I had an idea for a workshop.
One of the littler known things about me is that I have a teaching certification, and I really do miss helping people learn things. It was while I was sitting in a talk about websites that I had an idea about how I could combine teaching with what I'm doing now. What if I gave a class to help people set up a blog?

Partnering with my much more tech-oriented friend Matt, he could give the technology portion of the talk (how to install Wordpress on your domain name, basic setup, etc.) and I could do the content part (what to put on the blog/website, how to promote it once it's set up). We would help registrants of the class buy their domain names and hosting the week before so that the day the class met, we could actually set up the website/blog. Charging $50/person would allow us to pay for our time and the room and give those just starting out a chance to have a website on their own domain in just a few short hours of work. Matt is down for it and we have a venue...More on the progress of all this next week. contact-me/nicole-ouellette.htmIn the meantime, let me know if you have any interest in attending. After the talk, I answered people's questions and even had time for a few clever staged photographs. I gave a presentation to the Ellsworth Chamber of Commerce.

The Blog

These Two Weeks In Business: The Great Idea Edition

Do you even have an idea, and wonder “Why haven’t I thought of this before?”

Sometimes inspiration strikes when you least expect it, and then actually works out. Here’s what happened the last two weeks at BEC:

I had an idea for a workshop.
One of the littler known things about me is that I have a teaching certification, and I really do miss helping people learn things.

It was while I was sitting in a talk about websites that I had an idea about how I could combine teaching with what I’m doing now. What if I gave a class to help people set up a blog?

Partnering with my much more tech-oriented friend Matt, he could give the technology portion of the talk (how to install WordPress on your domain name, basic setup, etc.) and I could do the content part (what to put on the blog/website, how to promote it once it’s set up). We would help registrants of the class buy their domain names and hosting the week before so that the day the class met, we could actually set up the website/blog. Charging $50/person would allow us to pay for our time and the room and give those just starting out a chance to have a website on their own domain in just a few short hours of work.

Matt is down for it and we have a venue…More on the progress of all this next week. In the meantime, let me know if you have any interest in attending.

After the talk, I answered people's questions and even had time for a few clever staged photographs.

I gave a presentation to the Ellsworth Chamber of Commerce.
It turns out that double the amount of people registered for my talk about social media. I was a bit worried about getting through my material and also being able to answer questions so I tightened up my presentation. The other good thing was some of the people who attended gave me an idea of what they’d like to ask me, and the Chamber director was kind enough to send me a list of those who registered.

The talk went really well, and I’ve gotten three leads from it. Here’s hoping for more opportunities like this!

I finally handed everything off to my accountant…and am now done my taxes.
Nothing can describe the relief I felt handing my binder of information off to my accountant this week.

“I’m embarassed handing this to you.” I said, but did not the handy table of contents and the fact everything was in plastic sleeves.

“I’ve seen worse.” he said. I’m sure.

But I’m not paying someone $150/hour to go through a box of my receipts. The good news: I am getting money back at both the federal and state level. I’ll share some fun numbers once I get a chance to pick up my papers…it’s actually kind of shocking!

I got a new headshot taken for this website.
The headshot that’s been on my website for the past year has been acceptable. Since I’ve lost weight, etc. I’ve been wanting a new photograph for the main page of my site.

My friend Mel has a digital SLR camera and often takes photos for the magazine she works for. She did my makeup, fixed my hair, and coached me through some shots. “Your arm looks weird.” and “What about this background?” are very helpful to hear. I was excited about the end result, and no longer have to look at the roundish picture of myself every time I go to my site.

Have a good rest of the week!

Related posts:

  1. This Week In Business: Great Idea Edition
  2. This Week In Business: Thanksgiving While Moving Edition
  3. This Week(s) In Business: Tweetup Edition
  4. This Week In Business: The Galavanting Edition
  5. This Week In Business: Eggs And Issues Edition

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About Nicole Ouellette

Nicole runs Breaking Even Communications, an internet marketing company in Bar Harbor Maine. When she's not online, she enjoys walking her short dog, cooking with bacon, and trying to be outdoorsy in Acadia National Park.
  • Michael Johnson

    Love the workshop idea The workshop idea is great, Nicole. It’s so inexpensive to buy a domain these days that I’m still surprised more people don’t do it.As an aside, with Google Apps GMail and Sites, a simple site can be built so easily. It’s so simple in fact that I’ve developed a pet peeve about small businesses that are still using their ISP’s free email and not email on their own domain. That’s just wrong!Good luck. Have fun!”