Theme with a Fruitbox of Features
8 Ways to Take Your Business Blog to the Next Level
Apr 19th
Blogging is often overlooked for other flashier social media marketing options like Facebook and Twitter. However, having a successful business blog not only supports lead generation; it also provides thoughtful engaging content needed to be successful on social media. While blogging is important, it can also be challenging. Once you have mastered the art of regularly creating content for your blog, it is time to take it to the next level.
The next level of business blogging is really about doing what may seem simple but exercises a major impact on your business blogging success.
1. Write Short and Clear Headlines - Headlines are a critical element of your blog posts. They tell humans and search engines what your article is about when they see it in search results, on Twitter, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, or in email. One of the best ways to work on clear headlines is to shorten them as much as possible. Try to never have a blog post headline be more than 9 words. If you can get it shorter, that is even better. The simpler your article, the more it will spread.
2. Include Several Headers Per Post – Having headers in your post serves two purposes. First, it tells search engines what that particular article is about. Second, and more importantly, it allows readers to better understand your information. Pages with endless paragraphs can easily cause fatigue and get abandoned. By placing headers in between each idea in your post, you allow the reader to consume all of your post more easily or let them scan to the parts of the article that are valuable to them. Have you ever heard of a person complain that a blog post had to many headers? I haven’t.
3. Get Rid of Wasteful Words – Some words are simple to use but don’t add any value to a blog post. Words such as “just” and “very” simply add wordiness and distract from the overall message of your content. Take a few minutes to read over a blog post draft and remove words that don’t add value to your message.
4. Include a Contextual Image – Many people will tell you to put an image in every blog post, but that isn’t enough. The image has to be contextual, it must connect with the idea of your post. The majority of your readers will see the image before they have read one word of your post, so it is critical that the image helps them understand the general topic and theme of the post.
5. Set Expectations with Headlines – Headlines are so important that a second item needs to be added to this list to address them. Your headline should reveal what content format the post contains. A post has a different appeal to a reader if it is a 2-minute video as opposed to a 600-word text. One way to do this is to bracket a content type at the end of your headline: “Your Blog Post That Has A Video [Video]“
6. Turn Comments Into an Extension of the Post – Comments can often be more valuable than the original blog post. For this to happen, blog posts need to encourage the right type of comments. Blog authors should ask smart question and include them at the end of each post. If a blog post contains a list of ideas, invite commenters to add to that list. By asking others to add to the post, it empowers readers to become a part of the issue the post addresses.
7. Use CTAs to Continue Education – Calls-to-action (CTAs) turn a blog into an important lead generation tool. But when done right, CTAs can be more valuable to blog readers. Think of a blog post as a primer: it is a brief look into an issue. Let’s take this post as an example–it gives readers interested in business blogging some brief information to get better. But if they want even more, then the CTA at the end of this post that connects them to an entire ebook on business blogging, quickly provides them the additional information they were looking for in a simple and contextual way. For readers who aren’t looking to learn more at this time, they can simple read the post and then move on to something else.
8. Speak like a human.
Don’t using marketing speak. People are trained to ignore it. Speak like a person, use the word “I”. Pretend like you’re talking to a friend let your personality shine through. Boo! See, that was kind of random, just saying “Boo” like that. People like random.
What business blogging tips would you add to this list?
50 Free Icons for WordPress Posts
Dec 17th
This post is from Smashing Magazine. I’m amazed at how many smashing posts they write about web design.
Written By Daved Brosche, Naveed Javaid and Smashing Editorial Team
When it comes to freebie designs, beautiful icons sets are tops. Designers scour for these free treasures more than anything else. You can use icon sets in Web applications, website designs and on your desktop. If well designed, they make a great impression on others. Beautifully designed icons also prove the quality of a designer’s work, so many designers make theirs freely available online, thus giving their work more exposure.
In the overview below, we present 50 beautifully designed, free and professional high-quality icons for desktop and Web design. All of them can be freely used for private projects, and some are available for commercial use as well. Regardless, always read the licenses — they may change from time to time.
You can also scan through our other icon-related articles:
- 40 Professional Icon Sets for Free Download
Download some fresh, professional icon goodies. - 35 (Really) Incredible Free Icon Sets
Spice up your posts with nice illustrations, or enrich your desktop with outstanding dock icons. - Icons for Your Desktop and Icons for Your Web Designs
High-quality free icons that you can use for your desktop and Web designs. - 20 Free and Fresh Icon Sets
Over 20 free beautiful sets and links to other free icon libraries.
50 Beautiful, Free and High-Quality Icon Sets
Container Icon Pack
Container Icon Pack contains 40 high-quality (256 x 256 pixel) icons in PNG and ICO formats. This package includes box, cargo, trash icons and more. Created by Mehmet Gozetlik.
Baggy Icon Set
Contains five high-quality icons in three formats (ICO, ICNS and PNG) and six sizes, ranging from 16 to 512 pixels!
Round theme icons
A beautiful set of 106 various rounded icons.
Fortune 500 Badges
Over 200 badges of famous brands, PSDs included.
Red Moleskine
Red Moleskine is a beautiful icon set in PNG format and sizes of 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 and 512 pixels.
Old-School Icon Set
A set of six beautiful old-ish icons: typewriter, camera, radio, TV set, Gameboy, and telephone. In PNG and ICO.
Playground
Nine beautiful and original icons (in PNG and ICO), created by the talented Miriam Moshinsky.
Windows 7 Build
A set of various basic software and office icons.
Classic Timer Icon
A quality timer icon in transparent vector format, with different sizes.
Nes Icons Pack
A set of retro icons (TV, NES, Pad, Alimentation box, Zelda box, Zelda game, Desktop, 1up, Magic Toad) in ICO and PNG (512 × 512 pixels).
Jeans Feed Icons
A set of stylish feed icons as denim pockets.
Cemagraphics Icons
A set of various beautiful icons in PNG (32 × 32 and 512 × 512 pixels).
To-Do List Icon
Use these icons in your Web applications to make them more attractive.
Social Media Handycons
Handycons is a free hand-drawn set of 12 social-media icons. All icons are available in four sizes: 16, 24, 32 and 48 pixels.
Canon 400D + lens 17-85mm
Set of two icons: camera and lens. Comes in sizes of 512 and 16 pixels and iContainer, ICNS, PNG and ICO format.
Retrofukation
A stylish set of icons to complement almost any theme out there. Designed to be easily distinguishable, simple and intuitive. This icon pack contains over 100 icons. Designed by Jamie Green.
e-Commerce Icons
A huge set of icons that you can use for an online shop.
Function icons set
A beautiful and useful set of 128 icons, available in 48 × 48 pixels.
Elementary Icons
A set of smaller Web developer-style icons.
Human 02
Here is a nice multi-purpose icon set for your business website.
32px Mania Icon Set
Another series of smaller icons that can add flair to any website design.
Business Icons
A collection of random business-related icons with a Web 2.0 look.
Chums Icon Set
This is the ultimate collection of high-quality tech-related icons. You can find everything from iPods to digital cameras.
Tom Tom
Does your business deal with GPS and navigation systems? Then this is the icon set for you.
Black Neon Agua Icons
A unique icon set that is ideal for darker website designs.
Credit Cards Icons
15 beautiful credit card icons in AI and EPS format. And here are yet more credit card icons.
Antique Icons
A set of antique icons in PNG, ICNS and ICO formats, ranging from 16 × 16 to 256 × 256 pixels.
Hand-made food and beverage icon set
Seventeen hand-drawn icons, created by Victor Amanatidis.
Social Media Mini Iconpack
This icon set consists of 30 finely crafted social media icons in a size of 16 × 16 pixels. They are free to use non-commercially.
Manto Smiley Icon Set
Twenty original emoticons by Chinese designer Manto.
Emotions For WordPress Icons
Emoticons for WordPress.
Green and Blue Icon Set
Five icons, each in 128 × 128 pixels and PNG format. Included are icons to represent gallery, downloads, emoticons, calendar and folder.
Airport Express
This icon is for personal use only. Download includes iContainer, PNG and PSD formats.
Coquette Part 3 Icons
This free playful icon set contains curvy and colorful icons made with one goal: to get some affection and playfulness into your projects. The 50 high-quality icons come in sizes of 16, 32, 48, 64 and 128 pixels, and in 32-bit transparency PNG format.
Email Me Icons
These icons are free for personal use and available in 32, 48, 64 and 128 pixels.
Reality
A set of beautiful, realistic icons of different daily-use object. These are free for non-commercial use.
Music Icons
Beautiful icons of music instruments. Icons are absolutely free for any purpose.
Sleek XP: Basic Icons
A set of 50 stock icons in PNG and ICO formats.
Set of Social Icons
A set of beautiful social icons in PNG format and sizes of 16, 32 and 64 pixels.
GP Icons
A set of 23 PNG icons of different software products. Has a great grunge style.
Banking Stuff Icons
Banking-related icons for non-commercial use, in sizes of 32, 48, 64, 128 and 256 pixels.
Smashing Magazine’s Icons
Smashing Retro Icon Set
A set of 10 beautiful, high-quality “vintage” icons. The set contains 10 original icons: search, sign-up, calendar, news, RSS, comments, email, ads, home and address.
Flavours Icon Set
This set, aimed to help designers in their Web and user interface designs, contains 177 icons in a resolution of 48×48 pixels. The files are available in the PNG and PSD sources, so you can modify the files as you wish. Created by Oliver Twardowski.
Stationery Icons Set
A useful set of 22 vector icons (256 × 256 pixels). It contains book, brush, crayon, clip, color pencils, document, eraser, pad, palette, post-it note, scale and scissors, as well as the Fireworks source file.
On Stage Icons Set
The set contains 49 free vector icons, including PSD, which can be useful for both corporate and personal projects. You can use the set for free, without any restrictions whatsoever. The icons are available in PNG format in a resolution 128×128 pixels. Also included in the package are 100% pure shape-based layered PSDs.
Fresh Icons Set
This set contains 59 raster and vector icons. The set includes icons in PNG, ICNS and ICO formats. An EPS vector file is available as well.
Practica Icons Set
A free set of 11 useful high-quality icons, designed by DryIcons especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers. The icons are available in resolutions of 64, 128 and 256 pixels, in 32-bit transparency PNG format.
About the author
Naveed Javaid is a Web designer and runs the blog SmashingApps, which focuses on free resources and inspiration especially for designers and developers. If you want to connect with the author, you can follow him on Twitter.
8 ways to inspire your creativity
Dec 10th
Creativity is difficult to define and can be even harder to activate on command. With deadlines to meet and projects to complete, this can sometimes be problematic and it’s easy to become frustrated and discouraged. However, there are numerous ways of overcoming creative block. If you’re someone who needs creative inspiration in a hurry, one of these seven techniques may help to ameliorate your situation.
Read Poetry
Poets have a unique and inspiring perspective on the world and can even make the mundane seem romantic. This kind of “outside the box” thinking can be useful for any creative endeavor. While reading, be particularly aware of the way in which many poets combine seemingly unrelated or even opposing ideas. These kinds of juxtapositions are the stuff of major creative innovation.
If you’re a creative writer trying to overcome writers block, poetry can inform your work more directly. Not only are the perspectives of poets inspiring, their diction can be as well. Since poetry is often much shorter than prose, poets have to make the most of each and every word. Take note of the word choices that poets make.
Read a Biography
Biographies are often written about individuals who have achieved great things,and achieving great things often involves some degree of creativity. Read about great creators and consider their environments, their relationships, and their habits. All of these things contribute to the creative process.
Use the biographies of creative individuals as blueprints for creative success. Even though there are many intangible qualities of creative individuals that can’t be mimicked precisely, you can still learn quite a bit from them. Just as actors use real individuals as models for their characters, you can use successful individuals as models for the creative process.
Listen to Music
Music can be relaxing, it can be invigorating, and it can be enlightening. Each of these three qualities can be taken advantage of when searching for creative inspiration. As you listen, attend to the subtle ways in which musicians evoke emotions with sound and consider how you could express similar emotions and energy in your creative project.
Sometimes the distinctions between good work and great work is something that can only be detected through careful observation and analysis. Music in particular is rife with examples of this, all creative thinkers could benefit from developing a similar knack for details.
Meditate
Meditation if often associated with spirituality, but it also has practical benefits such as relaxation and stress reduction. With the pressure of deadlines and the expectations of others, creative thinking can be stifled by stress, and simple meditation exercises such as mindful breathing can be helpful for allaying this pressure.
The process of meditating also brings awareness to things that normally go unnoticed, which can spark creative ideas. However, it is important to remain focused while meditating. Even though your mind may be inclined to wander, and this is a normally a crucial part of the creative process, it’s important to give your mind a break every once in a while.
Go Somewhere New
Sometimes a change of scenery can work wonders in the creative process. For instance, if you usually work on your creative projects in an office, it may be helpful to work in a coffee shop instead. The simple act of putting yourself in a situation or setting that is slightly out of the ordinary can have a profound impact.
Learn Something New
Learning new things can change your perspective. For instance, studying psychology affects how you interpret the actions and motivations of others, studying philosophy can affect your understanding of knowledge and truth. Even academic subjects such as these have potential to inspire inner creativity.
If you’re not the academic type, learn something practical. It could be something as complex as automotive work as simple as a new game. The subject is unimportant. As long as you’re interested and engaged in the learning, you are opening a door to new thoughts that could fuel your creativity.
Find a Creative Partner
Some of the greatest creative works are created by partners. Often times, the individuals involved in creative partnerships are fully capable of doing great work without assistance, but the contributions and feedback of a partner allows them to create works that go beyond what they could accomplish alone.
Working with a partner can also make the creative process more enjoyable. While solo creators often spend a significant amount of time alone, partners have the benefit of company in the creative process. As long as both partners are equally committed to the project at hand, this can be a catalyst for unique ideas and will make working for long periods of time more comfortable.
Read Design Blogs
Check out some of the marvelous design websites like DesignFloat and Smashing Magazine. You’re guaranteed to find some new inspiration. Especially when it comes to web design.
Fantastic Wallpapers That Will Blow Your Desktop Away
Sep 15th
This is an article from SmashingMagazine. Probably the best website in the world
Bird on a branch
Available in various widescreen, fullscreen, HDTV and dualscreen resolutions.
Patrick Gunderson’s abstract artworks
Available in 1920×1080.
Unbrella Sky
1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900
Glacier Sunrise
Available in various full screen and wide screen resolutions – 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
The Dancing Nebula
1920×1200px.
Colors and An Animal
Available in various fullscreen resolutions.
Guara
Available in 1920×1200, 2560×1600
Strukt
Available in 1024×640, 2560×1600
Serenity
Available in 1440×900.
De La Haut
Available in various fullscreen resolutions.
Creamy Sky
Available in various widescreen, fullscreen, HDTV and dualscreen resolutions.
Chameleon
Available in various widescreen and fullscreen resolutions.
MacBook Pro
Available in various widescreen, fullscreen, HDTV and dualscreen resolutions.
Bello Nebula
Available in the resolution 1920×1200.
La Solitudine
Available in the resolution 1680×1050.
Super Silo
Available in various resolutions – widescreen, fullscreen and iPhone.
For A Thousand Years
Available in 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050.
Dreamer
A beautiful wallpaper created by Henrik Newstream, available in various full screen resolutions.
Equidistant
Available in the resolutions 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1900×1200 and in the iPhone-version.
Nova
Available in the resolution 1920×1200.
Eifel Tower
Available in the resolution 1600×1200.
Ee Venn’s wallpaper
Available in various resolutions – widescreen, fullscreen and iPhone.
Bokeh
Available in Dual & Single Display Screens (Wide/Full Screen)
Vladstudio’s wallpapers
Available in various fullscreen resolutions – 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1600×1200.
Cosmic Apple
Available in various wide screen resolutions – 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
Let if fly
Available in various full screen and wide screen resolutions – 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
Swan
Available resolutions: 1440×900, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
Phalanx
Available in various full screen and wide screen resolutions – 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
Autumn
Available in various full screen and wide screen resolutions – 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
Chasing Dreams
Available in 1920×1080.
It’s Magic
Available in 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
Influx
Available in resolutions 1280×1024, 1920×1200 and 2560×1600.
All Falls Down
Available in resolutions 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
Distorted 7 HD Wallpaper
Available in 1680×1050
Rooster’s Ranch
Available in 1440×900, designed by Andrea Andrade.
Electricmanja
Available in the resolutions 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200 and in the iPhone version.
Photons
Available in various themes in resolutions 1280×1024, 1600×1200, 1920×1200.
Korean Star Paper
Available in the resolution 1920×1200.
a flower
Available in various resolutions 1600×1200 and 1920×1200.
The End, The Tsunami
Available in 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
depthCore Heist
Available in various resolutions – widescreen, fullscreen and iPhone.
Girl
Available in 1680×1050.
Mac Universe
Available in 1680×1050.
Twizted
Available in the resolution 2560×1600.
In a Whisper
Available in 1280×800
Fritrix
Available in 1280×1224, 1680×1050, 2600×1300
Gone Clubbing
Available in various resolutions: 1920×1200, 1680×1050, 1440×900, 1280×800, but also fullscreen, HDTV and Mobile versions are available.
Route 66
1920×1200
The Dope Show
Available in 1680×1050 (up to)
Yellow Silk
Available in 1680×1050.
The Lich King (Warcraft)
HD — 1900×1200
Diablo3
1024×768, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
Bulls on Parade
1100×778, 1920×1200, 1680×1050, 1280×1024, 1280×800, 1024×768
Last Click
Videogames Remakes Wallpapers
The French designer Mikaël Aguirre designs remakes of legendary video games such as Mario, Sonic, Gunstar Heroes and others. The wallpaper dimensions are up to 5000×2800 for printing. Incredible pieces of art.
