Amateurs Look for Inspiration

"Amateurs look for inspiration; the rest of us just get up and go to work." Chuck Close

I love feeling inspired. It's so much fun when I come across something that just lights me up and pushes me to work harder to achieve whatever end result I'm working towards. 

But sometimes, inspiration holds us back... or at least the lack of inspiration does. We try so hard to find that next thing to fuel the fire beneath us that we end up waiting and waiting, and yup you guessed it, more waiting.

Sometimes working is the best way to get inspired. Forcing yourself to start something, anything even without a direction or an idea about where it will take you.

Sit down and focus on doing one small thing after another and often times you'll be surprised how inspiration finds you when you least expect it. 

Fear of Commitment & Why Hard Work Doesn't Always Pay Off

Being an entrepreneur is a beautiful, amazing thing. I LOVE what I do and every day I wake up excited to do something I really care about. In some ways I think I'm addicted to growing my business because of this inner need to see results from my efforts. 

The problem?  

For most people, there are only two exciting phases of building a business. The beginning stages where your brain is overflowing with promising ideas and the ending stages where you have a finished product and money in the bank.

The biggest issue with this concept is that the "ending" stages don't really exist. It's a cycle and while we want to experience wins, we are constantly moving in and out of other stages along the way.

Accept the journey

"Learn to love the journey" as the timeless cliche reads, but more importantly learn to accept your journey. No two individuals have the same path to success so don't expect to mirror those who came before you.

Instead, forge your own path and focus on taking daily actions to move ahead.

Afraid to commit

We love our ideas so much we don't want to see them fail but we don't give them enough time to succeed.

So... we don't commit. 

We spin our wheels and run like a hamster getting nowhere fast. Always busy but never accomplishing anything that gets us closer to out goals. 

Why? Because taking action alone doesn't move you forward. You NEED to take calculated actions that, when put together, make up a bigger effort. 

If you don't know which direction to head in that's okay because your goal should be just to pick a direction and stick with it until you've had enough time to actually create measurable results (good or bad). 

My resolution

It's September and I'm already thinking about my New Year's Resolutions. I don't want to wait until January to get this one out on paper so I'm going to pledge it now to whoever reads this post and I'm trusting you to hold me accountable. 

I am going to find one thing I actually enjoy doing that I believe will grow my business so I can commit to doing it on a regular basis (no excuses).

I'm leaning towards a podcast at this point but I'm hoping you'll join me and pick one think you're going to do on a regular basis to grow your business. 

Don't pick something that's boring or hard for you. Find something you enjoy and something you're good at, pick a schedule, and stick to it!

An example would be committing to posting something on Instagram every day like Alex Beadon did with the Entrepreneur Word of the Day.  You could also commit to posting a blog post every Tuesday or commenting on different blogs daily. 

It's up to you but make sure its actionable and measurable. 

Share your commitment in the comments. Say something like...

I commit to doing ___(X)___ every __(how often?)__ and I am doing this because I want to ___(X)___.

Customize Your Own Email Optin Form With CSS

I've had a lot of questions lately about how to customize the email optin form on your blog or website. Email marketing is a huge part of building your audience and it's important to have an optin that stands out on your website. 

In this video I'll show you how to design an optin form with CSS for Squarespace (or Wordpress) even if you don't have any previous coding experience. This may be a little difficult for some people but I'm hoping it gives you a good introduction into styling with CSS and also adding a form to your site.

For this example, I'm using Mad Mimi (affiliate) as my email marketing platform because they are awesome :) 

And here is the code shown in the video:

/* SIDEBAR TEST FORM */

div.sidebar-form {
 border: 2px solid #F1A9A0;
 padding: 20px;
 overflow: auto;
}

div.sidebar-form h2 {
text-align: center;
color: #3A539B;
font-family: Lora;
font-weight: normal;
}

div.sidebar-form input#signup_email, div.sidebar-form input#webform_submit_button {
 width: 100%;
 max-width: 279px;
border: 2px solid #ddd;
padding: 10px 0px;
text-align: center;
background: #efefef;
font-family: Lora;
}

div.sidebar-form input#webform_submit_button {
background: #3A539B;
padding: 13px 0;
color: white;
border: 2px solid #333;
 max-width: 283px;
margin-top: 15px;
}

div.sidebar-form input#webform_submit_button:hover {
background: #67809F; 
}

If you need help implementing this code or you want to learn more about styling your website, go ahead and sign up for one of my style sessions by clicking here. See you there!

The #1 Secret To A Better Looking Website

This is the one thing that often makes the difference between an ugly site and one people fall in love with. The answer?

Simplicity.

The focus of your website is the content. Don't let your design overshadow the value on each page because more likely than not it's an unwelcome distraction.

Sometimes the best design is less design.

According to this study by Google, websites with less "visual complexity" were perceived as more appealing. People like simple. Simple is easy. 

What does this mean for you? Purge. Get rid of anything you don't absolutely need in your design. Ask yourself... does this element have a purpose? If no, hit delete. 

I like to start with a barebones website and build creative elements on top of it to add personality and style. That's why I'm such a big fan of Squarespace. The templates are so simple and adding a little bit of style is easy without overdoing it. 

Back to Basics

Think about what your customers really need from your website. What content do they visit most often? How can you make navigating your site easier for them. 

Remove all the distractions and focus on letting your content stand out. Then once you've removed all the bells and whistles, think about how you add a little bit of calculated style back to your website to make it your own. 

What colors will you use? How will your typography enhance your message? 

I recommend starting with our free style guide if you haven't already. Go ahead and signup at the top of the sidebar or over on the homepage.