New Custom Design Tools for Blogger Users

This week Google began testing a Blogger layout tool that allows people to customize the look of their blog. For those bloggers that do not use wordpress or understand wordpress.org plug-ins this is a nice new feature. .Check out a preview on Bloggers You Tube Channel


The templates tool supports professional designs, prebuilt templates and a color control to alter the blog's palette of colors. Those familiar with CSS and HTML will find the ability to integrate stock photos and custom background scenes, too. There are 15 templates, hundreds of stock images , custom colors, fonts and blog layouts. Google has made the Blogger Template Designer available through Blogger in Draft, Blogger's test lab, also known to developers as a sandbox or test bed.
Note-Template Designer does not support Internet Explorer 6

Nice Wordpress Theme

I attended a free webinar today hosted by Adria Richards (Wordcamp speaker & CEO of Freshworkshops) on Selecting a Wordpress Theme. The hour long webinar was basic. I am in the 1st steps of setting up my Wordpress blog. Everyone on the webinar was new to Wordpress- all Blogger users, so non-techies will feel comfortable with the content.

My takeaway: there are 3 ways to get your word press theme up and running

Free Themes. On Wordpress.com / Wordpress.org. Free is great and does not mean sub-par. Expect common designs and ease of use. Downside on free, there will be no support services for the technically challenged and if you set up thru wordpress.com you are limited to about 70 templates, no plug ins, and limited on analytics.

Commercial Themes- if you prefer some support or different design options there are many providers that sell templates. Expect to pay $ 30- 200. The upside of buying a Wordpress theme: may have support services from the designer when it comes to installing and customizing. There are trillions of templates - too many for me to digest. It was recommended to check out www.welovewp.com for some design ideas.
Custom- looking for a unique design and have bucks to put into the project ( I didn’t pay much attention to this option as most of my clients & I do not have the budget luxury )

One question that orginally perplexed me was the difference between Wordpress.com vs. .org. Wordpress.com has limited templates (approx. 70), no plug-in but requires no installation. So if you are technology challenged or want a blog template for personal use, Wordpress.com may be for you. Wordpress.org is preferred by designers and webmasters since you can edit codes, upload your theme, install plug-in bells and whistles but you will need some technical ability to install it on your server. Cons- you are responsible for preventing spam, backing up, installing newer versions and should have some technical interest to handle these housekeeping issues.

What I did learn today, certain servers are more Wordpress friendly. This was good to find out before I started the process. I love learning new facts!!

A lot of handy links were provided by the Freshworkshops moderator – this one has a lot of detailed information http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org

So now I know I will need to adjust my server and go with wordpress.org….next step installing ….stay tunes.

2010 Small Business Resolutions for Online

New year and time to get going. A key to any business is having a plan; a way to measure your accomplishments along the way. Now is a time to put in writing some goals to stay abreast of the ever changing online environment and if lucky, lean some new things along the way. So I documenting my commitment here and plan to check in over the next 12 months to share my success or failures along the way.

Angela Bustamante’s 2010 Online Marketing Resolutions:

1.Use a technology tools to better manage my busy schedule and abundance of information out there. For me personally, that means incorporating Google Reader and Social Bookmaking on a daily basis.

2. Explore Wordpress, its themes and plug-ins. Already started on this goal…Currently working on incorporating a new wp site with the tools I pick up in the coming weeks…stay tuned on my progress.

3. Educate myself (even more) . There is always another blog to read, newsletter to subscribe to and a plethora of free webinars and online classes. I like ClickZ, SEMPO, HubSpot Webinars, MarketingProfs, Lynda.com and Freshworkshops to name a few

4. Focus on creating unique blog and site content. Share my marketing experiences and campaign success for others to learn from. Having worked in CPC,CPM,CPL , Email & now entering Social Media I have a lot of insight on how businesses across different industries and with different budgets are making good use of various media ( pass it along). I too hit roadblocks and learn from others and happy to share new insights

5. Focus on my Local Search networks and Profiles- Bing Local, Google Maps Local Business Center and eventually user reviews

6. Possibly barter or volunteer some of my marketing skills for a fledging small business or non profit, so I can further my portfolio and gain new perspectives.

7. Become active in at least two travel social communities and start particpating ( as I currently provide marketing consulting for a Travel Network and Online Travel Marketing company)

Creating A Strong Corporate Blog

Yesterday I attended an all day webcast hosted by MarketingProfs focused on best practices for using Social Media, Website ROI Measurement, Email and Blogging. There is great value in having a blog for your business, if done right. As a consultant I often hear- "blogs are free so we really can do this ourselves. " Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Leading the corporate blog panel was Christi Day/ PR Coordinator from Southwest Airlines and Lionel Manchaca, Chief Blogger at Dell. Once you select the blog tool to use, you need a business plan. Things to consider in defining your corporate blog

Why do I need/want a blog? - conversation is going on in the consumer world with or without your participation….be a participant! Have another communication channel to interact with your customer base

What is the goal of your blog?

Manpower- this is always the one that catches the small business owner by surprise. Are you dedicated to making daily contributions, real time replies to customer questions and complaints, tracking your presence on the blogosphere for hot spot sand damage control? Will you be distributing the blog? Though Dell and Southwest Airlines are both large companies, they do have best practices in place to execute successful blog communities. Southwest has a full time emerging media team of 7 in place strictly for online communication efforts. Likewise Dell has several teams in place to respond to bloggers.

Resources & Time both companies agree that a strong corporate blog has provided an additional communication channel for their company and the value well worth it. But dedication and personnel are instrumental.

Blogs are free? The tool is free. Consider you may need tech, design support, personnel full-time or part-time to make ongoing updates to your blog

Legal Issues- be careful of commenting on competitors, safety issues, claims etc. A lawyer can be helpful in reviewing content before you post

Detractors -negative comments about your business posted on your blog. There will always be that one negative voice out there. Take control and use this as an opportunity to engage that person and provide customer service and resolve problems.

Challenges- Creating content on a schedule. Will you be posting daily, weekly? Adding Video & Podcasting – that is more hands on time to schedule.

These are just a few things I took away from the Webcast .