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Announcing the Prose Theme for WordPress

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You may have seen recently that we merged StudioPress, creator of the powerful Genesis theme framework , into Copyblogger Media. Why did we do it? I can sum it up for you in a single phrase: because we’re control freaks . With Genesis, we saw an opportunity to create WordPress themes that were tailored exactly to our customers’ needs and desires. We could incorporate the features that are most important for content-rich sites, the expert SEO you insist on, and the security to keep your sites as safe as possible. Brian and I worked closely with Genesis founder (and our new partner) Brian Gardner on a new collaboration. A WordPress theme designed for those of you — bloggers, copywriters, consultants, and content marketers — who in one way or another produce great content to make a living or part-time income. I’d like to introduce you to Prose . An elegant minimalist design The first thing we knew was that we wanted the design to support your content, not fight with it. Some themes make great use of animated widgets, or are designed to highlight striking imagery. Or they’re great for e-commerce, or building a corporate brand. And Genesis has terrific themes that do all of those. Prose is something different. It’s all about words. Your words. It’s simple and elegant, so it doesn’t distract. But it has enough design sophistication that it never looks amateurish or “fly by night.” Like the perfect little black dress, it doesn’t call attention to itself … it just makes you look amazing. Point and click design controls But just because you may not be first and foremost a designer, that doesn’t mean you want to commit yourself to a single rigid design mold. Writers are creative people, after all. And we knew you’d insist on being able to change some key elements yourself, without “breaking” the overall clean, designed look of the theme. That’s why we built in point-and-click design controls into Prose. They let you control site colors, typefaces, font sizes, and other critical elements of your site design. Instantly. Do your readers want a larger font size? That’s just a few clicks away, starting right from your WordPress dashboard. Want to try a different column layout for your site, or to change the look of your subheads? Takes less than a minute. And if you don’t like it, it’s a few clicks to change it back again. You can change how your links are styled, how tall you want your header to be, and dozens of other key design elements. And you don’t have to know any CSS, HTML, PHP, or any other letters. If you can point and click, you can customize your site design. Search optimized and powered by Genesis You might have seen that Genesis isn’t just a WordPress theme, it’s actually what’s called a theme framework. So my first question when I saw that was, What’s a theme framework? The first thing you need to know is that when it comes to web design, form and function need to be separated . In other words, how your web page works (like the code that Google looks at to find your content and how to rank it, or the security that keeps evildoers from hacking your blog) should be separated from how your web page looks . Why? Well, in the first place, Google is a big fan of clean code. The Google “bots” are sophisticated, but they’re only so smart. Clunky, junked-up code can confuse them — and if Google gets confused, they won’t give your site the ranking you deserve. In the second place, the web evolves. Those “back end” elements always need to be up-to-date. Security evolves, SEO evolves, WordPress evolves, and your page function needs to grow with those things so that everything works the way it should. But the last thing you want is for your carefully designed web page to suddenly look completely different because you updated your WordPress theme. That’s the beauty of a framework. When you click the button to update Genesis, it automatically takes care of all of those security and SEO issues for you. But it doesn’t touch the design of the page, because that’s handled by “child themes.” OK, so what’s a child theme? The theme framework is all about how the site works . A child theme (like Prose and 27 others from StudioPress ) is in charge of how the site looks . The colors. The layout. The typefaces. The child theme controls the “look and feel” of your site. And the exact same content will have a very different feel depending on how that content gets presented. The nice thing about child themes is that with the Genesis framework, you can change them in just minutes. That means you can take a funky site with a handmade flavor, like the Genesis Bee Crafty theme, and in about two minutes you can give that exact same content a sleek professional gloss by switching to the Enterprise theme. And you’ll never touch the important “behind the scenes” code that makes your site work exactly the way you want it to. The biggest security hazard for most blogs Unfortunately, bad guys are everywhere, and blogs get hacked every day. The most common culprit? Bloggers who haven’t updated their theme or their WordPress installation because they’re worried it will mess up the look and usability of their sites. Outdated software is a major security hazard. In fact, Brian Gardner told me that one of the reasons he developed the Genesis framework in the first place was to make updating his own sites one-click-easy. When it’s easy for you to update WordPress and your theme framework, and you don’t worry about anything breaking, you won’t put it off. And that keeps your blog (and your readers) safer. Get Prose + Genesis today Pick up Prose with Genesis today and you’ll get: Prose’s point-and-click design controls to create the exact look you want A great-looking theme that puts the focus on your content All the SEO and security benefits of the Genesis Framework Unlimited updates and support The ability to use Prose on as many sites as you like (no developer surcharge) Find out more about the best WordPress theme for writers and content marketers here. About the Author : Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger and CMO of Copyblogger Media. Follow her on twitter .

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Play Connect-the-Dots to Win at Online Marketing

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Remember those puzzles you used to do when you were six or seven? That mass of dots and numbers on a page just looked like a mess. But when you went through and connected dot 1 to dot 2, moving on through dots 100 and 101, you wound up with a picture of a pony. You might think you’ve outgrown connect-the-dots. But actually, it’s one of the most important strategies for online entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to build profits with online marketing. Learn to connect the dots in a smart and strategic way, and you could very well paint yourself a real pony. It’s not quite as easy as it was when you were six, but it’s still well within your grasp. Connect the dots from the best free content Content marketing is a massive trend that’s only getting stronger. And in the best content marketing, smart marketers will give you free material you can use right away to start creating great results. If your goal is to market your business, don’t overlook the value you can get from free information. Some terrific businesses have been built by acting on the advice found in free content. Benefiting from free content is all about connecting the dots. Take the great lead generation strategy from one source, connect it with the solid headline and conversion tactics from another, and wrap it up with some good social media sharing you learn on a third. It’s a bit like playing connect-the-dots without numbers. Challenging, but if you put the work in, it works. The real trick, though, isn’t finding great free stuff. It’s sifting out all the junk. The most important dot The most important dot to connect is this: Be sure you’re studying someone who’s worth your time. And there are very few marketing teachers out there who have changed more lives than Jeff Walker . Jeff’s the creator of a program called Product Launch Formula , which helped Brian connect his own dots, way back in 2005. Brian knew a lot about copywriting and marketing from his previous ventures, but it was PLF that showed him how to string everything together — to create not just great content, but also a great business powered by content. You owe it to yourself to watch Jeff’s free instructional videos. Jeff’s a teacher at heart, and he loves to give out quality information you can use to start improving your own marketing, even if you never spend a penny with him. You’ll do particularly well if you combine Jeff’s approach with what you learn here on Copyblogger. Click here to watch Jeff’s tutorial video, which he just posted today . About the Author : Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger and co-founder of Inside the Third Tribe.

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Walk Dogs for $105,000 a Year (Or Make a Living Doing What *You* Love)

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I recently put out the word that I wanted to interview small business owners for an upcoming project, the Empire Building Kit . These were the criteria: you had to net at least $50,000 a year with two or fewer employees, you had to be willing to talk about money in specific terms, you had to share your biggest mistakes as well as your greatest successes, and you couldn’t be a professional blogger. (Obviously there’s nothing wrong with professional blogging — I just figure that bloggers get enough attention already. Besides, if you want to create a business , there are much easier models.) I heard back from 300 people with all kinds of different backgrounds, but Lisa’s email stood out from the rest. I have a dog-walking business in Minnesota. Can I contribute my story? I’ll be honest: I didn’t think much of it at first. A dog-walker? Shouldn’t we be talking about affiliate marketing, information products, and Facebook ads? Walking dogs around the park for cash isn’t really my thing, so I assumed I’d say no. But then Lisa told me how much money she makes: $88,342 in 2009, and now on track for $105,000 in 2010. That got my attention. She makes six figures as a dog-walker? Wow. Now that’s a story. And in marketing, of course, story is everything. If you can build a real business around something you’re passionate about — in this case, Lisa loves dogs — I think that’s worth some attention. Follow your passion? Yes . . . sort of The thing about following your passion to the bank isn’t so much overrated as it is incomplete. Finding a way to get paid for doing what you love is both feasible and sustainable. The trick is to construct a lifestyle business around something you’re passionate about that other people are willing to spend money on . The difference is crucial: I can be passionate about eating pizza and playing video games, but so far I haven’t found anyone willing to pay me for it. Therefore, I have to orient my business not only around my own interests, but also around what other people are willing to pay for. I built the rest of the Empire Building Kit around conversations and insights from people like Lisa. The photographer, the triathlon coach, the translator, the guy who makes baseball art, the murder mystery host, and so on. You’ve probably never heard of most of them, but they’re doing very well doing something they love. Last month I released the product on board a 44-hour Empire Builder train from Chicago to Portland. It was a huge success, with rave reviews from our inaugural group of emperors — and a freaked out merchant account that wanted to know why so many sales were rolling in. Long story short, today I’m doing it again. It’s for 24-hours only, before I get on a plane and head overseas as part of my quest to visit every country in the world. If you’re interested in joining the inaugural group of new emperors, I’d love to have you on board . All the details The goal of the Empire Building Kit is to help people build a business in one year by doing one thing every day. To that end, I’ve compiled a truckload of resources and hand-holding to make sure that happens. The Kit includes: 15+ Case Studies. From 300 initial respondents, I narrowed it down to more than 15 thriving emperors from at least as many different backgrounds. I asked for their stories, their secrets, what they wish they had known before they started. The case studies come in a variety of formats: video interviews, MP3 files, PDFs, with complete transcripts. So you can get the most out of them no matter what your learning style. 365-step Email Series. You get one mini-lesson today, one tomorrow, and 363 more over the rest of the next year. According to the folks at Aweber, it’s officially the longest follow-up series in their history. The key is: if you do one thing a day, it will be much easier than trying to do everything at once. But you also have to make sure you’re doing the right things, so we help with that too. A 52-step Product Launch checklist. Even if you’re not launching from the “bloggers’ lounge” onboard an Amtrak train, something always goes wrong with a product launch. Use this checklist to avoid big mistakes, and dramatically increase revenue. One step produces an average revenue increase of 30% every launch, no matter the price of the product. Another step ensures you can sleep at night by not screwing up the confirmation emails. And so on. “Show Me the Money” module. All the details from behind the scenes of my own Unconventional Guides business. You’ll learn how much money each product brings in, where I’ve screwed up, where I hit it big, and so on. Ok, so I could go on about all of that for a while. But what you really get is insight and context from people who have successfully cracked the code of following your passion. They all talk about money, they are all extremely candid, and they’re all real people doing fun things while getting paid. Care to join Lisa and the rest of us? You can find out all about it right here , but it’s only available for 24 hours, ending Wednesday morning at 9am Pacific Time . And if it’s not a good fit for you, of course, that’s fine too. Most importantly, I hope your business is as enjoyable as Lisa’s — and as enjoyable as mine. About the Author: Chris Guillebeau travels the world and writes for a small army of remarkable people at chrisguillebeau.com . Follow his live updates from every country in the world at twitter.com/chrisguillebeau .

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The Solution for Marketing Overwhelm

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Ever wish there was just a blueprint you could follow to market your business? No, not a magic formula. Not a “push-button million-dollar cash machine.” You’re not lazy and you’re not afraid to put the work in. But sometimes it’s hard to figure out just what kind of work you’re supposed to be doing. What if there was a straightforward road map that a reasonably intelligent person could follow? First you do Step A. It takes some time and attention, but it’s not rocket science. Here’s what you do if you get stuck. Here are the resources you need to get it completed. Then you move on to Step B, and here’s how to do that. Keep going until you have a marketing plan that works I would have really liked to have something like this when I started my freelance copywriting business (moonlighting from a demanding corporate day job, and struggling to make time for my toddler son) three years ago. So a couple of years ago I got a wild hair to start putting this “blueprint” together. If I was starting from scratch, what would I do first? Then what? And what after that? The answer to those questions came last December when I released a home study course called the Remarkable Marketing Blueprint . We sold out quickly, and I hunkered down to create the best content I could, and to consistently overdeliver on value so that folks had an amazing experience. And I have to say, the course exceeded my expectations. The quality of the people who signed up and the progress they’ve made in their businesses have been genuinely humbling to me. It’s time to open the course again, and I’m keeping the group small again. It’s the only way to make sure I have the time and focus to give every member my personal attention. If this sounds like something that might be useful in your business, you can find out a few more details and get on the early bird notification list here . No spam, no nonsense, no pitchfests. Just a tool that I think you could find genuinely valuable. Click here to find out more about the Blueprint.

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Question the Rules to Create a More Remarkable Business (and Life)

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Every once in awhile, someone asks me why I have pink hair. (You ever notice that no one asks why anyone has blonde hair, or red hair? But pink, it seems, requires a good reason.) There are a lot of ways I could answer that question, but the simplest is probably that I don’t really buy into the standard set of rules about what “success” or “professionalism” look like. As it turns out, there are a lot of things I don’t buy into. I don’t buy into the idea that the best way for me to make a living is to work in a box from nine to five every day. Even a really nice box. I notice that Brian didn’t buy the notion that being a lawyer (which he had put a lot of years and dollars into) was a wiser career choice than starting some blog about copywriting and social media. And come to think of it, from hearing Darren Rowse’s story, I understand that his wife didn’t think that his notion to do that problogging stuff, whatever that was, would be anywhere near as logical as getting a nice steady job at a gas station. If you spend enough time around entrepreneurs, you’ll quickly begin to realize that the vast majority are . . . (hm, searching for the polite word, here) eccentric in some way. (OK, let’s tell the truth. A lot of us are basically nuts) But even if you find one person who seems totally normal, you can bet that she made at least one giant, ridiculous decision in her past that seemed crazy at the time, but ended up getting her to the great place she is today. I have pink hair because I like the way it looks, because it makes my kid smile, and because I happen to rather like tweaking ordinary expectations. But here’s the important part: What I do with my hair doesn’t matter at all. But if I lived a mousy-brown life — where I did all the things we expect of a “normal” person — I wouldn’t be as successful or as happy as I am today. Entrepreneurs question the rules The nonconformist thing is on my mind because I’ve been trading email lately with one of our regular writers, Johnny B. Truant. You might have seen that Johnny has partnered with filmmaker and Huffington Post writer Lee Stranahan to create a course called Question the Rules . Their tagline is: The nonconformist’s punk rock, DIY, nuts-and-bolts guide to creating the business and life you really want, starting with what you already have . Basically, if you’re starting your own business, you’re breaking a rule. (That’s true whether or not you keep your day job.) It’s a big rule, too — the one that says: Other people should be in charge of how much money I make, how hard I work, and what I should work on. When I went out on my own, everyone praised me for being such a risk-taker. Including all the people who were out of a job after an ugly round of layoffs, and who were answering those monster.com ads with an increasing sense of desperation. I had a different rule: No one will ever care as much about my financial security, or will work as hard to improve it, as I do. To me, it was risky to stay with that day job. But to a lot of my more “normal” colleagues, my decision made me look like a downright daredevil. All entrepreneurs are punk rock That’s how Johnny puts it, anyway. I just use the word “nuts.” Entrepreneurs are nonconformists, whether we’ve realized it and embraced it or not. We challenge a lot of rules and norms that are very deeply engrained in this culture. The problem is that a lot of people who decide to start their own business just know that “normal” isn’t working for them. They know what they’re not , but not really what they are . They don’t really own their punk rock nature (quite possibly because they have no interest at all in dyeing their hair pink). So they end up like feeling fish out of water. Which is not, of course, a nice feeling at all. They’re rule-questioners, but they live surrounded by rule-followers. They know what they don’t want, but can’t always translate it to what they do want. They don’t know who to ask for advice, because they don’t know any other people who are odd like this. They’re not “normal,” but they end up judging and measuring themselves by normal standards because those are the only standards available. I took a sneak peek at Johnny and Lee’s course, and it really speaks to those punk rock entrepreneurs, including the ones who live in lovely four-bedroom houses in the suburbs. They talk about the stuff to actually do , the tactics. They talk about how to get our heads in the right place – the mindset. (Which is, in my experience, the part you really do need to get right.) And then just for giggles, they throw in fifteen or so meaty interviews with rock-and-roll entrepreneurs who owe their success to questioning rules. Folks like Chris Guillebeau, Naomi Dunford, and Jason Freid from 37 Signals. Our own Jon Morrow has an amazing interview where he talks about the power of working with a gun to your head. Oh, and some pink-haired chick from Copyblogger is in there, too. Here’s the link to check out the course . (And yep, that’s our affiliate link. We think Johnny and Lee did a great job with this one, and we’re proud to recommend it.) Johnny and Lee took a page from Brian’s playbook and they’re giving a really, really attractive price on this — but only for a really, really short time. The punch line is that the price is going to quadruple on Saturday . So if you want to check it out, don’t dawdle. How about you? Do you consider yourself a nonconformist? Do you think that it takes a certain measure of “punk rock” to get out on your own? And what does “punk” even mean for you? Let us know in the comments. About the Author : Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger and the founder of Remarkable Communication .

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