I’ve had my own business about 12 years now and many things work like clockwork and I love that. Then sometimes things need to change, like when I realized a couple years ago that I was growing out of my old website.
I wanted something calmer and easier for you, and more heart-to-heart. Not to mention a need to update the technology.
After taking many many small steps over time, working with a great crew of helpers, and getting lots of feedback, the baby has arrived:
I have a new website that feels better to me, and hopefully better for you too.
I’ll tell you a little about the process, and how I had to learn to let in more help than I normally do.
Better and Always a Work in Progress
The wording is always a work in progress, but the new design is ready. It feels like a big deal to open the door today to this labor of love, from my heart to yours. 🎁
The perfectionist in me could keep editing and tweaking forever, yikes, so I have to keep coming back to “good enough for now.” What matters is how it works for you. That’s what it’s all about.
I invite you to look around in here, and I would very much like to hear any feedback — good, bad, or things that seem too minor to mention. It’s all helpful. (I love it.) A quick comment below is good, or you can send any anonymous feedback here. Thank you.
If you want to browse, I invite you to begin with the home page:
ValNelson.com
New features I’m excited about:
- A new home page video with a little about me and what you can find on the site.
- Also on the home page, you’ll see 3 doorways you can choose, based on what might be going on for you, from when your work feels draining, to self-employment stress, to curiosities about life purpose and possibilities.
- Also available near the bottom of most pages is a more robust quiz to see if coaching will work for you. It’s based on years of seeing what works. (Not everyone gets a Yes answer.) The quiz now does the calculating for you, with specific suggestions based on your answers.
- At the top of the blog home, you’ll see a (user-controlled) slider with some popular posts for easy browsing. (I hate those fast-moving sliders. None of that around here.)
- The footer has quick links to key pages.
- Oh and it incorporates some of my own drawings. You’ll see them in the simple colorful doodles to help guide your way, such as on the Services page. That’s been fun!
- There are also back-end things I like, such as faster loading times and better security measures.
- I also did a big clean-up which included deleting some blog posts and pages, and updating others.
Now I suspect you see what I mean by a “labor of love.” There were many puzzle pieces, and it’s such a joy to see it all coming together, like turning in a master’s thesis.
I had to let in a lot of help!
To get to this point, I’ve had to let in more help than I have before with my business. It was sometimes with a gulp. This is part of why it feels like a big milestone, like stepping into something bigger.
The whole process was spread out over a couple years. It included hiring for new portraits, new branding, web design and online marketing expertise.
I had to consciously turn towards a mindset that it is about investing, not spending, and that it will be worth it. A cost of doing business and stepping up.
Not all business investments are worth it, for sure, but after this many years, I’m good at knowing what will pay off or not. It feels good to be at this milestone. It’s been joyful to have such wonderful help.
(By the way, if you’re considering a first website, it can be much simpler than all this. You can start very basic like I did. I have changed it over time.)
May you notice your own milestones today, even the small ones.
Funny how the brain focuses more on what’s not done, and often misses all that we have done to the move the needle. I know I still have a long to-do list, but I’m happy to pause and celebrate this with you today.
