Turn Your WordPress Blog into Anything: 11 Unconventional Uses for WordPress

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I can’t think of any other reasons why WordPress snuggles securely in the top spot in the blogging world aside from its flexibility and seemingly limitless uses.  Why is this so?  First and foremost, WordPress is not only a haven for personal bloggers but it is also widely used for businesses, community networking, etc. In fact, with the right modifications, plug-ins, and themes; you can actually turn your WordPress into anything.

In this article, I am going to show you 11 unusual uses of WordPress.

1. Sending Invoice and Billing statements

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The plug-in for invoices and billing is one of the less often used, but very useful, in WordPress.

Take WebInvoice for example, the plugin allows WordPress users to send itemized invoices to their clients. It’s an ideal for web developers, SEO consultants, general contractors, or anyone with a WordPress blog and clients to bill. The plugin ties into WP’s user management database to keep track of your clients and their information. Businessmen find it easy and convenient to send invoices online while recipient of your invoices can and may receive it fast and hassle-free and this is what I love most.

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: href="http://andypotanin.com/send-invoices-from-wordpress/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WP-Invoice, href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/web-invoice/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >WebInvoice.

2. Creating Job Boards in your WordPress

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A successful and popular WordPress blog may also encounter readers who may want to advertise possible job openings in their company.  Or if you are running a professional site, then you can post jobs for your company and often, this is a plug-in that many businesses regularly use.

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: href="http://www.appthemes.com/themes/jobroller/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">JobRoller, href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/job-listing/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >Job Listing, href="http://pento.net/projects/wordpress-job-manager-plugin/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Job Manager.

3. Building and Setting-Up Your Portfolio

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Seriously, how can a web designer survive without having an online portfolio? In case you not know, WordPress is also a great tool to setup your personal gallery/portfolio. There are plenty of themes and plugins around to get the job done but for your reference, I have listed a few below.

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: href="http://www.wpzoom.com/themes/graphix/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >Graphix, href="http://www.wpzoom.com/themes/polaris/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >Polaris, href="http://themeforest.net/item/discovery-wordpress/83792?clickthrough_id=18336935&ref=smark&redirect_back=true" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >Discovery, href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/12/29/free-icons-photoshop-brushes-and-a-wordpress-theme/" target="_blank">ViewPort, href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/simple-portfolio/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Simple Portfolio, href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-portfolio/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WP Portfolio.

4. Creating the Useful Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) portion

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As the name implies, it is where questions often asked by your clienteles are located and drafted in simple, easy to understand format of question and answer.  Building a WordPress blog with this feature will also enable you to receive questions from your clienteles while you also can post your answers in the FAQs corner.

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/q-and-a/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Q and A Plugin, href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/faq-builder/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >FAQ Builder, href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-faq-manager/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">FAQ Manager, href="http://tribulant.com/plugins/view/8/wordpress-faq-plugin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tribulant’s WP FAQ.

5. Building a Knowledge Base (Wiki)

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Installing a Wiki in your WordPress is actually customizing plug-in for the FAQs. It can help you with SEO since you can regularly post articles or answer FAQs.  The good thing about having a Wiki-WordPress blog is that this enables the readers to link articles related to your posts, rate the contents, etc.

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wiki-embed/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wiki Embed.

6. Building a Business Directory

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This is another very useful feature for your business WordPress Web site.  You can invite your marketing affiliates, members of your site and basically anyone interested to submit interesting but short ads.  The ads can further help your blog establish itself in the online community; it could help attract more readers or followers.

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: href="http://www.directorypress.net/" rel="nofollow" >DirectoryPress, href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/business-directory/" rel="nofollow" >Business Directory Plugin.

7. Creating a Digital Business Card

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Bump into someone and realized that you don’t have a business card with you? Well that’s where a digital business card kicks in. At times like now, where everything goes digital, I am not surprise to see more and more business people are starting to create digital business cards. You can simply write down your domain name on a napkin (or any sort of object) and there, your friends/business associates get your business card instantly. :)

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: href="http://human3rror.com/the-digital-business-card-wordpress-theme/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Digital Business Card WP Theme.

8. Emailing and Newsletter Features

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Part of online marketing strategy is the use of emails or electronic newsletters.  Good thing, WordPress also has a plug-in that caters to this business need.

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: href="http://www.eventualo.net/blog/wp-alo-easymail-newsletter/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ALO Easy Mail Newsletter, href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-responder-email-autoresponder-and-newsletter-plugin/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WP Auto Responder.

9. Building a Web site for Membership Subscription Only

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Let’s say you are an online research company with a good pool of research papers, academic studies and researches. You can then transform WordPress into a subscription only Web site; readers can access full and complete researches and articles if they become members of your site.

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: href="http://wp-member.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WP-Member, href="http://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/wordpress-emember-easy-to-use-wordpress-membership-plugin-1706?ap_id=Chozen" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >WordPress e-Member, href="http://www.digitalaccesspass.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Digital Access Pass, href="http://member.wishlistproducts.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WishList Member.

10. Creating a Review Blog Site

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Since you can do many things with WordPress, one use that could generate income opportunities is by turning your site into a review site.  You can also rate your blog reviews.

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: href="http://www.wpreviewsite.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WP Review Site.

11. WordPress For Social Networking Site

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Since social networking is the brouhaha nowadays, it is no wonder that WordPress can also function as a site where bloggers may and can send social messages and enhance relationships. Surprise? Check out BuddyPress and you’ll see how WordPress can be transformed into a Digg-alike social networking site in just 6 minutes!

Plugin/Theme Suggestion: href="http://buddypress.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BuddyPress, href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/p2p-social-networker/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >P2P Social Networker.

Final Words: Get Started With WordPress Today!

As I confessed previously: I am a big fan of WordPress and I strongly believe WordPress is the best (and most popular) CMS/blogging platform for any beginners who wish to start a new website. In fact, I run all my websites in WordPress nowadays. “How do I start a website?” – This is the most common question I get from my friends and relatives. Back in old times, in order to answer the question, I need to explain about HTML, FTP, database,  WYSISYG software like Dreamweaver, and so on.

Not now anymore.

Want to start a website? “Go with WordPress.” – That’s my standard short-and-sweet answer for all. For those who need beginner guides, check out the long article about href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/blogging-tips/start-a-blog-today/" target="_blank">Getting started with a WordPress Blog here.

Disclaimer: Plugins and themes suggestions are solely for your references. I am not affiliated to (nor in any other type of relationships) with the owners of plugins/themes mentioned in this post.

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