I just got back from spending a day and a half with ten of the top Mom and Product Review bloggers, which was amazing. The only downside to going to blogger events is I always leave wishing I had more time to just sit and pick everyone’s brain for their best blogging tips. On this trip, I brainstormed ways to elevate myself to the next level of blogging (meaning, getting paid to share my expertise and help companies improve their online presence),  picked up tips on how to potentially find corporate sponsors to pay for my trip to BlogHer this summer, and discussed how to manage running multiple blogs without going crazy. And that was just in the few minutes we had between activities!

One thing that has been poking at my brain since I got back is the need for this site to look as professional as possible. If I’m going to position myself as a professional blogger, I need a professional looking website. The problem I have is, I don’t want to have to actually pay someone else, I want to do it myself. The problem is, I have almost zero design skills. I can throw together a 125×125 giveaway badge, but something that’s going to be right at the top of the site? Not so much.

As you can see now, I went from the header that was just my daughter’s eyes to a header with photos of all of us, and I’m not sure it was the right decision. Obviously, all the companies that have come here and decided to offer me products to review and give away saw the original header and weren’t turned off by it, so why can’t I just leave it be? Because of that feeling. That feeling in my gut when I look at it and say it’s just not quite perfect yet.

So I’m taking notes on sites I come across that have designs I like, and what I like about them, and whether I could duplicate that look myself using free tools like Picnik.  I’d really appreciate reader feedback on this- keeping in mind that I’m always going to have the image of my daughter’s eyes peeking through the box somewhere in the header, what else would say “I’m reading MomReviews” to you?