Darren Rowse of Problogger fame today released his new e-book, Problogger’s Guide to Your First Week of Blogging.

Darren says this book is like his 31 Days to a Better Blog (click to read a review) except it concentrates only on the first seven days of starting a new blog.  The new e-book is broken down into 7 chapters/days and has 32 tasks/exercises for bloggers to do.

It mainly focuses upon content production and finding new readers so Your First Week of Blogging is  ideal for anyone who has set up a blog but doesn’t know what to do next (or even someone whose blog has died and they want to start again).

I’ve purchased all of Darren’s e-books and they are all fluff-free.  The information is solid, and built upon his massive experience as one of the most successful bloggers on the Internet.

From now until May 17, the Problogger’s Guide to Your First Week of Blogging is being sold at half-price ($9.99).  A steal, truly.

I received an e-mail from Darren Rowse (of Problogger fame) letting me know the cost for his 31 Days to a Better Blog Workbook was going up in price on May 10.

I purchased the workbook when it was first released and it’s excellent.  I wrote a review of 31 Days to a Better Blog at the time and since then have used Darren’s workbook in developing my own blogs.

Per Darren’s e-mail, the cost on May 10 will go up from $19.95 to $29.99 – a $10 increase.  If you have an interest in improving your blog, I highly recommend the workbook.

Over the years of pro blogging, I’ve tested hundreds of WordPress Themes, many free and others fee-based. Although I’ve seen lots of posts about the best free themes, I rarely read any about premium themes. 

Based on use for my own or client sites, these are my picks for the 5 best premium WordPress themes: 

1. Education (click here to see a modification for a prototype client site) $59.95
    
2. Thesis (the ultimate in WP theme flexibility) $87 for single use, $164 for unlimited (I picked this as I use Thesis on many client sites)
    
3. FastBlogger by RichWP  $59.90
    
4. Black Canvas by StudioPress (excellent for photo blogs – I’ve just started developing this client site) $59.95
    
5. Life Series by iThemes (particularly suited to a showcase site)  $79.95

Of these, Thesis offers (hands down) the most flexibility; move columns, resize columns, choose which pages and categories to display, plus you have an amazing ability to add images to the sidebars globally, or page-by-page.

I like FastBlogger for the graphical nature; we all love pictures, and the first thing you see on a site using the FastBlogger theme is a lot of colorful images. This one really grabs your attention.

The Education theme was incredibly easy to work with (as are all of Brian Gardner’s themes); it’s more convervative looking, but perfect for colleges or business clients.

I’ve been looking for a great photo gallery theme for a long time, and Black Canvas is the best of the breed. It’s easy to use, I love the black background – I feel it shows off images far better than white – and again, Brian Gardner simply designs some of the best, easy-to-use, professional themes.

Life Series (I especially like Grunge) has a clean look, great for minimal text, with a highly professional appearance. If your site doesn’t require a lot of words, I highly recommend all in this series.

Do you have a favorite premium theme? Let’s add to the list and get these great themes out into the hands of pro bloggers.

Darren Rowse over at Problogger is selling his 31 Days to a Better Blog Workbook at a 25-percent discount for the next 12 hours or so. Instead of $19.95, it’s $14.95.

Don’t know about Darren’s 31 days program? Click to read my review of 31 Days to a Better Blog Workbook (and the program).

When Darren Rowse of Problogger ran his (I hope annual) 31 Days to a Better Blog Challenge, I immediately jumped into the fun. Because Darren is one of the most financially successful bloggers on the ‘net, I knew his advice was 1) valuable; and 2) valuable! I stayed with the challenge through the whole 31 days, even though there were days I had to play catch-up, and days I had to miss altogether. And even though I’ve been blogging for a long time, Darren had brilliant ideas that I wouldn’t have thought of–at least not in the near now. Because Darren received so many requests, he put the entire 31 Days to a Better Blog into a PDF workbook form, and is currently selling it for $19.95.  I bought a copy today, ran through the entire 94 pages, with these thoughts. (and if you’re asking why I would buy a workbook when I already have all the information, here’s why: I’m printing the workbook, then popping it into a three-ring binder with tabs for each of the 31 days – that way I can go through the workbook daily, checking off daily tasks, and at the end of each month, wash, rinse, repeat.

Review: 31 Days to a Better Blog Workbook

I like that Darren began by telling readers the purpose of the workbook (sold in PDF format): "The idea is simple. By the end of this challenge you’ll have learned 31 aspects of blogging and put them into practice. It is designed not only to fill your head with knowledge ABOUT blogging but also give you some concrete things to do to actually DO something with the knowledge." Each day consists of a blogging technique, examples, and a task. Some days the tasks will take you a couple of hours, other days only a few minutes. I like that Darren gives solid, concrete examples for each lesson.  For example, on day one (write an elevator pitch), he tells you the exact

short and long versions of his own elevator pitches. If, at the end of the 31 days, you want to continue the challenge with more advanced techniques, Darren has a link to a newsletter that has occasional updates on the most important developments in terms of tools and resources to help you improve your blogging. In addition to the lesson, samples and tasks, Darren also includes a Notes section; this section typically includes more tips, other examples – - generally a place for more detailed information about the day’s lesson. Would I recommend the 31 Days to a Better Blog Workbook? I found the daily lessons to be valuable resources for building my own blogs, improving my blog techniques, and crystalizing my brand. The Workbook closely followed the lessons, but in putting the Workbook together, Darren cleaned up the lessons, added new material (and bonus material) – - even adding 6,000 new words of content. I think the Workbook is well-worth the $19.95; if you have a blog and want more traffic, exposure, or readership, I believe the Workbook is invaluable. Darren is one of the most respected bloggers around, and when he tells you how to improve your traffic and readership, you know his advice is based on real-life experience, not theory. So, if driving traffic to your blog is your goal, pop over and pick up the Workbook today. I suggest printing it out, getting it bound, or putting it in a 3-ring binder.  But don’t stop there – - actually DO the tasks daily – - and I bet if you check your analytics on day 1 and your analytics on day 31 you’ll see an increase.  I’m tracking my own traffic through the month of June – and will post a report in 30 days.