Marketing tips & resources to take your small business to the next level with less effort and more results (& formerly Compelling Marketing Blog)
WordCamp Raleigh celebrating all things WordPress was a lot of geeky fun this past weekend–I’ll post some highlights in upcoming posts. But for all who missed it, I’ve posted my presentation slides on easy and relatively fast ways to create quality blog content that helps turn visitors into prospects and customers below.
Enjoy!
As you know, I’m not a designer but I’m a big WordPress fan so I recently attended a meetup about WordPress themes and learned a few tips I thought were worth sharing…
Whatever you need, WordPress can do it. Need a contact manager? Or to create a classified ad, job board or membership site? For virtually anything you’d want to do, there’s a theme for that.
Go ahead and take it off. According to Craig Tuller of Studio Press, it’s OK to strip off the promotional information (e.g. “Created by xxxx with a link) for the thememaker at the bottom of the webpage template. The biggest exception to this is Thesis, which requires you to pay for the theme if you want to eliminate that.
In my opinion, keeping the promo is the courteous thing to do if it’s a free theme–the backlink to their site is an always appreciated thank you. I just noticed the person who set up my free theme took it off though so I can’t throw stones at you if you do the same. But in short, it’s your call.
Only download free themes from a reputable repository (such as the WordPress theme directory). There are a lot of sketchy directories out there where the themes have hidden backlinks to spammy and other non-desirable sites–which will come back and haunt your search engine rankings.
Theme customization is easier than ever. Apparently 99% of themes for sale these days have an options tab where you can change colors, the number of columns, and other basic formatting items to personalize your site in a snap.
You’ll soon see plug-ins built directly into WordPress. They’re moving toward integrating some widely used plug-ins into the main WordPress code so you don’t have to add them later. But to keep these “core plug-ins” from bogging WordPress down, they’re working with plug-in makers to strip out any little-used functionality. (Thank you!)
Did you find a custom blog design you love? You can use a FireFox add-in called Firebug to reverse engineer the theme and recreate it for yourself.
Parent and child themes are the new trend. A parent is a theme that provides the overarching framework for a site and has a lot of built-in functionality to boot. (For example, including SEO functionality.) You can use it solo if you’d like or you can add a child theme.
The child theme provides a different look and it’s also where you do all your work and design customization. That means you don’t have to worry about losing your posts, your settings or anything else breaking when the parent theme needs updating.
Each version of a theme adds improvements. But sometimes the new versions make a big leap in functionality. With a standard theme, you’d have to move your site over to that new theme to get those extra benefits. But a parent theme should be able to make those kinds of leaps without problems. For examples, check out the Genesis theme framework from Studio Press.
Want to add a sales page to your site? Maybe you’ve had the same issue I have–where you find a sales page template for WordPress then realize you can’t simultaneously use more than one theme on the same site. Apparently, the trick is to just create (or have someone create) a new page template for your current theme and select that page when you need it.
Moving your site to a new theme? This is something I’ve long wanted to do but have been afraid to because my blog wasn’t set up properly by the person I hired to do it. So I’m afraid I’d click to publish the new theme and the site would just implode. Instead, the safer route apparently is to create what’s called a development site.
Just create a new subdomain in your site’s cpanel. Install WordPress on the subdomain (which most hosts make super simple–just click on the “Install WordPress” option they offer) and install the new theme. Export your current site to the development site and see what happens. If all goes fine, you can just move that site to the main domain.
In fact, a development site is a great way to test drive any major changes you’re planning on making to your site.
Note: The link to the Genesis framework is an affiliate link. If that bothers you feel free to go directly to the Studio Press website.
Photo courtesy of Flickr, originally uploaded by Peregrino Will Reign
We’ve covered WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg’s entertaining presentation on blogging and more, SEO for WordPress, Getting Others to Create Blog Content for You, and Staying Out of Hot Water with the Law so far this week as part of our series on last weekend’s Wordcamp RDU.
Today, we’ll wrap up with some tips on turning your blog into a community and a presentation I missed on Twitter.
Angela Connor, Online Community Manager for WRAL, talked about building a community with your blog–and that means a lot more than providing really useful content (which should be a given!)
Finally, I had to miss Wayne Sutton’s Tweetshop but he’s posted slides and notes from his terrific session on his social media blog.
Speaking of Twitter…like always, attending an event like Wordcamp is a great way to finally meet friends from the Twitter-sphere! Online social networking is even more fun and productive when relationships created online go offline as well.
Continuing with our series of highlights from last weekend’s Wordcamp RDU Lawyer Chris Gatewood (Hischler Fleischer) talked about how to keep ourselves out of hot water.
Key points included:
Finally, before you get all fired up to for a rant, remember that it’s easier to avoiding cries of defamation if you’re–
And of course, there’s more leeway if you’re talking about a public figure rather than the neighbor down the street.
It’s surprising the number of people who have already run into these issues and received letters from lawyers telling them to cease-and-desist or take down content. Has it happened to you? If so, please share in the comments below!
If you missed it, so far I’ve covered…
WordPress News, Tips & Stories from founder Matt Mullenweg
5 Ways to Get Others to Create Content for You
Tomorrow…building a community around your blog and Tweetshop.
“I don’t like iPhone version of WordPress,” admitted WP founder Matt Mullenweg during his often candid and funny keynote presentation at Wordcamp RDU this past Saturday.
(Good news–a new version is coming soon, along with one for all of us with crackberries.)
He also discussed other new projects such as:
What’s not on the list anytime soon–a desktop program for WordPress. He says Microsoft LiveWriter already (surprisingly!) does a good a job of that.
A few off the cuff tips he shared for blog owners:
What’s ahead?
And what’s the deal Hello Dolly?
Hello Dolly was the first ever WP plugin, and he wrote it to show others how easy it is to create plugins. He chose that song because it was the first jazz song to breakout into the mainstream market…obviously hoping WP would do the same.
People have campaigned to have it removed from the default install, but that’s not happening. It’s curently the 12th most active plugin in the world (and yes, that’s people who actually have it on). Plus, it perfectly embodies the soul and quirkiness of WordPress.
Some personal thoughts…
I have to admit, Matt is now on the shortlist of entrepreneurs I truly admire.
He had a vision of creating a company that is fully aligned with the interests of the users and open source community and has worked hard to make that happen.
There are now almost 14 million WordPress blogs (about half .com and half .org) with 10,000 WP plugins and themes. And all commercial themes for WordPress run off the open-source General Public License except one (which he hopes comes back to the “family” soon.)
In fact, when someone asked, “What’s your business model–how do you all make money?” he said he’s glad he still gets asked that a lot because it shows they’re not “in your face” about the way they do it. (Don’t worry, they have four big revenue generators so they’re doing fine.)
Finally, I think a lot of us can definitely relate to his statement, “You can ask me any questions but one–where WordPress will be in five years. I can’t even imagine because I would have never predicted we’d be where we are today.”
Photo courtesy of Social Media Strategist Jeff Cohen
According to a new study, bloggers blog because they are neurotic. Does the shoe fit? Business Week blogging post
According to the study, neuroticism is defined as “the tendency to experience negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, or depression. It is sometimes called emotional instability.” Isn’t that all writers? Whether they blog or not?
I’d love to see the whole study….
A blog can be a valuable business-building tool because it showcases your expertise, increases your visibility, enhances your Know-Like-Trust factor with prospects, clients and other contacts, and improves your search-engine ranking.
In fact, I think every business can benefit from having a blog—but I don’t think every one should have one. So here are four reasons I’d tell someone to sit this strategy out:
1. If it sounds like a chore. To me, blogging is fun. But if you dread the thought of writing posts—or using a webcam to record video posts—then you are going to struggle to keep up with a blog. And I guarantee that your lack of enthusiasm will come through in what you post.
2. If you have trouble with commitment. Having a blog is a big commitment—for maximum effectiveness, you need to post at least three times a week (plus post comments on other blogs as well). But at a minimum, you should post twice a month because a blog that hasn’t been updated in a while screams “lack of ability to follow-through.”
3. If you think of it as simply another way to advertise your services. Blogs are meant to be a two-way conversation with readers—the whole point is the ability to talk with visitors, not just at them…even when they disagree with your point of view. So if you’re easily offended or aren’t interested in getting or responding to comments, then a blog is not the right marketing tool for you.
4. If you’re not willing to share. Visitors expect one of two things from a blog—preferably both—valuable information and entertainment. If you’re not willing to either share your expertise or “let down your guard” and be more personal with readers, then a blog will not be of value to you.
Again, for the right people, a blog can be a definite boon to attracting clients, joint venture partners and publicity. But its visibility can also be a downside—if you forget about your blog, it’s still out there for the entire world to see. So if you can relate to the four points above, you may be better off spending your time on other types of marketing.
And if you do think a blog is right for you, check out my latest blog post on the Top 10 Blog Design Mistakes.
So Thursday night, I joined about 50 other people at the Triangle Tweetup 2.0—my first in-person Twitter event. It was great to see a few people I did know (including the fellow internet marketing masterminder who lured me into my Twitter addition—thanks a lot @justis!) and to meet a lot of the people I’d been following. All of whom looked just like their pictures. (Imagine that, people using a current photo in the internet world…)
If you’re not familiar with Twitter, it’s a micro-blogging site where you post the answer to “What are you doing?” in 140 characters or less (which is called a “tweet”). I can understand if you’re thinking “Who cares?” because I used to think that too. But if you’re following the right people, you will care. Because they post about projects they’re working on, blog posts they’ve written, resources they’ve found helpful. I’m going to tell you the 10 reasons I like Twitter tomorrow, so I’ll move on for now.
Back to the Tweetup. Apparently the Triangle is quite a hotbed of social media start-ups, as several locals introduced the group to their applications—such as FlixPulse (aka Twitter Movie Reviews) and Seesmic (essentially a video Twitter)—before the actual socializing began. [Read more...]
Remarkablogger is now giving away his free workbook How to Start a Business Blog without requiring an RSS or email subscription–not that you wouldn’t want those things, because the content I’ve seen so far is great, but I know sometimes we’re reluctant to add even just one more email subscription to the pile.
Anyway, the 70+page workbook has something for all the new and even not-so-new business bloggers out there. It’s terrific for people who are just now thinking about or putting together a blog. And if your blog is already up and running, it’s also got some good tips for content (Drafting the Initial Content and 10 Types of Freelance/Business Blog Posts) as well. Of course, it also wouldn’t hurt to revisit your goals for the blog and some of the initial set up topics he covers as well.
In short I think it offers a lot of great content for a price that can’t be beat!
Interesting data in a chart on the Groundswell blog about blogs, user-generated video and podcasts around the world. Japan and South Korea blow the U.S. out of the water when it comes to reading and commenting on blogs. The U.S. though leads the way when it comes to watching and creating user-generated video. Is it really because YouTube is mostly English, or because we’re just lazier and used to watching pictures on a screen? Listening to podcasts was highest in U.S., but at only 11%, the author points out they haven’t caught on much after years of availability. So is all the chatter about podcasting you see these days just hype–or evidence of a shift in popularity?
