When you read this post, I would assume that you understand and appreciate the significance of having a theme as you work on your blog. If you are unsure or are not that sold on the idea yet, I suggest reviewing my previous post titled Why Blog with a Theme before proceeding with the rest of this article. I am writing in this context: that you agree, for the most part, with the points raised in that previous entry.
Now, let’s help you get through the tedious process of selecting a theme for your blog.
The Logical Process of Selecting a Theme
The best way to go about theme selection is applying the principles of inductive reasoning. Go from general to specific for clarity and focus. Okay, that sounds a bit scary. Don’t let that academic-sounding jibe scare you. This isn’t rocket science; it really is very simple. How it’s done is similar to building your categories list.
First, begin with defining your area of expertise. In other words, define your niche.
Second, define your target audience. For a blow-by-blow on this step, read my related post on How to Define Your Audience)
Third, define categories and subcategories. To understand how this works, review tip #1 of my Tips to Organize Your Blog Posts. This is going to be central to building your theme resource file.
Lastly, build your theme resource file.
Simple, isn’t it? But what’s a theme resource file?
As the name suggest, my theme resource file is a working file I keep to keep track of my post topics, ideas, keyword phrases and post titles. It is ‘themed’ because I group those topics/ideas into categories similar to the categories list on my blog’s sidebar. It’s a ‘working’ file because it’s not a closed document; I add to it as inspiration strikes.
Normally, you begin thinking about blog themes and start building your theme resource file in the planning to pre-launch stages of your blog. Even prior to launching the blog itself, I recommend already having a theme resource file in-progress. This makes it easy to write stock posts.
Me and My Blogically Theme
Have you had enough of abstract tips? To show you how to work effectively with themes, let me make this announcement: For the entire month of December, all my contributions to BlogicallyDotCom’s content will focus on social media. It’s definitely the hottest topic in town, what with all the media coverage, analyses and endorsement of social media and web 2.0 this year. There’s also a growing number of Hollywood celebrities becoming keen Twitterers.
If that sounds Greek to you, don’t panic! I’ll take you through it in small steps. Hopefully after this month, you’ll be ready to take advantage of social media and have a more vibrant and dynamic blog.
