You heard well, if you know how to save the file to your computer and then upload it to the right place, that’s all what it takes.

Now, watch the video below to see it for yourself.

Video resume:

1. After you purchase your Genesis theme, check your email for a link to download it.
2. When you download the theme, it will be in a zipped file. Don’t unzip it because the zipped file is what you will need for the following step.
3. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to Appearance > Themes.
4. On the Themes page, click the “Install Themes” tab at the top of your screen.
5. Click the “Upload” link and find the genesis.zip file from your computer and then click the “Install Now” button.
6. Now find the child theme’s zip file and upload it as well. Make sure you activate the child theme, and not the Genesis parent theme.

You are now ready to show your work to the rest of the world.

If you’re experiencing some problems about installing your Genesis theme, put it in the comments below.

About month ago one of my twitter followers asked me what would be my 5 advices for a beginning bloggers. Now I don’t know why he pulled the number 5 .

When it comes to blogging, I’m still figuring things out for myself. I still make tons of mistakes.

But I have kept at it for three long years and for one-hundred-thirty-two posts (including this one). There’s obviously a lot more I can learn about blogging, but I definitely have a few thoughts I can share.

@domainsflow what will be your top five advices for a blogging beginners?

— Jibu Elias (@jibuelias) April 25, 2013

1. What Do You Like?

Choose a subject you enjoy! This is your blog and subjects you write about should be something you can really sink your teeth into.

If you don’t enjoy the subject, you’re not going to learn more about it.

Make sure whatever subject you choose, it’s something you participate in and happily learn more about whenever given the opportunity. This also ensures that you post regularly so your readers are more engaged.

2. What is Current?

When you’re choosing a subject, make sure it fits today’s world. It is your page and it’s your business what you write about, but if nobody wants to read it, then you’re not going to build your audience very quickly, if ever.

Instead, find out how your passion relates to the current market. If you can marry the two with the right keywords and still get to talk about what you enjoy, then you know you have the perfect match.

3. Make a Schedule You Can Live With

It’s easy to get caught up when you first start your blog and set up a demanding writing schedule. However, if you want any kind of balance, you need to set up something that fits in easily with your other responsibilities.

This keeps you from feeling harried or rushed about getting your posts out on time. It also makes sure you can gather plenty of great info first.

If posting once a week, use the full week to get great tidbits, little anecdotes and anything else that adds value. Put it all together and your readers will look forward to it every time.

4. Use the Freebies

Before signing up for any expensive commitments, try out the free sites. Use the free trials, apps, blogging sites to figure out your blog.

I personally read Copyblogger where I find great tips about creating content and copywriting. Copyblogger is actually success story where simple blog is turned into multi-million dollar business.

Once you decide which tools you like working with, posting with and using to include items of fun on your blog, then you can start making some decisions on what to pay for. Don’t let enthusiasm drown you in debt before you’ve made any money–if profit is your goal.

The value of these free trials and sites is that a blogger can learn how the blogging world works and how to interact with other sites before they fully commit with their wallet. This kind of education is well worth taking the time to experience and will eventually make your blog even better.

5. Blogging is Not About Perfection

One of the main attractions of having a blog is that you don’t have to have a Harvard degree to write it.

The casual, informal tone allows for mistakes that are immediately forgiven by your readers. In fact, they may endear you more to them because it shows you’re an actual person–not a machine.

Don’t feel pressure to put out the “perfect” post at the “perfect” time with zero errors. That is not what the blogging world expects and should not be your immediate focus.

Relax, have fun with it, and simply share some great content with your readers. They will appreciate you, appreciate the material and most likely become readers for life if you just share yourself with them.

One of the fun things about running your own blog is the amount of freedom you have with content and sharing.

However, like anything, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut once you find something that works.

That freedom that sounded so fun in the beginning can begin to feel like a chore in terms of switching up your regular routine. Do not fall into this trap!

Not only do you have the tools to keep your readers interested in your fresh content, but yourself too. Look at how many creative things you can share just from coming at it from a different angle.

Videos can be fun

For example, video posts can be a lot of fun but people tend to get nervous, thinking they have to look perfect on camera. This is YOUR show. Your followers do so because they enjoy your personality.

Showing your fun side on video lets you talk about the topic in an engaging way, connect with your readers (or viewers in this case) and use a variety of backgrounds. Videos do not have to be stuffy, boring and quiet.

On the contrary, take the video camera outside, share a how-to tutorial, be funny or silly–the choice is yours! It’s also very easy to post a video now too, so the work is the same as a regular post.

Informative and fun slideshows

Slideshow presentations are incredibly easy to put together, especially in PowerPoint. You can add in pictures, moving animations, fun script and a whole variety of choices to keep it fun and engaging.

Not only that, but turning it into a short video is just as easy as hitting save, making it a project anyone can complete. You don’t have to be a software genius to follow a tutorial for a project like this.

In a slideshow, you have a way to share information where readers can take all the time they need to look through it. That means you can put a little more on the page without overwhelming them.

Keep in mind that some of these presentations will be on mobile devices, so the page should be as clean looking as possible. However, the animations, pictures and other items can be distributed throughout the project.

When your readers find a surprise slideshow, this is also a fun item for them to share on social media pages. They will appreciate that you took the time to post something different than a regular post as well.

Typical blog posts

While the above are fun and unique, there is nothing wrong with regular blog posts either. It’s nice to have a balance between all of them so your readers don’t get bored.

It also shows them that you’re having fun and enjoying yourself with the material and this will come across in how you share it. Your enthusiasm alone may encourage others to follow your blog that were not there before.

The freedom of running your own blog should never become a burden. This is YOUR space to express how you feel, how you want to teach and what content you believe is relevant to your readers.

When you start to feel like it’s a chore, switch up your communication method. Once you do, you’ll soon start to find other ways of sharing that are just as fun and unique.

Keep it engaging for your readers and you’ll be more engaged as well. Keep it informative and casual and they will do the same, providing you with valuable feedback.

Share your thoughts below please–we love feedback!

The Genesis eleven40 theme comes with a custom logo in the top left corner of your header section.

I’ve been asked by a number of people how to change that orange logo with the custom one.

I decided to show you the most easy way without touching the code, so every beginner can apply it.

1. Select “Image logo” in your dashboard

First you have to make sure you select Image logo in your dashboard. It’s located in Dashboard > Genesis > Theme > Settings > Header. After selecting it, don’t forget to press Save Settings button.

2. Locate your images folder

Before you make any changes, create your custom logo (dimension 265x78px) and save it by what ever name you want but make sure it has .png extension. For example, customlogo.png.

Now you have to locate your images folder. Maybe the most simple way to accomplish this is from your cpanel hosting account. I personally use FTP program but the path to this folder is the same.

Locate the folder: wp.content > themes > eleven40 > images

Upload your new logo and place it in the images folder.

After you’ve completed the above simply rename your old logo.png (it’s also in your images folder) to logo1.png or what ever you like. I preffer logo1.png because it’s very easy to revert the old name if you want.

Find the new logo you just uploaded and rename it to logo.png. (In my example it would be customlogo.png to logo.png).

That’s it! Refresh your page and enjoy your new logo.

This is the easiest way to change your eleven40 theme logo because you don’t have to edit in style.css sheet. Perfect for beginners!

Note: This method will work on other Genesis themes if you keep the same dimensions.

If you’re having some difficulties in applying this tutorial or some question about your Genesis child theme, let me know in the comments below.

Producing original content and building a strong web presence is not an easy task.

It’s a blogger’s duty to keep their readers interested in their work. To do so, a killer plan is a necessity.

Streaming video being one of the most important content types in recent years, a great way of strengthening your content strategy is by finding an intelligent way of incorporating it.

The first step in doing so is to define what your goals are with online video, and establishing whether or not they’re attainable.

A stay-at-home blogger might not have the same objectives as a marketing agency, and it’s important to figure out what you’re looking to gain from an expansion of your content strategy.

Are you trying to be the next viral sensation, or are you looking to improve your blog’s traffic and SEO?

Choosing the right video hosting

Within the early stages of the video content strategy development, the impulse of many is to host their videos on YouTube. While YouTube has a lot of great features, if your ultimate goal is improving your site’s SEO performance, it isn’t necessarily your best bet.

One of the main benefits that YouTube offers is that it allows you to upload an unlimited number of videos at no charge.

While saving money in this regard will allow you to invest the whole of your budget (if any) into the actual production of your videos, it does come with some drawbacks.

If your video performs extremely well on YouTube and draws in a large number of views, none of the SEO value associated with the performance will be attributed to your blog, since YouTube is the actual host of the video file.

Also, if anyone embeds your video onto another site, you won’t be gaining anything other than a few more views for your YouTube channel.

Services such as Wistia, Vidyard and Vimeo Pro have some interesting features that can allow you to do things that aren’t possible on YouTube.

For example, being able to customize skins and video players to match the branding of your blog can bring a lot more personality into your videos.

In addition, they come with features that are valuable for your blog’s SEO, such as listing your site as the actual video host, meaning you’ll get a referral every single time it’s shared externally.

The prices of these services range between about $30 to $100 per month. This can seem like a high price to pay for video hosting, especially since YouTube offers it for free, but the benefits attached to the paid services can be extremely beneficial to bloggers who are serious about their site’s SEO.

Key things in video optimization

Seeing as Google cannot analyze the actual content of the video when establishing its rankings, it’s your responsibility to make sure that you’re making all the necessary information available and crawlable.

In order to rank as well as it possibly can, search engines need to be able to access certain information in order to understand what the content is actually about.

Here are the key things you must to do make all relevant information available to the crawlers:

• Write out a full video transcript and include it in the blog post. The transcription can be done manually on most videos. However on longer videos, this can be a time-consuming task. In those cases, services like Wistia offer transcript services that can help save some valuable time on this step.

• Incorporate strong keywords in video title, description, tags and file name. As Some basic keyword research can help you determine the search volume for certain terms and establish which ones should be incorporated into your content. Google Trends can also be a good tool to help figure out keywords to target, as well as coming up with new content ideas.

• Create an XML video sitemap to get your videos indexed. An XML video sitemap is very important if you’re looking to get your video indexed by Google. Instructions can be found here on Google’s support page.

Focus on your content quality

While these methods will certainly help you optimize your video content for SEO, it’s important to remember that the quality will be one of the main factors in whether or not your content strategy will be an effective one.

If you’re not taking the time to produce something that’s well-made and that can be shared organically, you might actually hurt your site’s image and brand.

The perfect formula for taking your strategy to the next level is finding the right mix of high-quality content and intelligent optimization methods.

Are you using video blog posts as your marketing strategy? Will you even take the steps to start with your first video?

Let us know in the comments …

Have you ever been in a conversation that sounded like this?

“So do you have a blog?”
“Yeah, I do!”
“Oh, that’s cool, do you work in social media too?”

Huh?
How are these not two types of the same thing?

What is a blog?

A blog is a destination where you want your social media traffic to end up.

While social media is a fabulous way to advertise your online presence, you also need to have a landing page where they can read more in depth about that same subject.

What are social media outlets for?

When you create a presence on the typical social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.), this is supposed to be a teaser of sorts. You need to share valuable information that others will share and use, but it’s not the entirety of your company or online community.

By having a blog, you create an environment where your readers can fan interact with you and each other, depending on what message boards and other items you have set up. This is also a place for you to share content and written material in whatever format you like.

Sharing your persona

In fact, a blog is where your readers get a more personal view of you overall. Your personality will (or should) come through in every piece of content you write, so they understand the man or woman behind the curtain, as it were.

When they connect with you on a personal level, they will be repeat visitors to your blog and encourage others to do the same. A social media site may not give you enough room to share like this, especially when characters and posts are limited.

So why do some people view blogs and social media outlets something completely different?

It could depend on your point of view and what you’re selling. There are certain types of online companies that may only require a link to a landing page for their customers.

In these situations, the social media outlets give them plenty of room to post before and after pictures, links to testimonials, various ad forms and several other bits and pieces that customers find attractive.

With this in mind, it’s easy to see why those virtual company owners would think blogs are unnecessary and/or dead. However, this is not the case and blogs are gaining in popularity as time goes by.

What are blog visitors looking for?

More Internet shoppers are going to visit blogs in order to learn more about the product, service or other item being sold. This is why content marketing has grown in such a major way recently.

More focus is being put on the content of these blogs to make sure it’s truly valuable. Since bloggers rely so much on repeat visits and sharing through social media outlets, they need to provide a quality product without a lot of fluff.

These same visitors don’t visit social media pages to read a long, in-depth post about how a product is manufactured or where the various items came from. This is not an item that is typically going to get a lot of attention on Facebook or Twitter.

Got pictures?

A blog is also a great way to post pictures that might be too large or cumbersome for placement on social media pages. These are probably going to find their way onto Pinterest at some point, if your readers really find them captivating.

This is the perfect combination of both blogging and using alternative social media avenues. The more you do this, the more balance you’ll see between two efforts.

Differences can be powerful

You’ll also find that you understand how blogs and other forms of social media differ, but really fall into the same category. Both can be very powerful and they are not mutually exclusive.

A blog has some of the aspects of other social media outlets, just like they have some aspects of a blog.

If you have any thoughts on this, please feel free to share below.

Image via Creative Commons, JasonHowie’s Flickr photostream. (source)

You already know the 3 reasons why I love Genesis. What I didn’t know is some of you like my opt-in form after my posts but don’t know how to do it.

Although I was reffering my readers to Brian’s tutorial (see here), I’ve decided to explain how I did it, so that you can benefit as well.

In order to follow this tutorial, you must have the Genesis based website for WordPress, otherwise it won’t work.

Ok, lets get started.

1. Create a new Newsletter.php script

Copy the code below into notepad, replace the text the way you want it appear in your opt-in form.

Under the line 10 goes your Twitter “Follow” button. Obviously you’ll want to replace the DomainsFlow mentions with your own Twitter username.

Between the 12-18 line I placed my Feedburner code (ok I know I should change my email provider but that’s another story). Again, here you replace with the code of your email service.

Save the text file as newsletter.php, and then upload it into your child theme’s folder. Example location: domainsflow/wp-content/themes/eleven40.

2. Hook an opt-in form after each post

Hook it with the code below so that an opt-in form will appear after all your posts. Just copy the code below into your functions.php script (Appearance > Editor > functions.php).

3. Opt-in form style

Obviously we need to put a little style on this opt-in form. Download the “Sign Up” ribbon that shows at the top left corner. Save the image to your desktop and upload it to the image directory on your hosting.

Now, copy the code below into your style.css sheet (Appearance > Editor > Stylesheet).

I know that everyone’s style is different, so change the Genesis opt-in form how you like. That’s it!

Building your email list

Did you notice that we didn’t mention any plugin? That’s right, it’s not necessary.

Although you can use the Genesis eNews Extended plugin and place it after the post section (I use it in the footer), somehow I preffer without the plugin.

Now that you’ve successfully added your opt-form after your blog posts, it’s time to boost your email list.

If you have some difficulties in use of this tutorial, or would like another one, put it in the comments below.

This is a Guest Contribution by Miranda Conner, from HowMuchIsIt.org

Whether you find yourself inclined to test the waters in the business of flipping domains, or are simply looking to make a purchase in order to market yourself and your business venture, there are a few key elements that are integral in the process of finding an authority domain name.

These factors are, in fact, relatively basic and you might find yourself saying “How can someone make a mistake like that?”

I’ve generally come to the conclusion that it has little to do with a lack of intelligence, and more to do with a misunderstanding of the importance of naming your domain.

The concept of naming a business

The majority of businesspeople put a great deal of thought into naming a business. On a very basic level, they evaluate things like title phrasing, alternate spellings for the purpose of impact, linguistic creativity via the use of play on words, so on and so forth.

However generally most, and certainly the intelligent businessperson will take into account other less noticeable factors such as presentation, varying levels of professionalism in regard to the nature of the business, length, remember-ability, and so on.

And in certain cases, many business ventures may go so far as to hire outside consultants to aid in the process of naming or tweaking existing titles.

#1 Understand the importance of your domain name

The issue that seems to be the most prevalent in the process of finding an appropriate domain name, is the mistake of underestimating the possibility of potential business long before a client actually accesses your site.

Since each domain is unique in that you will never find two separate websites that share the same domain name, you can be sure that the more appealing expected names are likely to be taken.

Unlike a business, when you pick a domain name, you know absolutely that the name is yours and yours alone.

#2 Step away from the drawing board

One important element in finding a quality domain name is immediately realizing that because domains are unique, it’s unlikely you are going to be able to have your first pick.

Unless the name you’ve decided on is relatively obscure which I will touch on later, you are likely going to find that you have to revamp and or reorganize your name in the decision process in order to find a title that is available without breaking the bank.

It’s important to be aware that if you find yourself scrapping ideas and reorganizing words within your idealized name too frequently it’s time to go back to the drawing board, because with each alteration, you begin to lose creative value.

#3 Stay away from obscure names

Obscure names in a business setting can be interesting when you have some form of advertisement to support your product outside of the name exclusively.

However, when it comes to naming a domain and utilizing the web purely as a tool to create online traffic, those who are going to be visiting your website are not relying on local advertising.

They base their decision to visit your website on the eye catchy-ness and attract-ability of the name you’ve chosen amongst a number of other names within a search engine. Strive to make your domain name concise and descriptive.

#4 Name within the context of your business

This one should be simple. If you run a law firm, it’s completely appropriate to have a domain name that utilizes the last names of the CEOs, something simple and professional that shows you take pride in your work.

However if you run a pizza shop, obviously I would advise against using the same tactic. If someone’s looking for a pizza, they’re going to immediately click on the name that stands out from the crowd. Look for techniques like altered spellings, simple play on words, so on and so forth.

#5 Watch out for double meanings!

This one speaks for itself. Before you click that button making the transaction official, ask one or two people to look over your new found name and make sure you haven’t just made yourself look like a fool.

If you run a resort on Pen Island, penisland.com is not something you want to spot after the fact.

#6 Will your domain name allow for expansion of your current business?

This is one factor that’s constantly overlooked. However it’s somewhat of a delicate decision when you decide which way to go. If you pick a name that factor in the product or service you provide, you’re more likely to receive unexpected traffic.

However if your domain name is more general, you have more room to expand future ventures that are not related to your original business model. One offers immediate response, and the other is more effective in the long term.

So, what’s crucial for you when deciding to buy a domain name? Let us know in the comments …

Miranda Conner is from the website, How Much Is It? Here, consumers around the globe can find out what things cost such as pets, professional services and so much more.

Image via Creative Commons, Lee_Salford’s Flickr photostream. (source)

You’ve probably seen a million by now–teasers on social media outlets for various blog types. Some of them have made you want to click through and others were easy to ignore, right?

How do they do that? How do they know which titles and bits of information will increase blog traffic?

Create the buzz

The idea is to create enough buzz that the reader simply can’t help but click through. The other option is to answer a burning question for them and guarantee they will click through.

If you can do either of these two things, then your titles and information clips will start working for you much more effectively. So do you have to be a copywriter to accomplish this?

What would you ask?

Nope! Just look in the mirror. You’re clearly writing about a topic you’re passionate about and interested in already.

Now take that knowledge and look at it from the perspective of a first-timer. What questions do you have?

Are you talking to experienced hobbyists or crafters for example? Then, you’d look at topics that were past beginner level and focus on issues they would be reading about.

Evaluating your audience and understanding what they want is half the battle.

Once you sit in their chair for a minute, then you can use that knowledge to share on social media.

Sharing just enough

All right, so now you understand what pieces of information they want, so you know what to write about. But how do you know how much of that information to share on social media sites?

You know how you get those free offers that offer you “amazing tips” to solve your problem, but they don’t deliver unless you pay up? This is not the right method to use in your social media marketing!

Deliver as promised

Remember how annoying it is for you and understand that is going to be the reaction of your social media visitors as well. If you really want to attract quality traffic through these teaser posts, you have to give them quality first.

The teasers you share really should answer a burning question. The effect on your readers will be, “Wow, if they are sharing this in a little space here, imagine what I could find on their blog!”

You’ve practically guaranteed the sharing of your site already before they even get there and made the most of your social media site. Of course, you need to back that up when they get to your blog, but you’ve accomplished your first goal: getting them there.

Are cliffhangers ever acceptable?

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ever use cliffhanger teasers–they can be fun and exciting for your readers. However, you should probably wait until you’ve established an audience.

Only after previous experience will they know for a fact that you’re actually going to back that up on your blog and not require additional steps from them. These can also be a fun break from your typical format so it stays interesting for them.

When you get some more practice and experience using these techniques, you’ll start to get a feel for how it works. Then, you’ll be the one giving advice to fellow bloggers on how they can increase traffic to their own pages.

Be true, follow through and your teasers will become something your readers look forward to!

Please share any experiences or stories you have in this area as well-we’d love to hear them!

Image via Creative Commons, bnorthern’s Flickr photostream. (source)

Blogging is never an easy task, especially for writers who are always on the go.

Smartphones such as the iPhone 5 and even tablets have become one of many blogger’s most common companions when writing away from their PCs.

Therefore, the demand for reliable blogging mobile apps is at an all time high.

When Apple launched its latest smartphone in India on September 2012, the iPhone 5 sold out within 24 hours, according to the Wall Street Journal India. The iPhone 5 has proven to be tough competition for Samsung when it comes to sales.

So far, Apple has more apps available in their stores than Android devices. In fact, there are 585,000 iOS apps available across various stores, compared to Android’s 450,000 apps, based on research.

It also revealed that users spend more time using mobile apps (94 minutes) than web browsing (72 minutes) on their devices. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that bloggers are now using mobile devices, to write too.

In this article, I’ll present to you the best blogging mobile apps for iPhone 5 users. Make sure you have them with you before you leave your home.

1. Evernote

While writing on the go, arranging all your notes, files, and a to-do list, is really a burden. Evernote is a free application that allows you to organize your data and improve productivity.

It works across almost all platforms including iOS, Android and Window platforms. In addition, Evernote has easy-to-install desktop software, so you can easily synch your phone to your PC or laptop and continue your blog draft.

You can also upgrade to the premium plan that features offline access to your online notebooks, PIN lock to your Evernote app, and allow others to access and to edit your notebooks.

2. Byline

When writer’s block has stopped you from coming up with a great topic, Byline will provide you the top news and blog posts from your favorite websites, even when you’re not online.

Developed by the Phantom Fish, this helpful blogging app allows users with a Google Reader account to fetch all the latest content including RSS and Atom feeds from their iPhone.

It costs only $2.99 for iPhone and iPod touch users, and either $5.99 or free with ads on other platforms. Byline is also a great way to connect and promote your blog across some of the best platforms.

There are also other ways to increase your blog’s traffic, such as incorporating social media strategies in your online marketing plan.

3. ManageWP

WordPress is the top platform used by bloggers worldwide. In fact, over 60 million sites are powered by WP worldwide, based on a research.

Managing your page on this platform is never an easy task, but thanks to ManageWP, you can now upgrade the site, update a post, and access the files in one easy-to-use dashboard.

This app is advisable for bloggers who handle more than one site, because you can simultaneously post content in all your sites in one click. ManageWP is also protected by Sucuri.net that ensures all your blogs are free of harmful viruses.

4. Photobucket

Visual content attracts more readers, so make sure you add images and videos on your articles to break up long reams of text.

Use Photobucket app when uploading photos directly from your iPhone camera. You can also take advantage of their extensive media library and easily grab photos from your phone and edit them before posting on your blog.

It also features easy access to image URLs, album and media management; simultaneous uploads functionality and geo-tagging.

What other apps you use in your blogging routine? Let us know in the comments…

Image via Creative Commons, anantns’s Flickr photostream. (source)