ActiveRain - The Official ActiveBlog

Have you seen the newest theme released today for your Outside Blog?  It is called A Day at the Beach.  This exciting new theme features a pictures of a beach & waves along the side.  It also allows for a Header image for your blog.  Below is a screenshot of what it looks like, or you can always visit my outside blog to view it in real time.

Remember, changing your theme is a simple deal. All you have to do is head over to your outside blog after clicking on the link from the left hand side of your 'my home' page. Once on your outside blog, click the 'theme' link up at the top of the page and select the theme you want to use.

If you don't have a custom ActiveBlog on your own domain yet, Brad Andersohn takes you through the step by step of how to get it set up. If you have recently signed up for the Rainmaker upgrade, your ActiveBlog is included in your upgrade so make sure to get it set up.

For information on how to sign up for your own Outside Blog, click on the picture below.

To see other new themes visit:

New Theme Thursday - New Theme for your ActiveBlog! Our Business Casual Theme

New Theme Thursday - New Theme for your ActiveBlog! Our Easy Going Theme

21 Themes to Customize your Outside Blog

It is time again for a new ActiveBlog Theme!  It is titled Blue Days and with this addition, there are now 21 themes available to customize your blog.  So take a moment to check out the new theme. If you want to see how this theme looks & feels, visit my outside blog, http://activejeremy.com.  There you can see how the links work, your picture loads & also all those fun Widgets! Below is a screenshot.  Click on the picture to see the live version.

The next theme that we will be rolling out is going to be HUGE! So make sure you check back here regularly to not miss it!

Remember, changing your theme is a simple deal. All you have to do is head over to your outside blog after clicking on the link from the left hand side of your 'my home' page. Once on your outside blog, click the 'theme' link up at the top of the page and select the theme you want to use.

If you don't have a custom ActiveBlog on your own domain yet, Brad Andersohn takes you through the step by step of how to get it set up. If you have recently signed up for the Rainmaker upgrade, your ActiveBlog is included in your upgrade so make sure to get it set up.

For information on how to sign up for your own Outside Blog, click on the picture below.

To see other new themes visit:

New Theme Thursday - New Theme for your ActiveBlog! Our Business Casual Theme

New Theme Thursday - New Theme for your ActiveBlog! Our Easy Going Theme

Inspired in part by Brad Andersohn and Debbie Malones post, I want to draw attention to a potential marketing and monetization strategy for Individual or Team Blogs that most anyone can implement.  

Brad discussed one of 5 potential ways to maximize your Team Blog: recruit 'Your Affiliates Who Contribute to Your Business and Success'.  Debbie posted that how her hyper-local content about Lynchburg, VA was sending business to some other local businesses that she mentioned in her blog. 

Often times, the obvious isn't such, so I'd like to point out an easy way to monetize and otherwise add value to your AR Individual and/or Team Blog:  Recruit local businesses to contribute and/or advertise on your blog.

Think about it...you have The Juice, Google Juice, which is an online marketers Holy Grail.  Hyper-local blogs are quickly replacing Newspapers as the go to source for local news, events and area service providers.  Write a review about a local restaurant or 3rd party service provider, show them how they show up in the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) and offer up an advertisement placement in your sidebar for $25, $50, $100 (?) a month. As your traffic increases so does the value of your online real estate. 

With the pending release of 'Widgets' to our outside blogging platform, specifically the ability embed images in the sidebar, there is a great opportunity to sell that space to local advertisers, whether they be a service provider like a good plumber or simply a great restaurant that you want to share with others. 

Couple of points...

Be selective.  Don't indescriminantly slap up 30 advertisers; be thoughtful with who gets a spot on your site, they reflect on you.  Preferably only allow businesses or people with whom you've had a positive experience with to participate. I'd personally limit the advertising space to 3-4 to begin with. 

Be creative.  People ignore vanilla or ugly ads.  The ad should have a succinct call to action, offer a clear tangible benefit and look good.

Stay focused.  The more you write about your local areas the more likely you are to rank for seach terms for that area.  Concentrate your content and tag your posts appropriately.

This can be a great way to pay for the cost of the blog and subsidize your income, all for doing what you're already doing.  Start generating a Social Media ROI!