Rookie Mistake

Did you enjoy your Thanksgiving day weekend?  For most of us it was a long weekend where you were required to work.  The reason I say it that way is because for entrepreneurs, you are always working, right?  One of the things that I wanted to do this weekend was to redesign this site.  Here’s where I made the mistake.  I went out and installed what I determined to be the best WordPress theme available.  Here’s where I made my mistake.  I jumped into a project without a real plan.  I had the concept in my head but had put nothing down on paper.  I figured that I had some extra time this weekend so I would just knock out my layout for this site.  That sounds even stupider of me as I write this (is stupider a word?).

After getting frustrated for a few hours, I walked away.  This might have been the smartest thing I could have done.  Then it hit me.  Later that night I realized how dumb my expectations were.  I needed to draw my expected layout.  I needed to prioritize because I wouldn’t be able to do it all right away.  I needed steps.  The next morning when I woke up this is exactly what I did.  So here’s what I’ve added so far…

1. I wanted a minimal layout. Watched the Thesis video.
2. I wanted to adjust some colors and fonts, a little big of differentiation.  Same Thesis video.
3. I wanted to make it easy to find me.  Handycons.
4. I wanted to make my content easy to share.  Sociable. Facebook and Tweet Buttons.
5. I wanted a contact form.  cforms.

So there are the 5 things I was able to accomplish.  It became a whole lot easier when things went down on paper.  I’m only human, we all make mistakes.

Here’s your chance…I’m new to this.  What do you think of my initial list?  Did I miss anything?  What’s your advice for going forward?

Tagged as: planning, prioritize, Thesis, Web Design