Happy Anniversary: The Ugly Duckling Site
by Tiffany Johnson
by Tiffany Johnson
September 19th marked the second anniversary of running my business full-time. It seems like it was just yesterday when I woke up on that wonderful Friday to the fact that I would be in control of my day. At that point, my business had no name and no website.
My very first website was wack! Because I needed something for an upcoming project, I used a free quick template offered by my host. I used to joke that I was like the hairdresser who had no time to do her own hair!
As time went on, and thanks to a wonderful client of mine, I grew a fondness for WordPress and Thesis. They would meet my needs perfectly; however, I still had that old mentality that I needed to actually create my site from scratch. WordPress would be too easy.
My website went into Phase2. However, it officially made it off the ground. I spent $60 for a template that would allow me to do all of the customizations. I ended up not using it because I decided the green shade just wasn't me. I'm a Tarheel for goodness sake by state and by school. Blue makes me smile :).
Phase 3 of my site was much better. However, I still had little time to get it together, but I was determined to make it more befitting to me. I was quite satisfied with what I'd come up with and lived with it until the beginning of 2010. Then I had an epiphany. WordPress would be so much easier but I still wanted a spiffy design that would be quick. I purchased a theme from WooThemes based on the recommendation of a virtual friend. I played with the template and went back and forth with my team for way too long. I still didn't like how it looked. It just wasn't home for us.
Another epiphany – I could use Thesis. I really liked it from working on my client’s site. I went with the site that you are viewing today. It is the end result of my website journey. However, it's a neverending project as there's always something to test or try out.
The point of this is to say, please don't do what I did and make things hard for yourself. You don’t have time for that.
What is it you've been taking way too long to do?
What stops you from moving forward on your website or other things for your business?
If you're waiting for the prettiest, the best, stop it right now. If ugly can get you moving, go with it and let someone else handle the pretty!
