Things to celebrate!

October 10, 2011 By

Last year's birthday cupcakes, made and decorated by yours truly.

A quick Monday list of seven things I’m celebrating:

  1. My Website Wish Kit is done! Even though I’m already planning the second edition (which, of course, buyers of the first edition will get automagically), that doesn’t take away from the satisfaction of having a real live thing.
  2. Happy Thanksgiving! Not only to my Canadian friends, but to everyone else, too. I mean, aren’t you all thankful that Canada exists? I know I am.
  3. I’m teaching a live teleclass tomorrow! This is one of my very favorite things to do, and I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks.  I get to walk people through my Website Wish Kit, answer questions, and hear the insights and a-has my people are getting. I am always so energized by these things. Must remember this. (Want to get into this class for free? Get yourself onto my Invitation List and you’ll get a discount code you can use when buying the Website Wish Kit.)
  4. My 10-year-old daughter is running for Student Council president, and she made a website to explain her principles and make her election promises. Okay, yes, I did install WordPress for her, but other than that, she did the whole thing. I am so proud.
  5. My WordPress Swimming Lessons start one week from today, and I’m limiting the class to five people. I’m excited about teaching an intimate group the art of WordPress, and seeing the strides they’ll make in the next three weeks. Registration closes on Friday the 14th!
  6. It’s Columbus Day! I know this is a politically charged topic, and I’m not going to address that. A mentor of mine used to explain that regardless of what anyone’s opinions were about Columbus, she chose to celebrate the day as Italian Heritage Day. She’d make homemade meatballs the way her nonna used to (she gave me the recipe, although I’m sure I can never claim nonna-like abilities), and throw Italian phrases around, and that was that. So: Buon giorno! Molto bene! Allegro con brio!
  7. My boy turns seven years old tomorrow! Which is why I’m whisking myself off to the store to find candy shaped like a submarine to decorate this year’s cupcakes. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to top last year’s Polar Bear Cub-Cakes, though, since marshmallows lend themselves so perfectly to bear-head-shapes.

How about you? What are you celebrating this bright October Monday?

Filed Under: Announcements Tagged With: , ,

WordPress Swimming Lessons start January 24!

January 21, 2011 By

I keep forgetting to mention, here on the blog, that I’m teaching a class for complete WordPress beginners, and it starts next Monday. Yes, it’s time again for WordPress Swimming Lessons!

This class is for people who already have WordPress installed on their own web hosting account (I can install it for you for $99).

You might have a blank-slate new installation, or you might have a site that a designer or friend set up for you and you’re just not sure how to use it. Either way, WordPress Swimming Lessons can help.

This class is not about sites hosted on WordPress.com — although it will definitely help anyone who is moving from a WordPress.com blog to a WordPress site on your own web hosting (because the features and flexibility of these two setups are quite a bit different).

Here’s how it works: There are two Monday webinars (teleclasses where I also show you stuff on my computer screen, like how to find things in your WordPress dashboard and how to accomplish specific tasks), and two Friday Extra Practice Sessions (teleclasses where you can ask all the questions that have arisen for you since the Monday session).

There’s a whole WordPress Swimming Lessons page that describes the agenda for each class.

All classes (both webinars and practice sessions) will be held at 10am Pacific time (what’s that in your time zone?).

Your $99 Swimming Lesson fee gets you:

  • Two one-hour live webinar sessions, where I’ll show you step-by-step how to do specific WordPress tasks
  • Two one-hour extra practice sessions, where I’ll troubleshoot with you, and answer participant questions.
  • Audio recordings of all four class sessions
  • Email support from me during the two weeks of class

Ready to take your first gentle step into the shallow end?

WordPress Swimming Lessons: $99

Add to CartView Cart

Don’t see the “Add to Cart” button? Head over to the WordPress Swimming Lessons page to learn more and sign up.

Refund and cancellation policy

Got WordPress?

I can also install and configure WordPress for you, so you’ll be ready to jump in when it’s time for your Swimming Lessons. Check out my WordPress Packages and choose the level of customization you need.

Filed Under: WordPress How-To's Tagged With: , , ,

Last day to buy Personal Office Hours

December 24, 2010 By

Personalized tech help for the New Year

Today is the last day to buy Personal Office Hours from me, although you can use your hours anytime before the end of February, 2011.

I know that this is a very busy time of year for many of us, and I wanted to give you one last heads-up about this before the deadline slips quietly away.

So if you want to reserve some quality time for you and your website (or shopping cart, or email list) for after the holiday craziness calms down, head on over to the Personal Tech Help page to buy your Personal Office Hours, and we’ll schedule some time together in the New Year.

Some quick reminders:

  • You can give Personal Office Hours (or, really, any of my services or products) as gifts. Just email me after your purchase (you can just reply to the thank-you email) and let me know who’s going to benefit from your generosity, and I’ll send a personalized gift email to that lucky person!
  • Every Personal Office Hour gets you an audio recording of our time together and a followup email from me summarizing what we discussed, so you can refer to it later.
  • We’ll use our hour in the way that best helps you. I can share my computer screen with you to demonstrate how to do things, answer your questions, or even login to your site to fix and configure things.
  • You can get a Personal Office Hour for $99 (instead of the normal price of $159) when you combine it with one of the four services/products listed below.

Office Hour combo packs

I’m offering a discounted rate of $99 for one Personal Office Hour (a $60 savings), when you buy in combination with any of these four services:

  1. WordPress Swimming Lessons + 1 Personal Office Hour: $198 (normally $258). Sign up here.
  2. WordPress Installation + 1 Personal Office Hour: $198 – $998 (depending on whether you choose the Basic, Bonus, or Bonanza package — normally $99-$899). Choose your package here.
  3. Love Your List + 1 Personal Office Hour: $216 or $246 (depending on whether you buy the Core or Premium version of this home-study workshop — normally $117 or $147). Buy your combo here.
  4. Peace of Mind Program for WordPress backups/upgrades + 1 Personal Office Hour: $188 (normally $248). Snag one of the remaining slots here. This program is only open until December 31 (or until all 10 slots are filled, whichever comes first).

Remember, Personal Office Hours will only be available for sale until December 24. However, you can use them anytime in the next 60 days.

My next WordPress Swimming Lessons class starts on January 24, so it falls neatly within this period. You could use your hour after the class is over, to ask questions or have me set up specific WordPress plugins for you.

And if you choose the Peace of Mind Program (there are still slots available, but the program will close in one week, on December 31), your WordPress site will be backed up and upgraded through March 2011, and you can use your hour for anything you like before the end of February.

You can buy Personal Office Hours here.

Here’s to technological ease and simplicity in the new year!

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Are you a complete website beginner?

October 8, 2010 By

Photo credit: grendelkhan

I’ve been getting more email recently from people who self-describe as chicken, or even totally chicken or completely chicken, when it comes to setting up a website.

Hey, that’s OK. We all started somewhere. Two years ago I was a complete WordPress beginner myself — the first theme I installed made me want to tear my hair out. And then there was the trauma of upgrading. It wasn’t exactly easy.

Ain’t nobody here but us chickens

I’m still totally chicken about a lot of things. Including some tech things! A sampling:

  • Spiders. Especially really big ones.
  • Runny eggs.
  • Dropping tables from my databases.
  • Earthquakes.
  • Cloud hosting.
  • The fact that in 7 billion years or so, our Sun will become a red giant and destroy all life on earth.
  • Running traceroutes to check my website’s load time.
  • Letting people down.
  • Analyzing my web stats to optimize for relevant keywords.

So, yeah. You’re not alone. We’re all chickens. And wow, I didn’t even realize until this moment that it’s Friday and I’m writing about chickens, even though this post totally different from my beloved Havi’s Friday Chicken. The subconscious mind is a weird and powerful thing. Respect it!

Here are some of my thoughts about the particular brand of being chicken that is related to starting your website.

  1. There are lots of parts and details and factors and ideas that all combine when you’re starting a business. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all of it. That’s normal.
  2. A website is only one of those details…and yet it contains a multitude of details of its own. Like a fractal. Wait, this isn’t helping, is it?
  3. OK, how about this: Those website details are figure-out-able. Website technology is a tool that you can learn, the same way you learned to dial a phone and use a microwave oven and record your favorite shows on your DVR.
  4. Not only are they figure-out-able, they are learnable by regular people. You don’t have to have a degree in computer science or a certificate granted by…well, anybody.
  5. Your tech overwhelm is temporary. I promise. All you need are some training wheels, some non-shouty instructions, and maybe a gentle push. Soon you’ll be all look world, no hands!

From totally chicken to cock of the walk

Photo credit: travlinman43

You can see where this is going, right? Yep, you got it: I’m going to be your cheerleader and wave my pompoms as you sprout your glossy feathers and strut your stuff on your very own website.

And even though I am skeptical of cocky attitudes in general, I think the phrase “cock of the walk” is hilarous, so I’m totally using it even though I would probably never describe you that way. Or me, for that matter.

Here’s my point: You can learn this website stuff, and I can help you. Here are four ways you can get help (the first two are free):

  • Download some free stuff.
  • Call me during Open Office Hour.
  • Join my WordPress Swimming Lessons class starting on October 18. This is the last time this class will be offered in 2010 — the next session won’t be until January 2011.
  • Have me install WordPress for you so you can apply what you learn in the Swimming Lessons. You can have your website up and running in time for holiday sales!

What are you chicken of? Join the conversation by leaving a comment (unless you’re chicken, of course…)!

Filed Under: WordPress How-To's Tagged With: , , ,
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