Fresh Slant on DotDriven
2 January 08
Photo by ercwttmn
Second Fresh Slant Review
This week’s Fresh Slant Review goes to Ron of DotDriven .
If you would like more information on Project Fresh Slant, see the original Project Fresh Slant announcement, and the Fresh Slant update and FAQ.
Blog Profile
Title: DotDriven
Author: Ron
Description: ‘Trying to Make Cents of this Whole Web Affiliate Thing’
Niche: It seems to me that DotDriven would most likely be classified in the Internet Marketing category. A quote from Ron - ‘There isn’t a definite defined niche/topic yet which is probably one of the many issues DotDriven has.’
Goals: DotDriven is aimed to be a timeline and documentation of a success story and the steps taken that could be followed by an upcoming internet marketer. Ron also would like to successfully monetize DotDriven.
About Ron & Static DotDriven
Ron has been experimenting with web development for roughly one year. Ron started with a hobby site years ago that had a decent community, but at the time he had no idea it could generate revenue.
Later, Ron’s first sites were made with the intention to make money were MySpace resource sites. He has built up those sites enough to finally quit his ‘crappy jobs (yeah, more than one) and try to give this web thing a real chance’.
Overall, DotDriven has been Ron’s documentation of being a new affiliate marketer, and trying to make money and share what he learns as he goes.
Fresh Slant Blog Review Focus
Ron would like advice on DotDriven’s direction as far as content goes. His concern is that the topics of his articles can stray a bit off subject, and would like an honest opinion on your thoughts about the quality of his content. Here are a few questions to keep in mind:
- What do you think of Ron’s style of writing?
- Ron has yet to define DotDriven’s niche. What category would you say DotDriven would be classified under?
- What can be improved to attract the first time visitor as far as aesthetics, layout, and content is concerned?
- What is your first impression of DotDriven and the ad placements on the site?
I’ll start the discussion off with a couple of suggestions and commendations:
LIKES:
Clear Navigation - Your layout is fairly easy to navigate.
Social Voting Widget Focus - I like that you’ve narrowed down your social voting widget to four sites and have put them in plain view.
SUGGESTIONS:
Don’t Advertise You’re a Newbie - This is a very common blogging tip. I understand that being an affiliate newbie might be a part of your branding strategy, but this may not be such a great idea as people do not tend to put trust in a ‘newbie’. Consider using a different term such as ‘experimenting in affiliate marketing’ or something to that tone.
Advertising Low Stats - It’s not a good idea to advertise a low RSS subscriber count as this will turn many first time visitors off. Consider taking the Feedreader widget down until your numbers increase a bit more.
Header Banner - Your header banner with links to posts on DotDriven looks a little out of place and gives the impression that it’s an advert spot.
No Contact Page - Attract visitors and potential networking partners by making yourself accessible. Create a contact page and include links to your social profiles i.e. Digg, StumbleUpon, MyBlogLog, etc.
Now Open to the Audience…
The discussion is now open, so post your commendations and recommendations here and have fun discovering and getting to know Ron and DotDriven.
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3 Responses to “Fresh Slant on DotDriven”
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Advertising that you are a newbie is a turn-off.The biggest mistake one will make is not putting a personal contact page. Whatever good the content of your material is if your target market cant reach you, it’s useless.
[…] been taking part in a cool new group review gathering that J Blu of FreshGeeks setup called “Fresh Slant.” And this week it was my turn to get […]
I enjoy the minimalist element to your design.
-The vertical placement of the social networking sites is something i hadn’t seen before, but a good use of real estate.
-Does the calendar on lower right serve any purpose? I scrolled through 2 months and couldn’t find any clickable activity on it. If not, why is it there?
-I’ll try not to echo the comments above regarding the about page, but if you’re an “internoob wanting to make the big bucks”, that makes me even more of one for using my time on your site, no? Take a look at http://bloggingexperiment.com/ for an example of someone who claims to - like you - know little about their niche but does so in a more passable tone.
-In the category pages, there should be a way other than clicking on the title to go into full posts. While clicking on titles is learned behaviour for those who read blogs often, it still isn’t common practice outside of for sidebar content elements that are snippets of a whole story.
-Perhaps I’m biased from my general opinion that affiliate networks are in the same realm of hell as spammers, but I can’t figure out what the point of your site is. The tone you write with doesn’t make me want to come back to the site. ever. again.
As will all constructive criticism, take with grain of salt.