Mistakes Coaches Make When Setting Up A Website – Part 3

May 27, 2010 By marta View Comments

In the first 2 parts of this series we covered the pros & cons of the All-In-One Package for coaches and the awesome pawesome custom designed WordPress site… until it isn’t so awesome.

The missing piece, not thinking long term

Now I don’t want to target coaches only with this problem, just about every entrepreneur out there when they are getting started, have this issue. It’s also perfectly natural.

You are getting started in your coaching practice, you have a million things to consider, organize and set up. You are most likely bootstrapping your business and every dollar counts. So you look at the very short term and set up only what is absolutely essential right here, right now to get you up and running.

In many areas this will work, you do what you can then, add features plus all the bells and whistles you need, as you need them. But are you looking ahead 1, 3, 6, even 12 months down the road? Have you laid out an action plan of steps and needs as you grow your coaching practice? This is essential for your online presence: Website, Social Media, eCommerce.

When you don’t take that peek down the road a bit it is very easy to get caught in a trap of a solution that “Will work for now”. I can’t tell you how many times that has come back to haunt many entrepreneurs… and yes I’m including myself in that statement. Of course watching the $$ is vital but when you skimp in important areas such as shopping cart, list management and website it will hurt you in the end more then it helps up front.

Your website will become your home base on the internet and it needs to have a strong foundation in order for you to grow and expand, without needing to re-do the entire thing in a few months time. As mentioned before, a self hosted WordPress site is my favorite foundation to get started with.

There are many who think a WordPress site is too “bloggy” looking and I can see that point. You want your site to stand out, be noticed and not look like everyone else’s. But you also want and NEED a site that can be up and running in a short period of time, is something that you can be comfortable working with and does not cost you an arm and a leg in the process. A WordPress site can do that for you… can your current site do all this:

  • Easily change the look by installing a new theme
  • Let you easily update the site
  • Allow you to easily add new marketing mediums, blogging, video, podcasting & social media
  • Expandable and adaptable website to allow you to add to new products, programs & features as you add them
  • Need a membership site? No problem WordPress can handle that with WishList Member or Digital Access Pass
  • Easily integrate your shopping cart and/or list building  into the site
  • Add a forum in a matter of a couple hours… at most!

So make sure to plan

Take some time to look down the road and review the goals you have in place for your business. What areas of the business will you be developing in the next few months, what role does your website need to play? Will you be venturing into new forms of marketing? What features will you be needing with the new products and/or programs coming up in the next 12 – 18 months?

Do you feel you have a strong foundation in place to get started and grow with? If not contact me today for your FREE consultation and we can see if WordPress might be a good solution for you.

Filed Under: Blog Design, Blogging, List Building, The Blue Jeans VA Tagged With: , , , , ,

Mistakes Coaches Make When Setting Up a Website – Part 2

May 20, 2010 By marta View Comments

Site looks perfect – how do I add a page?

Okay you have totally awesome graphics, you love the look and feel of your website! You have it uploaded to your site either as a traditional HTML website or as a custom blog design. It looks great, you are getting great comments on the look of your website. Great that is what you were hoping for…

After a few weeks you realize you need to add a page or remove a page. You need to add some sub pages that appear when you hover over the navigation tab. Then it hits you, uh oh I don’t know how to do that!

You check with the designer and you find out that your entire menu is a graphic. So in order to add a page you will need a new graphic made, have it installed and linked to the new page.

Now I am not a proponent of the coach doing it all. Coaching, website guru, designer, bookkeeping, customer service etc. In fact I think that is the fastest way to burnout. BUT I firmly believe that you the coach needs to be able to quickly and easily jump into your site to make minor changes. That sentence that you REALLY want to tweak or add a new page, drop in a video etc.

In order to get that small little thing that is staring at you from your to-do-list you need to be able to jump in and take care of it in just a couple of minutes.

Your site looks incredible… content? I don’t remember what it was about.

You have your design in place and it looks great you are getting comments on how nice your site looks… but where are the comments on your content? On the great blog post? There may be a few mentions but not nearly as many as you thought.

Take a look at you design – is it overwhelming and taking away from the content? A nicely designed, professional looking website is a must but there is also such a thing as “Simple is Best”. When your content is getting lost in the beautiful design it may be time to reconsider the design.

I have seen some gorgeous websites and I get caught up in the design details and then have to scroll down to the content.  Not good! You are establishing your online presence to have people get to know you and what you offer, not how wonderful your designer is.

Don’t get me wrong I think a designer is an important part of the team and the right designer who gets what you are trying to accomplish can create something for you that looks incredible but does not take away from your content.

What can overwhelm your content?

  • A header section that is wide and moves the content to the bottom of the screen or below it sometimes.
  • Sidebars that have huge loud graphics so that your eyes bounce from sidebar to side bar missing the juicy content in the middle.

So what do you need to consider before having a custom design created?

  • What is my message? What do I want to convey right away when a visitor arrives on my site?
  • Will my content and headlines be visible right away or does the header move it all to the bottom?
  • How many sidebars do I really need? Will 1 be enough or do I need 2? What can I do to keep the important info displayed but not overwhelm?
  • Can I add and delete pages without needing a new graphic made?
  • Are there different page styles available? Full page (no sidebars), Left or Right Sidebar only (only 1 sidebar) etc.

If you have a website for your coaching business is there anything you would love to change right now? If so what  and why?

Filed Under: Blog Design, The Blue Jeans VA Tagged With: , , ,

Mistakes Coaches Make When Setting Up A Website – Part 1

May 13, 2010 By marta View Comments

When starting your coaching practice you know one of the first things you need to to is set up your presence on the web a place to start getting your name out there. It is an important piece of the puzzle so make sure you take the time to think it through.

The All-In-One Website for Coaches

Actually, I almost have a hard time calling this one a mistake. This is a great concept and can be a very inexpensive way to get started. It will have all the features and tools you need, all under one roof.

  • Website
  • Blog
  • Shopping Cart
  • Newsletter
  • Sometimes even a membership site

And the best part? One login! Nice – that is probably my favorite part :)

But here is the bad part… as your business grows, as you expand your products and services – 9 times out of 10 this type of set up will not grow with you.  You will be limited by template options, number of pages, tool, features and bandwidth. You can always upgrade to get a bit more of what you need but by that time you are probably paying an arm and  a leg.

So next you start looking for new options for your website… here comes the ugly part.

All of a sudden you now need to go get hosting, shopping cart, newsletter service and set up a membership site. Oh but wait now you need to move all of your content over, but what about ALL your blog posts? Sorry their blog software is not compatible with WordPress, Blogger or Typepad. So either your lose all the content or start moving over each post one by one. Now you are hearing and feeling the big ouch!

So what should you do? Ask your colleagues, check on the coaching forums you visit, ask on Twitter! Find out what is working for your fellow coaches, what they like, what they don’t like, what they wish they had done different or features they find helpful. The feedback you receive will give you a starting point in your research.

Here are a few things you need to keep in mind:

  1. Scalable - will the site grow with you?
  2. Adaptable – will the site allow you to install new features and allow you to show video, podcasts, social media updates?
  3. Manageable – can you go in and change that word or sentence that is driving you nuts without waiting for your web designer or virtual assistant?
  4. Customizable – will it allow you to add color, styles, design options that fit you, your brand and speak to your target audience?

My personal bias is WordPress – scalable, adaptable, manageable and customizable.

Start with what you need:

WordPress – Free

Theme / Design – There are tons of free and low cost options available.

Hosting – You can easily can find something for under $10.00 per month.

Domain – Usually $10-15 per year.

Newsletter Service – From Free to under $25 per month, lots of options to consider.

When you are ready… you can easily add a shopping cart, membership site, forum, social network… your options are wide open.

Are you a DIYer? Check out my resource pages for recommendations and options. I’m adding more as I find tools that may help you, feel free to check back often.

Not so much a DIYer? Not to worry, feel free to contact me and we can set up a time to go over your options and figure out what will work best for you.

What questions do you have about setting up your coaching website?

Filed Under: Blog Design, Blogging, The Blue Jeans VA Tagged With: , , , , , ,

WordPress Wednesday – Favorite Plugins List

May 5, 2010 By marta View Comments

The beauty of WordPress is that there are so many different options out there that add a tremendous amount of functionality to your site. Plugins are fun! Here is a quick list of some of my favorites:

  1. Akismet – Control the spam comments that bloggers get attacked with. Akismet works great for my sites.
  2. Audio Player – Great option for adding a simple player for your MP3 files to a post or page.
  3. Exclude Pages from Navigation – Simple way for you to manage which pages do and do not show up in your navigation bar.
  4. My Page Order – If you want a simple drag and drop way to organize your navigation bar, this is a great tool to have on hand.
  5. Sociable – Make it easy for your subscribers and visitors to share your blog post on social networking sites.
  6. Subscribe to Comments – Allow your visitors to get updates when you reply to a comment or a new comment is started. Great way to keep the conversation going.
  7. TweetMeme – Super duper easy way to retweet your blog post, probably one of the more recognizable features on a blog these days.
  8. Twitter Tools - Sorry to say but this has been mostly replaced by TweetMeme and Sociable but still a great option to connect your Twitter account and keep it updated as new posts are published.
  9. What Would Seth Godin Do? – Love the name… offer an easy way for your visitors to subscribe to your RSS feed.
  10. WordPress Automatic Upgrade – Keep your WordPress up-to-date with a simple upgrade option.
  11. WordPress Database Backup – Keep your content safe and set up a weekly back up of your site.

There are so many different plugins to choose from. These work great for me but your site and needs may be different and most likely there is someone somewhere with the same needs who has created a great solution. Check out the plugins directory here.

Filed Under: Blog Design, Blogging, The Blue Jeans VA, Virutal Assistants Tagged With: , , ,

WordPress Plugins That Rock

May 3, 2010 By marta View Comments

Building community around your product or service is important.

But, how do you do it and what tools or plugins should you use?

Register for this complimentary webinar to find out:

http://wishlistproducts.com/webinar/wlp.php?af=945379

The training is called “Plugins That Rock” and it will outline the most popular plugins for building membership sites and online communities.

Enjoy, Ihope to see you on the webinar!

NOTE:  There is a 500 person limit (set by the webinar company) so register early to guarantee your spot.

http://wishlistproducts.com/webinar/wlp.php?af=945379

Filed Under: Blog Design, Blogging, Membership Sites, Wordpress Plugins Tagged With: , , ,

How to choose a WordPress Theme

May 2, 2010 By marta View Comments

Choosing  a theme for your site is hard, at least it is for me. I get caught up in looking at alllllll the options and the possibilities. If you were sitting next to me you probably would hear a lot of, “Oh that looks cool”, “Oh yeah those colors work”, “Oh neat feature, how could I use that?” and on and on….

Like most I have waded through my share of the free themes on WordPress.org looking for just the perfect theme. In time I learned a few things…

1) I really like working with WordPress and that in order to do the things I wanted to I was going to need to get some training. Which I did and became even more hooked!

2) Many of the free themes were incredibly frustrating to adapt to what I needed and had little to no support… usually no.

3) The code many times was sloppy and not well organized – making a simple change to even the font size could be a messy business.

It didn’t take me long to get the clue that the Premium Themes were with the moolah. I could find a layout I liked and could use and adapt it with my colors, logos, styles etc. It was a dream! At that point I could concentrate on setting up and customizing the code and not spend half my time wading through code that would make little to no sense.

That is when I discovered Brian Gardner and some of his earlier Free themes – on the recommendation of one of my blog training courses.  This opened up a whole new world. That soon led me to purchasing a Premium Theme package from Brian Gardner’s Studio Press. Then I was sold! Since then, I have looked back and refer to them often. In working with my clients I have also used iThemes with great results, features and support.

This is definitely a case of you get what you pay for.

So what should you look for in a WordPress Theme?

1) As with any theme – layout is important.

2) What page options do you have? Full, 1 Column, 2 Column, Blog etc.

3) Reputation of the designer – do an Internet search on the designer’s name or the business name, you will get a clue fairly quick on their reputation.

4) Is their an active support system. Do they have a help desk? Do they have forums – active forums? This will also give you a good idea on the responsiveness of their support and a chance to find answers to your questions… usually with solutions or new ideas.

5) Most importantly…. do you like the designs offered?

There are TONS of premium themes out there, which is good, a lot of options for you. Just make sure to take the time to research the options first and feel free to ask!

Filed Under: Blog Design, Blogging, The Blue Jeans VA, Virutal Assistants Tagged With: , , , ,

WordPress Wednesday: Adding an image to a post or page

April 28, 2010 By marta View Comments

Adding an image to your blog post or page is actually quite easy.

By using the dialog box in the editor you can select a file from your computer or use the URL where the image is stored. Once the image has been added you can also edit the image:

  • Add a link to make the image clickable
  • Change the size
  • Add a border
  • Add extra spacing around the image so there is padding between the text and the image

Now you can dress up your blog posts and pages with an image… a picture is worth a thousand words!

Filed Under: Blog Design, Blogging, Wordpress Wednesdays Tagged With: , , ,

WordPress Wednesday: TweetMeme Button & Installing Plugins

April 8, 2010 By marta View Comments

Oops… I realized after the video was made I highlighted the wrong plugin, got the name right thought! Here is the website of the plugin I have started using:

http://tweetmeme.com/about/retweet_button

A super simple way to start a conversation with your readers, plus you can also retweet your own post and share.

Filed Under: Blog Design, Blogging, Wordpress Wednesdays Tagged With: , , , ,

WordPress, Blogger or Typepad? Oh My!

July 30, 2009 By marta View Comments

Why a blog?

A blog is one of the perfect places to start your social media marketing campaign. In fact I have heard it suggested more than once that it is the cornerstone.

A blog allows you the opportunity to produce fresh content which the search engines love and your followers will enjoy.

So now you know a little about the why, lets take a look at the what.

What is the best blogging platform for me?

The big names you have probably heard before, WordPress, Blogger and Typepad. But what is the difference?

Hosted Blog – Blogger.com, Typepad.com & WordPress.com
A hosted blog is where your blog, your content, is stored on their servers.

Self Hosted Blog – WordPress.org
A self-hosted blog means that it is installed and hosted on your server.

Which one do I choose?

There is a lot of talk about which one is best and there can be heated discussions regarding the pros and cons. When asked I will always say that a self-hosted blog is the way to go. However, the truth of the matter is, that it is a personal decision, features that might be very important to me, may not be as important for you. I do think that you need to do your research and see what others say and what the advantages are of each option. I have listed a few points below to get you started.

Some Pros of a hosted blog

  1. You can literally be up in running in minutes
  2. Very easy to use for the complete beginner
  3. No need to sign up for a web hosting service – WordPress.com & Blogger.com are free – Typepad does have a low monthly charge.

Some Cons of a hosted Blog

  1. There is always a danger of your blog being deleted or access blocked by the hosting service (I have heard horror stories!)
  2. The web address to your blog will always advertise their service, it will always read: mydomain.blogspot.com or mydomain.wordpress.com etc.
  3. On some there are links at the top that will take you to the next blog that the service hosts. You have no control over what pops up next. Their content could be family friendly or not, it could mirror your opinion or have the exact opposite.

Some Pros of a self-hosted blog

  1. Your domain will not advertise someone else’s service
  2. Full customization, it can look exactly like your site (This site is a perfect example – I have used the WordPress.org blogging platform as my site – full integration between website and blog)
  3. An incredible array of plugins to choose from. Plugins will extend the capability of what your blog can do.

Some Cons of a self-hosted blog

  1. Not necessarily a d-i-y project, it certainly can be, but it will require time, research and trial and error
  2. It does take longer to set up and customize
  3. You will need to pay for web hosting

What it all boils down to is what you are looking for in a blog. Take some time and write out the purpose of your blog, where does it fit in your marketing campaign. Make a list of the different features your blog should have.

I have seen amazing examples of highly successful blogs on both hosted and self-hosted sites as well as terrible ones.

Personally I believe that in the end, the time and effort you put into a self hosted blog is worth it.

  • You control the hosting
  • You control the customization
  • You control what and who you are advertising

What platform do you use right now? What other pros and cons can you think of?

Filed Under: Blog Design, Blogging, The Blue Jeans VA Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Here it is!

May 8, 2009 By marta View Comments

It is here, it is done, it is ready to be unveiled… the new site is up and running.

New packages and services, new team member, it is all very cool and super exciting! Take a look around, browse through the new pages and let me know what you think!

Constructive criticism and honest feedback are always welcome!

Filed Under: Blog Design, The Blue Jeans VA Tagged With: ,
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