Website Managers

Archive for June, 2008

There are some names you see passed around on the Internet as being members of the “elite”. Those are people who have made big names for themselves in Internet Marketing and become virtually untouchable without paying for their time. That in itself instills a nervousness or fear when considering speaking with them.

One thing that happens to some people when they “make it big” is they get an attitude like they are better than others. While that may hold true for a small percentage who portray it even on their live training calls, others retain their humble personalities. I learned this fact first hand when an opportunity arose to call Rosalind Gardner, who is considered one of the “elite”.

I was nervous and made excuses to put it off, knowing that the longer I did, the tougher it would be to get the courage. So I reached for the phone… and froze. There is was – the nervousness I did not want to raise its ugly head. All kinds of questions started racing through my mind:

• Is it too late to call, even though her time is only 7:00 PM?
• Will I interrupt her family time?
• How do I introduce myself?
• How do I get the conversation going?
• What questions am I allowed to ask? I have so many!
• How will she react if I saying something really stupid?
• Should I keep the call short and strictly business?
• What if I make myself sound like a fool?
• How will she react if I get so nervous that I start rambling on with insignificant stories?

The nervousness grew with a frenzy until it became fear. I started pacing from one end of the house to the other and back again. I decided to wait until the next afternoon, thinking she must be in her office then. Hopefully I would have composed myself enough to call. Finally I forced myself to dial the number.

When she answered, I introduced myself. Even before telling her that we have interacted on her forum, she already knew. At first I stumbled with how to start the conversation. As it turned out, that was actually the toughest part!

After just a few minutes, speaking with Rosalind was like talking with a friend. The conversation was casual, while creative ideas flowed and business was conducted. After a while I started feeling like enough of her time was taken, so with decisions made, I offered to end the call. A few more ideas were discussed and a few minutes later, Rosalind had to prepare for a consultation. I then asked how much I owed her for this one. The call ended with a laugh.

What this taught me was that no matter how successful or popular someone becomes, they can still hold a good conversation, have stories of their own, are good listeners and like making new friends. When you get the opportunity to speak with someone who is considered an “elite”, make the call. If you see them in person, walk over and introduce yourself.

They most likely started right where you are now and had many of the same questions. Hold that temptation to pick their brain with a flurry of questions though, until you either schedule a consultation, or are invited to meet again. The first meeting should be to get to know each other.

Now you are probably wondering how this opportunity came about – without an appointment. As it turns out, I am one of her forum moderators. Visit us at NetProfitsToday.com – “the friendliest forum on the web”.

Jim Hutchinson

While there are many free WordPress themes from which to choose for your own blog, you may not find one that exactly suits your needs. If that describes you, then learning how to design your own theme may be what you are looking for.

Tessa Blakeley Silver wrote an instructional manual named WordPress Theme Design. It is intended to be a complete guide to creating professional WordPress themes, with practical step-by-step instructions for theme design.

Included are development tools for setting up your WordPress sandbox, design tips and suggestions, setting up the template structure for your theme, coding markup, tips on testing, debugging and taking it live, reviewing the best practices.

Shriharsha Bhat of Packt Publishing said, “This book walks through clear, step-by-step instructions to build a custom theme for the WordPress open-source blog engine. The author provides design tips and suggestions and covers setting up the WordPress sandbox, and reviews the best practices from setting up the theme’s template structure, through coding markup, testing, and debugging, to taking it live.”

“The last three chapters cover additional tips, tricks, and various cookbook recipes for adding popular site enhancements to WordPress theme designs using 3rd-party plugins as well as creating API hooks to add custom plugins.”

Learn more about WordPress Theme Design by visiting Amazon.com.

_______
Jim Hutchinson
Website Managers, LLC
Discount WordPress Blog Hosting