Wordpress for iPhone

If you don’t have an iPhone, buy one.

If you can’t afford one just yet, save your money then buy one. This won’t be a post on why I love the iPhone, but let me just say that this one piece of technology has literally become the brain of operations for about 85% of my online businesses. 

While we can never replace the desktop or laptop entirely (I haven’t seen the photoshop app … yet) this computer with a built-in phone is nothing short of amazing.

O.K. so how can it help you make money blogging? Glad you asked. After upgrading to the 3G version, I started browsing the App Store for programs I could use in my business. After typing in the keyword “Wordpress,” I was presented with the WordPress for iPhone Application, and I wanted to take a few minutes to outline some of it’s features since I’ve been playing around with it all day.

 

How To Add A Wordpress Blog To Your iPhone

Like most things with the iPhone, adding a blog using the Wordpress Application is a breeze, and in the picture to the left, you can see just how easy it is.

Simply click the Blog URL button to enter your domain (both wordpress.com and self hosted blogs are supported), then add your username and password and your done!

Before hitting the save button, you are given the option to chose how many posts are to be displayed in the App as well as whether or not the images you add to a post will be resized (allowing for faster publishing).

Finally, for all this to work, you must enable the check box under Settings > Writing > Remote Publishing that says XML-RPC. This allows you to do remote publishing, and is not checked by default when you install Wordpress. Once that box is checked, you’re all set to start writing, editing, and posting to your Wordpress Blog from you iPhone.

 

How To Write A Wordpress Post With Your iPhone

When it comes to actually writing a post, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at just how easy it is. Just like in the main Wordpress Admin area, you are prompted to give the post a title, tags (if applicable), categories (if applicable), and a Status: Pending Review, Draft, Published, etc. You can also flip the iPhone to landscape mode for a wider viewing area when typing.

Pictures

All images you add to a post are put to the bottom by default, but since html is allowed, you can align or justify the photo(s) as desired. At first I thought you could only add text and photos, but when I previewed the post then went back to the “Write” tab, I saw that the picture was in html. Most likely, you won’t be doing any long posts with lots of pictures, but it’s nice to know you can use or edit html if you know how to do it.

Preview

After you’ve written the post and added any pictures, you can click the Preview button to see how it all looks. Sometimes it will be displayed just as it would on your site and other times it will say, “Sorry, the theme for your blog could not be retrieved. A simple preview is shown below.” Either way, you’ll be able to see how the finished post looks before publishing.

Settings

This final tab allows you to set the Publish Date, Password (if necessary), and select whether or not the photos will be resized.

Comments

Moderating comments is another available feature within the Wordpress App for iPhone. You can Approve, Disapprove, or mark them as Spam. 

Publishing

When you’ve got the post just how you want, hit Save and the post is put to your Local Drafts folder on your iPhone. All that’s left is to visit the folder, change the check mark to Published, then hit Save. Your post is now published to your site.

Learn more about the Wordpress iPhone Application.

Clickbank’s New Look

I received an email from my client rep today regarding the new look for Clickbank.com and I wanted to share it with you (plus a nice new tool they released). Before I show you the new Hoplink Shield, let’s take a stroll down memory lane and look at the previous Clickbank designs. This is a good case study to follow regarding the evolution of design with an evolution of the business itself. Today Clickbank has a truly unique design integrating several technologies that were but a dream when they opened their doors over a decade ago. 

Clickbank In 1999

This first design dates back to 1999, and definitely has a “Pre-2K” look to it. Notice how plain and simple it is. Having not known then what they would ultimately become, it would be very easy to write this site off as just another web startup. And yes, they did use the phrase “mountains of cash.”

Clickbank In 2000

In 2000, they did a very slight redesign that at least added a clear distinction between merchants and affiliates (the two segments they were appealing to).

Clickbank In 2001

2001 marked a noticeable improvement in design and the look that would go on to represent Clickbank.com for the next 6 years. Notice the much better use of real estate in explaining what their product is and who could use it. Still missing is a clear Signup button.

Clickbank.com In 2007

Making a huge improvement (and 6 years in the making), Clickbank released this design in 2007 as the previous look was much too dated. With a clear description of their business in the middle of the top fold, Clickbank accurately described itself as the, “Internet’s leading retailer of digital products.” With the simple headings and clear call to action this was a very usable redesign. My main concern with this look, although it was light years ahead of the previous one, rested in the fact that it still felt too bland and corporate.

Clickbank.com In 2009

So here we are in 2009, and the world’s abuzz with things like Twitter, Blogs, YouTube, and Facebook, and Clickbank thought it time to show off a new look…a home run if you ask me! 

The red, yellow, green, white, and faded red contrast well together, and I love the use of the footer. They’ve incorporated a blog to their suite of new social media and the homepage even keeps a running counter showing the over $1 Billion paid out to merchants and affiliates (all without ever having a late payment) over the past 10 years.

With the redesign also came the release of a much requested feature: encrypted affiliate links. It’s been proven time and time again, that many people are suspicious of clicking links when they know it’s an affiliate link. While there are several quick and easy ways you can do this on your own (like creating a simple php redirect, and html page with the link, or any number of other things), Clickbank now allows you to simply enter your Clickbank ID and the Vendor ID, then they encrypt it for you. Taking this Hoplink Shield a step further, they allow you to decode the link by simply entering the encoded version, then hitting Decode. Here’s what it looks like.
 

The Take-Away

Since our site caters to those looking to make money online with a blog or website, it’s important to take a way a few things from the Clickbank design model.

1. In The Beginning, Worry About The Product - If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a thousand times more: Focus on content first, design second. While usability is important, if there’s nothing for your visitors to “use” then all you have is a pretty, expensive design. When the content is good, when the product is good, when whatever service you’re providing on your blog or website is in fact GOOD, people will continue to use it, come back, and tell their friends even if the design is crappy.
2. As The Business Evolves, So Should Your Design - Through the years, Clickbank’s core business has stayed the same, they’ve just gotten better at it (and bigger). Along the way, they’ve made improvements that have coordinated with those improvements, be they technology or functionality. As your site and online business grow, be mindful of the ways you can tweak your design so it evolves with your business. Keeping your look fresh and current (not trendy) shows your customers and visitors that you are actively engaged in your craft.

For more information on Clickbank, be sure to visit their site and read about their unique business model. They are the marketplace for digital product owners (merchants) to list their products for sellers (affiliates) to promote. Promoting Clickbank products is how I got my start in Internet Marketing so many years ago, and it continues to be an integral part of my online businesses to this day.

Nick Roach’s Elegant Themes Review

Having the right Wordpress Theme is crucial to your blog’s success. It’s kind of like the study that showed how people looking to buy a home can make up their mind within 8 seconds of walking in the door whether they like it or not - by not giving your visitors the right first impression (your design) - you’re literally inviting them to hit the back button.

The Dilemma

As a blogger your focus should be on content. Blog design is important, but when you think about it, do people go to Craigslist because it looks pretty? Absolutely not. They use it because they’re the best in the field.

Since we’re not all Craigslists, we must merge the design and content aspects together in as seamless a manner as possible. You want to have a nice looking design, but you most likely are not strong in design itself (much less coding that pretty design). You want a unique, impressive look that conveys professionalism and passion about your craft, but you’re probably not an expert at usability (how “usuable” your site is to visitors). And finally, you want to do all this in the cheapest, most cost effictive way possible (nothing wrong with that).

Elegant Themes

Have you ever spent any length of time browsing around countless free wordpress theme sites only to be left feeling unsatisfied? Does it seem like most of the free themes are … well … free for a reason? Where are all the best wordpress themes? After going through these motions for a period of time, I decided to take a look at some premium wordpress themes to see if they were really that much better than the free ones. Shortly thereafter, I discovered Nick Roach’s Elegant Themes, and that changed everything for me.

I knew I could hire a web designer to create a nice looking website as I’ve done countless times in the past. But at $800-$3500/pop, designers can be expensive. I was interested in finding a nice looking design that I could learn to tweak and modify myself to make it more personalized and customized to my liking.

As a website and blog developer, I am frequently developing new sites, and aside from the content itself, I want each design to be unique and professional. Enter ElegantThemes.

Elegant Themes Premium Theme Club

Forget $200-$500 like many other premium theme clubs, for $20 - YES $20 - members get unlimited access and unlimited use to all of Nicks’ premium wordpress themes. To date there are 22 themes with 2-3 currently in production. He typically releases 1-2 new wordpress themes per month.

I’m going to get out of the way and let Nick’s design speak for itself. As you will see, these are top notch designs that would normally run you several thousand dollars a piece (I’ve researched hiring a good wordpress theme designer, and that is the going rate).

Without further ado, here are the premium wordpress themes from ElegantThemes:

 

Coldstone Wordpress Theme

Coldstone Theme Features:

• Three unique post layouts*
• Three widget-ready areas*
• Advertising management
• Featured articles display
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• In-depth theme options
• Four unique background designs

Example Sites Using The Coldstone Theme (Showcase):

• Courtroom Presentations
• Modern Touch

More Information On Coldstone From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Coldstone

 

Puretype Wordpress Theme

Puretype Theme Features:

• Three unique colors: Default, Blue, or Black
• Featured articles display*
• Advertising management
• Optional blog-style post layout
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• In-depth theme options

Example Sites Using The Puretype Theme (Showcase):

• NYC Posts
• GeekCast

More Information On Puretype From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Puretype

 

Basic Wordpress Theme

Basic Theme Features:

• Four unique color schemes: Red, Blue, Green, or Purple
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• In-depth theme options
• Optional blog-style post layout
• Advertising management

Example Sites Using The Basic Theme (Showcase):

• Wactivist
• Home School Cafe

More Information On Basic From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Basic

 

Cherrytruffle Wordpress Theme

Cherrytruffle Theme Features:

• Three unique colors: Default, Blue, or Purple
• Automated thumbnail resizing*
• Advertising management*
• Optional blog-style post layout*
• In-depth theme options*

Example Sites Using The Cherrytruffle Theme (Showcase):

• As A Star

More Information On Cherrytruffle From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Cherrytruffle

 

Lightsource Wordpress Theme

Lightsource Theme Features:

• Lifestream integration*
• Optional blog-style post layout
• Three unique color schemes: Purple, Blue, or Green
• Featured articles display
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• In-depth theme options

Example Site Using The Lightsource Theme (Showcase):

• Forties Fun

More Information On Lightsource From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Lightsource

 

eGamer Wordpress Theme

eGamer Theme Features:

• Author rating system*
• Optional blog-style post layout
• Featured articles display
• Video integration*
• Four unique color schemes: Rust-Red, Blue, Green, or Purple
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• In-depth theme options

Example Sites Using The eGamer Theme (Showcase):

• Player Wild
• Kouppa-NetworkLive

More Information On eGamer From Elegant Themes:

• Demo eGamer

 

eVid Wordpress Theme

eVid Theme Features:

• Video Integration
• Featured articles display
• Advertising management
• Custom video interface *
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• In-depth theme options

Example Sites Using The eVid Theme (Showcase):

• Nima Shams Composer
• Season In The Balance

More Information On eVid From Elegant Themes:

• Demo eVid

 

Cion Wordpress Theme

Cion Theme Features:

• Three unique color schemes: Purple, Blue, or Green
• About me section *
• Advertising management
• Featured articles display
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• In-depth theme options

Example Site Using The Cion Theme (Showcase):

• Billie Raven

More Information On Cion From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Cion

 

eGallery Wordpress Theme

eGallery Theme Features:

• Three unique color schemes: Blue, Brown, or Monochrome
• Post ratings integration*
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• Unique gallery display format*
• Featured articles display
• Built-in lightbox*
• In-depth theme options

Example Sites Using The eGallery Theme (Showcase):

• Life Of DJ
• Gotham Glassworks

More Information On eGallery From Elegant Themes:

• Demo eGallery

 

Grungemag Wordpress Theme

Grungemag Theme Features:

• Three unique color schemes: Red, Blue, or Green
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• In-depth theme options
• Featured articles display
• Advertising management

Example Sites Using The Grungemag Theme (Showcase):

• Cathryn Gray
• Foreign Language Mastery
  
• The Malaysia Page

More Information On Grungemag From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Grungemag

 

Influx Wordpress Theme

Influx Theme Features:

• Four unique background designs: Default, Grunge, Subtelty, and Oceanic
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• Featured articles display
• In-depth theme options

Example Site Using The Influx Theme (Showcase):

• About Rob Thomas

More Information On Influx From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Influx

 

Studioblue Wordpress Theme

Studioblue Theme Features:

• Five unique color schemes: Blue, Brown, Green, Black, or Pink (hey, ladies)
• Optional blog-style post layout
• Advertising management
• Featured articles display
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• In-depth theme options

Example Sites Using The Studioblue Theme (Showcase):

• Ammunition Storage
• PrairieFire Productions
• In The Agora

More Information On StudioBlue From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Studioblue

 

Who’sWho Wordpress Theme

Who’sWho Theme Features:

• Four unique color schemes: Blue, Red, Green, and Purple
• Optional blog-style post layout
• Advertising management
• Featured articles display
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• In-depth theme options

Example Sites Using The Who’sWho Theme (Showcase):

• Sweet Fuzz
• On This Island
• Mamun Ahmed

More Information On Who’sWho From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Who’sWho

 

Interphase Wordpress Theme

Interphase Theme Features:

• Clean design with a “cutting edge” feel
• Advertising management
• In-depth theme options

Example Sites Using The Interphase Theme (Showcase):

• Out Of Work Chicago
• Markos Rigakis

More Information On Interphase From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Interphase

 

Wooden Wordpress Theme

Wooden Theme Features:

• Unique, down to earth design
• In-depth theme options

Example Site Using The Wooden Theme (Showcase):

• Gun And Game

More Information On Wooden From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Wooden

 

Tidalforce Wordpress Theme

Tidalforce Theme Features:

• Smooth blue design packed full of features
• In-depth theme options

More Information On Tidalforce From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Tidalforce

 

Artsee Wordpress Theme

Artsee Theme Features:

• A truly “artsy” design for those who love simplicity and elegance
• In-depth theme options

Example Site Using The Artsee Theme (Showcase):

• My Evil Blog

More Information On Artsee From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Artsee

 

Earthlytouch Wordpress Theme

Earthlytouch Theme Features:

• Five unique color schemes: Blue, Green, Purple, or Red
• Featured articles display
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• In-depth theme options
• Optional blog-style post layout
• Advertising management

Example Site Using The Earthlytouch Theme (Showcase):

• View From My Seats

More Information On Earthlytouch From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Earthlytouch

 

Quadro Wordpress Theme

Quadro Theme Features:

• Five unique color schemes: Red, Purple, Green, Pink, or Blue
• Optional blog-style post layout
• Advertising management
• Featured articles display
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• In-depth theme options

Example Site Using The Quadro Theme (Showcase):

• Rocket Spanish Blog

More Information On Quadro From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Quadro

 

Simplism Wordpress Theme

Simplism Theme Features:

• Five unique color schemes: Blue, Green, Purple, or Red
• Featured articles display
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• In-depth theme options
• Optional blog-style post layout

Example Site Using The Simplism Theme (Showcase):

• Museum Insider

More Information on Simplism from Elegant Themes:

• Demo Simplism

 

Bluemist Wordpress Theme

Bluemist Theme Features:

• For those looking for a smooth design
• In-depth theme options

Example Site Using The Bluemist Theme (Showcase):

• Pamela’s Grant Writing Blog

More Information On Bluemist from Elegant Themes:

• Demo Bluemist

 

Bluesky Wordpress Theme

Bluesky Theme Features:

• The original theme from Elegant Themes
• Four unique color schemes: Blue, Red, Green, or Purple
• Automated thumbnail resizing
• Optional blog-style post layout
• In-depth theme options

More Information On Bluesky From Elegant Themes:

• Demo Bluesky

 

Elegant Themes Standard Features

Throughout the list of premium wordpress themes, you may have noticed an * next to a certain feature. Certain features are theme specific and others are used in all of them. Before we explain what each * feature is, we want to share what’s standard and included with ALL premium themes from ElegantThemes:

Widget ready sidebars

Theme options page

Custom thumbnail images

PSD Files

Valid XHTML + CSS

Smooth tabless design

Sitewise search bar

Gravatar ready

Firefox compatible

IE7 + IE6 compatible

Opera compatible

Netscape compatible

Safari compatible

Wordpress 2.7+ compatible

 

Elegant Themes (*) Features Explained

Throughout the list of premium wordpress themes, you may have noticed an * next to a certain feature. We * a feature the first time it appears although other themes may include the feature as well. Below you will find a brief description of each * feature:

Automated Thumbnail Resizing

This utilizes timthumb to automatically resize your thumbnail images. Because of this, only one thumbnail images is required per post, despite the various thumbnail sizes used in the theme.

Themes With This Feature: CherryTruffle, PureType, Basic, Coldstone, Lightsource, eGamer, eVid, Cion, eGallery, GrungeMag, Influx, Studioblue, Who’sWho, EarthlyTouch, Quadro, Simplism, Bluesky

 

Advertising Management

With this feature you can place 125×125 banner images in your sidebar and 468×60 ads to your post pages with ease. Can be turned off.

Themes With This Feature: CherryTruffle, PureType, Basic, Coldstone, eVid, Cion, GrungeMag, Studioblue, Who’sWho, EarthlyTouch, Quadro

 

In-Depth Theme Options

All ElegantThemes themes come with an options page that features a long list of settings that makes managing the theme as user-friendly (and easy) as possible.

Themes With This Feature: All

 

Optional Blog-Style Post Layout

If you would rather not use the abbreviated post structure you can opt for the optional blog-style layout. When enabled, your posts will be displayed in full like a traditional blog.

Themes With This Feature: CherryTruffle, PureType, Basic, Lightsource, eGamer, Studioblue, Who’sWho, EarthlyTouch, Quadro, Simplism, Bluesky

 

Featured Articles Display

With the featured articles display you can choose to feature your favorite posts in a prominent space on the homepage. There are several customization options as well.

Themes With This Feature: PureType, Coldstone, Lightsource, eGamer, eVid, Cion, eGallery, GrungeMag, Influx, Studioblue, Who’sWho, EarthlyTouch, Quadro, Simplism

 

Three Unique Post Layouts

Coldstone contains three unique post layouts. The default (Business), as well as Blog-style (which displays full-length posts) and Magazine-style.

Themes With This Feature: Coldstone

 

Three Widget Ready Areas

Coldstone also contains three widget-ready areas. The Business-style homepage has it’s own unique sidebar, and the footer is also widget ready.

Themes With This Feature: Coldstone

 

Lifestream Integration

Want the best lifestream wordpress theme? A lifestream is a great way to connect your blog with your other social media outlets, and Lightsource is the theme you want! Several color options.

Themes With This Feature: Lightsource

 

Author Rating System

eGamer allows you to assign ratings to each post you make. These ratings appear on the post page in a 0-5 star format. Your search for the best wordpress rating theme is over!

Themes With This Feature: eGamer

 

Video Integration

When you make a post you can choose to embed a video from video websites such as yahoo and others. This is a top rated video wordpress theme for all you vloggers.

Themes With This Feature: eGamer, eVid

 

Custom Video Interface

Videos are embedded into a unique javascript-power interface with various blogger-friendly features including easy social bookmarking, video rating, sharing, linking, backlighting and more.

Themes With This Feature: eVid

 

About Me Section

Cion is geared towards more personal-style blogs. For this reason, there’s an included “about me” section on the homepage which can be altered from within the theme’s options menu.

Themes With This Feature: Cion

 

Post Ratings Integration

Built to be with compatible with wp post ratings (a rating plugin for wordpress), ratings are displayed on post pages, as well as within a javascript powered interface on all index pages.

Themes With This Feature: eGallery

 

Unique Gallery Display Format

eGallery has been customized to transform your blog into a gallery. Posts are displayed in a gallery-format inside a design that was built to draw focus to images rather than text.

Themes With This Feature: eGallery

 

Built-In Lightbox

eGallery also comes with a built-in lightweight lightbox for all gallery images. Thumbnails on post-pages can be clicked to reveal a lightbox enhanced full view of the source image.

Themes With This Feature: eGallery

 

Final Thoughts About Elegant Themes

OK, if you made it this far, you know what you need to do. ElegantThemes is the best deal in premium wordpress themes hands down! No other wordpress source has so many high quality, highly customizable premium wordpress themes for such a ridiculously low price.

I’ve been a proud member for almost a year and couldn’t be happier with what I’ve received for 20 bucks! If you’re serious about finding the best looking premium wordpress themes (at a truly unbelievable price), give Nick Roach’s Elegant Themes a try. You’ll be glad you did!

Optimize Your Blog: Part 2

In continuation of the series on how to opimize your blog, I want to cover a very important rule of thumb that all bloggers must know if they want to make money blogging. While some may not consider this a real “optimization” technique, it directly relates to HOW you should build a website or blog…if you want to make money with it.

For the most part, bloggers are scatterbrained.

This is O.K. if it’s your personal blog covering things relevant to you and your life. But if your goal is to build a website or blog that can generate income, let me provide you with a framework that successful bloggers follow.

Focus On One Thing

Every time I create a new site, I make sure the focus of that site: the content, the videos, the comments, everything is related to one topic. Instead of trying to make your site all things to all people (or worse yet, what you “think” people want to know about) find something that people are interested in (one topic) and build a website around it.

The internet affords people the luxury of finding specific groups of people who share common interests. People like to find specific answers to specific problems, and for this reason, your focus should be on creating tightly themed websites that are centered around one topic.

Example: To employ this “tightly themed” technique, it’s important that you make sure the topic in which your covering is not too broad. For example, don’t create a site centered around the general theme of “weight loss.” Instead, focus on one popular diet: South Beach, for instance. Become the expert for all things related to the South Beach Diet, and you (1) have an easier time writing content (2) attract a very targeted visitor that is first interested in information on the South Beach Diet but is ALSO interested in weight loss in general (the original much broader niche). If you want to create a site about “weight loss” don’t make it about the broad niche, find a specific subset within that niche and build a site (or sites) around that.

Have A Revenue Source Before You Create The Site

Continuing with the South Beach Diet example, before I would ever create a site around this topic, I would make sure I could first earn a commission for getting someone to:

1. Sign up for the diet
2. Do a desired action that generates revenue for me and is directly related to the South Beach Diet.

If you take away one thing from this article, get this: don’t create a site without first having a revenue generating action your future visitors can complete in place before you build the site. This may be earning a commission for selling a product, getting someone to signup for a trial, it could be anything. Just make sure it generates revenue for you, and it’s either selling the product your the “expert” about or is directly related to the topic.

This is the best way to build a website or blog that can make real money. Furthermore, you won’t start with the notion of, ‘I’m going to just start writing about [BLANK] and see where it takes me. Don’t waste your time going down that road.

Find a way to make a commission for selling a product or generating a lead, then build a niche site centered around this ONE thing. Like my economics teacher used to say, “Prior planning prevents poor performance.” Start with the end goal in mind, focus on one topic, then build your site.

Note: In Buying & Selling Websites we cover many other techniques related to what make successful websites, what types of sites are best to buy, and how you can get the most money for a site you want to sell.