Six Years of Moxie!

It’s hard to believe sometimes that it was six years ago tomorrow that Kathy and I started Moxie Design Studios. Or rather, it was Blog Moxie back then, for those who might remember.

Kathy and I were introduced online via a mutual friend near the end of January in 2003 and within two weeks, she’d asked me to join her in creating blog designs.  At the time, there were only two or three other blog designers in the marketplace, believe it or not!  Shortly after we opened our doors, the business started flooding in.  We soon realized we had a marketable style… something that was beyond simple boxes of text and a photo of a celebrity in the banner.

We were among the first, if not the first, to create heavily-themed blog designs, utilize more graphics and “flair” and generally went against the grain, creatively. Before long, we had hundreds of clients and a design from the Moxie Girls became almost like a fabulous piece of jewelry or a trendy bag: something to be coveted.  You couldn’t turn a corner without seeing one of our designs, especially on the blogs of terribly chic women.  ;-)

Eventually, due to the explosion of blogging and a high demand, more talented blog designers have appeared in the market. We couldn’t be more pleased to see more professionals in this area. (There’s definitely work for everyone!)  While we are not often credited with being pioneers in this industry, as among the first, we stand firm that Moxie Design Studios wouldn’t be what it is today and that blog design might not have taken the direction it has had we not participated in it’s growth.

Within three years, we were one of the most well-known design teams in our market.  We’d been approached by a major publisher, Wiley & Sons, to write the lead book in a new series they were creating and our first book, The IT Girl’s Guide to Blogging with Moxie hit the stores in late 2007. Speaking engagements, interviews and signings soon followed and we’ve had such great opportunities that are both fortuitous and well worked for.

We don’t often toot our own horn quite this loudly, but we are so very proud of our little firm and of each other for creating a successful something from nothing. And with the help of some fantastic folks along the way — talented colleagues, wonderful clients and supportive friends alike — Kathy and I have a thriving business that we take incredible pride in.

Kathy and I love what we do and we hope that it reflects in our work.  We look forward to continuing to create unique blog and website designs for many years to come and look forward to working with you, too! 

Thank you, everyone (and we do mean everyone) for six amazing, crazy, hilarious, manic, wonderful, wonderful years!  Now let’s make it ten. :cheese:

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Kathy Featured on Healthy Child, Healthy World

For those who don’t know, Kathy is the founder and editor of SafeMama.com, along with her general fabulousness here at Moxie. She was recently published on HealthyChild.org with an article about becoming a “green” mom and living a healthier, eco-friendly lifestyle.

It’s a really well-written article — I’m very proud!  I grumbled when I discovered my favorite conditioner could give me a tumor (ok, maybe a *little* tumor… a tumorlette, perhaps), but Kathy’s foray into green living for her family has impacted me as well. I pay more attention to those sorts of things and think, “WWKD?”  :cheese:  (She might throw something non-toxic at me for that.)

As I am currently bambino-free, I tend to frequent Safemama’s sister site, Lovely SafeMama, which features eco-friendly, health-conscious, natural beauty products.  So I better go find another conditioner…

Read Kathy’s article here!

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BlogCoach.org Interviews The Moxie Girls!

We had the pleasure of being interviewed by Angie, editor of BlogCoach.org this week.  They’re also having a book giveaway: one free copy of our book, The IT Girl’s Guide to Blogging with Moxie (and a cocktail shaker, too!).  Simply read the interview, then join the BlogCoach Community if you haven’t already and leave a comment on their “Giveaways” board by next Tuesday.

Thanks for the spotlight, Angie!  :cheese:

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Full o’ BBQ and Business Cards

We certainly had a good time at SXSW Interactive this year. We had an opportunity to chat and network with many of our colleagues, as well a chance to promote our book, The IT Girl’s Guide to Blogging with Moxie. Our reading went very well and the signing was such a great chance to meet new people and put some faces to the many names we encounter online.

We also had a chance to meet the team at Ellis Lab, the folks behind our favorite content management system, Expression Engine.  They are such a wonderful group of people and while we loved EE before, seeing what they have in store for their new release of Expression Engine and how passionate they are about their product and their users makes us want to become EEvangelists!

Our interview with BlogTalk Radio went smashingly!  We really enjoyed chatting with John Haven and look forward to working with BlogTalk Radio again soon.  You can listen to our interview by clicking that little player or following this link.

We’re starting to review the very beautiful flutter of questionnaires we received in late January and throughout February.  Kathy and I will respond in the order in which they were received and will do our best to get back to you as quickly as we can.  Kathy’s been feeling under the weather lately, so please be gentle.  :)  We appreciate your patience!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week and a Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

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Have Yourself a Moxie Little Christmas!

It’s that time of year when the bell-ringers are out, the smell of pine trees fills the air and people will cut you for the last Thomas the Train, but it’s also a time for giving. And we think you should give Blogging with Moxie for the holidays this year.  We’re very subtle like that.  ;)

We also have some great announcements!  We’ve received wonderful reviews on Amazon and the book has been doing steadily well!  The fine folks at Expression Engine offered up an adorable video review for their readers and several bloggers have shared their thoughts both on Amazon and on their personal blogs.  Our publicist CJ has also beenbusily pimping us (we love her!) and on December 19th in the evening, Kathy and I will be appearing on the Derek & Romaine Show on Sirius Channel 109.  Tune in and listen!  We’ll also try to get a transcript or a recording of the interview to post here, as well.

HOLIDAY HOURS: For the holidays and because we are working diligently to roll out many new internal projects we’ve been working on before the New Year, we will be CLOSED from December 19th - January 2nd. We really need these two weeks for administrative and year-end wrap-up, and like you, we wish to spend time with our loved ones for the holidays. We appreciate your consideration and will respond to inquires sent during that time on our return in the order in which they were received.

We are booking for the first quarter of 2008 right now and we’re wading through a stack of inquiries that came in over the last week or so. January is almost booked solid for me, though Kathy may still have some openings. We will also be out of the office March 6-10 for SXSW Interactive in Austin, TX. — just a heads up. Our schedules fill up fast and we are doing our best to respond to all of the requests in our inbox as quickly as possible.  :cheese:  We didn’t forget you!

If you are interested in having us design your blog or small business website, please fill out a Design Questionnaire. If you submit a request for a quote without completing a questionnaire, you will just receive an email from us asking you to please fill it out, so if you’re serious about working with us, please take a few moments to fill that out… yes, even the bit about the budget and timeline. Thanks!

I hope everyone has a wonderful, safe and joyous holiday season. :)

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