You can think of this as a sort of case study about how you might approach your decision about the September LIVE Event, but the concepts also apply to the WebDesign.com webinars you attend, as well as any other trainings you attend (or consider). The idea for this article actually came as I was trying to make a decision about attending a multi-thousand dollar training event.

1. Not Making a Decision
The biggest bit of sabotage we foist on ourselves is to avoid making a decision. When there is a training you want to attend, but you have a little angst or worry about it, the lure to “think about it for awhile” is a strong one. I’m not saying you should attend any and every training opportunity that comes your way, but if you are like most people, once something is out of sight, it’s out of mind. So if your “strategy” is to “think about it”, what you’re really telling yourself is that making a decision about this isn’t as important as, say, the next thing you start doing – like checking your email.

And typically the angst or worry isn’t about whether the training will be good enough. It’s usually more about ourselves, personally.

90% of success is showing up. I venture to say that 90% of business success is the ability to make good decisions quickly. Only you know the truth about yourself. Do you have a habit of putting off decisions until it’s too late, or until the price has gone up?

If so, what would be a different approach you could take? How would you know that a particular training is right for you? Would you be disappointed if you weren’t there? (That’s usually a pretty big signal that deciding against going has at least a tinge of self-sabotage lurking in it.) There’s a reason you would be disappointed. Be honest with yourself about it and allow yourself to make a decision. And then stick with that decision until or unless circumstances change. If the answer is “no”, and a week later your schedule frees up, it’s fine to re-evaluate your decision.

2. Saying – or Thinking “I can’t afford it”
This is a touchy one, but I’m going to share what I have found to be true after leading literally hundreds of training sessions with tens of thousands of participants.

When someone wants to go strongly enough, they will find a way.

I don’t know your financial situation, and it may be that you genuinely don’t have the ability to pay, borrow, fund raise or charge the fee for the training you want to attend. (And if you haven’t considered borrowing or doing a fundraiser, then you haven’t exhausted all your options. So saying you can’t afford it isn’t being completely honest with yourself.) One time I found a corporate sponsor to send me to an event – didn’t cost them all that much and they reaped the rewards when I came back and made several presentation to spread the knowledge among their key employees.

It’s really just a matter of priorities. I’ve had people tell me they couldn’t afford a $200 training, then go buy an iPad the next week. The cool technology was more important than investing in their future. It’s fine to make that decision, but by not being honest with themselves, they were sabotaging their learning and their success.

Often when we are thinking we can’t afford to do something, it really means we can’t afford not to.

3. Focusing On What it Costs Vs. What You’ll Gain
There’s that old credit card commercial about what things cost, and then the last item (the experience) is priceless. It’s funny, but it’s true, too, isn’t it? When you have the opportunity to receive training from someone you already trust and you know can deliver, the rewards that you’ll gain will pay out time and time again. The experience, itself, becomes part of the learning.

If you learn even just one strategy you can use that will ensure your client stays with you for the long run, haven’t you gained far more than the original cost? If you invested $1000 in web design training that you know is great, how long would it take you to make that money back? One website? Two? Surely no more than four.

The point is to think long term vs. short term if you are trying to stop the sabotage train and grow your business or your skills. Don’t think that you’re too busy…think instead about what it means to have a constant pipeline of work you love to do with clients with whom you enjoy working.

4. Multi-tasking Instead of Focusing
It’s easy to short-change your learning if you’re distracted by other projects on your desk, your email, the webinar chat room…

Think about what you can do to minimize distractions so you’re getting the most out of it. Close your email program. Clear off your desk. Go somewhere else to participate in the class (and take your earphones with you if you’re going to a coffee shop).

Or, do what works best for a lot of people, and put yourself in an environment where you are completely immersed with other like-minded students, free of unrelated distractions, and entirely focused on absorbing as much information as possible. For some people that might be a day at the library. For others, it might be attending a live training.

5. Not Valuing the Training When It’s Free
This can relate to the previous form of sabotage as well. When something is free, we tend to treat it as less valuable or not as important, even when we know that price has nothing to do with how much it can help us. But that’s the way most people are. It’s not bad. It just “is”.

I’m not saying that the only way to value and commit to training is to pay for it, but it can sure make one whale of a difference. How much more committed would you be if you paid for 16+ hours of intense face-to-face training vs. attending some free webinars? Which method gives you a stronger signal about your commitment to your success? Which method do you think you would inherently value more?

These are just 5 of the ways we have a tendency to sabotage our success. Which of these fit for you? Are you willing to commit to taking a different set of actions? If so, what will you do differently now in order to prevent the sabotage that gets in the way of learning and success for the average person?

“Custom Post Types” is a 75-minute (recorded) webinar that explains several different ways to create custom post types and methods to pull out that data and display it. All without having to touch the code. And if you really want, we offer the links to help you dive into the code as well.

By learning how to create custom post types you can truly take WordPress beyond blogging and build anything your clients need. It’s just another benefit of becoming a WebDesign.com premium member.

We’ve just finished the 3rd webinar in a WebDesign.com 3-part series with guest instructor Chris Garrett. The focus of the series was “how to make money with your blog/site”. As the co-author of the book PROBLOGGER: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income, Chris is particularly qualified to lead this series.

Based on participant feedback, Chris over-delivered (and then some)! Thank you, Chris!

In case you missed this final webinar, here are some notes from today’s session.

You can also view the notes from Part1 and Part 2 for a little background.
If you’re a member of WebDesign.com, you can view the replays in your members area.
Part 1 Replay – Build Audience and Traffic With Your Blog
Part 2 Replay – How to Build a Sticky Blog
Part 3 Replay – How to Monetize Your Blog [replay coming soon]

Webinar #3: How to Monetize Your Blog

Perhaps the strongest point Chris made throughout the webinar is that having a profitable blog isn’t just about the money, or instant cash. You have to think long term and focus on building your reputation as someone who is trustworthy AND helpful.

Chris identified two primary ways to make money with your blog:

• Direct Monetization – such as AdSense, Paid Links, etc. (Chris was not an advocate of this method, or of focusing most of your time here. He did recommend a plugin called “Who Sees Ads” if you are going to use ads to generate income.)
• Indirect Monetization – where you don’t make money from the site itself, but rather from selling services, products, etc. to people who visit the site.

One of the key distinctions is that the Indirect Monetization method does not require as much traffic as the Direct methods when you are using products such as AdSense and getting only pennies per click.

In the graphic below, Chris shared the different ways in which he makes money with his blog. He was quick to point out that this is HIS way of doing it based on his experience and expertise. You may use some of the same methods, but will put them together in a unique way or in different ratios.

Trust is an imperative when you are using your blog as a financial asset. Your readers & visitors come to your site because they believe you have worthwhile knowledge to share, and because they trust you will tell them the truth and not misrepresent yourself or others.

Readers are smart. They can tell if you’re being smarmy or just going for the quick cash.  If you violate that trust, they will go away – and perhaps take people with them.

What’s the best way to build trust and authority? Add Value!

When you add value, you are letting people know what you have for them and how it helps solve a problem they have identified for themselves. That doesn’t mean the only thing you talk about are your own products or services. To really add value, you need to think about what the reader really needs, and help them find it. Sometimes that means endorsing someone else’s products or services. (Just make sure you can really stand behind your endorsement. If not, the trust gets broken.)

Chris also provided a lot of detail about how to use Content Marketing as a strategy to build your list and grow your revenue.

Chris also shared what is most important when using email autoresponders, how to use a webinar launch process as a revenue generator, and what – exactly – you need to tell others in your “sales pitch.”

To get the full scope of Chris Garrett’s message, you’ll want to watch the entire webinar!
If you are a WebDesign.com member, you can access the replay in your member area.

At last report, there are around 180 hours of webinars and training available to members.!

If you’re not a member yet, you can register and gain instant access to ALL the recordings at WebDesign.com.

Trend Central points out how so many web sites are moving toward a more image-heavy navigation, magazine style. Typical web site navigation and blog design are changing. Larger, higher-definition screens and faster downloads open new doors.

However, be careful not to use this flexibility as an excuse to overdesign. Jonathan Ive, lead designer at Apple, calls for a new approach to design, focused on heightened functionality, rather than visual clutter.

A lot of what we seem to be doing … is getting design out of the way. With that sort of reason, it feels almost inevitable, almost undesigned and it feels almost, like of course it is that way. Why would it be any other way?

Design should always be second to usability and content.

Information Architects say, “Technology often develops from primitive to complicated to simple.” They stress better interaction design and less graphic design.

This reasoning is best represented by the enormous success of sites like Facebook who rely on content sharing rather than clutter. MySpace is the antithesis of this simplified style. A classic example of overdesign, MySpace is falling out of mind to the cleaner, simpler user interface of Facebook.

Last night in about an hour I put together a quick child theme using the versatile iThemes Builder theme for my sister’s photography blog. She wanted a wider layout to display her photos, so I kept it simple with a wide content area. That is all it needed. Add a few simple pages for bio, contact and pricing and it’s done. Maximum of three hours including the header design and the site is done. (I used the new iThemes rotating images plugin for the header.)

Just clean lines and clean typography. It has been stripped to the essentials. I realize that this project demanded simplicity and some projects will have much more complex requirements. But the principle is the same. Eliminate excess. There are no sidebars with recent post widgets, or space-sucking category lists because they are redundant for this site. When these elements are helpful and necessary, they can add value to the design. But don’t feel like they are essentials to smart web design for every project.

1. Place emphasis on what is important by eliminating what isn’t.
2. Remember, visitors to the site did not organize it themselves. Make it easy, and obvious to navigate.
3. Don’t let design become a distraction to content.

Read what I’ve been reading about web design and usability trends here:

Trend Central: Web Design Makeovers
Information Architects: The Future of Web Design

UPDATE
1-21-10: YouTube introduces simplified user experience.

Google is quietly rolling out a new minimalist design for its YouTube video player pages, which it claims will be more appropriate for a wide range of content from the user-uploaded content that has always been a staple to feature-length films. By muting the “voice” of the old design, YouTube hopes to make videos stand out from everything else on its pages.

Read the rest of this article on Wired’s Epicenter Blog.

I’m not saying you need to be a web expert and do everything yourself. But if you don’t take a personal interest in your site, your customers won’t either. More than ever websites are a conversational piece of your marketing plan. They’re no longer about broadcasting your message, they’re about interacting with your audience. And that interaction is something you can’t fake or outsource. By all means bring in help to do it right, but if you’re not engaged and putting some of your personality into your site, it’s not going to work. If the people actually running your site aren’t empowered to give it personality, it’s going to flop.

You can’t just throw something online and hope it works. But if you put yourself online, if you’re engaged in the process and care about what it says and how it says it, then customers will notice. It’s no longer just a bit of marketing, but it’s a connection.

If you’re not in your website now, change it:

• Start blogging. Talk about what matters to you and your organization.
• If blogging sounds too involved, try Twitter. Share your hopes, dreams and favorite tips in 140 characters or less.
• Give people something of value. What about your business is incredibly valuable? Find a way to put that online. Whether it’s tips and expertise, coupons to entice people to come in and see the value for themselves, or something else.

You can’t just slap up your name in cyberspace and call it good. You need to have a clear and specific strategy for how you’re going to use your website to help your business.

You need a plan:

• Educational Marketing – You could use your website to education potential customers about your industry. You offer insight and knowledge and build trust with potential customers.
• Customer Service – You could put your site to work as a 24/7 customer service representative. Pack your site with instructions, FAQs, tips and anything that will answer customer questions. You could pair it with the more immediate response of Twitter or other social networking sites to give it a more relational feel and answer questions that don’t fit the standard mold.
• Offering Value – You could offer extra value on your website with special deals, coupons, or incentives your customers can’t get anywhere else. Amazon offers value by being cheaper, easier and having a wider selection than any brick and mortar bookstore. If e-commerce isn’t your thing, maybe you’re offering free resources that give customers value and establish a lasting relationship.

Whatever you do, make sure your website has a strategy. The last thing you want is the digital equivalent of a phone book listing.

You need to offer something of value on your site.

It’s kind of a no-brainer, but the rubber really meets the road when you have to convince someone to go to your site. You may think your site is valuable, but you need to offer something tangible that your customer will think is valuable.

That value needs to be determined by your customer, not you. It’s your company, so you would think anything about your company is valuable. But your customer probably doesn’t care about your phone number or your fancy pictures or your cute history of how you started. They want something valuable to them.

Once you have that something of value, then use that as an incentive to get people to your site. You can’t simply say ‘Check us out online!’ You need to give people a reason: “Check us out online for…”

• A restaurant might list daily specials on their site.
• A photographer might have prints available for sale.
• A realtor might have a blog with tips and insights for selling your home.
• A band might have free music downloads.

Give people a reason to visit your site.

The obvious answer is whatever you want. But if you’re tweeting for your business then you clearly need to be more intentional than that. You need a good strategy.

What Do You Want to Accomplish on Twitter?
Are you trying to address customer service complaints or are you hoping to bring in new customers? Maybe you just want to set yourself up as an expert in your field and start making contacts. Any of these goals will give you your strategy:

• If you’re tweeting to resolve customer complaints, you better start listening and tweeting helpful tips.
• If you’re hoping to bring in new customers maybe you’ll tweet coupons, brag about your chef or highlight new features.
• If you want to positioning yourself as an expert and make contacts, then you’ll post interesting and helpful links, share advice, and listen and respond to others in your field.

General Tips
In some sense you just need to dive into Twitter and see what works. Pay attention to what people respond to and do more of it. Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Not everything has to be about your business. If something is interesting, share it. If it’s funny, share it. If it makes you cry, share it. You can take that too far, but a little personality goes a long way.
• Offer real value—you should be providing something people can’t get anywhere else. Don’t just tweet your blog posts—give us something more: deals, extra links, behind the scenes scoops, photos, funny stories, etc.
• Twitter is about relationships. The hard sell doesn’t work any better here. It’s fine to push your wares, but avoid the appearance of a spammer: Don’t cram every tweet with links to your stuff, don’t repost the same thing over and over, don’t @reply or direct message people with unrelated information. It’s not all about you. Show some interest in other people. Consider introducing yourself and telling them what you like about their tweets.
• Ask questions. Especially as you gain more followers you’ll find that people respond. Ask what people like about your business, what they’re looking for, what they care about.
• Give credit where credit is due. Many of your links, resources and interesting finds were found somewhere, so give them some credit. It’s not only common courtesy, it’s ethical and gives people a source to track down further information.
• Twitter doesn’t have to be just text. You can link to photos or videos. A number of sites like Twitpic will let you post a photo from your cell phone and tweet about it.
• Whatever you do, don’t Twitter something you wouldn’t want the entire world to know. Anything you tweet better be public knowledge. If there’s a certain someone you hope won’t read what you’re posting, then don’t post it.

In the end, have fun. Twitter is a pretty laid-back communications avenue, so if you’re stressing over it you’re not doing it right.