What would you put here ?

Carol:

There are a hundred ways to "skin a cat," so to speak, so you will have to decide what suits your personal style.

If it were me (and again this is my personal feeling) I would include on either side of my main column:

1. Archives. This can be a simple linked list that will categorize and quickly display older posts (typically by month). It's not so critical if you only have a few posts, but as you start getting more and more, it's a great way to make your blog comments more accessible to targeted readers that want to see more of your writing.

2. A call to action to your "money page" or product. I am assuming you are going to be selling something or monetizing your blog in some way. Why not show an attractive, linked, image of your product or service along with teaser copy?

The upper (above the fold) left and right areas of your blog are prime real estate (especially upper left). Folks will see whatever's there without having to scroll. Don't let that opportunity go wasted.

As far as color goes, I like the gray and think it's fine, but your chosen style can be monotonous without a little bit of color. But rather than coloring the background, I would suggest you add color to the headings and post titles to make them stand out - this will add a dash of color to your posts. Here is a color that will go well with the current gray color you have chosen.

Try this color: RGB 183-88-88 (same as HEX# B75858)

Good luck, Steve

steve THANK YOU....... I have an ebook in the making.... its nearly ready

i was looking for a plugin or widget that could be a wee box with my mug shot and a very brief bio...... what do you think

archives are a def.....

I have learnt today how to create affiliate links and created a my fav products page

I would like to do what you suggest and add a box with a good product and link in it, i can create pages now but have no idea how to create boxes to go on the side bits

but I feel I will be learning this very soon phew lol

i got invited to guest blog for a huge website called finer minds

I am over the moon

all help and advice is soooooooooooooo gratefully accepted

You could try a list of some of your popular blog posts, or posts that are related with the same content tag.

I like the grey and white but I like the idea of putting color in the titles of your posts. That would be just simple enough to make a difference.

I like it when blogs have a list of posts that I should read if I'm new to the blog. It's a good way to direct people to where they need to be. And the best posts idea mentioned previously is nice, too.

The site is very zen and simple I like the colours and layout. I would put some links, perhaps an ad, or a recent posts or pages to make navigation very easy.

You could put adsense blocks but make sure you co ordinate the colours to suit your blog or else it will look nasty.

Just my 2 c