Newsletter archive website, we designed the two-column layout to offer both advertising for sale (directly from the site publisher) and to run Google ads. Site is updated weekly and makes use of several excellent plugins and decorative drop cap functionality.

The site is popular with readers and advertisers alike. Though in many ways the site is a traditional WordPress blog, comments are nearly always closed at this site. That serves two purposes for the publisher–the first is that it routes all comments through email which is easier (for some people) to manage. The second purpose is that it ensures that when comments *are* opened, there are typically more of them which really facilitates conversation among readers. When comments are always open, business blogs sometimes find that community-building impact diluted over the entire blog instead of concentrated on certain posts.

Lisa Evans had purchased a WordPress theme (from another company) but she wasn’t quite happy with it and wanted some customizations.

She contacted us to make the look of the template her own. One thing she knew was that she wanted to include a photo of herself in the header, so we tried out several different photos she sent us until she decided on the one she liked best. We also created an entire custom header for her, selecting a font that captured the essence of her Yummylicious brand. Then, we changed the color scheme of the template for her, and changed the navigation to better suit her needs.

Finally, we installed our carefully selected suite of WordPress plugins to help her manage the site, and got her started in using WordPress.

Please note, due to a new book title, Lisa is no longer using the Yummylicious name.

The Brand Dame is Lyn Chamberlin’s branding blog built in WordPress. She connects with readers on a regular basis delivering news related to personal and professional branding.

Lyn wanted an unique illustrated header, so we worked with the illustrator of her choice to have something she absolutely loved created. She also wanted to make good use of social networking and bookmarking along with Twitter, and Flickr, all of which found a place on her website through WordPress plugins.

The site isn’t based on a pre-existing WordPress template so Lyn can be assured that her blog and header are both one-of-a-kind. Visit Lyn’s blog at The Brand Dame.

Read what Lyn had to say about working with us. See our work on Lyn’s company site: skyePR.com.

One column theme designed in WordPress. Made extensive use of plugins to protect against spam and to facilitate commenting and social bookmarking. Site made several thousand dollars in sales in the 30 days that it was active (with about 100 readers).

The site was very popular with readers and often had 10+ comments per post.

Lessons learned from project include: 50/50 advertising content mix will seem like too much to some readers, but won’t bother others. Daily updates isn’t too frequent as long as you make good use of stories. Having multiple products to sell saves posts from being overly repetitive. Live products (teleclasses, seminars, etc) are an easier sell than pre-existing products (books, reports, class audio recordings).

Site was designed for a 30-day project and is no longer active.

Dianna Huff, a marketing communications copywriter, wanted to start a blog to build her reputation online and in the social networking arena. Since we’d designed her HTML email newsletter, she also asked us to create her blog. Using WordPress, we designed a blog template that both built her brand identity and also united her website and email newsletter designs.

We designed Dianna’s blog in 2006, and gave it a face lift in November of 2008 to reflect Dianna’s new website.

Here’s what Dianna had to say about working with us

I trust Jessica absolutely to give me top-notch marketing and technical advice — which I constantly put to good use. Plus, she’s fun and great a person to work with.

Read the rest of Dianna’s testimonial.