Posts in Business
Why I made the switch to Mailerlite
Why I made the switch to Mailerlite

Why I made the switch to Mailerlite

Alright alright alright, today we are going to take a look at one of the most important aspects of running a successful website and that’s your email list! I’ve written before about why every website needs an email list and how important they are if you want to grow your website so if you haven’t checked out that post already, hop on over and catch up with us again in a minute. Email lists are a must have for any business and website, and I totally geek out over them!

Knowing how important it is to have an email list is one thing but getting started with it is the next step. I’m here to tell you that despite your best efforts and hours of research, you might not choose the right platform and email service provider on the first round. Whomp whompppp.

I’ve played around with MailChimp and ConvertKit and now I’ve moved my email list over to Mailerlite. Let me tell you why :

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BusinessCharlotte O'Haramailerlite, email marketing, email list, newsletter Comments
The biggest lessons I’ve learned as a freelance web designer/developer
The biggest lessons I’ve learned as a freelance web designer/developer

Normally these posts are saved for major business anniversaries and milestones. Here’s what I learned in my first year of business! or 5 lessons I learned on the way to seven figures!. Those are all fantastic reasons to write a post like this, but sometimes the inspiration strikes when you least expect it… in my case, while I was enjoying my daily Snickers bar.

Looking back on my business makes me smile and also cringe. There are SO many things I did wrong, but there’s also a lot I did right. I pushed outside of my comfort zone every day and decided to work through my limiting beliefs to get to the next level.

I’m proud of the work that I’ve done and the business I’m building, but it’s still fun to see how far I’ve come and what sticks out as the biggest lessons learned.

I want to share those today, both as something I can look back on sometime in the future AND hopefully to encourage anyone starting out on their own journey. A major thing that has kept me going through the struggles of running a business has been the idea that dumb people achieve success all the time so why can’t I? You have to go balls to the walls in order to get what you want and it's usually the people who are willing to put themselves out there, even when they feel silly/ridiculous/like an imposter, who come out on top.

Without further ado, here are the biggest lessons I’ve learned as a freelance web designer/developer.

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BusinessCharlotte O'Haralessons learned, my business Comments
The Reading List for January/February 2018
The Reading List for January/February 2018

One of my big goals for 2018 is to read more and actually log those books.

I know, I know. How unoriginal! But hear me out. 

Reading is something that I love doing and, for the most part, I have no problem powering through the latest thriller or mystery. I am a fiction junkie and once I find an author or series that I enjoy, there’s no stopping me.

Over the pat few months, however, I haven’t put aside as much time as I’d like to read non-fiction books that will help my business, mindset and continuing education. And that’s a damn shame because I enjoy those books too!

One of my favourite things about business/lifestyle books is that I basically get full access to someone’s brain and I can learn so much from them by reading their stories and implementing their advice. As I mentioned in a previous book recommendation post, “It would be nearly impossible to get a multi-hour meeting with some of these people but when you read their book, it's basically a masterclass in their teachings.” 

As such, I’m putting it out into the universe that over the next four weeks I will read the following three books. You'll notice that none of these books directly cover web design/development but rest assured that the lessons are applicable to nearly every industry. I’m excited to dive in!

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BusinessCharlotte O'HarabooksComment
Things I’m doing differently in my business this year
Things I’m doing differently in my business this year

2017 was a year of change for my business. 

First and foremost as a web designer/developer, I worked on a lot of client projects, which I really enjoyed. It was great to collaborate with businesses and solopreneurs, be creative with design, and teach my clients how to use their website to strategically support their businesses. I was happy to niche down and work with more small professional businesses and develop a more robust portfolio in this area. 

This year also saw my first foray into diversification. I launched my first digital product, the Website Growth Tracker spreadsheets, and am thrilled that it was a success! I hum’ed and haw’ed about creating a digital product for literally months, and I’m so glad that I finally sat down, cranked it out, and pushed it live for the world to see. 

I also dipped my feet into online marketing by guest posting for industry peers (examples here and here), started a Youtube channel, sent out weekly emails to my newsletter subscribers, appeared on a podcast, was featured in several publications and quoted online, wrote articles, etc. This all pushed my outside of my comfort zone in a major way but the results have been worth it!

Looking back on the past twelve months, I see that I learned A LOT about time management, setting up systems, pitching myself and my services, and getting more comfortable with failure, pivots, and rejection. #realtalk

This is all well and good but you know what they say - there’s always room for improvement. I have BIG plans for my business and how I want it to grow this year, and I know that it’s possible if I work hard … at the right things.

As I sat down and planned out how I want 2018 to look, I knew there would be things I would have to do differently in my business in order to get the results I want. 

Let's take a look.

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BusinessCharlotte O'Hara2018, my business, goalsComment