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Great Find: Create Your Own WordPress Theme

May 25, 2006 by Liz

Something to Do This Weekend

You’ve got some energy and a weekend to change things around. Why not go for it?

Great Find: Blog design 101: Creating your own WordPress theme by Rachel Cunliffe
Type of Article: How-to on WordPress Theme design
Permalink: http://cre8d-design.com/blog/2006/01/27/blog-design-101-creating-your-own-wordpress-theme/
Target Audience: Designers and the brave among others

Content: Rachel Cunliffe, blog (and website) designer from New Zealand, is well known for her work around the blogosphere. She did Darren’s unique Problogger.net design among others. This classic post gives some start up advice and links . . . with more links in the comments . . . and even more links in the related posts. Click the title shot below for a peek. Rachel’s blog, cre8d design, is the real Great Find here.

Create Your Own WordPress Theme

Great design is curb appeal, branding, and promotion.

Thanks Rachel, for giving us a start. We’ll use this until we can hire YOU.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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Great Find: Developers Digest Web Design Tips
More Blog Designs to Discuss

Filed Under: Design, Marketing /Sales / Social Media, Personal Branding, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, blog_promotion, cre8d_design, Darren_Rowse, Design, problogger.net, Rachel_Cunliffe, WordPress_Theme

Link Leaking Blog Rally

May 13, 2006 by Liz

A Twisty Road

Mike coined the Link Leak Virus. Easton started Blogtipping. Every Saturday, I get to thank you in the nicest way I can think of, and sometimes this old blog springs leaks at unexpected times.

This past week, Darren introduced the concept of Link Lust with the question, If you could GET 3 links who would you want to get them from? I didn’t really think about it, until I ran into the question on another SOB’s blog. Then I felt like answering the question there. Even more exciting and mystifying . . . within 24 hours one of the three links I lusted after happened. I actually got linked!

So I thought it might be fun to have a contest. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Links, SOB Business, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, blog_promotion, Darren_Rowse, Easton_Ellsworth, Link_Leak, Link_Leak_Epidemic, link_leak_virus, Link_Love, Mike_Sigers, ZZZ-FUN

Customers and Credibility

April 29, 2006 by Liz

Two Words

Customer Think Logo

Two words I guard ferociously when it comes to my brand — customers and credibility. They, in fact, mean the same thing as Brand You and Me. I cannot think of better brand promotion than valuing customers and earning credibility.

Darren is running a fabulous series on Credibility. If you’ve not been there yet. You need to be. There’s nothing else like it on the Internet.

Come back and tell me what you think of it.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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5 Sure-Fire Ways to Break the Promise of Your Brand
Customer Think: I’m Not a Kid, I’m a Person
Brand YOU–When An Apology Is in Order
Brand YOU–Handling Problems

Filed Under: Customer Think, Motivation, Personal Branding, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, blog_promotion, Brand_YOU_and_ME, credibility, Customer Think, customer_think, Darren_Rowse, personal_integrity, personal-branding

Successful Blog Moves Back to the City–b5media

February 6, 2006 by Liz

Sometimes Success means Failing Faster. For sure it means knowing when to make things right.

Two Personal Heroes

I don’t have many personal heroes or maybe I have too many personal heroes. I guess that depends on how you define them. I do know this–two of them are my dad and business giant Tom Peters who taught me the principle above.

I’ve been talking and listening to all of you since we left 9rules/Fine Fools about where we might focus Successful-Blog. You’ve had great suggestions, given me super advice. You’ve loved some of the changes. Others, well, you’ve not liked so much. In the end, I have to admit that when all of the ideas are thought through and filtered, the answer is that Successful-Blog doesn’t belong in the Wild, Wild West.

We’re moving back to the city where we belong.

That’s why when you clicked in this morning you see some changes, the ads are gone . . . there might just be a few bumps here and there. Last night we moved servers and this morning we are are with

b5 media.

I want to thank everyone at Erati and Blog Media for all they have done for Successful-Blog to make us feel part of the family. You were heroes in how you saw Successful-Blog’s need to move. I really appreciate that.

More Personal Heroes

I want the world to know that I went to b5media, not the other way around. You already know that Jeremy, Darren, Shai, and Duncan are personal heroes. This move has only shown me what good reason I had for having those feelings. They made things happen quickly, painlessly, and I look forward to learning and growing with them. I also look forward to learning more from you.

Isn’t that what success is all about?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles:
Successful-Blog Joins 9rules–Thanks to Our Readers
Great NEWS!

Filed Under: Business Life, Community, Successful Blog Tagged With: 9rules, b5media, bc, Blog_Media, blog_networks, Darren_Rowse, Duncan_Riley, finefools, Jeremy_Wright, Shai_Coggins

Successful Duncan Riley

January 18, 2006 by Liz

By now you must have heard about the secret auction held to sell the

Blog Herald Logo

to an as yet to be named new owner for what is being reported at over $70,000 USD.

Congratulations Duncan Riley on building an enterprise and a brand valued so highly. I think that officially qualifies you as an SOB–a Successful and Outstanding Blogger. I hereby award you with the badge of honor and your name on this blog forever.

SOB Button

Duncan’s Blog Herald has been on my reading list almost since the day I started blogging. It’s a one-of-a kind read that holds the niche of understanding the blogosphere and reporting on blogs around the world. I’ll miss reading Duncan’s take on things. I’ll miss having Duncan around.

On the other hand, it couldn’t happen to a better guy.

Duncan shares some of his reasons and reflections on the sale at these links, which I’ve tried to place in chronological order.

Twas The Blog Herald that’s been on the market

David Krug spends time with Duncan Riley

Duncan answers questions on The Blog Herald sale

Duncan talks to Site Sales about what he would look for in a blog

Duncan and Darren discuss the sale and using a broker

Seriously, Duncan all badges aside. I’ll miss reading you at 2:30 a.m. up here by Lake Michigan. So once you guys get b5 going strong, I’ll be looking for your new blog.

Best of Luck Always.
Liz

Filed Under: Business Life, Community, SOB Business, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Blog_Herald, brand, business_relationships, Darren_Rowse, Duncan_Riley, SOB, Successful_and_Outstanding_Bloggers

Darren’s 18 Blogging Lessons +1–Backwards!

December 21, 2005 by Liz

Yesterday Darren Rowse at Problogger wrote the best piece on the 18 lessons he’s learned from blogging. I was with him on every one, but our order differs. That’s the story of being ME.

I’ve frustrated everyone by being a right-brained, abstract creative thinker. Research shows that people like me get our ideas whole. So when teachers would say, “Show your work.” I didn’t have any work to show. I’d have to show the work I thought they would do. This ended up in my developing a sort of mirror image kind of thinking.

When I was an executive, my CFO was crazed with my spreadsheets. I could do the numbers, but I explained them the opposite way in. To him, the explanation was backwards. When my products returned unexpectedly well on their investments, he named my spreadsheets the Voodoo Test of Viability. So with that in mind, I offer you my own take on and rewrite of

Darren’s 18 Blogging Lessons +1 Backwards!

This work is proof that the 18 points Darren has already stated so well will return on their investment. They stand up to the CFO Voodoo Test of Viability–Liz restating them backwards. Just to kick up my personal challenge, I’ve added a Bonus Lesson at the end.

      18. There are no rules. . . . And there are no absolutes except for that one. 🙂 The exception to the no rule rule is that you’re writing on the Internet. So it’s a good idea to remember that you can’t ever take it back. Whatever rules other folks might have, we don’t need them. People will just keep changing them to keep things messy anyway.

      17. Be Yourself. You’ll only be a bad facsimile of anyone else. Readers come for authentic insights, new ideas, and quality writing. As their host, your attention should be on your visitors, not on someone you’re pretending to be.

      16. Make Mistakes. Testing 1, 2, 3, Testing. Kick your curiosity up a notch. Failing fast and failing faster are two great ways to show you’re learning. Never try things, and you’ll never fail. You’ll also discover nothing, and stay in the same place forever.

      15. Get a Life. And make sure it’s your own. Getting a life means having one thing that you really like to do. Find something that causes you to lose all track of time and space while you’re doing it. Spend time with people who make you feel like you have more energy, not less.

      14. Beware of Hype. And don’t get righteous. Whenever an emotional response begins to rear it’s head remember that the blogosphere doesn’t need any of us to make it run right. Handle disagreements offline and steer clear of controversy. End of story. Amen.

      13. Don’t Read Your Own Press. And don’t become your own fan. Your blog is not you. It is just your words on a screen. Know the difference. You’ll have perspective and blogging will be more fun.

      12. Establish Boundaries. Show you know the world is watching. Understand that just as you are not your blog, your readers are more than the comments they leave. Keep in mind that your stats count lurkers who read you but don’t identify themselves. Do what my mother used to say to do, “Keep the family business in the family.”

      11. Relationships are Key. You can’t have a relationship if you don’t show up. Post and hide isn’t blogging. It’s holding readers at arm’s length. Be around when they comment. Make a point to visit their blogs. Take an interest in the community. That’s what blogging relationships are about.

      10. Be Light on Your Feet. Presto, Chango, Time to blog. The beauty of blogging is its flexibility. Use it to create opportunities. Have a great idea? Add a feature. Try a test. It’s easy to see whether it works and fast to change it, if it doesn’t.

      9. Have a Backup Plan. But don’t use it as a way to quit. This is just darn good advice whether you’re problogging or doing anything in life. Just be careful that your backup plan isn’t permission to quit when things get tough.

      8. Don’t Spread Yourself Too Thin. Or you’ll be pulled like a guitar wire. A start up of anything takes longer than maintenance. Allow for that. Start with only as much as you can handle. Then add on the rest as the work levels off.

      7. Diversify. But don’t try to do things that you don’t know how to do. If you move into areas you don’t know, you add a learning curve to an already heavy load.

      6. Target a Niche. And call it home. Make sure it’s something that you’re passionate about. Remember in school when you had to narrow the topic to write about it? This is what you did that for.

      5. Provide Value. That means never losing sight of what readers hold dear. The only way to know what readers value is by listening to them.

      4. Differentiate Yourself. This is not school. After all those years when being different got you made fun of, now is when being different pays off. Make your blog a one-of-a-kind, memorable experience–whether it’s the content, your take on things, or your effervescent personality. Have something your readers won’t find anywhere else.

      3. Use the Power of Exponential Growth. See what you’re doing as an investment in the future. Everything you do contributes to what you will be. Darren shows how his investment grew over time. Even if it isn’t about money. You’re still investing. Everyday you work at it, you get better.

      2. Work Hard. The lottery is won by other people. Hard work shows, and people recognize it. They say when you blog you’re writing for your next boss. He or she is reading your work and going to hire you. More importantly, what you learn from hard work is something you will always have.

      1. Be Lucky. But know that not all luck is good. “If you count luck in the mix, be sure that you count on both kinds,” a friend of mind always says. Not bad advice.

Bonus Lesson: Remember You’re Not the Only One. Help out the new guy. Just like your blog isn’t you. You aren’t the blogosphere. Nor is it likely that you will dominate it or even make a massive and lasting change in it. But if you help out the new folks who come along, you might make the blogosphere a smarter place, a community where people actually have relationships and share what they know as a matter of life.

That would be so COOL.

Thanks Darren for giving me reason to think about all of this.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Filed Under: Blog Basics, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, blog_basics, Darren_Rowse, Motivation/Inspiration, survival_kit

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