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WP Theme Review: Fresh Journal from Simply Fresh Themes

March 30, 2010 By 4 Comments

Keller Hawthorne at Simply Fresh Themes sent me over a copy of her first premium theme for WordPress blogs, Fresh Journal, for review on RobbSutton.com. Keller is the mind behind FresheVenture.com and Fresh Journal is her first step into the premium WordPress theme industry. With a clean overall look, included documentation and long list of admin options, let’s take a dive into Fresh Journal and take a look at how these theme will operate on your blog. Note: For the purposes of theme testing, I use another site I own, whatannoys.me, that may or may not have this theme live when you read this review.

Fresh Journal Install and Setup

Fresh Journal installs just like any other WordPress theme on the market. You can upload it via FTP and activate or use the built-in installer in WordPress. Once you install and activate the theme, the administration panel where you tweak the inner workings of Fresh Journal are found under the appearance tab.

Once you are in and installed, there are a ton of options available to customize the look and feel of Fresh Journal. There is everything from Twitter and Google Analytics integration to thumbnail resizing.

One of the best features in Fresh Journal is the ability to change the custom image tag. For those of you that are running another premium or free WordPress theme that has a thumbnail for each article, you are able to change Fresh Journal to match your previous settings keeping you from having to go back and update every single article. In my case with whatannoys.me, I was able to change that tag to the Thesis post image tag and all of my images were up and running instantly. That was a huge time saver.

This administration panel is also where you can control your overall site link/box color, featured posts options (shown at the top of the content section on the homepage), home page excerpt length, ad spots on homepage and single article pages, rss and Twitter box options (at top of sidebar and bottom of single) and how many related articles you would like to see at the bottom of each article. As you can see by the screen shot in the gallery, there are also other included options that allow you to change things up as you need to.

Once you have your settings all tweaked up, you can head over and arrange your widgets in the sidebar and footer, and…as you can see by the included screen shot, there are more options for sidebar layout than I even use. From single to dual column in two different areas of your sidebar, you can really mix things up as much as you want to.

Fresh Journal Look and Feel

Outside of the administration options, Fresh Journal has a sharp and clean overall feel. Everything is laid out nicely on the page with adequate spacing between elements and the lack of imagery within the theme framework makes for a fast loading page. Those looking for a more custom look are going to want to tweak the CSS file to include a custom background and custom page elements, but the CSS is laid out cleanly…so that shouldn’t be an issue for those that are used to diving into design code.

Overall Thoughts and Review On Fresh Journal

At $39.95, Fresh News is about 1/2 the cost of most of the premium themes on the market. At this price, I really consider this theme a great deal for many WordPress users. With a clean and easy to use interface combined with a clean look, you are able to get up and running with a professional looking blog on a budget and easily.

That said, there are a couple of things missing from the administration panel that I would like to see included in future revisions: changing the fonts, changing individual element colors (coming in next release), changing background image.

If you are looking for a clean theme that everyone isn’t already running (since this is new and relatively under the radar…you don’t have to worry about everyone having the same theme as you), Fresh Journal is a great option for those of you that are not ready to drop 75-100 dollars on a premium WordPress theme. I had whatannoys.me up and running as pictured in about 10 minutes without any real effort. I can imagine that spending some time on it would create a great look in the end.

What I Liked About Fresh Journal
  • Great administration panel for those that aren’t coders.
  • Clean look and fast loading pages.
  • Incredible documentation included.
  • New theme, so everyone on the block is not already running it.
  • Ads for affiliate or Adsense easily installed.
  • Custom image tag changer is a HUGE time saver.
  • 1/2 the price of most premium themes on the market.
What I Think Needs To Be Included In Later Revisions
  • Easy way to change background and fonts in administration panel.
  • Scrolling feature panel on homepage instead of click to move.
  • Replace links for social media with icons.

Overall, great job by Keller on her first drop into the premium WordPress theme market. I am looking forward to the other themes that Simply Fresh Themes is going to produce over the coming months.

To check out Fresh Journal for yourself, click here.

Filed Under: Reviews, Wordpress Theme Tagged With: , , , , ,

Review: OiO Publisher – On Site Direct Advertising Management for WordPress

March 5, 2010 By 5 Comments

Direct advertising and affiliate banner management is an increasing source of income for bloggers looking to squeeze that last penny out of every pageview.

The hurdle comes when bloggers try to optimize this process into something that is easy to manage and use. While there are a lot of free options out there for Adsense and other specific categories, I needed something that was more of a complete solution for my needs as a blogger that is making money online. For that…I looked to OiO Publisher to handle all on site banner management and direct advertising sales.

What Is OiO Publisher?

From OiOPublisher.com:

OIOpublisher is an ad manager that focuses on maximising your revenue, saving you time, and keeping you in complete control of your ad space.

This php ad management script can be used to sell and serve ads on any website. It can even be used as a WordPress plugin right out of the box!

What are the benefits?
  • Complete control over your advertising, with fully automated sales
  • Make money from your websites whilst saving valuable time
  • Keep 100% of your revenue, forget middleman commission
  • Run 3rd party ad networks alongside your own ads
  • Gain exposure through our free ad marketplace

Basically, OiO Publisher promises to control all of your on site banner advertising (whether it be Adsense, Affiliate or Direct) and allow you to sell that direct advertising straight off your site. All of this is accomplished through a WordPress plugin and some simple coding.

Review: OiO Publisher – On Site Advertising Management

When I went looking for a solution to handle all of my advertising needs on Bike198.com, I needed something that was going to be very comprehensive. I need something that is going to handle multiple forms of banner and text advertising that includes direct advertising banners, affiliate advertising banners and PPC banners like Adsense. There wasn’t anything I could find in the free WordPress plugin market that handled all of those solutions quickly and easily. From that point, I went looking for a solution.

Note: There is one free solution that is very comprehensive (OpenX) but the WordPress integration is less than ideal. I wanted a plug and play solution and OpenX wasn’t it.

Setup: OiO Publisher

Setup with OiO Publisher is pretty simple and straight forward. For Wordress users, you are given a plugin that you install just like you would any other. Once installed, you have an admin panel in your left sidebar that controls all of the settings and administration of OiO Publisher. OiO gives you an API key to get everything up and running correctly, so once you have that set…you are ready to setup your zones and get to work.

In the settings panel, you setup all of the zones on your site that are going to display advertising. These can be any size you need to accommodate your site and once you have these zones setup, you can insert them via the supplied widgets or insert the code into your header.php, footer.php or single.php file (the file that handles your posts). This makes it very easy to install ads in your WordPress blog and have the OiO Publisher plugin automatically handle any changes that you make over time.

Zone setup is fairly easy. You have the option of setting up a multitude of options:

  • Text Ads
  • Email Ads
  • Inline Ads
  • Banner Ads

OiO Publisher Zone Example

In this window, you also set up your price, the duration of that price and how many rows and columns you want in that specific ad space (basically complete control over everything).

Each of these ad placements offer rotation options and default ad options to fit the needs of your site. The default ad option is really a great feature as you can determine which affiliate banners and/or PPC banners like Adsense you want to rotate into the empty spots if they are not filled with direct advertising. This is also a useful tool for blogs that haven’t sold any direct advertising yet and just want to serve multiple, rotating ads for increased click throughs.

On Site Direct Advertising Sales

One of the biggest selling features of OiO Publisher is one that you may not use right away, but you will in the future. OiO Publisher allows you to integrate all direct advertising sales directly into your blog. You actually setup a sales page and sell spots from the different zones directly on your site and then use PayPal, Google Checkout or any of several different payment options to handle direct advertising subscriptions and payment automatically. It really is a hands off process and you can see the example I have from Bike198.com below.

OiO Publisher On Site Direct Advertising Sales

This makes it incredibly easy for you to sell advertising space and keep it simple for your advertisers. This alone is worth its weight in gold.

Overall Thoughts: OiO Publisher for WordPress

OiO Publisher is a very powerful tool for bloggers. It can completely handle all of your direct advertising needs on site in a way that solidifies your brand. But the true power of this plugin comes in with its ability to handle all of your other needs as well (affiliate, ppc). OiO Publisher can seamlessly integrate all of your money making advertising solutions into one controllable resource. In the long run, that pays for itself more than you can even imagine.

I actually use OiO Publisher on all of my sites now as my only solution for banner and text ad placement and that is why it is linked in my tools section.

What I Like About OiO Publisher
  • Handles multiple ad types for bloggers
  • Built in ad rotation with default ads
  • Easy to install and integrate
  • Cheap!! This thing is a steal for the features
What I Didn’t Like About OiO Publisher
  • Setting up the on site sales pages does require some coding knowledge (support forum is great if you need help)
  • Stat package is not as robust as I would like to see

If you are looking for a one stop shop for all of your advertising needs on your blog, you can’t go wrong with OiO Publisher.

Get $10.00 off by using the coupon code setup just for RobbSutton.com readers. Click here and apply “BLOOM-198″ to get the discount.
Filed Under: Plugins, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Review: Thesis Theme by DIYThemes – Premium WordPress Theme

January 29, 2010 By 21 Comments

If you are using WordPress and you do not know what the Thesis Theme is…you have been living under a rock. For the past year or so, Thesis has climbed to the top of the “must have” WordPress themes on the market. With multiple features and an easy to use administration panel, bloggers have found that they can get up and running pretty quickly with something that is professional. So…let’s take a look inside and see what makes the Thesis Theme from DIYThemes click…

Installing Thesis

You install Thesis just like you do any other WordPress theme so that part of the equation is simple. Once you install, you have to change the custom-sample folder to just custom so you can edit, change and customize your theme. Once you have that done, the administration functions of Thesis are found at the bottom of your left hand toolbar. Within these options you are going to find the Thesis Options, Thesis Design Options and the Custom File Editor.

Thesis Theme Options

Thesis Theme Design Options

Within these screens, you can do everything from customizing layout and colors to adding in your tracking scripts from Google Analytics. Basically, if you have something you need to add or edit outside of your content…it is all here.

Within the post screen, you are going to find another box. With these Thesis administration boxes, you control the automatically placed image in your article. You can also specify a different thumbnail than the picture and the placement of those items if you want them to display differently than your global settings that you specified in the Thesis admin.

Post Options Thesis ThemeSEO Box in Thesis Theme

Making Thesis Look Unique

The Thesis Theme is built around DIY’s own framework. DIY uses a series of “hooks” that allow you to customize layout options and add in your own personal flare to the homepage, single.php, archives and others. By adding hooks, you are able to customize content layout and design. This video from DIY will show you the basics on how you can change colors, layout, etc.

Review Of The Thesis Premium WordPress Theme

For those of you that haven’t had any experience with Thesis, you now know the nuts and bolts that go behind the theme. So…not that all of the formal stuff is done, let’s take a look at what I think of the Thesis Theme from DIYThemes.

First, the base code for Thesis is very well written for a premium WordPress theme. What does this mean? Out of the box you are going to have a site that loads quickly, is efficient at handling the typical blogging tasks and is search engine friendly from a spidering standpoint. Clean code is an essential part of blogging as you are reliant on load times and spiderability to really see growth over time.

The backend management system within Thesis is extremely easy to use for everyday tasks. Simple things like excluding items from the navigation bar can be done by bloggers who have little to know WordPress or coding experience. This is huge for beginning bloggers as there are less questions you have to ask to get things up and running quickly.

The hooks system is easy for coders to figure out, but for those of you that haven’t dabbled in coding before…it is going to be extremely confusing at first. Luckily, there is a great support forum available that you can ask for help as you move along in the process. For most users (and you can see this throughout the Thesis sites online), mess with the hooks a little bit to get functionality of plugins…but that is where they really call it a day. For web coders, the possibilities are really endless using the hooks system just as you would with regular website coding.

The designers of the Thesis Theme want you to use their built in SEO functions within the theme. Personally, I strongly disagree with this method as it ties you to the Thesis theme for your SEO. By using a plugin like All-In-One or Platinum SEO, you are accomplishing the same task…for free…and just  as efficiently. But…when you go to change themes sometime off in the future, all of your SEO work is tied to the plugin you are not changing instead of the Theme you are. DIY has done a great job promoting the SEO aspects of Thesis as a selling point, but I do not agree with it.

Another thing that DIY has done a fantastic job with is marketing. With a great affiliate program and a big push by big name bloggers, the Thesis Theme has become big business. Great for DIY, but that also means that just about every blog reader on the planet has seen a Thesis Theme’d blog. While you can make Thesis look incredibly unique (almost to the point you do not recognize it anymore), most of the Thesis sites out there all look the same with a couple of different colors. This does not have to be a bad thing, but if you are looking for an original look, Thesis may not be where you want to head unless you are a designer or are ready to pay a designer.

Final Thoughts On The Thesis Theme

There would not be so many people using Thesis today if it wasn’t a great theme. It works for 90% of the bloggers out there by focusing on content and ease of use. While the hooks system does work well, beginning bloggers are going to have trouble understanding the coding (but they would with any theme). If you are looking for a lightweight, well coded option for your blog, Thesis is worth taking a look over. If you need something with more of a unique look…it might not be.

What I Like About Thesis
  • Clean coding and fast load times out of the box.
  • Easy to use backend management system.
  • Incredible support and affiliate program.
  • Price is average for premium themes.
What I Don’t Like About Thesis
  • Most Thesis based sites look the same.
  • SEO marketing ties you to theme.

Click here to pick up a copy of the Thesis Theme for your blog.

What are your experiences with Thesis?

Filed Under: Reviews, Wordpress Theme Tagged With: , , , ,

Review: WooThemes Premium WordPress Themes

January 22, 2010 By 6 Comments

In the blogging world, finding your unique look to separate your blog from the masses can be a difficult task. One of the first and most natural ways to set yourself apart from the rest is by investing in a premium WordPress theme that organizes and presents your content professionally while still holding true to your voice. In this premium WordPress theme review, we are taking a look at WooThemes and their features for bloggers and website owners. Having used several of their themes for multiple purposes (including the current theme on RobbSutton.com), I have had a lot of experience with WooThemes over the years…so let’s take a look inside.

Behind the Scenes – Woothemes

As with most premium WordPress themes, WooThemes has their own backend mangement system to let you control things like color scheme, logo insertion, javascript insertion (stat trackers, etc) and other specific tasks that relate to the function of the theme on your blog. Recently updated to 2.0, the new Woo Framework provides a lot more user friendly interface with a couple of new options.

WooThemes Framework 2.0

The previous generation, while looking good on the outside, was rather slow and clunky. With 2.0, WooThemes streamlined and made a much faster interface that is easier to use. Honestly, this is a HUGE upgrade over the previous version from a usability standpoint. The crew over at WooThemes also added a feature that I used to have to get custom coded in the past…including the post image in your RSS feed when you use the WooThemes image resizer. In previous generations, this was not possible without some custom work.

WooThemes Post Options

Within each individual post draft screen, you are given options to include an image in your post that will be used for the thumbnail in archives and on the homepage and…in this case…an option to embed a video that can also automatically display in a widget on your blog. On the post screen, WooThemes keeps things simple with only what you really need. While there are other themes on the market that want you to integrate the SEO with their theme structure, I actually recommend using a plugin like All-In-One or Platinum SEO for those duties so that you are not tied to a theme for your blog’s search engine optimization. WooThemes kept it simple, so it doesn’t clutter up your draft screen with items you are not going to use.

The CSS within the WooThemes markup is organized and easily editable. With the inclusion of a custom CSS file, you can edit your look and still make upgrading easy in the future. Each of the templates for sidebar.php, single.php, etc. are also well organized for easy editing. If you are looking to jump in and start hacking away…it is easy to do within their current file structure.

WooThemes On The Outside

With over 50 themes available and multiple color schemes for each theme, you can almost guarantee a unique look for your blog by simply adding your logo. However, WooThemes does have a unique look, so your readers will be able to tell where you got your theme from, but that is not a bad thing if done correctly.

WooThemes provides some of the best looking themes on the market for WordPress, but they are heavily image based. What does that mean for you? To get a really unique look out of a WooTheme, you are going to have to edit some image files and not just straight css. This also…typcially…makes your site load a little bit slower than the guys running a plain white Thesis Theme layout, but that is the price you pay for having a unique look on your blog.

WooThemes provides several different widgets, color options and other built in features to bring functionality and uniqueness to your blog.

Final Thoughts On WooThemes

I have tried A LOT of premium WordPress themes over the years and WooThemes is the one that I come back to every time. With organized code and plenty of options for a lot of different site layouts, they are a go to option for anyone looking for a custom, unforgettable look on their blog. WooThemes is well tailored for beginning bloggers looking for a unique look without a lot of technical knowledge and for advanced coders looking for a solid foundation to build a custom blog off of.

What I Like About WooThemes
  • Easy to use backend administration system with a ton of features (including ad integration)
  • Unique look due to 50+ options and multiple color schemes
  • Consistent quality across all themes
  • Easy to customize markup
  • Great pricing for premium WordPress themes
What I Don’t Like About WooThemes
  • Loads slower than some of the competition because of image based design
  • High popularity could mean similar look

Click here to check out the premium WordPress themes from WooThemes

Filed Under: Reviews, Wordpress Theme Tagged With: , , ,

eBook Review: Twitter Dummy – Guide To Increasing Followers and Making Money

January 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

John Paul over at johnpaulaguiar.com hit me up last week and asked if I would take a look over his new eBook, Twitter Dummy, and review it here on RobbSutton.com. As a friend and loyal reader of this site, I jumped at the chance to take a look. Twitter Dummy is John’s new eBook on the tips and practices to grow your Twitter following and…in turn…grow traffic to you blog, company or whatever else you are promoting on or off line. Titled as “the only Twitter guide you will ever need”, Twitter Dummy has a tall order to fill to be the do-it-all Twitter guide…so let’s take a look inside…

First…Who Is John Paul?

John Paul blogs over at johnpaulaguiar.com, but…more importantly…what gives him the right to educated on Twitter? First, John has a sizeable Twitter following at over 35,000 as I write this. Furthermore, he is not following more than that to get that number. While this can be accomplished through automated script programs, from what I can see…he is actually engaging with his audience and they are engaging back. So…at least you do not have to worry if this is another one of those “I’ll help you get xx,xxx followers in xx days…but I don’t even have xxx followers!” gimmicks. He is talking the talk on Twitter and it shows through his profile.

Twitter Dummy eBook Review

Twitter Dummy is 37 pages on everything about Twitter. It will take you from setting up a Twitter account to interacting with followers and actually finding those followers. What I do find refreshing within the pages of Twitter Dummy is that John stays on the straight and narrow track as it pertains to spamming on Twitter. He definitely shows that the conservative approach to Twitter marketing still works when done correctly. John goes through the motions of showing you exactly how he grew a sizable, targeted Twitter following that brings traffic to his blog and related products.

There is a lot of emphasis on creating value for your followers and that part I really liked. He goes into extreme detail about how to provide that value and why it works on Twitter. He gives examples on self promotion and  the proper techniques that will not put off your followers and ways to bring them to your content.

Going through the eBook…I picked up about a half dozen Twitter tools and sites that I didn’t even know about that are going to drastically improve my Twitter experience. Kind of one of those…”just when you thought you had seen everything…you are surprised”. Well…going through Twitter Dummy opened my eyes to several more off-Twitter areas I need to look into to provide more value and find more targeted Twitter users to follow. There were also several techniques that I hadn’t considered using specific Tweet urls to drive traffic to my profile that I am going to start using now.

Is this 37 page eBook worth the $25 dollar price of admission?

It depends. Like most eBooks on the market, it will be invaluable for some and probably not worth it for others. There are a lot of people I follow on Twitter (and won’t be for much longer if they don’t change) that need to read this eBook just for the holistic and honest approach John takes with Twitter. Their results would skyrocket if they changed their Tweeting habits.

If you are in the camp that is still saying “I don’t get Twitter”…you should pick up a copy right now and get to work. It will spell it all out for you in a way you can understand so that you can start using Twitter as a viable social media asset.

If you are struggling figuring out how to use Twitter for your blog or gain followers in your niche, Twitter Dummy will show you how to find followers without any scripts or spammy tactics.

If you are an experienced Twitter user with a sizable following that is actually interacting with you, the beginning info and explanations will probably not be for you.

Pick up your own copy of Twitter Dummy by clicking here.

Filed Under: Ebook Reviews, Reviews, Social Media Tagged With: , , ,

Review: MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate Plugin for WordPress

December 14, 2009 By 12 Comments

For new bloggers, affiliate linking can be a black art. Where to I put my affiliate links? How can I make sure I am getting credit from my sales? What happens when an affiliate program goes away and I am left with all of these useless links on my blog? Surprisingly, new bloggers are not alone. These are the same questions experienced bloggers ask in our quest to make more money online with our blogging. It is no secret that affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to generate income online, but how can we make our lives easier and more efficient? How can we prevent having to go through each one of our hundreds…if not thousands…of  articles just to make sure our affiliate links are working and they are correct?

Review: MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate Plugin

The MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate plugin is a WordPress plugin for bloggers that literally puts your affiliate linking on autopilot. With this easy to use plugin, you are given a complete administration panel that makes affiliate marketing easy for the beginner and advanced enough for hardcore users. Many of the blogs you visit on a daily basis are utilizing the Ninja Affiliate plugin for WordPress…and you don’t even know it. So…is the MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate Plugin right for you? Let’s take a look and find out…

What does the Ninja Affiliate Plugin do?

The MBP Ninja Affiliate plugin is a WordPress script with a graphical administration panel that allows you to setup affiliate links quickly and easily. When you are given an affiliate link through various affiliate programs on the web, you are left with a long string of weird, cheap looking characters that appear to have no rhyme or reason. The Ninja Affiliate plugin takes that complicated affiliate link, makes it look like something much cleaner and more professional and then links that new link to keyword strings that you define throughout your entire blog!

So what does this really mean?

Your affiliate linking in your blog is now completely handled for you in this easy to use WordPress plugin. Even better, it is no longer your job to scour all of your articles and pages to link up keywords to increase click throughs. This plugin takes hours worth of work per link and turns it into a 5 minute job. On top of that, you can control exactly how your links look on the page and track the CTR’s through the Ninja Affiliate admin with their built in stat tracking.

MBP takes everything you would ever need in affiliate linking and throws it all into one easy plugin.

How easy it is to install?

Have you ever installed a plugin in WordPress and activated it before? That is all it takes with the Ninja Affiliate plugin as well. Once you have the plugin activated, all you have to do is start setting up your affiliate links through the control panel and setup your basic settings. How many links do you want to show per page? What color do you want your links to be? Do you want to show links on just articles or pages and articles? All of this is easily configurable through the simple admin panel.

What else can I use the Ninja Affiliate plugin for?

Branding is everything in blogging and for that reason…I actually use the Affiliate Ninja plugin for more than just affiliate links. If you notice on this blog…whenever you mouse over my Facebook profile…Twitter account or any other externally linked profile…it looks something like this “http://robbsutton.com/twitter” instead of “http://twitter.com/robbsutton”. What does this allow me to do? It keeps my branding centered around my domain name and it allows me to track clickthrough rates through the plugin!

Are there any limitations?

There is really only one limitation to this plugin that I have been told is going to be released in a future version. As of this point in time, you can not exclude your title tags (h1, h2, h3) from getting linked with the plugin. I like to style my articles and keep those tags unlinked and there is no way to exclude the plugin from doing that.

Who Is The Ninja Affiliate Plugin For?

Honestly…anyone who wants to be successful with blogging. Recently, I had an affiliate program through an online cycling retailer that mysteriously just went away one day. They decided to drop a affiliate program completely out of the blue and left all of the affiliates high and dry with inactive links on their blogs. Luckily for me…all it took was going into my Ninja Affiliate admin panel and changing the link destinations without having to actually go through each article. For those bloggers that did not have this plugin…they had to spend hours digging through articles to switch out each of these links. Now…what happens to them if we have to go through that process again? Time is money and this plugin has paid for itself more time than I can count. If you want to make money blogging and keep your branding consistent, this plugin is a must have.

There are not many blog products that I personally use (on all of my blogs) and stand behind 100%…but this is one of them.

Good Ninja Affiliate Plugin

  • Easy setup for blogging beginners
  • Advanced tracking and settings to integrate into your blog
  • Keeps branding straight

Bad Ninja Affiliate Plugin

  • Can’t exclude title tags for linking
  • Price might put off beginning bloggers

Pick up your own copy of the MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate Plugin by Clicking Here

Filed Under: Plugins, Reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Review: Blogging to the Bank 3.0 by Rob Benwell

November 18, 2009 By 7 Comments

If you haven’t heard of Rob Benwell by now…you have not been searching about how to make money through blogging enough. This 3rd version of his highly successful ebook has sold over 20,000 copies (at 37 bones a pop…I’ll let you do the math). With a tagline that reads “The Blueprint of a Blogging Millionaire”, you would expect this ebook to drive income to your household through your blogging and that is exactly what Rob lays out in BTTB3.

Review: Blogging to the Bank 3.0

In the 58 pages of Blogging to the Bank 3.0, Rob Benwell takes you through his process of making money online through blogging. In the beginning stages of this ebook on making money with your blogs, Rob takes you through initial setup, SEO and creating your initial content. Unfortunately, there is not really much detail in these areas for 100% beginning bloggers and I feel that there were somethings during the setup process that could have been expanded on, but – for the most part – you can get up and running.

Where this ebook really gets going on content is through the promotion and making money chapters…which would be expected given the title. Rob’s method for making money through blogs is not a new one by any means. It is – however – one that is not talked about much in the blogging blogs as he takes a slam in your face approach to diversification.

Blogging to the Bank 3.0 takes you through the process of expanding your own blog network through careful keyword selection and outsourcing tasks to make managing multiple blogs much easier. Much of Rob’s profitable blogging process includes getting content written from multiple sources, promoting your blog through sites like Technorati and Squidoo and then flipping your blogs for profit as you move on to other profitable niches.

My Overall Thoughts On Blogging to the Bank 3.0

I think Rob has developed a formula with Blogging to the Bank 3.0 that can be highly profitable when done correctly. His methodical approach to making money online through blogs does work. The ability to bring in multiple income streams from multiple sites is a proven way to make money online, but it might not be for everyone. If you are looking to pour all of your resources into one or two blogs and create long lasting brand awareness through positioning yourself as an expert, his explosive diversification technique may not be what you are looking for at this time.

However, there is some incredible insight into how you can grow a single blog’s reach and traffic by implementing some of the techniques BTTB3 lays out to bring traffic to multiple blogs quickly (ex. press releases, social media promotion, etc.). While reading this ebook, I was reminded of a few extra traffic techniques that I needed to brush up on as well.

The ideal reader for Blogging to the Bank 3.0 would be a blogger that is looking to expand and diversify by increasing their blog network or a blogger that has been struggling with monetizing their current blog. I do think that true blogging beginners might get confused by some of the information as most of it pertains to a blogger to knows their way around the web. Luckily, Rob goes pretty in-depth into the different resources, so you can push your way through if you are feeling froggy.

The Positives with BTTB3

  • Ambush white hat techniques for making money online through diversification (diversifying income streams is the only way to make it in my opinion.)
  • Multiple promotion techniques that equal traffic including long tail keyword research
  • Flipping blog techniques to turn your work into profit
  • A load of “free” bonuses included with purchase that are actually useful

The Negatives with BTTB3

  • The blogging purists will not like the content outsourcing and running multiple blogs for income
  • Beginning setup content is a little light for beginning bloggers

Overall, Rob Brenwell did a great job structuring Blogging to the Bank 3.0 by laying it out as a making money formula through blogging. After I finished reading this ebook, I was reminded of things I need to do in my own blogging to increase revenue and attract new subscribers through other web outlets. At this point in time, I am not looking to have a dozen different blogs with outsourced content, but it is in the back of my head now for future projects. At $37 dollars for purchase…you can easily make your money back and more by implementing some of the techniques on your blog.

Buy Your Own Copy of Blogging to the Bank 3.0 by Clicking Here

Filed Under: Ebook Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: , ,

Review: How To Launch The **** Out Of Your Ebook

November 4, 2009 By 3 Comments

I have a soft spot for ebooks and informational products. In the past year, I have written and launched 3 ebooks on robbsutton.com (Ramped Reviews – Paid, Ramped Blogging – Free and Ramped Mindset – Free) and I am about to release a massive free ebook on bike198.com titled Ramped Riding. I really believe that having your own products is key to growing your blog and solidifying long-term monetization techniques. They are also the easiest way to build a large amount of credibility and add long-term assets to your blog.

When I asked if I wanted to review Dave Navarro’s “How To Launch The **** Out Of Your Ebook”, I jumped at the chance to see how I could improve my efforts in ebook publishing. Just like any successful blogger, I can always learn something new in the pursuit of fine tuning my skills. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ebook Reviews, Reviews Tagged With: , , ,
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