You may have noticed by now that I’ve started to write more about blogs, blogging and marketing. This isn’t a band wagon I’m jumping on- it’s a very natural progression that has more or less pulled me along for the ride (and I go very willingly). Lately I’ve been thinking quite a bit about how this blog has evolved over time and the direction I’m going to take it in. I will continue with my tutorials as I LOVE doing them (and hearing from people that have been helped)- but I would also like to share my successes, failures, challenges and suggestions about the overall nature of my business (I intend to add a lifestream category to the site soon too!).

I am admittedly a complete information junkie- but with the simple fact that there are only so many hours in the day, I’ve also had to be much more selective about what I choose to spend my time reading.

That’s where the ‘Third Tribe’ comes in! I am literally devouring EVERY bit of content that comes from this site!
Your next question is probably “What the bucket IS the Third Tribe???” (I’ve been waiting forever to use that ‘what the bucket’ in a post….sorry!)

The ‘Third Tribe’ came from the idea that there are two tribes when it comes to marketing….Internet Marketing (gurus, long sales pages, hype, etc.) and Social Media Marketing (touchy feely idealists whose focus is community, not compensation). BEFORE you send me comments about those two tribes…they don’t exist. But it FEELS like they do or there’s a perceived notion that they exist (these definitions have come directly from the ‘Third Tribe’ site).

Enter the ‘Third Tribe’.

Here’s what the ‘Third Tribe’ is (taken directly from the ‘Third Tribe‘ site!):

There’s a big (and growing) middle tribe, one that avoids spammy approaches while having no problem asking for the sale and making money. Lots of money.

These people learn from all sides and apply what they learn in a way that works for them. This tribe profits from the intersection of pragmatism and progress.

This is the Third Tribe.

WHO is the ‘Third Tribe’?
Darren Rowse, Brian Clark, Chris Brogan and Sonia Simone.
Need I say more?

There are recorded seminars/interviews about building a business with a blog, making money on line and live Q&A calls. Oh…and of course there’s a great forum for members to ask questions, interact, find potential jv partners, look for resources…you name it!

I’ve burned a few of the recordings to cd’s and have put them in the car so I can take them wherever I go. If you’ve always wanted to know how these big bloggers make a living doing something they love….then the ‘Third Tribe’ is for you! I’ve only been a member for about a month and it’s been worth every penny.

Here’s the link to check out the ‘Third Tribe’….and if you’re already a member, let’s connect inside! (and yes, that is my affiliate link! )

I couldn’t resist another set of fun social media icons! I’ve had a lot of great feedback on the coffee icons so I thought since Spring is just around the corner (hopefully…..enough with the rain already, huh?) it would be fun to do a set of ‘Iced Coffee’ icons! These icons were done with someone on my team though, so I can’t take all the credit. I’m SUPER happy with the way they came out though!

Please feel free to download them and use for personal use. I’d love it if you share these – I just ask that you send people back here to download them.

And if you’re not sure how to set up your social media icons with your profiles, here’s a link to a video I created when I released the Halloween icons. The video walks you through how to link up your profiles with the icons!

http://thewordpresschick.com/halloween-social-media-icon-set/

Here’s the full set! (although I think we’ll be updating with a Google buzz icon!)

Lately I’ve been doing A LOT of reading (and commenting….although by some standards it may not be a lot in terms of commenting, but compared to what I was doing, it’s a lot! ), so I thought I would share some of my favorite new blogs (new to me) and not ‘new to me’  that I’ve subscribed to (their feeds AND their newsletter) so I can stay on top of what’s going on.

One thing you may notice is that some of these people don’t fall under the Internet Marketing circle and/or are not considered ‘guru’s….this is fine by me because honestly I’m SO sick of the hype. It’s challenging enough to stay on top of my business and my blogs without the incessant influx (two big words, there huh?) of emails we’re bombarded with from all of these people pitching! I know…..just unsubscribe you say? I am….slowly but surely. If I the only time I hear from someone is when they’re selling to me (or their friends stuff)- then bye bye! Don’t get me wrong…I’m all about making money from your online efforts….but what happened to building a relationship? (BTW- not saying I’ve mastered this either… it’s a work in progress).

Anyways….no point in ranting anymore….this post is about the blogs I LIKE!  And the reasons why. Some of these are probably going to be obvious, but that’s ok. The point of this is simply to share some of what I find helpful AND would be of value to you! Let me know what you think!

1. Nathan Hangen – Building a Digital Empire

Nathan Hangen- Building A Digital Empire
I found Nathan towards the end of last year via David Risley. David was promoting Nathan and Mike CJ’s book ‘Beyond Blogging’ (which, if you haven’t read, is WELL worth it!….it was through this book that I discovered a few of the other blogs I’ve started to read regularly). I’m such geek when it comes to reading about how people got to where they are……we all need a little inspiration now & then. Through the book I’ve subscribed to Nathan’s blog…he does podcasting pretty regularly too (he has a 3 part series on a 5 year plan that was great!). This guy is totally authentic…he’s passionate and direct without being an ass. No doubt he’s going to keep making big waves in 2010!

2. Chris Guillebeau- The Art of Non-Conformity

Chris Guillebeau - The Art of Non-Conformity
This is one of the new blogs I discovered through the Beyond Blogging book! I think the name of this blog says it all…but it’s SO much more than that! I would recommend downloading and reading his Manifestos – “A Brief Guild to World Domination” and “279 Days to Overnight Success’. Chris has a goal of visiting every country in the world (which he’s in the process of doing while he continues his writing/entreneur ventures). He has a link in the footer of his site that says “I try to live a life of gratefulness and purpose everyday”. Think that sums it up…check him out!

3. Adam Baker- Man vs. Debt

Baker – Man vs. Debt I wish I could remember where/how I found this blog! I found this towards the end of last year and subscribed instantly. The tagline in his header “Sell Your Crap. Pay Off Your Debt. Do What You Love.” give you a pretty good idea about what this blog is all about! My affinity towards this is because I’m SERIOUSLY considering moving abroad with my kids…we’re going to test it out with a trip this summer, but this site gives me MUCH inspiration (and if he and his wife can do this with a toddler, I think I can swing it with a 9 & 13 yr. old). But similar to Chris Guillebeau- they’re traveling while blogging and building a business. Love it!

4. David Risley

David Risley – DavidRisley.com I know this is a repeat (my Cool Peeps post….which I think I’ll be doing more of! I like the category and can’t resist the idea of using a marshmallow peep for the thumbnail)- but what can I say…I’m in his Blog Masters Club and have found the interactions in the forum and the lessons great. David is a great example of building a business through blogging AND marketing!

5. Johnny B. Truant

Johnny B. Truant – The Internet Made Awesome I know exactly where I found Johnny’s site….through the “Third Tribe” (which, if you haven’t heard of, you will. But it’s a membership site by Darren Rowse (problogger) , Brian Clark (copy blogger) Chris Brogan and Sonia Simone -  but the idea of the ‘Third Tribe’ is that there is another ‘tribe’ – not internet marketers or social media elitists…more on this later though). I listened to an interview that Sonia Simone did with Johnny and TOTALLY resonated with this guy! Not to mention he is hilarious. He’s breaking all the rules….doesn’t focus on building a big list, is obviously not trying to please anyone and is just making it happen! Super fun to read too.

6. Keller Hawthorne – Fresh eVenture

Keller Hawthorne- Fresh eVenture Ok, so I know this is probably a little obvious too, but what can I say? I love the way her site looks (let’s not forget the visual ALWAYS has me at ‘hello’) and she knows her stuff! Just in reading her posts and the layout of her site I’ve gotten MUCH inspiration for changes I need to make to this site. She mixes great content with training and marketing- you can’t beat it! Plus, she’s coming out with her OWN themes! More for me to play with.

7. Lynn Terry – Click Newz

Lynn Terry- Click Newz Not totally sure how I came across Lynn’s site- but I would guess through an internet marketing channel. I found her site last summer and subscribed right away.Lynn has been running her online business for over 12 years and has a good mix of blogging, marketing, tips and product reviews/recommends in the mix to keep things interesting. Lynn has a weekly radio show with some of the ‘guru’s (the ones I like…) and has a membership site too. Lynn has a great personal style….well worth the updates.

8. Michael Dunlop – Income Diary

Michael Dunlop – Income Diary I’m thinking I found this site through the Woo Themes showcase….don’t totally remember (and really, does it matter? ).  Talk about a story….Michael is all of 2o years old and has built a hugely successful (read lucrative…NOT that money always equates to success) business online. His story about he built his business is  a great read and testament to learning from your lessons and sticking with it! Besides his content, he has some great interviews on his site!

So there you have it! Not a totally complete list- but a start. Obviously (well, I think it’s obvious….but I guess that’s subjective)- I read Problogger, the Studiopress blog, Brian Gardner (although I have no idea how that guy can find time to blog) Yaro Starak and a few other names. But I really wanted to focus on some of the blogs that are newer to me in hopes that maybe these will be new to some of you as well.

I’d LOVE to hear some of your recommendations on blogs you read regularly and would recommend! I always feel like I’ve found some ’secret treasure’ when I find these blogs! (even if they’re hardly a secret).

I’ve been asked A LOT about a sales page theme for WordPress – where to find one, how to use, etc. I have a few different templates that I’ve used in the past, but nothing even comes CLOSE to how easy this theme is to use and the different ways you can customize it (although they’ve done some great split testing with the way the theme works- which colors, etc. – so you don’t need to adjust too much of it).

One thing that I think is SO brilliant about this theme is that you can create an entire sales funnel on ONE site with ONE install of this! Basically each page has it’s own set of widgets to use to create your sales page (and you can include the header, navigation, etc. PER PAGE that you create!).

I just installed this yesterday and will be switching out a couple of sales pages I have to this theme immediately- but I thought the best way to show you how easy this theme is would be a video. SO….here’s the video.

Here’s the link to get the theme- there’s a 10% discount through Feb. 23rd too!

Many of the StudioPress themes come with the categories, archives,blogroll and admin widgets already coded into the site (meaning you don’t have to add them through the widgets menu). While this is a great option for many people, if you don’t want those widgets in those positions or you want to wait until you have more content to set up an archives widget (we all start somewhere….but it still makes your blog/site look a little lonely with just one or two months of archives… ) then you probably want to pull these widgets out.

This video will show you exactly how to pull these widgets out. I’ve also included the code in a txt document for you to download if you want to have it on hand while you do this. And just as a little sidenote: I ALWAYS open notepad and copy and paste the code I’m going to remove BEFORE I delete it! No matter how many times I’ve deleted it….I still copy and paste it just as a little added measure of safety. Better safe than sorry!

Enjoy…and feel free to leave a comment and or retweet!

Just click HERE to download the txt file with the appropriate code to remove!

Many of you know I have Darren Rowse’s ‘31 Days to Build A Better Blog’ ebook (especially if you’re a subscriber you’ll remember I promoted this a few weeks ago).  Well, I thought it was about time I gave an update as to my OWN progress with the tasks recommended in the ebook as well as stating some plans to complete EACH of the steps Darren has outlined in the book.

I have to admit, I was a little hesitant in putting this out there publicly…..now there’s some accountability involved! Which, I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to work better with accountability. I used to look at this as a negative (why do I need to have some accountability involved to get things done?)….not anymore. I’m more at the point where once I recognize a BENEFIT that helps me get closer to my goals I’m all over it! I don’t care what it is….because really, does it matter? If it helps you get closer to your end result – go for it!

So, here’s where I’m at with my progress in the ‘31 Days to Build a Better Blog’ (and no, they’re not in order). I was actually quite pleased when I went through the table of contents and realized I had completed more than I thought I had and am pretty close to completing a bunch more!

• Write a list post (this is actually done….it’s just a saved draft and will be published this week)
• Email a blog reader
• Join a forum and start participating (this has been a HUGE traffic booster! More on this later…)
• Set up alerts to monitor what is happening in your niche (I had actually done this last year)
• Update a key page on your blog (Updated my ‘About Page’)
• Leave comments on other blogs (also a HUGE traffic booster…have been working on doing this almost DAILY!)
• Write a review post (See my ‘Genesis’ theme review)
• Interlink your old blog posts (started this one…it’s a continual process)

So there you have it…I know it’s only 8 out of 31…but it’s a start! You’ll definitely see another update on this from me next week. And if you haven’t gotten the ‘31 Days to Build A Better Blog‘…GO GET IT! It is SO worth every penny and then some! (It’s a whopping $19.95).  And if you haven’t subscribed to problogger.net…….I cannot recommend it enough!

Are you following the ‘31 Days to Build A Better Blog’? Leave me a comment…let me know how you’re doing! I’m still looking for a ‘blog buddy’ (it’s another task in the book).
Here’s to your Blogging Success!!!

I’m such a geek….I almost started this post with the title “And the Oscar goes to…….Genesis!” Yes, it’s Oscar time…and even though I love movies, I’m not one of those people who wake up early to hear the Oscar nominees or hold an Oscar party…(no offense if you )….so thought against that title for search purposes!

So here’s the deal….each time I read a new post or see something ELSE about this theme I get totally excited ALL over again! (And maybe I should clarify….it’s a theme framework…which you can get a great definition of in the post I’ve linked to over at StudioPress) I’ve already installed it on one of my dummy domains and am starting to play with it! WOO HOO! At a quick glance someone might look at the Genesis theme and think, ‘Big deal’….which is why I’m simply going to defer you to a post by Nathan Rice on the StudioPress blog called ‘What is Genesis and Why is it So Great? In this post Nathan explains VERY clearly what the big deal is! If you’re not sure what a child theme is….you will after you read this post, but to quote Nathan, “The Theme Framework (Genesis) is the engine, and the Child Theme is the paint job”. Crystal clear. He’s got a great illustration on the post which will help you grasp it even a little more.

But before you read the post by Nathan, take a peek at my video showing you all the bells and whistles that come with Genesis. I have to warn you though….I may come across as a bit of a spaz…..and the volume might be a tad high.. (hint..have your hand ready to adjust your speaker level! ….and I think I’ve had too much caffeine today because I’m talking a little fast…….sorry!).

DOH! Almost forgot! I mention this in the video at the end….but until February 8th the StudioPress Pro-plus package is still $199.95- as of the 8th the price goes up to $249.95. SO…if you’ve been thinking about getting the Pro-Plus package, now’s the time! You can get it here (and yes, that is an affiliate link).

I’m guessing that many people -  when they choose a WordPress theme – start out by looking at the first and most obvious thing- which is the way the theme looks! While this is SUPER important (remember – I’m a total geek for anything visual! )- but the way the theme looks is easy enough to alter (or have someone alter for you if you don’t want to get into that).

What’s REALLY important is the functionality of the site! You really need to have a good idea as to what you’re going to be doing with your site/blog and what your business is about (who is your target audience?). I’m sure much of this might seem pretty obvious- but you’d be surprised how many customizations I’ve done for people where they’ve chosen a theme where the home page is dominated by blog categories but they don’t really want to use blog posts on the home page.

Keep in mind of course that the functionality of any theme can also be customized or tweaked – but if you don’t know how to do this you will have to hire someone to do this for you.

Some things to keep in mind when looking for your WordPress Theme:

• Will I be using this as a blog, cms or both?
• Does the theme require additional plugins to get the look I want? (ex: many of the StudioPress themes come with the featured content gallery code built into the home page- but you still need to add the plugin and configure the settings to get it work).
• Will I be advertising on the site? Are there widgets or ad block positions set into the theme?
• Will I want my social media profiles to show as widgets? Is any of that functionality built in?
• Does is have an rss subscription built into it?
• Does is come with any seo options?
• Do I like where the sidebar is for an opt-in box?

In this video I cover some of the things you might want to look for when choosing a premium WordPress theme. It’s a little long (sorry for the rambling!)- but hopefully it helps!

Whether or not you’re using WordPress as a blog, a CMS or both…..most people are always looking for good resources to help them grow their sites/businesses. Sometimes finding the right resources can be a bit of a challenge – there’s a lot of crap out there (and a lot of noise to weed through).

A few things I’ve started to look for when I subscribe to a site (I’ve actually started subscribing to both the newsletter and rss feed of some people so I can stay up to date all the time….total geek, I know!) is not only what they write about, but the content of their messages to their subscribers (this is obviously referring to their ‘list’ as opposed to rss subscribers). Just like many of you I’m on a TON of other people’s lists….some for information, some just to see how or what people are doing and marketing.

One thing that I’ve noticed lately (bear with me, I promise I’ll get to the resource shortly ) is that some of the ‘guru’s have stopped actually talking to their lists and are solely marketing to them (at least some of the guru’s I’ve subscribed to). It seems like once they’ve hit a certain level of income or the size of their list is so big they don’t feel they need to provide value anymore? It’s all about promoting each others stuff’. Who knows….maybe it’s just me!

Which is what FINALLY brings me to my ‘Great Bloggeing Resource’ (I’ve actually started realizing that the bloggers -who are also marketers – are the people that provide the most value….as opposed to just the marketers). I honestly don’t remember when I first found this site, or when I initially subscribed (it was sometime in 2009)- but he constantly provides valuable information and is TOTALLY real! Kind of a no B.S. kind of guy (without being a jerk)….VERY refreshing!

The blogger I’m referring to is David Risley. He makes a full time income blogging and is ALSO a marketer! He has a membership site called ‘PC Mech’ and also his ‘David Risley’ blog (which is how I came across him…PC Mech is more information than my brain can handle right now). I haven’t bought any of David’s products…yet. I’m pretty sure I’m going to sign up for his ‘Blog Masters’ program next week. He also has a product called ‘3 Day Money’, which is about product creation…and is totally affordable. For me though it’s all about growing THIS site and optimizing it. 3 Day Money will be soon to follow.

Regardless of whether or not you sign up for his ‘Blog Master’s coaching or get ‘3 Day Money’…you should REALLY head over to davidrisley.com and pick up a copy of his ‘Six Figure Blogger Blueprint’ ….it’s free and it really is a quality ebook with a TON of great information!

If you’ve visited this site before- you know I’m a tad partial to StudioPress themes, so needless to say I was THRILLED to see the latest developments to come out of StudioPress…or should I say ‘coming out’ of Studiopress!
The latest theme is called Genesis…but this isn’ t your everyday theme by ANY means!

To start with, this theme comes with 6 page layout options (it was originally 5, so I wouldn’t be surprised if  it ends up being more)!!! This is FANTASTIC! But it’s only the beginning…

Before I continue with the details about this theme…I have to say one of the reasons I’m SO partial to working with these themes is that the code is SO clean and easy to use (even for us non-developer types) and they literally have to be one of the NICEST groups of people I’ve ever bought anything from online! The support they provide in the forums (at no charge) is amazing……

But I digress…

Another super cool thing that is coming out of the development of the Genesis theme is the Genesis Theme Marketplace! This will be a place where developers can more or less ‘partner’ with Studiopress to develop Child themes for the Genesis theme….and SHARE in the revenues! WOW! Unfortunately, I’m not a theme developer (yet… never say never!).

I won’t try to explain this in more detail here…it’s probably best if you read it from the horses mouth!

You can check out the details about the theme here

You can read more about the Genesis Theme Marketplace here