POWER OF FOCUS WORKS TO BUILD A WEBSITE

The decision was not an easy one. I could either have five days at the beach in Long Beach, Washington, or stay home and develop my website: http://www.kathycondon.info/.

Rosie, my friend and the artist for my book It Doesn't Hurt to Ask: It's all about Communication has a magnificent home at the beach. In her presence, there are great conversations and fierce card games that challenge my mind. If I stayed home, I would have five days of little communication with other human beings.

I placed the call to Rosie and told her that I decided to stay home and work on the website. Once I made that phone call, my focus turned to the things I needed to do to clear the decks for the five days that were rapidly approaching.

Thursday morning arrived and the focus process began. For this website, unlike those I previously had, I was laser focused on exactly what I want to provide. Using Netfirms E-commerce Site Builder, I began the process by choosing a template for the entire website. This was no easy task, as there were hundreds of them. And once you find the template you like, you still have to choose the color.

The tabs listed the services I provide, and of course, there was the obligatory bio and client list. The framework was complete.

Now the hard part began—verbiage that would catch the eye of my site visitors. Krissi, who I found through Elance became an invaluable asset. Often I would send her a page and she was right there to rework the paragraphs. She helped me clarify statements and wrote eye-catching copy.

The process continued for three days. Then it was time for a break—a trip to Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert and Resort with my friend, Molly. The sunshine, a completely different landscape and laughs renewed my spirits.

The verbiage for the website was pretty much done. Now for the pictures that would help bring the pages to life… My sister, Janet, is superb at working with pictures and, by the way, has a passion for it. We kept Skype on and laughed that she was at my beck and call for the entire day. She got used to hearing me say, “Well, if it were a little more to the right.”

At last, it appeared the website was ready to launch. Now I can make any changes I desire, for I truly am the architect of the entire site. This is something I never dreamed I could do, but advances in technology have made it possible for those of us with limited web design skills … so long as you painstakingly read the directions (not an easy task for me).

The time had come at about 7:00 p.m. on Labor Day. There was both a sense of terror and excitement, for I knew that once I pushed the button, my other website would be gone. I took a deep breath and pushed ‘Publish.’

After it downloaded, the ‘View Your Website’ button appeared. With trepidation, I pushed the button … and then I broke into a huge smile—it had worked perfectly. I found three little glitches throughout the 12 pages; however, they were easy to fix.

As I went to bed that night, there was a huge sense of accomplishment. I slept well. When I got up the next morning, I was wondering if it was a dream—did I really have a brand new website that 100 percent reflected my services. Sure enough, there it was—it was not a dream.

The power of focus has served me well.

Check out my new website: http://www.kathycondon.info/


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