Skip links

Performancing

Main navigation

Blog

The Nitrous Theme For WordPress: Performancing’s August 2008 Theme

Our most popular free theme releases of the past have been Brian Gardner designed themes (yes, the Brian Gardner of Revolution fame). So all WordPress theme conoisseurs will be glad to know that this month we’re releasing Brian’s latest theme, Nitrous.

Besides it’s ultra-clean look, perhaps the coolest feature of Nitrous is the way it can auto-generate drop-down navigational menus using your WordPress pages and sub-pages. This allows you to give your readers lots of navigational options, without cluttering up the nav bar.

Nitrous comes with a built-in header image, but this can easily be swapped out to fit the theme of your blog.

Click here to see what Nitrous looks like on a live blog.
Click here to download the Nitrous theme.

Monetization Tips And Strategies

Katy over at I’m Blogging That has published a great article that goes in depth on choosing a monetization strategy. Her post covers various monetization strategies such as banner advertising, choosing an ad service, ad placement, and much more. Of particular interest to me was Katy’s thoughts on pricing.

Everyone that comes to you for banner advertising will do so for different reasons. Because of this, there should be some things you take into consideration when choosing how to price out your banner advertising spots.

  • How many banners will you have in one area?
  • Will banners be rotating?
  • Will you be using the no follow attribute on links?
  • Do you have traffic that will click on banners/links?
  • What is your PageRank?
  • What is your Alexa Rank?

It’s only my opinion that the more banners you have in one area, the less you charge for them. If you choose to rotate banners in a single position, the charge should be even less.

I’ll be trying to monetize my own site in the not to distant future and Katy’s article serves as a good primer into the realm of monetization. Other articles related to this topic on Performancing include:

How to create Intelligent Blog Ads

How to create Intelligent Blog Ads – Part 2

How To Squeeze More Income Out Of Your Blog

Supplement your blogging income with e-reports

Blogs.com – The Blog Directory For Popular Bloggers

Six Apart, the creators of the publishing tool MoveableType have recently relaunched their domain, Blogs.com. Blogs.com is labeled by Six Apart as "The Best In Blogs". Asides from having a killer domain name, especially in this day in age, Blogs.com serves as a human edited blog directory with one large post a day dedicated to the hot topic of discussion. The directory contains around 1,200 different blogs from which to search for content.

You may remember when I reported on Rojo, a free RSS and Atom Feed reader went belly up, only to be replaced by something else in the future. That ‘something else‘ is Blogs.com. Rojo was acquired by Six Apart in 2006 and much of the team as well as their ideas for Rojo have been implemented into the site.

Right now, Blogs.com contains a directory filled with blogging celebrities such as Marc Andreessen and Chris Anderson. In my opinion, the bloggers who don’t make much noise won’t see much benefit from being listed within the Blogs.com directory, at least not yet. Anil Dash claims that:

celebrity Top Ten lists let some of the best-known bloggers on the web guide us through the sites that influence them, helping dig up some undiscovered gems you might have missed.

That may be true, but in all honesty, the big boys and girls in the blogosphere all seem to follow each other in their feed readers so I’m not sure how helpful it will be to publish top ten lists from these people. A better alternative would be to publish top 10 lists from those bloggers who never appear on the radar. This would really give visitors a chance to check out some gems. Thankfully, Six Apart plans on rapidly introducing new blogs into the index and even provides bloggers an opportunity to submit their site to them. I’ve already taken them up on their offer and if you blog, I encourage you to do the same by filling out their simple submission form.

As a side note, if you are looking for ideas on top 10 posts, Blogs.com has an entire section on their site for recent top ten lists.

Blogs.com is no Technorati and they don’t rely on any algorithms to determine which content is highlighted on the front page of the site. However, how can you display hidden gems in the blogosphere without looking like you are irrelevant. There always seems to be a group of stories which make the rounds from one blog to the next, if Blogs.com doesn’t publish blog posts highlighting these stories, why will anyone care about the directory in the first place?

Last but not least, there appears to be a few bugs circulating their MovableType Pro installation. As I was searching for more blog posts on the topic of Web 2.0, I received this error:

Overall, I think Blogs.com is just another place for popular bloggers to become even more popular while lesser known bloggers are thrown into the rubble. Considering Six Apart plans on adding new blogs into the directory, I hope this becomes less of an issue and provides lesser known bloggers the chance to appear on the podium. I like the idea that the directory is human edited by a staff of people which will cut down on just about any spam. As for discovering gems and getting the best out of blogs, I think bloggers who know how to use RSS/FeedReaders do a good job of this on their own. With algorithms on Technorati, POPurls, and other popular data aggregation points, why bother with a hand edited directory in the first place? Are these algorithms not doing a good enough job in presenting the webs best content?

It will be interesting to see where the directory stands six months from now. I’ll be interested in the total amount of blogs within the directory as well as the different categories covered. If you have given Blogs.com a look through, please leave a comment and let me know what you thought. Do you think being accepted into this directory will gain you much in the way of traffic?

BloggerTalks Interviews One Of Our Own

BloggerTalks.com, headed by Thord Hedengren has published an inteview featuring our one and only Ryan Caldwell. The interview covers PerformancingAds, the redesign of Performancing.com, the Hive and much more. Here is a sample taken from the interview:

Selling ads is hard, most bloggers have understood that by now. Why will Performancing Ads bring in more money than, say, Google Adsense or Text-Link-Ads?

I think that the question goes in the wrong direction. It should be “How will PerformancingAds compliment and possibly exceed AdSense and TextLinkAds?” The fact of the matter is that we didn’t want to compete with current sources of income, but provide an additional stream that was substantial.

Two of the benefits of being part of PerformancingAds as a publisher is that 1) you get exposure in our marketplace and 2) we have a direct ad sales team working to sell ads for your site.

Be sure to check out the interview and let us know what you think.

Dealing With Those Rowdy Commenters

Sierra Koch's Photo

So, I will be the first to admit that I can garner a temper when someone mindlessly bashes something I write. I could let it all slide, and let things be said about me and my writing, but, then again, I should have the right to defend myself when someone criticizes what I write. Well, it is a complex thing, and one must compose himself or herself in a correct manner to avoid ending up in a bad situation.

I tend to take everything head-on. Some of the stuff I have taken the time to write in the comments sections of some of my blog posts could be developed into full-fledged articles, but it is a thin line between defending myself and entertaining the haters. I will not hold back on anything I write about, and if someone or something is downright ridiculous, I will put my reputation on the line to state the facts. It is who I am, but I know that I have been in situations that I could have handled better.

Knowing that my fairly straightforward approach to taking on those who have less brain cells is generally uncalled for, I offer some of you advice that I only wish I could follow myself at the times when it is most needed. I’m sure that many of you are better than me in that regard.

A Few Tips for Dealing with Unruly Commenters

Come back later: Do you know that feeling you get when you say something you really regret, and you know that if you had just taken a few moments, things would have been better than they turned out? Well, I’ve had that experience countless times before. If you come to a situation that is going to have repercussions, step away from the computer screen. Come back later. You’ll be able to approach conflicts in an entirely different manner.

Ignore it: Having tough skin is a quality that many people desire. Most people take criticism in a negative way, but some can harness that into positive and encouraging material. I’m actually extremely happy to take on constructive criticism, but there is the destructive criticism that just does nobody any good. Ignore it if possible, but if you must react to something like this, make the other person look like a fool, instead of making yourself looking like one.

Admit when you’re wrong: Sometimes the contents of an article are going to be wrong. It is going to happen, and it happens much more often when considering that many bloggers don’t feel as obligated to get the facts right. (Journalists are far from perfect as well.) If you wrote something that was incorrect, tell your users that you were wrong either within the article, within the comments, or both. Avoid trying to justify being wrong, because it will just fuel the fire. Take your punishment and make it up with better content later on.

Moderation: Many times you will get those comments who will flock in from a social networking site, glance the article, and give you one of those typical “this article sucks” responses. I have absolutely no problem with removing these types of comments. They add nothing to the discussion, and the person probably is not going to bother responding anyways. Chances are high that these comments originate from young teens who don’t know any better. Unfortunately, the computer screen can make anyone feel invincible.

Reputation

Above all else, understand that you are part of the blogosphere. The blogosphere is a place of conversation, information, and, sometimes, confrontation. Reputations can be shattered after one wrong move, and this is even more important as you and your blog grows in popularity.

There will be a time when you will have to stand up and defend yourself. Conflict and controversy is always brewing. Just realize that people are going to take sides (it is how the world works), and how you present comments and responses might be far more important than the actual meaning. It’s a weird world that we live in.

In the meantime, fellow bloggers—share the love!

How do you deal with people who leave nasty, derogatory comments on your blog? I’d love to know about it. Leave a comment or two. (Hopefully not bad comments!)

[Image Credit: “Must love computers…“—Sierra Koch]

Google Insight – An Overview Of Search Data

Those of you who keep track of search trends, patterns, keyword volume, and search origins should love Google Insights. Insights is a tool that was released by Google which allows you to tap into the data behind the searches people are making across the globe. You can use this tool to figure out search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, and time frames. Bloggers can use this tool to figure out what people are searching for and then provide that content on their blog. For the purpose of this overview, I’m going to be using the search terms: icons, blogging, wordpress, and monetization.

Before you conduct the search, you first have to configure a few filters such as the geographic location, date range and specific categories. For this overview I’ve configured the filters for worldwide, 2008 and all categories. Once the search is conducted, Google Insights presents the data in an easy to view format on the page with sections dedicated to search results, regional interest, etc. In our test case, the search volume for these keywords is as follows: icons has 87 results, blogging has 6 results, WordPress has 60 results, and monetization has 0.

According to Google Insights, interest has waned over the past year for icons but WordPress has steadily gained in interest. The Philippines has shown the most interest in icons while they have also shown interest in WordPress. The interest in WordPress is probably due to the fact that there will be a WordCamp event in the not so distant future within that region. Speaking of WordPress, the search terms related to the keyword of WordPress tells us that many people are searching for WordPress 2.6 and even more are searching for WordPress Plugin and Theme WordPress. If you were a blogger writing about WordPress, now would be a good time to write about these particular subjects so that people will find you within their search results.

Google Insights seems like another tool to add to your arsenal as a means of figuring out the type of content that people are looking for. If you use Google Insights, please share your tips or tricks within the comments section as I’d like to know how you end up using this service.

WRITE BETTER & FASTER: Part 3 by Joan Reeves©2008

(Note: I feel a bit silly placing a Copyright notice on this article because, as a professional writer I know that Copyright is in place from the minute I create a work and does not necessarily require the symbol. Copyright ownership rests with the creator of content. That’s part of the TofS of this site. Professionals respect Copyright, but thieves do not. Since Zurza stole one of my posts on this blog, I want to make it a little tedious for him/her or anyone inclined to steal others’ work to have to check every line to see if something needs to be removed before they scrape it and post it their sites. If nothing else, they might learn something about how to write so they can do it themselves without stealing words from others.)


HOW TO BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING
by Joan Reeves©2008

You may think this title is nonsensical, but I see a lot of writers who don’t know how to start writing. They want to write. They really do, but somehow they just can’t seem to get started.

Those of you writing novels may be like the frustrated writer played by Billy Crystal in Throw Momma From The Train. He’s sitting in front of a typewriter and has typed: The night was…. After those three words, he’s stalled and stares blankly at the piece of paper.

He types hot. No, that’s not it. He types humid. No. That’s not right. He ends up with a wastebasket full of paper wads and a massive case of writer’s block. Later, when the mother in the movie rasps, The night was sultry, is it any wonder he agrees to kill her?

Perhaps you’re writing a novel or articles, blogs, whatever, and you too find yourself dithering about, unable to get started, unable to find an entrance into the subject matter.

This is what I call stalled brain, a condition that occurs because your brain isn’t warmed up and ready to race.

If you have a car parked in a garage and it’s 20 degrees outside, chances are you sit in the car with the motor idling after you’ve started it. You wait a few minutes, warming up the engine before you put it into gear and drive away.

When writing, if you’re having difficulty getting started or if you start and stall out immediately, maybe you didn’t warm up your brain sufficiently.

Try these brain-warming exercises to get the thoughts flowing and to turn off the internal critic or editor. These work whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, short or long. The only caveat: these exercises actually work better using pen and paper than the computer, but you can try them on the computer if you like.

Cluster

Write a word in the center of a page. Select a word that has something to do with the subject or theme about which you intend to write.

Draw a circle around the word then lines from the center like spokes on a wheel. At the end of each spoke, write the first word that pops into your head. Write as many words clustered around that center as you can.

Look at the cluster. What do all the words you wrote have in common? Are there some words that resonate with you? In what direction do the words lead your thoughts? Compose a sentence and write it down immediately.

In most cases, this sentence is a doorway, a lead-in, to what you want to write and will enable you to keep writing because the brain has been stimulated in that direction. The words will flow. Get the words down without stopping. Don’t give the internal editor a chance to intrude. Go back later and edit.

Lists

What are you wanting to write about? Make a list about it. Take your subject and list the first 10 thoughts that pop into your brain. Or list 10 things about some aspect of the subject that really interests you. If the subject is music, you might list 10 thoughts about it that might vary from the first song you learned as a kid to the concert you went to last night. Or maybe a list of groups you like, songs you like, songs about heartbreak, music in the movies, or scandals associated with music, etc.

Don’t try to legislate your thoughts, just let them flow and list them. Don’t even try to confine the list to a certain number. Just list, but the goal is to list as many things as possible because the more you write down, the greater the mental flow. Don’t try to prioritize the list either. The goal is to list as many things as possible as quickly as possible.

Describe something with words, and the description doesn’t have to relate to your subject at all. Perhaps you’ll write a paragraph describing your ideal reader, this is a mental creation of the person who finds what you write interesting to read. Is your ideal reader someone who looks like your mom or your spouse or your best friend or your high school English teacher?

The act of writing a description puts the brain to work in the process of putting words together to create an articulated vision. That’s what writing is all about. Write it for practice and it’s easy to just continue writing on your project.

Takeaway Truth

These brain-warming techniques work because they assign your brain the task of producing words and giving those words form. Without over-thinking it, you find yourself working with words instead of agonizing over how to craft the perfect sentence. From free-flowing thoughts come written words resulting in paragraphs, pages, and books.

How Relevant Comments Drive Traffic

Here at Performancing.com, we have covered a variety of different angles in which comments you leave on blog posts can help drive traffic back to your own blog. For some, this information and technique has become redundant but I thought I would share an experience which clearly illustrates why this is good, sound advice.

Lifehacker.com, an extremely popular blog focused on tips, tricks, and techniques in which to improve productivity published a post on staying awake at work or school. The summary of the post linked to an article which provided tips on how to stay awake while also inviting those who comment to share their own techniques.

A few days prior to Lifehacker publishing their post, I had published a post on my own blog highlighting a funny video which described how to look awake. I published the video thanks to its comedic nature.

As I’m browsing through my FeedReader on January 28th, 2008 I notice the stay awake post published on Lifehacker. When I saw that post, I immediately thought of the video I had published and decided to link to it in the comments. It’s a good thing I did as the end result was a massive spike in traffic.

My comment on the Lifehacker article ended up being the sixth comment published. The comment was nothing more than a relevant piece of text with a link back to my article.

The comment was highly relevant to the article and while I didn’t provide a paragraph or two of text, I was able to easily publish a link to my own blog thanks to its relation to the article. This single comment provided a huge spike of traffic for that specific article on my blog. I’m not sure if I gained any new subscribers from the post but it has been one of the most successful comments I have ever made.

Have you ever had a similar experience? Have you made a comment on a blog post which gained you a ton of traffic? If so, let us know about it in the comments.