On the Internet, branding is extremely important. The World Wide Web truly lives up to that reputation and, among the literally billions of pages on the Internet, you need to make certain that your page and any page associated with your page are instantly identifiable with your brand.

If you’re using WordPress as a content management system, wordpress themes usually offer some advantageous features for branding.

Logos

Most WordPress themes have a feature built into them that makes it easy to place your logo on the site. Of course, getting your logo loaded up to a website isn’t exactly a feat of technical wizardry. But, caution should be taken as you want a WordPress theme that provides a logo placement that is consistent with what people expect. People expect to see the logo for your business displayed in certain places on your site, so make sure you choose a theme that will work for you.

When you’re selecting a theme, take a look at where the default logo location appears on the homepage. This can help you determine whether or not it fits with your branding strategies and whether or not it actually fits with your logo. If you have an oddly shaped or sized logo, for example, it may fit better on the side of the page, flushed to the right or the left. Most WordPress themes will allow you to choose from these options but, because there is a wide variety of themes available, it’s generally easier to just pick one of them that suits your logo design the best.

Templates

In today’s world, the look of your webpage is nearly as important as your brand. For example, some of the largest destinations on the Internet are very distinctive in terms of their layout, and that layout makes them easily identifiable. Change the layout of one of these pages and you’ll see a lot of angry visitors.

WordPress themes usually come with templates that are designed to make it easier to keep a consistent look within the pages of your site. Consider these templates carefully. Remember that, after your webpage becomes popular and a lot of visitors have shown up to take a look at it, they’re going to get used to the interface. Changing the interface (theme) can be a bit traumatic for them. This is why you want to start out with a template that really suits the image you want to project.

It may not be obvious to you how the look of your webpage influences your image, but it really does. For example, if you run a business, such as a mortgage brokerage, you need to make certain that your webpage conveys an image of organization, attention to detail and trustworthiness. Choosing a template that is laid out in a very simple fashion and that makes information easily accessible would be desirable in such a case.

Conversely, if you are running a site designed for people who play video games, a site that is very complex, filled with information and stuffed with graphics will generally be what they’re looking for.

Online marketing and branding go hand-in-hand. If you’re using WordPress as a content management system. You do have quite a few options as far as creating effective branding within your site goes. From the placement of your logo to the layout of your pages, the right theme can make all the difference in conveying the right image.

When you’re selecting WordPress themes, it’s important to shop around and see what works. Before you commit to something, set it up with your content and make sure it’s what you want. These themes are generally pretty inexpensive, so experimenting a bit should be well within the budget of any company.

Olga Ionel is a creative writer at ThemeFuse.com. She is passionate about WordPress, SEO and Blogging. Don’t forget to check out stunning wordpress templates (warning: no boring stuff).

There’s a new plugin for WordPress out from MaxBlogPress called “Bring My Blog Visitors Back” that was created to do just that.

If you own a WordPress blog then you’re familiar with how your RSS Feed works and that there are advantages and disadvantages to having one.

Last week I got the opportunity to peek through MaxBlogPress’s plugin and learn how it changes our customary approach to the RSS feed.

Downside to WordPress RSS Feed

RSS feeds, though very useful tools for allowing subscribers to stay connected to your blog content, do have their drawbacks. You will find that subscribers will stop visiting your blog because they get all of your content through the RSS feed. This leads to less user participation on your blog, thus decreasing your blog traffic and revenue as well.

Of course, you could utilize this tip I have previously talked about, but you’re not going to win everyone over. You could even lose readers altogether depending on the nature of your content and how loyal those readers are.

MaxBlogPress Bring My Blog Visitors Back helps overcome this problem, and if you’re subscribed to my newsletter, then you probably have already watched the video to see what all this plug-in can actually do.

This plugin comes straight from the house of MaxBlogPress, an established name in the industry for its credibility and building quality WordPress plugins. Some of MaxBlogPress’s highly popular products include Subscribers Magnet, Ninja Affiliate, and Max Banner Ads.

Bring My Blog Visitors Back is a powerful WordPress Plugin that offers you more flexibility and control over your RSS feeds, enticing your RSS readers to visit your blog without any annoyance, and at the same time, adds value and increases the readership of your blog.

Content Thieves Useful?

Content thieves, who have found an easy way to scrape your blog contents through the RSS Feed making use of automated software, now becomes a sort of free marketer for your blog. Because along with the content, they take away your identity also thus providing you free backlinks and traffic.

Pretty cool, huh?

That’s the basic idea of RSS Footer that I mentioned in this post, but Bring My Blog Visitors Back does so much more than just that.

Bring My Blog Visitors Back works exactly as the name implies. It brings back the potential visitors lost somewhere on the premises of the RSS feed who otherwise should have been browsing through your blog.

Features of the Bring My Blog Visitors Back Plugin

This amazing plugin comes with some attractive and powerful features that completely transform the look and functionality of your standard RSS feed. Using the power of Bring My Blog Visitors Back, you can now upgrade your RSS feed to include the following features:

• Display related posts
• Display social icons
• Display number of comments
• Display latest user comment
• Display header and footer text/banners
• Display copyright notice

However, this plugin is not for you if you:

• Don’t need a boost in quality traffic and revenue for your blog.
• Don’t mind scrapers stealing your content via the RSS feed.
• Are satisfied with whatever setbacks your blog has encountered.
• Are not concerned about how your RSS feed looks and what it does.

This plug-in is a must-have if you really are serious about your blog and blogging career. If you are syndicating your blog through an RSS feed (you are if you use WordPress and most other blogging platforms) and are worried about the minimal traffic and revenue you are getting from your blog, and at the same time receiving a high-tension threat from content thieves, then I will outright say that you should most definitely get this plugin for your blog.

Instead of racking your nerves from losing readers, losing income and wasting your time, be smart with your blog and take advantage of the plugins available, including this one.

Download “Bring My Blog Visitors Back” Today

You can download MaxBlogPress Bring My Blog Visitors Back here.

The official launch date is Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at midnight. They’re currently in Pre-Launch stage, so you do have some time to check out the site and make an informed decision on whether you want to purchase this plugin or not.

Just so you know, they’re offering a 30% discount for all readers of the ReplaceYourSalary blog. This discount is currently live and will expire on the launch day, so you only have less than three days remaining. After that, the regular price will go into affect.

I encourage you to checkout the plugin now, and if you do want to buy, get it NOW so you can get 30% off.

Again, you can go here to check out the official page.

This post will serve as an official notice to all who are subscribed to my blog, either through an RSS Reader or by Email.

It is with great regret and sadness that I have changed the RSS feed to only show a summary, or excerpt, of posts rather than the entire post content. This means that rather than being able to view and read a new blog post from your favorite RSS Reader or by email, you will now have to actually come here to the blog to read new posts in their entirety.

Why Have I Done This?

Honestly, this decision was not made lightly. If you’ve been subscribed for more than a few weeks, you will know that all posts were shown in their entirety on the feed. I originally started this blog that way, and I truly wanted to keep it that way.

Sadly, it had gotten to a point where I could no longer jeopardize my blog and its content by keeping the feed as it was, so I was left with no choice but to change it.

You see, out there in the great distance of the internet, there lies a few dishonest, unethical people who like to outright steal legitimate blogger’s RSS feeds and use the content as their own on their blogs. Through plug-ins or other methods, the content from the feed can be published to a WordPress blog just as a normal blog post.

Their blogs, if you even want to call them that, are basically the result of multiple RSS feeds being scraped for content. These scraper/farming blogs are completely worthless and usually never rank in search engines.

The problem, however, is that my blog posts are showing up on sites like this, sometimes instantly after I publish a new post. This bugs me, alot.

I have links pointing to my site and blog that I DO NOT want on those kinds of sites. If a search engine like Google were to find my scraped content and index it, I can only imagine the consequences. Perhaps nothing bad will happen and Google would deem those sites useless like everybody else does, but really, why chance it? I can’t take the risk.

I realize this is a huge if, but I do not want to jeopardize my blog and everything I’ve worked so hard on to be penalized based on the actions of an unscrupulous few.

What This Means for You

I fully realize the inconvenience this puts on all of you, and I sincerely apologize. Believe me, I would prefer to keep the full content shown in the RSS feed. As a reader of many other blogs in the industry, I prefer to read entire posts through email.

I guess what I’m saying is, I understand the hassle. Really, I do.

From now on, if you want to read the entire post with all content included, you’ll be required to visit the actual post page. A link is included to make this step convenient for you, however.

There’s a slight chance I could change it back to showing full posts. More on this later.

Previous Steps I’ve Taken to Avoid This

Implementing an RSS Footer

If you notice on the feed, I have a footer in place that links to the home page, the blog’s home page, and the page where the specific post is located. I implemented this RSS Footer a long while back to serve a few purposes.

• Provide links to you for quicker access to my site and blog.
• “Thank” you for being a reader. I really do appreciate the support.
• If someone did steal my feed and use my content as their own, the footer would be included, making it obvious that my content was stolen.

Blocking Specific IP Addresses

A neat little tool I get with my web hosting is an IP Blocker. It comes handy when I need to block certain people for spamming or other mischief, based on their IP address. This can also be done through your .htaccess file if you don’t have an IP Blocker available.

Since the beginning, I have blocked the IP addresses of those I’ve known to rip my RSS feed and blatantly steal my content and use it as their own. This is usually done when I see that it becomes a habitual act. Comments in the form of Trackbacks from the offending sites show up in the comments waiting to be moderated, so if I see multiple Trackbacks originating from the same site, I block them so they can no longer pull my feed and steal my content.

What Now?

What will happen now is that whenever a scraper/farming blog does steal my content using the RSS feed, they will only get a short summary of the post, along with the RSS Footer attached.

My goal in doing this is that it will deter offenders (I’m not holding my breath), and that it will also keep my content in its entirety along with any links off of these types of sites (This I know is true).

Now that this is said and done, I want you to chime in and let me know what you think. I would appreciate any feedback or experience you can provide in how to deal with this issue, and if you can answer any or all of the questions below, I would greatly appreciate the help and support.

1. Will this have an impact on whether or not you read my blog? Be honest, please!

2. Do you agree with my decision based on the circumstances I presented, or do you feel I’m being too irrational?

3. Could you provide any cold-hard evidence to suggest that this isn’t necessary and that it is ‘OK’ to keep full posts in the feed?

I’m really curious to see who has an answer to that last question. Seriously, if you can provide evidence to show that this move isn’t necessary and that I’m just being silly about this whole thing, I’m all for changing the feed back to showing full posts.

Okay, let me know below in the comments, and thanks again for being a reader!

Halloween was just recently, and in the spirit of entrepreneurship (and in Halloween, I suppose), I decided to carve a pumpkin in memory of Steve Jobs. I’m sure by now you’re aware that Steve Jobs had recently passed away, and while reflecting back on technology and seeing how far advanced we have come with all the gadgets we have these days, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to show my appreciation, and my artistic abilities.

My first ever pumpkin carving, as shown on the right, lit up. Seriously, my first ever.

That was one of the highlights of October for me. I had a lot of fun doing it and enjoyed getting a little messy. The end result was totally worth it. Unfortunately, it didn’t last forever. They never do.

Looking back on last month’s blog posts, while they may not be as epic as my pumpkin carving, I’m sure you you’ll agree that they’re worth reading. At least I hope so.

Let’s take a look at them.

October 2011 Blog Posts on ReplaceYourSalary.com

What is a ‘Call to Action’ and Why Should You Have One?

Threaded Comments: A WordPress Plug-In Every Blog Owner Should Utilize

5 Tips to Help You Save Money

6 Top Ways to Save Money at Home

Getting More Clicks: Affiliate Links in Images More Profitable than Links in Text

5 Ways to Fund Your Retirement Income

5 Ways to Recognize Work from Home Scams

Tools to Expand Your Home Business Without Breaking the Bank

Akismet Problems: Why You Should Choose an Alternative Blog Comment Spam Solution

Google+: Is the Demise of Facebook Near?

Blog Posts Around the Web

Here are some blog posts I’ve found from other bloggers I follow that I hope you will find helpful. I encourage you to take some time to read these as well.

Every month, Deneil Merritt posts an income report, similar to the ones you’ll find here. What’s different about his income reports is that they include 30 other blog income reports as well, which includes mine each month. Definitely worth checking out and seeing how other blogs are doing in the industry.

Daniel Scocco points out some important no-no’s when emailing a blog owner to pitch a guest post. I find it quite comical as I every now and then get something similar to the one he mentions in the post. If you ever want to get accepted as a guest blogger, you definitely want to read Daniel’s post and take some notes.

If you’ve been following any of the Occupy Wall Street protest (I haven’t) or at least know what it’s about (I do), David over at SEO-Writer has a pretty funny Occupy parody called Occupy Google. It’s a video interview (sound only) and worth checking out if you want a good laugh, or if Google is treating you unfairly and you demand that your website is ranking in the top 10! Ha!

That’s all for now, folks.

If you run a WordPress blog, you probably use Akismet to handle and manage comments left by readers. Akismet is the default plug-in and works very well.

Or does it?

While Akismet does an excellent job in weeding out the spam comments from the legitimate ones, it does have its flaws.

Akismet is Flawed

The problem with Akismet is that it allows blog owners to specify which comments are legitimate and which are spam. This is completely opinion based and differs for each blog owner. Because of this, blog owners could inadvertently mark legitimate comments as spam. Sometimes this happens by accident, and other times they truly think the comment is spam, even if it isn’t. Obviously, one’s opinion can differ from another’s.

Once a comment gets marked as spam, any new comments that reader makes will automatically get marked as such across all blogs that use Akismet to manage comments. This is done through tracking the IP address and email address.

The system is obviously flawed. Akismet allows users to request that they be white-listed again, but it’s no guarantee that will happen.

There are other problems I could get into, such as privacy issues, but I’ll leave that one alone. Here are my two gripes I have with Akismet and why I have found a better alternative to manage comments on this blog.

1. Marking Legitimate Comments As Spam

Most likely you’ve scoured the spam folder, looking for legitimate comments to un-mark as spam. I used to spend a lot of my time doing this, as legitimate comments would get filtered out and be marked as spam, even though they weren’t.

Not only is this annoying, but it wastes so much time – time I don’t have.

2. Not Allowing Legitimate Comments At All

This was the last straw for me. It’s one thing to prevent spam comments from getting through, but when legitimate comments from readers are being blocked entirely, it’s time to make a change. A blog isn’t a blog unless readers are able to comment on posts, and I wasn’t about to ignore this problem. I needed to make a change, FAST!

I don’t know how long this was going on for, but Ana from Traffic Generation Cafe made me aware that her comments weren’t getting through. It was apparent that Akismet was blocking her comments altogether. She advised me that I find an alternative comment management plug-in to handle comments, otherwise I could be losing out on other legitimate comments, and ultimately readers. Thanks, Ana!

So that’s exactly what I did.

Akismet Alternatives

There are quite a few alternatives to manage blog comments. Some paid, some free. If you’re like me, I’m a huge fan of free stuff. Let’s take a look at 5 of them.

5 Free Anti-Spam WordPress Plug-Ins

1. Bad Behavior – Bad Behavior is a PHP-based solution for blocking link spam and the robots which deliver it.

2. Sblam! – Stand-alone PHP script or WordPress plug-in, whichever you choose.

3. AntiSpamBee – Protects your blog from spam by replacing the comment field.

4. Defensio – Defensio is an advanced spam filtering web service that learns and adapts to your behaviors and those of your users.

5. G.A.S.P – This plugin will add a client side generated checkbox to your comment form asking users to confirm that they are not a spammer. It is a lot less trouble to click a box than it is to enter a captcha and because the box is genereated via client side javascript that bots cannot see, it should stop 99% of all automated spam bots.

My Anti-Spam Plug-In Recommendation

I am currently running G.A.S.P. on this blog, and I absolutely love it. If I had to recommend a plug-in to manage blog comments, it would be G.A.S.P. I also use a plug-in called Simple TB Validation. Simple TB Validation performs a simple but very effective test on all incoming trackbacks in order to stop trackback spam.

With both of these plug-ins combined, I get very little comment spam. I still get a small percentage that I just delete, but I don’t have to go sifting through the spam folder anymore. It has saved me a ton of time, and I know it will help you manage comments more effectively.

The best part is, you won’t be turning away readers due to them not being able to comment on your blog. I urge you, consider deleting Akismet and finding an alternative. You and your readers will benefit greatly.

What Do You Use?

What are you using to manage blog comments and combat spam? Let us know in the comments below. And while you’re there, see G.A.S.P. in action by checking the little box to confirm you’re not a spammer.

I follow quite a few blogs, and I like to comment on posts I find interesting. What irritates me, though, is that some blog owners don’t utilize any sort of “threading” within comments. No “@” replies utilized, either. This can be very annoying.

Not sure what I mean? Here’s an example:

Notice my reply is indented in and is contained within the original comment. This is considered a threaded comment, and any new replies act the same way, getting indented even further in. In this way, the replies are obvious and aren’t mistaken with new comments that aren’t a reply to a particular comment.

Also notice that my reply begins with “@author” and then my reply follows. This lets the commenter know that there is a new comment specifically in response to them. They also receive an email letting them know (more on this later).

What I see a lot on other blogs are new comments that are meant as replies to other people, but the reply is separate from the original comment, and no “@” is utilized. This can make it really, really difficult to determine if the comment is in reply to you, another commenter, or if it’s even a reply at all or a brand new comment from another reader.

Since I make sure I receive emails with any new comments on the posts I comment on, bloggers who don’t take advantage of any type of threaded system make it frustrating for me, and most likely others, as we don’t know if our comment is getting any replies. What this leads to is me having to go to the actual post and check my comment and any new comments to be sure I’m not missing any replies. It wastes time.

There is a much better way to manage comments and replies, both as a blog owner and as a blog commenter.

WP Thread Comment Plug-In

What I recommend doing is installing a very handy plug-in called WP Thread Comment. This WordPress plug-in will save you and your readers a ton of time by eliminating any confusion when it comes to replies and new comments left on your blog posts.

No coding required. No changes need made to your current theme. Just download, install, activate and adjust the settings as you see fit. That’s it. Your blog is then equipped with threaded comments.

Here’s what this powerful little plug-in can do:

• Edit Reply Text & Cancel Reply Text – This is for both you and your readers (Shouldn’t need to be changed)
• Edit Comment HTML – Only change if looks funny.
• Edit Comment CSS – Same as above.
• Edit maximum nest level – This is the amount of replies aloud for one comment thread. I have mine set to 15, although I doubt I’ll ever see it go that high for one comment thread.
• Email notify the parent commenter when there is a reply – This feature is HUGE. I would highly recommend choosing the “default checked” option, so this way, commenters will receive an email when there comment has a new reply, even if they would forget to check the box, as it’s checked by default.
• Edit the subject of notification email – I wouldn’t change this unless you want to.
• Edit Notification Message – Only change if you want to.
• Reply in WordPress Admin Panel – This feature saves me a ton of time. You can reply to comments directly from your Admin panel and automatically have them “nested.”
• Add author in reply comment – I highly recommend enabling this option, so that your replies begin with “@author”.

By now you should see just how vital this plug-in can be for your WordPress blog. If you’re not yet utilizing threaded comments, you should really start. A better way to manage comments will only benefit your blog and your readers.

This may sound too good to be true for some. For others, this may be only a fraction of what they make from their blogs.

No matter which category you fall in, $750 is easily obtainable by implementing various money-making strategies. However, I’ve recently been introduced to a new blogging network that will actually pay you up to $750 per month. Sound crazy? Perhaps…

Blogging Network that Pays You

Guest blogging is super popular these days, and if you’re subscribed to my blog, you’ll know that I regularly publish guest posts on here. I know a lot of other bloggers who allow guest posts on their blogs as well. It’s a great way to build relationships with fellow bloggers/authors and introduce them to a new audience of readers.

But…

Guest blogging doesn’t have any monetary gain whatsoever. The guest author doesn’t get paid, and the hosting blog owner doesn’t get paid. This isn’t a bad thing at all, and frankly, that’s the way it should be. There are plenty of other benefits for both parties involved that don’t involve money.

However, this is about advertisers wanting to get in front of a target market, and they’re willing to pay to be seen.

What if there was a way to get paid for hosting guest posts? Would you be interested?

That’s exactly what WebTrafficControl.com does. They connect advertisers with blog owners and will pay you $15 for every guest post you publish to your blog. This isn’t your normal advertisement/sales type posts, though. The posts are useful, helpful, and don’t try to sell you anything.

They’re essentially no different than any other guest post that you would find on a blog, including this one.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons to get a better understanding of what WebTrafficControl is all about.

The Pros

I had a chance to email one of the guys behind the blogging network back and forth regarding functionality and what all the blog owner could control regarding the content their blogs would receive.

Here are some of the pros that really stood out to me after some of my key questions were answered:

• Quick process to add WordPress blog to system
• Clean and user-friendly member dashboard
• Built-in moderation system in place to ensure quality content only
• Blog owners can accept/deny each post that is received
• Once approved, articles are automatically posted to the blog via an Author account, with relevant categories
• Each post is relevant and targeted to your blog and your readers
• Posts are informative in nature and not a sales letter
• “Advertisers” download reports of all posts, able to see which articles were left on your blog

My main issue was the blog owner level of moderation, which they just recently implemented. This was important to me as I wouldn’t want an irrelevant/non-targeted post on my blog. My other issue was whether the “advertisers” would know that their articles were being published to my blog.

I was happy to know that both issues were fully addressed with systems in place. Overall, I was quite satisfied with what I found out.

Cons

The only issue I could see, that I find with any form of guest blogging, is the author coming to the blog and replying to comments left on their post. While the authors can download a report of their posts, there’s no guarantee that they will visit the blog/s to reply to comments being left.

I see this as a con only because I’m someone who encourages community and author/reader interaction. Replying to comments is something I require of my guest bloggers, and while it doesn’t always happen, I feel it’s better than no requirement at all. Most are more than happy to, as they also see the value in engaging readers.

Final Thoughts

I have added my blog to the network about a month ago but have yet to receive any articles to add to the blog. They provide you with up to 10 categories you can add your blog to, which increases the amount of articles your blog could receive. So, I would recommend adding your blog to 10 categories if at all possible as it may be a while before you start receiving articles for your blog.

All in all, I feel this blogging network could be good for supplementing your blog with additional, relevant articles, all the while increasing your monthly income.

Your Thoughts?

What do you think? Do you agree with my concerns about moderation and reader interaction?

After reading this, would you be inclined to add your blog to the network as well?

Please do share your thoughts by leaving a comment below…

I know, I know, it’s been live for a little while now. And, don’t worry, I’ll spare you the boring details about Google’s new social button that’s supposed to be the arch-rival to Facebook’s “Like” button. You can read all the intricate details about it here, straight from Google’s mouth.

+1 Blog Posts

This post is an announcement to let you all know, my readers, that I have decided to implement the Google +1 button on this blog. It is now LIVE on the blog. You can find it at the top of each post, on the home page as well as each individual post page.

Why?

Because it’s new. I like to try new things and see how they perform. Also, it’s Google we’re talking about. They’re the biggest search engine, period. If they implement a new change that could affect website rankings and overall website traffic, I think it’s best to pay attention and play their game.

Social Search and Impact on SEO

Will their new introduction to Social Search take hold? I really don’t know. Should we care? Yes! At this stage it’s only an experiment, but it’s possible it could be here to stay.

There’s a lot of hearsay floating around as to how this is going to affect SEO and the way personalized search engine results are served. I really don’t want to get into all of that here as plenty has been said about it elsewhere. But, if you want to learn more about the Google +1 button and the future implications it could have on search, I recommend you check out these links:

• Google competes with Facebook Like button
• Everything you need to know about Google +1
• How Google’s +1 button may change SEO

That should provide everything you need to know about the +1 button.

Now, if you’re interested in adding it to your own site or blog, it’s actually real simple.

How to Add the Button to Your Site or Blog

For those of you who run a static (non-Wordpress) site:

Log-in to your Google Webmaster’s Account and follow the simple instructions: http://www.google.com/webmasters/+1/button/

For those of you who run a WordPress blog:

Garry Conn offers simple to understand instructions to add the button to your posts and pages: Google +1 Button.

Now you’re set. You’ll be able to invite your friends and website visitors to click and +1 your sites, blogs, and blog posts.

And, if you found this post helpful, I’d appreciate some +1 love from ya if you have some to spare. *hint, hint*

Spring is in the air, and with it a lot of rain. Now that March has passed and April is upon us, it’s that time again to do a roundup of last month’s posts. The month was full of guest writers, a nice change (as is having the Spring season finally here) and something I hope you’ve been enjoying. If not, I want to know about it, and why.

I plan to have at least another month of guest posts, as they just keep rolling in. I’m excited at the number of requests I’ve been getting and that other bloggers and writers want to contribute quality and useful content to this blog. That means a lot to me.

With that said, let’s take a look at what these guest authors contributed last month…

March’s Blog Posts on ReplaceYourSalary.com

How Working from Home Can Improve Your Personal Development

Should You Pay for a WordPress Theme?

Starting Your Small Business with a Small Amount of Money

Blog Posts Around the Web

Each month I try to share a few blog posts from other blogs I follow. I think it helps to give you an idea of other types of blogs that are out there that you may not be aware of, as well as other bloggers I look up to. Let’s take a look at some posts that stood out to me, and maybe you’ll find them helpful just as I did.

Andrew discusses 16 must-have WordPress plugins for your blog. Plug-ins are the lifeblood of any blog, and there are certain plugins you don’t want to be without. This is a must read.

TechChunks details the announcement that Google is going social. We all knew this was coming, right? I mean, they couldn’t just sit by and let Facebook dominate the internet. They won’t go without a fight, anyway. Definitely a must read and how this could impact search results and marketing as we know it.

Samuel tells you to stop reading and start doing. I’m all for learning, but there comes a point where you’ve learned enough that you can start putting what you learned into action, even if it’s a small task.

That’s all for now.

Again, please share your thoughts on the idea of showcasing more guest authors for the month of April. Do you think it’s a good idea, or would you rather see more of my own posts mixed within? I want to know, from you, the reader. Thanks!

The following is a guest post by Dan Cawrey. If you would like to write for this blog, please check out the guidelines here.

If you are going to be starting your own blog, WordPress is a great way to go. It’s simple, completely configurable through the web, and is run by a company that knows how to make good, free and open software. But once you’ve decided to use this platform as the back end, you need to start thinking about what the front end might look like.

WordPress’s outward appearance is powered by something called a theme. You have a several options when deciding what theme to choose: paying for one, using a free one or designing your own.

Paying

Shelling out some dollars for a WordPress theme is not a bad idea. With this option, you’re guaranteed a premium theme. You’ll get lots of options in the back end that you can customize, and many companies who design professional WordPress themes offer good support. One thing to be careful about, however, is paying too much for a WordPress theme. Don’t spend more than a couple hundred bucks on one, especially if you are just starting out. Check out FlexSqueeze Theme,  WooThemes, OrganicThemes or ElegantThemes for some good designs.

Going Free

You can also opt to not pay for a theme, which is perfectly acceptable for smaller sites. There are scores of themes that are available for free. Actually, there are almost too many to choose from. You’ll never run out of free themes, but you might just run out of time trying to find just the right one.

There is one problem with free themes however, and that’s the fact that being available for no cost means someone else is using that theme. The internet is a big place, but for some, having a sense of originality is important, which may make or break this option. You can Google some free WordPress themes, and the WordPress folks also have about a thousand on their site.

Do it Yourself

WordPress is a fairly simple platform, and as such you can also design your own theme. If you have any experience using HTML and CSS, you can simply start from scratch and make a theme of your own that fits your design tastes.

You don’t need to have a bunch of programming experience, but WordPress runs on PHP so having some experience with that language is helpful for getting things to run just right. This is a great option for those who like to tinker. Check here for the official WordPress guide.

Middle of the Road

The best option for choosing which route to go here is actually a mix. Depending on how original or authentic-looking you want your site to be, you might want to grab a free theme and customize it yourself. If you think you’ll need more advanced back end features, you might want to pay for a theme and then change the front end. The additional changes could be done yourself, or you could hire someone on a site like Elance to help you make so quick (and cheap) modifications.

Starting your own site takes a lot of decisions, but one of the best ones you can make is to choose WordPress and to get yourself a design that fits your audience. Hopefully this guide helps to make your site the best it can be!

About the Author: Daniel Cawrey is a freelance writer. In addition to blogging about credit cards, he also runs his own site (powered by WordPress) on Google Chrome and Chrome OS.