Hi all,

Got incredibly sidetracked yesterday and missed day 4 my 31dbb process. Will get back to it today.  Talk soon.

Mike

Originally posted 2009-07-31 08:29:31. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Whoops is a post from: Thesis Theme Revue

• "Advanced Sidebar Widget Styling for Thesis" http://hub.tm/?IEzTc #

Originally posted 2009-07-11 12:00:00. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Links and Ideas for 2009-07-11 . Hope you like them. Let me know! is a post from: Thesis Theme Revue

Day Something of 31DBB

photo credit: jmhullot

How do you get people to read your blog? Or listen to it? Or even look at the pictures?

Back to playing around with 31DBBB, after schlunking around in a funk for a week.  But that’s another story.

What are some great ways to get traffic to your blog?

Relatively new to the game, I decided to look around the web for ideas.  Here are some of the best I have come up with.

• Connect, connect, connect.

• After looking at a lot of twentysome ways to get traffic to your blog, one of the most common is simply to both read other blogs and make relevant comments on them.  In the short time I’ve been blogging (less than a year) I have noticed that many of the unique visitors come from being listed as a commenter on other blogs.  Important Point: The key words here, in my less than humble opinion, are “relevant comments.”  I don’t think it matters if you are giving feedback or criticism, the key is not to say, “Great post, Joe, I think I will subscribe.”

• Be yourself, write as yourself, be honest -
  • even when you are writing fictional pieces.  Even if what you are writing is all about BS, be honest in your BS.

  Charisma is a valuable quality, both online and off. Through a blog, it’s most often judged by the voice you present to your users. People like empathy, compassion, authority and honesty. Keep these in the forefront of your mind when writing and you’ll be in a good position to succeed. It’s also critical that you maintain a level of humility in your blogging and stick to your roots. When users start to feel that a blog is taking itself too seriously or losing the characteristics that made it unique, they start to seek new places for content. SEOMoz

• Write, video, pod about what you want to write about.
  • In doing so, be timely, be relevant, give it your own slant.  If people are reading you blog, they are reading you.  Make sure you are in there.
  • In any relationship, if both people think exactly the same thing, one of them isn’t necessary.

• Cover Topics that Need Attention

  In every niche, there are certain topics and questions that are frequently asked or pondered, but rarely have definitive answers. While this recommendation applies to nearly every content-based site, it’s particularly easy to leverage with a blog. If everyone in the online Nascar forums is wondering about the components and cost of an average Nascar vehicle – give it to them. If the online stock trading industry is rife with questions about the best performing stocks after a terrorist threat, your path is clear. Spend the time and effort to research, document and deliver and you’re virtually guaranteed link-worthy content that will attract new visitors and subscribers. SEOMoz

• Get to Know Your Readers
  • Once you start getting some readers or subscribers, then begin to develop a relationship with them. This from a blog that drives right through my alley and pulls up by my house – Idiot’s Guide to Blogging –
    

  Get to know your readers, and allow them to get to know you as well. Building a strong connection with your audience is very important, because when a blogger develops a bond with his or her readers, they are much more inclined to recommend your blog to others.

The Curious

Here’s one that is new to me.  I have seen blog carnivals, but guess I didn’t really know what they were.

Originally posted 2009-08-12 10:52:18. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Blog It and They Will Come: The Good, The Curious, and The Unusual is a post from: Thesis Theme Revue

Have you thought about who you want to connect with on Twitter?

Many folks out there have a general idea what Twitter is and means.  The general consensus about Twitter – it’s many things to many people.

Twitip Blog asks the paramount question of Twitter users in this post -

What is Twitter (to you)?

Is it something to keep up with friends and family?

Is is a newfangled computer thingy that can help you make new friends, maybe even family?

What is Twitter for You? Tool, toy, novelty?  If Twitter is something you use, this is a question to ponder.

Or maybe you don’t use it at all.

If, for you , it is a tool, read on.

Whatever it is, it is personal.

Maybe you’ve gotten the Tweet — “Get a Zillion Followers Today.  Honest.  No Kidding”

I bit on one of the many “Get 300 New Followers Today” contrivances available.  You have probably gotten the tweet, maybe from someone you know or at least, someone who seems to know you.  After signing up, I did get new followers.

I wasn’t looking for 20 or 30 new followers every day who could tell me how to get rich.  I am an absolute beginner at this whole blogging thing, having done is for less than a year now.  I do know this.  Just like those folks mentioned above who know how to get rich, I want followers on Twitter and I want new readers for my blogs that have a shred interest in what I write about.

Don’t get me wrong, my goal is to do this whole blogging thing as a profession.  Part of that is marketing.  And I think Twitter, along with blogging itself, is one of the best marketing tools ever.

And to do this professionally means having a market and making money.  I have no qualms about that.

And Twitter is fun.  It is a great learning and teaching tool.

So, I use Twitter for multiple purposes. For fun, for marketing, for teaching and learning, I want to follow and be followed by not just many of you our there, the the right many of you out there.

I appreciate those who follow me on Twitter, and I have looked for a way to connect to as targeted an audience as possible.

I think I have.

I found a service that helps me target with key words, locations, key words in actual tweets, and who knows what additions to come. Take a look at it by clicking below -

Sometimes we get stuck on free.  I know I was.  When I started blogging, I must have went through a hundred free themes, some of which were absolutely excellent, before I decided to buy the Premium Thesis Theme for Wordpress.

Now I have found a new product that I believe will give you more bang for the buck than anything you can get for free.

I first tried out TweetAdder for free, offered to let you get your first 250 followers.

No one gave me a free ride on this.  I downloaded Tweetadder and within the first hour,  bought my own copy.

Take a look at this.

You can tailor your search for people to follow in no less than 5 ways in TweetAdder -

There is so much talk of using Twitter as a tool.  I think that is a healthy way to look at it if you have any sort of message you want people to read.  TweetAdder is one of the first tools I’ve seen that begins to bring target marketing to the Wild West of Twitter.

What do other people say about TweetAdder?

• “Wow I recently started using the software and all I can say is OMG, it is Truly Amazing. I have over 154 accounts on twitter with a combined 1,000,000 + followers (Yes, I said One Million +).

• Needless to say I needed an army of assistants to help manage and continue to grow my accounts. All I can say after using TweetAdder is Nothing and I mean Nothing can even come close to the growth & management tools as well as easy to understand tutorials that are in this software. As well as the new features they add each week.

• I wish I would have had this software 6 months ago… I would have beat Ashton Kutcher “@aplusk” to the 1st Twitter Account with a Million Followers…

• If you are New to Twitter or a Seasoned Pro… Get this software now…

  Thanks Again Guys! Keep Up The Good Work!”

• Jonathan Gillardi, twitter.com/jgillardi & jongillardi.com

  Motivational Speaker/Trainer/Author

I have to remember sometimes that I get excited about products that I think really serve a purpose.  If you try this out, please shoot me out a reply about what you think.

Peronally, I don’t know if this as the best thing since sliced bread, but it is pretty damn cool!

Again, if you awant to try it, grab it here –

Art by Matt Hamm

Originally posted 2009-07-27 07:37:18. Republished by Old Post Promoter

What’s it all About, Twitter? (or – What’s Twitter all About?) is a post from: Thesis Theme Revue

photo credit: MK Media ProductionsDarren’s Day 4 challenge was to analyze another blog in your niche.  It took me a while to get to it, but I did do so.

It was incredibly informative.

I used my other blog This Old Brain as TTR is so new.  I compared it to several other blogs in the same niche.  A couple of things I discovered that were surprising to me is that on some posts and on some days, even in general, I am doing as well or better (numbers-wise) than they are.

One of the other more intuitive learnings for me were that at times I may narrow my niche too much, and at others, get too far off base.  I am thinking that is because I am not exactly sure yet what my niche is.

Here are just a few teaser tips from 31DBB. Good questions to answer if you want to learn about your own blogging.

Take 15 minutes to do some analysis of the blog in some of the following areas

Content:

• What topics are they covering?

• What topics are they ignoring?

• What voice/style do they post in?

• How often are they posting?

• What level are they pitching their posts at (beginners, advanced etc)

Reader Engagement:

• What topics generate most conversation?

• What styles of posts seem to connect with readers best?

• What questions are readers asking in comments?

• What complaints do you see readers making in comments?

• What tools/mediums is the site using (eg: are they using Twitter, forums etc)

Design:

• What first impression does their design give?

• What have they done well? What have they done poorly?

• What Options do they give readers to subscribe?

If you want to take on building your blog as a challenge, you need 31DBBB.  I don’t care if you get it here, but get it for certain.

If you are serious about consistently building your blog, take a look at Darren’s Blog Problogger

Originally posted 2009-08-02 18:34:16. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Day 4 – Back on Track is a post from: Thesis Theme Revue

Here we are.  Day 2.  31 Days to Build TTR into a Better Blog -

The “wriTe a lisT posT”

This post is a wish list for once and future blogs.  I have thought often about this question -

What do I wish I woulda/coulda/shoulda known when I started blogging?

Planning

Head in the clouds would have been a good way to describe how I began this whole endeavor.  I thought, put a blog up, start writing, and watch the money roll in. If I were starting again, it would have been possible to avoid some fits and starts had I taken the time and planned out what I really wantted to accopmplsh by blogging.  Take a look at the first post in this series.  It is very important to know what your purpose is and to be able to say it (and live it) in a concise manner.

If you have ever seen the old “Our Gang” comedies on cable TV (yes the ones with Spanky, Alfalfa, and Darla), you witnessed how I started doing this.  My attitude was like theirs – “Let’s go out in the barn and put on a show.”

Time

I wish I would have known, or at least planned for the time it takes to write a blog.  It probably doesn’t take some as long as it takes me to write.  Of course, I am trying to maintain three blogs; most of my time, though is spent on this one, which is new, and This Old Brain Dot Net.  If you are just starting out blogging, know that it will take you some time.  I think I have begun to hit a stride and realize that there are so many things to write about that I could do this forever and never run out.

Help

I wish I had known of all the help that is available, much of it free, for anyone wanting to do this.  Here are a few.  Many of them do want your business; if you find a service that you can use, please support other bloggers.

SEO

• Nicholas Prudhon -  A free course in learning the ins and outs of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Another great way to begin to master SEO is to have the write theme, oone that does most of the work for you, and has great support.  I use the Thesis Theme (Wow, that’s amazing for a blog named Thesis Theme Revue, eh?).  I recommend it highly.

Writing

• Write to Done is Mary Jaksch’s blog.  I rely on here posts as a tutor for ways to write, sometimes as an inspiration as to what to write about, and just for examples of good, elegant, clear writing.
• Brian Clark of Copyblogger has numerous free resources if you are looking for ways to write copy.  Before I began to read Copyblogger, I didn’t have a clue what copywriting was.  You will have to take a look yourself.

Problogging

• Darren Rowse, who is the inspiration of my writing this series is the Owner/Writer of Problogger.  There is nowhere on the web to find the information gathered there written by Darren and a gathering of guest posters.
• Of late I have discovered David Risley, another professional blogger who has numerous ideas and is willing to share.  A recent post I found on his blog is based on a good question for anyone entering blogging with the idea of doing this writing professionally — Should You Pursue Problogging?
• Another recent discovery (or maybe rediscovery) is Liz Strauss.  I wasn’t sure if this would be the right category for Liz or if she should be under the writing heading.  She has fresh ideas about blogging, blogging as business, and writes in a consice and entertaining style.  Her blog is Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Social Media and Affiliate Marketing

• Chris Brogan has a powerful grasp on everything that is going on in what sometimes seems like a Social Media Circus.  He’s at ChrisBrogan.Com
• If information about affiliate marketing is your need, and you want someone who calls it like she sees it, even when you may not want to hear it, check out SugarRae; as she says it, Never Mess With a Woman Who Can Pull Rank

Ride Occam’s Razor

If you are going to blog, you have to blog consistently.  Using the principle of Occam’s Razor – Blog as consistently as you can, but no more than that.

• It is probably important that you blog daily at first to build up an audience.
• If you are doing that, write short concise posts.
• If posts are too long, break them up into two or more.
• On the other hand, write to your audience.  If you are writing to a scientific audience, longer posts may be allowed.
• Don’t underestimate the ignorance of your audience.
  • Before you click off here, what I mean is that your audience doesn’t know what you know.
  • Jargon can be a real turnoff.
  • If you use an acronym, let them know what it means.
  • AND, I am speaking for myself here.  I don’t like to feel stupid when I am reading.

What I Think

• Write amazing things, not shocking things
• If it’s your opinion, say so
• Write for yourself, write as yourself
• Take a break once in a while or your butt will start hurting
• Look around for the best tools available; and

Keep on writing, podding, video-ing, and providing a thirsty world the nectar of your knowledge.

Originally posted 2009-07-28 17:53:44. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Day 2 – Write a List; Check it Twice is a post from: Thesis Theme Revue

Have you tried Thesis for Wordpress?

I am enamored by the Thesis Theme created by Chris Pearson.  Enamored, but not an expert.

Always looking for ways to tinker with my theme (and often getting myeslf in trouble in the process), I rely heavily on the DIYThemes user forum.  On the other hand, I am also alway on the lookout for tips and tricks for modification and sometimes just “prettying up” my theme. Thesis is the first theme I have run into that is so user modifiable that it is actually exciting to use. I wanted to share with my readers some of the places I have found on the web that offer tutorials and new ideas for Thesis.

Are there times when this them makes me crazy. Absolutely.  I see that as part of the creative learning curve.  Stay tuned to my blog as I DIY my way into gore and glory!  Both?

I don’t know about you, but blogging is what I love to do (even when racking my brain about what to write about. The Thesis Theme will allow you to be as creative (or not creative – It will stand alone, too) as you like with your blog.  Thesis can help you turn you blog into a website, or you can create a website using the Thesis theme. It has truly blurred the lines between blogging and websites.

So, if you haven’t puchased your theme yet, click on any of the Thesis ads here or below. What you are still sitting there?  Do this. You will be glad you did!

Your Turn

If you have Thesis, how are you using it?

If you don’t use Thesis, what questions do you have?

If you know of any other Thesis Customization tips, please let me know

If there is some way I can help, let me know.

Mike

Originally posted 2009-08-25 13:13:02. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Thesis Theme Review is a post from: Thesis Theme Revue

photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar

Give Your Blog Wings

Day 3 in my 31days.  Hope you’re still with me.

Hmmm, I just looked at the dashboard for this blog.  My first thought – How do I pitch a post when I have only 16 to choose from.  I wonder how many others out there are in the same boat.

One way, according to 31DBBB is to promote a post by linking to it.  I return to beginner’s mind.  One of the first real posts I wrote for this blog is a short tutorial on changing TTR from a plain vanilla blog to using one of the custom backgrounds that come with The Thesis Theme Package.

Simple Thesis Theme Tutorial
photo credit: bavatuesdays

It’s pretty basic, but that is where I am coming from.  As time goes on there are other ways that I will promote future posts.  Here are a couple plugins that help with that job-

DAgon SitemapGenerator

A site map is a map of all the posts on your blog that publishes as a Site Map page.  That makes all your posts available at all times.  I have it on http://thisoldbrain.net

Old Post Promoter

Old Post Promoter will randomly pull up and publish an old post.  This keeps it fress and you can set it so that it puts the post either first or second on the list.  This is important. At least it was for me.  When I first started using this plug in, these posts would show up and I would panic because I had now idea where they were coming from.  You can also choose what categories it will pull the posts from, so if you have some that are especially good, you can categorize them in that way.

Stray Random Quotes

I may be listing this plugin because I think it is so cool.  You can save quotes to your database from anywhere on the web.  And you can set quotes with links and also use them anywhere in your post with a little bit of code.  Very nice.

Twitter Tools

If you are going to promote posts you will be on Twitter.  Twitter tools allows you to set up weekly posts with all of your tweets for the week or even daily posts.

These are just  a few ways to promote some of your good work.

What other methods do you use?

Originally posted 2009-07-29 15:36:39. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Using Plugins to Pitch Posts – Day 3 is a post from: Thesis Theme Revue

photo credit: eperales

I think that one got away!

Here is a place where I am conflicted.

I blog because I both enjoy doing it and, limited as my creativity may be, blogging gives me an outlet.  Several outlets, actually.

I also blog to make money.  I am doing very well at it.  As an Amazon Associate, I’ve made $1.28 already this year, and in the Google thing, I am up to almost $2.00.  At least part of what that means is that I haven’t mastered the skills of copywriting yet, and the other part is the same reason I am not out selling Kirby vacuum cleaners.  I have a hard time asking for the sale.

Yes, I am just like all the coaches I run into who say they don’t get coaching clients because they hate selling.  Let me ask you, don’t most people dislike selling?

So, here I was thinking about how do I promote a post on a blog that hasn’t got a lot of posts to promote.

And I didn’t consider promoting a post on a product I really like.

I wrote a post a few days ago about TweetAdder . Frankly, I think it is a great product.

But promoting it would be spam, right?  You see my dilemma.

I thought about this for quite a while. You notice I am way behind in my 31day challenge.

And it occurred to me, why am I involved in social networking?  Do I do it just because it is fun? If that were the case, then why do I send my blog posts to Twitter and Friendfeed, and Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Because one of the reasons I am involved in this is because I, too, need to put cheeseburgers on the table.  Literally – meat, no bread; you won’t go wrong>

The key is that I only promote products I think are worth having.  So I did begin connecting to some of the social networking sites to promote my posts.

Respectfully. Thoughtfully. And I don’t inundate.

Now I feel like I am going forward again.

Thanks for listening.

By the way, here is the product -

Again, you won’t go wrong.

And here are the posts, both on this blog and on This Old Brain and here -

How to Make Twitter a Tool

What’s It All About, Twitter?

Originally posted 2009-08-01 18:20:25. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Whoa, Back Up to Day 3, Pardners is a post from: Thesis Theme Revue

Building my Blog – And Yours

I have been playing with this blog for the past month or so, and now it is time to get to it in earnest.  On This Old Brain Dot Net (TOB), I went through the same process during Darren Rowse’ original excellent program, 31 Days to a Build a Better Blog. And I am going to do the same here.  When I did the first g-round on TOB, I increased readership exponentially, and I want to both see for myself and show you a way to increase readership of YOUR BLOG.

That is what it is all about, is it not?

I invite you to gram Darren’s book and follow along.  It is absolutely full of resources from one of most read ‘bloggers on blogging’ around.  Here is a link to the book.

We start Monday, so grab it soon.

Originally posted 2009-07-26 12:22:42. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Build Your Blog With TTR and Darren Rowse is a post from: Thesis Theme Revue