to it. Funny, I did not know the story behind the silhouette of course, but I felt all along that it fit you perfectly. Had no idea it was REALLY you. LOL

    Congrats on the makeover, it is a success already.

  • http://twitter.com/TheAppleOfMyEye Courtney Velasquez

    Yay! Looks nice!

  • http://www.integralwebsolutions.co.za/Blog.aspx Robert Bravery

    IT's nice. But can I throw the cat amongst the pigeons I like the older one. To me it was more personal. But then Thats just me. Please do not take it as criticism.
    Thats just the banner.
    For the rest of the site, I think it's perfect.

  • http://ileane.wordpress.com ileane

    Congratulations to you and Julie on a fantastic job! It makes a huge difference to feel comfortable with your blog and this should provide plenty of inspiration. If you are interested in a guest post on Engaging With Ms. Ileane Speaks I would welcome you with open arms. Please say yes.
    @Ileane

  • http://pattyreiser.com Patty Reiser

    The white background gives your space a nice clean feeling. Hope you got all the bugs worked out.

  • http://lifestyledesignforyou.com Gordie

    Really like the Social media buttons that are making use of the megaphones too. Very good for branding. Much lighter and cheerier. Suits your personality. :)

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Thank you MJ! Glad you stopped by and hope to see you here again soon!

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Thank you for the kind words! Do you blog? I'd love to visit you!

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Yes, Mike! I think 2010 goals for many included upping the game on their sites, including their design. New decade, new style! Your site's makeover turned out fantastic… much improved from the old one which I always had a hard time navigating. Didn't Jimi just redo his site too?

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Thanks, Justin! The old one wasn't really bad, just narrow and dark, and very image heavy. It wasn't something I could easily re-work, so I knew eventually I'd have to give it up. I've been craving some good ole white space for some time now!

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Yea, Jimi, I think there were a couple people surprised to find out the image was really me. One person told me the gal looked too young, which wasn't good cause teen-girl bloggers don't get a lot of respect.

    I guess this 25 year old will be glad someday when people guess she's more than a teen, but until then, let's hope this young face doesn't harm my image. haha

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Thank you, Courtney! You've been such a friend through this… listening when I needed an ear, checking things for me, and giving your honest opinion. I love ya!

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Robert, I can see that. Having my picture up top did add a personal flair. I think the theme served it's purpose by associating my face with the name. I just got to a point where branding became important… what to put on business cards, Twitter profile, etc? I'm a fairly shy person my nature, and while I don't wish to hide, handing out things with a big picture of myself has never been my style. haha The silhouette is me, without looking like I've made my own baseball card….

    And, my face will still be on everything I do, just not the main focus.

    Thanks for the thoughts! I have a lot of respect for you, Robert, and am glad to call you a friend!

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Oh, Ileane, I would be honored! I've actually promised a guest post to Patty in February… I can try and do one for each of you, but no promises; I've got a big conference in Feb. So, it may have to be March, but I'll be there!!

    I can't wait to see your banners out and about on the web!

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Thanks, Patty! Yes, the bugs were a real bummer, but I think they're worked out now. Crazy plugins were messing up the front end, and I think the backend too! Once I got rid of a few, the problems seemed to go away. Weird thing is, they were well respected plugins, and some of them I'd been using for ages. I guess ya just never know!

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Ah, Thanks, Gordie! You noticed :-) The megaphones were part of the reason I was NOT wanting to give up the megaphone idea… I'd already pictured my icons and other items in my head and knew I couldn't do the same thing with speech bubbles. :-)

    Cheery, that's me! :-)

  • http://ileane.wordpress.com ileane

    Erica, there is no pressure. I know that it's hard to keep up with your own blog let alone post on another sometimes. I plan to write a post to announce the new banners, but they are up on the blog now on the sidebar, about page and podcast index.

    http:bloggingwire.com/podcast

    Cheers!

  • readingtofour

    Yes, I do. I have two very different blogs. A niche blog: http://beautifulblogdesigns.com and a personal blog: http://justmovingforward.wordpress.com.

    I will be back later to see more of your new site and where I can link to it at BBD.

  • http://twitter.com/multitaskingme Melissa Smallwood

    Looks great!!

  • http://www.integralwebsolutions.co.za/Blog.aspx Robert Bravery

    I understand completely. Handing your photograph out on a business card takes some doing. Branding is important. Well done on the design anyway, I do like it. With more information, I can now understand the path you took in the redesign.

    Keep up the good work.

  • http://topsy.com/tb/bit.ly/6Hepj9 Tweets that mention Erica Says » Proud to Announce the All New, EricaSays.com — Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Erica Mueller, Erica Mueller, Eric, Jordan Cooper, Justin Matthews and others. Justin Matthews said: RT @EricaMueller Proud to Announce the All New, EricaSays.com http://bit.ly/5cihfK [...]

  • http://web2andmore.net Kevin Tea

    Erica, congrats on getting it completed. Love the themed mini bullhorn buttons. You're shaming me into doing something with mine. Good to see the swollen Adam's apple is getting better :-)

  • http://ww.famousbloggers.net Hesham @ FamousBloggers

    Now you have turned your blog to an Awesome Blog! enjoy blogging.

  • http://zemalf.com/ Antti Kokkonen

    Great new look on the blog Erica!

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Thank you, Antti!

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    haha. Yes, I wrote Julie and told her about the adam's apple. She fixed it right away! I think it looks much better now. :-)

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    What are you planning to do with your site, Kevin? Seems like you have a decent theme/layout. You just looking to get a logo and do some branding?

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Thanks, Melissa! Now you can see why I have been MIA. haha

  • http://web2andmore.net Kevin Tea

    It needs a decent header graphic. My son was supposed to be doing one for me – he's a computer graphics animator – but he's very busy and hasn't got round to it.

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Amanda, your sites are beautiful! I could hardly believe they are on Blogger! :-) You've done a beautiful job with them!

    And, what a cool niche to pick!!

  • http://techthinker.com/ Aaron

    Looks very unique. The pervious design was too much of blue. The new design looks very cool. Great Work!

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Thank you, Aaron!

    Yes, I have a weak spot for blues… Always tempted to use several shades, with grays. My favorite combo for web stuff. But, it was time for a change!

  • pricousins

    Love it Erica!

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Thanks, Girl!! I'm lovin' it too!

    You going to BlissDom?

  • http://ericasays.com EricaMueller

    Thanks, Girl!! I'm lovin' it too!

    You going to BlissDom?

  • http://basicblogtips.com/branding-the-podcast-blog.html Brand Building for Blogs and Podcasts | Basic Blog Tips

    [...] in 3 sizes. Erica also introduced new branding for her site just recently and talks about it in Proud to Announce The New Erica Says. Thanks again [...]

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