Recommendations by ‘word of mouth’ are extremely valuable for any business so why not make it easy for your blog or website readers to spread the word?

Whilst your readers are perfectly capable of cutting & pasting your URL into an email, instead there is a great wordpress plugin called ‘wp-email‘ which adds a clickable link at the end of each of your posts which not only makes the process simple, but also acts as a prompt or reminder.

The other useful things about this plugin is that it keeps a record for you of who has used the link & which post has been forwarded to whom.

If you are a Thesis theme user, then you instead of adding a line of code to the index file as detailed in the plugin instructions, you will need to amend the custom_functions.php file instead.  Remember, before you edit the custom functions file always take a back up first as once you save, the simplest mistake can stop your blog from working!

The code you need is as follows:

/* Code for Email & Print Post / Page (requires plugins wp-print and wp-email) */
function print_icon() {
if (is_single())
?>
<?php if(function_exists(‘wp_email’)) { email_link(); } ?>
<?php if(function_exists(‘wp_print’)) { print_link(); } ?>
<?php }

add_action(‘thesis_hook_after_post’, ‘print_icon’, 1);

/* end */

This code also allows the wp-print script to work, which adds the ‘Print This Post’ link to the bottom of the post as well.

When you first load the wordpress software onto your domain, unless you specify otherwise, the default login user name will be set to ‘admin’.

From a security perspective, this weakens the security of your blog as it is one less piece of information for a hacker to crack in order to gain access.

I always thought that it would be difficult to change this once you had set everything enough – but in fact it is really easy. Here are the simple steps to follow:  (If you operate a forum on your site – please refer to the note at the bottom)

1. Login into your wp-admin as normal.
2. In the lefthand dashboard menu, open up ‘Users’ & click on ‘Add New’
3. Create a new user, choosing a suitable user name (this will become you main admin login in the future), making sure that you use the drop down menu at the bottom next to role & select ‘Administrator’
4. Logout
5. Log back in using the new user details you have created
6. Again from the lefthand menu, open up ‘Users’
7. Hover over the user ‘Admin’ & select ‘delete’ which will appear underneath
8. Check the box ‘Attribute all posts’ & in the drop down file, select the new user you have just created (this will transfer all posts, links etc that you have previously created under admin over to the new user name)
9. Confirm deletion

Thats it, all done.

By the way – an important note for website owners who also run a forum on their site.  BEFORE you delete your ‘admin’ user, check & see if the forum is linked to it (either generally with admin rights or posts).  If so, you will need to reassign everything to the new user logon BEFORE you delete ‘admin’

Happy blogging.

P.S One last thing I recommend is to make use of the ‘nickname’ & ‘display publicly as’ options within the user profile so that they are different to your chosen user login name.

The default position of the navigation bar in Thesis Theme is above the header.  Yet more often than not, the preference is to have it below the header.

Moving it is actually fairly straight forward:

Always take a backup of your custom_functions.php file before you make any changes (easiest way is to use your ftp software), so that you are in a position to restore it should you make a mistake or get an error message.

In the Thesis menu on the lefthand side of your dashboard, click on Custom File Editor to opn up the Thesis Custom File Editor

Using the drop down menu, select ‘custom_functions.php’ & click the green button ‘edit selected file’

Copy the following piece of code into the file (it is best placed at the top after the opening php tag) & save.

/* Move Navigation Bar Below Header*/

remove_action(‘thesis_hook_before_header’, ‘thesis_nav_menu’);
add_action(‘thesis_hook_after_header’, ‘thesis_nav_menu’);

The first part inbetween /* xxx */ is purely information – it is there to remind you what the code below will do & will be ignored by the browser.

That’s it – your navigation bar should now appear below your header.

I’ve just seen the most incredible video….

It was a LIVE video demo of how to create a cash-generating, list-building website in an amazing 6 Mins 11 seconds!

What’s even more crazy is that Daniel Wagner is giving away the blueprint for how YOU can do the same.. absolutely free!

This Blueprint Coaching report has only been available for 72 hours & this is what people are saying already:

You are a genius – I had no idea you could do all
that with Aweber?After 6 years of playing around
with various marketing methods, I think this is
the possibly the turning point for me – ? this
will have me creating opt-in pages at the speed of
light and I’m pretty sure is probably the single
most valuable tool I could own – thank you thank
you thank you!!!  Rob

You do NOT want to miss this as it could be taken down anytime…

Click here to watch the video NOW & download the report for FREE, no opt-in or email address needed (for a short time only – so do it now!)

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I recently stumbled across a blog where someone had copied a couple of images that I had personally taken and used them in their own site.

This led me to investigate what options there are available to me to protect my blog to prevent someone from copying images from any of my sites again.

I carried out a few internet searches geared around the subject image copyright and eventually discovered a plugin called blog protector. It is a very simple plugin that is easy to activate and can do 2 things:

1. Disable right clicking on an image and saving it to their PC. Instead, when you right-click, it displays a customisable warning message.
2. Disable left-click selection of blog text content

If someone is determined to copy your images or content then they will still be able to find a way to do this (I’m obviously not going to share with you how), but for every day internet users, using the blog protector plugin should hopefully be enough of a deterrent and they will go off to find an alternative site that is easier to copy.

Happy blogging !

Recently, I came across a problem I needed to solve on a client’s wordpress blog. How do I get different content to appear in the sidebar against different pages or posts?

Let me explain further.

I have a page which details a weekend training course. On the main home page, I have an advert for the course as a clickable image in the sidebar.  When a visitor clicks to read the course page, it is no longer relevant to have the advert for the course in the sidebar, but currently, wordpress content widgets are set to appear on all sidebars.

There is another option – I could use the ‘no sidebar’ page template, but I don’t like that either. I still want the majority of my sidebar content to display.

After posing the question on Twitter, one of my followers suggested a plugin called Widget Logic.

I will comment here that once I found the plugin (search for widget logic) and installed it, it took a bit of getting used to.  You MUST visit the plugin page on wordpress.org to understand how to use it & in particular the page that describes the way conditional tags work.

For example, use:

is_single()
For a specific widget to appear on ANY blog post

is_page()
For a specific widget to appear on ANY page

is_category()
For a specific widget to appear on ANY Category Archive Page

There are then variations to these & many more conditional tags that can be used for individual posts, pages, categories & page templates etc.

I was a little disappointed as I couldn’t get widget logic to just exclude specific sidebar content from a single page or post etc.  It only seems to work by instructing the widget to display the content.

So to solve my original problem, I had to use page ID’s & instruct the widget for the course advert to appear on a number of page ID’s leaving out the course page. This actually wasn’t as hard to do as it sounds, it would just be a little long winded if your blog has hundreds of pages.

If anyone manages to find a way to ‘exclude’ just one page, please let me know by adding a comment below.

“After playing drums live for almost 30 years I felt the time was right to share my knowledge & experience, & decided to set up a drum lessons business.
After starting my teaching business with a handful of students I realised for it to grow, I would need some help & direction.
Profit Masters Ltd set up my blog & the results have really been incredible!
I get several new enquiries a week, with many students commenting on how impressive my site looks.
Without the site I would struggle to stay in business & to be honest it has all been down to Profit Masters.
Can’t thank Angie & Paul enough. They have been very thorough , hard working & most obliging. Nothing seems to be too much trouble. They have made my job so much easier.
Thanks again Angie, absolutely ‘chuffed’ to bits! The results speak for themselves.”

Barrie J Krell (Drum Tutor)
Drum Lessons Manchester
http://drumlessonsmanchester.co.uk

Drumlessonsmanchester.co.uk - Homepage Screenshot

We have written a Case Study covering some of the steps we took to create this particular client site – you can read it by clicking Drum Lessons Case Study

We were approached in August 2009 by a client (Barrie) who needed help to build an internet presence for his drumming ‘hobby’ which he wanted to try & turn into an income stream by giving drum lessons.

It was a start from scratch project, which included:

• Choosing a domain name
• Creating header graphics
• Setting up the site
• Showing the client how to create posts & keep adding content

Step 1) Choosing the right domain name

An overview of how to tackle this very important step can be found in a previous blog post.  Following the guidelines detailed in the choosing a domain name post, we recommended www.drumlessonsmanchester.co.uk

IMPORTANT – Do Not make Assumptions !

Our client initially queried this recommendation as he said he would search for ‘Drum Teacher’ – this is a prime example of why you need to do research, what you do, may not be what the majority do.

Our research showed that even for this niche market, there were approx 140 searches a month for the phrase ‘drum lessons manchester’.   For our client, who is a pretty good face to face / telephone sales person, if just 10% of these visited his site & turned into valid enquiries, he would be happy.

Step 2) Setting Up The Site

Google loves blogs !

BUT you have to keep adding regular content to stand a chance of keeping your ranking high on search engines.

Drumlessonsmanchester.co.uk - Homepage Screenshot

Once we bought the domain, created his header graphic using photshop & set up the blog structure using Thesis Theme, we were delighted to find that our domain name research efforts had paid off & his blog started appearing on page one of google within a few days. Unfortunately, the client did nothing further with it for a few weeks & surprise surprise – it vanished off the radar!

A wordpress based blog, with a good theme template, can actually be very easy to maintain.  You have the option to create some ‘static’ pages, so that part of your site looks like a typical website as well has have a blog category to publish your day to day posts.

Step 3) Regular Content

In Barrie’s case, aside from the bio that was needed, lesson info & contact details, we needed to think about a way in which he could keep posting regular content.

The solution we came up with was to create a ‘Drum Tip of the week’ section on his blog.

It’s worth mentioning here that Barrie was the first to admit that he was not ‘good with computers & the internet’ – yes he could do his own information searches & internet shopping but that was about it.  So, in an attempt to ressurect his page 1 google rankings, he spent a day with Profit Masters Ltd, learning how to create and update blog posts.

Aside from a few pointers here & there, Barrie now maintains his blog himself.  He is posting regular content ans as a result he is ranking high in search engines.

Visitor & Traffic Stats – as at 20th April 2010

Visitor Levels
February 2010: 200 (58% new)
March 2010: 170 (76% new)
April 2010 (up to 20th): 101 (78% new)

Visitor Traffic Sources
20% – Direct
58% – Google Organic Searches & 60% of these searches came from the search phrases: dum lessons manchester, drum lessons in manchester, drumming lessons manchester
6% – ‘Free’ Advertising Forums (relevant to the music industry, e.g. party sounds, joinmyband etc)
2% – Social Networking Sites e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

And the proof that the site & domain name are working…

1) Google Search Results:

Go ahead & try the a google  search yourself. Just enter his key search phrase of ‘drum lessons manchester’ and see if the site appears on the top of page one (below any sponsored links). The screen capture below is from 20th April 2010.

Google Search Page 1 Screen Shot 20th April 2010

2) Enquiry Volumes

Barrie is regularly receiving enquiries & converting these to new drum lesson students.

A successful job & a happy client!

If you would like to use Profit Masters Ltd’s consultancy & blog design / build services, please get in touch by completing our Enquiry Form.

A new wordpress theme has just been released called Socrates – if you are an affiliate marketer, regularly creating niche specific blogs, then you need to check it out NOW !

Created by Joel Comm & Dan Nickerson, it gives you the ability to create a good looking, fully customised, highly effective and fully monitized blog in minutes.

I have tested it out on a new blog I was due to create & it does just what they promise it will do in their video on their sales page.’

Here is a list of just a few of the thing it can do:

* Custom Header Design System
* 160 + Niche Headers
* 1000’s of Design Combinations
* Custom Navigation Bars (you can have 3 of them !!!)
* Use Optional Built In Adsense and Clickbank Ad Bar
* Social Media Slider
* Custom Styling and Color Options
* Choose from Several Site & Sidebar Layouts Options

Once you purchase the theme plugin, you also get access to a whole host of tutorials including:

* WordPress Installation Video
* Socrates Installation Video
* Adsense for WordPress
* The Everything WordPress Webinar
* WordPress Plugins and SEO
* Cpanel and WordPress Setup
* How To Locate Profitable Niches
* How To Profit From Trends
* How To Find A Great Domain Name
* The Best Webhost For Your Domain
* How To Get Google To Pay You Money
* How To Get Paid To Promote Other People’s Stuff

Unlike some other themes I have checked out, this one is remarkably easy.

One thing I will mention is to take the time to read the first page when you first click on Socrates in your wordpress menu to start customising it.   It states that you must go through each section set up & apply your basic design choices BEFORE the site will display everything (e.g. header graphic).

Guess what, I didn’t bother – I was too eager to get stuck in with my customization (no, its not just men who think there is no need to read instructions).  And I thought I had problem with the plugin when my header graphic didn’t display.

As themes go, I definitely rate this very highly.

Best of all, it comes with a 60 day, no quibble  guarantee – if you don’t like it, you can get a full refund (this is backed by clickbank who handle the sales process for purchasing).

Click The Image To Watch The Video.

Paul & I started to dabble in the world of ‘affiliate marketing’ in December 2008.

The deeper we delved, the more complex it seemed to get – yet so many so called internet marketing gurus all painted a very rosy ‘get rich quick’ picture.

One of the best bits of advice we received about 6 months in was a basic tip on ‘how to choose your first affiliate marketing niche’. Today we are passing that simple tip onto you, especially if you are just starting out:-

Ask yourself one or both of the following questions ‘What am I passionate about?‘ or “What is my hobby?”

Why?

It’s simple, if you are passionate about a subject, you are more likely to

• already know a reasonable amount about it
• be eager to research it further
• be enthusiastic about it
• be able to review any affiliate products available & genuinely know if they are any good / worth promoting

And here is the proof it works:

Paul is an Advanced Badminton Coach and in June 2009 we set up a badminton blog. It is a sport that he is both passionate & knowledgable about & this clearly comes across in the content he has written for his site. Compared with tennis, or squash, badminton is the poor relation, but despite this, in less than 12 months, his site has gone from zero to over 6,000 hits a month. His bounce rate (the percentage of visitors that leave the site within 10 seconds of landing on it) is under 3% – this is exceptional. Next month, we are due to launch an online paid membership coaching program.

If we can do it – so can you.  Remember, it’s the start that stops most people – don’t let it stop you !