Judy Lee Dunn | Writer | Blogger
Judy Dunn- for bloggers who write and writers who blog
When I taught blogging workshops for writers and authors, one thing was predictable. Their eyes would always glaze over when I got to the part about building an author brand.
They thought of selling out, of compromising their art, of consumer brainwashing. They had seen too many taglines, too many TV commercials—Coke (“refreshing”) and Apple (“think different”).
“I don’t need a brand,” they would say. “I’m not a product.”
They were confusing a brand with an advertising slogan.
This week, a guest post by Bob Dunn, AKA @bobwp. I think he’s been living around a writer for too long because he’s into those metaphor and analogy things. Learn how to spice up your blog so it’s a comfortable and inviting house your readers won’t want to leave.
BY Bob Dunn
Your blog is your house. And your visitors ring the doorbell with one question in mind: “Will I find what I need here?”:
Your content may be incredible, but it won’t get read unless you have set up the basics that will get your visitors from point A to point B quickly and effortlessly.
Your readers want clean, simple, easy-to-use. If the experience is clunky, complicated or cumbersome, you can bet they won’t be back—even if your posts are astounding.
I am not a designer and never could be one. Yet, as a blogger, I know how important it is to get a nice, clean, visually appealing look. I want to entice my readers, give them a reason to stay. And good design will do that (along with stellar content, of course).
You may have noticed that today’s post looks a little different.
Okay, a lot different.
I believe in regular blog “remodels” because the process makes me look at every single piece of my blog with the question, “How does this help my readers have a better experience?”
I got an email from a reader from Montréal, Québec today. She said she just discovered my work and likes my “humor and great writing style.”
Okay, now she already has me on her side, right?
She closed her message with a question.
“I would like to know if a French website like yours exists. I would like to find advice in French language to improve my blog.”
It got me thinking. How easy do I make it for readers whose first language is not English to read (and share) my blog posts?
Not very easy, I am afraid.
I decided to research solutions. I found the WordPress-compatible Google AJAX Translation plugin, which allows blog posts—and comments— to be translated into 52 different languages. Pretty cool, huh?
I’m going to have my in-house WordPress guy, @bobwp, install it this weekend. And that totally got me thinking about which other plugins and widgets would help bloggers protect their content from spammers and get it read and shared more.
So while I was at it, I cornered Bob for some advice on the best plugins for showcasing content on your WordPress blog. (If you don’t have a WordPress blog, he can help you with that, too.):
If your theme does not have built-in search engine optimization features, this one does an amazing job of helping SEO on your site.
This plugin makes it easier for Google and the other search engines to pick up your pages.
Gives you great stats on your site traffic.
This is a premium plugin. For $39 a year you get updates and consistent, reliable support for creating almost any kind of form you’d like on your blog or website, with the ability to customize the information.
A smart plugin that catches most, if not all, of your spam in the comment section—before it is published.
If your site is loading slowly, and it isn’t because you have a lot of images, this one reduces download times and gives your reader an overall better user experience.
Backs up your database.
This premium plugin not only backs up your database, but all of your WordPress files, including plugins and theme settings. Schedule regular backups and store on your server or upload them to your computer for safe storage.
This plugin makes it easy to stream in video from popular platforms like YouTube.
All-in-one plugin that allows you to integrate all the social share buttons into WordPress easily. Displays counts for number of times readers share. For $5, the premium one also shows Facebook likes, complete with the photos of people who did the sharing.
Now here’s the deal. With some research, you might be able to figure out how to install these cool plugins (or which of them would meet your blog and reader needs).
But for the next 48 hours, until 5pm Pacific Daylight Savings time, Bob is making his 2.5-hour, $250 WordPress support retainer available for just $150
That’s a 40% discount— but just until Friday.
The cool part is that you can live anywhere. Bob can walk you through how to do the fixes yourself with the screen sharing features of Go to Meeting. Or give him your list and he’ll do them for you.
Barbara Saunders, who runs the Association of Self-Employed Communication Professionals, bought one today because she wanted to, in her words, ‘have an expert in my pocket.’
If you’d like an expert in your pocket—to help you install the shiniest, coolest plugins for your blog, or get a few things done, like moving your site, creating a beautiful email subscription sign-up graphic or just getting over a few humps— you can see Bob’s offer here.
What about you?
Do you have favorite plugins and widgets for your blog?
Missing any that you’d love to have?
Share with us in the comments.
Like most people, I like money. Really, I do.
As Adam Sandler said to Kevin Nealon’s banker character in 
the retro-80s comedy The Wedding Singer,
“I’m a big fan of money. I like it, I use it, I have a little. I keep it in a jar on top of my refrigerator. I’d like to put more in that jar.”
If you own a business, you know that selling can be a beautiful thing. You do a job. Your client is happy. She pays you—money in the jar.
Which makes you happy. You think of more things you can do for her. She pays you some more.
It’s all good.
But what if making your client happy meant less money for you?
Imagine you are starting a new project for a client. Say, a website. Would you offer a solution that pays you less money but leaves your customer more satisfied? A better solution but a smaller invoice?
Example: A client wants one of those huge websites. You know the kind. With flash, multiple pages and complicated coding only you can mess with. A static website.
But you know a better way. A way that will cost less to design and be easier for her to make the changes she needs to without hiring you.
That’s right, one of those blog-websites that even the dumbest of the design illiterates can get into if they need to add a photo, change a phone number, delete an employee who’s left.
Relationship marketing: attracting customers for life
Last Christmas Eve morning, in the middle of a snowstorm, the pastor of our church called us. We had designed (pro bono) the church’s site. He was frantic because he needed the events page modified to let people know the Christmas Eve service was cancelled. Luckily, Bob was in the office
and quickly made the change.
But it got me thinking. Wouldn’t it be great if our clients didn’t have to call us every time they wanted to make a small change? Setting aside the issue of charging (we hated billing for such a small amount of work), wouldn’t it be a whole lot simpler if they could just make the edit on their end?
Have more control over their own content?
And how would that affect the feeling they have when they see our name? Their level of happiness and trust, knowing that we want the best solution for them—not necessarily for our pocketbook—at any given time?
We made a change in our services. We are now offering WordPress blog-websites, at the fraction of the costs of a static site. So clients save in up-front design charges and in back end administration.
How about you?
Do you ever sacrifice short-term gain, knowing that you are building incredible customer trust and loyalty?
Does this philosophy make sense?
All You Need Is ‘Luv’
I’m bringing my other—er, I mean, better—half to you today because I wanted to show you all the cool features of the CommentLuv Pro, which I just installed here on the Judy Lee Dunn blog. Well, to be perfectly honest, it was Bob who did the installing. I just kind of leaned over his shoulder and watched. My goal, always, is to make changes that make the reading and commenting experience better for you. Please let me know how you feel about this new commenting system, where else? Why in the comments, of course!
If you are regular follower here at Judy’s blog, you probably have noticed the change in the commenting system. She has tested a few, and with the help of my tech skills, she makes changes from time to time in an effort to make the experience better for you.
Just last week, she moved back to the free version of CommentLuv. Using this with the WordPress vanilla commenting system (in other words the default system that comes with WordPress), she felt like she was getting closer to what she wanted. That would be treating all readers fairly by allowing them a link back to the post of their choice.
All was good, but then along came CommentLuv Pro. Whoa, did that change things.
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