Is there a WordPress function that will return the theme that’s currently being used?
I’m sorta desperate here;-) Maybe you can figure out why by playing around themes.performancing.com
My new revenue theory.
My new view on revenue is that if you really want a chunk of the money on the webernets, then you’ve got to invest up front in creating a brand. Don’t spread yourself thin squeezing pennies out of AdSense. Go after the big money that’s out there when you become a 2nd or 1st tier site in any given niche!
Thoughts?
Should Bloggers Take The Summer Off?
If you’ve been in this game for a while you know that, for most blogs, traffic and revenue go down in the summer.
It sort of parallels the stock market. Many investors think the market peaks in March-April, dips through August, and then starts another upswing in October. So many investors buy from September-January, then reap their harvest from March-April and take the summer off.
While I don’t subscribe to this short term seasonal investing practice, mainly because I think there are still plenty of good stock buys out there in the summer, I am wondering whether there’s any place for seasonal blogging.
If you’re like me, you treat pro-blogging as a full time job and you often work just as hard on a Saturday as a Tuesday. But did you know that the impact of your work on Saturday might not be as substantial as the work you do on a Tuesday?
There are far fewer eyeballs looking at your blog on the weekends, not to mention the summer. So how should a blogger respond to this fact?
Part of the art of blogging is maintaining a certain level of momentum. But do you really lose any momentum by taking the weekend off? What about taking an entire week off? What about posting less frequently in the summer?
Obviously I don’t have answers to these questions, but since the return on investment isn’t very good in the summer, is there a way bloggers can down-shift a bit to avoid the disappointment that less traffic naturaly brings?
I’m Still Lazy… Are WordPress category descriptions worth the time?
A few weeks ago I asked whether the “title” tag was worth the time it took to put into the a href tag. The consensus was overwhelmingly yes, not only for SEO but also for 1) the good of those who are disabled and 2) usability (gives the reader context for where the link will take them).
Now, I want to ask another question to the Performancing community:
Do you use WordPress category descriptions? If so, why? If not, why not?
EatonWeb: A Blog Directory That Matters
For the last several months I, and several others, have been developing what we consider to be a Blog Directory That Matters. It is called EatonWeb. And submissions are free;-)
In our view, the reason that directory submission has fallen so out of favor among SEO types is simple: too many directories are just sophisticated link farms and the links don’t carry much, if any, value. Most directories don’t exist for any other reason than to pass link juice and collect submission fees.
Our goal with EatonWeb was to make a directory that provided valuable information to the blog owner as well as blog buyers and blog advertisers.
To meet this goal we sat down and came up with a list of over 20 factors that we believe are indicators of blog quality. Then we went about creating an algorithm to measure these qualities and determine a blog’s strength. But we didn’t stop there.
In our view, a blog’s strength is not its only virtue. We also set out to measure a blog’s dynamic momentum over time. Healthy blogs should either maintain or grow their measured strength over time.
The cool thing about EatonWeb is that it organizes blog categories by strength and momentum. This is great information to have on several levels. For one, it provides blog owners with weekly feedback on their blog’s progress, and allows a blog owner to set concrete goals. Additionally, it gives blog buyers, sellers and advertisers detailed information to help evaluate the overall value of a blog.
By separating out strength and momentum, EatonWeb also provides the “little guy” a chance to stand out in the Momentum section of the directory. Whereas it might be difficult to compete on the level of pure strength, the little guy has more room for growth.
It’s our hope that EatonWeb will prove to be one of the most important blog directories on the Internet, right along with Best of the Web, Blog Flux and Blog Catalog.
The good news is that we’re not done with EatonWeb. We’re going to work daily to improve our measurements and add new features designed to help bloggers and SEOers acquire valuable information and valuable links.
So what are you waiting for? Submit your blog to EatonWeb today!
Pssssssssssss … in case you had any doubts about the SEO strength of EatonWeb, do a Google search for College Startup (my other blog) and look at the fifth listing down. Better yet, do a search on Jack of All Blogs and look at the second full listing. Impressive, eh? Still wondering if you should submit?
Social Meta Voting (SMV) – Looking for 10 Good Testers
Sometime in August or September, Performancing will be implementing an SMV system for members. Right now, I have a very rough prototype up here:
I’m looking for about 10 individuals to help me test this system out over the summer. You’ll be able to submit up to three articles per day and you’ll be expected to vote on other stories.
One condition of participating is that you will not only submit articles, but also vote on the stories of others. Because of this, I’ll need for you to send me your Digg, Netscape and Reddit user profiles.
If you’re interested in working on this project with me, please send a PM via Performancing.
How To Reach Major Bloggers In Your Niche
Liz Strauss has a fabulous article over at the Blog Herald entitled The Two Webs: Information or Relationships? I recommend that all Performancing members read it and savor it.
The basic gist of the article is that there are two webs: one structural, the other relational. The structural web is the one that a person considers when doing an analytical measurement (e.g. total links, etc.). Unlike the structural web, the relational web is the one that consists of human relationships.
Human relationships can sometimes be represented by the structural web, and algorithms rely on this sort of representation, but the structural web isn’t good at differentiating structural aspects that indicate true human relationship, as opposed to manipulated structure.
The take home point of the article for me was this: those of us who are ultra-analytical tend to place excessive value in the structural web to the neglect of the relational web. We are prone to doing whatever we can to manipulate the structural web (e.g. buying and selling links), while ignoring the reason the structural web acquired value in the first place.
So why does the structural web have value? Because of the way it has been used to measure human relationships and human interests.
Ok, So what…
Well, after several years on the web, it’s my view that you can ultimately achieve more success at the structural level by focusing on the relational level. Sure, focusing on the structural level is easier on the surface, but in the end, I think it takes more work, more man hours, and is a self-perpetuating monster (buy more links to sell more links).
What can you do
Here’s my tip. Get the attention of high profile bloggers in your niche. That should be your number one focus for the first 12 months of blogging on a site. Screw the SERPS. Screw Google. Screw Yahoo. Screw Live. Well, not really, but don’t pay attention to them. Really. Ignore them altogether.
Instead, make it your only priority for one full year to do whatever it takes to get the attention of at least one high profile blogger in your niche. Spend the 10 hours each week you would have otherwise spent on artificial linkbuilding to 1) write good articles and 2) make insightful comments on blogs in your niche.
A Recipe For Success
Focus all your energy on the following:
1. Write good original articles
2. Link out to other blogs in your niche in *every* post
3. Write articles that provide commentary or opinion on articles from other blogs (include link)
4. Comment your ass off at 3-5 other blogs in your niche (but make the comments snappy and good).
5. Once a month, write a great article that deserves to be emailed to a *great* blogger or two in your niche for critical feedback (what do you think of this article?) – Then send the email(s).
I think that with these 5 steps, you’ll locate yourself definitively within the web of online relationships, and become much more successful than with mindless SEO. Sure, mindless SEO gets you a few visits here and there, but unless you are one of the best there’s a terrible ceiling for what you can achieve by trying to do everything within the structural web.
In fact, even the best SEOs have gotten there, in my view, by networking and getting the right friends at the right time, and this can only happen in the relational web.
So here’s to 2007 becoming the year of relationship building and networking! And here’s to your success!
Full Time Celebrity Blogger Wanted
I’m looking for a celebrity blogger who’s interested in the potential of eventually doing celebrity blogging as a full time career. In other words, the ideal candidate is someone who is passionate about celebrity culture, and loves being immersed in it.
The blogger should be familiar with WordPress, especially working with images.
The blog in question is Celebrity Cowboy.
At this point in time, I’m offering a scaled salary:
$100 for 3+ short posts per day
$200 for 6+ short posts per day
$300 + 25% profit share for 9+ short posts per day
$400 + 25% profit share for 12+ short posts per day
$500 + 50% profit share for 15+ short posts per day
English should be the blogger’s first language. We are mostly interested in a blogger who wants to take the last option and has a sincere interest in running a celebrity blog *full time* as a career. This is not a position for a part time blogger with little interest in celebrity culture.
I have strong evidence that 15+ posts per day, combined with heavy promotion, will quickly lead to a site that can generate enough money to support a moderate, full time salary. However, part of the success depends on the effort, attitude and ability of the writer. That is why we are offering a profit share and not a flat salary. We want the blogger to have invested interest in the success of the site.
For more information, please contact me at [email protected]