Tis the season. The season of giving. The season to be thankful. So I have decided to spend the next 25 days thinking about all of the things I am thankful for this year and how I can pay this forward. A year ago, I barely knew what a blog was, let alone all of the amazing things that I could accomplish with my blog. A year ago I didn’t understand Twitter or the many ways it could enrich my life. My interest in blogging and social media was a result of writing my first book, EVENTually Perfect. And while I never thought about writing a book, it opened a whole new world for me. And these are the things I am thankful for.
I think about what I have learned this past year. The learning curve was amazing! And while I could have sat back and continued on the path I was on, I realized that I was at a fork in the road. I chose to embrace the new technologies and all that it had to offer. And along the way, I made new friends and acquaintances. I forged new alliances. And I even wrote two more books, The Small Business That CouldTM and The Small Business That Could For Women.
I am currently working on a membership website, and that was what sparked my desire to write this post. After several months of searching for the right tools to create this website, I sought the advice of a friend and mentor, Jen Bonnett (@jen_bonnett) of Startup Chicks (@startupchicks). She shared her insight with me and motivated me to move forward with this project. And while I spent a significant amount of time and frustration, not to mention excuses on why I couldn’t do this, I also knew how important this project was to me. So today I started. I knew WordPress. I knew membership site plugins were available. I just had to find a plugin that could offer the database function I needed. And I had a friend who was helping me with the theme.
So over the next 25 days, I will take a few minutes off from this project to share what I have learned about these new technologies and how they can build a community, a business and most of all a circle of friends. And at the end of the 25 days, I will launch my new website. It is my present to myself. The best gift I can give myself, the gift of satisfaction and accomplishment.
The Season of Giving
by Marna on December 2, 2009
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Good luck with the new site! As you know, we are launching our own membership site as well. It’s gonna be quite the adventure!
Todd,
Thanks. We should compare notes, once I am ready to add the membership aspect of this site. I have about another week of data entry before I’m ready for that step. But I am enjoying the adventure!
Marna
Very timely post, one of the best gifts we can give is appreciation. I really look forward to following this series.
Robyn,
Thanks for the comment and thanks so much for the support.
Marna