Monday, May 23, 2011

Knock-Off Party This Thursday, and a Plea

 

Don’t forget that my next Knock-Off party is this Thursday, May 26.  I’ve also changed the rules…starting this month, you can link up with your knock-off of any home décor catalog.

I’d also like to mention a little bit about party etiquette.  It has become very popular for bloggers to just put a “here’s where I party” link in their post.  I’d like to point out that this is not ideal for the hostess or the other participants of the party.  Most people probably will not click over at all, and if they do, they may not know which party this particular post is linked to.  That means that they cannot click over to the hostess’ blog and see the other entries.  That means less traffic for the hostess, for the other participants, and ultimately for you (if everyone uses that method).  Your link will stay in my post forever (in blog terms) so you could potentially get traffic from my party post for a long time.  Please be considerate and return the favor.  It’s awesome if you use my button, but it’s okay if you just put a text link in the post.  If you like, just copy and paste the following:

Partying at Homebody

 

Can’t wait to see your knock-offs!

 

Full party rules:

  1. Your knock-off can be inspired by any home decor catalog, such as Pottery Barn, Ballard Designs,  Restoration Hardware, West Elm, Crate and Barrel, Anthropologie, etc. 
  2. your knock-off entry must be made by you
  3. you must include a picture of the original item from the catalog so we can compare
  4. it’s perfectly fine to knock-off something that they don’t sell anymore, or something that you see styled in the catalog or store but isn’t actually for sale.  But, in either case, I would like you to have a photo of the original item, either scanned in from an old catalog, or a photo you took in the store.
  5. it must be a specific comparable item, like my lamp shade
  6. I don’t want something totally unique that you made that you think has "the look”; that’s awesome, but it’s doesn’t fit this party.
  7. Items which have "the look", but were purchased at a different store for less money and required no alterations from you also do not fit the party
  8. you must link back to me in your post, preferably using my button code, which you can get in my right side column
  9. it’s okay to use an old post that fits the party guidelines, just edit your post to add my link.

7 comments:

Kristin @ Yellow Bliss Road said...

Thanks for the post...this is something I struggle with as a "partier." I want to join in, but don't always want to clutter up my post with tons of links, and sometimes, I just link up real quick because I don't have a lot of time. You make a valid point that if everyone looks at it that way, eventually no one gets the traffic. Guess I was being a little selfish. I do have buttons in my sidebar, however, but I think maybe I just need to have an ongoing list and include them in the post as well. It's easy to just copy and paste the whole list!

Glad you and your family are safe from the storms!!

Holly said...

Kristin, I don't think anybody is trying to be selfish...I hope it didn't come off that way!

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kelsey said...

I can't wait to link up to this party!! I have a couple good ones (well i think so anyways) LOL. I'll be sure to link directly to your party in the posts! See ya Thursday!

Holly said...

Amanda, the link I had for people to copy and paste is a link to my Knock-Off category. Still not ideal, but better than just my homepage.
The other thing I've noticed is that people can have their post linked up to ten or twelve parties, and still only have 6 or 7 comments. Obviously they are getting very little traffic with that method if they don't even have one comment per party!

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

I deleted my cranky-pants comment. I just wish that party participants would follow some basic blogging etiquette by correctly linking back to each blog party they join. :s

Richella Parham said...

Hey Holly--so glad you're safe from the storms! What an awful spring this has been in tornado terms.

I WISH I had something to add to your party. Alas, I've hardly gotten anything done around the house lately. Still, it'll be fun to see what others bring to the party. And I'm glad you said something about links. . . blog parties should be a win-win for both hostess and party-goers! I'm guessing that many people just don't understand that hostesses go to a good deal of trouble to hold parties. You did a good job of making it clear why it's good for everyone if people link back. This post of yours reminds me of Amanda's series on blog commenting--she explains why it's good for everyone involved. There are so many bloggers now; some of these things just need to be stated clearly. Good for you. :)