Talk to me about CTing.

[ChristineF]

Now that I'm only a few weeks away from my guest CT with Kristin I'm curious about how it all works. I mean I know how it works, but I've always been a planner and prefer to know as much as possible about something before I start. So any tips, tricks, advice and information you can share with me would be awesome!

[staciahall]

Let's see if I can help a little.

Generally, the designer will give you access to some sort of guest forum, could be a Facebook group, could be a private forum.

Most will give you a heads up at some point during the week what you might expect to see.

You'll usually get download links to the product and they'll let you know what their deadline is for their newsletter, etc and how they would like to receive the layout. Might be a photobucket link, uploading to a shared Dropbox folder or even emailing to the designer.

Does that help a little?

[staciahall]

As for timing, It really depends on how everyone's week is going and what type of products they will be releasing, either a solo product or a collaboration with someone else. There are times when the turnaround time to get a layout ready might be fairly short but it really all depends...

[YepBrook]

Grab stuff, scrap with it. Do your best to show off the product. Be trustworthy & dependable... don't share files, and keep info from the designer's forum confidential. Be consistent and try to get layouts done before the store goes live. Communicate if you are having trouble using a kit, or are sick and need a week off for some reason. Try to boost the designer's business by sharing your layouts online in galleries, FB, Pinterest, etc.

That's the basics!

[ChristineF]

That does help Stacia. Thank you!

[anelia]

Christine, I've been into a few CTs and I believe Stacia explained it pretty well.
What I personally used to do was go out of my comfort "scrapping" zone when it came to creating a CT page because I believe the main purpose of a CT page is to show the product at its best. Amazing CT pages + a great product preview is a winning combination I always appreciate sample pages because it makes me decide whether I could work with the kit or not.
I'm sure you'll be fine and will enjoy it

[ChristineF]

That's a good idea about the outside my comfort zone.

[ashersmommy]

I agree with going out of your comfort zone. Also, I like to showcase the different ways the kits could be used. For example, a "girly" kit can usually still be used for boys or a summer kit used for a cold weather pic. It all depends on what is in the kit of course, but I'm sure the designers would also like to show that their designs are versatile.

[kristijoy]

Sounds like fun! Enjoy your guest spot!