The Best Blog Header OF ALL TIME… the Net Fool's Got It IN THE BAG!!!
Author: Jim | Filed under: Announcements, Blogging Tricks, Web DevelopmentWhen you visit a website… what is the first thing you see?
The answer (to this “lay-up” question) is THE HEADER!
While it may be an overstatement to say that theNetFool.com is now sporting the greatest header that has ever been created for a weblog (and I do this simply for a great post topic 
), I’ve made some more changes that I am sure you have noticed by now. By adding a clever opt-in newsletter subscription box, and in a very aesthetically pleasing manner, I will be boosting the amount of turnover this blog generates… and we all know that more subscribers = more POWER.
The Inspiration for Change?
My inspiration was actually a video I saw a week ago from one of the most famous MMO bloggers of all time, John Chow. Now, John takes a lot of heat from people who claim that all of his material is either 1) fluffy and unimportant; or 2) wrong or misleading. I feel that most of this is coming from the fact that he is a top dog, and people love to hate the champ. In summary, the video is about how he makes money blogging… and a lot of his success revolved around the fact that he used his blog as a machine to capture email addresses. I noticed that I wasn’t doing this currently, and I have decided to make a change by becoming more newsletter-centric. Check out his post here!
Let’s Talk About the New Header & the History
My old header originally just had the logo and a whole lot of eye candy. About half a year ago, I decided that I should be “USING” that space for something… so I took down the papers and such that I had on the bulletin board in the logo and darkened the color of it so that it would look like a chalk board. Now that my bulletin board could be “drawn” on in “chalk” (yes, I have fun with it!)… I downloaded a font called “Eraser” so that I could put up different versions of my header to promote new happenings on my blog.
The next “phase” of the header was when I decided to monetize it. I thought that this was a great idea, and it turns out that it was a major flop. What I did was add a few programs that I used often to generate money on the right side of my header. The problem here was that the affiliate 
links simply weren’t being clicked because they were not being seen by people using the blog… and were very transparent and small in the corner of a very large landscape heading.
CURRENT: Now, I have changed focus and totally integrated an opt-in form into my header. Not only this, but I have a very neat dynamic drop-down system that I custom programmed to deliver one of 3 eBooks with a subscription to this blog as a bonus. I don’t know ANY other blog that allows you to choose from multiple “gifts” upon registering to a newsletter… so I think I have a great system in place that will work for me well into the future.
Jim, that is indeed the best header ever… how did you do it!?
Ah, calm down a little bit… I will explain how it works! The first move on my end was to have different products to offer my readers. Many bloggers haven’t been around enough to have their own eBooks and such that they can hand out, so this was a bit of a leg up from the get go. I have a lot of content and much of it gets buried, so this is a great way to get things back on the frontpage that I’ve worked hard on!
In Aweber, I knew that there was a way to give a blog broadcast to people that subscribe with a digital download… but there is no way to do it for multiple items in different scenarios. Therefore, most of the scripting is actually run through the confirmation page when you first hit “submit.” 
By creating a unique variable for each offering (for example: “gift1″ and “gift1″), you can match that selection to a file name (i.e. “gift1.pdf”) and feed that to the subscriber once they confirm their subscription! It’s a bit more complicated than that… but the jist of it is creating a new variable for the book choice that Aweber (fortunately) let’s you pass on through the system!
The final piece of the puzzle was actually coding it in. I had to tear apart my existing header for this… and splice it into numerous images so that I could place a form on top of it (the thing used to be 1 big image). Then, with some clever CSS implementation for styling (example: the selection boxes highlight when they are active 
), away we go!
Now I can capture more leads… and maintain a pretty sweet looking header! 
-Jimvesting
What Do YOU Think About The New Header?
Related Posts
- Build-A-Blog Workshop Day 11: Modifying Your Blog’s Header to Perfection
- Jazz Up Your Blog With Floating Attention-Grabers! Boost Subscribers With STYLE
- What Spoof Do You Want to See?
- Build-A-Blog Workshop Day 12: Customizing Your Blog's Sidebar
- Jimvesting.com’s New Header Compromise, A Fresh New Look!
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Twitter: @AgentDeepak
January 5, 2010 at 4:00 am #
Awesome Idea. I had a similar idea but could not implement it. I will love to know it goes.
I am yet to start using aweber, It looks like I should start using aweber. Jim do not get surprised if you see me do a similar thing as you in a few days.
Agent Deepak´s last blog ..448$ New Year Bonanza Contest
THe header is indeed very sexy Jim. It looks good while still providing some use for the website. What sort of increase have you seen in your newsletter signups (if you dont mind me asking)?
James | Cogroll.com´s last blog ..5 Niches to Make Money Selling Your Designs on Theme Forest
Sounds like a really cool idea, im gonna integrate a header like that in my blog!
Hi Jim,
I commented a few days back that I like your header! They say self praise is no praise but in this case I’m sure most will agree with you. It really is a great looking design and best of look getting extra subscribers. As for your buried content go for a few ‘best of’ posts
Enda
Top Commentator´s last blog ..Goals for 2010
Cool! I like the way to blend the optin form into your header, Jim. Probably it’s time to wear the suit, huh?
Yan
I’m also truying to have a great header as yours. I always have good graphic but I still not have an ebook or a free prize to give to my reader. but, anyway, your header will be a great inspiration for improving mine.
Rodney´s last blog ..Trouver un logement sur Iphone grâce l’application de Refleximmo
Hello Jim!
Your header is indeed one of the best headers I’ve seen out there. Keep up the good work!
Klajdi Hena´s last blog ..2010 Plans
I agree, your header is very c00l.
really cool, but i bet it will be overseen a lot = bad conversion
Let us know if i am right.
really cool, but i bet it will be overseen a lot = bad conversion
Let us know if i am right.
Rob´s last blog ..How to remove a Tattoo – Best Tattoo Removal Laser Treatment
Twitter: @jimvesting
January 5, 2010 at 8:27 pm #
Could be true… but then again I am not trying to spam people like typical marketers
at least put the focus on the chalk board, put a few blinking stars around it or something lol
Twitter: @jimvesting
January 5, 2010 at 11:53 pm #
How about a big red arrow?
I agree
thanks for sharing
Donanim Haberi´s last blog ..Windows 7 SP1 geliyor!
Twitter: @motorbeam
January 6, 2010 at 3:41 am #
This guide might look easy but its very tough to implement. If you don’t know CSS, dont even try.
fas´s last blog ..2010 Delhi Auto Expo Update
Off course no one have other to, most of all agree with yours Jim, you given one of best header and your post tells people real importance of HEADER.
Very nice header Jim, very innovative.
My only concern is that many people, myself included, don’t really look at the top right hand side of the header.
CNA Training´s last blog ..Red Cross CNA Training
Thats a great header, its makes people want to sign up.
Newsletter form in the header looked very natural and really fits. Great idea by placing it in a blackboard, I think i’m gonna try that as well
Bryan´s last blog ..WP Auto-Blogroll Checker
I loved your header. I think it turned around pretty good
I think you should add a forum too, it could do quite well here with the knowledge of placing ads…
auction forum´s last blog ..When is the best time to sell on ebay?
Reach out to a Chartered Accountant, he will help you form the company and register the same with Registrar of companies under Ministry of Corporate Affairs. This is a must process in India.
i will admit thats a pretty sweet header
Free Freebies´s last blog ..FREE Acuvue Astigmatism Sample
that’s an awesome header jim
Dev | Technshare´s last blog ..SEO – Your Basic Fundamentals
great post..thanks for sharing.
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I see the 2concern.I am very p glad to hear that you got your Supra fixed. I remember reading about some of your problem4x !.
Off course no one have other to, most of all agree with yours Jim