The Blog Studio

Expression Engine is a flexible, feature filled web publishing tool that we love using here at The Blog Studio. If you’re not familiar with this content management system, take a peek at their website and check out how feature rich this system really is.

For all you new users download our getting started guide here --> Basic Guide to Expression Engine. This guide covers a few of the essential basics to help get you started & comfortable with the control panel.

We will update the guide as feedback pours in - so please feel free to leave you questions or comments.

Just a short reminder that we’ve got a couple of free WordPress designs available in the downloads section. These rotate on a sporadic basis (aka when we have the time). If you haven’t checked in a while, why not check now?

After talking to a couple of folks about how they were using the traffic building worksheets I put together last week, I’ve updated them to make it easier to track multiple keywords.

I really cannot overstate the impact these worksheets have had on own marketing strategies. They make tracking stats fun, and expose opportunities and weaknesses in your site, and motivate you get them fixed. They go beyond mere stat collection though to systemize your online promotional activity. In this case, I’ve concentrated on posting and leaving comments. I’ve included the source files for the worksheets, so feel free to customize them to your own needs

The beauty of the form is that the thinking has been done ahead of time. Each day, you simply need to spend 5 minutes filling in the relevant information. I guarantee you that you’ll find yourself motivated to start making changes, and tracking their effect. If not, I’ll refund your money ;)

Ideally, the stats you collect should be collated in a spreadsheet or database so you can extract maximum value. Of course, you can collect a couple of day’s worth of data and batch input it into excel. The beauty of the worksheet is it’s physical presence. It’s just so easy to do (and oddly rewarding to fill in).

I’m releasing this under a Creative Commons Attribution license. This means you’re welcome to use the traffic building worksheet however you like, but please do link back to me if you repost them.

Download the Traffic Building Worksheet as a 1-up pdf (1 card per page)

Download the Traffic Building Worksheet as a 4-up pdf (4 cards per page)

Download the Traffic Building Worksheet in it’s OmniGraffle format

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NOTE: This article has been updated. See the updated version here.

I’m a pen and paper kind of guy. Especially when it comes to tracking time and keeping lists. There’s something inordinately satisfying about checking something off. Something I don’t get with a computer.

Paper also has the benefit of portability and visibility. I’ve become addicted to using index cards to jot down notes and ideas. They’re the perfect size to fit in a pocket, don’t take up much room on my desk, and are sturdy enough to survive daily abuse. A couple of days ago I stumbled on the idea of sticking an index card in behind the last row of keys on my apple keyboard. Instant motivation! Nothing like having a constant reminder of what you’re supposed to be working on in the bottom of your field of vision at all times!

I’ve also been toying the idea of creating a system to track my traffic building/site maintenance activities for this site and a number of client sites. What I wanted was a checklist for both things to check (ie SE ranking) and things to do (write a post, leave a comment, tweak a feature, etc). Sure I could use a spreadsheet to do this. But I have to big resistance issues with this: the first is that I don’t want another memory hogging program open all day, the second is that for me, entering data into a spreadsheet is boring. I want a system where I can easily collect a bunch of data, then batch process a bunch of that data at later date.

To that end, I whipped up The Blogger’s Traffic Building Worksheet (v0.1). This 3” by 5” (index card sized) form is meant to be printed out (ideally on heavier stock), cut to size, and used and abused. I’ve included spaces to track the major metrics, as well as a place to record what you did to improve your site (and track the time you spent doing it). There’s room to mark off the number of posts your wrote, as well as the number of comments you left on other sites.

I’ve designed this thing to be motivating: the odds of me making a tweak or two to the site are higher when I have a reminder to do so under my nose. My brain really likes ticking things off (just ask my wife!). It’s not the prettiest thing I’ve ever designed, but this isn’t a beauty contest. So far, I’ve found using the worksheet to be extremely effective. I hope you do too!

Download the Traffic Building Worksheet as a 1-up pdf (1 card per page)

Download the Traffic Building Worksheet as a 4-up pdf (4 cards per page)

Download the Traffic Building Worksheet in it’s OmniGraffle format

Was this post useful for you? If so, consider clicking this Digg This link so we can share this with more folks. Thanks!

Look up at the nav bar up there, and you’ll notice a new tab: downloads are back!



We’re in the process of going through our existing free WordPress themes and sprucing them up a bit. The first up is Liquid Summer v2: Liquid Sunshine. This is an evolution of the popular (though ugly) Liquid Summer theme we released back in the spring.



We’ve got a demo site for you to play with, and a nice big download button if you want to take it home after trying it on.

I’ll be adding the rest of the themes as time permits (meaning: don’t hold your breath! Kidding. I kid…).