like this one!
If you hadn’t noticed from the recent posts on my blog bearing the familiar red patch, I’ve found myself totally engaged in Yeah Write these past few days. The weekly challenges give me a community of writers to get feedback from and offer feedback to, and the challenges posed in 31 Days to a Better Blog have left me with a cleaner design, a more reader-centered approach and something called a sneeze page. But because I hopped on the bandwagon a little late I missed one of the most important challenges: Day One: Writing an Elevator Pitch for Your Blog.
Somehow it didn’t seem right for me to (belatedly) type out my elevator pitch in a Word document where it would sit for all of eternity unread and unloved. It only seemed fair that I share it with you and get some good ole fashioned feedback. So spare no feelings and tell me what you think!
The. Penniless. Traveler. Let’s work from back to front here. First things first, I’m a traveler. I write about the places I’ve been, the things I’ve seen and the adventures that lie ahead of me. I make lists of my favorite sights and sounds from my destinations and record my journeys as they happen: real time. Second, I’m penniless. This adjective comes with me for a few reasons: (1) as a poor college student my money evaporates into thin air, (2) I’m cheap and can’t justify spending more than $50 on anything and (3) because most of the time the free nooks and crannies of the world are more of an adventure anyway. Which brings me to “the.” “The” is the writer in me, the storyteller. “The” precedes the greatest book titles of our time, it adds weight and significance, it gives the seemingly meaningless immediate importance (THE Hobbit, THE Count of Monte Cristo, THE Great Gatsby…need I go on?) “The” is a tribute to the importance of the little things–the seemingly ordinary, the quirky, the out-of-place. The Penniless Traveler is all of those things shoved into a suitcase and coerced shut as I balance precariously on top of it. It’s me as I muddle my way through the muck of my twenties and hopefully sometimes it’s you too.
And in the spirit of reevaluation, rebirth and all-around newness, I asked my sister to draw a cartoon for my blog. I admit, I’ve always been a little envious of Unbrave Girl‘s fabulous cape and Making It Anywhere‘s cartoon tea cup so when my sister turned out to be an incredible artist I had to ask. And here’s how it turned out. (I feel like a modern day Dorothy!)
If you’re interested in a cartoon of your own, feel free to shoot me an email at thepennilesstraveler(at)yahoo.com and I’ll pass it along to her. In the meantime, let me know what you think about all of the newness!
Home&Away 
Adorable illustration Rachel! Elevator pitch is looking good. I wonder if you could use a word other than “painstakingly” to describe how it’s snapped shut? As I was reading I almost read it as painfully snapped shut.. You can ignore me if this is too blunt.. 😛
Great tip! You’re right, that’s not really the image I was going for anyway…off to fix it now. Glad you enjoyed the illustration =) Thanks for stopping by!
Love the illustration. I’m a new visitor so I can’t comment on the old versus new concept look. I can say I do like this look and feel of the blog. My favorite part of your pitch is when you’re describing using ‘The’. I recently seen The Great Gatsby in theater, and I found myself nodding my head yes with your recognition of ‘The’ being a grand introduction. This is actually something I wouldn’t have thought about, then once reading it, found it so true. I didn’t see the word painstakingly used, but I do agree coerced sounds very good. It almost seems the tan background should be a step up in color, only because when I think of traveling, I think of bright colors and horizons.
This feedback has been so helpful! I was a little unsure about whether the explanation of “the” was clear or interesting enough and I’m glad to hear it resonated with you. I will take the design feedback to heart too, I agree the color is a little duller than it could be. When I return home to my computer I’ll give it another look. Thanks!
I think the new design- I’ve been saying to my husband for the last couple of weeks that I want to create a button or identifiable image for my blog- we just need to sit down and do it already! Your cartoon is super cute!
Love the elevator pitch, another inspiring idea. You’re making me think about explaining my blog name and how it relates to what I actually blog *about* (originally, it was mostly food-related). You explain each word of your name so well! I love this part particularly: “the seemingly ordinary, the quirky, the out-of-place”. Well done!
The only thing that I look twice at is “…into a suitcase and coerced shut”. I’m not sure if coerced is the right word for that sentence? If you mean it’s happening against the suitcase’s will, then it does work. Okay (SERIOUSLY being a nerd here, but I’m embracing it), one of the definitions on dictionary.com says “to bring about through the use of force”- so it’s good! 🙂
In conclusion: I love what you’ve been writing lately. Love your cartoon and your elevator pitch. Thank you for inspiring me to do something similar!
Glad you like the illustration and pitch!! I do think I need to give that sentence another look…the word doesn’t seem quite right yet. I can’t wait to read your elevator pitch soon 🙂