Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

Day 13 of the 14-Day Challenge
I started this day saying, "Maybe the tasks I plan today will actually take less time that I anticipated." Usually, I find that they take longer, and today was no exception.

I got a lot of good up-close-and-personal time with SiteBuildIt! today and worked with some of parts of it I had always skipped over, namely the site-builder tool designed for those who have little knowledge of site-design, HTML, or SEO.

In hindsight, I think both my decision to both to go with SiteBuildIt! as the quickest way to get my site up and my decision to use the sitebuilder tool rather than work through designing the site myself were wishful thinking.

A learning curve is a learning curve no matter how well the tool is laid out.

I must say I was impressed with the way SiteBuildIt! walked me through the whole process so far. I created a very basic design, wrote my home page (although without the navigation yet), and created and submitted sitemaps for Google, Yahoo!, MSN Live, and Ask.

I especially loved the way it advised me on SEO ramifications of my page copy as I tweaked it to match its SEO criteria. It freed me to write without worrying about SEO and then assess the SEO by just pressing a button instead of running it through separate tests I usually use.

And considering the great results that SiteBuildIt! sites typically get in SEO, I feel comfortable trusting their advice, and perhaps even get some new ideas as I compare elements of their approach to other pages I've gotten good results with for other sites.

I'm debating at this point whether to put the new site on hold for now and simply focus on the new infoproduct instead. Nothing says I have to have a completely new site up to meet the challenge. I just have to have a new income producer done.

And since I was planning to feature the infoproduct on both sites, that looks like my best bet, giving the pressing deadline.

One more thing on the whole learning curve issue. It occurs to me as I look back on the learning curve issue that I really don't have a good system I can fall back on for starting a new site.

Granted, I likely won't be starting a whole lot for myself. But with bids out there on some projects that include a website, I need a tighter system that enables me to know where I'm going to get one done, step by step, instead of reinventing the wheel each time.

The same goes for other aspects of my business. I think there's a general tendency to feel I'm more in control of my life when I'm working off the top of my head.

I've noticed that in many other small business owners, too. So I'm definitely not alone. Making all the decisions off the top of my head gets the adrenaline rushing. It keeps me feeling "on the edge."

But it's an inefficient way to do business -- not to mention an unhealthy way to do business, too. It's way too stressful.

Well, tomorrow is the deadline. At 7:30 PM Central Time, I need to present my an income source that is actually ready to sell instead of perpetually incomplete.

I have mixed feelings going into the last day. Part of me wishes I had done it better, had more to show, actually had sales to report. But I know that getting this done, even if it isn't perfect, still has value that goes well beyond anything I earn from the product itself.
Jeff

Labels: start business