Say what? Yeh, I know it’s pretty damn cool aint it… I’m begging you to let me re-design your blog’s theme for free! Yes in deed, you heard me right… Free! Yeh, I know I’m going off the deep-end especially since I’m so busy these days, but heck… if you know of a better way to get some great publicity and jump start a new  business… I’m all eyes.

I’ll tweak it for free.

If you’ve got a blog, then you’ve got a theme. No matter where it came from or who built it, EVERY blog could use a nice tweak to make it stand out from the crowd and I’m willing to do it for  ya for free! I know that some of you have hacked copies of Photoshop, and possess a handful of hours of meddling with it’s capabilities… but let’s get real people, you need the whole package from someone who knows what their doing! I’m your man.

What will you get…

Like I tell all of my real world clients, this is my job and I build websites every day. That said, I’ll take a theme that you already own… or already use, and make it your own. I’ll use my talents to not only give you all something that you can be proud of, but also make your blog more profitable. With a background in design, development and marketing… you’ll have everything you need to become a force to reckon with.

While I’m open to hear your dreams and listen to your ideas… what I’m really interested in are folks who can tell me about there goals and let me work some magic to help you reach them. Every blogger has and objective… (except for me)… and as a designer it’s my job to try and make that happen. So if you;re open to the power of persuasion, and keen on having me dig around and twist things up a bit… this is one shameless self promotion you don’t want to miss.

What you won’t get…

I’m not a push over so be prepared! Just remember, I’m the guy doing the work, so while your ideas are important to me, they may not be the best for your blog… that said, I may not follow your direction to the T and you should be prepared to hear it. I won’t re-invent the wheel, so please don’t ask me too. I’m not going to be building you a whole new blog, or recreating your online purpose. I’ll be taking something “established” and hopefully make it “better”. If you sell widgets, but want to sell video widgets, that’s fine… it just means that you’ll have to hire me instead. I simply do not have the time to re-invent what your doing online, so those of you with those requirements need not apply.

It’s time to earn it!

I was trying to think of a good way to build publicity and have yet to figure it out. I could request a post on your blog, or some silly e-mail subscription contest like I’ve got on one of my other giveaways, but nothing really struck my fancy. What’s a guy to do?

I figured that since it’s you all that will get the theme tweaks, I’d like to know why you think it would be good for my business to redo your blog!

Okay so does everyone understand it? It’s really simple. You tell me, why on earth it would help my new business. Tell me things like, I’ve got a page rank 7 blog… I’ve got 79,000 daily visitors… I’ve got 350,000 subscribers… tell me you’ll where a Piss Biscuit T-Shirt… tell me that you’ll do a viral video… just tell me something that makes sense!

As a business man, I need to make sure that whenever I spend valuable time doing something there will be a purpose… and of course a gain. I guess you could say that I, like most, want to be gainfully employed… not just employed. So while I am not trying to collect cash from this awesome offer, I would like to see that my work and dedication to my craft will be put to good use.

Sealing the deal…

Okay so you all now know that the goal here is to promote my business, acquire some great testimonials, help out fellow bloggers, and read all about why it would help us both out if I spent my time working for you. So, in the spirit of things, I’m going to choose four (4)… yep, four of you all who not only make an impression on me, but also make a good impression for this blog and my new found service. That’s one tweak a week for a month! I must really be nuts.

Maybe a good idea would be to blog about it… ask your readers for their thoughts… ask for help from your readership, just as I ask for help from you all. Heck, even though the linkbacks will earn you a bunch of brownie points, I’d love to see your readers come to your aid too! If you blog about it, and people start stepping up, I’ll see that… I promise I read every one of my visitors blogs.

* Credits: Bryan Clark & The Affiliate Post for their help in pushing me to do this. I think it will be an excellent way to create another online business, so my thanks goes out to the both of you for your inspiration.

Oh, I almost forgot…

Stumbles and Technorati Favorites make me smile! I’ve never “really” understood what benefit stumbling has on a blog’s actual traffic, so more brownie points for stumbles and let’s see what it does! Thanks for the help!

This isn’t a how to, as much as it is an awareness article. Read it, study it, enjoy it, learn from it, but most importantly understand it’s true potential for influencing your blog’s value. Then take what I tell you and run with it!

“Designing by Thirds” Rule…

The rule states that a blog’s above-the-fold viewing area can be divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines. The four points formed by the intersections of these lines can be used to align the major, most important parts of your blog’s layout. Sounds simple right? Well it is in theory, but getting it just right might be tougher than you think!

A Quick How to? I know…!

Take a screen shot of your blog or in the case of a premium theme you’re interested in, use the available “demo”… Doing this NOW should save you some heartbreak and money later if the premium design you’re thinking about buying isn’t ideal for earning you more money. Remember that programs like Snag-It, have an option to scroll the entire page and capture the screen shot… we don’t want this. We want the area that’s “above the fold” of your page… it is after all, the most important part of ANY blog! Above the fold is the real estate found on your page when the site first loads in your browser. No scrolling people!

Next we create the grid. This grid has been explained as the “Divine Proportion” of design, but because I hate math, and most of you likely don’t give a hoot… I’m not going to get into the arithmetics behind it all. But, if you’re interested ,it involves some wonderfully fun equations like: 1.618033988749895 ≈ 1.618

I’ve gone ahead and overlayed a dark wash on my screen shot to show you visually EXACTLY what portions of my blog stand out.

Taking your visitors by the hand…

• Top Left Quadrant: My latest post. For obvious reasons it’s great to have it right there in someone’s face screaming “Read Me, I’m NEW”!
• Bottom Left Quadrant: Yesterday’s post. I love this aspect of the design. My previous post shows up in JUST the right spot. Usually, by the time a post end up here, it’s got quite a few comments which of course breeds more comments!
• Top Right Quadrant: My profile. There are way to many articles out there already about how important it is to put a face with the name. So just do it.
• Bottom Right Quadrant: My “Extras” slot. This is one of the most valuable pieces of real estate above the fold. Here you’ll always find something fun, or something new. It’s my way of communicating with you all in an instant without needing to write a three page post. Use it!

Get out of the same old rut!

With thousands of blogs popping up all over the internet everyday, we all know how hard it has been to stand out from the crowd. Get noticed. Become a name. A Resource. A place you stop in at everyday because you know that something useful is going to be there!

You’re dedicated right? You’re ready to blog your heart out on the ways of the web and all you want in return, is a little traffic… Okay and maybe some money right? I’m with ya here… but with all that work going into building relationships, and making friends, and earning… don’t you think that it’s time to step up the game and really strut your stuff? When your sitting around next time saying to yourself what can I do to make my blog better… think of this!

Of course and while what I’m showing you isn’t all that complicated, but it’s something that few bloggers ever think about. Does that this is useless? Hell no! I’d even venture to say it makes this simple concept even more valuable… simply because no one is using it!

Get out of the public pool, quit playing kickball with friends from the neighborhood, and change how people value your blog! Stand up and get out of the rut… Do something different for a change. Your blog will thank you for it.

Make “Designing by Thirds” a standard practice.

What’s the first thing you do when you set up a new blog? Install WordPress or equivalent, upload your favorite plugins, change the URL structure, and dig into your SEO All-in-One Pack. But what about when it comes to choosing your blog’s theme? Sure, you might dig around and find something you think is great, but is it really? Does it follow one of the oldest rules in the book for great design? Does it utilize one of the most successful strategies known to the marketing world (Since 1797) If your not sure, than adding this step to your blog setup process, is something you should start doing.

Can this make you money?

Yes, in fact it’s made my employer quite a large bit o-cash if ya know what I mean! I’m not kidding either! When properly demonstrated to clients, it’s been a deal closer every time. Not many web designers take the time and explain to their clients why they do certain things. I ALWAYS do. It locks them in thinking that going elsewhere, would only be getting them second best.

This system is perfect for turning low budget website client maybes… into millions of dollars of business over the years. Hey, when it works, it works! Regardless of your blogs purpose, the goal is the same… make more money… increase traffic… add subscribers and build a valued resource that people will follow. So, stop talking about it and get to it. Now you’re aware of how important great design can really be even when simply picking a theme!

This first article is a teaser. An introduction to a series of in depth articles teaching you how to use great design to build a better more profitable business. Don’t have the money for one? You’re blog isn’t profitable enough to make it worth doing? Yeh, I’ve heard them all before, but luckily for you, this is what I do for a living every day. I’ll show you how to get a great design without needing mega bucks. I’ll teach you how valuable a great blog design can be for your online ventures. You’ll never look at your blog the same, and when we’re all finished, neither will your visitors!

Great design is just doing good business.

Your blog should inspire and excite. Stir emotion and create a bond. Build trust and improve your relationships. Your blog is your twenty-four hour salseman who never sleeps, takes breaks, smokes, drinks or quits on you. It does what you say when you say it. It never ever complains about being over worked or in need of a raise. Your blog is in many cases your store front, your front-line for attracting new business. Your blog’s design is the most powerful tool you’ve got to leave a lasting, memorable impression, in the minds of your visitors.

So let me ask you… if you had to hire a staff of people who could accomplish the tasks, how much do you think it would cost you?

Great design will make you money!

Leaving your blog’s fate in the hands of a poor design is hopefully starting to sound like a really bad idea. As a designer, I’ve heard every excuse in the book for why a company doesn’t have the money budgeted for a great design and none of them cut it.

I know that most of you may be thinking that great design is to costly, or you’ve not budgeted for it, or your blog is simply not making enough money to cover the expense… but isn’t risk what a real venture all about? I know first hand how much a great design can cost, and sometimes, it’s intimidating.

I find myself more often than not, clinching my teeth as I layout the design syllabus for my client’s final approval… and I’m the fricken’ designer! Trust me, I know your pain!

From “Bill’s Bait Shop” to “major” international brands, I have NEVER EVER met with a client who didn’t complain about the price of getting great design! But even more frightening than daily complaints or cost reducing plea bargains… is the fact that not one customer ever considers the consequences of a poor design.

Let’s do a little math. We’re going to say that a great design should improve your bottom line by about 30% annulally. While this is a really high number for store front businesses, it’s actually pretty middle ground for online businesses. Using the above 30% margin, let’s assume the following.

Your blog is currently earning you $400.00 a month. If great design were to earn you the full additional 30% you could expect to see and increase of income around $120.00 a month. That’s $1,440.00 in one year from simply changing the way that your blog looks and feels. Nothing more! Not so bad, but it’s no record right?

Now what if you include a 30% increase in subscribers, daily readers, unique visitors, advertising inquiries, comments, trackbacks, and links? What if you and your visitors became more inspired to write good content because your great design lets them know your blog is worth the effort? See where I’m going with this? Great design can improve your blogs performance almost overnight in ways that you could never imagine!

Preparing for the series…

Now I hope that I’ve got you all worked up on the potential that great design has on your business model. I’ll be releasing each article in the series at random so you might want to subscribe to my feed and make sure you get this awesome set of “Authority Articles”. So what do you think… Are you ready for an in depth look at how designers have helped create the blogging empires of today? Are you ready to take notice and make the changes you’re blog needs to become memorable?

********** UPDATE **********

Adii has opened an awesome opportunity for us normal folks! Spawned by a comment I wrote to him last week, he’s graciously opened the doors of his Premium Theme Factory to questions and answers of the not so personal type. It’s exciting! Sort of like your favorite musician teaching you how to play an instrument. Not into selling themes? That’s okay too! Learn about the online business… not the online product!… enjoy it and let me know what you think! Check out Adii’s Q&A session!