Bad News for Theme Designers (or is it?)

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Darren Rowse has posted the results of a poll he ran on ProBlogger.net asking the readers who designed their blogs. The results are discouraging for theme designers focusing on doing custom work. Only 8% of the ProBlogger.net readers answering the poll (there was 2 513 of them by the way) had paid for a custom design, whereas 13% had paid for a premium theme. Most people run a free theme. Check out the full results.

So 8% of 2 513 people, that’s just over 200 potential clients for someone like me, although the poll doesn’t state how much these people actually paid for their custom theme. On the other hand, let’s say I do two themes per month, then I don’t need more than 24 clients each year, and some clients are recurring ones (obviously). It would be interesting to know what people who do buy custom themes are paying at an average, wouldn’t it?

What kind of theme are you running on your blog?

WTF Blog Design Elements: Most Recent Comments and Shout Boxes

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In this ongoing series on WTF Blog Design Clutter, we’ve talked about blog clutter with too many “friend” pictures and badges and calendar archives, two of the many elements many use to clog up their blog’s sidebar. “Clutter” is a matter of perspective. If these added design elements really work for your blog, serve your blog’s purpose, and enhance the reader’s experience, leave them. In fact, put them at the top where they are the first thing people will see next to your post title and content beginnings. Promote them. If they are that important, let them stand out.

If they are not important, then they do become clutter.

One of the most popular blog clutters are the Most Recent Comments and Shout Boxes that many feel are important elements to a blog’s design.

The web is now social. People are experimenting with all types of methods to bring the social to their blogs and emphasize how social their blogs are – or at least appear to be. Among the most popular and easy to do are most recent comment widgets and chatting shout boxes. [Read more…]

Create Twitter Polls With PollDaddy

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Made up of followers and leaders, the gates of Twitter-ville seem to be opening up for two-way communication. Thanks to the question-happy folks at PollDaddy, you can now ask people to take part in a poll via Twitter.

Just enter your question, the potential answers, a language and your Twitter login info and presto! – You never have to make another decision alone.

PollDaddy automatically shortens the URL and sends out a tweet under your Twitter name.

It’s a gorgeous day here in NYC: 60 degrees and sunny. So I need your help. What do I do?

Create your own Twitter polls here.