July 2013

July 25, 2013

Genesis 2.0 HTML5 Conversion Giveaway

The Genesis framework is going to be releasing their massive and much-anticipated update to version 2.0 any day now. When that happens, you can take advantage of very valuable SEO updates to the child themes, but only if the child themes have the new HTML5 markup enabled.

The StudioPress crew, in their vast wisdom, made it clear that you don’t have to enable HTML5 to update your Genesis parent theme to 2.0. Updating Genesis is not the same as updating your child theme to be 2.0 markup-compatible (What is markup? Read on.) Everything will still work if you upgrade, but without enabling HTML5 in your child theme, you won’t benefit from many things V2.0 includes.

This is still consistent with why a framework is important and why Genesis is the only theme family I work with.

All of a sudden, if you enable HTML5, the entire site design breaks because of the markup of the new code. Markup are the design bits that your design files look for in order to apply styles, layout, and other behavioral modifications or appearance. Without the proper “addresses” in your design, things break.

If you’ve made any alterations to your child theme over the months or years and don’t want to lose those by downloading a new HTML5 child theme, then you need to update your theme. StudioPress has said they’ve been sitting on for months waiting for everyone to get WordPress 3.6 and Genesis 2.0 in order to release a bunch of new and updated themes.

I’ve already updated the StudioPress child themes and several community themes, so you can have them now.

I’ve worked out a way to convert any child theme, no matter how much it’s been modified by another developer. This is not something you want to throw at your developer with a request if they’ve not yet done one. You’ll spend a lot of money if this is their first rodeo with V2.0.

giveaway steps

My conversion service is $248 for the first child theme and $150 for each one after that. By telling me why you love using Genesis, WordPress, or just generally participating in the comments with something nice, new, or celebrating life, you’ll be entered into a random draw the day after Genesis 2.0 releases to receive a FREE conversion.

July 24, 2013

The Bootstrap Business Life

One of the pillars of how I do business is that nothing happens unless the funds are available in cash (not credit) and are not a buffer for those down months. It’s bootstrap business at its best. While it can be frustrating to not do certain growth activities, it’s better than the stress that debt causes.

a little story

Mac Mini Day The single most rewarding purchase of my life was a 2011 Mac Mini server. For weeks, no, months, I planned the computer I’d be using for the next 3-5 years. Utilizing pro/con lists, spreadsheets of features, CPU power, upgradability, and cost-per-day calculations, I passed on a 27″ iMac and a MacBook Pro in favor of their diminutive brother. It wasn’t a moment too soon, because I was driving my wife nuts with my back and forth debates with myself, which sometimes involved her listening.

We walked into the Apple Store and asked the man to fetch me one and I grabbed a trackpad. My decision to choose the Mini left plenty of funds in our account, even after a second 22″ monitor and additional RAM. It was a good thing, too, because disaster struck.

Tractor Jumpstart That weekend, we drove from Florida to Ohio to visit my grandparents. Just past Valdosta, GA, the dashboard lights started doing weird things and we took an exit that only had a marine dealership. We got a marine battery and were on our way.

Two hours later, the same thing happened at the Locust Grove exit, about an hour south of Atlanta. We spent the night at the La Quinta (a very nice one, too) while the battery charged on a new charger from Wal-mart. At 8am, I put the battery in and drove to the shop 1/4 mile away and we left on our “merry” way shortly after noon. On a good note, we liked the hotel so much, we stayed there the next time we drove up – then we realized we have to drive straight through with a toddler. CRAZY!

La Quinta - Locust Grove, GA

We spent over $700 getting to Ohio over 2 days instead of what was supposed to be $150 in gas.

the lesson in that

What if I’d gone for a bigger computer or used credit? The stress would have been too much for what I can deal with. It was a really good thing we were in a strong financial position for that epic turn of events that would have previously made me quite sick. I distinctly remember walking back to the shop at lunch, just enjoying the weather and peaceful that I’d provided for us to not make this a big deal.

I was reminded of this day as I was planning my “next big thing” and was about to pull the trigger on a Kickstart campaign. First, my wife wasn’t comfortable with the idea of having that money and keeping track of it while we paid it out. Then when I discussed it with the person who was working with me on the idea, they said that it’s not worth the stress of not waiting.

They were right. You’ll just have to wait longer to see what it is, now.

July 20, 2013

Stop the Insanity – Don’t Babysit Your Inbox

Stop the insanity! Don’t babysit your inbox all day, every day or even all day at your desk. This is now my second or third productivity tip this week… because the things I’m doing are working. The stat or guesstimate that I believe I heard listening to the 4-hr Workweek (total lie of a system for 95% of entrepreneurs, but good outside-the-box thinking) appears to be correct in my life.

For every e-mail replied to, you get 1.7 responses back.

I had no idea that had any chance of being correct until I started checking my inbox twice per day on weekdays and once per day on the weekends. The feeling is somewhere between “flabbergasted” and “elated” each day I spend 5-20 minutes in my inbox. It’s taken a lot of willpower to stick to it since all of my mobile devices have two or three mail apps on the home pages. I should move them, yes? Today took almost no willpower to wake up at 6am and not check mail until after 1pm. I’m done already and the Gmail and Google Apps tabs are closed until tomorrow. I sent one e-mail, sent a reply, got a reply, and responded again in 20 minutes.

Remember that quote above?

it’s a rat wheel, I tell you

They don’t call it “the rat race” for nothing, people. Every day, people all over the globe get up and let other people inject other peoples’ priorities into their day almost immediately. Be honest: do you check your e-mail on your phone or tablet:

Before leaving your bedroom or en suite?
Before breakfast?
Before exercise?
Before spending time with other people?
As soon as you get to your desk?

Not only is that exercising poor boundaries, you’re handicapping your brain for the rest of the day. How many times are you going to bed and have the same “Item #1” on your list staring at you as your head hits the pillow? I no longer go to bed with remorse that I didn’t touch a piece of code or go for my walk (because someone’s e-mail persuaded my sense of duty to go straight to my desk) or write some content. I started writing a book in February. Publisher and everything is ready. I just need to write.

How stupid have I been the past 6 months?

examine other people living the sort of life you’d like

About 2 years ago, I began wondering how people like Brian Gardner and Chris Brogan got so much done. They’re both writing, promoting their brands, being on social media, and Brian has always been available to bounce something off him even though he’s also training for Iron Man and re-designing his website every 4-8 weeks. I was over here drowning in easy stuff and I knew there was a system that some people use that I needed to learn.

So I went about the business of learning that system as best I could without pestering everyone in my network who was a few steps ahead of me. I got audiobooks, found sites to read dozens of articles, tried different apps, and did pick some peoples’ brains over lunch while I was in Austin for a WordPress conference.

Those people don’t let e-mail run their lives. None of them. I watched. They’re present where they are, not lost in thought because they have “thinking times” built into their schedule. Creativity also improved my productivity and have nearly doubled revenue this month as a result of working when I’m at my desk and playing when I’m not.

Funny thing, that is.

Are you willing to be radical to see if it changes your trajectory?

July 19, 2013

It’s All About Expectations

Surprised? Manage Expectations. A majority of projects that have gone bad are my fault. Sure, it would be strongly argued that it is the client’s fault, but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, I didn’t set good expectations. Those incidents create a flood of e-mails, a high-stress call, and sometimes threats for either party that ought not happen.

Expectations, clear ones, set the tone for the entire project and the duration of what could be a long-term client relationship. Don’t mess it up with muddy water.

how to avoid poor expectations

The key to such calamities is communication. I state before a call is scheduled what my normal starting price for a project is and what my timeline looks like. That immediately dissuades those who are looking for a $500 site by the end of the week.

Communication can also disrupt feelings of discontentment with waiting for the project start or completion. Unless there is a hard deadline due to a publication or some sort of hard launch, then it’s best to communicate that everyone gets your full attention when it’s their turn, just as you expect with a doctor’s visit. I don’t mind waiting past my appointment time nearly as much when I know I won’t be rushed out the door when it’s my turn to be seen.

terms and conditions

Terms and conditions should be stated clearly and in plain terms, not legalese. My terms are quite a bit longer than I would like them to be, but if any part of it is removed, then it opens the door for poor communication. As an example, if I solve a need that many people have with their sites and I spent a good chunk of time solving it, I like to share it on GitHub or package it into a plugin – my terms allow me to do that so long as it’s not proprietary to my client’s business. No surprises.

reputations precede you

It’s always good when someone is referred to you from a close friend or respected colleague of that person. There is going to be an instant trust with your new contact because they have built trust with their contact. That’s one barrier down right away.

When I sense that someone is leery of my ability to exceed their expectations, I often open them up to the idea of asking around on Twitter what other people “think about @jpetersen’s #WordPress and #GenesisWP skills” and I have yet to see anyone do that, so it must be transparent enough to do the job.

I’ve said dozens of times that I’m an open book. Very, very rarely do I hide anything that I’m doing with the rare exceptions of launching a new service when I only teased and told 2 people – one of whom was also concurrently working on his own service and we both launched same-day.

Once I’ve figured something out and it’s not any real benefit to be the only one who knows what it is that I’m doing, I share it. Transparency reaps trust and helps an expectation that I’ll help out in the very near future. I don’t like monopolies, even in what I do for a living.

When clients see that is the kind of person you are, you are helping your current and future self out… possibly even future generations.

July 16, 2013

The Technology We Use – 15 Years From Now

JVC HR-3300U VHS VCR. This is the United States release of the HR-3300. The HR-3300 is the world’s first VHS-based VCR.

While pondering a 1-page website that I want to create and leave alone for 15-20 years, it made me ponder what technology I want to build it on. Really – what are we using today that was created and unchanged enough to last 15 years? What in the world?! I’ll be 50 in 15 years…

technology (obviously) evolves quickly

The first website was http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html and was created in August 1991. 1991! I have t-shirts older than that, and I’ll be 35 later this year (because I’m not a dirty old man wearing a KISS shirt from a concert smoking dope in 1981).

As recently as 2010, this site was being reported as gone forever, but they have restored the server, the IP address, and as much of the original setup as possible. Hats off to you.

By the time I got on Facebook, it was approaching my high school’s 10th reunion in a year or so. Nothing was being said about when and where it was, so I guessed there were only 20 of the original 350 still not in jail or dead from overdose, so I forgot all about it. Then I found out that the info was on MySpace. Remember that craptastic site that everyone borked up their pages as fugly as possible? For the record, I’m against non-designers having control over colors, fonts, and backgrounds (Blogger.com, I’m talking to you).

It was 2007 and a lot of people still hadn’t moved to Facebook yet and were still doing their “it was nice knowing you, cruel world” messages on MySpace. Now it’s all but a memory, even though they spent a bazillion dollars on an actually decent redesign.

Technology moves faster than the mainstream population, so there is always a lag in consumer adoption. In my lifetime, I’ve seen the adoption of VHS, CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray, flat screens, computers, laptops, smart phones, and now tablets.

adoption is also quickening its pace

We got a VCR around the same time we got a Commodore 64, which I think was 1984 or 1985. Later we got a TV with a remote control! Aside from computer upgrades, that was about it until about 1989 when CDs came out.

CDs took a long time to catch on. I clearly remember the day I first saw and heard one in a friend’s house. They had ONE CD. Within a year or two, I had a mini stereo system in my room with a radio, cassette (kids, those came before CDs), and a CD player on top. I spent all of my allowance acquiring new music rather than waiting for the radio.

DVDs took about 3 years for a lot of people to start getting the technology and the media was a tad scarce for several years. Some of the guys a few years older than me when I graduated high school had massive VHS collections with big TVs and surround sound. I’d already started buying DVDs for my collection, but they were too invested to abandon their current titles. We haven’t had a VHS player since we gave mine to my parents (I have NO IDEA WHY they took it) in 2006.

Now it’s all Blu-rays catching on, and they come bundled with DVDs, so there isn’t any real barrier to entry either way other than a still inflated price – if you have DVD now, you’re set for later and if you have a friend with DVD, then split the costs. Our collection is up to 9 titles, including one 3D Blu-ray (The Avengers) and I’ve nabbed two at consignment for $2 each.

it’s not realistic to think that a new website will be as-is in 15 years

At least I’m not in denial. At some point the content on the domain I’ve purchased will need to switch platforms or technology. As widespread as WordPress is today, powering 17% of all websites on the Internet, I don’t think it will be around in 15 years.

Someone, maybe Matt Mullenweg himself, will innovate.

Will HTML even still generate content that people can or will access? Technology tends to build upon itself, but every now and then an innovation changes the entire global landscape. It’s not like we are benefitting from some new advancement in pens and paper since the 70s when Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak changed the world with the first “affordable” personal computer.

It’s ~~very possible~~ probable that we won’t be using a computer or tablet as we know it now to visit a domain name.

July 15, 2013

Jesse Petersen’s Entrepreneur List

Fly High If you missed what an Entrepreneur List is, check it out first and then you’ll be up to speed on its purpose in the situations I call “a funk.” After being in business now for 4 1/2 years, I’ve had about 20 funks. They’re miserable times that create a fear of becoming lazy (something I was called as a teen) or a failure (something I’ve unreasonably put upon myself in funks).

things that create a funk

a fantastic revenue month
a dismal revenue month when not in a funk
a conference (counterintuitive, I know)
family stress
depression
over-confidence

Looking at that list, it would seem that a funk is inevitable just about every other month, and you’d be right. The aim of an Entrepreneur List is to cut off a funk by creating a reminder of why being an entrepreneur is not dependent on persevering through funks.

my Entrepreneur List

I’m going to place my list next to the photos on my desk, which sit between my two monitors. A reminder of why I do what I do will be my motivating factor while at my desk instead of playing, watching shows, or going to the free summer kid’s movies.

I am living my dream
- keeping my own hours
- doing what I’m passionate about
- making a difference
- providing for my family so everyone is home
I am healthier than ever, getting better instead of worse
I am rich in friends, family, and no longer broke
I am moving toward my long-term goals
I really have no reason to complain
I am blessed
I am growing
I did not get where I am without guidance
I am where I am to be a blessing to others
When I fall, I will get up again

your Entrepreneur List

If you send me a link to your list or put it in the comments, I’ll place it here for others to learn by community. We’re all in this together.

July 13, 2013

Writing the Entrepreneur List

While listening to a new podcast that ThinkTraffic recommended, my outlook and perspective going into next week has completely changed because I wrote what I’m going to call my Entrepreneur List. This podcast includes Corbett Barr, whom my first client, Sibyl Chavis got me familiar with his game). It’s called The Fizzle Show and I highly recommend it.

From the start, it was as if the 3 hosts were in my head describing what my life is like in regards to being a solopreneur who must create and deliver to survive and trying to avoid burnout at the same time. It happens, without fail, to some scale, as if it’s become a way of life; the doldrum that follows launching a big project. Sometimes it hits immediately after the final payment of a single project and sometimes it happens after a month with epic surplus in the bank.

you know what that leads to

If you took a look at my Freshbooks account, you’d see a roller coaster of revenue. Until the end of 2011, I thought it was set in stone by the month of the year because I had enough historical data to show that February sucks (not enough to cover the mortgage) and June, September, and December are my record-setting months. Thanks to my pal, Phil Gerbyshak, I shook that thinking over drinks at Starbucks when he came to Tampa to speak at a conference.

My wife and I had already noticed that a great revenue month was always followed by a dismal month. Sometimes two dismal months were back to back and a couple of times that stretched to three months and made us consider whether that meant going back to a “stable” job.

it’s about perspective

What I learned from the podcast entitled How to Stay Motivated was that my perspective was broken. Think back FIVE YEARS from now. Do you see where you were and how you felt about the future — where you’d like to be “someday?” I was chained to a desk making just enough money to get by, getting sick enough for IV antibiotics every 6-9 months, my wife needed to work, and my work, while personally fulfilling, didn’t feel like people appreciated my skill and hard work.

Where were you FIVE YEARS ago? THREE YEARS? Are you more or less where you wanted to be “someday?” For me, I’m well beyond where I would be by now. I hit that just TWO YEARS into business when my wife quit her job. I’m actually living well into my fantasyland from five years ago.

it’s about living life

They each have a list, which I’ll call an Entrepreneur List, which was partially inspired by a survey of dying people who listed their regrets. It puts today into the reverse perspective of “if I were dying, what would I regret about how I’m living today?” Is your current project your everything? If you’re having a bad day, does it affect you as much as when your boss made a bad day for you?

Are you happy? Do you love life and love what you do, even if you’re not quite “there” yet?

create your Entrepreneur List

Later this week, I’ll be publishing my Entrepreneur List. It will be public for three reasons:

accountability – if I’m being a sad dork on Twitter and it’s not about health or something with our foster care stuff, then I need to be reminded about the list
inspiration – one of my gifts is motivating others, so I would humbly hope to inspire other solopreneurs to create their own lists and share them
remembrance – the nature of the list is dynamic — changing as the things in your life change with you, so this is a snapshot record for my future self

I hope you’ll consider making a list this week while I publish mine to share and motivate each other. This is the WordPress community, after all, and this is nothing if it’s not community.

July 12, 2013

Simple (but Difficult) Thoughts on Productivity

In that stage of life when someone is said to be “editing,” they are pretty much done finding things they are good at and are paring everything down to the things that have the most passion and feel like what you’re supposed to be doing.

For me, that’s been a huge pile to whittle down since my 20s found me enjoying dozens of things and being good at quite a few of them: microbiology research lab, IT, construction material testing, teaching, writing, analysis, desktop publishing, and a gob of geeky things on or with computers.

Pre-mid-life crisis

Now that I’m in my mid-30s and have found my profession and place in the marketplace, I’ve been in desperate need to streamline my processes. No longer the jack of all trades, I’ve got just a couple of streams of income, so efficiency has become paramount. I’ve been getting one Audible audiobook after another on how the brain works, killing procrastination, and how to continue on the Road of Awesome.

The common thread

Each of the resources I’ve found have differed on several points, albeit minor points. What is interesting is that each of them has a common thread running through them:

cut out distractions – the mind is incapable of multi-tasking anything that takes conscious effort

Studies show that adding a distraction as simple as having IM open while reading a passage takes people 25% longer to read (not including the time spent on IM) than someone with no distractions. Factor in the time on IM and who knows how long it takes.

Microsoft studied 27 employees over several weeks and found that a simple distraction pushed them into a string of routine tasks (such as clicking each browser tab, going to a new site, checking their cell phone, etc.) and not only losing the productive time on the distraction but taking anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour to return to the workflow they left when distracted.

I have found myself to be no different.

Other peoples’ priorities

Also notable in every source I’ve found on the subject of productivity is to avoid checking e-mail or voicemail before completing the most important task(s) of the day. I’ve tried that in the past, but caved when I got to my desk, since I work from home. I’d make it all the way until then, but then other peoples’ priorities hijacked my plans for the rest of my morning.

How often do you really need to know what is in your inbox before you write a blog post, work on a proposal, write or clean code, or work on long-term projects? For me, I realized I never needed to know what was in my inbox and yesterday was completely hijacked reading more about WP Daily shutting down (it’s back up again) and responding to non-urgent e-mails, and generally wasted my day until my lunchtime dentist appointment.

Time lost: 4 hours.

I’ll be checking my e-mail today after I publish this, hit MailChimp to ensure it will go out at 9am ET, and spend a little time reading some industry info on development cycles to never stop learning.

Make sense?

Does any of this resound with you – are you doing something similar or is this what you’ve been looking for to get unstuck not getting stuff done until late at night when everyone else’s wants have been met? Let’s discuss.