Chris Garret of ChrisG.com set up a site called AuthorityBlogger last year. Now he’s launching his Authority Blogger strategy program [aff. link] for businesses and professionals, in pre-order mode. The prices will increase when the doors open, so if you’re serious about establishing yourself online, check it out. Chris is an Authority (with a capital ‘A’) on blogging and building an online presence.

By the way, he has yet another free ebook, this one about “authority alliances” and how it’s beneficial to work with others online. It’s only available to the end of Sep 2008, so get it fast. I just read it this morning, and it’s 14 pages packed with some very useful information about partnerships.

Addendum 1: Chris has just announced the pre-launch of the Authority Blogger course.

Addendum 2: What do you get in the Authority Blogger program? Here are some of the highlights:

1. Building your feed subscriber base.
2. A dozen Authority Modules in the form of ebooks, audio and video.
3. Subscription to a members-only club where you can discuss and share.
4. Expertise from specialists and guest authorities.
5. Three 30-minute one-on-one calls [Accelerator customers only!!]

There’s more than that of course; that’s just a sample of what Chris is offering.

Add GeekCast epi#1 to your page

]]> http://www.rajdash.com/free-promotion-by-twitter-e-book-from-geekpreneur/feed/ 0 http://www.rajdash.com/recent-writing-elsewhere/ http://www.rajdash.com/recent-writing-elsewhere/#comments Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:47:42 +0000 Raj Dash http://www.rajdash.com/recent-writing-elsewhere/ While I’m involved in various other projects, it’s difficult to find time to write here. A very kind reader, Peter, of my articles elsewhere in the blogosphere suggested I post links to my other writing here. So I’ll start off with a list and after this post individual snippets and links.

Currently I’m writing weekly at FreelanceSwitch and FreelanceFolder, and daily at Performancing, as well as building up a new film site (more on that later). The list below is reverse chronological and covers back to late January (after I’d stopped posting to this site).

1. FreelanceSwitch – How to Save: A Short Guide for Freelancers. This article covers why it’s so important for freelancers to save, and the types of saving to consider.
2. FreelanceFolder – Jump-Starting Freelancing Productivity: Working Smarter. Do you find yourself working long hours at home? Maybe you’re spending too much time on each project. Why not try working smarter by spending less time on something, and taking breaks or working on something else in between.
3. Performancing – How to Podcast Using SplashCast or YouTube. Add some still images to your audio podcast.
4. Performancing – A Beginner’s Podcasting Guide.
5. Performancing – Why I Love WordPress.
6. Performancing – 9 Podcasting Tips.
7. Performancing – Niche Monitoring: A Simple River of News Using Embedded Timelines.
8. Performancing – Better Web Information Presentation: 10 Timeline Tools.
9. Performancing – WordPress Hacks: Moving a Static HTML Site to WordPress.
10. Performancing – Why I Hate WordPress 2.5.
11. Performancing – WordPress Hacks: Using Custom Fields to Auto-Embed YouTube Videos.
12. Performancing – What’s Wrong With the Blogosphere?
13. Performancing – Can Other Bloggers Get Book Deals?
14. Performancing – Research Tools: From River of News to Techmeme Clone – Part 3.
15. Performancing – Jazz Up Your Site: 28 Ways to Use WordPress Custom Fields.
16. Performancing – WordPress Hacks: Techmeme River of News Clone – Part 2.
17. Performancing – WordPress Hacks: Build a Techmeme River of News Clone – Part 1.
18. Performancing – WordPress Hacks: Upgrading Versions.
19. Performancing – WordPress Hacks: Build a Photo or Movie Poster Gallery.
20. Performancing – Problogging Tips: The Value and Structure of Comprehensive Content.
21. Performancing – WordPress Hacks: Build a Web Directory.
22. Performancing – Practical Blogging Tips: Finding Information For Resource Articles.
23. Performancing – WordPress Hacks: Adding TinyMCE Editor to the Prologue Theme. —- buggy
24. Performancing – 11 Skills That a Freelance Blogger Should Have.
25. Performancing – Practical Blogging Tips: Build Comprehensive Content.
26. Performancing – Problogging Tips: Get Smart, Leverage Your Research.
27. Performancing – Problogging Tips: Follow a Budget.
28. Performancing – Should You Blog For Yourself or Freelance?
29. Performancing – 48 Unique Ways to Use WordPress.
30. Performancing – A Short Guide to Writing 4+ Large Resource Articles Each Month.
31. Performancing – Monitoring Multiple Niches With a Personal Dashboard: Joining a Niche Conversation, Pt 7.
32. Performancing – Advanced Feed Mashup: Yahoo Pipes By Example, Pt 2.
33. Performancing – Monitoring Multiple Niches With a Personal Dashboard: Joining a Niche Conversation, Pt 6.
34. Performancing – 8 Tips For Building Multiple Niches: Joining a Niche Conversation, Pt 5.
35. Performancing – Yahoo Pipes By Example, Part 1: Mashing Up Multiple Feeds.
36. Performancing – Yahoo Pipes By Example: Basic Functionality.
37. Performancing – 5 More Tips on Increasing Blogging Productivity.
38. Performancing – Why Should Bloggers Use Yahoo Pipes?
39. Performancing – Joining a Niche Conversation, Part 4: Making Your Blog Stand Out.
40. Performancing – Joining a Niche Conversation, Part 3: Don’t Be Afraid to Edit Archived Blog Posts.
41. Performancing – New Opportunity For Tech-Savvy Bloggers: Remote Digital Coaching.
42. Performancing – Joining a Niche Conversation, Part 2: Idea Generating for Bloggers.
43. Performancing – Joining a Niche Conversation, Part 1: Determining the Top Blogs in Your Niche.

Crystal comes with a stylish black background and a gorgeous patterned blue-grey navbar and blue links. It consists of two columns, header, and footer. The content column is wide enough for a standard banner ad, and the nav column is approximately 250 pixels wide – enough for a variety of ad widths. Blockquotes are crisp white with a vertical bar at left.

Check out the Crystal theme demo.

The ten resource categories include:

1. Adult education guides.
2. Audio and video.
3. Blogs.
4. Career.
5. Disabilities.
6. Distance learning.
7. Finances.
8. Resources.
9. School skills.
10. Travel.

The resources selected are aimed at adult learners, including those who did not complete significant schooling.

1. Mega tools.
2. Media/ Audio.
3. Media/ Video.
4. Images.
5. Documents/ PDF.
6. Documents/ Word Processing.
7. Documents/ Excel.
8. Documents/ Powerpoint.
9. Documents/ Drafting.
10. Documents/ Miscellaneous.
11. International Standards/ Measurements.
12. International Standards/ Currency.
13. International Standards/ Clothing sizes.
14. Web Development.
15. Mobile Tools.

I can’t claim to have used a lot of these, but I’d say I’ve heard of a sizable portion of them and used some. I’m not sure if they are all free, but I do know that several are, or have free trials.

So if you’re looking for a tool for converting files or measurements, you’re likely to find something in the Codswallop list.

If you want a bit more insight into Ahmed and his work, go check out his interview on Xfep (eXtra for every publisher) by David Peralty. David is running a series of interviews of expert bloggers, which will be worth checking out because they’ll lead you to the blogs of people who have achieved some level of success.

Brian Gardner: Revolultion Theme

Brian Gardner’s done it again: come out with a hot WordPress theme, Revolution. This is one of the crispest themes I’ve seen. Now while Brian gives away many free themes, this is not one of them, and I don’t blame him. This is without a doubt one of his best themes. It has me salivating about the possibilities.

There are actually three different purchase packages for the Revolution Theme, depending on your needs:

1. [$19.95] Blogger – doesn’t come with the sexy newspaper style home page template. Can be used multiple times.
2. [$59.95] Personal – comes with everything, and can be used multiple times.
3. [$249.95] Developer – allows you to build on it to create new themes for clients. Requires a negotiable $50 per re-release fee.

Personally, I think that for what you’re getting, this is a small price. There are also a ton of tutorial pages explaining how to use the full theme’s features.

Performancing

Brian actually produced a lot of the earlier Perofrmancing themes. Now, there are a few other designers, and Performancing has been releasing approximately one new free WordPress theme each month.

Antbag

I just came across Antbag’s WordPress themes.  At present, there are six free themes in a variety of colors. Some are three column (left-right, right-right) and some two. Check them out.

Logo Design Works

Logo Design Works, one of my clients who designed my new logo (to appear soon), also does WordPress themes. In fact, we’re planning a series of free themes. Stay tuned. In the meantime, check out their free blog logo campaign. Your blog might qualify for the September batch of 10 free blog logos.

1. Handling blog comments.
   Tim Ferriss, author of the 4-Hour Work Week, offers 7 commandments of blogosphere self-defense. I.e., very practical advice for how to handle negative comments.

2. Copyriting tips: be odd.
   Here’s a quick tip: odd numbers seem to be more effective in marketing. My own experience with linkbaiting for hire shows that odd numbers in titles definitely seem to grab greater attention.

3. Google personalized maps.
   Using Google Maps on your website is becoming easier, and you can embed rich media into each point of interest. Check out this brief maps video tutorial, as well as some sample customized maps.

4. Hot or not: Playboy’s social network.
   Everyone seems to be creating their own social network these days, and even Mr. Suave, Hugh Hefner wants in. Hence, the new Playboy U, a new social network from  the bunny factory. But only students with an email address that ends in .edu can get in. Yo Hef. Add me? I’d only want to join for the… uh… articles.

5. Smoochr – social media voting.
   Speaking of social media, Smoochr started off as a sort of Digg for entertainment niche blogs, then expanded from there. Ryan Caldwell – editor of Performancing and owner of College Startup and many other blogs – picked it up, and I’m now also a partner. Ryan has expanded the categories, so do check it out and build up your social media profile there now. It’s easier now. But keep in mind that it’s somewhere between alpha and beta, so he’s still working out the kinks.