Entrepreneurs-Journey.com

In 2007 I decided my blog was due for a new look, but it was not just about a cosmetic face-lift. I wanted to improve usability, clarity and most importantly, highlight a very important aspect of my business - the Blog Profits Blueprint/Blog Tips newsletter email opt-in.

Blog Designer: Mick Real

I’ve worked with a good designer friend now for over a year - Mick Real - who contributed to the look and feel for Blog Mastermind, the cover for the Blog Profits Blueprint and now, the complete redesign of Entrepreneurs-Journey.com.

Mick and I worked many months, putting together a layout, tweaking it and then implementing it over the top of the WordPress platform. There’s a lot to this new blog design and it was quite a monumental effort for both of us to get it right, but I’m pleased with the outcome and we have plans for enhancements in the future too. It’s great to have a designer who is enthusiastic about blogging and I have to pass on a big thanks to Mick, he’s been a devoted designer throughout the process.

The Importance of the Email List

I’ve already hinted many times in previous blog posts and email newsletters about what having an email list has done for my business. A blog is good, but for all but a few of the very top bloggers, most people will never enjoy significant conversion by marketing purely through blogging, they just never build a large enough following of readers.

Email marketing is more forgiving when you have fewer subscribers and is a very effective direct marketing communication tool. When an email list is combined with a blog as an entry point, it makes for a powerful one-two punch and the basis for an entire Internet business.

I don’t think every blog needs an email list, but I think every blog could benefit from one. Most bloggers struggle with one content commitment - writing regularly to a blog - so to include an email list as an additional outlet that requires content, can be difficult. I would argue that an email list requires a lot less “fresh” content than a blog and is more specific in topic, so can easily be set up and then let to operate effectively without constant attention (unlike a blog), but I digress, that’s a topic for another blog post.

Most bloggers are content to focus on generating income from advertising and don’t think beyond that, so an email list doesn’t factor into the model they are pursuing. I’m trying to change that - and at several points through Blog Mastermind I emphasize the power of email marketing - but for now I’ll probably sit as one of the few bloggers who leverage the blog and the list in a symbiotic relationship.

For me, I’m already convinced about email marketing, so I knew my new blog design had to highlight my email newsletter and better present the Blog Profits Blueprint as the incentive for joining. My last few blog + email list combined promotions have brought in at minimum $5,000, one breaking $10,000 and another closing in on $20,000. I could never have dreamed of doing this with just my blog. I know what a good email list can do and I want to continue to build on the great foundation I have laid so far.

The Opt-in Form

Read the rest of this entry >>

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If you are reading this via a web browser you can see that the new Entrepreneurs-Journey.com design is up.

There’s probably quite a few bugs since we also did a server move as part of this redesign, so I’d appreciate your patience while we fix any issues.

I’ll go through and explain some of the new features as soon as everything is working correctly.

Stay tuned!

Yaro

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Download the MP3 [ 41 Minutes - 9 MB]

It’s time for podcast episode #40. It’s hard to believe I started podcasting more than two years ago now!

This episode features myself and Darren Rowse and our topic of discussion is blog design. Darren talked about his recent Problogger redesign and how he worked with his designer, Ben Bleikamp. Then we talked about the different professional blog designers currently available (listed below) and how you should work with a designer to minimize the risk of problems.

We went on to discuss how bloggers who have limited financial budgets can go about sourcing a unique blog look, including modifying free themes and why you would want to have a custom design for your blog. We also talked about what a new design can do for you in terms of blog traffic, demonstrating your professionalism and infusing yourself with new energy if you are feeling blogger burn out.

Here’s a list of the resources mentioned in the podcast.

Blog Designers

• The Blog Studio
• Chris Pearson [ pearsonified ]
• Ben Bleikamp
• Nate Whitehill [ Unique Blog Designs ]
• Michael Pollock [ Solostream ]
• Phil Hartle

Freelance Sites

• DesignOutpost.com
• Elance.com
• Guru.com
• Scriptlance.com
• Rentacoder.com

Darren’s Logo Designer

• Mike Rohde [ Makalumedia.com ]

Free WordPress Themes

• http://themes.wordpress.net/

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As some of you might know, I’m in the process of a redesign for this blog. I’m not sure exactly when it will roll out, but hopefully not longer than a month from now. The new design is looking AMAZING and I can’t wait to show it to you all. I think it will stimulate some ideas for how you can use your blog as a centerpiece of an Internet business.

As part of the new design I’ve changed the structure of how content is displayed on this blog. One of the big changes is a new section focused on reviews.

As this blog has become more prominent in the Internet marketing and blogging niches I’ve received an ever increasing amount of products from people asking for me to take a look and of course, hoping I will write about it or promote as a joint venture partner.

In most cases I have to decline offers simply because I don’t have the time to properly trial the product and I don’t want to write about something I can’t at least read over once or get a general feel for how it works. Nor do I like using the template emails you receive as part of big product launches and I doubt many of you would continue to read this blog if I published boring sales copy emails as blog posts.

As the volume of contacts I received increased I began to feel quite frustrated because I really wanted to be able to trial all these potentially great products and offer a review to help you decide whether the product is worth investing in. It just seems like such a wasted opportunity with so many people offering great free stuff (sometimes $1,000+ products) and I have say no thanks because I don’t have the time.

From the seeds of my frustration came an idea for an opportunity. Given my current workload with blogging new content here at EJ and also producing training materials for Blog Mastermind, it was clear that I needed help. With that idea in mind I began the search for people to help me with reviews and the first fruits of my search are coming through now.

More Reviews

The first change you are about to see at this blog is an increase in the number of reviews published. The first bunch of review writers have started work and I’ve got their reviews sitting in my inbox now, which I will publish over the coming weeks. The first one should be up shortly after this post.

Note that I’m not just talking about sponsored reviews - although we certainly are still doing sponsored reviews - but reviews of products that help with things like SEO, social media marketing, buying and selling websites, blogging, pay per click advertising, eBay selling, and all the usual topics covered in this blog.

Don’t worry - the reviews are proper reviews, not just sales pitches for the products. I’ve instructed all reviewers to be honest with their appraisal and point out both good and bad points when applicable. These reviews are here to help you make a decision whether the product is worth taking a look at, not just to convince you to buy so we get the affiliate commission.

My goal is to create a fantastic database of Internet marketing product reviews that you can look up at any time you need to make a decision. I’ll also be slowly recruiting more people to the review team so if you like the idea of getting a chance to try Internet marketing products for free and get paid for it too, then stay tuned, I’ll have more news soon.

What About Non-Review Content?

In case you are worried about this blog becoming nothing but reviews, let me set your mind at ease - I’ll still write the same non-review content just as often as I have been - I have a lot to talk about yet!

Having a review team to help simply means you get more content, one type of content doesn’t replace the other. With the new design I can separate editorial and teaching content from reviews and other content, which is one of things I’m very excited about. The addition of reviews is just one of the new changes you will see, but that’s all I can reveal for now.

Please make the new reviewers feel welcome - for some of them this is the first time they have had exposure to such a large audience so I know they will appreciate your feedback, but be gentle!

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I’m experimenting again with these short video blog posts (vlogs). This time I even added a few callouts to the video, which was really cool (for me anyway).

Click play below to hear what I have to say about blog design in this 4 minute video.

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