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Are you keeping your WordPress website in tip-top shape?

Are you keeping your WordPress website in tip-top shape?

by | Online Business

Are you keeping your WordPress website in tip-top shape?

We all do it, do a Google search find a website and determine in three seconds if we will stay. Are you keeping your WordPress website in tip-top shape? Your website is a software application. For example, how many app updates happen each week on your smartphone? Well, that same thing is happening with the themes, plugins and WordPress software application on your website. Further, the updates are software enhancements that protect your site or better yet provided you with a new feature. 

What exactly do you need to be doing to keep your WordPress Website looking good and in tip-top shape?

The recommendations

Here is a list of the recommended updates that should be performed on your WordPress website at a minimum monthly. 

Website Wellness To-Do List

Monthly Backups

We use the plugin Updraft for these backups. It can be set to happen automatically. In addition to the backup each month, you’ll want to make sure that you send this to a third-party location such as Google Drive, DropBox or your local computer.

Because if something happens to your website, something will happen to the backup that is stored locally on the website. 

Most importantly, if you automate your backup to a third-party location. For the love, make sure you check that it is happening. 

Applying any updates 

You’ll need to apply updates to WordPress. Updates are guaranteed as the software is always evolving and changing. Updates will need to be applied to WordPress, your theme and plugins at least monthly. 

It’s best to apply these updates one by one. Trust me, we know this is time-consuming. However, if the software is conflicting with the current software on your WordPress website it could take the site down.

We’re talkin’ about those dreaded blue or white screens.

As a results, by updating them one at a time you’ll be able to check that your site is still up and running after each one of the software updates.

If it’s not up and you’re getting a heart-pounding error message, you’ll know exactly what needs to be disabled or deleted on your cPanel to get your site back up and running.

Here is an article on disable or deleting on your cPanel. Or a quick Google search will help with this too.

Reviewing spam

If you allow comments on your website you’ll have spam comments from bots that search the internet just to put comments on the website. Yeppers, it’s a thing. 

These comments take up space on your site – clear the clutter people. (:

Checking for Broken Links

They have a plugin for checking for broken links, but you will need to fix those links manually.

Other updates to consider

Fresh Content

Why is it important to keep the content fresh? Your website is your online storefront. For instance, would you walk into a physical building that looks like it’s old and falling apart? Heck no, you have three seconds to make an impression before a visit makes the decision to stay or leave your site. 

Have you found a blog or a website that you felt provided fantastic information? Bookmarking this site to check for new content, but sadly disappointed when nothing new was added. Let’s be real, you’ll remove the bookmark and never coming back to that site again. Don’t let that be your website! 

Providing new valuable content builds up the know, love and trust factor with your soulmate clients. Oh, and we know that this is easier said than done! 

Adding new content is a great thing to consider outsourcing. How much simpler would it be to just type new content in an email or document, along with the page location and when you wanted it added. Um yep, so much simpler. 

And if you want to get your website ranked with Google you need to be adding fresh new content or at least updating your current content. Plus doing the research on keywords. 

You do want to put a bit of effort into getting your site seen, according to hostingtribunal.com, to date, there are over 1.6 billion websites in the world and more than 500 million are recognized as blogs.

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Little Side Note

Here is a great article from smashingmagazine.com on image optimization and website speeds. 

Changing Up Your Images

Changing up your images on your website can give it a fresh look and feel. But, it takes time to resize the images and format them for the website. Plus, clean up all the old images that aren’t used any longer. 

You know all those exciting things that we’re sure are getting done on the regular, right, to keeping your WordPress Website up to date and running smoothly.

​You're Crazy

If you’re thinking you’re crazy I don’t have time for that! We’d love to help you out. We have three different packages for keeping your WordPress Website up to date, and they are all fabulous. Send us a message and we'll get back to you. 

Nah, I’ll do it myself

Great, just make sure you are keeping your WordPress Website up to date! To help you out, we invite you to sign up for our Monthly Wellness Reminders, where we’ll send you a reminder each month that it’s that time again and we include a little WordPress information to keep you in the know.

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How do you know when you’re ready to outsource?

How do you know when you’re ready to outsource?

by | Online Business

How do you know when you’re ready to outsource?

If you’re asking the question how do you know when you’re ready to outsource that’s a good sign that it may be time to hire a virtual assistant or an online business manager. 

Too small for outsourcing

You’re barely making any money in your business are you too small for outsourcing? However, let me ask you could someone else do the job better and faster? 

For instance your social media. You could easily have someone else manage the posting and you can handle the engagement. 

To clarify, with outsourcing, it doesn’t have to be hours and hours. You could find a virtual assistant to help with a few small pieces of your business. 

Keep a log of where you’re spending your time. What tasks do you despise? What tasks do you love to do and it causes you to procrastinate on income-generating tasks in your business?

What is DYI costing you?

While I get it, some things are better done by you. But, what is DYI costing your business? Are you wearing too many hats in your business and running around and not really getting anything done?

Certainly when you focus on short term outcomes continuing to doing it all yourself may seem like the cheaper option. 

However, when you begin to look at the long term goals of your online business what is the actual cost of doing it all yourself?

Above all, the one thing that you can never get back is your time. 

You have all these great ideas but zero time to develop and implement 

Is this you? You have all these great ideas but, the day to day routine tasks are hindering your growth by preventing you from implementing all your great ideas. 

Consequently, you already have more work than time and even thinking about all the tasks that would need to go into developing your idea into reality seems overwhelming. 

This is a sign you're ready to outsource. 

Your mind is filled with Never Enough Time

Your mind is constantly going with all the tasks and ideas. While you’re working on one tasks you’re thinking about all the tasks that still need to be done. 

You started your business for a purpose and now you’re stuck in the backend of your business with no end in sight. 

You need to grow but you can’t do it alone with all the routine day to day operations that take up all your priceless time.

This is a sign you're ready to outsource. 

You’re simply tired of wearing all the hats in your business

This is a sign you're ready to outsource.

Okay, Friend, you see all the signs that you're ready to outsource

Now you ask, who’s the best fit to outsource tasks to in your business? First of all, this is determined by what stage you’re at in your business. 

Therefore, let’s take a look at the different service providers' roles to figure out who’s the best fit for you and your business. The roles are a Virtual Assistant (VA), a Techie Virtual Assistant  (TVA), Certified Online Business Manager (OBM) or all of the above. 

Depending on what stage your business is in all three may be what you need to take your business to the next level.

Virtual Assistant|VA

Commonly, your first hire is going to be a virtual assistant, that special hero that gets you back to why you started your business and take all those routine day-to-day tasks and creates more time in your day. Hallelujah! 

Friend do I need to remind you that wearing the busy badge will not generate more income in your business? Stop trying to be everything to everybody and just focus on what you do best. 

A Virtual Assistant will get you out of your inbox, organize the to-do list, protect your priceless time on your calendars, simply be the organization and time-saving hero for you and your business. 

In short, a Virtual Assistant will be a doer of all the routine day-to-day tasks that you have in your business. 

Techie Virtual Assistant|TVA

Do you need to learn a new skill or fine-tune a skill to take your grow to the next level?

A Techie Virtual Assistant is going to be a subject matter superstar on a software application. 

The Miss Task Team is a group of Techie Virtual Assistant or Subject Matter Superstars. Our Techie Superpowers are working with WordPress Website Design and email service providers, such as MailChimp, MailerLite, ConvertKit, and Ontraport. We also work with the all in one platform Kajabi. 

To sum up, a Techie Virtual Assistants take the hassle out of having to learn a new skill. Leaving you more time for income-generating tasks in your business. 

Online Business Manager|OBM

An Online Business Manager or OBM for short. An Online Business Manager actually supports the business owner and manages the business. 

An org chart for an online business would have the OBM directly under the owner managing all the team members. The focus of the OBM is on the how and the who. How the vision of the business owner is going to be carried out and by whom. 

We manage all of the things. An OBM manages all the people, all the operations, all of the things that are going on with the projects that you have in your business so that you're able to focus on your vision and the income-generating tasks that only you can do in your business. 

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Little Side Note

It is the Pareto Principle that 80% of your results are caused by 20% of your effort.

Two Resources

What? Yep, I have two resources that you could download. First is my Overwhelmed to Outsourced Planner. Second, is my 100+ Ways An OBM Can Boost Business. 

Want to know if we would be a good fit? Fill out an inquiry form and let’s chat. 

Say you can and outsource

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Mind Mapping To Plan Your Goals

Mind Mapping To Plan Your Goals

by | Goals, Planning-Organization-Productivity

When you use mind mapping to plan your goals, you change the way your brain thinks by engaging it in a creative and visual activity. Creating a mind map can be done on paper or with software. My mind wanders when I create mine on paper.

Commitments

I make commitments to myself to achieve certain goals. These goals are not just things that I want to do – they are things that I must do in order to be happy and successful. I make these commitments because I know I can and will achieve them.

A key to achieving goals is to break them down into small doable steps.

Creating A Mind Map

In the middle of your paper write the word – Goals, Commitment or that very special name you call them. I like to circle the main point, or you could write it in a fun color that POPS! 

These are some articles I found that I enjoyed and that helped me understand mind mapping.

The Mind Map Technique: How To Set More Productive Goals

Unlock Your Ideas With Mind Mapping In Just 3 Minutes 

Off of your middle circle create spokes to an exhaustive list of all the things that you’d like to do in your business.

Every little thing that you can think of, get it all out of your head and onto the paper. 

If you have any sub-thoughts about the goals write those down as spokes off of the goal. 

Do you feel good about your list? Do you have everything out?

Be sure to sit a few extra minutes asking yourself “What Else” this will allow for anything else to pop in. 

What do you want to commit to? 

There is everything in front of you. Be sure to circle the commitments that are most important to you, as well as those that are in alignment with your business.

Mind Mapping To Plan Your Goals

Mind Map Again To Create Your Plan

You have the commitments you’re feeling called to achieve. Now put that commitment in the center and begin to create an action plan and all the action steps that need to be done to accomplish your commitment or goal.

Do this for each of your commitments.

Which commitment do you want to begin with?

As a general rule, you should work on one commitment at a time rather than juggling too many responsibilities at once.

Create Your Action Plan

Now that you have all the action steps and the commitment to your goal, give an estimate of the time it will take to complete each step.

What needs to come first

What is the first thing that needs to happen?

Get this scheduled in your calendar.

Once I have the plan on paper, I add it to my Project Management Software, ClickUp. It actually has a Goal session where you can create all the tasks with your goal and set the date to complete them.

Remember Parkinson’s law that work expands to fill the time allotted for completion.

When I first wrote this article in 2019, I thought I underestimated how long it would take to complete a task; therefore, I’d double the time estimate.

As a result of acquiring my coaching certification with Yes Supply, this changed my mindset completely. Believing that you can complete the task within the timeframe is essential.

Do one thing daily…

Do one action every day to move towards your goals.

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Quote Of The Week

“Any dream is actionable.”

Rachel Hollis

Quick Wrap Up

  • Mind mapping allows your brain to be creative and think visually. 
  • Create a mind map with the word Goals circled in the middle of the paper
  • Create an exhaustive list of all the goals you’d like to commit too
  • Pick the top three and create a mind map of all the actions to complete it
  • Schedule these actions in your calendar or project management software