What John Chow has Done for MistyLook
MistyLook is a free WordPress theme. I’ll go out on a limb and say you’ve seen it many times before, whether in its default state or with some colour changes. On another limb, I’ll say the title of that site had “Make Money Online” somewhere in there.
The design of the theme isn’t great, and it’s not meant to be. It’s meant to be a simple, readable theme with a customizable header. It’s not made for SEO, and the structure isn’t perfect, so what’s the fuss?
This is the fuss. John Chow has done a great job of making himself a role model to “make money online” wannabes. He gives them hope to rank for that juicy term, but a brand new, over monetized blog using copy cat theme really has no place on that SERPs page.
One copy cow site recently came out with a rather shocking but brilliant idea. I applaud the creator of John Cow.com for not only turning the entire into link bait, but putting a fun twist on John Chow’s site and THEN listing the site for sale. Perfect.
“John Cow” is nothing original. The idea is great, but they purposely steal all John’s aspects and twist it into a huge launch, burst of traffic from posts like this, and then sell it.
I didn’t see the sale coming, but in retrospect, it’s a great plan.
So what has John Chow done for the MistyLook theme? Besides thousands of downloads and a ton of recognition for the author, MistyLook has become the stereotypical “I’m not going to read this blog” theme, for me at least. With few exceptions, MistyLook in its default form has become so common in the same niche, that there is no real point to read these blogs.
Same theme, and same niche? Why not just go right to the source and read John Chow’s site? It has gone into a mini depression of YouTube videos, earning reports and fine dining lately, but still better than regurgitations of his prior articles.
So in the end, it’s more like what has John Chow done to MistyLook? If you’re a default MistyLook user, look into some different colours or a different (better) theme, please, for the reader’s sake.
Leave a comment
Andre Ward
August 1st, 2007 at 1:49 PM
Interesting how they created a sort of ‘parody’ of a site so they can sell it later on. Not very honorable, yet smart. I guess anything goes on the Internet.
Erik Karey
August 1st, 2007 at 3:51 PM
I don’t necessarily discount a blog just because it uses the misty theme, however there are a lot of lookalikes out there with a lot of poor quality writing to avoid.
MrCorey
August 1st, 2007 at 9:44 PM
An evil parody of the evil man’s blog. Fitting, don’t you think?
Goob
August 1st, 2007 at 10:43 PM
I also now skip right over any site using the Misty Look theme. It just screams “the only reason I’m running this blog is to make money from you!”
Also, if you look at how much love John gave the parody site, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had something to do with it.
Glen Allsopp
August 2nd, 2007 at 5:32 AM
I have to agree with you, i find it hilarious how many ‘clones’ there are out there, quite a shame really.
L3ggy
August 2nd, 2007 at 4:45 PM
Never really thought of this, it’s not that bad a theme but well not amasing.
Ryan
August 6th, 2007 at 3:38 PM
I read the whole post before checking out the theme. As soon as I saw it I knew what you were talking about.
Andy
August 6th, 2007 at 8:31 PM
The theme isn’t particularly exciting. I always prefer to custom themes
Michael Cullen
August 6th, 2007 at 10:16 PM
John Chow is so overrated.
Connor Wilson
August 6th, 2007 at 11:03 PM
Haha, so true.
zovall
August 9th, 2007 at 12:33 PM
I really like the Mistylook theme. I find it easy to read and I like the simplistic look. I modified mine to a 3 column layout (which I saw done first at another site).
But I do notice this theme being used a LOT. If there are some other good themes worth considering, I’d love to check them out.
Webd360
August 13th, 2007 at 7:37 PM
I am sure you heard that the johncow.com sale was just linkbait, just like their recent news that they are being sued.
Anyway, I agree about the Mistylook. I never liked it from the beginning and now it just seems to be everywhere (I was thinking the same thing earlier today). John Chow just has a huge following of fans who basically copy every step he makes.
David J
September 8th, 2007 at 2:45 AM
The number of make money online wannabe’s that John Chow has spawned is amazing. I’m critical of JC, while still being a fan, but he has given hope to too many people. It wasn’t easy for John to become so popular. He has a lot of friends on the internet, very good business sense, and lots of experience. It’s not very easy for people to just pick that kind of thing up.
About MistyLook and “Make Money Online” going hand in hand, you’re dead on. It’s crazy. Seriously, find your own template, (there’s thousands!), and build your own brand.
Rob Schultz
October 8th, 2007 at 8:48 PM
Any site that uses the MistyLook = me instantly leaving. That also goes for websites that have cars in the header that the website owner/author does not own himself.
A unique theme goes along way for a site. It shows commitment, branding, and good ol’ fashion know-how.
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