Link Karma

by Brian Clark

Link Karma

Steve Rubel jumps on the value blogging train. Good for him… he’s a smart guy with great insights, and I’m happy the extraneous stuff is going over to Twitter.

Here’s a podcast I did with the guys over at Internet Business Mastery about copywriting and conquering fear.

Hate your job? Chuck hates your job, too.

The downside of being a professional blogger. Thank goodness I’m not one, although this still sounds like my life.

43 Guru Tips on How to Write Titles: The Ultimate Guide.

Worried that you can’t tell a story in a blog post and keep the reader’s attention? Head over here and take notes.

Go from freelancer to guru with this series of posts from Tony Clark.

John C. Dvorak says we’re in Bubble 2.0, Marshall Kirkpatrick says it’s different this time. They’re both right.

Doc Searls says to look beyond advertising, and he’s right on. The Internet is a direct medium, and advertising in many cases is morphing into compelling, persuasive content that prospects actually value. Now all you need is something to sell.

Problogger has a new design. Sweet.

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Copyblogger runs on the Thesis Theme for WordPress

Thesis WordPress theme

Thesis is the search engine optimized WordPress theme of choice for serious online publishers. If you’re a blogger who doesn’t understand a lot of PHP, Thesis will give you a ton of functionality without having to alter any code. For the advanced, Thesis has incredible customization possibilities via Thesis hooks.

With so many design options, you can use the template over and over and never have it look like the same site. The theme is robust and flexible enough not only to accommodate a site like Copyblogger, but also to enable the site to run far more efficiently than it ever has before.

{ 2 trackbacks }

SOB Business Cafe 08-10-07 - Liz Strauss at Successful Blog - Thinking, writing, business ideas . . . You’re only a stranger once.
August 10, 2007 at 11:39 am
The Copyblogger Effect - eXtra For Every Publisher
August 20, 2007 at 8:29 pm

{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Jose Negron August 9, 2007 at 4:14 pm

If I tried to digest all of this right now I would get no work done! :)

Great resources, thanks!

2 Chuck August 9, 2007 at 4:14 pm

Thanks Brian : )

3 David August 9, 2007 at 6:04 pm

Thanks for the link. I really appreciate it. Love your blog.

4 allena August 9, 2007 at 7:13 pm

hey great links. way to hep me procrastinate :)

5 David August 9, 2007 at 7:18 pm

For some reason when I clicked thru from my feed reader, I thought the post was going to be about the benefits of linking to others :)

6 Brian Clark August 9, 2007 at 7:27 pm

This is the benefit of linking to others in action. ;)

7 RT August 9, 2007 at 9:31 pm

Brian, do you really think the new Problogger design is sweet?

RT

8 Brian Clark August 9, 2007 at 9:42 pm

RT, absolutely. It’s a big next step in making blogs not look so “bloggy.” This is a trend to pay attention to, and I’m glad Darren is pushing it.

9 RT August 9, 2007 at 9:51 pm

To be honest with you I’m not sure I agree.

1. I don’t know why anyone who has a successful trademark would change it unless they were being sued, associated with a food poisoning scare or some other consumer realted woe. That seems like an odd move to me.

2. Whats with the categories and everything being down the bottom. It looks messy. Is that a technique to draw the eye down?

3. My very first thought when I opened it up was that it looked like a spam or news site - it has lost a lot of the personal touch which I’m not sure he should move away from.

I know it looks less bloggy, like your good self stated, but are you sure that is a good thing?

RT

10 Brian Clark August 9, 2007 at 10:04 pm

I know it looks less bloggy, like your good self stated, but are you sure that is a good thing?

Yes. Not only good, but necessary. Blogging is young, but it’s changing fast. And I’m glad.

I thought the old Problogger site was fine 2 years ago, but it was quickly getting left behind design wise. His trademark had become amateurish.

So, Darren pushed the envelope. Not everyone will like it right away. Anyone who likes the content but stops reading him because of the design is not worth keeping, so I think everything will be just fine.

Evolution is messy, and people hate change, but it will happen regardless. But really… a spam site? How many spammers do you know who spend thousands of dollars on cutting-edge design work?

11 RT August 9, 2007 at 10:19 pm

Don’t get me wrong. Problogger kept me sane when I was trekking through India. He’s my hero.

However, why is the design cutting edge? Most of the b5 blogs have that thing down the bottom. Also, half the ads don’t fit on my screen. Maybe it early days yet.

Your right though, change is hard.

12 Mohsin August 10, 2007 at 12:36 am

I like the new Problogger look. Although it looks less like traditional blogs, and more like modern news sites, for anyone who is looking for information that Darren has to offer, he is presented with the best of it on a single page.

And I agree, someone had to break the traditional, and now almost sacred, look and feel of blogs. Seeing that it is the good ol’ Darren who is taking the first step, many will follow his lead.

13 Euphrosene August 10, 2007 at 5:33 am

Many thanks for the information. Will follow your lead and mention your site for blog karma :*)

14 Vince Williams August 10, 2007 at 7:34 am

Clayton Makepeace’s story at The Total Package was beautifully told, but he lost me at the point he tried to ’sell’ me what he had to offer.

For me, it didn’t work as copy.

15 Jean Browman--StressToPower August 11, 2007 at 2:07 pm

How about Tony Clark’s latest post? I know you left a comment there, but other people might not know about it. The cartoon and first sentence are gems.

16 Brian Clark August 11, 2007 at 2:34 pm

Jean, yep. That Tony Clark is pretty smart. I’ve got my eye on him. ;)

17 Tony D. Clark August 11, 2007 at 9:37 pm

Are you the one that’s been stalking me? ;)

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