By guest contributor Michelle Edgemont. Photography by Rupert Ganzer.

You’ve made connections with professional bloggers who want to collaborate with you and your business. Congratulations!

As a small business owner, it’s important that your message stays as clear on other blogs as it is on your own blog. Your goal is to target your dream clients and grow your business. At the same time, the professional blogger also needs to keep their posts relevant to their loyal readers, who expect a certain style and aesthetic. Here are four tips to keep your voice true on other blogs, while catering to their readers:

1) Collaborate in a field similar to yours
Make sure that the blogs you’ve decided to search out and collaborate with are a similar aesthetic to your business. If you run a company that designs vintage inspired packaging for beauty products, you wouldn’t want to collaborate with a blog that focuses on modern design. If you sell avant-garde cocktail dresses, you wouldn’t want to write a post for a blog that has a rustic look. If you offer high end goods or services, a blog that caterers to DIY-ers might not be a good fit.

By guest contributor Ciera Holzenthal. Photography by Lolly Knit.

Social media is getting more and more visual, and Pinterest is a great example of this. If you take a little time to make your blog Pinterest friendly, it can end up being your number one traffic source. Here are a few tips for using Pinterest to grow your blog:

Create pin-friendly content

A beautiful blog encourages more pinning. Photos that are graphic, colorful, detailed, and vertical tend to show up best in a Pinterest feed. If you don’t have time to include multiple photos in a post, you should have at least one picture that is pin-worthy. Consider revisiting old posts by adding or updating your image. Remember, Pinterest will automatically use your photo’s title as the caption for the pin, so give it a good one!

Make it easy for pinners to pin from your site

Create a pin button at the bottom of each post. If you need help with this, Pinterest has directions for this on their site. There are also multiple plugins out there that allow you to write the description and choose a photo that will automatically appear when people click the “pin it” button.

Pin your own stuff

It’s actually okay to pin your own posts, especially when it is original content. Pinterest only asks that you not use Pinterest JUST for self-promotion. Pin posts you’re proud of, and get yourself noticed. Just remember, not every post is pin-worthy. Posts that are not visually interesting won’t do well on Pinterest.

By Sara Urquhart. Photography of Alt SF dinner.

What do you look for in sponsors? If it’s just money, that’s easy: find sponsors that will pay your price. (We could, though, have a stand-alone post on not undervaluing your time and resources. If you undervalue yourself, sponsors will be trained to do the same).

Likely, though, along with the right price, you’re looking for more. For example, you might be looking for sponsors that support your values and your vision. And, because you want to deliver the goods, you likely are looking for sponsors that will work with you to define the goals of the campaign and will develop metrics to see if the goals are achieved. And, because we are constantly learning, you would do well to work with sponsors that provide feedback to let you know what you did well and where you could have done better. And, life being short, you’re probably looking for sponsors that are enjoyable to work with.

So, what to do, if a potential sponsor falls short on issues like money, compatibility, clarity, feedback, and enjoyment? First, of course, you negotiate.

By guest contributor Lexy Ward. Photography by Confetti System.

When editing photos, I always try to ask myself, “Is this pin-worthy?” Take a look at Pinterest and get an idea of what people in your industry are pinning. See what people usually pin from your site by going to this url: www.pinterest.com/source/YOURDOMAIN.com. Are the pins usually bright photos in a stand-alone setting? Do they have a filter giving them a vintage feel? Are they clean and simple? Whatever the look, keep it consistent. You want people to recognize your aesthetic when they see it.

Editing photos can seem like a daunting task, if you are unfamiliar with certain programs. It can also feel like a lot of work, if you are unsure of where to start. In our last post on this subject, we talked about Photoshop Elements, and how it is an affordable option to take your photos from good to great. Here are a few tips for Photoshop Elements that might prove useful: