I will be relocating, rebranding, and revamping this blog.

This site will soon go by the name of the CasJam Design Blog (location TBA).  It will be less of a personal blog, and more of a professional industry blog about the business of design (and other related topics).  Here are a few thoughts on why I’m making this switch:

The  CasJam Design Blog will a centralized point of investment in my business.

I’ve come to realize that building an audience and community is the most valuable long-term asset for any online business.  The CasJam Design Blog is where I plan to focus the majority of my efforts and resources moving forward.

Consolidate and enhance the CasJam brand.

Up until now I feel my efforts have been spread too thin in too many directions.  Between my personal blog here at briancasel.com, my portfolio site at casjam.com, my premium WordPress themes business (and blog) at ThemeJam.com, my special product release at WPBids.com, and of course my @CasJam Twitter account, it’s time to tie everything together with one core brand.

The CasJam Design Blog will become the primary hub for all of my other business ventures, the promotional hub if you will.  Of course, it will be much more than simply a promotional tool, but a high-quality publication of substance (much moreso than my often non-coherant ramblings here on briancasel.com).  Think in-depth articles, interviews, tutorials, resources, tools, etc.

Why get rid of the personal blog?

I’m not really getting rid of it since I plan to migrate the archives over to the new blog.  However, the new blog will certainly no longer be my personal blog – especially since I plan to invite and hire guest contributors to mix it up.

I considered simply starting the new blog and keeping the personal one going.  But I soon realized that simply won’t be possible.  Not enough hours in the day to devote myself to both.  So briancasel.com will simply become the new CasJam Design Blog.

When?

Hopefully by the end of this month you will see the automatic 301 redirect in place.  If you’re a subscriber to the RSS feed, I believe your feed should be automatically transferred over.

So stay tuned, and please forgive the slow-down in posts this month as I prepare for what will be a much better version 2 of this blog

First, let me explain exactly what I mean by “Personal blogging”.  I’m talking about your personal (yet public) site where you share your ideas, experiences, lessons learned, opinions, etc.  Most likely this site is branded with your own name (as I do here on briancasel.com) or perhaps you’ve created a brand name to represent you.  It serves as your behind the scenes version of what you do.

Think of your portfolio, your business storefront, your guest articles, interviews, lectures, books and other exposure as your “center stage” content.  The stuff you put out in front of the world.  Think of your personal blog as your “back stage” content, available to those who actively seek more from you.  I blogged about digging into the personal blogs of others.  Today’s post is about is the importance of keeping a personal blog for yourself.

140 Characters is Not Enough

Many folks rely solely on Twitter as their only channel for personal output.  Some, including myself, even keep two twitter accounts.  One to represent their business and another as their personal account.  While Twitter is great for sharing bits and links throughout the day and making connections, I think it’s best used in conjunction with a full-length blog.

Take the 10% of your tweets that you feel most passionately about and expand those ideas into full blog posts.  Flesh out those ideas – even if you don’t have a large audience.  The few who do read your blog are probably the most valuable followers you can ask for, ones who are truly interested in what you have to say and likely willing to share and spread your ideas.

A Solid Foundation For Your Personal Brand

Your personal blog should be your most authentic representation of who you are.  After visitors have passed through your storefront (your business website), seen your tweets, or read your guest posts, they arrive at your personal blog seeking a more complete picture of who you and your company are.  If you’ve been blogging regularly for the past few months or years with authentic, insightful, and relevant content, then you can bet that person will come away with a positive view of you, your company, and your future endeavors.

Again, those who do find your personal blog are likely the most engaged members of your audience.  You want to give them what they want, and that’s more information to consume, draw opinions from, share and re-blog.

Where? When? How?

Where should you publish and promote your personal blog?  It’s really up to you.  The approach I’ve chosen is to fully separate my business sites (casjam.com, themejam.com) from my personal blog (briancasel.com).  I gear my content here towards other freelancers and web workers, sharing un-edited ideas, and providing a behind-the-scenes look at how I do business.  I’ve taken a similar (but on a much smaller scale) approach as Gary Vaynerchuck (business: winelibrary.tv / personal: garyvaynerchuk.com) and Adii Pienaar (business: woothemes.com / personal: adiirockstar.com).

Others take the fully integrated approach, where their personal blog doubles as their business or portfolio site.  This can work, especially if you’re business is primarily in serving other freelancers in your industry.

How often to blog?  The SEO experts will preach that you must set a consistent schedule, at least once or twice weekly.  While I do think it’s important not to leave your blog idle for too long, I think your schedule should largely depend on when you feel passionate enough about a particular topic to whip up a solid post with substance.  A quick way to get me to unsubscribe or un-follow you is to post fluff.

How to do it?  Tumblr is probably the easiest way to get started with your own blog.  Of course WordPress would be the next easiest way to go.  Both of these platforms give you loads of awesome themes to choose from and endless ways to customize it to your liking.

Over to you

What is your approach to personal blogging and how does that differ from your other avenues of exposure?  Do share…

1. WordPress Theme Design Process
2. WordPress Theme Development Process
3. Releasing the WordPress theme on ThemeJam.com (read on…)

So the theme has been fully tested (and tested, and tested again) and is now deemed ready for release into the wild.  Here is my process for prepping, releasing, and promoting a commercial WordPress theme on ThemeJam.

Prepare the Theme Demo

The functional demo should already be up and running at this point, because I created it during development.  Of course, there weren’t any links pointing to it yet, so it hasn’t actually been set “live” yet.

But I haven’t set up the iframed demo for this theme yet.  What I’m referring to is setting up the theme switcher navigation bar across the top of all the demos on ThemeJam.  This allows easy switching between themes, switching between stylesheets for each theme, and links to purchase.

Setting up the iframe is pretty simple.  It’s just a matter of duplicating a folder, changing some values and path names, and we’re all set.  Though we’re still not live at this point…

Write Theme Documentation

This is a super-important step.  As I mentioned in my reflections on ThemeJam two months in, I believe that thorough documentation is the best method of pre-emptive customer support (if you will).  I try and go above and beyond and provide as much detail as possible in my instructions and explanations.

Currently, the theme documentation is created as a PDF document.  I plan to overhaul and create a web-based version of theme docs, hopefully in the coming months.

I should also mention that I include quite detailed instructions and notes throughout the theme options panel built into the theme.  Every option has it’s own sentence or two describing what it does.

Prepare the Download Package, Upload to E-Junkie

As you may know, all ThemeJam themes come packaged with the layered Photoshop design files (PSDs).  We don’t have separate “developer” packages as most theme companies do.  Every package would be considered the “developer” package.  Before zipping the theme, I go through all the PSDs and tidy up the layers and groups.

Once the zip package is all set, I create the product in E-Junkie, which is the service I use for issuing downloads and handling the checkout process.  I set it up so that affiliates can easily link directly to the product and earn money promoting ThemeJam products.

Push live on ThemeJam.com

This step involves several things:

• Cutting screenshots and thumbnail images for the home page, gallery page, and detail page.
• Writing copy to describe the theme on the detail page.
• Input the various pieces of info (copy, price, demo link, purchase link, callouts, etc.) in WordPress (I set this up using quite a few custom write panels).
• Add the theme image and link on the ThemeJam home page carousel.

Notes on Promotion

Here are a few things I do to build awareness of the new theme, both before and after pushing it live:

• Release teaser images showing screenshots of an upcoming design.  I do this while I’m in the design phase to build awareness of what’s coming up next, and ask for feedback.  If I were a dribbble member, I’d do this much more often.  Anyone have an invite for me?
• Blog about it. I always post about it on the themejam blog, and I plan to blog in a lot more detail here on briancasel.com for upcoming themes.
• Videos. I’ve been using screenr to create quick screencast videos showing how the back-end functionality works.

And that concludes my series on how I go about creating and releasing a commercial WordPress theme.  Please share any feedback and/or questions in the comments below and if you haven’t already, check out the current selection of WordPress themes at ThemeJam.com.

I’m talking about keeping tabs, but digging deep, on other freelancers, entrepreneurs, designers, developers… your peers in your industry.  And not only the “rockstars”, but your true peers.  The ones who seem to be on the same level as you in terms of career goals, reputation, etc.

This is an integral part of what I do

Every few weeks, I try and take the time to seek out a freelance web designer I haven’t heard about before.  Sometimes I come across their name by accident via twitter or elsewhere.  Sometimes I find them while browsing for design inspiration (the majority of sites featured in gallery sites are designer’s blogs).  Sometimes I actively seek them out.  The FreelanceSwitch freelancer directory is an awesome resource for this.  Sortfolio aint bad either.

Once I find someone interesting, with a similar background as me, I start reading their recent blog posts.  Then I follow them on Twitter and scroll down through their tweets a bit.  Then I come back to their blog and dig through the archives, scanning and reading articles like if I keep doing it I’m going to win something (when in reality, I’m just burning away what little time I have left in my work day!).  I’m trying to learn their story, what they’ve done to get to this point, and where they’re going.

Sound creepy yet?

I think one of the key factors that drives me forward as a business owner and entrepreneur is my obsessive hunger for information.  I listen to podcasts while I work and watch video interviews on a daily basis.  I read Inc magazine cover to cover.  I bought a kindle so that I can read everywhere I go – that is when I’m done reading my RSS feeds on my iPhone.

Just as it’s important to stay on top of trends and happenings in the industry as a whole, it’s also important to see what others in the trenches are up to.  This is where I get my real inspiration and cultivate ideas for how I can move my business forward.  Seeing what others are doing and have done up to this point is one of the best ways to stay on your toes, keep the inspiration alive, and keep going.

Learn to love archives pages

Archives pages are one of the most important, yet undervalued pages in a blog.  They tend to be one of the last things we think about when designing a WordPress theme or reading a blog.  But there is so much to learn just by browsing through an archive page of a blog that’s been around for some time.

You can compare and contrast how their stories differ from the past to the present.  You can see how their writing style has developed.  You get an idea of the major events that happened in their career up to this point.  You can find the lessons they learned and shared based on those events.  And most importantly you can relate their past and present to your own path and draw inspiration for how you’re going to move forward.

Love your work.  Love your business.  Obsess over it.  But don’t forget to remain equally passionate about watching and learning from others.

The frustrating thing about guest blogging is that there is always a period of being left in the dark.  The editor might take a long time to respond to your submission.  Even after you’re told that your article has been accepted, you’re still left wondering if and when it will actually be published.

Needless to say, this can be very frustrating.  You took valuable time away from your work, your business, and your own blog, to produce top quality content for someone else’s blog.  Since guest articles are to be published on an exclusive basis, you can’t simply submit and publish your article elsewhere or on your own blog.  You just need to sit tight, wait and keep your eye on your RSS feeds to see when your article hits the web.

This is not right.

Large blogs need to get their act together in regards to managing guest authors. Guest authors are giving up their time and expertise to contribute to large blogs.  They deserve to be treated with respect.  At the very least, guest authors should be kept informed.

I don’t accept the excuse “Oh we’re so big and so popular that we can’t handle the hundreds of requests we receive each day”.  These big blogs are big businesses.  There is no excuse for a lack of organization.  Can’t handle the workload?  Hire additional editors.

A few rules.

Wouldn’t it be great if there were some kind of code of conduct that every blog should abide by when it comes to managing guest authors?  Something to take the mystery out of the whole process.  Here’s what I propose:

1. State your guest blogging terms clearly on your website. That means, specify an approximate response time for new submissions.  If you pay for content, state how much.  If you don’t, then state that.  Tell writers how long of an author bio they’re allowed to attach and how many links can be included.
2. If you do accept a guest article, give the author advanced notice as to when it will be published. A simple, “we expect to publish it later next week” is fine (if it’s accurate).  Are you currently on a 3 month backlog?  Fine, but just let the author know.
3. If you’re running a blog network (several sites), be clear about which blog you’re accepting the article for. It’s unfair to lead a guest writer on.  In the past, I’ve been led to believe that my article would go up on a network’s main blog (200,000+ subscribers), only to find out later it would publish on a smaller sister blog (45,000 subscribers).

What do you think?

Do you share in the same frustrations?

I’m talking about instant criticism. There seems to be a growing trend that when something brand new hits the scene, the masses instantly criticize it and reject it. This criticism resonates between Twitter and the blogosphere at an extremely rapid pace. It happens so fast that it makes me question it’s legitamacy. What are these critiques based on? Actual user experience or just an amplification of someone else’s opinion?

Take the example of Google Buzz.

It’s a brand spanking new thing from Google. It kind of came along without much prior notice (that I’m aware of). On Day 1, the widespread rejection of Google Buzz was pretty overwhelming. Everyone was like, “What is Google Buzz? I didn’t ask for this, so I don’t like it.”  Really?  In less than a few hours you already made up your mind about Google Buzz?  Sure, there were some very real privacy concerns (and it’s a good thing those were made known by the masses), but is it really that bad?  It might actually be a cool new way to expand your use of Gmail and share links and pics with your contacts.  If it’s not for you, it’s not for you.  But why not give it whirl for a week or two before passing (and publishing) judgement?  See how it might fit into your social network.  How do you and your friends use it?  Wait to see the unforeseen positive or negative effects.

How about the Apple iPad…

Now this one was extremely hyped before it was actually revealed.  While some reactions seemed positive, the vast majority were clearly negative.  The iPad apparently did not deliver what the masses hoped that it would.

Really?  The fact that it’s missing a web cam (which may or may not be true) makes this thing a flop?  The fact that it’s just like an iPhone makes it useless?  Take a step back and see what this thing really is.  It’s a mobile device for consuming online content.  And based on what we’ve seen, it seems to do that pretty well, and likely a lot better than the clunky Windows netbooks currently on the market.  I mean, nobody has even held one yet, but everyone’s passing judgement.  Wait until the thing ships and you buy it (because I know all you Apple Fan boys, including myself, probably will), then pass judgement.  Only then are you able to publish a truly informed blog post or tweet.

What do I think of the iPad?  Looks pretty cool, but I don’t know much without holding it.  I do think the $499 starting price tag is a pleasant surprise.

We shall see…

In the style of Bill Maher, I’d like to lay down some new rules.  Only these aren’t for politics or pop culture.  These are new rules for your blog.

NEW RULE: Forget everything you learned about SEO.

It’s good to be educated about SEO best practices, but don’t let these tactics run your blog. I say the best SEO comes through natural, passionate writing, which in turn attracts readers, re-tweets, and quality incoming links.

NEW RULE:  Don’t post for the sake of keeping a steady post frequency.

Yes, it’s good SEO practice. But it results in less quality, more quantity, which doesn’t satisfy audiences who are hungry for substance every time.

NEW RULE: Don’t intentionally keyword stuff your posts.

Readers will notice, and it makes for an awkward reading experience. You’re better off letting those keywords work for themselves through producing quality, thought-provoking content.

NEW RULE: Don’t regurgitate topics you find in your RSS / Twitter feed.

If it’s been said, don’t say it again. Post a quote (with a link), then write your reaction or expansion of that topic.

NEW RULE:  Forget about earning serious money from blogging alone.

Of course, there are many world famous blogs who do. Guess what:  Yours won’t. A much more realistic (and lucrative) goal for your blog is to let it support your business.  If you’re selling products or services, let your blog be your voice to prove credibility and display your natural passion for your business/subject matter.

Over to you…

Would you add or change any of these rules?

Well, I’ve got one for myself…

Weekly social media sessions

Here’s what I mean:  Simply dedicate one entire morning or afternoon per week (4-5 hours) to engaging in social media and nothing else.

During these social media sessions, I will do any of the following:

• Write blog posts for my sites
• Write and submit guest articles for other sites
• Read and comment on blogs
• Tweet it up
• Write and respond to forum threads
• Engage on facebook

I will not:

• Design or code websites
• Take client phone calls or meetings
• Respond to client emails
• Do any project related work (client or personal)
• Hunt for new business leads

OK, so what’s the point?

Most people engage in social media when the mood strikes.  Maybe that’s once or twice per week, maybe it’s several times throughout each day.  I probably fall into the latter, but often lack consistency.  Some days I’ll engage in 20 different ways throughout the day, other days I go “dark” and don’t engage at all.

This… experiment, if you will, is to see what, if any impact a weekly dedicated social media session might have.  What type of impact am I looking for?

More quality traffic to my three sites/businesses.  That is, folks who have gotten to know me on the web, follow my updates and share interest in the things I put out there.  I’m not looking for spiking traffic numbers, but I am looking for more interaction in the form of comments, tweets, RTs, and eventually sales and new clients.

A boost in my own personal brand, behind my business brands that I’m working to build.  As I’m preparing to launch ThemeJam, I want to avoid creating a faceless brand without some type of personality.  And I’m not going to contrive a brand persona that’s not genuine.  So my own social media presence will be the driving force behind that aspect of promoting the ThemeJam brand.

I’ll become more informed about this chaotic web industry we’re in.  I already have my finger on the pulse through my jam-packed Google Reader and Twitter feeds, but this will help me dig deeper.  Especially through engaging in the forums, which is often where more real ideas are shared and lack the self-censorship that often comes with blog posts (mine included).

And finally, the X factor.  Something I’m not taking into account or anticipating as a result of dedicated social media engagement.  This might prove to be the most interesting impact of this project.

Don’t worry…

(Not that you would, I just want to say…) I won’t be slacking on any project work by keeping it off my plate during these sessions.  Customer service remains a top priority for me, and that will be attended to during other parts of the day / week.

This is simply a way to create some structure, boundries, and guidelines for this project.

Another guideline might be that I should conduct these sessions away from my home computer.  I’m currently sitting in a Starbucks typing away on my netbook.  It’s the perfect combination of caffeine, and only enough computing power for web surfing and typing.  This could become the routine…

So there you have it.  My official calendar-based goal for 2010.  Let’s see how it pans out.

Launch my first product-based business

I’ve been hard at work preparing for the launch of ThemeJam, my first product-based business.  It’s something I’m extremely excited about and anxious to get off the ground in early 2010.  Aside from the enormous amount of (rewarding) work involved in designing and building WordPress themes, running a new startup selling digital products will be a huge learning experience for me.

I’ll be building and marketing a new brand from the ground up, which will likely involve quite a bit of experimentation and learning on the job.  And while I’ve developed E-Commerce sites for clients, this will be the first time I’m personally involved in tracking conversions, building a customer-base, and providing customer support (for products).  I’m very much looking forward to tackling these challenges.

Seek higher quality clients

On the CasJam Media front (my client business), I’d like to continue to grow my network of client referrals.  However, the overarching goal for 2010 is seek a higher quality client than in the past.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been lucky to work with some fantastic clients over the course of my young freelance career.  But unfortunately I’ve had some who I regret taking on (which was the focus of my recent post, turning down client work).  In 2010, I’m not only seeking clients with bigger budgets, but those who truly understand the process and appreciate the benefits of good design.

How to do this?  It starts with continuously delivering great work.  Nothing is a better sales tool for a web designer than an outstanding portfolio.  Beyond that, there are few things I can do to step up my game:

• Attend more conferences, meetups, and increase my offline professional networking.
• Write more guest articles on larger blogs, establishing myself as an expert (I have a few scheduled to publish soon).
• Market my services to businesses that are already doing well, but could use someone like me to bring their online presence to the next level.

Improve my personal branding

This will largely happen through this blog as I plan to continue posting about my behind-the-scenes thoughts on freelancing, business, and the web.  I signed on to project52, and I plan to live up to that challenge (at least one post per week for a year).

I hope to establish trust with a larger readership through providing real and valuable advice, pointers, inspiration, and/or ideas to the community.  Those of you who reached out to me via Twitter or elsewhere, know that I truly enjoy talking shop or exchanging ideas and I hope this shines through in my online persona.

Over to you…

Can you narrow your 2010 work-related goals to 2 or three big ones?  Do share in the comments (or pass along a link to your blog).

I’m now running three blogs, and I have found that each new blog launch brings a bit of an unexpected challenge.  That challenge is the new writing style, or persona I must develop on each site.

My three blogs each fill a specific role in my life, and each have a different target audience.  I’m writing from three different areas of my “expertise” and I try to put forth different parts of my personality through my three websites.

The blog for my business

With my newly re-launched CasJam Media site, I expanded it to include a blog.  I market my web design services to small business owners, so I use this blog to speak directly to that target audience.

The characteristics that might describe the target readers of the CasJam blog are (for now I say “target” readers.  The traffic numbers don’t justify calling them “actual” readers):

• Entrepreneurs or small business owners.
• Not technologically / web savvy.
• Appreciates great design, but unfamiliar with the design process.
• Interested in tapping their business into the web, but unsure how to do it.
• In the market for web design services, and evaluating the expertise I provide.

As I was putting together the first blog post on the CasJam blog, I immediately found it challenging to find my “voice” in the context of this target audience.  I need to strike a balance between various aspects of my online persona.  On the one hand, I’m trying to provide real online marketing advice, which can sometimes be technical in nature.  But I’m also speaking directly to prospects and existing clients, which requires me to keep things concise, helpful, and offer a positive representation of myself and my business.

The blog for my peers

That would be this one.  I consider my briancasel.com blog to be geared towards folks who are like me:

• Web and tech savvy.
• Working in or have an interest in the web design industry.
• Fellow freelancers or small business owners.
• Interested in marketing and sharing ideas with fellow web workers.
• Understands and appreciates the role of design on the web.

While I’m still adjusting to writing with a more personal approach here, I find it to be a much more laid back and natural task.  It’s a place to talk shop with those who work in my industry.  It’s a place to share the never-ending learning experience that is freelancing and designing for the web.  This personal blog fills that space nicely.  Now, if I could only find some readers!

Keeping the music alive

Serve The Song is the longest running of my three active blogs.  As a long time musician and songwriter, this has been a great way for me to stay in touch with that side of my life.  I have a lot of knowledge and ideas to share in the areas of writing music, recording and producing (that audio recording degree has to be good for something!), and I found blogging to be the perfect medium to do that.

While I may inject some personal opinions in some of the posts, the content is not personal in nature, and it’s not meant to promote any of my own music.  It’s more of a resource for fellow songwriters and home-recordists.  I provide tips, tutorials, ideas on online music promotion, and related topics.

It’s been great to connect with creatives across the spectrum of the music world through the Serve The Song blog.  In recent months it has developed into more of a community blog as most of the posts come from guest writers.  It’s truly awesome to incorporate so many unique voices all in one place and I hope this trend continues.

Your thoughts?

Thanks for reading through the longest post yet on this blog : )  I promise to go back to the short and sweet method on future installments.

Do you keep multiple blogs?  How have you transitioned between them?  How do you find your own “voice” through blogging?