Tick, tock.
Not yet.
Another sun sets and you wake up thinking, “maybe this is the day.”
You pick up your phone and Facebook streams and your inbox fills your head. Other people’s priorities and the digital noise seeps in.
Of course, this happens almost automatically. Most of the time you’re not even consciously aware of it.
More than anything, it just adds to the confusion and overwhelm of launching.
It’s hard enough already to know where to start.
- How do you figure out your message and what makes a good website?
- Should you have a Facebook page?
- What about an email newsletter? Isn’t that important?
But that doesn’t even begin to cover it. There are so many other things to consider.
I mean, of course, you need a logo, business cards and a cocktail line before you can launch too, right?
All of these moving pieces can make you feel like you need a thousand arms to keep track of it all. Even if you could accomplish this heroic feat of multi-tasking, how do you really know what actually matters when it comes to the tech side of your business?
Like, should you have a shopping cart, or is a Paypal button enough? Should you do an html or text-based email newsletter?
It’s enough to make you nauseous.
Did I make a mistake? I’m thinking about doing something I’ve never done
For a long time I’ve purposely avoided the tech side of helping you get paid to be you. It’s not necessarily my biggest strength and I’ve never had a ton of fun teaching it.
But I’ve been rethinking this recently. I think that I’ve made a mistake.
I’ve been seeing over and over too many people struggle with the basics of what makes a good website, or something as simple as how to write a good about page.
Personally, I’d rather see you not give up before you even launch.
So… I’m considering for the first time creating a free guide for you on the essentials to your digital headquarters.
You can kind of think of this as your “basecamp” — the home base from where you launch your missions to takeover your corner of the web.
This basecamp should feel like a place where you’re comfortable. It should empower you, not make you frustrated and want to give up on your dreams.
Should I do this? My question to you is this…
If I were to create this guide, I’d love to know from you:
What do you most struggle with when it comes to putting the foundations under your freedom business?
Leave a comment and let me know.
If enough people are interested, I’ll go ahead and make the free guide.
The tech side of things would interest me in the bare bones to get some income started. I stilk need to find my gift/message. When writing this guide it is an income oppertunity for you to build a referral stream with whomever you choose. I’d say go for it.
Cool, thanks for the input Kyle.
I struggle most with how to set up a website. I know that WordPress is the go to option and is supposedly easy to use, but that has not been my experience. The next struggle is to know what pages to include (about me, landing pages, sales funnels, etc.) and what info to include on those pages. Then what/how do you set up payment options and email responders? Lastly, what plug ins should one utilize to make your website/tech run efficiently? Those are my struggles ;0)
Beautiful Faith. We’ll definitely be covering a lot of stuff on what pages are important and how to lay them out effectively.
Yes! Do this. My partner and I have opened for business with consulting and now we are opening a store. We don’t even have a splash page us and that needs to happen NOW. I find myself struggling with the web/social media aspect, and what makes it “good”. Gah.
Jonathan,
I think the tech side is essential to be successful on getting paid to exist. Please share your guide with us. How do I start and launch a website?
I completely agree. What are the bare-bones or essentials that you should be sure to include when making a website?
Actually finding the courage to! And it would probably be helpful to have an easy step-by-step checklist on what to do in which order (i.e. create website, do this, do that).
I think it’s great that you are doing what you are doing, btw!
Can you really create a professional and effective website yourself and if so where do you even start?! (what packages/hosts are available?)
This seems to be a really popular topic at the moment, I get 3 to 5 emails? arriving in my inbox per week pitching this general theme – Jeff Goins (The Art of Work), John Cochrane, FirePoleMarketing, Dorie Clark and (maybe) Ryan Levesque. There are general themes – (1) how to find your mission / vision, (2) how to find “a big idea” or your big idea, (3) how to get off your butt and start.
So, does that mean there is a big market? Or a crowded market?
I’m interested.
Finding the RIGHT people to help or mentor me. There’s a ton of well meaning people out there but it’s finding the right people. No one can do it alone no matter how great your logo is, your elevator pitch is, your website, etc. You need to find the people that are really genuine and pivotal.
Honestly, people should be focused on becoming known in their space, building relationships, finding out what people need and then starting a business to fill that need. A website isn’t needed to do those things. Once you have peopt who know you well and know you have a solution, they will be willing to pay you for it. At that point go pay someone va few hundred bucks to build the site for you so you can focus on your product or service to sell to pay for it.
I do think that you’re right to an extant. You should definitely focus on building relationships and studying your market. BUT, you need somewhere to bring those people back to. At the minimum you need an email list and a compelling reason for them to subscribe. If you’re not building a list, you aren’t building a tribe that you can potentially sell stuff to later on. I think it’s critical to have that up as soon as possible.
I’d love any info you might put together on the tech side of things. It’s not the only thing in my way, but it’s a significant piece of the puzzle. I simply have no idea where to start and don’t know if I’m making decisions based on pertinent, up to date, info, or old, staid info. I’m really not much of a techy myself, I prefer to be out in the natural world noticing things, photographing, pondering, and eventually writing about them. But I’m not getting any younger and time ticks on by. No matter how present I am in nature, and how lovely the still, quiet place feels, I’m not helping others find it because I do not publish anything. As a trusted partner to many, I know you have to have valuable opinions/info. Here’s hoping you choose to share it. Best, M
You’re absolutely right. It’s not the only thing, but it is a huge piece of the puzzle. And you’re not helping anyone if you don’t have a “home base” for all of your efforts online that really speaks to people and gets them involved in what you’re doing.
I would definitely be interested in this. Anxiety about precisely those things is one of my biggest challenges to my launch.
For a blog, designing things like a logo and a WordPress theme.
Definitely interested. The things that make me sick to my stomach is all the things I don’t know. I can write, I can create community, I can be open and honest and lots of other non-technical things. But – what I don’t know and don’t want to mess up – are all the techy things. Like what is SEO and why is that so important? How do I get people to view my page? How do I figure out WordPress? I know – for some folks they will read this and laugh at my simpleton questions… but it is just not my comfort zone. And I don’t want to put things out there that look like crap when I am trying to make it shine.
My biggest problem at the moment is to find a first customer.
I had a wix.com website. It was far from perfect. An organization I belong to just shifted from wordpress to weebly, sayiing it was easier.What is the best source for a website? How do I market the site to get a viral response? Video or still photos? Testimonies or how to? How many words is too many?
If my goal is to teach relaxation techniques, do I give one away from free as a sample? How do I build a blog people will read? Do I wait until I have a published book> How do I compete with the plethora of online coaching gurus with established clientele and humongous achievements behind their names like former Olympi athelete or former customers include Microsoft?
I’d be very interested. My technical skills are pretty good,so I’m interested in ‘top level’ advice about the best resources out there, and the pros and cons of each, based on real experience.
Love to hear the voice of a non-techy guy on this. More at my level. I say “go for it” brother.
Some “anxieties” about launching that I have felt.
1. Do I need a fully functional website as soon as possible? Can I just use other types of media to connect to an audience and just create a landing page to start?
2. Do I brand? Or use myself as a brand? Does this matter with regards to social media?
3. What if I do not have an offer right away to entice people to sing up for my email list?
Fantastic questions Alex. This is going to help us a lot. Thank you.
Im interested. Would be a cool thing to do!
My challenge no1 is: Do I really trust myself enough to work consistently on my biz and can I deal with the critics.
Cool, that’s definitely something important to resolve internally. We won’t be focusing on that in this product, but it’s something we cover quite a bit in Trailblazer.
I’d be really interested in this. I’ve done a ton of reading and research but still find myself frustrated and confused with the basics. I feel like if I can get them right I’d have a solid foundation to grow from.
My questions would be around SEO vs tailored content, how to sustain engagement with email list (consisistently creating high value and inspired content) and how to begin growing an email list via offline sources. Thanks very much for seeking ideas. Claire
I am interested, I have a website but don’t know what to do with it.
I really need structure.
I’m not technically inclined (html and CSS talk makes me glaze over), so even though I want to start it’s overwhelming and I have no idea where to begin. I think it could be a useful resource. Touching on social media marketing could be helpful for everyone to learn how to properly promote their new awesome sites also.
Good feedback – thanks!
“It’s enough to make you noxious.”
Is it enough to make you noxious, nauseous, or both?
;)
Nauseous. Nice typo catch. We leave those in to make people feel smart.
What I struggle with is finding the time to do the necessary work it will take to make it happen. I also struggle with keeping myself motivated, and marketing.
Sequencing.Prioritizing. I get that everything is important, some more than others, but all things considered in what order do I do them?
Have a great idea! Build around said idea. Go to get url. Taken. So should I lock in my url first? Even if I am not sure of the actual business structure, website needed or blog? Do I flush out the business idea first to see if it’s eve viable THEN do all of the nuts and bolts?
Knowing what to do and when to do it would be AWESOME!
I have my message, my copy, business name and tagline but can’t find the courage to take the next step to get out there. Love everyone else’s comments – all spot on! I too feel ‘noxious’ and I’m procrastinating on the techie stuff. Would love your guidance.
Thanks Deborah. It looks like there’s enough interest for me and Hailey to go ahead and create a free guide for everyone here.
hi Jonathan,
Yes – this is a great idea and I genuinely appreciate the way you engage your tribe. Bravo!! What would be most useful to me is an essentials check-list – like these are “must-haves” and these are “nice-to-have’s” and for the must-haves, here are the best places to go get those things.
Thank you for all that you’re doing,
Becky
Jonathan,
I remember you said how difficult it was for you to review so many webpages and give feedback on one of your webinars. The way I see it, you don’t have to delve that much into it. You can discuss the reason, the idea, and the process of coming up with the websites you have produced already: Paid to Exist and Trailblazer Journey-what did you do that got all of us on your webpages? How can we do the same? How can we offer our passion and our problem seeker skills to our respective communities like you have? How do we profit for being ourselves?
Marketing myself has been difficult no matter how many times I read about it online or in class. Digital or online marketing skills to get people to our websites would be helpful.
Tasha
I am really interested!! I have in mind some ideas for business in Internet and I don’t know where to start.
Thank you so much for all your guides.
Jonathan, if you won’t enjoy teaching this stuff, don’t do it. That said, I think this is a stumbling block for many people. So, you could ask another expert (or a group of experts) to chip in. Like some kind of a collaborative project.
I’m with Bridget – finding a mentor, and/or figuring out how to market without moving into areas I’m really uncomfortable with, is really hard point for me. Heck, sometimes all I want is an accountability buddy or a support group!
yes absolutely. This would help many get launched from their launchpads.
Jonathan, I am an engineer and the tech side of things overwhelmed me at first. The danger with our technology age is that there is so much material, together with conflicting opinions out there. What I tried to do is ask someone whose opinion I trusted to help me out, but the trouble is, he didn’t have the time to answer all my questions.
Thus, the question that I think you should answer before you decide to do this is, do people trust your opinion on this topic? Then, am I the best person to do this, should I delegate it or simply reference the guys/sources that helped me to get started?
If this isn’t your strength zone, then it may well be a good idea to simply point your readers to a someone whom you trust to show them the basics.
Hi,
Yes! As a freelance web designer myself ( inspired to go it alone by PTE), I see countless clients and friends trying to start businesses without an idea of the basics and that is often what I help them with. A really simple “1st steps” guide would be invaluable to alot of people i think. I’m happy to give you some input too Johnathan, if you’d like a second pair of eyes on this. :)
Thanks for all the inspiration!
Mish
Thanks for the offer Mish. We’re going to try to keep it very basic and stick to the fundamentals to help people launch without getting caught up in the fancy stuff.
Also very interested, especially in the sequencing-part: what do to first, or not at all? I’m trying to stay focused on what I want to “sell” but live in fear of missing essential things due to blind spots.
Good feedback Emma. Proper sequencing is definitely key. Otherwise you can get yourself caught in a rabbit hole of frustration and decision fatigue. We’ll definitely be covering this!
I work on computers all day long, but don’t understand the basics about how these good (and bad) websites came to be. So, yes, a guide would be most helpful when it comes to creating my own business. Thanks!!
Is website.com a good option to create and launch a website? I need a site where I can publish my blog and where I can sell products online. Any suggestions?
I personally recommend WordPress for most people. You can set it up easily with Bluehost.com
If you’re a total beginner, you can use Squarespace. They make it incredibly easy and have pretty nice templates.