5 Tasks that a Busy Blogger Can Outsource
Aug 18th, 2009 | By Nicole | Category: OutsourcingThank you for coming back to visit us! Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more information.
Hi. I’m Nicole Dean. I’m a friend of Loretta’s and I’m here as a Guest Expert this week.
Why am I here?
Well, I’m doing this crazy Blog World Tour where I hop from blog to blog for three months, sharing tips and advice about making more money online.
This week, I’ll be sharing my tips about “5 Tasks that a Busy Blogger Can Outsource”.
Today we’ll start with one of my least favorite things — installing and customizing a WordPress blog, which can be a deal-breaker for many wanna-be new bloggers.
Once you’ve done some niche research to figure out what your blog will be about, the first step is to install your WordPress blog. (Note, several of the ladies here can install your WordPress blog for you.) That’s the easy part if you find someone who you trust. But, then there’s the design part.
Before you go to a WordPress blog designer, think about a few things…
Do you want a one-column, two-column or three-column blog?
It’s like redesigning your house. You have to figure out where the walls are before you get to pick the paint colors – if you get my drift. So, if you’re looking at free Word Press themes that you’ll have customized, then look at the BONES or the structure of the site. Navigation on the left, right, or both?
Don’t get hung up on the color of the nav bar. Those things can be changed easily. Get the difference?
What colors best reflect your site’s purpose and will most resonate with your potential customers?
Are you thinking calming blues and greens or fiery reds and oranges? Sunshiny yellows? Natural browns and greens?
What feels right for your market?
I would love some feedback on colors from the designers on this site as I’m not one. 
Busy and energetic or very clean and simple?
Do you prefer an active site with lots of stuff going on or something very minimalistic and clean?
These are all things that you’ll need to communicate with your designer so that she can create what’s in your mind.
After the blog is designed, you can also outsource the functionality.
Which plugins do you need?
Plugins are little automation machines. (I would kiss them if I could!) Plugins can enhance performance, make updating a breeze and even keep your blog safe from spammers, hackers and more. With a few clicks of your mouse you can install the plugin and be on your way to the results you’re looking for.
Ask your blog expert for advice about which plugins you’ll need. These are my favorites:
All in One SEO Pack – This plugin allows you to include SEO details such as
title tags, etc. to help your posts rank better in the search engines.
CommentLuv – Give your readers some linky love. This plugin pulls in each
commentor’s last blog post link.
Twitter Tools – This particular plugin works with your Twitter account to automatically tweet a link to your blog posts when they publish. This definitely saves you some time and costs. Since it auto posts from your
Twitter account, you don’t have to pay a helper to post it for you and you don’t have to stop what you’re doing to post the link yourself. Sweet! 
I’ll be back tomorrow with more tasks that you can outsource.
Warmly,
Nicole Dean
PS. I give away prizes to people who post comments. But you’ve got to post in order to win.
You may win prize packs from Small Reports Zone.
Also, I teach a course called Outsource Weekly that teaches you how to outsource effectively. Check it out by clicking on the banner below.
Another task a busy blogger can/should outsource is updating WordPress and the plugins you use. There’s a new version of WP every few weeks – it’s enough to drive you crazy! This task becomes particularly onerous when you have a number of blogs (I have 5… and counting)
I’ve outsourced this recently and, ah, what a relief!
Thank you so much to Nicole for being our guest here this week! I actually just got to meet her in person this past weekend at the NAMS event and she is just so full of spunk, joy, and knowledge!
This is a great post Nicole! Each of these points must taken into account when setting up and customizing your blog. Many people make some very simple mistakes when they set up their blog and that is why outsourcing the task to someone who knows is a good idea.
As a designer myself the goal is to give the client what they want while making sure they have what they need
Thanks again for sharing.
[...] Yesterday, I started with Outsourcing Blog Installation and Plugin Installation. [...]
Hi Nicole
Thanks for those plugin recommendations, I have particularly been looking for the ‘give some link lurv’.
I agree about not getting bogged down in the colours, designing is a big part of the fun for me, but seeing the numbers is the best part.
While you are on your world tour, would love to invite you to Australia if you have any tour dates left : ) the ladies on http://www.workfromhomemums-blog.com would love to hear from you.
Cheers
Leigh
[...] the original post here: 5 Tasks that a Busy Blogger Can Outsource Posted in Object, Outsource, business. Tags: august-18th, business, dean, guest, loretta-oliver, [...]
Today seems to be “L” day. We have Lexi, Loretta, LaTara, and Leigh all commenting. I feel like I’m breaking the trend.
Lexi – Great point. Me, too.
Loretta – I may need to add this to NicoleDean.com “spunk, joy, and knowledge!” lol. I love it! Send me an “official” quote and I’ll put it up. Thank you!
Thanks LaTara! I am so not a designer. I’ve never made my own graphics – ever. So, I’m a girl with 100 websites and no design skills. Yet, they make money. Hmm… probably because I OUTSOURCE to people more skilled than I am.
Leigh – Would love to. While I don’t have any more tour dates left, I am trying to dedicate a few dates each month for the next year to guest blogging. I’ll contact you.:)
I’ve got something for you to add to the design and colors. Make sure that you picking colors that compliment each other. I can’t tell you how many blogs I’ve seen with black backgrounds and teeny tiny white print. I’m 32 and I can’t read it, I can only imagine what older readers think.
(and add Lisa to your “l” commenters)
Hi Nicole,
Thanks for giving us some great getting started tips. I outsourced my blog setup to Charly Leetham in Australia and have never regretted it for a tiny second. It’s so nice to have “someone else” figure out what the problem(s) is/are when something goes technically wrong! Needless to say, this has saved me a tremendous amount of time, which equates to money. Technically challenged, I am and therefore, outsourcing these tasks makes perfect sense to me!
I started out with knowing I wanted a 3-column blog, but couldn’t find what I wanted in the way of a theme, so Charly modified the theme for me to incorporate the “power” colors that I wanted to use. Now that I have a 3-column blog, I’m not sure I want to keep it that way, but at least I know if I decide to make the change, it will get done in the least amount of time with the least amount of expense, but more importantly, will be done right!
You have an awesome idea hopping around on a blog tour. Hope you don’t mind if I follow you around a bit. Lynn Terry has high praises for you and I’m sure I can learn a thing or two from you along the way!
To Your Networking Success!
Carol Deckert
Networking Coach
It is sooooooo easy for a non-programmer to make great wordpress themes these days with no experience (takes like 10 minutes) that I think the concept of searching out a free theme with god knows what kind of coding issues might be stuck in the middle is going to fade away this year.
That said those are 3 essential plugins, but if twitter goes down (like during the denial of service attack) be ready to temporarily disconnect twitter tools fast, or it might spin up your hosting servers processor and your host (if they catch it) will kill your site.
[...] This post was Twitted by ConnieFoggles [...]
good information. i’m off to read part 2
So happy to see everyone here on the site commenting! Thank you Nicole for choosing to stop with us on the Blog World Tour
Lexi – updates are so annoying! That’s why we do offer this service here. I just went and did this here on the site this morning AND updated plugins as well. Not to mention hitting up some other blogs. It’s something that most don’t want to even think about.
Colors is such a personal issue for some. Even as designers we can give suggestions, but ultimately it’s the clients word that goes. In the past I’ve had some crazy designs with way too much color. Just because they were fun. But even my personal blogs are now more sedate.
Don’t forget when you are thinking of colors and color schemes that you will be putting graphics and pictures up on the blog. You want the button ads and/or pictures to be the focus and not necessarily the layout and the vibrant colors.
Hiya ladies! Nice to see you stopping here on the blog tour, Nicole. Great tips!
I need more plugins so those are some cool ones mentioned. I really didn’t want to have any Twitter automation but if it only tweets the blog post once I might be cool with that.
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[...] How to Outsource Your Blog Installation and Plugin Installation. [...]
Nichole,
You’ve got the greatest resources! Didn’t know about the Comment Luv plug-in so I’ll give that one a whirl.
Thank you,
Leigha
Leigha´s last blog ..Top 3 Most Requested Gifts for the Football Fan.
Sounds a good idea, but I just wouldn’t trust anyone else to care enough to make sure it’s done right.
First things first, you have to decide on which theme to use or maybe you’ll rather want your outsourcee to design one for you. Consolidating your blog and wordpress is taxing and will eat all your time. So much for WORDPRESS, well it’s a good that we are talking about outsourcing here. Outsourcing is a good strategy, this will help you market your niche more than spending time building it. Here at TryBPO, we help growing companies and businesses owner in their goal to profit by supplying them with competitive but affordable virtual assistants.
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