Why Thesis Wordpress Template Rocks

Thesis wordpress template is one of the best premium wordpress template. It gives you the freedom to fully customize it.  To make it fit perfectly with the type of site you are wanting to create, as well as with your personality, you can customize the template and make it look anyway you like.

10 Reasons Thousands of Bloggers Are Using Thesis Wordpress Template And Why You Should Buy It.

Easy To Use

Thesis is easy to use unlike other sophisticated templates out there. You can change your thesis templates to fit perfectly with your style without being a professional coder. Even a beginner can do this, because it is so very easy to modify thesis templates. 

Page Load Times are faster with Thesis

Bloggers who have switched to Thesis have reported faster load time. One blogger who made the switch and published his speed test report is Pat Flynn of smartpassiveincome.com

Notice the number at the top

• Before: 7.36 seconds
• Thesis: 3.15 seconds

You Get More Google Traffic

All bloggers love traffic. Thesis is built with search engine in mind. It is designed to make it as attractive as possible to Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines. When you use thesis template on your blog you will get a lot more hits on search engines like Yahoo and Google by using the search engine optimization feature. Before you know it, whenever people search with keywords that describe your new blog, your site will be prominently listed in the search results.  

Hundred of designs to choose from

When you buy thesis wordpress template it comes with four pre-installed skins. If you want more skins you can get them online. Some are free while others are premium. 

No need for extra plugins

Thesis is Search Engine Optimized so there is no need of installing must have SEO plugins such as All in One SEO.

Killer Support Forum

A good product needs a good support. If you have a any problem you can get answers from Thesis users forum. You can such for answers from their archives or post a new thread.  

Price

A single use price is $87. If you want to use Thesis wordpress template on all your sites, the price is $160. 

You Don't Need to Know Programming. 

You can do a LOT of customization of the design without having to enter the world of custom coding or CSS editing.

Thesis provides good user experience

On the front side of things, the fonts and readability are awesome.

Google Spokesperson uses Thesis

Matt Cuttis, Google head of search uses Thesis Template.  This is a big endorsement.

To buy and download thesis wordpress template go to diythemes.com

How To Speed Up Your Bluehost Hosted Blog Site

If your small wordpress blog or site is hosted on bluehost it is probably hosted on a shared server. A shared server means your blog is sharing resources with millions of other blog sites.

Sharing a server with other small blogs is not a problem on bluehost because they are a top notch web hosting company. Bluehost have heavily invested on their servers and people to ensure all hosted websites are running like clock work.

While Bluehost do a good job to provide fast speeds on their side, it is up to you to do  what is necessary to make sure your wordpress blog site is racing like a Ferrari.

1. Resize Those Images

Images should be minimized to the right size without destroying the quality. I use photoshop to reduce the size of the images. The latest version of wordpress allows you to reduce the size of images immediately after uploading them.

2. Use a Lean Wordpress Theme

A good example of a fast loading wordpress theme is Twenty Ten/Twenty Eleven (aka the default WP themes). The reason is, it is simple and lean. Doesn't have fancy designs with tons of images, lines and colors that hog the speed.

A fancy theme may look good but they sacrifice load times.

3. Optimize your homepage

Keep things to a minimum on your homepage

Show excerpts instead of full posts 

Reduce the number of posts on the page (5-7 is an okay number) 

4. Remove Inactive plugins

If you no longer use a plugin, remove it from your installation.  Keeping it is  a poor use of disk space. 

5. Remove duplicate plugins

It is pointless to use multiple SEO plugins. They all do a similar job. MY recommended SEO plugin is all in one SEO plugin. 

6. Use a few plugins as possible 

The truth is the more plugins you have the slower the blog. 

7. Beware of Auto Link Plugins

Auto links plugins are highly valued because of their SEO value but they are a speed hog. Auto links take time to calculate. They have to go through the whole database each time a link is created. All that sending is eating into your speed. 

8. Keep your wordpress blog updated

Previously you needed to login to your bluehost cpanel to update your blog but these days you do it inside wordpress. There is no reason for leaving your blog out dated other than sheer lazyness. 

Remember this days Google rates sites based on speed / load times. Another reason to make sure your bluehost hosted blog is up to speed!

Most Attractive E-commerce Website Designs

The best way to build an attractive e-commerce website for your online business is by taking inspiration from some of the best e-commerce website designs.

Qualities of a good e-commerce website
An attractive e-commerce website must meet the following qualities

1. Love
2. Trust
3. Purpose

Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears. Edgar Allan Poe

A first time visitor to your e-commerce website must see you sell what he/she wants, he/she must love being there and he must feel he can trust buying from you. All this must happen in an instant or else the visitor will close your homepage and go elsewhere.

The following are some of the best e-commerce website designs that meet my criteria of attractiveness (Love, Trust and Purpose)

1. Amazon.com
Amazon.com is the king of e-commerce. Amazon has annual revenues of $50 billion and all that is sold via their website.

To do those kind of sales they must be doing something right. Trust comes easy for this website because Amazon.com is a well known brand and everyone knows them. You can build trust for your e-commerce website by promoting your online store through media mentions and advertising.

The design allows visitors to search products in terms of categories, price, age, color, delivery etc.

2. Reeds.com

You know what reeds.com sell the minute you open their homepage. Make sure your e-commerce website homepage has large size images of your products. The homepage is the first page a new visitor clicks on and first impressions matter.

On the homepage include sweeteners such as special offers, discounts and free shipping to encourage visitors to buy.

3. Apple Store
Make it easy and quick.

Apple is known for well designed products. The Iphone, Ipod and Ipad are not just well designed but they are easy to use. And that spirit is showcased on Apple online store.

The menu at the top is designed to help a visitor go straight to the product he is interested in.

Make it easy for buyers to find what they are looking for.

4. Petflow.com
If you are selling hundreds of products you should go with a design similar to petflow.com.

They sell hundreds of pet brands and they have a list of all the available brands at the bottom of the homepage. If you want a particular brand you just click on the name and you go straight to the product.

It is a nice way of solving the problem of how to promote hundreds of products.

Successful Bluehost Web Hosting Affiliates Making $20,000 Per Month

Bluehost affiliate program is one of the most popular web hosting affiliate program. They pay affiliates $65 for every successful lead.

One of the most successful blogger promoting Bluehost is Pat Flynn from smartpassiveincome.com. Pat Flynn makes on average $20,000 per month from bluehost affiliate program. 

This is how he does it. 

Devout Followers Vs Google Visitors

If your blog has regular readers who passionately follow your blog post you have a better chance of making money from bluehost affiliate program. Affiliate products work best on blogs with devout readers while Google adsense seems to work best on blogs that get a ton of traffic from search engines like Google. 

Pat Flynn blog has a community of readers interested in making a passive income online. Pat teaches them how to make money online using a blog or website. 

If you devout your attention on developing a loyal blog community and not chasing Google traffic, you stand a better chance of making money from bluehost or any other affiliate program.

Trust : Trust : Trust

Your readers need to trust you if you hope to be successful from promoting bluehost web hosting. Pat has an about page on his blog, he uses his real name, he has a picture of himself on the blog and he is very transparent on how much money he makes online.

For readers to trust you, make sure you have an about page, don't use your nick name as your byline and have your picture on your about page. You can go a step further and link to your Facebook page, Twitter and Google + page.

Don't rely on banners

The mistake most affiliates of web hosting make is pasting banners on their website/blog.  It is okay to put a banner on your side bar but make sure you do what Pat Flynn has done. Pat has written many post on how bluehost works. Inside those post there is an affiliate link to bluehost.

Honest Recommendations

It helps if you promote products that you use. If you don't use them at least they should be products that you are familiar with.

Have a resource page

The majority of Pat Flynn bluehost conversions come from Smart Passive Income blog resource page. This is the page where he details all the products he has used. This is the second most visited page in his blog. And he adds, 

If you’re not utilizing a resource page for your niche on your site, you’re crazy! It’s the ultimate non-aggressive way to earn money leaving all parties happy in the end.

Traffic

Blog Visitors = money. Not every visitor will convert but the more visitors to your website the better your chances of making money. The key for getting more visitors to your website or blog is provide value. Write quality posts and write often. 

Make an effort to convert Google visitors into regular readers. You do that by asking visitors to subscribe to your newsletter and encouraging them to leave comments. Make sure your social buttons (facebook, twitter and Google +) are visible on your site. 

To your success!

Story Telling Tips: 22 Rules of Story Telling By Pixar Movie Studio

Being a  blogger is being a story teller. Whether you write a sports, mommy blog, personal finance blog e.t.c......your business is telling a good story. To be a good story teller  you need to learn from the best. One of the best story tellers is Pixar, the animation movie studio founded by the late Steve Jobs.

Story Tellings Tips By Pixar Movie Studio

Pbjpublishing have shared an infographic, 22 Rules to phenomenal story telling. Personally I call them story telling tips from Pixar movie studio. I love Pixar, their stories are original, funny, and appeal to all audiences. They’re masters.

For easier reading I post the text from Pixar Touch blog who were first to write the story telling tips.

#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.
#2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.
#3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.
#4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.
#5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.
#6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?
#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.
#8: Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.
#9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.
#10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.
#11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.
#12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.
#13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.
#14: Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.
#15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.
#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.
#17: No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on – it’ll come back around to be useful later.
#18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.
#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.
#20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?
#21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?
#22: What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

Here is to Successful story telling!!!!

How To Get a Book Deal From a Blog

Mashable is reporting Tumblr blog Text From Dog, which publishes fictitious SMS conversations between a dog and its owner, is the latest blog to land a book deal. 

U.K. publisher Headline Publishing announced it would release the book Oct. 25.

The blog launched in April with a brief description: “My dog sends me texts. I post them here. Yeah, it’s weird.” 

After I read the news report I wondered How To Get a Book Deal From a Blog

According to Mashable : Images are Better Than Text.

Other blogs have found success entering the book market. Dear Photograph, a popular blog showcasing photos within photos, released a book earlier this year. And the Feminist Ryan Gosling blog unleashes a book in August. The books inspired by blogs are image heavy and contain very little text.

Another thing you need for a publisher to give you a book deal is : An Online Brand.  You need your blog to be popular. You don't need to be a celebrity but you need an online persona. People need to know you, love what you offer and love you big time. Even if they don't buy the book for what is inside, they will buy it because it has your name on the cover.

Expand Your Footprint beyond your blog

Publishers are risk averse people, rarely do they give a book deal to unknown writer but if you have internet clout they may come knocking. You have to expand your footprint online. And that means being on Twitter or Facebook.  You’ll know you’re ready when a publisher will put your face on the book jacket. People need to be able to go, ‘Oh yeah, I know that guy.’ I’ve got the ‘I know that guy’"

Be Unique & Be Different

For a publisher to turn your blog to book your blog will need to be a breath of fresh air. To know you have a winner, read the feedback from your readers. If they describe your post with the following words Brilliant, Creative, Unique, Awesome...etc. Know you are on to something.

Killer Tips On How To Blog On Huffington Post

This post will show you how to blog on Huffington Post. 

Huffington post offers talented and semi talented writers an opportunity to blog on their platform. They have two classes of bloggers, paid bloggers and free bloggers. To get a paid blogging gig you will need to apply for the job just like you would apply anywhere else. If you just want to blog for Huffington Post without being paid continue reading the rest of my post. 

How To Get a Blog On Huffington Post

Apply Directly From Huffington Post Website

On the HuffingtonPost.com site, on the right towards the bottom, it has a button which says "If you have something to say" say it on Huffington Post. Click it, fill in the info they request, and they get back to you. They will require you to provide writing samples. Develop a basic portfolio of your best articles and be ready to submit it.

Target Huffington Post Editors

Find the name of the editor for the vertical [section] where you would like to submit your blog. Their emails are always their name followed by @huffingtonpost.com. 

Send them the first 400-500 words of your blog post in the body of the email, not as an attachment. You should get a response fairly soon.

Be A Prolific Commenter For Huffington Post

I have heard prolific commenters have been rewarded with writing gig. Although am not sure how true it is. If you take this route make sure your comments are lengthy, factual, insightful and unique. If you do that somebody may spot you and invite you to write for them.

  

Advantage of free blogging for Huffington Post. 

Readers for your blog 

Huffington Post has over 35 million monthly visitors. Those visitors view over 1 billion pages on the site. What this means is your blogs have a very high chance of being seen and read inside Huffington Post than when you blog for your own independent blog. 

Support For Huffington Post Bloggers.

Huffington Post has an internal system to teach you the best ways on how to write for internet. They will teach you, how to write killer headlines, how to write sticky posts, and most crucial, how to write articles that attract visitors from search engines such as Google and Bing. 

A free blog can be a stepping stone to a paid blogging gig. If your writing is world class expect their talent spotters to invite you to paid bloggers club.

Whatever route you take, Good Luck!