Help Wanted: Expanding the Team!

I have some exciting news - I am looking for one or two new interns to add to the Jenny Komenda Interiors/LGN team!



There are some really, seriously exciting things happening right now. I've been so grateful for the ad hoc group of helpers I've had this year and I'm sad to be losing some who are going away to school. 2012 is going to be a big year, and I'm hoping to find an intern or two who wants to stick it out with me for a few months this fall. The intern positions are unpaid in the beginning, but I'm expecting to be able to take on some full time employees around the new year. There will be lots of perks in the meantime, I promise!



**If you've already emailed me in the past year or so about interning, please feel free to email me again. Thanks!**



Here is my ideal candidate (and I expect to be pretty firm on all of these):

1. Lives in NYC and knows how to get around the city by themselves. (Bonus points for smart phone users. I <3 google maps.)

2. Hours: 9 am - 3 pm, but most importantly 12-3 pm. Days can be flexible, but I'm hoping for at least three days a week, if not five.

3. Comfortable with computers and general office technology. MAJOR points if you're already a blogger or know HTML.

4. A deep love of interior design. If you don't absolutely drink up design blogs and shelter mags, no need to apply.

5. Basic DIY skills (like painting) and a willingness to use them often!!

6. A positive attitude and a good sense of humor. This job can be hectic and I need someone who can let all the crazy roll right off!

7. Must be willing to be photographed and filmed.



If you feel like you'd be a good fit for the team, please email me your resume (and any other info you'd like to include) to jenny at jennykomenda dot com.



Thank you!! xx



P.S. One job perk is getting to see my little angel baby Evie every now and then. Pretty awesome indeed.

PPS On an unrelated note, have you ever seen anything as cute as these toothbrushes I wrote about today on Babble? It's all in the details!

Have a great weekend! xoxo

Blogging as a Career

I get a lot of questions about the business of blogging. I've posted about my thoughts on growing blog traffic here, but I thought it might be a good idea to talk about advertising. It seems like it's the elephant in the room with the blogging community lately and I always feel better when I am open and honest. So bear with me here.

In this post on Cup of Jo, I mentioned that a year or two ago my blog transitioned from a hobby into a paying job. I think at the time I had about 250,000 monthly page views (just in case you're a fellow blogger and wanting a reference point). I noticed about then that I was spending 20-40 hours a week working on my blog. Every day I would get 100-200 emails. I get more now. Some are press releases or ridiculous, basically spam emails. But many require responses. The time to read and respond to even a quick email really adds up.

Then there's the actual posting. As you fellow bloggers know, even the simplest posts take about an hour to put together -- Editing and uploading the photos takes the most time. Linking takes a while. And then writing the copy can be really time consuming. The longer posts require 3-6 hours of work just to put together - not counting the time to actually do the project or photograph the room, etc. Crazy, right?

I hope to not come across as defensive or like I'm complaining. I'm just trying to keep it real. Seriously, I really, really love my job. I'm so grateful to you readers and the support you guys give me and my family. Every now and then I get a nasty commenter, but for the most part, you guys are only ridiculously sweet and supportive. Virtual hearts!

All this to say that there is usually sort of a turning point when a blogger can start to feel like what they have is more like a business and less like a hobby. For some, this is when the sparkle of blogging starts to fade because it is easy to get caught in the weeds of the business/administrative side of things. I don't think this is a job a person can do unless they are passionate about the subject matter. That said, it can get hard to dedicate the time necessary to maintain something that's just a hobby. Eventually it needs to make financial sense too.

A couple years ago, I started using Google Adsense as a way to offset the cost of blogging - both in terms of time and the expense of the projects I was posting about. Adsense is a free service that is open to any blogger. Though I think they suggest waiting to add the program to your site until you're getting about 10,000 page views a month (I suggest using Google Analytics for traffic tracking). Adsense pays based on traffic and ad clicks. I did Adsense for a couple years and I also accepted (still accept!!) private sponsors, who advertise with the banners in the column to the right.

Earlier this year I was signed by Federated Media, which I was thrilled about. FM is an amazing ad network run by creative, thoughtful people. It had been a dream of mine to work with FM and I'm giddy that I can call myself one of their authors.

FM now manages the ads that you see on my site (excluding the private, small business ads previously mentioned). Also, I recently decided that I am going to try out hosting sponsored posts on LGN. I like to think of a sponsored post as a lot like a commercial. Some of them will be posts that I write, others might be something written by the sponsor.

This has been a tough choice. I am not making a fortune off of my site. I'm sure I'd make a better living if I spent all my time decorating. I keep blogging though because I think it will continue to provide me with good opportunities in the future, but most of all because I love blogging and I love my readers.

Have you been sensing how fast and furious the blog industry is growing? It's really fascinating to me. I've been watching, like you have too, I'm sure, as bloggers have begun to really capitalize on the success of their blogs. I think that some bloggers are handling it *just right*. Sometimes I feel like others might be acting a little sneaky with how they're monetizing their blogs. I worry those few bloggers in the minority are giving the rest a bad rap and making some readers annoyed whenever they see an ad. Me, personally, as a reader, I get it. We all need to make a living and I don't hold that against anyone else. But, me as a blog author, I never, ever, ever want money-making opportunities to overshadow the genuine, hard work I put into this site.

I know not everyone will love seeing these occasional "commercials" but here's what I can promise:

1) I will do my best to keep sponsored posts to a minimum. I'm anticipating only one or two a month.

2) On the very few days that a sponsored post goes up where the content is not mine, I will also be posting a regular content post and I'll try to make it extra good!

3) The words "SPONSORED POST" will be at the top of each of these posts, making it easy to skip past if you're not interested.

4) I am hand-selecting each of my sponsors. I promise to continue to work only with companies that I like and want to support. Not all of them will be design-related companies, but most will. They really will look and feel like commercials.

So there it is. It's not an easy subject to discuss - money and advertising. But after some consideration, I decided it was worth sharing with you lovely, thoughtful readers. Tomorrow my first sponsored post will go live. Thank you in advance for your support with this. I promise to give you lots of the good stuff in return.

xoxox
Jenny

PS Also tomorrow, look forward to a post on making too-small art fit beautifully in large frames!

PPS There has been some further clarification in the comments section, so feel free to read my answers there and ask more questions if you have them. Thanks!

Decorator Yellow Pages

There are some exciting developments happening with LGN and my decorating business this year. I appreciate all the leeway you readers give me, understanding that it is tricky to write a blog, run a decorating business, and raise three young children in the city.

I feel so flattered when people email and ask to be put on my waiting list as a decorating client. Fortunately and unfortunately, I am beyond overbooked, and because of the exciting developments I just mentioned, I'm keeping the decorating business on the smaller side for now. It was a tough decision, but I feel good about it.

I feel really bad every day when I have to turn down new clients. Then recently I realized that many of my readers are decorators trying to get their name out in to the market. There is more than enough business to go around. I liked the idea of this post, where readers were able to share their favorite fabric stores around the nation. And I thought it might be helpful to start a similar type post that acts sort of like a decorator yellow pages.

If you own a decorating or interior design business, or you are new and want to start taking on clients, feel free to post a comment here with the following information:

*Please include all of the below information in your comment submission. Incomplete postings will be deleted. You might want to copy/paste the list below into your comment as a guide*

Business Name
City and State
Blog/Website
Contact info (phone or email)
Experience (years in the business, degrees, licenses, etc)
Fee range (you can put your actual billing fees here if you want, or maybe say 'Budget decorator' or 'High-end decorator')
eDecorating and/or local clients preferred?
Any other info you'd like to share about your business (like, 'I don't do kitchens or renos or whatever'). Feel free to also include a little blurb about your preferred style, like 'Modern' or 'Traditional' or 'Eclectic' etc.

I'm hoping this can be a good resource for people with all sorts of styles and budgets, who want help making their homes more beautiful.

And for some image inspiration, here are some of my favorite office spaces for designers:

Design Offices of Suzanne Kasler, as featured in Atlanta Homes


Martha Stewart Living


Office of Anna Spiro, Absolutely Beautiful Things


Alessandra Branca Designs


Rethink Design Studios


Michelle Adams, Rubie Green


Design Offices of Betsy Burnham, Lonny

Design Library of Bunny Williams, Lonny

Unknown?

Melissa Warner, House Beautiful