If you look closely at the blue promotional graphic on the right, you’ll see Abraham Lincoln’s face behind the text. I am rather partial to him because I grew up in Illinois, plus my father’s name was Lincoln. In the darkest days of the Civil War, President Lincoln made some courageous choices that were tough on everyone (including him), but they changed the course of history.

Similarly, sometimes we just have to sit down, take stock of our businesses, and choose to make the changes we need to succeed. Making a decision clears the way forward, eliminates what we choose NOT to do, and draws a line in the sand that says, “from here on, things will be better.” Mentally, it’s a Vote to Succeed. I’m here to make that decision easier for you with my Vote to Succeed 30% Off Sale.

That means you’ll get 30% off website, blog, and Joomla projects, consulting services, software
installations, and one-on-one coaching sessions. If you’ve got things you want to change on your website but you don’t know how, set up a consultation with me and I’ll help you figure out what to do next — and show you how to do it yourself!

• Now’s the time to learn more about your website, blog, or Joomla site; sharpen your skills so that you can update your site yourself. Visit www.ToolieCoaching.com and make an appointment for one-on-one coaching.
• I recommend refreshing the look of your website about every 3 years or so. You don’t have to do a complete overhaul, you could just take advantage of a “website update package” that might include a new header, new buttons and graphics, or an introductory video. Visit www.ToolieWebDesign.com for ideas and to view my portfolio of over 40 websites, blogs, and Joomla sites.
• Perhaps you’d like to add new feature to your website, like StarDevelop’s Live Help, that improves your connection to your website visitors. You’ve seen the chat button on my websites; for a one-time purchase and installation fee, you could add the same feature to your site. Visit www.ToolieSofwareSetups.com to learn more.
• Ready to dig into Internet Marketing? The products and services on www.WebSavvyEntrepreneur.com can teach you how to get more for your websites and blogs, and connect with your customers more effectively.
• Is it time to profit from your vast quantities of content? Have you thought about creating a community around that content? Now is the time to set up a custom Joomla-based membership site with exactly the features you want, and benefit from the residual income that membership fees provide.

So make your first decision by sending yourself to a Free 30-minute Initial Consultation to discuss
your business needs. We can make a plan to get you on your way.

The coupon code you need is:

2012SUCCESS

Using that code in the shopping cart gets you an immediate 30% off your purchase on specified products and services. Each website has a description of the items on sale.

Here’s how to apply the Coupon Code:

1. Click on the product or service link on the web page or email link that takes you
   to pay in the shopping cart.
2. On the Order page (where you put in your credit card), look FIRST for the Coupon
   Code box on the right.
3. Enter the code and then
   Click Apply.
4. You’ll immediately see your discount. Then complete the rest of the form as usual.
   
5. You will receive an email receipt
   immediately after payment.

Note: there is a minimum purchase of $95 to receive the 30% off discount.

Now is the time to get your project up and running! You’re welcome to book a free 30-minute initial consultation in my online appointment system by using the link below:

http://www.toolie.com/links/initialconsultation

Learn more about your online business, and watch your profits grow!!

Toolie®

We had a great time Thursday night learning about Joomla, the open-source content management system that I’ve been testing on your behalf. The recording for the ”Next-Level Websites” webinar is now available at www.WebSavvySupport.com.

To view the recording, log in and click on the red Webinar Recording button. Not registered yet? It’s free, and you only have to register once. Here’s how:

1. Go to www.websavvysupport.com (my new Joomla site!) and click on Register Free.
2. Complete the form for the Web-Savvy Support Registered Membership.
3. On the next screen, enter your name and email address to immediately to receive the instructions for future webinars. That’s all there is to it!

NOTE: If you have had an ICFMW membership with this site in the past (paid or trial membership), use that prior username and password to log onto the site. If you don’t remember them, just go to the home page and click Forgot Username or Forgot Password under the Login box to have them sent to you.

Once you have registered, you’ll be able to log in to find the registration link, webinar recordings, and resource pages for future webinars.

Remember, my Back-To-School 30% Off Sale is still running, so if you’re thinking about a new website/blog/Joomla site, now’s the time to get started. Or if you want help or coaching on an existing site, we can do that too! Visit http://www.toolie.com/whatsnew/ to get all the details and the 30% Off Coupon Code!

See you soon,

Toolie®

In the last 3 days I’ve given you some pretty good reasons to attend tonight’s webinar on “Next-Level Websites for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses.” Have you been thinking about joining me?

http://www.toolie.com/links/wsswebinar

Let me give you one more reason to attend: your mindset. When times are tough, it’s tempting to pull back, clamp down, hold the fort, and fall back to limited thinking about the future of your business. One of the best ways to overcome that negative impulse is to start making plans for better times, even if you don’t know how  or when they’ll arrive. There’s something about opening up your mind to new possibilities that gives them permission to show up.

So in preparation for the growth of your business, you owe it to yourself to find out why you should consider Joomla for your next-level website. I’ve been working with Joomla for almost a year now, and I absolutely love it. For me, learning and testing Joomla on your behalf is an extension of the commitment I have always had to you: to find the best, most cost-effective solutions to support your online business presence.

http://www.toolie.com/links/wsswebinar

Join me TONIGHT to get this valuable information NOW so you can start making plans for your next website. Thanks to my 30% Off Sale, now is a great time to make plans and take advantage of the savings!

Here’s how to register:

1. Go to www.websavvysupport.com (my new Joomla site!) and click on Register/Join.
2. Choose Web-Savvy Support Registered Membership, and complete the form.
3. On the next screen, enter your name and email address to immediately receive the webinar link
   and instructions for future webinars. That’s all there is to it!

NOTE: If you have had an ICFMW membership with the site in the past (paid or trial membership), use the same username and password to log onto the site. If you don’t remember them, just go to the home page and click Forgot
Username or Forgot Password under the Login box to have them sent to you.

Talk to you TONIGHT at 6 pm Pacific/9 pm Eastern!!

Toolie®

P.S.
forward this email to a friend who might benefit!

You’re invited to this Thursday night’s webinar at 6 pm Pacific/9 pm Eastern, on “Next-Level Websites for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses.” What do I mean by “next-level”?

As Internet Marketers we’re taught to go for content: write articles, write blog posts, bring those search engines in! High-content websites are an excellent goal to have, but you need some way to manage all that content and still make it available, organized, and searchable. About a year ago, I was facing this problem with my membership site: the content was on the site, but it was presented in the wrong format. I needed some way to organize multiple types of content, have it protected, and still make it a multi-user website.

So last December I began working with Joomla, an open-source, content management system designed to handle large volumes of content. Over the last 9 months, I’ve learned about Joomla, tested for use by entrepreneurs and small businesses, and built almost a dozen websites with it.

Now I’m ready to tell you what I’ve discovered about Joomla and why I think you should consider it for some of YOUR websites! In fact, I am using my Joomla site to handle webinar registrations: now you’ll just need to register and opt-in once, and you’ll have access to all future webinar registration links. Current members can just log in to get the link.

Here’s how to register:

1. Go to www.websavvysupport.com (my new Joomla site!) and click on Register/Join.
2. Choose Web-Savvy Support Registered Membership, and complete the form.
3. On the next screen, enter your name and email address to immediately receive the webinar link and instructions for future webinars. That’s all there is to it!

NOTE: If you have had an ICFMW membership with the site in the past (paid or trial membership), use the same username and password to log onto the site. If you don’t remember them, just go to the home page and click Forgot Username or Forgot Password under the Login box to have them sent to you.

It has taken time for your business to grow; it will take time to get your site ready for the next level. Join me on Thursday to get this valuable information NOW so you can make plans. Thanks to my 30% Off Sale, now might be the right time to make those plans and take advantage of the savings!

Talk to you Thursday at 6 pm Pacific/9 pm Eastern!!

Thinking about joining us for the Remote Blogging Techniques Webinar? It’s happening at 2 pm Pacific, 5 pm Eastern time today, so now’s the time to join our group for a month and benefit from all the features of membership. Support Forum where you can post questions and get answers within hours.

http://www.websavvysupport.com/amember/signup.php

Today we’re considering what you’d like to be doing in your business.

Day 4: List the Products and Services You Want to Add or Remove

If you’ve been following along, by now you’re getting a picture of how you’re spending your time, and all the ways you can serve and provide for your customers. Today let’s take a moment to capture all of the things you’d like to be doing: more products, more services, more workshops, more e-books — whatever has been sitting on the back burner.

Try not to edit or discount mentally the ideas that come to mind. Your task today is not to decide whether something is feasible or achievable. Your task is to simply capture the ideas on paper, or in your computer.

What’s been rattling around in my brain? Public Speaking. I have spent the last 3 years experimenting, testing, building up content, creating online workshops, and producing physical products. As far as speaking is concerned, the only thing I’m missing now is a book, and believe me, that’s percolating as we speak.

Thank goodness for on-demand printing; these days it makes having a book a far less time-consuming process to produce. Frankly, I’m not waiting to write a book before beginning to market my speaking services, but having a book will be high on my list of goals for this coming year.

What’s rattling around in your brain, waiting to be acknowledged? This is your “if I could do anything” session. Take your time. Enjoy it. Revel in it.

Task for Today

Write down all of the products and services you’d like to add to your business that will bring you both new opportunities and greater satisfaction. This is a brainstorming session, so just get the ideas out of your head and onto paper, or into your computer. We’ll sort through the ideas in subsequent days.

Putting This into Practice

Now that you have an idea of how you spend your day, how long things take, what you’re already offering, and what you’d like to be doing, here’s the question of the day.

What will have to change for these new ideas to come into fruition?

You’re already busy…. what are you NOT going to do to make time for new things? Ah yes, that’s the rub. And it’s a question that only you can answer.

Toolie®

Reason 8: Branding, Creativity, and Freedom to Fly

I get asked a lot about how I can possibly make a living teaching website and blog skills when there are so many free website templates and site-builders out there already. My answer is simple: people come to me when they’re tired of bumping into the limitations that both website templates and site-builders have. They’re ready to make their sites work for them, instead of the other way around.

I remember when I learned to ride a two-wheeled bicycle. My Dad bought a bike with smaller wheels, and put training wheels on it. (This was before we knew we should wear helmets, but thankfully all I ever got were skinned knees.) I rode up and down the sidewalk, back and forth, back and forth. After a while I thought I was ready to have the training wheels taken off. Dad ran alongside me and steadied me while I got that wobbly front wheel under control. After a few sideways landings (thank goodness for lawns!) I took off and pedaled as fast as I could until Dad called me back. It was incredible! I felt like I was flying.

Pretty soon I was doing circles and figure-eights in the street, going fast, going slow, even racing with the other kids in the neighborhood. It’s a good thing I liked riding my bike because I rode it to piano lessons, to my first job at the grocery store, and even to driver’s education classes during the summer after my sophomore year in high school. I rode it to go shopping as a teenager, and many years later, I rode it for recreation and fitness. (McAlister and I even rode bikes on our first few dates.)

The point is, once I got the hang of riding with training wheels, I insisted on having them taken off so I could ride my bike without them. I wanted to feel grown up and free. As silly as the comparison may seem, being able to maneuver your own websites and blogs gives you that same sense of freedom and control. And the people who come to me are usually the ones who want a sense of empowerment, freedom, and control. They understand the importance of standing out, of being unique among the millions of websites already online.

There’s another really, really important aspect to consider about your sites, and that is your brand. Usually by the time entrepreneurs, virtual assistants, and small business owners come to work with me, they’ve got a logo and color scheme that they want applied to their sites. That’s the difference between having a site that looks like the other 662 sites using your website template, and having a site that is truly unique and reflects your brand choices. Plus with a site you’ve built or had built, you have the flexibility to do creative things with it, such as audio, video, and other interactive features.

A site with a good design gives you so many opportunities to attract visitors by continually expanding and enhancing it with good content. In my website/blog training program, we’ll talk about both design and content to produce sites that really work for your business.

Tomorrow: Reason 7 – Behind-the-Scenes Knowledge to Really Enhance Your Site

Toolie®

Reason 9: Seizing Opportunities as They Come Along

If you’ve spent any time reading my emails or participating in my webinars, you know that I emphasize how fast the Internet moves, and how important it is for you to be ready to seize opportunities as they come along. Being able to manage an existing website is great; being able to create one or more pages or even a whole site when you need it is even better.

A couple of years ago (before I really knew what direction my business should take), a colleague of mine from the National Speakers Association invited me to deliver a teleseminar as part of another association’s series. I immediately agreed to participate, and we worked out a series of interview questions. I had one problem though; I didn’t have a website for this particular area of expertise. None of my existing sites were really suitable. I was going to need a website, and fast!

Once I had the teleseminar content worked out, I devised a small website to accompany that content. I didn’t have a product to sell, so a salesletter wasn’t going to work. What I planned to do was provide a special page of resources connected to that content for the teleseminar attendees. I needed a multi-page website that listed my services and pointed to the websites I DID have. The resulting site became www.Tooliedotter.com.

Is it an impressive site? No, definitely not my finest work — in fact, I debated about showing it to you at all. Did the site provide the intended information? YES, it did, including the hidden resources page. The site also included links to 2 online demos I already had, an opt-in box for my webinars, a working contact form for future inquiries, and my Live Chat button in case someone wanted questions answered real-time. The site provided evidence that I had consulting expertise, and provided a destination for consulting inquiries.

How long did I spend on this website? Less than eight (8) hours: in fact, I put it up overnight. It has my colors, my fonts, and a simple design I can expand and update in the future. Did I get visitors to my website as a result of the teleseminar? You bet. Did I get business from it? Indirectly, yes, through my webinars and coaching. Am I going to leave the site like it is now? NO! I’ll be revamping it when the time is right. The important thing is that I was able to produce the site when I needed it.

Most of you won’t need to create an entire site to seize an opportunity for exposure and future business. But wouldn’t be great if you could put up a dedicated web page specifically for an opportunity for acquire new clients? With a little HTML and CSS knowledge, you can do exactly that, any time of the day or night. My new training product/coaching program/membership site will show you how.

Tomorrow: Reason 8 – Branding and Creativity Applied Online

Toolie®