The site itself will stay up and running as a document to how far we’ve come since October 2007, but from his point on, everything will be happening over at GUERRILLA. So head on over, check it out and if you’re in need of any website or blog design work, do not hesitate to let us know. We’re there for you.

Blog Theme Machine has been around for almost two years and it’s been a hell of a ride. I’ve worked with hundreds of clients and met thousands of great people online in the design community and other communities as well. When I first started blog theme machine I had the sole purpose of being a blog designer – and that was it. In the past few months I’ve realized I am outgrowing the “blog designer” niche I dug myself into and need to break out…

Enter the GUERRILLA

The word Guerrilla first started to become a part of my vocabulary when I read the “Guerrilla Marketing” book and was writing about my own Guerrilla Marketing Tactics on my (now sold) Bootstrapping Blog. I love the word Guerrilla and the definition behind it. It fits me and my lifestyle perfectly.

When I sold the Bootstrapping Blog I had a void I wanted to fill – I loved writing about Freelancing and Marketing in general. So after debating on names, I landed on Guerrilla Freelancing. It’s being built now to stand tall like the Freelance Switch website and also the Freelance Folder website – but with a twist – it’s built by a Guerrilla for the other Guerrilla Freelancers who’re still in the trenches like I am.

And then comes the baby sister to Guerrilla Freelancing – WPGuerrilla. Wordpress Guerrilla is the newest site in my Guerrilla network (which I, at the time, didn’t even know was going to be a network) which focuses on the CMS that’s helped me full time freelance for the past two years with Blog Theme Machine.

So where does Blog Theme Machine rebranding fit into it all?

Upon realizing that the Blog Theme Machine site was pigeonholing me into the Blog Design niche and that work had been slowing up due to the increase in Premium Wordpress Theme sites where bloggers could get awesome blog designs for a fraction of the cost that the custom blog designs I’ve been creating can go fo, I knew I wanted to venture out into more than just blog design.

Knowing that the BTM website was not built for such an expansion, I had to brainstorm again. The GUERRILLA word was catching on with the two blogs I started so I made the decision to build off of that name and create a network – much like other great networks before me: Envato and the entire TUTS network, Fuel Your Creativity and the entire FUEL brand group and many, many others.

Enter GUERRILLA

Instead of putting another catchy word with it or adding “creative/designs/studio/ect” word into it, I decided that the GUERRILLA website would be the head of the pack. I quickly picked up the www.madebyGUERRILLA.com domain as I knew it would be nice to have “made by Guerrilla” at the bottom of the websites I create which would work well for establishing the name and brand.

Plus, everyone who’s anyone has one name – Prince, Madonna, Cher, Seal, ect. So, GUERRILLA was born.

When will BTM be switched over?

This is where we’re at right now – BTM will stay live for the next few months but will be sporting a nice graphic at the top of the site letting people know we’re rebranding. No sense in just cutting everything off right away. Besides that, the building of the GUERRILLA website will take a bit of time to get right and also redesign the two GUERRILLA blogs. So, I’d say you’ll see the BTM site up until the end of the year, but the rebranding will be done by August 1st.

I will make sure the contact form here is sending emails to the proper address (the new madebyguerrilla email address) and make sure there’s no confusion on this website – once the GUERRILLA website is open, this website will be CLOSED.

What else is in store for the GUERRILLA network?

There isn’t much I can say right now but there are definitely two more blogs in the works as well as a premium theme website being built which will launch at the same time as the GUERRILLA website, the redesign of WP Guerrilla and the redesign of Guerrilla Freelancing. The two new blogs will not be launching at that time, but will be going up shortly after. Slow but steady wins the race.

Where will wordpress wednesday go?

Glad you asked Over the past couple weeks we’ve been publishing weekly wordpress wednesday round up resource articles. The articles and the #wpwednesday hash tag are starting to make headway on twitter and I would not want to see that go down so we’ll be moving it over to our Wordpress blog – WP Guerrilla.

A message to everyone who I’ve worked with

THANK YOU! Without your business and trust I would not have been able to get this far in my career. I hope you enjoy the work I’ve created for you and hope that in the future, if you ever need any other work created (or know anyone else around you who may) you feel encouraged to find your favorite GUERRILLA and chat

It’s been an amazing ride and I hope that the new expansion makes things even better and I get to meet even more awesome people! The clients I’ve had have been amazing and I love them all. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Welcome to version 3 of Blog Theme Machine! FREE CUSTOM BLOG DESIGNS FOR EVERYONE! (just kidding). I do however have a contest coming up where I’ll be giving away a free custom blog design and also some other cool prizes But back to the new website design…

The new version has been ready to go for a while now but needed some adjustments to fit the direction I wanted to take it in. A lot of items were removed (rss sidebar subscription, ect) and some things were added (sifr titles, ect). I am completely stoked about this new version and happy to see it finally hit the light of day.

The old version was one I was (and still am) very happy with, but I felt that it was distracting the attention away to the many different items I had on it. This new design is more minimal and clean/easy to follow. Another great thing about this design is that it’s been built on the 960 grid system!

There are still some kinks to work out (comment styling, ect) but I didn’t want to wait any longer to let the new version get it’s shine. I will also be blogging a lot more here now that the new design is up – there’s something about a fresh coat of paint that really helps liven your spirits.

I am going to be posting a new article in the next day or two that will explain a bit why I have been out of touch with my online places (twitter and others) and will give you a bit of background into the things going on in my personal life as well as what to expect now that I’m back.

A quick note to let you know if you’re wanting to know a little bit more about me (Mike Smith) you should check out the interview that I recently did over at Fuel Your Creativity. It was a lot of fun and shows the more laid back side of me with answers to some of the questions. Learn about my love for art among what other things I have in the works. Check out the interview here (or by clicking the image above).

• CSS Mania
• Fave Up
• CSS Design Yorkshire
• We Love WP
• CSS Based
• Vecteezy ( for my hand drawn vector icons)
• CSS Creme
• CSS Container
• Boxed CSS

I appreciate the love I’ve received for the new design and the new design jobs I’ve closed deals on solely because of the redesign of the site. Since the launch I’ve had three clients contact me and hire me and they’ve told me that they seen the site before and since the redesign, they knew they had to hire me. I guess the redesign was a success

Over the next couple weeks I’ve got some new portfolio work going up and I also have some great articles coming up. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention how much I love twitter and talking to some of the coolest people in the world on it. You guys are GREAT! (Follow me here).

With over 100 clients this year, I’m looking to hit 300 by the end of my second year. I’m also looking to build this blog to be a premier blogging and design blog. With everything from tips on how to hack your wordpress theme to design tutorials, tips and resources. Since I already have a small business blog, I want to touch base with my core now; the bloggers.

Bare with me while I get the rest of the blog in order and get everything loaded in. It’s an exciting time for me to launch the new version of Blog Theme Machine since it’s had the old version up for a year now. The old version, admittedly, was thrown together to get launched and I always had plans to go through and redesign it. But when client work overtakes the majority of my time, I put it on the backburner. It wasn’t until I realized that the one year anniversary was coming up, that I noticed the design STILL wasn’t updated. So, check out the image below and tell me I should have kept it another year

Told you it needed updated

So that about covers the launch post. Like I said earlier, just stick around and ensure you do not miss the free icon sets, the free wordpress layouts and the free tips and tricks on blogging, gaining more subscribers/traffic, social media information, and so on. It’s going to be a fun ride, and I’d love to have all of you on it with me!

• DIGG - http://www.digg.com/users/blogtheme
• TWITTER – http://www.twitter.com/blogdesigner
• STUMBLEUPON – http://blogthememachine.stumbleupon.com
• REDDIT – http://www.reddit.com/user/blogthememachine
• DE.LICIO.US – http://delicious.com/blogthememachine
• MIXX – http://www.mixx.com/users/blogthememachine
• SPHINN – http://sphinn.com/user/view/profile/MikeSmith
• NEWSVINE – http://blogthememachine.newsvine.com/
• PROPELLER – http://www.propeller.com/member/blogthememachine/
• FLICKR – http://flickr.com/photos/BlogThemeMachine
• TUMBLR – http://blogthememachine.tumblr.com
• TECHNORATI – http://technorati.com/people/technorati/blogthememachine/
• YOUTUBE – http://youtube.com/user/blogthememachine
• VIDDLER – http://viddler.com/explore/BlogDesigner
• SQUIDOO – http://www.squidoo.com/blogthememachine
• DESIGN FLOAT – http://www.designfloat.com/user/view/profile/blogthememachine

* please note the list is in no particular order or importance. I believe all 10 reasons are important

1. I am a blogger too – Not only do I design blogs, I write them. From this design blog I am just starting to the small business blog I have been running for just as long as this website has been live, I cover a lot of various topics. I understand what a blogger needs as far as functionality goes and I understand the end result of a great blog design; a great blog. Thats the goal for every blog right?
2. Exceptional customer service - Unlike some blog design companies, I do not take 24-48 hours to reply to emails. I have email open and around me during most hours of the day. I work in the morning (US time) in order to catch the early workers and bloggers that need my help and I also work late at night (10pm-5/6am US time) in order to catch the night owls here and also my clients from overseas. There’s no reason that because of the time difference they should receive any different quality from me as far as customer services goes.
3. I love wordpress – Why should this matter to you? Well, 99% of my clients run wordpress and if I love wordpress, then that means I am constantly learning the ins and outs of how to manipulate it, stretch it and bend it to do things normal blogs do not, and that is where me loving wordpress comes in handy. I can turn your website into something noone else in your target market has seen before.
4. Experience and expertise – I have been designing blogs for a long time and I have been blogging for even longer. I know the ins and outs of how the blogging world works and I know how wordpress and other Content Management Systems work, so I can provide you with top notch quality every time we work together. From designs that are nowhere near cookie-cutter, to special codes and hacks I provide, your website will definitely show the experience I provide is a positive.
5. This is how I survive – This is the only way I make money so why would I mess that up? If I screw this up, then I am out of money, out of a house and out of a life. I will end up homeless on the streets without a dime to my name and no means to provide for myself. Knowing this ensures that I do everything I can to provide you with the best quality work possible.
6. I’m completely transparent – Have a question for me? ask me. Want to know what I’m doing with your project? ask me. Unsure if there are hidden fees for your work? ask me. I do not like to or want to hide anything from my clients. Curious as to what I cooked on the grill last night? ask me
7. High quality designs - OK, so maybe I covered this a little bit in point #4 but I thought it was good enough to have on it’s own My designs are top notch. I do not like to give out crap work and I turn down projects because the client wants me to “just make something simple” or tells me “if I give you half of your asking price, can I just get half the quality – I just need something up quick”. You know that if you hire me, you will get top notch quality when it comes to my design work. A lot of my designs have been featured in various CSS galleries and if you hire me, we can get yours featured too.
8. Cross browser compatibility – This is a positive reason to hire me because if your website doesn’t show properly in different browsers, then different visitors to your site see different things and that could possibly turn the off to your website, your work and or hiring from you. When you hire me, my work is valid xhtml/css tableless code and is compatible with all modern browsers (Firefox, IE7+, Opera, Safari, Chrome ect). We can’t afford to let one visitor pass us by and being cross browser compatible helps to not let that happen.
9. My designs increase your profits and branding - It’s been said before that because of the work I’ve done, websites have increased their readership by X amount of subscribers, increased their profits by X amount of dollars and/or increased their visibility in the blogosphere due to the logos created or the entire layout in general. When your niche is filled with the same things, being a bit different can skyrocket your profits and branding because people love change and people love to try different things. My designs do just that.
10. I’m a lot of fun to talk to – Some people might think I’m a bit too “professional” in conversations but thats because they haven’t got to know me personally yet. I tell jokes; a LOT. I like to laugh and keep conversations as light hearted as possible. I’d rather talk about how screwed up politics are and how weird music is nowadays then to talk about the 1000 lines of php I had to edit yesterday. Don’t believe me? write me and find out