In all the WordPress work I do, I usually drop in a text object widget and include an optin form for AWeber, my autoresponder provider. This usually works well. But, today, I got word of a new plugin by MaxBlogPress called Optin Form Adder. This plugin does so much more than just let you add an optin form to your blog – no, it lets you totally customize it to make it look like it is an integral part of your website. Field, text, background picture, box width and height, it can all be customized. And best of all, the plugin is FREE. Go take a look now!

I just learned of a new plugin that allows you to make screencasts directly in Wordpress and place them in your posts. I tried it out and it is quite cool!

Take a look here: http://www.skoffer.com

As reported earlier, Matched.co.uk was a site that bloggers could go to get paid ads for their blogs. (Reference this post)

As of November 20, Matched is out of beta, and according to their site, out of business.

It was fun while it lasted.

If you have sat and thought about building a custom theme for your Wordpress blog, but the Codex confuses the hell out of you and you just don’t have the wherewithall to spend a day with Google, I’ve got good news for you (and trust me, I’ve already got a copy on order). There is a brand new DVD out called “How To Theme Wordpress: From Blank To Beautiful In 2 Hours“. I’ve not yet seen the DVD, but it sounds like a very good foundation to learn how to build your own templates for Wordpress.

Keep in mind that Wordpress templates are in demand and people are paying for custom templates.

So, go grab it now!

Anyone use PayPerPost?

Here is a service that you sign up with, and they pay you to Blog. From their site:

“Get paid for blogging. You’ve been writing about Web sites, products, services and companies you love for years and you have yet to benefit from all the sales and traffic you have helped generate. That’s about to change. With PayPerPost advertisers are willing to pay you for your opinion on various topics. Search through a list of Opportunities, make a blog posting, get your content approved, and get paid. It’s that simple.”

Has anyone signed up with this, used it, and made money? I’ve heard a lot of good and bad things about PayPerPost. In theory, this is awesome. A quick, lazy way to make some cash (Along the lines of CashCrate, one of my personal favorites). I have gotten wind of late or no payments when doing some research on this – I’d love to get some feedback!

Drop me a line if you have experience with this service, I’d love to hear what you have to say!

You may find that I do quite a few posts about blogging. Why? Blogging is simply one of the best ways to get your message out. Small companies to large enterprises have started some sort of blogging – they realize that the search engines love it, and so do their customers.

I’ve been looking around for a good Contact Form plugin for Wordpress, and I think I finally found one. Douglas Karr has significantly modified an existing plugin and posted it at his blog, here. Spam is all but eliminated by an actual challenge-response question, that you can set in the options panel. I’ve just installed this plugin and activated it on a couple of my blogs, so we’ll have to see how well it works. It’s really easy to configure (as is most everything else in Wordpress), so if you’ve been needing a good contact form for your blog (and what business doesn’t?!?), go grab it. It’s “Donation-ware” – meaning it is free, but Doug welcomes donations.