Creative Reviews discussion

I happen to be a devout follower of the Clarks and Sonia Simone over at Copyblogger because they always have great advice and I share their attitudes about marketing and promotion. I think it should be effective without being in your face; memorable without using blinky-flashy widgets to mesmerize and distract. I don't like even hinting at a "bait and switch" and the Copyblogger way is to be totally up front, honest and not be afraid to give a little something away to capture a sale. (not give it all away, just a little)

Recently shifted from Blogger to Wordpress and as you might guess, there were some growing pains, so in the classic Copyblogger fashion, the guys documented their woes, their shortcuts (once they found them) and wrote up some advice for others. There's an MP3 of the seminar here:

http://websynthesis.com/wordpress-hosting-demystified/

Like so much of the content these guys create, it's free. Of course, they DO pitch a sale of services after the free stuff...but the information is free ;-) That's the basis of their Third Tribe Marketing community strategy.

Cambria, I immediately thought of you given your recent move from unlocked diary to a vanity domain with Wordpress installed. I confess, I have Wordpress installed on my sarahryoffa.com domain and have never bothered using it really because it was such a royal PITA but now, with this article, I just might tackle it! :)

-sry

That is so AWESOME thanks for sharing with us!

You're welcome. I've been looking for this kind of "fly-through" tutorial on Wordpress for a while. I got my first Wordpress blog back in 2004 and wanted to love it but it's so hard to deal with, I just never could get there.

It just seems way too complicated but totally worth it on the marketing end. Once my time is up with my site, I'm switching.

thanks Sarah!

Wordpress isn't that bad once you learn the ropes. i got lucky and had someone help me. The thing though is that your dashboard can have different options depending on the theme you install. I had to really search for a theme that was operator friendly for me. BUt now that I have it I am learning a lot more. its a process and I don't expect to know it all overnight! LOL.

Glad you're enjoying Wordpress, Cambria! I know I got really confused/disoriented when I got a normal Wordpress blog on the Wordpress site versus hosting my own "installation" of Wordpress but the latter was *SO* much easier!

I never really installed a bunch of different themes to check functionality. I messed around with a few for look and feel, colors, layout, etc. but it never occurred to me that actual functionality would change simply by changing the theme! I mean, you would think either a widget is installed or it's not, either it works or it doesn't. Never occurred to me a widget would only work with certain themes.

Thanks for that tip, Cambria. Wordpress is apparently even MORE screwed up than I thought. Sure looks nice when you get it to work but I'll stick with Blogger for the basics.

-sry

Cambria wrote: "thanks Sarah!

Wordpress isn't that bad once you learn the ropes. i got lucky and had someone help me. The thing though is that your dashboard can have different options depending on the theme yo..."

I've been using Wordpress for about a year and a half now. I find it hard to find a theme which does what you want. Some won't let you change the widgets, some don't menu have buttons for the different pages in your site, and there can be all kinds of other difficulties.

I think Wordpress is worth it, once you get used to it, but it's just really hard to find a good theme. Also, they update it constantly, so you're always having to update to the latest version of Wordpress, and then update all your plugins. Maybe that doesn't annoy anyone else, but I get sick of it.

Overall, though, if you work hard you can have a good, functional site. Whether someone should upgrade to Wordpress probably depends on how serious they are about their site. If it's a major part of their business, it's worth it, but if someone only writes a blog post occasionally, then maybe Blogger would suit them better. I like Wordpress, but I'm a huge nerd. Spending time on HTML code doesn't bother me!

Thanks, Mona

UPDATE:

I have both Blogger AND Wordpress blogs and as I've said in several places, Wordpress sure looks pretty but is a royal PITA to run behind the scenes so I've been pretty happy to just go with Google's Blogger. It's free and easy so why not? I'll tell you why not--or Parajunkee will! Check it out:

http://parajunkee.com/2011/12/book-blogging-101-im-scared.html

I already experienced the issue over my real name not being "Webbiegrrl" and my refusal to allow Google access to anything BUT Webbiegrrl. I still get spammed by previous Google+ "friends" of Webbiegrrl *rolls eyes*

I did NOT lose my blog when Google cut me off of G+ so I guess I big "Whew!" is warranted but this article now has me to thinking. I should probably export and save my current blogger at the very least but I might have to consider running my webbigrrl blog off my sarahryoffa.com domain. I have Wordpress installed. I just didn't really want to get into it.

I also have a free Wordpress-hosted webbiegrrl.wordpress.com blog I started, then deleted all content but held onto the name "just in case."

If I shift over to Wordpress, I guess my big question will be do I go with the free Wordpress-hosted one or the installation on my domain that I run myself? Decisions decisions....

Opinions?

I love Wordpress and haven't tried Blogger at all... And I'm not a techie, so that's probably because I'm fine with WP! ;-) It has evolved in the past 2 years and (like FB) not all changes were good for me, but well... I manage it all right, and even learned to tweak the HTML version of posts.
And when I'll have the static webpage it will definitely have Wordpress installed, so I'm happy I got used to it! :-)
p.s. thanks for the link... I had ignored the one invitation to Google+ so far, but I was considering opening more Gmail accounts... and my Gmail account is under my author name...
Why do the big guys like Google and Amazon do things like that? :-(

I don't know, Barb, but it's so ridiculous. Even more so, they said in the email to me that if I wanted to "verify my identity" I could send them links to my identity on "reputable" sites "like Facebook or LinkedIn" Are you frakkin kidding?? I couldn't believe it and didn't bother. Google+ shall NOT be missed.

I should note, ironically, that BOTH Facebook and LinkedIn have recognized me as webbiegrrl for years (LI since 2003)

-sry

Off-topic: I HATE Google. They bought out SuperPoke Pets and said they'd be keeping it. Turned around and we had until March 2012 to play and save stuff. But they continue to turn apps on it off and no new items released for the game. Google just doesn't give a $#!t about its users and I won't use it. >:(

Had to vent a little. I'm still learning Blogger and need to work on mine more...

Sara wrote: "Off-topic: I HATE Google. They bought out SuperPoke Pets and said they'd be keeping it. Turned around and we had until March 2012 to play and save stuff. But they continue to turn apps on it of..."

yes you do, i need a better way to stalk you

"Sara wrote: "Off-topic: I HATE Google. They bought out SuperPoke Pets and said they'd be keeping it. Turned around and we had until March 2012 to play and save stuff. But they continue to turn ..."

Sara of the h-less, I HATE Google, too! The "new Gmail" makes it impossible for me to type more than about 20 wpm (I type 100 wpm) and when I try to go faster, I get repeating letters, characters, screen-freezes and Firefox crashes. And it's NOT Firefox because nothing else (including this text box where I'm typing right now this second) has any issues.

Sara, given our common enemy, your h-less-ness is redeemed xD

-sry

Well, if I could have a moment's peace here at home, I could get more done on my blog. I chose to be childfree (no children for me to birth) but our neighbor's 9 yr old is a sweetie and we're good friends. Lately, it's like she senses that I'm on my laptop and comes over to visit so I get NOTHING DONE. LOL! There's no way I would turn her away when she needs to talk so I just have to grab a moment here and there.

Ah, sweet redemption! Shall we slay the G-dragon together? :D

-Sara the Atchless (snazzy, huh?)

Thats really sweet the neighbor comes over to see you! Even if it does make it hard to get stuff done. LOL.

Cambria wrote: "Thats really sweet the neighbor comes over to see you! Even if it does make it hard to get stuff done. LOL."

That is sweet, Sara, Miss Atchless (snazzy -hee hee-) and I have to tell you, I can attest that you are probably making an impact on her. I used to go across the street to see our neighbors when I got home from school. They were English and had a proper English tea every afternoon to which I was invited. I was 12. I felt so grown up and special. Being one of 6 kids, it was a treat for me to be the only child in the house with these folks.

The woman who bought the house with her husband had 2 grown daughters (in their 20s or 30s) and her mother lived with them. She was 99 when they moved in around 1971 or 1972. It was phenomenal to me to meet someone who was born in the 1800s!! She had such stories to tell. She and her daughter (the owner of the house) made such an impact on me even though I only went to visit there for about a year or year and a half. By 13 or 14 I'd moved on, as kids do, but at 51, I still remember them. Fondly. I've thought of them, the whole family, over the years. They did tiny little things for/with me, I was just some neighbor kid but they made a huge difference in my life because of how they treated me when I was there.

They made me feel like I mattered, just for a few minutes, but it was enough to make them matter to me for a lifetime.

What you're doing, Sara, is the same kind of thing, giving her your full attention, making her matter for just a few minutes each day when she comes over. It's a great testament to you that you realize how easy it is to give that gift and you choose not to be too selfish to give it :)

BTW, I also chose not to have children of my own. We have so much in common (no kids, both worked in law offices, etc.), you really should have an "h" (LOL)

-sry (the OTHER Sarah)

Well, hubby and I figured that if we had our own, we wouldn't be able to be the good uncle/aunt that we'd like to be. Also, health considerations were a major factor. I've never felt like I've missed something in my life; if anything, I feel like I'm living it like I should! :) It was cute last night: I was in our bedroom watching TV in here and she bounced in and cuddled right up. She's a sweetie most of the time; she's starting on the "tween" stuff a little early which makes me want to thump her in the head but I know it's part of growing up.

It was so ironic: I had to have a hysterectomy because of health problems and now I have kids all over the place most of the time! I guess they like us because we treat them like a person, not a baby or a pest. I didn't like that when I was a kid, why in the world would I do that to a child? Anything they tell me is confidential unless it might hurt someone and I point that out, try to get the young'un to think first.

It's weird how things have turned out in my life. I never thought I'd be at this point! It's such a cool ride! :D

How about an honorary 'h'? And yup, we have a TON in common! Scary, ain't it? Heehee! It just struck me, how to make sure we can be told apart, with that "atchless" by my name. You're famous for "sry" and I have my "atchless." :)

-Sara the Atchless

Hello fellow bloggers I'm looking for some to create a header for my blog with options bar?
Anyone make these things or know of any good generator sites
Check me out

http://book-nooker.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the tips and tricks. My blog is with wordpress at: http://stephenlivingston.wordpress.com
Best wishes, Stephen Livingston.

I definitely think the wordpress blogs look nice and pretty, but am miserable at technology and barely keep my blogger blog going! Mine is rather plain jane (no offense to all the Janes out there), but it gets the job done!

I just started my wordpress blog... i don't really know what i'm doing, but i'm a fast learner! it's just for fun anyhow :)

http://pinkpolkadotbookblog.wordpress...

So, I know this isn't tech support but I'm hoping one of you wordpress wiz kids can help me out.

When my blog posts get fed to GR and posted, there is an extra carriage return in two situations: where I had one there are now two on GR, and where I had a soft CR on the blog, there is now a full/hard CR on GR.

Any ideas?

Thanks (and no, I'm not just trying to get blog viewers :-))

Steven, I use blogger so I can't be much help, but I know that when I use Windows Live Writer to write my posts instead of writing them on blogger, the carriage return issue isn't a problem.