Zavose

Infographic: Analysing the Envato Tuts+ Network

Chuck Lockhart (Zavose) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:21:20 +0000

As far as websites to be jealous of go, the Tuts+ network has got to be right at the top. The Tuts+ network, comprised of 8 websites, dominates the design sector and continuously and unfailingly provides high quality, usable tutorials and articles every single day. This infographic displays some general statistics about the Tuts+ network, including the ballpark monthly advertising revenue earned through these sites.

Join the Tuts+ Network

Become a Better Blogger Part 1: Plan Your Website

Chuck Lockhart (Zavose) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 04:39:38 +0000

This is the first post in (what will become) a series that will outline the steps you need to take to become successful in the online world, and not just become another site that fades into internet oblivion. These tips apply to online businesses too (we’re just big fans of the whole “Become a Better Blogger” alliteration thing we’ve got going), and following these tips will help to ensure you get noticed in the online community.

Okay, so as far as boring goes, this first post is pretty much the absolute epitome of monotony, and believe us when we tell you, the most important stuff usually is. But don’t worry, we’ve tried to make our maiden post as compelling as we can, but be warned – making “blog planning” sound exciting is kind of like trying to assassinate a cockroach with a toothpick (It’s hard, in case you didn’t pick up on the analogy).

Remember your career counsellor back in high school? The one that always gave you the “you’re-wasting-my-highly-valuable-and-precious-time” look? The one that always told you that you’ll get nowhere without a career plan? Well, as much as we all hate to admit it, there’s not a lot of denying that they’re right. Planning is actually important if you want to succeed at something, and when it comes to starting a profitable website, if you don’t have a plan, you’re not going anywhere.

Without trying to sound like a motivational speaker, the advantage of a website plan means that you know where you want your website to go, and you know the goals you want your website to achieve. It doesn’t have to be elaborate (in other words, no need for a multilayered, color-coded mind map) – all you need is a list answering a few basic questions. The perfect plan should set out in your mind exactly what your site is, what the goals of your site are and how are you going to achieve those goals?

What is your site?

Probably the most important aspect to your plan – what is your site? Is it a blog, a business website, a membership site? What are you going to write about, or what are you advertising? Many online entrepreneurs mistakenly begin with a unclear view of what they want their projects to be, and most often, they’re the ones who fail. By setting out the basis of your site on a sheet of paper, it provides a clear foundation for you to build everything else upon, and acts as a framework you can return to in order to ensure your blog is fulfilling its initial purpose.

What are the goals of your site?

By starting a website or blog, what are you hoping to achieve? Are you spreading information and contributing to a specific online community? Do you want to monetize your online venture? Set goals, short term and long term, to keep you motivated, and to give your site a direction. For example:

-In the short term, I want to attract 500 visitors a month from online advertising
-In the long term, I want to be accepted into an advertising network (e.g. BuySellAds – review here), so I can monetize my website.

How will you achieve these goals?

How are you going to make your site a success? Will you drive traffic through social networking predominantly, or will you guest post on relevant websites in your area to attract visitors? What steps are you going to take to put you plan into action?

It’s easy to dismiss the idea of website planning as pointless and unnecessary, and we can’t blame you – planning is seriously dry. But the truth is that by creating a solid future plan for your website, you are already a step ahead of any other startup, because you know what needs to be done, and how it’s going to get done. Of course the website plan is by no means concrete – it will change as the goals of your website change, but in the short term a reliable plan provides you with actionable steps to help you grow your website – an absolute essential for anyone who wants to be successful online.

Simple, Effective Banner Advertising – 3 Great Tips

Chuck Lockhart (Zavose) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 04:07:22 +0000

Advertising a website or business is deceptively complicated process, and those who think it’s as simple as creating a colorful box couldn’t be further from the mark. But hey, we’re here to help – here’s a simple idea for an effective banner advertisement that’ll make sure your advertising money isn’t wasted.

The aim of any website advertisement is to draw people into your website, boosting your traffic and increasing website visibility. The key phrase that most people forget when creating an advertisement is the whole idea of “drawing people to a website”, not placing your entire website into a very small box. The aim of any advertisement should not be cramming a heap of information into a very small space – instead the perfect advertisement should give viewers just enough information to intrigue them, but not enough information so that they don’t actually have to visit your site to find out more. The “ideal” advertisement should make people want to find out more by giving them just enough, but not enough. Banner advertising is essentially manipulation, but in a kinda good way.

1. Use Color (keep it simple)

Color is possibly the most underused yet most effective element in banner advertising, as it’s a big key in determining the visual impact of your banner. Try to use a vivid shade for your background, but keep it light – no dark blue or black.

As important as color is, you also have to make sure you limit it’s use – keep the background monochromatic – don’t overcrowd your banner, and make sure your colors don’t clash.

2. Differentiation Through Imagination.

The downfall of any banner advertisement is that most advertisers try to fit a thesis into a 535×100 pixel box – it never works and will make your advertisement look cheap and unprofessional. Instead, consider what is the very core of your business or website that you want to convey to your customers. What is the essential to your business? How can you help your customers? What can you offer them to make their lives easier?

In a nutshell (to use a cliche), the less words you use, and the more your advertisement makes people go “Wha….?”, the more clicks you will get. We call it differentiation through imagination – the more wild, unpredictable and radical your advertisement is the more it will be noticed, and the more it will be clicked.

Display is also important. We take the modernist approach to advertising by keeping the colors simple and uniform, however it’s really up to you here to exercise some originality. Make sure you find a font that complements your banner, and one that doesn’t clash with the background. Take a break from the generic stuff and use something different (see the resource list below)

3. The Finishing Touches

The often overlooked areas of banner advertising can make a difference to the final product. Ensure that the most important text in the advertisement is big, clear, and more obvious than anything else. Don’t overcrowd your advertisement with unnecessary images and/or text – whitespace is very important.

Also, providing viewers with an action path, such as a button that says “find out more” or something similar will help in converting views to clicks, as buttons reassure people of where they’re going if they choose to click on your advertisement.

Creating an effective banner advertisement is all about simplicity and functionality. It’s not as complicated as you think – use color to your advantage and make it noticeable. The skills demonstrated in this tutorial extend past banner advertisements alone – any type of publication designed to be noticed will benefit. And to get you started, take a look at some of the resources we’ve listed below.

Build Internet Why Niche Banner Ads Fail
Web Design Ledger The Best Free Fonts of 2009
Inspired Magazine The Science of Whitespace in Design

13 Stunning & Inspiring Advertising Posters

Chuck Lockhart (Zavose) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:36:16 +0000

13 extraordinary digitally designed advertising posters created by some of best graphic designers in the world.

1. Martini Asti Elements | Earth

2. Tiger Beer

3. Red Bull | The Spirit Within

4. Liquid Color

5. Redd’s | Pitch

6. Nike Air Lab 1

7. Wrigley’s 5 Gum

8. Make a Drawing | Paris

9. Bacardi | Shoot and Fly

10. RPM Hard Drive Clock | Reclaim Time

11. Fanta Advertisement

12. Martini Asti Elements | Water

13. Redd’s | Ekspress

Cross Browser Compatibility & Why it will Ruin your Life

Chuck Lockhart (Zavose) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:50:29 +0000

Making your website cross browser compatible (that is, so it looks the same on all web browsers) is kind of like cooking a soufflé – the recipe looks simple enough until it comes out of the oven all flat and gross, and you end up hurling it into the wall at 150mph. Building your website to be cross browser compatible is a lot harder than it looks.

There’s a lot to be said for a standardized web browser. If only Microsoft and Apple could sit down at a table, and agree to only support Mozilla Firefox, the world of website creation would be a helluva lot simpler. Of course that’s not going to happen anytime soon, and while Firefox (the world’s best browser, obviously) currently occupies just under 25% of global browser use, Internet Explorer still commands over 60% of browser use worldwide – and as we all know, Internet Explorer sucks.

Over the last decade Internet Explorer, in it’s various incarnations, has gone from Prince Charming of the browser world to that distant intellectually-backward cousin with the monobrow. IE’s rapid demise is through no fault of it’s own, of course, but compared to the alternative browsers (Firefox, Safari and Chrome), it really can’t compare both in speed and usability. You and me know Internet Explorer is crap. 60% of internet users, however, don’t. Mmmm….

So what’s the problem with IE? Microsoft’s browser will display most webpages, and people will be able to read what you write. The problem lies in the little details, where IE will usually always generate something wrong, and let down your entire web design. Granted, most users won’t really notice, but that’s hardly the point, is it? You go to so much effort to create a visually impressive website which is let down by a dated but very dominant web browser.

The solution? Don’t even bother supporting crap browsers. A few of the larger websites have already taken this initiative which is encouraging to small scale websites. The only way to phase out the ancient browsers is to stop supporting them, it’s that simple. Of course until that happens, the only solution is to painstakingly modify and re-modify your website graphics and css code until your website displays roughly as intended across all browsers. And when for the eighteenth time your website search box looks crap in Internet Explorer, we don’t advise hurling your computer at the wall – as we discovered, it doesn’t actually help…

Affiliate Marketing versus Advertising PPC: Which one is right for you?

BuySellAds: The Definitive Review

Chuck Lockhart (Zavose) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:00:39 +0000

It used to be social network websites. Then there was the video uploading sites. And now, apparently, we are witnessing the rise of the advertising networks, of which BuySellAds, a project undertaken by Todd Garland, is one of. But is it any good?

Just Googling BuySellAds (BSA, to those already familiar) results in a couple a’ million different reviews, all of which with a different opinion on whether the latest incarnation of a tired formula is worth your time. Regrettably, in an age where one good idea leads to a thousand second-rate copies, it’s often difficult to weed out the godawful from the genuinely good. So where does BSA fit in?

BuySellAds, as the name indicates, is essentially a service for both advertisers (a.k.a. you’re advertising a product) and publishers (a.k.a. people are buying the advertising space on your website), allowing the sale and purchase of advertising space through a sophisticated, well-rounded system that takes the hassle out of advertising.

the advantages

BuySellAds separates itself from other networks first and foremost through an incredibly intuitive and simplistic user interface. It’s clear that the aim of BSA is to simplify the process of buying and selling advertisements, and it certainly succeeds in this area.

Everything about BuySellAds is just easy, from listing your website’s advertising space (publishers) to buying advertising space (advertisers). The whole process is as easy as breathing, which is a huge plus for anyone who finds the process of selling and buying ads frustrating and time consuming.

A fully-fledged analytics program as well as support services are also a click away for both advertisers and publishers, again another huge advantage. At the moment banner ads seem to be the way to go, although BuySellAds is undergoing private beta testing of pay-per-click advertisements, which will allow both advertisers and publishers a bit more freedom in the future.

For publishers, your website is listed in the BSA directory, allowing advertisers target-specific searches to help find a compatible website. A gray place holder box that’s become a somewhat recognisable icon sits in your advertising space, potential advertisers just a click away to purchasing that space in monthly subscriptions.

We found that payouts were quick and seamless, the PayPal system very efficient. Wire transfers and cheques are also available as payout and payment options if PayPal is not your thing.

the drawbacks

Too good to be true? You know the saying, and yup… it is. Well, sort of…

Let’s start with the publishers. By using BSA, you are paying for the simplicity, and you’re paying for it big time. The BSA system will take away 25% of your earnings – for those who failed second year maths, that means BSA will take 25 cents in every single dollar you earn. Compared to the major ad networks out there, or to selling advertising space privately, the cut is unusually high, and can be quite damaging for higher earning websites.

The circumstances change depending what your website focuses on, but another aspect to consider regarding BSA is the fact that it is a very niche-specific network, meaning only websites focusing on tech, web design / development or freelancing have a chance of succeeding in this system. While this will probably change in the future considering BSA is relatively new on the scene, at the moment it’s a fairly limited community of websites all focused on specific areas. In other words, if you blog about the nutritional value of capsicum, you haven’t got much of a chance.

And because no one cares about the nutritional value of capsicum, and therefore you have no visitors, you will again be rejected because BSA requires a base impressions level of at least 100K per month, although we’ve found this figure to be very flexible. BSA is not all that welcoming to websites with little traffic and no reputation – you need to have a solid foundation of steady traffic to stand a chance of being “accepted” into the BSA system.

The Verdict

Publishers
For startups and smalltime blogs and websites, BuySellAds is unsurpassed as a well-rounded easy to use advertising network, so long as you can be accepted. BSA really does remove the stress of selling advertising space like no other service can, and for small time websites BSA is the ideal solution.

For websites commanding larger amounts of traffic (and consequently a bigger income) BSA may not be the solution you are looking for, only because of the steep 25% cut, which when you are earning thousands of dollars will severely eat into your profit. BSA provide a good service, but no one likes a company THAT much to give them a quarter of our earnings…

BuySellAds takes the pain out of selling advertising space and is certainly a service that should be considered for all web startups and small time websites focused in the design and web services area. If you don’t fit into any part of that previous sentence, Google Adsense, or privately selling your advertising space may be the smarter option.

Advertisers

For ease of use there is no service quite the same. We have yet to compare click through / impression rates compared to the other major services, but as long as you are advertising a product relevant to the design, tech or web services industry, BSA really is a no-brainer for driving targeted, specific traffic to your website. Stay tuned for the site-wide release of PPC advertising.

BuySellAds

100 Stunning High Quality Free Icons

Chuck Lockhart (Zavose) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:38:38 +0000

It’s often very hard to find quality, free icons, so we’ve done the searching for you and put together a list of some of the best sets of free icons the online design community has to offer.

Briefcase

Designer’s Tools Icons

Hrvoje Bielen Icon Set (13 icons)

Archigraphs Cars Icons (7 icons)

Container Icon Set (40 Icons)

Canon 400D + lens (2 icons)

Bugatti Sang Noir Icon

Gentle Romantic Icon Set (5 Icons)

Cemagraphics Dock Icon Set (17 icons)

Musicons Icon Set (8 Icons)

Registration Required

Massive Media Icon Set (3 Icons)

Pre Desktop Icon Set (3 Icons)

Affiliate Marketing versus Advertising PPC: Which one is right for you?

Chuck Lockhart (Zavose) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:47:38 +0000

Monetizing a website is an exciting yet challenging process, and depending on website traffic it can be very easy or extremely difficult. There are thousands of choices out there which will almost always come down to just two options – pay-per-click advertising or affiliate marketing? So what should you choose?

Advertising Pay-Per-Click

Let’s start with advertising. To keep it simple, we’re going to compare the most popular form of web advertising, Pay-Per-Click (PPC), a system used through countless advertising programs, the most well known being Google Adsense.

the advantages

The biggest advantage of using PPC advertising on your website is that it’s immediate, easy money. Earning 25 cents or whatever the amount may be per click is as easy as implementing a small amount of Javascript, and you’re earning straight away. The entire process of installing the advertising script, watching your profits grow and receiving your money could not be any easier, and this is the primary reason why these types of network are so popular among so many websites.

Recent advancements, particularly with the Adsense system, mean that advertisements are now targeted specifically at users using the information stored in their web browsers. How fascinating, I hear you say, but what this means for you is visitors are going to (potentially) click on more of your ads, more often, increasing your profit. And you didn’t even have to do anything.

the disadvantages

The problem, as far as PPC is concerned, is about your income, and how it can change very rapidly. PPC networks traditionally are very secretive as to how much individual clicks are worth, and this can be annoying, because your monthly profit can change very quickly.

The rules and regulations surrounding PPC advertising is enough to give anyone a headache, and limits some of the freedom you have for your monetization strategies… AdSense Policies

Using PPC advertising on your website can be a great for blog income, but you don’t have complete control over your marketing strategy. On the other hand…

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is the other option here – so how does it compare?

the advantages

Affiliate marketing means you become the salesperson. YOU are flogging someone else’s product, and getting a cut of the profit upon that product being sold. The immediate advantage with this is that it allows you to work with products you choose – affiliate marketing provides much more flexibility in regards to what you are actually advertising compared to PPC. You can implement affiliate links wherever you like, you can encourage people to click on them however you like (within reasonable limitations) – the choices are up to you, and when done correctly your profits will be larger than what you would receive from equivalent PPC advertising. And above all, you’ll know exactly how much you’re going to earn every time someone buys a product using your link.

The sheer amount of affiliate products out there means you can advertise products relevant to your own website. For example, we are affiliates with WooThemes, a wordpress theme company, and we provide affiliate links in our Wordpress themes posts. Unlike PPC which can only estimate what visitors would be interested in, by using affiliate links we can directly target our visitors with relevant products that will benefit them.

the disadvantages.

What makes affiliate marketing great also makes it suck – there is work involved. Well, not necessarily, but if you want to make the most of affiliate links, you’ll have to put in the effort. Sure, a simple banner advertisement with a link will garner you some profit, but to make the most out of affiliate links, incorporating links strategically into content, recommending products to users, creating custom banner advertisements and trawling through the countless number of affiliate programs out there will mean you need to put in the work. But when done right, the reward will be well worth it.

Affiliate marketing does not provide that instant profit that PPC provides, either. Visitors clicking on a link is (usually) not enough to gain a profit – they have to actually buy the product for you to get a cut, meaning the products you are affiliated with have to be worth your visitors time.

So what’s the better choice?

Ideally, both. No one said the two cannot work together in perfect harmony – employ both systems to get the best of both worlds. But we know you didn’t read this blog post looking for that answer, so if we had to choose? Affiliate marketing would win every time.

PPC is a godsend for small websites, or for webmasters who want the easy option, but affiliate marketing affords you so much more freedom to advertise what you want, how you want, knowing exactly how much you can expect to earn off each purchase.

5 Premium Wordpress Themes Worth Your Attention

Chuck Lockhart (Zavose) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 14:52:04 +0000

5 hand picked highly flexible premium wordpress themes in a league of their own in terms of design and usability

Shape Shifter

Beginning the list is ShapeShifter, a unique “single page” wordpress theme. The shapeshifter theme allows content to be displayed in a minimalistic and very sophisticated way that not many other Wordpress themes can boast by incorporating separate parts into one page, where the sidebar links “scroll” to a different section of the website. Sound confusing? If you can describe this theme any better please let us know – the preview image and our description really don’t do this theme justice. Available from Themeforest for $30 (deposit)

Flexolio

If you’re looking for something with a big header that’s not boring, Flexolio is probably one of the best out there. Okay, so it has a pretty bad name, but the theme itself is exceptional both in it’s design and detail. This theme incorporates the CU3ER flash header that displays a few neat tricks to wow your visitors. Beyond that, the Flexolio theme incorporates subtle visual accents that surpass the quality of most other premium Wordpress themes. Available from Themeforest for $30 (deposit)

Glow

Elegantthemes has always been one of the leaders in Wordpress theme design, and Glow is perhaps one of the best themes there. Available for $19.95 (which, FYI, allows you access to 30 additional high quality themes), Glow is a highly flexible, high quality and generally good looking theme. The accompanying ePanel allows you to make easy changes without digging into the theme files, which saves you time AND helps you’re stress levels. Available from Elegant Themes ($19.95 for one year subscription to all themes)

Marketplace Community Wordpress Theme

While not as stunning as other Wordpress Themes, sometimes flexibility and simplicity come before anything else, of which the Marketplace Community Wordpress Theme is a great example. The layout, which is simple and intuitive is ideal for a website focused more on content visibility than visual impact. Maximus is well known for creating high quality Wordpress Themes, and the level of support you will receive with this theme will be more than enough to customise it to your liking. Available from Themeforest for $25 (deposit)

Quadro

Normally we save the best until last… er, sorry about that. But while Quadro (another aptly named theme) may look dull and uninviting, upon closer inspection this theme is actually highly detailed and endlessly flexible, meaning that with a bit of love this theme could be transformed into something else. From the intuitive and simplistic layout to the pixel-perfect line work, Quadro is a great option for those looking for a foundation to build a unique custom theme. Available from Themeforest for $30 (deposit)

Icon of the Year

Chuck Lockhart (Zavose) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:17:52 +0000

It’s that time of year when we get our nerd on and crown the best icon of the year. The criteria is simple – it has to look good and it has to be free for download by the general public. With a post this exciting, you’d be crazy not to click “read more”…

We are a biased group of judges – not much point trying to hide it. And since we all have a thing for cars, and Jaziel Valladares Herrera just happened to create a stunning icon of one of the world’s fastest and most beautiful automobiles, the winner of IOTY (yeah, we made it into an acronym) wasn’t a very difficult choice.

Congratulations to the wonderfully talented Jaziel, with his stunning Bugatti Sang Noir icon, available for free download over at deviantart. You win… nothing. But hey, wear the icon of the year title with pride – it will look awesome on your resume…