LOTS happening in today's episode! I recently started private coaching with a new client (I'm coaching her) and had decided I would write up "What I'd Do Different if I Were Starting My Business Today" for her, then realized it would make a great topic for the next podcast episode and post. So here we are! ;-) I'm writing the post show notes before I actually record the podcast, which may sound a little backwards, but going back to do show notes after I record doesn't always happen as quickly as I'd like and then it becomes a much more tedious process, whereas doing it this way I work from my hand written outline and my show should have a nice flow (like how I threw in that little disclaimer *should*  have a nice flow?). I'm looking at my hand written notes and really hoping I can keep this to an hour... yea, I get a little chatty. ;-) [sws_divider_line] Shout out I'm taking this idea directly from ThePodcastAnswerMan (Cliff Ravenscraft) who does a weekly personal plug on his show. I love that he shares other peoples content and highlights what they're doing (oh how I wish some old school marketers would grasp this). So this week's shout out goes to Ben Boykin of EmergentInteractive.com. If it weren't for Ben reaching out to me on twitter about Flyhweel hosting I would probably be pulling my hair out right now. Ben put me in touch directly with the team at Flywheel and within a week and a half I was migrated over and pulled the trigger last Friday! I've since engaged more with Ben on twitter & Google+ and he's just a great guy (who also creates awesome Genesis WordPress sites).  So thanks again Ben! You'll hear more about Flywheel in an upcoming episode and post, so stay tuned for that. I want to get the guys from Flywheel on so you can hear about their company, what they're doing, why they're doing it, etc. directly from them. Not only is my site WAY faster, but their support is FANTASTIC! While away at a conference they still took the time to get back to me, answer my questions and make sure everything was working. Nice! [sws_divider_line] In this episode I share a little bit of my story with you (why I didn't do this in the first episode, I'm not sure. ;-) ) and how I got to where I am today. I'm sharing this with the hopes of inspiring you and showing you that no matter what you've been through, you CAN do this. It's been a long and very difficult road at times, but I am in such a wonderful place in my life now and am truly grateful for everything. The evolution of The WordPress Chick has also been an interesting road (and one I had no idea existed when I started my business). My business and brand has evolved quite a bit over the last five years (and will probably look very different five years from now).  I couldn't  have imagined this when I started, but I stayed open to what showed up and have learned to trust my gut which is paying off more than I thought possible now. The 7 Things I'd Do Different There are probably more than 7 things I'd do different if I were starting my business today, but these are the primary things that I would recommend to ANYONE who is starting an online business today or is ready to shift what they're doing and how they're doing it. I go into much more detail in the podcast, but here are the 7 things: 1) Focus on my content/my business first 2) Build my list strategically and measure what's working 3) Have something to SELL as soon as possible (and no, I don't mean throw up junk. Something of value) 4) Trust my gut & simply be myself 5) Focus on relationships, connections and how I can support other people 6) Be as absolutely transparent as possible (the more you do this the easier it gets) 7) Treat my business like a business The last point I made in the show, which really ties in with the first item on this list, is that you have to find a way to manage doing the things that will pay off in the long run WHILE you do the things tha...