Just a quick note to say Happy New Year to everyone…2009 has had some definite lessons and blessings at the same time.  I had some opportunities to learn and get clients started on custom wordpress blogs and ecommerce shopping carts.  I also got myself on facebook, which opened up a whole new world for long lost friends and acquaintances and new business opportunities.

I have been studying and learning astrology for about ten years now and find it most helpful to give yourself a heads up for lean times as well as abundant times.  Today we have a lunar eclipse at 10 degrees cancer.  Lunar eclipses signify an accumulation of the lessons and events you have been working on over the past six months.  Eclipses occur twice a year, in pairs, with a lunar followed by a solar two weeks later.  Of course, solar eclipses are new beginnings and today is a lunar one, which is endings.  So today, on New Year’s Eve, ask yourself what have you learned over the past six months and what is happening now to bring that to a head?   For me, I have had some lessons in business such “Gee, that wasn’t such a good idea, don’t think I will do that again….” to new beginnings in relationships and getting a handle on stress.   This eclipse is a personal one for me since I have natal mars at 12 degrees cancer.  The planet mars in astrology symbolizes how you go after things, anger issues, stress…etc. and the eclipse today sets it off, in my chart.    All in all, I am looking forward to change.

My message to myself and everybody else  is take steps toward your happiness in a more direct way than ever possible as you are responsible for it. Take time to play and have fun because it is just as important as working and making money.  Things become easier and more flowing when there is joy in everyday life.   Your happiness contributes to the overall collective vibe, so make it a top priority!

…specializing in creative and unique custom print and web design. Let me help you grow your business!

Feedburner added a new feature, Twitter!  If you are using feedburner to help people subscribe to your blog posts, you can now add your twitter account to your feedburner account.  In english, everytime you post a new blog, it automatically goes out and posts to your twitter account.  In addition, if you have twitter hooked up with your facebook account, it automatically goes out to your facebook account.  No more posting your blog post by hand!

Feedburner

…specializing in creative and unique custom print and web design. Let me help you grow your business!

Purpose – what do you want your website to do?

Do you want to promote your business, such as a brochure website, or do need an ecommerce solution to sell your products?  Do you need a blog to express yourself or inform people, be interactive?  Do you need a marketing site to build a database of names?   It’s important to figure out what you want to do with the site because it will effect how it is built.

If you are not using a web designer to create the site, then the next step is to research website packages that will offer the features you need for your purpose.

Hosting/domain

You will need to register a domain for your website.  I think it’s good to make it short and sweet, something that can be easily remembered.  You can register your domain at Godaddy or Network Solutions easily enough, and purchase hosting.

Basic hosting is just fine for a basic site.  You do not need a huge amount of space unless you plan on putting large video or mp3 files on your site.  If you are planning on creating an ecommerce site where you can add and delete products yourself…you will need to get a shopping cart solution.  I like Network Solutions because they let me design parts of the site custom, but there are many packages out there if you want to comparison shop.

Pages/Sections

Once you have thought about what the purpose of your website is, you also need to think about what sections or pages need to be on the site.  For example, home page, about you or the company, services, products, videos…etc.  It could be whatever you like but it needs to organized into sections.

Write up or organize your content into the sections and pages.

If you are not too keen on writing, there is always the option of hiring a web content writer.  It might speed up the process to getting your website online.

Design and Creative Direction

This is the fun part.  As a business owner looking to get your site online you will need to think about how you want it to look, whether you are hiring someone to do it or you are using a website template.  Some questions to ask:

What do you want people to think about and feel when they go to your website?  How do you want to be perceived?   What are some keywords that come to mind?  What kind of colors do you like?  I also ask you to look at websites that are similar to your business to get an idea of the layout or just look at sites where you like the design.

If you are working with a designer, convey this information to your designer so they can create something you will like!

In a nutshell, the steps to get started are:

• Define the purpose
• Hosting and Domain
• Organize and/or write your content
• Design and Creative Direction

At this point, you are set to get your website started, whether you are hiring someone to do it for you or using a template package that offers the features you need.  Naturally, think of me for the custom website design!

…specializing in creative and unique custom print and web design. Let me help you grow your business!

www.GloriousGardenSkincare.com

Custom Designed Ecommerce Shopping Cart for natural, organic, and holistic skincare products!

…specializing in creative and unique custom print and web design. Let me help you grow your business!

Just thought I would share this one tool. I realize there are many out there but I dig this one since it is a plug in and automatically gets loaded to all the posts I put on my wordpress blog…hope you find it useful…

Add to Any

…specializing in creative and unique custom print and web design. Let me help you grow your business!

I found these two photos while searching for something to use for a website I have been working on…I thought they were just too cool. It’s a galaxy but it sure does look like an eyeball to me, a very artistic one at that. Eyeball is really a spaceball….ENJOY!!!

Here are some stock photo websites I use for affordable downloads for your website or blog project:

Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make $$$!

…specializing in creative and unique custom print and web design. Let me help you grow your business!

Sometimes I have friends over.  Sometimes I have clients over to talk business.  One thing I have noticed is they seem to like the music I have on in the background so I thought I would share.  I tend to go towards spacey ambient techno during the day, nature sounds, or meditation music.  I DO like to rock out to music like Janes Addiction to the Beastie Boys, but that is just too clangy for me to listen to and try and get things done, so ambient it is.  My pick for background work music…hope you enjoy….

http://www.radioio.com/genres/Electronic-Dance

Click on the ambient station…Forest has some pretty eclectic tunes on there…going back to the 80’s…I love that station.

http://music.aol.com/radioguide/lite-sounds-radio

Nature Sounds, Ambient, Meditation

And, of course, when I am not working and need something a bit more upbeat:

http://music.aol.com/radioguide/alternative-radio

80’s and 90’s alternative, Industrial, New Wave, Gothic same thing with Radio IO

…specializing in creative and unique custom print and web design. Let me help you grow your business!

Being a solo entrepreneur can be stressful!  As a web and graphic designer for holistic business I know how important it is to reduce the stress of my work life, but sometimes I forget and suffer the consequences.  For me, some of the stress causes come from always having to find the next customer, or having them find me, doing everything myself from billing to creative direction, to production, to dealing with the sometimes difficult client.  Although it IS exhilarating being in charge of your destiny, there are also times when you wonder if it would just be easier to work for someone else.  Of course it never happens, but the stress is still there.

My stress management techniques:

Taking frequent breaks.  I try to get up and walk around, play with the cat, every hour or so.  I find that just one minute of getting up from what I am doing immediately brings a more creative solution to whatever I am working on.  Animals are great for stress reduction.  I consider my cat my co-worker since she is great for telling me when I need to take a break.

Staying Organized – I have a daily list of goals and things that need to get done for the day.  When I finish one of the items I check it off.  This really helps me to feel and be productive even if at the time I don’t think I accomplished much.  I look at the list and realize I did what I set out to do.

In the afternoons, I will take a quick walk around the block just to get out of the apartment.  Again, taking a break from focused work is exactly what you need to get better ideas and solutions.

Meditation/and or yoga – I schedule a ten minute meditation each morning.  Usually it is a pre-recorded one for manifesting or just being open to receive, but it works.  I start the day off peaceful.  I also do yoga a few times a week after work.  I feel this really helps to keep me out of the doctor’s office and stretches out sore muscles hunched over the computer.

Staying in the moment – Right this moment is where you need to be.  Although there might be worry about the future or events that happened in the past, right in this moment everything is fine.  It’s called focus.  Meditation is great for this.

I also found a website which will help with stress relief and keeping you focused.  It is called Diamond Alignment.  You log in and view and feel an energy transmission from the website like reiki.  It makes you feel good and keeps you in the moment like a meditation.  I think it’s great for people who can’t always get out of the workplace to take a break.  You just put your headphones on and experience six minutes of the Diamond Alignment energy transmission.  Cool huh?

After much trial and error, I finally realized to make my health and peacefulness a top priority.  In the past, stress has caused me lost work time and expensive doctor visits.   I finally figured out that the most reasonable thing, and cheapest, was to manage and reduce the stress in the first place.

I hope my techniques have inspired you to reduce the stress of the entrepreneur and solopreneur lifestyle.

…specializing in creative and unique custom print and web design. Let me help you grow your business!

I have always been pretty good at finding useful things on the internet.  I get a thought in my head, go off on a google tangent and find somethng cool, so I am going to just start posting the sites I find here.  For some reason the thought “invention” popped into my head and I found this website.  Here you can post your invention idea and sell it, get a sponsor to bring it to the next level, and get paid for your ideas (problem solving).  I thought it was pretty cool for all those people who have a useful idea and their head and are stalled because they do not know what to do with it, so check out Idea Connect.

…specializing in creative and unique custom print and web design. Let me help you grow your business!