Email #3:


Subject: Plugins and Widgets and Themes... Oh My!

Body:

Too much good stuff today, my friend.

Yesterday, we discussed the difference between free blogging platforms and your own, self-hosted blog on your own domain. If you remember, I basically spat all over the idea of going the free route. Way too risky... and unprofessional.

I also tried to drive home the fact that having your own blog-style website is cheaper and easier than ever. An inexpensive hosting account is really all you need... you can actually register your domain through your hosting company...

One-stop shopping, baby!

I also asked that you learn how to install Wordpress on your site. There are a couple different ways to do this. I actually just use the Fantastico DeLuxe app on my hosting account's cPanel. You can learn how to do this by watching free YouTube videos. It's a common thing, so there's tons of info on how to do it.

“Alright, So Now What?”

Cool, so once you've got your Wordpress blog installed on your site, you've got to do some basic configurations.

You'll first want to go into “Permalinks” and tick the “Post Name” box. This is good for SEO (search engine optimization) purposes, as well as for cleaner, more simplified linking.

You'll also want to delete the current post and pages.

We'll talk more about the difference between the two, as well as the types of pages you'll need to set up, in tomorrow's email.

But for now, just get rid of all posts and pages.

Now, you're gonna want to install some new plugins, configure your widgets, and select a nice new theme. This is pretty easy to do. We'll briefly cover each one of these items in turn...

Plugins:

You're definitely welcome to install any plugins that you see fit. Personally, I've got a few go-to options that I install on all my blogs. These are...

*Antivirus
*WP Firewall
*All-In-One SEO Pack
*Fast Secure Contact Form
*Google Analyticator
*Google XML Sitemaps

Themes:

You can choose between free and paid themes. My suggestion is simply to explore themes right from within your Wordpress dashboard. There are thousands to choose from. Just have fun with this. You're bound to find something that fits your niche, as well as the look n' feel you're going for.

Widgets:

Generally, I like to keep my blogs clean and simple. I like a right sidebar (or left and right... three column) with a search box up top, an opt-in form (use the html widget for this), and a categories widget under that. You can also use the html widget to add banners, images, and anything else of general interest.

Educate Yourself On the Details...

As you can imagine, sharing every single nuance and step you'll need to take in order to craft the perfect blog for your business is just plain impossible to do in a single email. I'm giving you the jist here, but that's about the best I can do.

As such, I highly recommend that you pick up some great blogging training. Start small and cheap. Something like Product Name will be perfect for getting this going as quickly as possible, without breaking the bank whatsoever.

In tomorrow's email, I'm going to bring you up to speed on the types of pages you'll need to have on your blog, especially if you plan to make money with it.

Now I'm no lawyer and I'm not attempting to give you legal advice here... but I do use some of these pages to set my own mind at ease when it comes to the FTA and other legal entities. So you really don't want to miss tomorrow's email.

I promise, it won't just be boring legal stuff either.

We'll have some fun... no question!

I look forward to seeing you then.

(Your Name)

P.S. Wanna dive right in and start blogging tonight? Just go to http://product-url and get this stuff rockin' and rollin' right now!