Have you ever come across something or had an experience that has completely shifted the way you look at something?

That’s what happened for me this past week, with WordCamp SF, my “a-ha” I had about Training (a completely different model) and my Challenge (that I’m going to share).

A little re-cap from San Francisco WordCamp

… and why I’ll probably not attend again.

I know, that’s a pretty bold statement. BUT.. before I get into the nitty gritty of why let me say that I had a ball connecting with people I’ve only met online (@cdils, @bobWP, @OzzyR, @ChrisWiegman and had the pleasure of meeting many more awesome people).

That being said… the tracks that were offered seemed to be one extreme or the other. Very developer oriented or very newbie oriented (except of course for Carrie Dils talk on Saturday, which unfortunately I couldn’t attend on Collaboration vs. Competition) with not a whole lot in between and even the newbie tracks seemed to be lacking “something” as well.

There was VERY little in terms of the marketing and business side of WordPress.

Which, when it comes to the WordPress community I feel is still lacking. You have people like Chris Lema who seems to have a firm grasp on it and is talking about it MUCH more often (pricing and marketing for WordPress products), but beyond Chris I don’t see a whole lot of dialogue happening around this piece. I was listening to another podcast yesterday (I’m really becoming obsessed with these!), The Fizzle Show, and they were talking about douchebaggery in online business. Literally. I have to remember to think about where I am when I’m listening to this show because I find myself laughing out loud… often. As I did yesterday in the grocery store.

Anyways…

The conversation around douchebaggery was that:

1) It’s really hard to define (douchebaggery that is) and

2) We’re all probably a douchebag to someone. And my point in sharing this with you is that I think there is this fear within the WordPress community that if you charge for things that you’re a douchebag (or charge too much).

Which is kind of why I think we don’t see much of this at WordCamp San Francisco. Because it’s where Auttomatic has offices and Matt Mullenweg gives his official “State Of The Word” address there’s a certain level of perceived expectation around what type of speakers present.

The only other WordCamp I’ve been to was WordCamp Reno (a few years ago), and it was great too. But outside of networking with people in the community, my audience isn’t really at WordCamp. And I haven’t really seen any tracks that focus on the things I need to work on in my business… so for now, I’m just not sure where I stand with WordCamp.

FINALLY!

WordPress 3.6 is OUT!

WOO HOO!

Which means… that Genesis 2.0 is on it’s way too. Brian Gardner posted on Google+ yesterday that it will be out next week, they have a few final tweaks to make (we’ve waited this long, what’s a few more days, right?).

Which ALSO means that I’m going to be releasing WordPress Genesis for Beginners: A User’s Guide 2.0 SOON! This is a complete overhaul to the product with new videos, some interviews and a couple of other surprises.. but you’ll just have to wait and see what those are. This is not going to be some smarmy internet marketing launch… I so don’t have the stomach for that.

I came across something last week that completely turned my perspective upside down on marketing training products. I’m not trying to be sneaky by not sharing this with you (promise), because what I am going to do is track EVERY step of this new process. I’m approaching this totally different and will share what worked, what didn’t, etc. after it’s done (which will be in a few weeks).

Let’s just say that this training is going WAY beyond the basics of using Genesis for the everyday user. You’ll see how and why I use Genesis for everything I do, why I think it’s brilliant for ALL kinds of sites (and isn’t just for developers) and different ways you can use Genesis to grow your business. I am SO excited about this!

I’ve got some new epic content (yes, I just said epic) that I’ll be sharing with you here leading up to the release, so stay tuned for that!

Are you up for the Challenge?

 

 This hit me like a TON of bricks!

I realized that the choices I’ve made in my business this year, to step up, engage more and support other people as well as choosing to trust myself (aka, be more vulnerable), have TOTALLY catapulted my business and brand.

AND…

They’re simple to implement and won’t cost you a penny. Literally.

Notice I didn’t say they were Easy (yep, here we go again. The whole simple vs. easy thing… it’s not going way, I’m just sayin). And let me say that there is NOTHING new or earth shattering that I’m going to be sharing and teaching, I’m sure you’ve heard it all before.

But that doesn’t mean you don’t need to hear it again.

And again.

Until you GET IT… and start putting these things into Action.

This is a Marketing and Business Challenge. There will be some “personal” challenges mixed in, but they all have to do with your business. So you’re just going to have to trust me on this.

My Go All In! Challenge launches on September 1st. I’ll be sharing a lot more with you throughout August as we get ready to kick things off, but for today, just cruise on over to my super fabulous landing page and sign up.

It’s totally Free.

And I’m as excited as I am nervous to do this, but I’m doing it.

I’m Going ALL In! (you knew that was coming, didn’t you?)

Links from this episode

Carrie Dils WordCamp San Francisco Session – Collaboration Not Competition

Chris Lema

The Fizzle Show – Douchebaggery in Online Business

Design Your Own Blog

Beyond The Install – Free Report

Matt Mullenweg’s State of The Word 2013

Go ALL In! Challenge