So after last week finally delivered the intense Showdown (with the winner taking it by only 9 votes…) that we had all been waiting for (and the one I had predicted), we kick off this Monday with another bruising battle… This time, the theme in question is Fresh News’ big brother – Busy Bee.
The two websites that will be squaring off against each other this week is the money-making blog – IncomeDiary – versus the totally inspired, personal blog of Sarah Stanley. A quick look at the two sites makes you realize this is gonna be another close-knit affair, so let’s jump into our analysis right away… Girls up first…
Sarah Stanley Inspired – Link (Meghan McCrae from Clever Daisies)
Sarah Stanley Inspired
Starting with the homepage of Sarah’s site, you’ll notice that the only section that you can really see the Busy Bee influence is in the sidebar; the rest of the site sports an awesome design consistent with the brand identity of the site. One thing that is certain, is that the bright & vibrant blues & greens definitely feels inspiring, so kudo’s goes to the designer for implementing a colour scheme that reinforces the inspirational content.
Further to this, we really love how the consistency in the design and the prominence of Sarah’s own personality (in terms of the extensive usage of photos featuring herself) has been used throughout the site, to really great a personal brand and online presence. For a personal blog, this is probably the most important thing, since there are just so many competing web properties out there; you thus really have to stand out from the crowd and we believe that Sarah has done this well.
Scrolling to the bottom, we probably reach our favourite single design element on the whole website: the footer. The design in the footer is just simply magical, as it combines extremely well-executed typography which forms a nice combo with the playful swirls in the background. So many footer designs are so lacking and considering this is the last thing your readers see, we’re always surprised that designers don’t pay more attention to it… Again though, Sarah Stanley scores massive points in our book on this front.
Income Diary – Link (Micheal Dunlop from Income Diary)
Income Diary
Similarly to Sarah’s website, Income Diary features a homepage which is almost unrecognizable from the default Busy Bee theme; the only element which still incorporates the Busy Bee default style is the homepage… And again, we’re in love with the extent of the modifications on the homepage, which turns it into much more a fully-fledged CMS (compared to a blog).
In terms of the aims of the homepage (we’re assuming a little here), we think Income Diary has gotten everything just right. The great design of the separate elements definitely emphasizes the right things in such a way as to get the best conversions. In this regard, you can see that the author – Micheal Dunlop – has some great ideas on making money from Income Diary and the fact that he is combined strategy & design gives the website a massive advantage over others.
Onto the inner pages, you’ll note that they’ve retained much more of the default Busy Bee styling. But one thing that still stands out, is the awesome sidebar on those pages. A few custom graphics and custom widgets, really takes those pages from being average to being much, much cooler. Without that sidebar, we might not have even featured Income Diary here… 
Our final thoughts? Income Diary definitely has the more impressive homepage, but Sarah Stanley Inspired in turn hits hard with her much-customized inner pages. So again, we haven’t made it easy for you by featuring two designs that are great for totally different reasons. You’ll thus have to have the final say in this week’s voting…
[polldaddy poll=1810308]
WINNER! You’ll see from the above voting poll widget, that the inspirational Sarah Stanley has won this week’s Showdown with two-thirds of the votes. Congrats thus goes to Sarah & Meghan McCrae (who designed / developed the website) for an awesome website.
Thanks also to everyone who voted and made this week’s Showdown the most-voted Showdown thus far! Without you guys (and girls) voting & leaving comments, the Showdown just wouldn’t be as much fun… Until next week…
74 Responses to “Showdown Series (Season One): Week 4”
Going to be another very close one I feel. Awesome work by both Meghan McCrae and Micheal Dunlop. Good luck guys!
both blogs are awesome but i must say my vote goes out to “Sarah Stanley Inspired”
Thanks for voting Omar!
Income Diary must be one of the best affiliate blogs I’ve ever seen. Voted.
We can vouch for their affiliate success in selling our templates to their users!
So they’re not only great at selling affiliate products, but also at designing the appropriate vehicles for those sales.
Sarah Stanley Inspired got my vote!
Thank you Lio!
Both looking good, but I like IncomeDiary a bit more.
Again these are very good designs worked out with good details and possibilities. I am stunned by the work and the effort done for these templates.
Although both are perfect in my eyes, I voted for the “Income Diary” as this one attracts me a little bit more then the “inspired” once.
Awesome work!
Wow, that’s a tough one. The graphical style of Sarah Stanley definitely appeals to me but I love the homepage detail on IncomeDiary and the way the sidebar carries that through.
And that’s why this will be another closely fought contest!
Income Diary got my vote. I like Income Diary color combination.
Income Diary looks great, but that guy Michael Dunlop reminds me to an annoying rich jack-ass next door, who always talks big about his money and success every time he meets his neighbors. I vote the humble: Sarah Stanley Inspired.
Hehe, this a first for our Showdown… A vote that goes against the personality of the author… Things should spice up from here!
thanks Isaac!
I like them both, at a pinch, I’ll go for sarahstanleyinspired
Sarah Stanley Inspired – To Win…
This ones very easy: “Sarah Stanley Inspired”
The other is too WooTheme default design.
What about Income Diary’s homepage? That’s kinda unique (and awesome) we think!
Both nice blogs! Income Diary got my vote. It had me visit more pages.
Awesome stuff, very difficult choosing a winner but alas I selected one.
I went with Sarah Stanley Inspired, too – and not just because we’ve got similar passions, but because I felt the design was evident of a well thought-out process of what she wanted to create and how to implement it.
Both were very well done, though; toughest vote yet.
This is a tough one for sure. Both designs are nice, I like the Busy Bee theme, and both sites have good content!
But being a health and fitness nut myself, I have to give a slight edge to Sarah
Meghan McCrae wins for design and Sarah Stanley wins for being a wicked social marketer!
It’s interesting that you would bring up the marketing factor, because even though I agree, I’ve always thought that people will vote for visual impact only; and not consider the strategic implications of a design.
Is anyone else voting from a more strategic viewpoint?
Absolutely – design doesn’t exist in a vacuum. I’m looking at design, sure, but also how it communicates and facilitates the overall goals of the site.
Both look great- this one will be close for sure. In the end Sarah gets my vote.
Hey Adii,
Thanks for having me on this showdown, I actually have a new designer working on one of your themes which is going to dominate!
Loving what you are doing and Woothemes have the BEST platform out there for bloggers to customize a blog theme.
Michael
You planning on changing Income Diary? Because if yes, that’d be a shame, since the homepage especially is really one of the best modifications we’ve seen to any of our themes.
On the flipside, we’d love to see what you come up with next!
My vote will surely goes to IncomeDiary.
I like both of them – they look great, easy to navigate and both have relevant information.
In the end, though, I went with Sarah Stanley Inspired because I love the way the color scheme works into the whole concept. It is clean, humble, personal and whimsical yet totally professional at the same time.
Good job to both!
I’m going to have to go with Income Diary.
I think both of these sites are great. Design wise I think sarahstanleyinspired is a bit more original so it was very hard to vote the other direction.
I gave my vote to Income Diary because of two simple things I saw on the sidebar which might be irrelevant to this theme showdown though, a very nice and clean way of doing affiliate marketing:
“Michael’s Earnings are up 1263% since Sep 2008″ which then links to this page: http://www.incomediary.com/create-a-profitable-blog/
And
“Three Easy Steps To Build A Site Like This” which links like so:
Buy Domain (Aff link to Goddady)
Buy Hosting (Aff link to Hostgator)
Blog Design (Aff link to Woothemes)
Very nicely done!
It’s funny that you mention the “3 easy steps” section, as we used a similar approach on the WOO2 homepage. And it’s increasingly evident that those type of “dumbed down” clarifications of how something works seems to attract the best conversions online.
Yes, the “Keep It Simple Stupid” (KISS) concept seems to be more and more evident nowadays which I think is great.
How did it work out for you guys on WOO2? Would you say it is a practice that works out well?
We don’t really run extensive analytics to substantiate my opinion completely, but the whole WOO2 redesign has proved very successful; both in terms of increased sales and increased interaction with our users / interested parties. We’re big fans of 37Signals, the Getting Real book and Magnus has forced us to live and die by “KISS”.
So having said all of that, the “KISS” approach really is valuable, especially if you want to break into a more mainstream and less tech-savvy market.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing Adii!
Adii, not redesigning IncomeDiary, we are redesigning WebDesignDev and will be working with the designer of TutCandy.com which won the showdown
Michael
IncomeDiary got my vote. Although, both redesigns looked good.
It’s hard to say, Income Diary is most clear about what to do to get more information when in a hurry, but it is on Sarah’s website that I stayed the longest, watched her video, followed her on Twitter and sent her a question by tweet. I did sign up for the newsletter on Income Diary as well, but I feel Sarah is more engaging with her site visitors and her video has a lot to do with that because it proves the girl on the site is not a stock photo model, it really is her.
I think Michael is genuine as well, but I am a little concerned that he’s going to advise me to use services to “get 1000s of followers/readers in a 24 hours” but those services do not get followers that value me or that I value. I am hopeful that he is not just another internet marketer and the impression I get is that he is not and that maybe he will take the place of Darren Rowse one day in one way or another.
Hello everyone!
Such a nice surprise to come here today and find this article. Thank you for including the Sarah Stanley Inspired design in your showdown.
I love WooThemes and am continuing to use them to create more designs. I have many in the works, my own site included!
Thanks to everyone for taking a peek and commenting on the design. I appreciate all of your kind words.
Thanks again!
Meghan McCrae
Yes nice job Meghan! I look forward to seeing more of your work with woo.
Thanks for stopping by Meghan! It’s always great to know that quality designers as yourself are enjoying our themes and more importantly making stunning websites such as Sarah’s website!
voted for Sarah Stanley Inspired.
The other one looks like an advert and i couldnt see any content
WOW!!! Now, this is a way to wake up on a Tuesday morning!!! Thanks for all the votes & kind words! I am in awe! BUT. I have to give credit where credit is due. And that would be to Meghan. She does rock. She got my vision totally & was/is so great to work with. THANK YOU Meghan!!!
Oh, and a little shout out to follow me always but on Aug 22 as I run 100 miles
Have a great day!!!
Awesome site Sarah…You have my vote.
Sarah rocks!!!!
Sarah Is the Toughest most inspiring kick ass chick ever!!!
Sarah Stanley for sure!
Both site designs are appealing, but in the end content is king. Sarah Stanley’s content is authentic. As I read, I’m certain she wrote each post and isn’t going to force me a bag of goods. If I want more, I can easily find additional content since she cross-pollinates her social marketing platforms.
Hands down, Sarah Stanley Inspired.
Sarah left me inspired! Love it!
I’ll go for the inspirational Sarah Stanley Inspired. Excellent site!
I vote for Sarah Stanley Inspired, her site is truely inspirational and is well done.
I vote for sarah.
i vote for sarah
I vote for Income diary. The Blog is great, so is the dude and so much is the design !
I am absolutely astounded by the modifications on these two websites. Both designers really did an outstanding job. I barely recognize that either website is using the Bumble Bee theme at all. Awesome designs, great colors, great content. Just super all around.
I had one suggestion to Income Diary. I would have much shorter excerpts for each category at the top. Otherwise, perfect in every respect.
Hats off to both websites. It will be a very tough choice on who to cast my vote for.
Sarah Stanley rocks!
Another vote for incomdairy site
Voting for Sarah, hands down!!!
23 days!
Hehe, seems like Sarah definitely has quite a few fans here!
Sarah Stanley definitely!!! One of the most inspiring blogs I’ve ever read.
Vote for Sarah and thumbs up to Woothemes as I use them for my golf tv site.
Cheers
Andy
Had to go for Sarah I love the detail. Although, I was expecting the 3 dots to do something …
Both nice, but income diary takes it for me!
Sarah Stanley Inspired, all the way. Its the messaging and content that drives me to her site AND keeps me reading her eNewsletters and blogs. She brings the term ‘reality’ to fruition for the 99% of the american population to make it possible to do anything to better themselves.
All stand for the big ‘O’ for Sarah Stanley Inspired – Standing Ovation! Very well done and always looking forward to her passages and inspirations.
Matt
Income Diary all the way! An inspiration to all teenage entrepreneurs.
This one was easy win for sarah stanley.
Congratulations.
Congrats Sarah
Thank you so much! I appreciate being included in the showdown this week, it was a lot of fun! Sarah & I are thankful for all of the votes and comments.
Shout out to Michael Dunlop for a job well done.
Thanks again! I’ll be sure to check out the next showdown
Meghan McCrae
thanks to all who voted. what a fun showdown. Meghan and I may have to get some more sites up for another round!!
Cheers!
Sarah:)
As long as those new sites will be utilizing our themes; we’re game!
I vote for Sarah!