Almost every day (occasionally I’ll take a break), I will spend a good solid hour or so at my RSS reader looking at posts from fellow bloggers. A post by David Kam at the MarketingDeviant caught my eye, and got me thinking about the importance of storytelling in marketing. Here is a bit of that post.

“Marketing is like storytelling where you are the storyteller. The story you tell gradually builds up throughout the years. The story becomes stronger as people talk about it as many people will grow fond of it. The better the storyline, the better it will be remembered by the people. If the people remember your story they will remember your business.” -David Kam

  Some of the best advice I received early on in music was make sure the song you write tells a story. It really didn’t matter what the story is, but people have to be able to relate to it.

After reading David’s post, I started thinking about how important that is in blogging. How important your storytelling is to building your brand and establishing your voice in an overcrowded marketplace.

Maki at Dosh Dosh is my favorite example of excellent storytelling in a niche blog. Early on, he set himself apart with excellent writing, a creative thought process, and a little bit of flair. People remember him and his business, because his posts and advice have a little something extra that you do not find in many blogs. It is easy to forget he has only been at this a little over a year! Amazing. Another writer I truly love is Ben Cook, the former author of the Blogging Experiment. Once again, he is another author in the make money online genre of websites. It would be easy for him to get lost in the crowd. He built a loyal readership with intelligent and a sometimes unorthodox writing style that kept the reader well informed and entertained. Unless you are John Chow or you come up with some clever gimmick, the only way to succeed in blogging is to make sure your storytelling is on point, no matter what your genre is.

The blogging world has exploded in the past couple of years, and so have the amount of people trying to capitalize financially from their blog. One of the best things about Wordpress is that you can make it artistic, but still flexible enough for proper advertisement placement if that is what you are into. I run a few ad friendly websites and before I got a firm grasp on how to use Wordpress, it was essential that I found an already setup ad friendly theme.

Before reaching that point you should make sure if monetizing is right for you.

Below are some of my favorites. These are all free unless otherwise noted.

Prosense by Dosh Dosh and The Wrong Advices:

Prosense is a theme with decent ad blending while allowing the maximum amount of space to be dedicated to the ads. Judging by the name, you could guess that it is specifically geared toward Google AdSense ads, which as you know, may or may not be your preferable choice of monetizing. It has nice steamlined look, and a slick RSS feed icon in the top right to encourage subscribtion. It comes in simple gray and blue color schemes, but if you have a little knowledge of coding, you could easy change the scheme to your personal preference. Prosense is free, and can be downloaded directly from Dosh Dosh or the Wrong Advices.

Acosmin Monetized Theme:

Right out of the box, this three column theme has in place the code for advertisements. They do a good job within the code of explaining which box is set up for which type of ad. Along the left sidebar column there is placement for up to four 125 x 125px ads. This is excellent for selling those spaces because it is very high profile. On the right side bar is a perfectly placed 300 x 250px space for Google Adsense. It is excellent for CTR and, if you content is crawled correctly, will display excellent ads for your site. In the header, there is a spot dedicated for a 468×60 ad banner. If your website is generating decent traffic, this will be a highly lucrative spot.

The color scheme is very professional, it is a smooth grey and very earth tones. The layout features a lot of nice icons and rounded corners. The blog is highly monetized but it really doesn’t feel like it. When you click on individual blog posts, it keeps the same format without adding any additional Adsense ads. This is a good feel for those who want to have a nice website without looking too Adsense dependent.

Green Money Theme:

The Green Money theme was created by the folks over at EzMoneyOn.Net. I do like this layout a lot, it has a nice Pro Blogger feel without trying too hard to be overly monetized. It is easily customizable and a new blogger could configure this quickly and efficiently.

Blix Krieg Monetized Theme:

Although the Blix theme (a popular theme a few year back) was abandoned, it has been brought back as a monetized theme. The author even lists the reasons why you should use the theme. He makes several great points about not trying to make millions using AdSense but using a theme that can at least cover costs. The layout is nice, familiar and not overly complicated. This is an excellent choice for a monetized theme.

Monetizing the Web theme:

This theme is offered from the website, Monetizing The Web. Pretty simple and straight forward. It is a little more advanced for those who will be selling 125 box style ads as well. One of the great things about this theme is they offer it in 17 different color schemes. This might not seem like a big deal to you, but it is definitely nice to be able to change colors without having to know much HTML, especially if you are new to the web and blog world.

Bluesense AdSense Ready Theme:

Maki at Dosh Dosh, who helped bring the world ProSense, also has another theme called BlueSense. I do not like this one as much as ProSense, but it will definitely get you excellent click through rates. Decent color scheme and great ad blending.

AdSense Ready Theme:

Jason Golod created his own AdSense ready theme. It is simple and straight forward, with one 250 pixel tower slot built in. With additional customization, you could make this even more AdSense ready.

Slick Blue Theme:

This theme comes from the folks over at HackWordPress. It is a very slick theme, no pun intended. The authors have placed a nice arrangement of 125 x 125 banners, it is SEO friendly, and it is Adsense (BidVertiser ect) ready. Another great function is it already has the social networking buttons in place so you do not need to fuss with any code.

Connections With Adsense Theme:

Connections with AdSense is a theme created by the folks at MoreEarnings.Com. A nice layout which maximizes your blog with 3 AdSense blocks on the main page, and 3 blocks on the single post page. This layout is also very SEO friendly.

Simple AdSense Theme from Themey:

The dull gray color scheme is designed so that eyes are automatically drawn towards the adverts (in this case Google’s AdSense, although it is pretty straightforward to change them for Yahoo! ads or others as they are industry standard sizes). 3 ad units and 1 link unit are shown on each page, which is Google’s maximum allowable. In addition, AdSense for search has been used to replace Wordpress’ inbuilt search function. The theme is intentionally basic with no images used. This makes it quick and easy to apply to any blog or site that is using Wordpress as a CMS.

CSS Gallery Theme:

This is a popular theme, as you can tell by the amount of times it was commented and complimented. A CSS Gallery Wordpress theme for webmasters who want to build CSS showcase or web gallery. Packed with built in Tagging, Google ads and a sidebar block with 125 x 125 banner ads. Theme is valid XHTML 1.0 transitional and valid CSS! This is sort of a niche theme but it works well and has great ad placements.

WP Premium Theme:

This is an elegant theme, not to heavy on monetization. Works great and looks ever better!

In this post, I used suggestions and links from other prominent blogs and posts. I will link those here as well, so you can see their posts. Some of them are extremely comprehensive.

http://hackwordpress.com/125×125-button-ready-wordpress-themes-gallery/ - Excellent post showcasing graphical based Ad ready themes.

http://www.doshdosh.com/16-adsense-optimized-wordpress-themes-to-maximize-your-contextual-ad-earnings - Maki over at Dosh Dosh always has great posts. This one is no exception. In fact, it was the first one I stumbled upon when I was searching for monetized themes last year.

http://mashable.com/2008/04/29/monetizing-wordpress-11-sources-for-ad-ready-wordpress-themes/ - Mashable is a great resource for a lot of blog related information. This post is excellent as well.

Today I will be starting a weekly series which I call Applied to Blogging. Each week, I will be profiling a superstar and how their work ethic and skills can be translated to blogging and generating profit off of your blog. Today I will be focusing on one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, Michael Jordan, and how he overcame adversity to become the one of the most famous and decorated athletes.

Everyone comes from a meager background.

Michael Jordan grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina and by no means was a standout. He was basically just another kid. His family wasn’t poor but of a modest background, and Michael was a middle child. No one could have predicated such greatness. Every professional blogger comes from a similar background. The stories might be different, but no one is born a professional blogger. Don’t be discouraged if your blog doesn’t attract traffic right off the bat. Every single blog and blogger has been in that position.

You still need the natural talent and tools to succeed.

There is a famous story that has been told countless times about Michael. As a sophomore in high school, he was cut from the basketball team during tryouts. He then worked twice as hard during the summer to enhance his skill and made the team the following year. Television networks always tried to make this story about Michael’s hard work and sheer will to make it. They said it predicted his future greatness. While part of that is true, they usually omit the main reason he was cut from the team. Michael was a 5 foot 11 inch sophomore. He wasn’t tall enough to make an impact at the varsity level. Over the next 12 months, Michael shot up an additional 4 inches and was now tall enough to compete. If you are attempting to complete in the blogging world, you must have the natural talent to succeed. Everyone can improve, but if you do not have natural talent for writing and promoting yourself, you might want to look for another way express yourself.

Ask for help when needed.

When Michael came out of college as the number 3 pick in the NBA draft, they expected him to be good. They didn’t know he would be great right off the bat. But he was shunned as a rookie all-star by those who felt he was being praised too heavily. He continued to put up gaudy stats but his teams toiled in mediocrity. It wasn’t until he received help that he was able to raise his team to a championship level. There is no harm in asking for help. If you need assistance with a post, or an idea, ask you fellow bloggers for help. They will be more than happy to oblige!

Don’t stop at one goal and be determined.

When the Bulls won their first title in 1991, they said it redeemed Michael’s career and placed him among the best ever. So what does Michael set out to do? He wins 5 more. He cemented his place in history by staying fiercely determined. Even if you reach your first goal, make new ones and strive to make your own place in history!

I saw a posting on Flimjo doing a weekly recap of what was discussed on the blog the previous week. I liked the concept a lot. It was a good way to put everything all in one tidy post, and give love to those who have commented this week. I like the concept so I will be giving it a shot to see if it is worthwhile or not for the reader. Let me know your thoughts.

This week was a slower week in general as I was putting more effort in to a new layout at Review Chicago. For those who don’t know, Review Chicago is my newest website. It is dedicated to my hometown of Chicago, and I intend to make it a contributor based website. If you know anyone who lives in Chicago and would like to contribute, email me!

Sunday, April 20th I posted at length on how I use Facebook to promote a website or a blog. There are several tips included within the post, including simple instructions to creating a Facebook application.

On Monday, I discussed using alternative methods to drive traffic to your website. This is part one of a three part post. The other two parts will follow this week. In an additional post, I talked about Max Davis at the Blogging Experiment and a class he is offering on buying and selling websites.

On Wednesday, I authored an article on how to use Twitter to promote a blog. It sparked up some intresting dialogue in the comment portion.

Top Commentators This Week:

On Cath Lawson’s blog, there was an excellent guest post by Tim Brownson discussing whether or not one is a leader or one is a follower. It was a well written article and because of it I subscribed to his blog.

Diane wasn’t really active this week, but her blog is an excellent read. Check it out here.

James Mann posted a good column about focusing and taking care of business. His blog is one of those how to make money blogs, but he offers some good advice. Read and see for yourself.

Highlights from the big boys (or girls):

Darren at Pro Blogger has a great post on staying accessible to your readers even after your blog becomes more popular. He practices what he preaches, he is the biggest blogger ever to respond to an email I had sent. Some of the others have not. Caroline Middlebrook has a great new course on using StumbleUpon to drive traffic. Check it out here.

Upcoming this week:

This week I have a slew of posts coming out. I am starting a new weekly series profiling inspirational people and how their life stories can be applied to your blogging techniques. The first one is on Michael Jordan and will come out tomorrow. I also have a new wordpress theme review, this one on the Mimbo theme and a post on using timestamps effectively.

I intend to be more active here in the coming weeks, I have hit a lull with some of my other sites.

Cheers!

Last week, I started reading more on how you can drive traffic to your website using Twitter. Several bloggers that I read use Twitter daily to help find new readers and meet new people. I really didn’t grasp it at first, but I definitely got sucked in to Twitter quickly.

For those who don’t know the Twitter factor, I will drop a few stats on you.

Last week, I started actively using Twitter. Not really to drive traffic to my site, but to find new blogs that I could personally read and start following.  Immediately, I noticed a huge traffic spike to the blog. So I decided to look into it a little further.

• Since I started actively using Twitter (last week), I have increased my RSS subscribers by 32. This isn’t an unheard of increase, but I know that most of those new readers should stay around awhile.
• My website views have increased by almost 300 hits a day. Once again, if you are a large blog, that might not seem like much. But for an upstart, that is quite a bit of traffic inflow.

Those are just the raw traffic numbers from the website. What I wasn’t expecting were the tons of compliments via Twitter, users going to my band websites from my About page and complimenting my music, and meeting several people who I have since had nice and meaningful conversations with. I have also found many, many new blogs which I have subscribed to and read daily.

So, how did I do it?

These are the steps I went through in order to build the traffic and increase my followers. There are a few people who look at these types of methods as spamming, but they key to it is to NOT spam, and use your newfound connections properly. I have yet to post a link in a tweet (which is a message) attempting to drive traffic to the website. I may from time to time, but this method works to build a grassroots following similar to how I used to promote my band on MySpace.  When I promoted my music on MySpace, I would find a similar artist to my music. I would go through and then attempt to add their friends and message them. The mindset was ‘If they like this artist, there is a better chance they would like my music than if I picked a random person off the street.’ Instead of spamming them, I would message them personally and ask them to check out my music. It worked well, until people took advantage of it and start spamming relentlessly. So far, I have found that not to be the case on Twitter. Here are the steps.

1. Make sure you profile has up to date links. I made sure that the blog I wanted people to go to was the first link on the profile. In the biography section of the Twitter profile, I added a link to the websites About page. This way if people wanted to find out about me, it would take them to my blog. (Keep in mind, I do not have advertisements on my site, I am more interested in sending them to the website so they can see what I write about, and if they like the content, will add my site to their RSS reader. However, if you are displaying ads, this is a good way to increase hits and traffic)
2. Find someone with a similar business or blog and attempt to add their followers. It seems pretty simple and it works fast. In my example, I immediately cruised over to the profile of Maki from DoshDosh. He has a wonderful social media blog, his writing is top notch, and I like his overall style. I went one by one and added every single follower. You can do it faster than you ever could add a MySpace friend. After I had added all his followers, I went to a few more profiles and added similar followers. My thinking is if someone is following another blog, they quite possibly could be interested in following my blog.
3. Download and install an application to help manage Twitter. I personally use Twhirl. It helps me manage replies and messages in a chat like setup. It is great for responding to messages.
4. Respond to every single message and tweet. You will get a fair amount of backlash from adding people so fast. The reason is because many assume that you will just be spamming them. Take interest and respond the messages. You will ease their mind and if they like your content and tweets, they may become a reader.
5. Don’t spam incessantly. One thing I have noticed, is the people who spam get removed very fast. So if you intend on building long lasting relationships and not just quick traffic spikes, make sure not to spam.
6. Give back as well as take. You will have an opportunity to meet a wonderful community and find many new friends and blogs. Make sure you give traffic and subscriptions back. I assure you that you will find something you’ll love.

I hope this continues and I am able to grow more relationships with bloggers!

One of the keys to having a successful blog is to be able to generate traffic from all angles. Everyone has their obligatory post about the ‘best ways to generate traffic’.  Usually it is recycled information, although some people might be able to articulate it better.  In my previous post, I mentioned my top 5 ways to generate traffic.

I started to think recently of some of the more unorthodox ways I have generated traffic to my websites and I have compiled a list.

• Create Free Wordpress Themes. This may be easier said than done, I know. You do need some graphical design knowledge and a little programming knowledge, however. The results can be stunning.  Each time it is downloaded and implemented, you will get a back link. Plus, there are many places where you can submit them. The traffic could be just a trickle, but if you create a theme that breaks through, such as Prosense (from Dosh Dosh) the traffic could be enormous.
• Bribes and Contests. A lot of bloggers will not stoop to this level because they are more interested in their blog being revered for content. That is fine and I can respect that. However, for those who are interested in a quick traffic spike to try to boost ad revenue, contests and bribes are the way to go. I once offered a $100 gas card on one of my money making blogs, and I picked up nearly 300 RSS subscribers in 2 weeks. Epic? Not really, but a huge increase. And my traffic went up quite a bit for a while. I kept offering more, and the traffic stayed high. I was able to sell more ads because the traffic stayed consistent.
• Join a D-List. The D-List is a ‘do follow’ list of blogs. People will comment on your blog because your website will give ‘link love’, or in more technical terms, the links will count in Google page rankings. Courtney Tuttles website has a list that is pretty extensive.

This is part one. Tomorrow, I will have a few more ideas which you may or may not like

Every so often, I post a simple post talking about one of the websites I frequent. Obviously, they are much more established than me, but the whole blogosphere is built on bloggers helping each other out.

I posted about the Blogging Experiment, which was one of the first websites I stumbled upon when I was moving from straight content websites to writing about them in blogs.

Another blog that I stumbled upon early on is Court’s Internet Marketing School.

Author Court Tuttle has a very no nonsense approach. He will well it like it is, and that is what makes his website so refreshing!

So, for those who haven’t heard of his site, go take a look around.

Originally, back in January, I commented and made a little post about scoring systems. The first one I read was devised by Eve at Confessions of a Housewife.

http://dillydesigns.com/2007/07/09/the-blog-points-system-excel-sheet/

Since then, I have seen a few posts on various blogs about implementing a point system in order to keep yourself productive while blogging. Recently, I have implemented the following daily point system on one of my websites for myself and my other writers. It is less-intensive than some of the other point systems out there, but it enables me to keep track of what is being done and how much promotion is being put into the website.

I will explain a few things. There is a slightly different grading ‘curve’ when it comes to longer posts and the amount of posts, because although I feel it is VERY important to have an excellent flow of content on a timely schedule, my ‘band’ and music industry experience tells me that promotion is sometimes MORE important than the actual writing. How many times have you heard the phrase ‘How did that band make it so big? They suck!’ uttered. Exactly my point. Promotion is still a huge key to success.

So this system rewards grassroots promotion and ways to generate traffic almost as much as content. The daily goal is to reach the standard 50 points (this is pretty common on most daily point systems). I require my bloggers (or yourself for that matter) to ‘work’ 5 times a week average. The way I look at it, is instead of worrying about ‘hours’ or ‘days’ worked, I focus on the number. 250 points per week is what I hope to get, per blogger, per blog. I personally know that I can get 50 points an hour if I really buckled down, so I do not feel these numbers are unreasonable.

The key to my system is the number 250. I really don’t care how fast you get the 250. If you do it in one day, take the next 6 off if you’re working for me!

• 5 points for any blog post that is over 200 words (content, not just a post linking to another site)
• 10 points for any blog post that is over 400 words
• 10 points for a ‘column’ (I like my blogs to have newspaper style columns weekly to keep people interested)
• 5 points for enhancing the theme
• 5 points for redesigning the theme, or implementing a new theme
• 1 point for every person signed up for the email list, or RSS feed (if it can be accounted for)
• 5 points for every bulletin or note sent out on MySpace or Facebook (limited 2 per day)
• 2 points for every blog commented in which you have commented before
• 5 points for every blog commented in which you have never commented on
• 100 points for advertiser conversion (generating a lead which in turn generates ad revenue)
• 100 points for every contest created (generating a prize in order to use in said contest)
• 100 points for a great promotional plan or tactic discovered and implemented
• 50 points for a guest blog post on a website with high traffic or RSS subscribers
• 10 points for every unique widget created (mainly for use on Facebook)

As you can see, my point system rewards usage of social networking such as Myspace. Why have a leaned heavily on those sites? Well, lets go to the stats! I will be referring to one of my blogs.

The first and foremost referral site has always been Google. People search via Google and Google alone. I don’t care what other search engines there are. I don’t see this trend dying anytime soon. But a quick scan down the list shows me that much traffic has been coming via Myspace and Facebook. You have a lot of ways to get your links out there on social networking sites. Bulletins, profiles, blogs, status updates. You name it. It is a promotional machine if you know where to use it.

So far today; I have done the following in accordance to my scoring system. I am not referring to this website. Mind you, it IS only 3:30am.

• 10 points for 2 blog posts over 200 words
• 10 points for creating a Facebook application
• 20 points for 2 bulletins and 2 notes on Myspace and Facebook.
• 22 points for comments on blogs
• 3 points for adding people from my AIM buddy list to the RSS feed

So as you can see, I am off to a good start for the week. I usually tend to hammer a lot more than 250 points in a week, but I don’t expect everyone to want to do it that way. I spent quite a bit of time getting that silly Facebook application working, but it has already driven traffic to the site.

I do tend to make scoring changes as I go, systems like these should always be fluid. Example, there is one writer that I expect to do about 400 points a week because of how fast he can write and promote. Another writer I only expect about 150 but she has a million other things to do, but her content is exceptional. However, so far this has seemed to work for me and my associates.

There are common questions that are asked all the time in the blogging world. The question that is asked the most by the niche blogger is “How do I actually make money blogging?”

While there are several different responses, the one that people want to know most about is advertising. Advertising on your blog comes in many forms, so lets get down to it and discuss.

Contextual Advertisement (Such as Google Adsense):
When it comes to simplicity, nothing beats the contextual ad. Whether you intend to make money blogging or would just like monetize enough to cover hosting, contextual ads are the first way to go. Google Adsense is the industry leader because of its simplicity of use, ease in which one can sign up, and the results. The ads are usually perfectly targeted for your website. Other examples of contextual ads are Yahoo Publisher Network, Kontera, and to some extent BidVertiser.

Paid Posts:
Paid posts are not new, but many people are not aware of their ability in generating income. Places like PayPerPost, Sponsored Reviews, ReviewMe let the niche blogger who is really just interested in generating traffic and revenue the chance to make a little extra money blogging. The way it works, is you bid on a review, and when the accept it, you have a certain amount of time to display it on your website. Usually, there are some stipulations to the pose (how many words, keywords you have to include) but if your website is generating the traffic, this is a no brainer.

Paid Links:
Paid links are a great way to increase your revenue. The more traffic a site is doing, the more valuable any ad will be on your website. Instead of giving away the links for free, charge a modest fee. Use your blogroll to your advantage.

I will be adding part two shortly, which will focus primarily on 125 ads and affiliate programs

Whenever I get stumped at what to write about next, I do one of two things.

I either stare at the screen until I come up with something decent to write about or I redesign my blog!

Redesigning a blog can have lots of great effects on your sanity. First and foremost, it takes your mind off the content aspect for a least a little while. Sometimes, resting your mind is one of the best things you can do for your blog. It also gives you the chance to flex that creative muscle in ways other than writing. That could be just as important as the rest. Aside from all the mental aspects, it will help your blog grow and prosper.

• After a redesign, your traffic will increase as long-time readers who may rely on just your RSS feed will come back to the site to check out the new layout. This maybe a short lived spike in traffic, but as we all know, traffic numbers are the sold determining factor in generating revenue.
• Each redesign will give you the chance to review your advertisement placements and whether or not your space is used to its fullest. Over time, you will find what type of ad works best in your niche. The same goes for layouts. Maybe the banner ads work better than the 125 x 125 ads. In that case, you could redesign the site to allow for better banner placement or even more banner placement. Plus advertisers always like something new, so older advertisers maybe more inclined to ’re-up’ their ad with you
• After a redesign, you can feel more excited to tell new people about your blog. Although you could be constantly promoting your website, it is easy to tire of it. It is like an band who has been touring on a record for 2 years. They may appear to still love the music, but inside they are clamoring to release something new and exciting. When the new music is released, it is almost rejuvinating to the artist. The same could be said for a blog.

Another good thing about a blog redesign is that you can use and modify pleny of great and free wordpress themes. One of the sites I frequent often is http://www.wpthemesfree.com. They have a lot of great themes.

Once you redesign your blog, you will feel rejuvinated and ready for another several months of content generating!