Winter 2007 Case Study Part II

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Jon

Jon

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The other thread was filled with people saying they were up for it. Please post your questions here if you have any that are ONLY for the case study.

We plan on starting the case study in the private education area by Monday Feb 26th. That should be more than enough time for everyone participating to get the first phase done. We've given everyone an extra week to do so, so please, if you're planning on getting involved but haven't done anything for it yet, do it now.

We'll be adding people this weekend to the education area, which is private. Only people participating in the case study will be approved. If you've made a post in the previous thread about accepting the challenge, then that's all you need to do. If you haven't, just list the blog you want to use here and say that you're in.

Jenn who is an official Blogging Guide here on WF will be running the show. We are working on the strategy and learning guide's step by step program all of this week. She will be the person answering the majority of the questions and directing the actual case study. She's more than qualified and she has my complete confidence. I will also be involved, but she will be my right hand woman. We've already discussed a lot of the possibilities and topics to cover, and it should be very exciting and a great learning experience to those involved. We will be making a case study at the end of the session for all members to read and study.

Goodluck to everyone, and many thanks to those willing to participate.
 


I have a question Jon. I want this project to be as successful as possible, therefore I was wondering if I could bend the rules and sway a little bit off topic from the whole winter scene. I have absolutely no interest and no experience in winter stuff because I live down in Louisiana (I've never seen snow before). I think that if I stick with a topic that I know and love, I will be more successful. Is that okay with you?
 
bobschmuck said:
I actually have a question, does the word press theme must be custom and unique? And does it influence the success much?
Click to expand...

Thats a good question...I was wondering the same thing because i really have a hard time customizing my header...I ideas out there...i have photoshop but don't really know where to start...Thats my last step to setting up my wordpress blog.:rasta:
 
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bobschmuck said:
I actually have a question, does the word press theme must be custom and unique? And does it influence the success much?
Click to expand...

Depends on the application. For a niche mini site, I would say it depends. However if you think the site has any chance at becoming a major success, I think you should do everything in your power to diversify yourself from the pack; therefore a custom design would be necessary. For this experiment, I would say that it would be a plus, but not required. Custom designs also would increase the amount of money you could charge if you decided to sell the site.

However, this is all coming from a web designer. I myself am going to try and give my site for this experiment a custom design, but thats just me. I know how to design, but I don't know squat about development. My opinion may be a little biased :)
 
To address the 2 questions that have come up in this thread so far:

No, you don't have to stick with a winter-oriented topic. It could potentially help you see faster results, but there will still be plenty of useful information for people who are working on "evergreen" subject matter.

Regarding the importance of theme originality, a custom theme is absolutely not essential. Feel free to tweak any available theme to the best of your ability. However, appropriate color choices and a header related to your topic will go a long way to building your credibility with readers.

Find a relevant image that doesn't need much Photoshopping at stock.xchng (free) or iStockphoto (a buck or 2). If your Photoshop skills really suck, pay someone $20-25 to turn the image into a header. You could even start your blog off with a "create my header" contest. Offer a prize, publicize it on a few blogs and forums, and you'll not only get a custom header, but you should get a bunch of backlinks as well.
 
I'm in Eye Health Info

Also, when it comes to wordpress themes I highly recommend customizing at the very least the colors of your site. Since there are so many wordpress driven sites out there, you tend (at least I do) to get "blog blindness." All of the blogs start to look the same at which point youre not even interested in the content. This is pure speculation of course ;)
 
Jenn said:
Find a relevant image that doesn't need much Photoshopping at stock.xchng (free) or iStockphoto (a buck or 2). If your Photoshop skills really suck, pay someone $20-25 to turn the image into a header. You could even start your blog off with a "create my header" contest. Offer a prize, publicize it on a few blogs and forums, and you'll not only get a custom header, but you should get a bunch of backlinks as well.
Click to expand...

Or there is something free called right click copy. Paying for an image header or picture for blog is teh ghey..ghey
 
Here's a couple of suggestions.

1) Use a 2 or 3 column wordpress theme.
2) Prefably with your content on the left, and the navigation on the right sidebar
(I've read anecdotal evidence that the earlier your content appears, the better SE treatment you'll receive. But who knows?)
3) Use a stock template. No necessity to customize one now.
4) Expect to "screw up", it's part of the learning process. Your first blog might not be perfect and you may very well decide to wipe it out and start over.

---
These are some of my personal blogging preferences.

For a "monetization" blog, I'll pick a theme, say "obesity"
I'd go over to overture


I'd set up 'categories' for each of the key terms:
[FONT=verdana,sans-serif]obesity[/FONT]
childhood obesity
child obesity
teen obesity
teenage obesity
childhood obesity statistics
child obesity article
etc

maybe about 10-20 categories, if i'm planning theme my blog as a childhood/teenage obesity blog.

Once these are setup, it's a matter of getting content and posting to each of these categories at least once a week.

If you're doing multiple posts a day, I'd suggest not going above 4 posts every 24 hours, else you risk being flagged a 'splog' and very nasty things might happen.

When you're starting out, and if you're newer in blogging, it might be best to do things manually the first time around, so you get a hang of things.

When you're more conversant, you can start autoblogging.

---
If your blog is already set up, you might like to google for "blog directories" and "rss directories" and start submitting your blog.
Approval might take up to 2 weeks in some instances.

Oh yeah, you might like to have about 5 blog posts there, so it looks like you're posting content.

And after you post, I'd suggest going over to pingoat.com, entering in your blog URL and feed URL and pinging your blog.

---
I realize there might be a temptation to layer adsense on your blog starting out, but usually until you hit alexa 100k or so, your earnings will not be that spectacular, unless you're picking something very hot like the Clinton-Obama feud, or the class action peanut butter suit.
 
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OK! I'll give it a shot...I have a Wordpress site that I've been playing (learning) with, so, why not? I'll have to remove all the crap that's there, but a few clicks should do that.

Let's see...the url is webblasvegas.net, so how about a niche sight on (are you ready?) Las Vegas? Not seasonal, but what are seasons, anyway?

Yeah, I know :sleep:. But it's a start...

Let me know where to go from here....
 
my wife and i are in. PoppyRow and Free Camping Tips altho have to convert latter from drupal to wordpress and having some trouble as ftp is kinda screwy in jamiaca right now :)


we need a custom image not available from a stock photo - anyone know what a fair price to offer would be. below is what we're looking for. a contest is a great idea but it's more work than just resizing a photo :)

What i'm looking for is a banner (or a header) that is 772x190 for my new blog at http://poppyrow.com - please check it out to see related color themes. I'd like it to look like a street of rowhouses (connected houses)-looking head on. They can have regular roofs, chimneys etc-but in place of the rectangle that would make up the actual house, i'd like framed art/paintings. Ideally, these would vary in size, so that some were taller, some shorter, some wider, some thinner. I am not sure if I want this in black and white, or color, so do what you think looks best. Also- since the site is called "PoppyRow"- i'd like to have poppies or suggestions of them interspersed. I am not sure also how to fit the phrase "PoppyRow" somewhere within the context of this border.
 
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